Bike Ride 16

8/17/22

David: I guess you could say this bike ride entry occurred on accident. When I went out on this ride for the evening, I never expected to find the cars I did. It's not the largest haul compared to previous entries, but it has its share of cool finds. 

Above: 1989 Mercedes Benz 420SEL (W126) Sedan

This was spotted on the Cranston/Providence border on my way towards the city. It caught my eye, as I happened to look down a side street. This is a daily driven car, and as I've said before, there's a reason why these are still on the road. Like the 300D, these are some of the most reliable cars Mercedes Benz ever made. If you want a classic Mercedes Benz as a driver that has a bit more pep than the 300D and doesn't take diesel fuel, definitely check out the W126 S-Class cars. 

1977 Chevy Monte Carlo Project

This was technically a car I was going to investigate on this ride. If you can recall from Bike Ride 6, there was a very similar looking Monte that appeared in the beginning of that entry. Knowing the condition of that car, I saw this Monte (the one pictured here) a few days earlier, and wanted to see if these two were the same. After going to the location of the original Monte and seeing it was still there, I came to the obvious conclusion that these are different cars that look pretty similar. It was worth the trip. 

For an update on this Monte, check out Bike Ride 19. 

Above: 1983 Toyota J60 Land Cruiser (Pre-Facelift) 

Now this is nice! This is a classic Toyota Land Cruiser J60 was produced from 1981 to '87, before it was updated in '88 to the J62. 

Above: 1989 BMW 325iX (E30) Sedan

Wow, this is quite possibly the cleanest E30 I've seen so far! This is the iX trim level, which is an all wheel drive version of the car. I didn't know this was offered at the time, so when I showed to my friend who knows quite a lot about these cars, he explained what that meant. It's essentially the predecessor to the BMW X-Drive offered on their current models. Anyways, this E30 is finished in the iconic red paint, and looks like it rolled off the assembly line yesterday. What a nice car.

Saab 900 S Convertible

I was heading back towards Roger Williams park to head home, when I spotted this 900 convertible through the corner of my eye. Unfortunately, it was parked way up on the owner's driveway, so this was the best I could do. Maybe someday I'll see it again and grab some better pictures. I also saw an old Volvo 140 series, but it too was parked way up in a driveway for me to grab a photo of, so maybe that too might be seen on here at some point. We've never photographed a '70s Volvo 140 series car, so that might be our opportunity.

2023 Update: I take that statement back about the Volvo 140 series. Sam beat me to the punch, with a 1968 142.