Carspotting (Tarzana edition): Mazda FC RX-7

After a complimentary motel breakfast of bagel and banana, I took a stroll around the 'hood.  I spotted this Mazda last night on the walk back from dinner.  Luckily, it's still there and the rising sun is at just the right angle.

Carspotting: VW Phaeton 4-seater

This was spotted today off of Market Street in San Francisco.  In five months of Phaeton ownership, this is the fourth Phaeton I've seen.

Carspotting (Irvine Cars & Coffee edition)

ISO Grifo, Alfa SS, and a ???.

Photo courtesy F1Outsider.

Carspotting (Baku, Azerbaijan, edition): 1 of 20 GAZ 13 wagon

Frequent commenter Tarlan shared these wonderful photos.  One day, he decided to take a different route to work.  And what does he find behind a gas station?  This!  Approximately 20 GAZ 13 sedans were converted into wagons for ambulance and hearse duty (for the very powerful in the CCCP).  Another wagon in similar condition was selling recently for $50,000.

This will go up on Hooniverse on Wagon Wednesday.   Here is an example of a clean one.

Carspotting (San Francisco Outer Richmond edition)

After a week of continuous rain, the clouds parted and we went out yesterday.  We had lunch at Red Tavern, a neat Russian place.  We then walked about ten blocks to the Legion of Honor.  Despite living in the San Francisco Bay Area for 17 years, I had never been to that museum before.

These four American cars were parked near each other, so I suspect they all belong to the same guy. 

Sorry for the semi-NSFW picture.  Dang kids.

This Ranchero will be a Truck Thursday topic on Hooniverse.

Here's a bonus shot.

Carspotting: 1973 Ford Mustang Mach I

Get ready for a small flood of Carspotting posts.  I spotted this Mustang at a shopping center yesterday.  This will probably end up as the subject of a Fastback Friday post on Hooniverse.

Carspotting (Sebring edition)

F1 Outsider is at the race as we speak. This picture courtesy Mrs. F1O.

Carspotting (Ottoman edition): Tofas Kartal

When my non-car nut pal A. told me he was going on vacation in Turkey, I asked him to take some pictures of interesting cars for me.  He did not disappoint.

The internet is amazing.  A Google search of "kartal" (see rear liftgate) revealed that we are looking at a Tofas Kartal.

Tofas stands for Turk Otomobil Fabrikas Anonim Sirketi.  Founded in 1968, the company mostly builds Fiats under license.  This 1988-2003 Kartal (wagon) is based on a SEAT.  If this is a post-1996 model, then it came with a 1.6 liter, 96 horsepower engine from the Fiat Tempra.  Versions of this car were also built in Egypt and Ethiopia.

These cars were cheap, robust, and easy to maintain.  But as the Turkish market opened, higher quality imports led to this car's demise.

Carspotting: 1989 Acura Legend

This immaculate specimen will be the subject of a write-up on Hooniverse.  The owner really took care of this 23 year old car.