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.

Friday, July 31, 2015

Workaholic 1987 GMC K30

Ex-military truck. There was that brief interval, between the jeep/power wagon era and the humvee, when the US Army ran a lot of GM product.  The diamond plate boxes come from a welders' supply store. The truck comes to Maine from the Florida panhandle.


Thursday, July 30, 2015

1963 Mercedes Benz O319D Bus

It looks like a very clean, sorted-out original. It's in the other Portland and for sale on ebay. Find out more on B-A-T. Those Benz vans always had character, like the blocky 207d we caught in the Netherlands a few years back.

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

1951 Chevrolet 5-window: the road to Belfast (Maine)

On the road, Maine Route 3,  from Augusta to Belfast. Hectic with summer traffic because it's one of the ways people from Away get to Acadia National Park. I was still within Augusta when I saw  a '55 Chevrolet 150 parked out front of a house, for sale, and when I stopped the owner showed me this handsome truck. The deep green, a factory shade, reads black in these photos. Very clean truck, and the owner said it was a Maine original, from Eagle Lake, which is up in The County. Would certainly lose those wide whites, though. 
We admire Advanced Design Chevys. A 5-window was up for auction a while back.





Tuesday, July 28, 2015

1989 Volkswagen Vanagon Syncro Doka

 For sale in NJ on ebay. Mileage just under 48k. Fin out more on B-A-T


Yard Dogs at Goldenrod Garage


1968 Chrysler New Yorker
At Goldenrod Garage in Freeport there are the cars that sleep inside, then there are the yard dogs . These cars can be cosmetically rough but they seem complete.



1950 Chevrolet Deluxe
 1960 Oldsmobile
 1964 Mercury Commuter wagon
 1960 Ford Country Squire

Monday, July 27, 2015

1977 Ford 4x4

Eric Baier saw it for sale, side of the road, Forestdale, Vermont. "Ford 4X4, granny gear, dual gas tanks, runs strong, inquire at house"  1977?

1958 Porsche 356 convertible

This may be an old truck blog, but this is no old truck. I'm lucky enough to see it around town all summer. Zoom zoom.


Sunday, July 26, 2015

LL Bean's bootmobile & Jimmy Steele's peapod.

Bean boots (formerly the Maine Hunting Shoe, aka DUCK BOOTS) went crazy popular last year, in a sort of frenzied-Japanese teenager way.  I hear they were back-ordered for months. Bean warily booted up production, figuring the hotness wouldn't last. They've been there before, riding the trend wave. It comes and it goes. I remember another phase of duck boot  hyper-hipness @1980.
I think I recognize a Dodge (or is that Ram?) under there.
In Maine, the rubber heels of worn-out duck boots are often used as bumpers/fenders at the bow and stern of a Peapod. Now, you know what a Peapod is, right? And you know that Jimmy Steele, of Brooklin, Maine built some classics of the genre.

Saturday, July 25, 2015

Ex-Targa Newfoundland 1970 Volvo 142 GT


This car could work as a driver and, with a few safety updates, as a contemporary rally car. Targa Newfoundland? This era Volvo were bruisers. Contemporary V's are overloaded with Chinese leather and backup cameras, but they were once the defintive plainjane set of wheels. This car's up on ebay, bidding ends today. Find out more on B-A-T.

1959 Edsel Under Wraps


A work-in-progress at Goldenrod Garage in Freeport Maine. Neil always has a bunch of cars for sale. There are the cars kept in cold storage,  the trailer queens in a heated shed---and the yard dogs, below. The 1960 Ford and the '63 Mercury are both wagons.

Friday, July 24, 2015

1954 International Harvester 3/4 ton, La Veta CO

from Michael S Moore who caught a nice old I-H grumbling by in downtown La Veta, Colorado. AE caught the 1-ton edition up in Saskatchewan a while back.

Thursday, July 23, 2015

1966 Ford f100 4x4 V8 4-speed

The last year of the body style. This Washington State truck is coming up for auction on ebay. Find out more at Bring-a-Trailer. The seller claims everything works, except the right-turn signal.
We've posted a bunch of these trucks on AL, not many as well-outfitted as this one. Here's one in Ventura CA. And a short-bed edition in Miami.  And a plainjane in Colorado Springs.
 Original 380.
Not many 4x4s of this era extant. The color is way too popular, but...

1949 3/4 ton Studebaker

 It is a handsome/ugly thing and original. For sale at Motorland in Arundel, Maine. I saw it on a blazing heatwave of a day. From Arundel, I headed for Goose Rocks Beach and a swim in the sea.




Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Irish Rovers

 from Guido Goluke, biking in the west of Ireland:
"Here's a little swb Land Rover for you, spotted in Westport, Co. Mayo. Windy for the cyclist on tour but very scenic. Best, G"

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Plainjane 1953 Chevrolet 150

Alex Emond found  the plainjane for sale in Connecticut, on Hemmings. Your basic model. No gewgaws and very clean.  Our kind of car.

Monday, July 20, 2015

Flawless '55 (Bulyboy in Banff)

from Alex Emond: "Here's a "summer car" for you. Flawless '55 Chevy.  I'd give it a couple of coats of black primer, let the dogs do a little shedding on the diamond-tufted seats and go car camping for a month .  Really nice set of wheels , but just too damn perfect. "-AE  



Sunday, July 19, 2015

Marfans



These from Eric Baier shooting in Marfa. So much light in West Tex this time of year. B&W gives it a different slant. These cars look to me like they're in jail.