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Our Two Cents: The Coolest Cars in Our Neighborhoods
We all love people-watching—or know someone who does. If you’re a car person, you can relate, because you’re constantly watching cars (aka “carspotting”). They don’t have to be exotic, either: When you make a new friend, you’ll instantly “save” the make and model of their vehicle in your mental address book. Same for your next-door neighbors, your coworkers, your extended family, the guy who cuts your hair. If you’re having coffee or dinner, you usually wrangle a seat that faces the window so you can watch the cars go by, playing a game to see how fast you can identify each one and guess what kind of person is driving it. (Just me? Okay.) You’re definitely the one who yells, “OMG! A chrome-bumper C3!” or breaks off mid-sentence to inform your confused partner that you didn’t know there was one of those cars around here.
To celebrate our collective obsession, we’re sharing the coolest cars in our respective neighborhoods. Don’t make it weird and try to stalk any of them—just enjoy from a respectful distance, same as us, probably with a dose of envy and/or wonder. And if you know somebody who would make a bumper sticker that says, “I Brake for Cool Cars,” let us know.
Go Blue! Or … Green?
This old Ford truck looks like a ’76 F-150 Ranger XLT, with the extended cab and long bed. It’s a recent addition to my neighborhood in Ann Arbor, and the person who lives there is usually a BMW owner. There’s an E46 330Ci frequently on jack stands, and at one point the truck’s spot on the street was occupied by an E39 5 Series. — Eric Weiner
This Hard-Workin’ Beast from Ohio
Northeast Ohio car culture still reverberates with V-8 muscle from the ’60s, but it’s no contest: The coolest ride in my neighborhood is Ron Smoker’s 1946 International KB-7, named Nell. The Cummins-and-6-speed-manual-swapped truck makes hundreds of deliveries a year and brings a huge smile to my face whenever I see it on the road. — Eddy Eckart
Portland, Land of 4x4s
These are the regulars on my daily dog-walking route. The green Land Roverlander is ALWAYS in the driveway, which is a shame given the way it’s dressed up for not living in driveways. I appreciate the Land Cruiser/Beetle duo combo. The guy works on the blue VW often, but nothing ever seems to change. The dead Broncos and Suburban are… whatever. They’d be cooler if they were functional. Despite living outside, the black GMT400 Blazer is cherry and obviously loved. The blue Ford Camper Special is a classic work truck but hasn’t ever moved, so I think its workin’ days are done. It is one of five 1970s F-series Fords on the route. The Porsche pair is actually a trio, as there is generally a blue Boxster parked there, too. Solid three-car collection, if you ask me. The big blue K5 Blazer is engineless, sadly, and neither it nor the white F-150 in the background have moved in the years I’ve been walking past them.
So, what’s it all mean? My vote goes to the black Chevy Blazer. We had a silver ’92 when I was in high school that I took through the mud whenever I could, much to my dad’s chagrin. But I love everything about this neighborhood one. The color is great, the BFG KO2 tires are great, the care lavished upon it is more than appropriate. — Stefan Lombard
Houston, We Have a Mic Drop
Strangely, there are many older, mostly run-down but still cool cars all over my neighborhood. Just within a couple of blocks we have an International Scout, a Dodge Dart Swinger, two blue Mercedes 300Ds (not pictured), a Mk IV Supra drift car (also not pictured), a C5 Z06 and a military Humvee (in the same driveway!), and even a Dodge Rampage. We also have a guy who crams two racing boats into his pretty small shop space. The strangest, though, is the dude with the smallest, blandest-looking house on the street. In the backyard is the gigantic bronze statue he bought for $315,000 at an auction in Connecticut (I live in Houston, by the way. How did it get here?!), and under the tiny carport is the Alpina B8 he bought brand new.
I didn’t mean to throw down this hard, but I already had all the photos on my phone. The Z06/Humvee house also has a 911 of some kind under a tarp, but not sure what exactly is underneath. — Andrew Newton
From London, with Lamp Posts
There are too many electric cars to count in North London, partly because you can plug them in to lampposts to charge, but the Honda e and the Peugeot iOn are quite cool. Also, some weird his&hers/his&his/hers&hers/theirs&theirs twins going on with a duo of Boxsters and VW ID3s. Another house has 2 Alfa 147s, but they weren’t at home. If I had to pick one as the coolest, it would be the Roller. The guy always drives it like a chauffeur with passengers in the back—never up front. — Nik Berg
Keep Calm and Land-Cruise On
I’m gonna fudge the idea of “neighborhood” here a bit and say that because I could bike to this spot, it’s part of my neighborhood. This was last night, as my wife and I biked to one of our favorite spots for dinner and a drink. I’m an unapologetic sucker for the Toyota Land Cruiser, in all of its forms. This one, a Lexus LX 470, looks epic with that ARB front bumper, but almost nothing else. It was gorgeous outside and in, and I adore how simple this build is. This is the sort of machine I’d be proud to own for 40-plus years, and with decent care, I’ve got no doubt that it would make it 40-plus. — Nate Petroelje
The coolest car guy in our neighborhood has a: Cadillac CTS-V, BMW X5M, Porsche Turbo, Chevrolet Camaro 1le, Ford Mustang SVO, and a low milage AP1 Honda S2000. Oh wait….that’s me!
There are two particularly cool cars sitting in elderly neighbors garages.
Firstly a lovely red Kaiser Darrin and second a Mercedes 190SL.
Both get driven a couple of times a year and despite my best efforts, neither are for sale.
A good friend of mine was named after the Kaiser Darrin. No, his name is not “Kaiser”! 🙂
I’m not sure which of those two I’d prefer, as both are pretty blasted cool.
Is his name “Bobby”?
My neighbor has a new C8, Big Block Cobra, Miata, Jaguar and other neat stuff. There are a few older Corvettes, late model Mustangs and a new Lotus. And it’s mainly “blue collar” like that’s a bad thing?
Just curious. When an EV is plugged into a public utility pole, who pays for the charge?
Run “custom bumper stickers” through your favorite search engine and take your choice.
Other than my own, which I’ll immediately disqualify, there’s a sweet Javelin up the street from me. When it was purple it was a nice looking car, but he has since taken it apart and changed it to bright orange, and for the life of me I can’t find any hint it was ever purple in that beautifully detailed engine compartment. It’s impeccably done.
My neighbor when I lived in Oklahoma over 30 years ago had a dark blue 1990 BMW 8 series E31 coupe. These cars don’t get the appreciation they should. Great looking, terrific aerodynamics and nice performance for the 90s.
THE 76 Ford Pickup looks more like a 73 based on the fuel caps being outside. Still a fine truck. I love
all FORDS.
No extended cab in ‘73, plus the fuel tank was still in the cab then so the gas cap would be at the back of the cab, not on the bed.
Not sure beyond that as far as the year.
In my neighborhood: 1962 fuelie Corvette, ‘57 Chevy cameo truck, same owner also has a diesel riding lawn mower and VW diesel pick up.
Two houses away, a 56 Ford sedan is slowly passing away in a basement garage.
About one mile away a ‘75 Impala, a ‘61 Catalina, and a ‘53 Ford truck have lingered for over thirty years in a garage and barn.
My neighbor has a 41 Ford that has yet to be registered so it sits in his garage. Very nice though. I don’t know what my neighbors think but for the first time since finishing them I was able to drive the 69 mustang to lunch on Friday, the 80 Porsche 928 on Saturday, and the 70 Corvette over to mothers day on Sunday. The perfect weekend.
Here in Lake County, FL, there is a huge collector car scene, certainly hundreds, maybe thousands. My personal favorite sits in my barn: A plain white 1969 Rambler American 2 door sedan. Total sleeper, with all the funky badges, mirrors and trim of a stocker on a Pro-Street chassis, tubbed, narrowed rear, 10 point cage, fiberglass body panels and bumpers, on steel wheels with dog dish caps and a modified DOHC Ford Cobra motor. Driven once or twice a week. Looks like granny’s car from 20 feet away.
I volunterred for Meals on Wheels. On my first day I saw a yellow Lambo with a ski rack with 2 skis on top. Model, no clue, but seeing that on a Lambo was awesome!
Living is CO al my life I have seen anything like it.
I live in SoCal. There’s a surfeit of interesting vehicles everywhere; has always been.
As a car guy, I’m blessed.
Back in the 90s, I worked as a Project manager for a Warehouse/Distribution Center automation company. As I was the only car guy at the company, I got the car parts accounts. Western Auto, Standard Motor Products and Pep Boys. Oddly enough I also got the liquor distribution centers too. Hmmm.. Anyways, During a planning meeting at Pep Boys Philadelphia headquarters, I was in a “war room” of sorts. There were maps of possible store locations and pictures of the surrounding neighborhoods taped to the maps. I noticed that a lot of the pictures had older cars, open garage doors and hoods up vehicles in the pictures. Lots of cool cars to me, but my co workers were not as duly impressed…
Not much in my geriatric neighborhood now but late sixties and early seventies in my home town in Eastern North Carolina, population 750, I had a sixty Corvette, a friend a 64 Coupe, two 440 GTX’s, three 396/375 Chevelle, a 62 Catalina with three deuce 421,a 340 six pac Challenger and numerous tri-fives. The hiway patrol kept an eye on us but what a great memory!
I live on the cheap side of Bend Oregon, so we don’t get the exotics or expensive classics. The coolest car on my street now is the Bugeye Sprite, and former residents include a Series III Land Rover and Ural sidecar.Out in the neighborhood is a good Mercedes W108 250S like my parents, a nicely done up Toyota HiAce AWD and and A GMC Advanced Design flat bed.