Middle of the week post:
This was an extraordinary find. In the early to mid 90s there was a racing category here in Mexico of Chrysler Shadows and Phantoms with tube chasis, turbo engines and other stuff. It was cool while it lasted, with very good and close racing, then it just vanished and nobody knew what had happened with the race cars. Some got parted out (I have a picture somewhere of a Phantom shell just lying on the street, abandoned) and very VERY few survived. I knew of just one Shadow racer until I found this one, repainted for street duty and for sale!!! This truly is a piece of Mexican motorsports history, and it should be incredibly cool to run this thing on the street. Check out that interior.
Abandoned 1971 Dodge Charger 318 auto, check out how rust-free this thing was, and how original, it even had its original wheel caps. And indeed, someone had already written an Ill buy it on the windows; I havent been there since, but Ill guess its gone now, it was too good to pass up.
A mid-50s Dodge three-ton truck still in service carrying a load of workers, it sounded as if it had been upgraded to modern diesel power, but it was still cool to see this Juggernaut still haulin.
Rare 1962 Plymouth 4-door with very weird paintjob
I mean, were in Mexico, right? Rallye wheels too.
This whole block was Renault awesome. There, in various states of disrepair sat a Renault 4 Van, two Renault 4 wagons, and two, yes, two extremely rare Renault 4 carriers, and finally a Renault 18 4-door. Finding cluttered streets like these is always cool.
Nearby sat this abandoned 1963 Galaxie wagon, very complete, in custom two tone paint, Id sure drive it every day of my life. But no, it just sits. At least it looks cool as an abandoned car.
Then we have this hi-ride Jeep with Alcoa wheels and other off-roading equipment here and there, prowling downtown streets of Mexico city:
Two redlights later, this Saleen S281 drops by!! This thing is rare here, simply because Saleen does not sell cars in here. This car had to be imported from the US, and Im sure it was EX-PEN-SI-VE. Nice, tough. And cool exhaust rumble.
This VW Pointer sported a factory bodykit offered by VW Mexico to spice up its appearance. Its not too ugly, but it is expensive!!
The following three cars were parked next to one another, so Im guessing they are all same owner. First one, this non-SS Monte Carlo, pretty neat with the mesh wheels and mean stance, but column auto.
Then, a very cool 1969 Dodge Coronet with a 318 ci engine and auto trans, as all that were sold in here. It had a cool rake and some big tires out back wrapping slot mags, he just needs to match his front wheels and the car would look menacing!
Finally, this mid-80s Malibu Landau with American wheels and big tires, the most subdued of the three but still neat and aggressive.
Been ages since I last saw one of these, it looks cool in black!
This megaawesome Renault 5 turned up at a car wash near home, the front balance and general stunning shape made it awesome, and the fact that the owner is aware that there were Gordini 5s makes him a true enthusiast, but of course, his car was not. Check out the awesome bucket seats.
Another awesome classic little car, this Datsun 510 wagon with Panasports! The orange hue really set it off, and the interior was pristine, save for maybe a badly adapted subwoofer box in the trunk, but everything else was just plain awesome. It has a brother, a light blue 510 four-door also with Panasports that has eluded me for months. But itll fall.
Psychodelic 1979 mexican Super Bee with a 360 ci small block and rare manual 4-speed trans, most of these were automatics. I like the stripe treatment but it needs more aggressive looking whelks to back up the street freak image, not those run of the mill Chrysler wheels. But it has potential.
Perfect in every way 1963 Thunderbird that popped up at a local car wash, it was pristine and excellently restored with classic two-tone paint.
Very rare Olds Cutlass 1971 taken from a bus, ripe for a 442 clone or at least an Olds big block, this is an extremely rare car to see in here.
Couple Vespas in the street, mere meters one from another:
Ah, this. In the picture you can see an M3 with cool BBSs, but at its side was a 997 turbo Porsche, ¡And I did not notice it! I took this picture in a hurry because, lets just say my wife and brother were already in the bus. Whats worse: they street raced seconds afterwards, very cool show to see, but it would have been cooler to photograph it. Dang.
Rice this time comes from a Mitsu Eclipse ragtop with some ridiculous tidbits, the front was the worse but I could not catch it. Dig the black hood.
My godfather has one of these, he's had Ferrari's, TVR's, SL's, RS500 Cosworth's and this is the only car that he's kept since new. Fabulous piece of kit!
