Cars in the Park, Plymouth Muscle Cars, July 2, 2011

Plymouth Road Runner Superbird




1970 Plymouth Superbird. The facts from the sign beside the car: 34,000 miles. Options: Six Pack, 4-speed, Rally dash, bucket seats, Rally Wheels. One of 1,920 built to meet NASCAR criteria of two cars per dealership. Body modifications: nose pierce, rear roofline rear wing, air ducts on front fender.




A-maz-ing!


1970 Plymouth GTX 410 4 barrel. Other facts: pistol grip 4 speed w/console; Track Pak (Dana 3.54); air grabber fresh air hood, hood-mounted turn signal indicators, lime light green paint, Performance Hood Paint, white side stripes, chrome exhaust tips.










Plymouth Road Runner Convertible, I didn't get the year. The article lists the Road Runner as a muscle car.

1973 Plymouth Barracuda. I have forgotten the exact name of the color of this one, but it seems like it was candy wineberry red, something like that anyway. It sure looks good.


1964 Plymouth Sport Fury, 426 HEMI Engine, 4 Barrel Carburetor, 4 Speed 3.54 Gears, Dana 60 Rear.




Interior and dash.


Logo.


Another logo.


The front end. By the way, the Plymouth Sport Fury is listed in the Wikipedia muscle car article as a muscle car with this particular engine.


1963 Plymouth Belvedere




The shiny black paint reflects the pavement very well.


See the push buttons on the dash? It's a push button automatic transmission. In the Wikipedia muscle car article, several years of the Belvedere 426S are listed as muscle cars but not the 1963.

Guess where I ate dinner after work on Friday? 3 Doors Down Cafe, SE 37th and Hawthorne

The cocktail--a New Old Fashioned with house-made dried maraschino cherries, muddled orange, angostura bitters, sugar and bourbon (Evan Williams Black Label). I took the photo in available light.


OK, so you know, my older son Lamont is sous chef at 3 Doors Down Cafe. He brought me this salad which is on the menu right now as accompaniment to pan-roasted King salmon and parsley red potatoes. It's made of julienne zucchini, arugula and lemon--very good taste and texture. I used the flash for this photo.


About half way through the salad, this appetizer appeared in front of me--grilled artichoke with lemon aioli. It was finger-lickin' good, let me tell you! This photo uses available light.


And here's my entree, sweet corn risotto with heirloom cherry tomato and basil salad. All I can say is, thank goodness I decided to forego the bread and bean spread, because that meant I could enjoy every bit of this dish fresh, as intended by the kitchen. Think about it, creamy parmesan-flavored risotto mixed with individual kernels of sweet corn that sort of snap as you chew. Mix that every now and then with a bite of sweet, juicy cherry tomato. My goodness! Used available light here, too.

Saturday Lunch: Violetta at Director Park

Found this at their Web site: Violetta at Director Park. serves Portland's Fastest Slow Food in the beautiful Director Park.

After taking lots and lots of photos of the Multnomah Hot Rod Council's cars at Cars in the Park, I found myself very, very hungry for a good lunch. I walked the few blocks to Violetta and ordered their Violetta Burger (minus the super dills and cheese and bacon--next time I'll get the bacon and the cheese, but I just do not like dill pickles) ...


... and the hand cut Yukon Gold fries, small order. Can't resist showing you the close-up of those fries. Oh, my, but they were crunchy so that they felt so fine while being chewed, and the flavor, well it just sort of melted out of them onto my tongue. Whew. What a memory!

Suffice it to say that lunch, every single bite, tasted divine, just right, perfect, enticing. Here are a few more photos.






I will return and soon!

And if I were you, I'd click on their Web site and take a look at their menu.

Cars in the Park, Ford Muscle Cars, July 2, 2011

1967 Ford Mustang Fastback. It is candy apple red--I asked the owner. There's a sign in the grill that says 427 Stroker.


He told me that when the sun hits it just right, it sort of glows. I think it looks pretty good here in the shade.


A couple of hours later, more sunshine, and it does seem to glow.


1969 Ford Mustang


The same 1969 Ford Mustang, different perspective.


Now for something out of the ordinary, at least to me.


Here's the recreated 1964 Thunderbolt, about which the Wikipedia says that a stock one (with the 427 cu. in. engine) could run a quarter mile at a drag strip in 11.76 seconds (122.7 mph).


The 427 Thunderbolt engine came with special exhausts which were not street legal, technically, so that the car made too much noise for the street, had massive traction bars, asymmetrical rear springs, and a trunk-mounted 95-pound bus battery that added traction. The car had Plexiglass windows to save weight and its base price was $3,780. Only 111 of the lightweight car that utilized a Ford Fairlane body were built.






It sort of looks like a family car from the back, doesn't it?


1967 Ford Shelby GT500, listed in the Wikipedia article as a pony car muscle model. The facts on this particular car--color, dark moss green; engine 428 cu. in. Police Interceptor; 355 hp with dual Holly 4 barrel; C-6 Tranny with 3.25:1 no slip diff.; power steering; power disc brakes; roll bar; shoulder harnesses; deluxe Shelby wheels; manufactured by Shelby American, Inc. on Feb. 22, 1967, # 0561 of 2,050 GT 500's produced.




Wonder if the owners are Oregon Duck fans?


1964 Ford AC Cobra--I couldn't find this particular car in the Wikipedia article, but I imagine anyone would think the word Cobra denotes muscle when it comes to cars.








1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1, listed in the article as a pony car muscle model.