FYI: I'm getting one assertive billy-goat station wagon!!

[elagache]

Dear WeatherCat automotive enthusiasts,

40 years ago today, we rented a large truck and moved all our large belongings from our first house of 12 years to this house.  The family has resided here ever since.  August 15th, 1980 left quite an impression upon all of us - never had the whole family ended up so exhausted after one day!

Before the big day, we were busy moving all the smaller items.  Of course a station wagon was ideal for this service so Biquette had a busy summer even if her engine wasn't working right after the first rebuild.  Here is a picture taken in mid-July of 1980 with Biquette on the driveway of our "new" house:



It was a busy summer after my first year of college, and to complicate matters, my Dad was frequently away on business trips.  This would figure into a particular heroic bit of moving that Biquette was inadvertently forced into.  My Dad had a particularly large and heavy desk.  Here is a picture of it:



This desk should have waited for the rental truck, but for some reason it was decided that it should be moved beforehand.  Dad was away on business, so it fell upon me and the rest of the family to move the desk.  As soon as I tried, I could see that there was no way to get the desk to fit inside Biquette - it was too big for a mid-sized wagon:



Still, there was a huge problem.  Biquette was the only car we had until 1978.  The desk had come to our old house, somehow Biquette must have carried it.  Finally, having found no other solution, I took a chance and lashed the desk to the tailgate.  It was plenty rough, but the desk arrived safely and Biquette had once more come through.

When Dad returned from his business trip we found out how the desk had arrived to our old house.  It turned out that a friend had helped us out with his pickup truck!  So as it turned out, Biquette hadn't brought the desk in the first place.  Nonetheless, she managed to move the desk to our new house!  That was just one of her duties that summer as a beast of burden.  She has continued to show how versatile station wagons can be and how rugged cars from the 1960s are.

It may seem like I am spoiling her a bit these days, but if so, it is in part out of some guilty feelings for what I put this car through!

Cheers, Edouard   

[Blicj11]

Great story, good photos, another fine post to this amazing thread. Thanks for sharing.

[elagache]

Dear mid-60s Buick caregivers,

My trusty wagon is back at Orinda Classic Car Center to get a few issues checked.  There was a 1964 Buick Riviera on the premises so I was able to capture this quick snapshot of a mid-60s Buick reunion:



Outside of Buick-specific car shows, it is getting rare for a mid-60s Buick to meet another Buick of the same vintage.

Cheers, Edouard   

[Blicj11]

That Riviera looks like a boat. Had forgotten cars used to be large.

[BikerGeek]

What a great picture of two beautiful Detroit classics.

[elagache]

Dear Blick, BikerGeek, and WeatherCat automotive enthusiasts,

That Riviera looks like a boat. Had forgotten cars used to be large.

Well now, I'll have you know that my trusty wagon is only a mid-sized!  It turns out that is one of the challenges in my greedy scheme to pull a vintage travel trailer.  Biquette isn't all that heavy while the trailer she would be pulling would outweigh her when fully loaded.

As it turns out, Buick Riviera's are "boats of the roads" as a kind of nickname.  This comes from the boattail design of the 1973-75 Rivieras:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buick_Riviera#Third_generation_(1971%E2%80%931973)

What a great picture of two beautiful Detroit classics.

Thanks!    Actually, I just took the photo with my venerable iPhone 6 while dodging the cars that were being moved around the shop!

Cheers, Edouard 

[xairbusdriver]

Had forgotten cars used to be large.

I believe the term used rhymed with "large"... Something like land "barge"? Actually, they were designs a bit ahead of their time. They already made use of "crumple zones". They just needed to tweak where to put them.

[elagache]

Dear WeatherCat automobile enthusiasts,

We are experiencing the first major "off-shore wind" event of the 2020 autumn season.  For those of you not familiar with the term, these are the weather conditions that have contributed to the worst wild fires in terms of loss of life and property in California.  These winds blowing in from inland are very hot and dry, so fire concerns aside, it is best to stay indoors with the air conditioner running at full-blast.

Knowing this was expected, last Friday I snuck out with my trusty wagon to pick up a few items at a local shopping center.  After loading the car, I noted that the effect of sun and shadow were unique.  Once more all I had was my iPhone 6, but I managed this shot:



It is in a way bittersweet.  The foreground of green lawn and healthy trees is the California I grew up with.  The bleached hill in the background is what California has become.  It speaks volumes of how little we really understand about what should be important to us.

Cheers, Edouard

[elagache]

Dear WeatherCat automotive enthusiasts,

Arguably it is 2 months late, but autumn finally has arrived in Northern California.  With the cooler weather, my trusty wagon is getting a bit more use.  Recently, I took this picture in the parking lot of a local office building:



Incidentally, this is the first photo I took with my new 2020 iPhone SE.  My previous iPhone 6 was starting to suffer from a worn battery and I really wanted the older controls on my iPhone.  Particularly since COVID, having the home button and being able to unlock my phone with my thumb instead of visual recognition seemed highly desirable.  I don't use my phone all that much, so avoiding all the additional complexity of the iOS was also very desirable. 

Back at the end of April, I had decided I should upgrade.  It shows how busy I've gotten that didn't manage to get around to it until November!  I had hoped to write up something of a review, but Thanksgiving looms large and I still haven't gotten around to it so . . . . . . I suppose that won't happen either!

Such are da' conditions that prevail for da' trusty wagon and owner! . . . . .

Cheers, Edouard 

P.S. At least the important stuff was resolved.  I have successfully got the new iPhone to communicate to the Bluetooth stereos in our senior Buick (1965 Buick Special) and our junior Buick (2000 Buick Century.)  So the music keeps playing on! . . . .

[Blicj11]

I am excited for your new iPhone opportunities and always love an update on the Buick. We owned a Buick once, a 1978 Skylark, which was based on the Chevy Nova. We sold it to some people who needed to pay half now, half later, and later never came to their house.

#GiveThanks I am grateful we could do without the other half and never held a grudge.

[BikerGeek]

Beautiful Autumn picture of your Buick.

[elagache]

Dear Blick, BikerGeek, and WeatherCat automotive enthusiasts,

Thanks!  I hope I'll be able to get my wagon out more.  However, I'm leery around holidays.  It was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving 2010 that a German sports sedan plowed into Biquette, doing a fair amount of damage.  Even then, getting replacement parts was a desperate struggle.  Wagons aren't particularly collectable, so their parts are especially hard to find.  Caution seems the better part of valor in this case.

. . . . We owned a Buick once, a 1978 Skylark, which was based on the Chevy Nova.
. . . .

Sorry about the dubious sale, but glad there are no grudges!  We ended up buying a very similar 1976 Buick Skylark 2-door that was 2 years old.  It wasn't a very practical car for a family, but we hung on to it anyway and basically ran it into the ground by the 1990s.  In those days, they seemed hardly collectable, but today you can find restoration parts - believe it or not!  That car has a special place in the story of Biquette.  Because we had a second car, we could without Biquette for the 6 months while her engine was being rebuilt in 1979.  Otherwise, we probably would have been forced to trade-in Biquette for a newer car.  Such are the twists of vehicle ownership!

Cheers, Edouard 

[elagache]

Dear WeatherCat fans of a certain rascally wagon,

At our house, it is a long standing tradition that the cars get washed and waxed twice a year.  Alas, between COVID, Public Safety Power Shutoffs, and other miseries, this chore is getting more and more squeezed.  I managed to wash and wax our daily drivers, but there isn't time to wax my trusty wagon.  Still, I decided to squeeze in a wash and apply fresh tire dressing.  Once I did that, I got Biquette on the road to dry her off and on the way back I took some pictures at the Moraga Barn:



Here is the passenger side:



California is basically back in another round of COVID lock-down, so Biquette isn't likely to move much for the foreseeable future.  Still, when she does get out at least she will look her best!

Cheers, Edouard 

[elagache]

Dear WeatherCat fans of a certain rascally wagon,

Biquette made what will most likely be her last outing for this year.  She played Santa's sleigh for the delivery of Christmas cards and a cookie basket to Orinda Motors.  While she was there I took this quick photo of her parked next to the Orinda Motors station wagon:



There is a smell of burning rubber that I finally spotted to be in the vicinity of the back of the exhaust header on the passenger side.  It could be nothing more than an oil leak that I was already aware of.  Still, between that and the insane traffic that is even worse thanks to COVID, I think she'll send the rest of the year safe in the garage.  We'll see if it safe to come out after the first.

Cheers, Edouard 

[xairbusdriver]

...You're sure that the smell wasn't from a little further back? About three and a half feet either side of the differential?

When are you getting your 'centerline' stripes?!