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Curbside Outtake: Toyota Crown Athlete Estate and Toyota Avensis – Put Out to...
About a year ago I walked by this Starcraft Ford E150 conversion van in our local suburban Tokyo neighborhood that had obviously been abandoned – I took a trip by this same area last weekend and it...
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Bus Stop Classics: 1954 Krauss-Maffei KML 110 Coach – Wind Cheater
Here’s a bus that caught my eye when doing a little research on the Mercedes O321H – this is a 1954 Krauss-Maffei KML (Krauss-Maffei Lightweight) 110 coach, and as you can see, it’s quite the looker…...
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CC’s Best of 2018: CC Outtake: Curbside Reminiscences From My Childhood
(first published Jan 7 2018) For me, the turn of the year always brings forth a sense of nostalgia – another year past and a longing to look back at the “good old days” of my youth in the early and...
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CC’s Best of 2018: Bus Stop Classics: 1946 – 1959 Flxible Twin Coach Transit...
(First published on Jan 20 2018) Here’s another bus you would have likely have seen or ridden in if you were spending time in any large North American metropolitan area in the decades of the 1950s...
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CC’s Best of 2018: Bus Stop Classics: A Short History of Dayton’s Trolley Buses
(First published Jun 16 2018) Mention Dayton Ohio and most folks will immediately think of the Wright Brothers and the birthplace of aviation. That’s certainly true; the city takes great pride in its...
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Bus Stop Classics: 1950’s Alfa Romeo Buses – Mass Transportation Con Verve
Think Alfa Romeo and your mind’s eye will most likely conjure up a beautiful red roadster or lithesome coupe, both powered by a high-revving DOHC engine that is both powerful and visually a work of...
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Bus Stop Classics: 1999 – 2009 Optima Opus Urban Transit Coach – Short Ride
Our past few Bus Stop Classics have focused on older buses – those from four or five decades ago. Let’s move forward and look at a bus that is still hard at work carrying passengers today. This is...
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Bus Stop Classics: 1945 Dyson Landliner Bus – An Innovative Experiment from...
Here’s a very unique and technically interesting bus from our friends down under – it’s a Dyson Landliner and it plied the roads in Australia for several years back in the mid-to-late 1940’s. I’m sure...
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Car Show Classics: Toyota Classic Car Show in Tokyo Gaien
Each November, Toyota hosts a classic car show in downtown Tokyo in the Meiji Jingu Gaien complex, a series of parks, athletic fields, and museums in the central part of the city. Up until a few years...
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CC Outtake: 2003-05 Suzuki Twin – Would Make a Great Clown Car
I saw this spiffy Suzuki Twin parked at a Tokyo supermarket last weekend. I hadn’t paid much attention to these before, but after seeing this one, it just hit me that these would make great clown...
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QOTD: What’s Your Favorite Factory Wheel Design of the 1960’s?
In the decade of the 60’s, I was a Ford guy – just give me a ’69 Stang with a 428 Cobra Jet. But even being a Blue Oval fanatic, I always thought their cars had the least attractive factory wheels;...
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Bus Stop Classics: 1920 – 1975 Lancia Buses – Italian Flair
Several weeks ago we looked at buses built by Alfa Romeo – today, let’s review another storied Italian manufacturer better know for its svelte coupes, handsome sedans, and rip-snorting rally cars....
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Curbside Comparison: First Generation Mini and Mazda AZ Wagon – It’s a Small...
I haven’t been back to the US or to Europe in over 12 years, so I’m not sure if it’s the same there, but here on the streets of Tokyo, I see an original Mini at least once a day – often more than one....
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Bus Stop Classics: 1951 –’57 Pegaso Z-403 Monocasco Coach – Spanish Scenicrusier
While there were many “deck and a half” buses prior to the introduction of the General Motors PD 4501 Scenicruiser in 1954, it remains somewhat of an icon of the design. But there was a bi-level...
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Curbside Conundrum: The Confusing World of Japan’s Kei Cars
Over the past several years CC has reviewed a number of “kei jidosha” – the small minicar segment here in Japan. For new readers, this class of car sets below sub-compacts, and is limited by...
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Bus Stop Classics: 1955 – 1973 Ikarus 55/66 – The Bus Behind the Iron Curtain
Back in 2016, we reviewed the motor coach manufacturer Ikarus, based in Budapest Hungary. That post focused mainly on the company’s attempts to market its products in the US in the 1980’s and 90’s,...
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Curbside Outtake: 1973 – 80 Nissan Caravan (E20) – The Box the Toaster Came In
This mid-1970s Nissan Caravan has been roaming our suburban Tokyo neighborhood for several years. The owner had parked it in different locations but appears to have decided it’s a keeper and it has...
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CC Outtake: 2019 Mitsuoka Rock Star – Rockin’ to the Heartbeat of America
CC has looked at several models from Japanese niche manufacturer Mitsuoka. For those unfamiliar with the company, they make custom bodies that go over an existing OEM shell, which they then market...
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Bus Stop Classics: Flxible VistaLiner (VL) 100, Hi-Level, and FlxLiner – The...
Flxible is mostly remembered for its classic Clipper models of the 1950’s, but it also built some other well-regarded intercity coaches. Starting in 1954 through 1969, Flx manufactured and marketed...
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