For the last couple of weeks, I was on vacation. A real one…exceptionally limited Internet, no phone, no laptop, no camera. Just myself, my wife and her parents on a slow boat up the Eastern seaboard into Canada. It was an awesome trip, one completely devoid of cars for the most part. No talking about cars, no build planning, no nada. Just the sights, smells and sounds of the Atlantic from the decks of a cruise ship and stopovers in some beautiful ports of call. I was most looking forward to some time in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, where I was sure to be sampling local treats like maple cream cookies and icewine chocolate, and I was going to soak up plenty of outdoors and watch everybody else have fresh Maine lobster while I stayed content with a steak and blueberry pie. I did pretty well keeping away from anything automotive, except in Nova Scotia. On the bus ride from Halifax to Peggy’s Cove, I spotted a shape I haven’t seen in quite some time. Then I spotted the name in-between the taillights and went full geek.
Most of you should remember the Geo Storm, the funky little coupe originally sold as the second-generation Isuzu Piazza that was a pleasant step up from the Metro. But few of you probably know about the 1993 Asüna Sunfire. Asüna was supposed to be Canada’s version of Geo in the GM lineup, but the company was a mish-mash of three products: the Sunfire (Piazza/Storm), the Sunrunner (Geo Tracker/Suzuki Escudo) and the SE or GT (the Daewoo/Pontiac LeMans). The company showed up in 1992…and was dead by 1994, with the Sunfire become it’s second-gen J-car form and the Sunrunner becoming a Pontiac, too. The LeMans was killed off unceremoniously.
How rare is an Asüna Sunfire? Hell if I know, but if you look at the amount of Geo Storms still left on the roads of the United States, I’ll bet you could use the entirety of your local grocery store to park every last one and still have a few spots open. I’ve seen more Acadians and Beaumonts (other GM Canada one-offs) than I’ll ever see of Asünas in the world. I’ve actually seen more Gumpert Apollos that I’ll ever see of that little 1990s coupe.
Naturally, my wife looked at me with an expression that was a mixture of disgust and concern when I went into full fanboy mode over some random little car in someone’s driveway. Some days I’m sure she wonders if this automotive sickness qualifies as a handicap of some kind. But until that day, I’ll lose it any time I see a car that elicits a, “Wait…WTF is that?” response on first sight. That’s my story, what’s yours?
I found a “Bandit” 1977 Trans Am in a farmers field, way off the beaten path, in….Okinawa Japan! I had to stop and look at it. Rusted all to hell but there it was.
Across the street from my sister in laws house in Okinawa was a huge tangle of weeds and vines, crawling all over a car carcass. One day curiosity got the better of me and I went over and pulled the stuff away to see what it was hiding. An honest to god 1970 two door Hakasuka Skyline GT-R complete with the watanabe rims and wing on the back. Engine and trans were gone and the rest? Slowly rusting away into the garden. Watched it slowly disintegrate over 8 years. Finally was sold as scrap I believe. Sad day.
I once, several years back, found a guy running a “Cadillac” Cimaron (bad spelling I know), the Caddy version of a Cavalier, at a “race your ride” drag event.
The latest odd car sighting I’ve had was last month, where I saw somebody using a ’66 Studebaker Wagonaire for a Costco run.
1978 Dodge Challenger (the rebadged Mitsubishi) in Pigeon Forge TN. Not only was it in running condition, it was ridiculously mint in condition. I suspect 99.95% of those cars had met the crusher decades ago.
I see a Citation X11 w/4-speed show up at a local cruise-in every now and again.
Here in Singapore I occasionally see a Mustang. Like once every 6 months. There is a new black 5.0 GT that I see also. I venture to say its the only one in the country because because it costs $280K here. That’s $202,000 USD!
saw a weird one a while ago…guy had a Javelin for sale (I’m in Australia so that’s not as common as it might be for most of you) so went for a look…turned out to be a Jowett Javelin…maybe google image that….produced in the UK from 1947 – 53 with an air cooled engine..I’d never heard of, or seen one before or since
A Kaiser Darin in a farmer’s field in Wisconsin
Seen around Honolulu an Early 80s SUBARU BRAT . Were vary popular in Hawaiian Islands where speed limits are under 55 mph and Gas prices were and are the highest in USA. Small AWD runabout for mostly Small mostly Asian population. Was like a MINI El Camino with some equipped with INCREDABLY DANGEROUS BOLT ON REAR FACING EXTERNAL SEATS !!
Saw a Daihatsu Rocky parked in someone’s front yard up in Western NC last weekend.
I had the distinct pleasure of seeing a first edition Taurus Wagon (86?) with a 4 cylinder, 5 speed manual setup. I offered the lady some serious money for that car (800 bucks) and she told me she loved the attention the car received more than the car itself. She did add that if I raised my offer about 3 grand she would have sold it to me..
Saw a 1960 Borgward, it was on a lift in the garage of a house.
It was at an estate sale in Huntington, NY.
There is a 1949 nash airflyte that’s daily driven here on Schofield Barracks, HI. There was a Plymouth Cricket in the neighborhood back home for a while, dude traded it for a Ford Coureror.