Old Cars on Shilshole Bay Marina

A lot of folks store their extra car in the big lots out where Ballard meets the water. There are quite a few curiosities parked out there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three old VW buses in one shot. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chevy redesigned the Corvair in 1965 after the car's reputation was pretty much already ruined. As to whether this second-generation Corvair Corsa was safe or not, I don't really have an opinion. Some of these cars were turbocharged. Those rims are from a BMW.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not the same car twice, just the same color. These old Benz diesels are hard to kill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plenty of old Beetles in the land that rust mostly forgot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This MG is immaculate. It must only be here for the day.

 

 

 

 

 

And finally, on the other side of the road. If you own a 1983 Lincoln Continental Mark VI and a 1966 Dodge D100 van, you are my kind of weird.

 

 

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1979 Lincoln Continental Town Car

Well if we're gonna have inflation like it's 1979, let's have a car from 1979. People, the 1970s were very brown. Does anybody still sell a car this color?
* This was the largest car made in the world at that time.
* Engines getting smaller - This car had the 400 c.i. V8, as compared to the 460 in the previous generation. By 1981, it would be the 302 and in 1991 the 281 engine that would carry the Town Car all the way to its final edition in 2011.

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Land of the Giants: 1962 and 1973 Lincoln Continental in the Central District

There's plenty of parking in Seattle's Central District, and it's where I spot a lot of vintage Detroit iron. The older car pictured here appears to be a daily driver, but it looks like the later Lincoln hasn't moved in a year or three.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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1978 Lincoln Continental Mark V

First let me say that this can be a reasonably attractive car (in a disco sort of way), at least when painted blue with a matching top or some other color scheme that doesn't make your eyes burn. This Continental's color isn't pink exactly, nor would I call it salmon. It reminds me of the off-pink that Crayola crayons used to call, "flesh".

This car would have run you at least $14K in 1978, or $50K in 2020 dollars. Given the high price point, and the fact that in the late '70s America was in the midst of a crushing energy crisis, you might think that Ford had a hard time selling cars like this. Well that's where you'd be wrong. Ford sold 72,600 of these in 1978, and also sold a staggering 565,000 Ford Thunderbirds and Mercury Cougars; land yachts scarcely smaller than the behemoth pictured here. Who can explain anything from the '70s?

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1973 Lincoln Contintental Mark IV

Thanks to the first oil crisis, the price of gasoline in the US increased 47% between 1972 and 1974. What a perfect time to buy a car that only gets 10 miles to the gallon.

Observations:
* The monster 460 c.i. V-8 engine under that hood produces 212 hp. That's 56 hp less than today's Toyota V-6.
* This car was available with anti-lock brakes (!)
* Brown, brown, brown. It's must be the 70s.

 

   

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