October 2023 - fall, pumpkins, Halloween, and, of course, cars to spot

[trinacriabob]

I saw a lot of cars this month, as I was in Eastern Canada and their cars are about the same, but some are a little different.

October 4 - Saguenay fjord (port) / Chicoutimi, QC

Another ~20-year-old Olds Alero with some rust still delivering the goods and parked at the port of this now more publicized destination in Quebec; 

I was walking around the port and saw this Pontiac Wave parked on a hill on someone's lawn.  I wonder if it still ran.  They didn't bring the Wave to the U.S., but possibly featured it here as the Pontiac G3.  Either way, Canada sure took to Pontiac.

Edited October 31, 2023 by trinacriabob

[trinacriabob]

October 5

Quebec City

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Camaro convertible driving along the side of Notre-Dame basilica in the Old Quebec city area

Porsche (you tell me what kind)

Limo - looks like a stretch Lincoln of some kind

- 1  Any car with the old school pop-up headlamps (especially if they work) gets my attention

- 2  This is a view from the rear

- 3  The owner was around and was fairly excited I knew about this car and was asking questions about it ... he told me it is used when the weather is good ... as you can see, it has a manual transmission.  It's a good thing I took French in high school because it's like riding a bicycle and it seems to come back.  My dad wanted me to take Latin.  Who could I speak Latin with?

Nissan 240 (I'd almost forgotten about these)

 

1 - this appears to be the Model S, which is okay looking

2 - This appears to be model Ugly, and possibly what I may have driven for a short while

All I needed was to see 2 Teslas in Old Quebec within 5 minutes of each other ... NOT

Edited October 31, 2023 by trinacriabob

[trinacriabob]

Oct 7

Sainte-Anne de Beaupre

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Here is the timeless Chrysler 300 in the parking lot of the canyon with the falls that is worth a visit

Here is a limo at the impressive basilica I never knew about which is a tourist destination and worth seeing. I am hoping this was for a wedding, given that it's more white than black.

[trinacriabob]

October 9

Montreal, QC 

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So I'm walking down a street on the Plateau Mont-Royal and I see a car I love.  As I try to frame the photo, I see a car I hate across the street and beyond.  I think you'll be able to figure out which car is which.

I wouldn't mind having a nice, newer Buick Verano stuffed into a Christmas stocking with my name on it.

If anything, walking around the Plateau and seeing all the townhomes/condos/flats with the unique wrought iron spiral staircases is alone worth doing

[trinacriabob]

October 10

Montreal, QC

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The Smart car brand pulled out of the U.S. market, but I'm not sure if they pulled out of Canada.  I saw quite a few of them.

Not to be crass, but there's a cheeky bumper sticker about "pulling out," hinting that some people should not pass on their stupidity.

Smart cars have (had) a palette that goes on and on with weird colors and color combinations.  They drive and ride better than they look.  Their storage capacity is awful but parking them in congested or compact areas is a piece of cake.

[trinacriabob]

October 12

Montreal, QC

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I was checking out the park with the point that juts into some white water in the St. Lawrence River near Habitat 67, which was built for their famous Expo of that year.  

I was indifferent to Hyundai products for years, but, after having rented them and seeing so many still on the road, I've come to respect the brand.

This is an older Accent - their entry level car - that is still serving its owner in a relatively cold climate.  It was a coupe with no A/C IIRC, a stick, and manual windows.

Here's a photo I looked up of Habitat 67, which are expensive condos or apartments near the port of Montreal.  I could learn to shovel snow and like the cold if someone gave me the deed to one of these units.

[trinacriabob]

October 14

Montreal, QC

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I was surprised to see this pimped out late '60s Chevy full-size driving through the narrower streets of Old Montreal blasting some music.  It was sort of obnoxious. I looked back for the plates and couldn't see if it was a local car or a car that came up from the States.  This is the sort of thing you're more likely to see in California, Florida, or Texas.  

This makes for a great trifecta - this BMW with strange paint and yellow calipers, McDonald's, and a port-a-potty.

I'm guessing this is an old school Rolls Royce pulling away from one of the court or tribunal buildings in Old Montreal and, here, someone was definitely getting married.

[trinacriabob]

October 25

sadly, the trip is over and I'm back home

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Here is a new Buick Encore or Envista in Avenir trim (see door badging) in a nicer color and sporting the new Buick emblem

 

If this is a Dodge, and I think it is, it would be a Polara.  If it were a Plymouth, then it's a Fury.  These were consummate land yachts, mostly hit with the ugly stick, and particularly unusual in coupe form.

[trinacriabob]

October 27

local sighting(s)

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"Absence makes the heart grow fonder" more so than "out of sight, out of mind."  Looking back, these little Skylarks from the early '90s were cool.  Buick took some liberties with their swoopy styling that also made its way into their unique dashboards.  They came with a couple of 4-cylinder engines, such as the fairly decent 2.2L I-4, and possibly the Iron Duke 2.5 I-4 at the beginning of the run.  However, getting one with the 3300 Buick V6 would have been even better.  The engines hooked up to simple 3 speed and 4 speed automatic transaxles.  These would have been on the same platform as the Grand Am, and possibly something along the lines of the weird Olds Achieva, so, in this platform and in those years, Buick ruled the roost.

[trinacriabob]

Multiple sightings of Chargers

October 13 - Montreal, QC

I see these whenever I'm in town and they belong to STM (their transit system) and are for the "constable special" (which is FR that also works in EN).  They're cool:  white, no spoiler, and, most likely, AWD

October 10 - Saint-Sauveur (in the Laurentians), QC

I had parked my rental car and then saw this specimen that was EXAXCTLY how I would have ordered a Dodge Charger, minus the AWD.

*sigh*

[trinacriabob]

Mutliple sightings of Firebirds/Trans Ams

October 9 - Montreal, QC

Here's a black pre-New Millennium Trans Am in near perfect condition.  I really liked these when they were being sold, and after that, too.  I don't know which V8 sits under the hood (Wiki is your friend), but this was the platform into which they put an Iron Duke 4 cyl. into the most basic model for buyers wanting a lower price point and lower operating costs.  (Those said "fuel injection" on the door handles!)  More Montreal staircases up to flats, too.

October 13 - Montreal, QC

Here's another great looking Trans Am in red - not my color for any car - but it's in impressive shape.

[trinacriabob]

Does this Spark your interest?  Maybe not.

Multiple sightings of Chevy Sparks

October 4 - Saguenay fjord (port), QC

A local lady said it was okay for me to photograph her car in front of the QM2, beyond, moored at the Port of Saguenay.

October 5 - Quebec City, QC

Dang, these units are popular in Canada.  I saw a lot of them.

October 13 - Mont-Tremblant (near Saint-Jovite sector), QC

Will you look at this?  Two used Sparks for sale bookending a Buick Verano for sale.  Kudos to this area for liking GM cars.

I "met" this dealership a long time ago.  The last version of the Grand Prix was fresh at the time and they had one on the floor or lot in the metallic orange/rust color.  These would have been the very first year - with the trunk lock and the geometric patterned interior fabrics more suited to a Renault Twingo that they dumped the following year.  I learned that the French word for cloth (interior) would be tessut(s). 

I couldn't find a photo with that strange interior, but this was the color of the car.

I missed out on not sitting behind this dashboard for a good number of years.  It's one of my all-time favorites.  I really believe GM could have kept a slot for Pontiac in their line-up.

October 22 - local car seen while shopping (U.S.)

This is what was obviously one of their funky colors - Toasted Marshmallow.  You can tell this car aimed at a younger audience with its unusual colors and low price point.  So long, Chevy Spark.

 

[David]

11 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

October 5

Quebec City

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Limo - looks like a stretch Lincoln of some kind

This reminds me as I watched an old movie that I like, the original Hitman where the president of Russia is assassinated and they are driving him around in a stretch Lincoln. Made me crack up considering that is not what Russia would have allowed for their own president when they have their own auto company brand to use.

Great Movie - Hitman (2007) - IMDb

That is a stretch Lincoln MKT produced from 2010 to 2019.