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