Curbside In The CD: This vehicle was the time machine in the movie Back to The Future before Michael J. Fox replaced Rick Schroeder in the lead role. Michael insisted on a DeLorean. What Michael wants, Michael gets. I believe this is an Oldsmobile sedan, let’s say mid ‘70s. The re-badging on the car would have us believe this is a Capissen 38. The themes seem to revolve around space travel and signal jamming. The burn marks around the jet motor and side thrusters look like this car has some actual flame effects! The fluids under the hood likely have not been checked since 1987, so this car should be a strong runner. Be sure to check out the photographs.

Curbside In The CD:

Thirty years ago this week, Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. He also drove this VW Camper Bus as commemorated by the picture in the rear window! I didn’t know the capsule atop the Apollo rocket was big enough to accommodate a VW Bus. Typically, motifs on vans are wizard or unicorn themed. The closest to a space theme you would expect to find on a VW Bus is a water color portrait of Jerry Garcia. And that is merely “spacey”. Be sure to flip through and enlarge the pictures in this article.

The air cooled motor provided NASA engineers with a host of problems, mainly the lack of air in space. I don’t see any Westfalia badgeing on the pop top, so this van likely had its camper conversion done on this side of the Atlantic and not at the Westfalia Werke in Germany. All I can tell is that this van is 1973 or later. VW experts chime in on the comments and give us the correct year. How did the Smithsonian let this slip through their fingers?

Curbside In The CD: I pass this car every day but hesitated photographing because I did not want to upset the proud owner. In the year or so I’ve lived in the CD, I have not seen this ship of the streets move. The tabs are current and the car looks to be in excellent condition. So either the owner has lost the desire to drive it or it may need some simple tune-uppy items to get it rolling again. How many of you have sheepishly walked up to the home of this car’s owner and made an offer?

What we have here is a 1969 (maybe 1970) Cadillac Sedan de Ville. I don’t need to look into the crystal ball of Wikipedia to sprinkle some data in this article because I once owned a 1969 de Ville! It came with a 472 cubic inch motor that generated nearly 400 horsepower. That’s 7.7 liters Central Districtonians; forget about those Chrysler 300Ms with 22 inch rims and Buick Regals because nothing on the road is this awesome. This car does not have a B-pillar either, so you had a wide open space with all the windows rolled down. I drove mine very tenderly because I did not want to break anything. This soft driving returned fuel mileage of 12 to 14 mpg. Not too bad for a car that has the equivalent of 4 Toyota Corolla motors.

This de Ville has a parking pass to Andrews Air Force base in Maryland. That is where the Government keeps Air Force One. Maybe this car was driven by the highest ranking general of all time or the pilot of the plane that flew Nixon to China.

Welcome to Curbside In The CD, where remarkable daily drivers are celebrated when I can catch them with my camera.

I’ve seen this potential trike of Count Dracula parked near a local church several times over the last couple months. Perhaps the Count is repenting his blood sucking ways. . . . Reliable sources tell us in the Central District not to be fooled by the Illinois license plates; this Reaper of the Road is here to stay. This trike is a conversion kit affair with a Volkswagen 1600cc motor in the back, including the four speed transmission and running gear. It comes luxuriously equipped with an AM/FM cassette player and nice passenger accommodations behind the pilot’s seat for one large girl or two small girls. Plus it has both a wheelie bar and trailer hitch! Keeping the Count prepared for any weekend plan.

Welcome to Curbside In The CD, where vintage steel is celebrated.

Typically, when a warlord takes over a third world nation, he does so at the wheel (or 50 caliber gun position in the bed) of a Toyota 4×4 pickup. But that is not the way it is done in the Central District! We attack in a 1973 Jeep Commando. Plenty of room for your vice presidente and gear. The 5 liter V8 in this Jeep produced a 210 horsepower wallop that will outrun any Soviet tank. And the bumper mounted winch ensures that no evil deed is left undone.

I know this one moves because it changes position on the street on a weekly basis. Whoa! Does that emblem on the front quarter panel clearly say “4 Wheel Drive”? Now Jeep (Chrysler, AMC, Cerebus, Daimler, who knows) over the last two decades has created a needlessly complicated matrix of driveline nomenclature: CommandTrak, InstaTrak, SelecTrak. Good grief. The remaining Jeep Commandos on the road today are still a security risk for all faltering dictatorships.