Spotted: Taste takes a holiday

Lee Iacocca saved Chrysler from bankruptcy in the 1980s. But it came at the cost of the company’s dignity – Iacocca was the man who brought us opera windows, Corinthian leather, and once-great names stuck on woeful economy cars (K-Car LeBaron, anyone?) The early-eighties Chrysler Imperial was no masterpiece, but the owner of this 1982 model has managed to make his even worse with purple paint, gold trim, and a truly strange Continental-kit spare tire holder. Reader Dave Normandale spotted this sweet ride in Winnipeg.

A 1950s Ford Thunderbird is a classic that can fetch top dollar at a vintage car auction. This owner’s custom additions have probably reduced his car’s value by about 95 per cent. Reader Ivor Langley spotted this chrome-bedecked apparition in Keremeos, B.C.

Yellow paint with a green convertible top is one of the less-obvious color schemes for a classic Thunderbird. It’s also one of the least desirable.

I ran this photo in Spotted a while ago because I love classic tour buses. Since then, several readers have pointed out that this is Neil Young’s tour bus. The giveaways include the Zuma license plate and the “Lincvolt” logo – Neil has spent years experimenting with electric vehicles, including a battery-powered 1959 Lincoln Continental that he uses a demonstration vehicle. I’m a long-time Neil Young fan, so I think it’s pretty cool that I passed his bus on the Gardiner Expressway. Was he inside? Maybe.

The cars that Detroit turned out in the 1960s have a style that defined an era. I spotted this 1964 Ford Galaxie convertible in the workshop at Gentry Lane, in Toronto.

Working on modern cars can be brutal – components are packed into tiny spaces, making access difficult. But the cars of golden age Detroit made it easy for mechanics. Look at the engine bay on the 1964 Galaxie – it’s almost big enough to hold a Smart Car. Even with a 6.4-litre V8 under the hood, there’s practically enough room to get in and take a walk.

The passenger compartment of the 1964 Galaxie is also huge. Yet when you compare the internal and external volume of the car, it doesn’t stack up well against modern machines, which maximize interior space by packing mechanical components in tightly (this makes them more efficient, but harder to work on – as with most things, there’s no free lunch when it comes to automotive design.)

I spotted this Tesla Model S at a Supercharger station in California. You rarely see this shade of blue, but on the right car, it’s beautiful.

Although I love German sports cars, there’s a standing joke about the people that drive them – Jeremy Clarkson once wrote that BMW drivers were able to afford their cars because they ran their business lives the same way they drove, constantly cutting in front. Even so, most of the Porsche, Audi and BMW owners I know are good drivers and courteous human beings. Then there’s this driver, who cut me off in a snowstorm this week – the stereotype lives.

My friend Patrick Dell spotted this vintage Dodge in Toronto. Although the “Ram” logo is now indelibly associated with pickup trucks, this wasn’t always the case – check out that hood ornament.

Patrick also shot a close-up of the Ram logo. It’s cool to see it on a car instead of a giant pickup truck.