On the Street – Volkswagen Dasher and a mystery RHD roadster

This handsome hatchback, badged as the Dasher in the US, was marketed as the first generation Passat elsewhere in the world. While production lasted from 1973 to 1981, the vile rubber bumpers on this specimen mark it as having left the assembly line sometime after the 1978 changeover to that style. It seems to have weathered the years well, notwithstanding the current owner’s questionable taste in wheels.

This one I though was an MG T-type of some sort… But I didn’t really look at it super closely, just snapped a few pictures as I walked by.

Now even after doing some searching I’ve got no idea what this thing is. Any ideas? Right hand drive, roadster, some kind of winged logo… I bet it’s super obvious to someone with more familiarity with this kind of car.

On the Street – Model A + Bug Truck

The sun has people bringing out their fair weather transportation. Here’s a few sightings from the opening days of Spring.

This Volkswagen Beetle pickup is definitely not a factory job (in fact there doesn’t seem to have ever been a mass produced pickup variant). This conversion is a little bit rough cut but I like that whoever performed it incorporated the rear quarter and fender rather than lopping it all off to allow for a slightly wider cargo area.

Nicely restored Ford Model A parked outside Bridgeport. Early Fords are relatively common and not a personal favorite of mine, but anything this old being street driven is pretty cool.

On the road in Portland

I’m far from an advocate of the automobile as a primary mode of transportation, but I still love me some vintage cars. Here’s some neat ones I’ve spotted in the wild.

T3 Volkswagen bus with a woody kit… As far as I know there wasn’t any kind of option for this (though you could get factory woody kits on American cars up into the 80s; there’s a factory turbocharged, woody kit, K-car wagon in one of the Portland Pick-n-pull lots). Someone put a lot of effort into this thing.

1951(pretty sure anyway) Chevrolet pickup with a utility bed. Digging the vintage visor.

Kinda doubt the bed is as old as the rest of the truck but the period tail lights are a nice touch.