Tuesday, December 14, 2021 -- Rainy Day

They were predicting about an inch of rain from this storm.

Supposedly we got 0.9 inches...

Trash day.

With the robotic arms, I'm sure that the trash truck drivers are happy that they don't have to get out in the rain like the old days...

Sun came out for a little bit at the end of the day, just before the sun started setting...

 

Sunday, December 12, 2021 -- Long Beach Car Swap Meet -- Part 5

Bunch of drill bits.

Can never have too many drill bits...

Came in this little bag.

The guy selling was interesting.

He had a bunch of miscellaneous garage stuff.

Everything was clean and individually priced to sell.

He was getting rid of stuff he didn't need but didn't want to throw away...

 

Saturday, December 11, 2021 -- Pelican Parts Cars & Coffee - Part 7

I remember when these cars came out.

I thought they were too big and gaudy.  Still do.

But, you rarely see these any more, so the rarity factor and that they go back to my youth makes them interesting and nostalgic...

The door window glass is curved in both directions (in plan view and in rear view) which makes it difficult to manufacture and to make it go up and down (relative to the door belt seal).

The Alfa Badge on the nose and trunk are made of plastic.  It was the beginning of the era where the metal and cloisonné was being replaced with plastic (for cost and weight).

The "quadrifoglio" badges are made of metal & enamel.  They're very nice & expensive...

I like the big and small lamps...

This BMW steering wheel is not too common.

Nice three spoke design...

 

Le Chanteclair -- On my desk...

Rene Dreyfus (& his brother Maurice) opened/owned this French restaurant in Manhattan (18 East 49th. Street, New York 17, N.Y. -- Phone # Plaza 5-7731)

This is an ashtray from the restaurant.

They had other custom made items for the restaurant, most of which is too pricey for me to buy/own.

I ran into this ashtray at the Long Beach Antique Swap Meet.

The seller didn't really know what it was so I got it for a very good price...

 

Monday, December 13, 2021 -- 1986 Honda Civic Si in the American Honda Lobby

My first new car was a 1984 Honda Civic LX Hatchback.

That was the first year  for this body style.

So, basically the same car as these pictures except not the "Si"

Mine was a dark metallic red with a matching red interior.

Mine had black bumpers.  The Si's painted bumpers are much nicer looking, as well as the alloy wheels.

The other noticeable difference from the rear was the panel that says CIVIC in it was black plastic on mine whereas on the Si, they used a red reflector type of plastic to better match the tail lamps.

This generation civic was a pretty small car.

Probably smaller than nearly everything sold today (except for maybe the Chevy Spark).  I think it was about the same size as the first of the "new" Minis that came out about 20 years ago.

Very light weight (less than 2,000 lbs), nimble/easy to drive and easy to park.   But, could still fold down the rear seat and be able to carry a lot of cargo.

 

Monday, December 13, 2021 -- Dark maple leaves...

 

Sunday, December 12, 2021 -- Long Beach Car Swap Meet -- Part 4

They cleaned up OK...

The VW cap is "patina' d"...

 

Saturday, December 11, 2021 -- Pelican Parts Cars & Coffee - Part 6

Air Suspension...  Kinda ridiculous to me...

Terrible steering wheel & wood grain applique in the 914.

The wheel in particular is out of place.

A nice Momo or Nardi wheel would be OK, if not a factory 911 or 914 wheel...

The extra gauge on the left of the steering wheel is an interesting adaptation, using an appropriate 911 gauge...

The front end on the 60s Mercedes are pretty much the same throughout the decade.

The rear end styling is what really changed from the sharp fin-tails to a more softer fin then essentially no fin at all, just a small raised section...

The dip between the hood bulge and the fenders is pretty dramatic for a relatively "modern" car.

Mercedes was serious about the bumpers too.

They wrap around and are substantial.

The smaller bumperettes above the main bumpers are an effective design piece to lessen the size and the amount they stick out from the body...

The round gauges are nice (better than the vertical strip speedo in my car).  This car got a corvette small block and MT conversion.

The floor shift is better than the column shift on my car.

I was surprised to see that the wood grain on the top of the doors and around the door windows are fake.  They're real wood on my car...

Porsche 944 interior.  Not the worst Porsche steering wheel ever but pretty close...

Also, not a fan of the ovoid gauge cluster design.  Styling over function...

Wouldn't want to work on this...

Or on this...

 

Friday, December 10, 2021 -- Manhattan Beach Pier -- Relatively cool day after the rain...

Sun poking through the clouds...

The wind pattern is the opposite of usual.

It's blowing out (towards the open ocean) as the flag on the right shows.

Makes it very tough for the last part of the ride home along the Ballona Creek bike path (directly against the wind!)...

The surf actually looked pretty decent...

Catalina Island toward the right...

 

Parana, Brasil -- Early 1970s...

CRMK is in the middle...