Spotted... GAZ-46

On the occasion of May 9 -- V-Day here in Russia....

... they are driving some curious vehicles today.

This one was spotted by me whilst in a line at a McDonald's drive-through.

It appears to be a GAZ-46 or some other such amphibious vehicle.

However the propeller appears to be removed.

Clarkson Not Bad

Seen today on an unwashed Volvo 740

This is the culprit, a Volvo 740 (I believe)

Spotted...Renault 4

Moscow Cars spotting...

Spotted today is this Renault 4!

Renault 4... production ended all the way back in 1992.  

Car is more than 23 years old at least, if my arithmetic is correct.

Still earning its keep as a light commercial vehicle for some beauty parlor.

Volvo 240 GL Injection

Another rarity spotted...

Volvo 240 GL

Look, it has all the badges - Volvo 240 GL injection

Toyota bB

Seen today in Moscow Cars is this exciting thing.

Obviously a Kei Car and a Toyota bB in particular, but it also appears to be lowered, has some custom panels, bumper and skirts and there's not a single badge on this thing which makes identification difficult.

Overall if you know of the Toyota bB you'll have no problem identifying this car as one.

There are other similar cars by Japanese manufacturers.

The white granules all around car are salt and grit -- the stuff they throw onto roads and pavements to make the snow and ice go away and not to have to clean it.

Lada 112 1.5l 16v GLI

This is my car spotting post in both my Moscow Cars and Lada Love series of posts.

I saw this Lada 112 hatchback recently.

There's no grille, just a slot... which I like as I somehow decided that I like grille-less cars (typically of the 1990s) more than the gaping maws all cars seem to have now - which are fake too for the most part because no way the engine needs that big an opening in the front end.

Overall, its style is dated of course.

However some think that it is unique. 

And I certainly think so too but it does seem to be on the clumsy or even ugly side of things, especially at first, but then it sort of grows on you and you begin to appreciate and even like it. 

I should know as I actually honed my then newly acquired driving skills in a Lada 112.

The fifth door has a spoiler.

Actually it is the spoiler that makes it possible to identify the car as a much rarer (and earlier) version - a 21120 with the 21120 engine, 1.5l 16 valve GLI... where GLI stands for Grand Luxe Injector no less. They had this spoiler and are pretty rare. This is the first time I saw one.

But most, especially later, versions had a different and much more prominent spoiler, and are more common, still to be seen daily in Moscow, though production ceased in 2008. 

I had a lot of driving time in the latter version and I remember the spoiler could really hide a car behind you. You are driving relaxed, you look in the rear view mirror behind you -- and there's nothing there -- then just 20 seconds later a car is breezing past you. Where did it come from? - From behind the spoiler thing.

And a nice promo picture from years back (borrowed from here). The front end. It is a sedan version (Lada 110) but it's the same as the Lada 112 has.

Instrument cluster & center stack.

DIM: Lincoln Town Car 2 Gen

My DIM - Detroit Iron in Moscow series continues...

Today's full-sized car is a Lincoln Town Car 2nd Generation spotted and photographed by me in Moscow in August last year.

As usual back yards, side roads and narrow alleyways is the places to go to if you want to find these beasts in Moscow.

Lincoln Town Car 2nd Generation 1990-97 in black.

 Looks clean and in good shape.

Spotted in Moscow: VW Karmann Ghia (+ bonus: Mercedes-Benz W111)

To continue my Moscow Car series.

Spotted today in Moscow is this VW Karmann Ghia.

Two tone -- orange body, black roof, not sure if original scheme, Type 14, if I am not mistaken.

Orange looks good on a snowless grayish winter day.

GAZ-21 Volga Car x 3

Starting a new car spotting series of posts on my blog -- Moscow Cars -- all interesting cars spotted and photographed by me as I go about my daily business here in Moscow where I am based.

To begin with, three GAZ-21 Volga cars, iconic Soviet cars. 

Truth to tell, they are not daily drivers -- I spotted them on a movie shoot in November 2014 -- the same one I photographed this Lincoln Town Cars 1st Gen.

Members of the public are watching movie people shooting a movie, and I am shooting period cars.

Volga GAZ-21, Third Series.

The Volga Third Series fascia ... quite different from that of the Second Series, see below. 

Whalebone grille, no deer hood ornament, the bumper without guards ("fangless" as it is known in Russia) whose bottom is painted the color of the body.

Detroit Iron in Moscow - Lincoln Town Car 1st Generation

Continuing with my DIM -- Detroit Iron in Moscow series which is a series of posts where I do a bit of car spotting and photograph "Detroit iron" in Moscow -- i.e. full-size American automobiles that I see on Moscow streets, lanes and especially in back yards whilst not specifically looking for them.

Spotted today is this Lincoln Town Car.

This one is first generation and towards the end of it. Not the first Lincoln Town Car on this series but the first one first gen. 

 

To be fair, I spotted this one not on a street per se, not in traffic, not in a Moscow high-rise back yard (where most of them seem to have congregated so far) but on some kind of historic movie shoot, not far from the Kremlin actually.

Though the Lincoln appears to be out of keeping with the other cars on the shoot which are 1960-70s Volgas, Pobedas etc. Maybe the movie guys are trying to pass it for a much earlier car but it is clearly from the late 1980s. 

Shot through the passenger front window.

What's the movie going to be about? We see the Lincoln cornered aggressively into a tight spot by a 1950s M-20 Pobeda and a 1970s GAZ 21 Volga. No escape.