J.W. Burleson photo / Boquillas del Carmen, Coah.

PHB

My photo
Brooklin, Maine, United States
We own a 1975 GMC Sierra Grande 15 in Maine and a 1986 Chevrolet Custom Deluxe 10 in West Texas. Also a pair of 1997 Volvo 850 wagons. Average age in the fleet is 28 years--we're recycling. I've published 3 novels: THE LAW OF DREAMS (2006), THE O'BRIENS (2012), and CARRY ME (2016). Also 2 short story collections: NIGHT DRIVING(1987) and TRAVELLING LIGHT (2013). More of my literary life is at www.peterbehrens.org I was a Fellow at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study for 2012-13. I'm an adjunct professor at Colorado College and in the MFA program at Queens University of Charlotte. In 2015-16 I was a Fellow at Harvard University's Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. The Autoliterate office is in Car Talk Plaza in Harvard Square, 2 floors above Dewey Cheatem & Howe. SUBSCRIBE TO THE AUTOLITERATE DAILY EMAIL by hitting the button to the right.

Tuesday, April 23, 2024

GMC Vandura 4x4



From Reid Cunningham: I caught this 4-wheel-drive van conversion at the Lowes in Amherst NH. A good vehicle for picking up everything you need for a big project in one trip. Most of the conversions I've seen are either window passenger vans or campers. This was a utility van, but maybe it's destined to be a camper once the rust is repaired. My guess is late 80's or early 90's.

AL: For comparison, a 1980 GMC Rally STX van, in Banff.. and here's another 4x4 van from New Hampshire, set up as a shooting brake.

Monday, April 22, 2024

1951 Chevrolet Sedan Delivery, etc., vicinity Grasslands N.P.


From Alex Emond, working pleine aire in southwest Saskatchewan/southeast Alberta last week, close by Grasslands National Park:
"Some drive-bys...the Chevrolet Sedan Delivery is a rare beast. (AL: Here's another s-d, from N.California) Most of them were worked hard, and used up, but this one,  in Bassano , Alberta. still has a future . 
"The I.H. truck , circa mid 40's, was in Lafleche, SK (And a while back, Alex found this original  1940 International Model D tucked away in a barn in (Unrevealed) Saskatchewan.
Speaking of grasslands...here's John Newlove's poem, Ride Off Any Horizon...

...Alberta plates on the '58 Chevrolet Biscayne, which happens to be AL's preferred 50s Chevy vintage. (Seen this '58 Chevrolet Del Ray sleeper?)


...then there was that buffalo Alex painted. We posted the model  a while back. 

Sunday, April 21, 2024

1973 Triumph TR6

 


From Michael Moore, in the East Bay: The driver was as natty as the car, and said he bought it new in ’73, right out of college. Always garaged, never repainted, didn’t drive it for many of those years…now has a stable of other exotics, but this is all cute and original. (AL: we caught a TR6 in Center Harbor last summer, and that post has links to others.




Saturday, April 20, 2024

1963 Chevrolet Bel Air 409

 
We love a sleeper. This one is on the block at Hemmings.


                                                          

Friday, April 19, 2024

Interior Styling c. 1956

 
                                                                                    







Thursday, April 18, 2024

1967 Volkswagen Type 1, Tuscany

 

Henry Behrens photographs. Here's an MG-TD we posted from Italy a while back. I learned about and never forgot the MG-TD and MG-TC while reading Don Stanford's The Red Car when I was 10 or 11. Still a great book; seems impossible, or crazy expensive, to find--though you can stream a copy for free on Open Library. A few year ago, we posted a TC  for sale at Olympian Cars. But, to return to the subject at hand, which is Volkswagens: here's a piece on Carl Hahn, who made the Beetle huge.









Tuesday, April 16, 2024

1967 Jaguar Mark II 3.8 Saloon, New Hampshire

 

From Reid Cunningham: On the way to a work event, I came across a small repair/restoration/sales auto business that specializes in British cars.  Brit Bits is in Rye NH.  I'm including pictures of a vintage Jaguar that was for sale, out front, and then (later posts) a random selection of cars in various states of repair or decay next to the shop.  I appreciated how ecumenical they are when it comes to British cars: they had MG's, Jaguars and Triumphs. Also a TVR and a Rover!