The two-tone paint scheme and space age styling of this Datsun 810 saloon would stun any junkyarder into full stop. While the Datsun might look something like a regular Japanese car of the time, the trick stuff was all there in this mid-size sedan. Under the hood was a fuel injected version of the six-cylinder engine found in the 240-260-280Z-cars, tweaked to kick out a … [Read more...]
The Chevette Continuum
As odd as many of the occurrences that present themselves at the junkyard may be, there has been no greater moment of duality to date than stumbling onto not one, but two Chevrolet Chevettes in close proximity. With a run stretching from 1975-1987, the GM T-platform Chevette was a rear-wheel drive contemporary of the Toyota Starlet, Ford Pinto, Mazda GLC, and even AMC Gremlin. … [Read more...]
Spanning the Globe for the Constant Variety of Vans
The last time that custom vans were the big deal in America coincided nicely into an American automotive industry that had slightly lost course with even the muscle car tapped on power. The van trend began as a subculture in the early Seventies, and had more or less been co-opted by the big three by the latter half of the decade. Before the van craze had largely run its course, … [Read more...]
It’s Not a Trooper!
As soon-to-be Governor of California once famously said about a headache in the Nineties movie classic Kindergarten Cop, it's not a toomer, uhm - tumor, which has everything to do with the apparent confusion between the first generation Mitsubishi Montero and Isuzu Trooper. Even at the annual state inspection of the Vermontero, the proprietor of service station told someone to … [Read more...]
Fall Foliage 40-Ouncer
Beneath the layers of foliage captured over several seasons under a yard full of trees is an early version of the Honda Compound Vortex Controlled Combustion or CVCC engine. The engineers at Honda managed to design an engine that made good use of combustion chamber efficiency to meet 1970's EPA emissions standards without use of a catalytic converter. Honda achieved this feat … [Read more...]