DOTS! Odd Probing, bright little Italian numbers, and suave old cruisers...

"RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars" (rallydarkstrike) 07/18/2020 at 18:38 • Filed to: DOTS, Ford Probe, Ford Fairlane, FIAT, Ford, FIAT Barchetta

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Haven’t done one of these in awhile, so here are some spots I’ve had since I’ve started going out and about for my computer repair side business again in the last 2 weeks :)

First - a second-gen Ford Probe I spotted yesterday ! Super rare nowadays...b ut I was REALLY confused by this one...

Note the taillights...that’s a rear fog light on the left and a reverse light on the right. Thing is, North American spec second-gen Probes never came with a rear fog light or amber turn signals ...? North American Probes had all-red tailights and two reverse lights, like this:

And later facelifted Probes had the license plate moved up above with THESE revamped taillights:

This was a LHD Probe, I did check, so either it’s a European import (and who would import a car to Canada that was already still available here? They’re uncommon, but not impossible to find...)....OR....it’s a North American-spec car which had the rear bumper and rear light clusters replaced with it’s Euro-spec counterparts...an odd little mystery!

Next! The spot of the three that gave me a huge smile....my favorite roadster of modern times, a FRICKIN’ FIAT BARCHETTA!

Saw this on the highway on the way home from a computer appointment, so caught it on my dashcam....I want to take it home! It looks amazing in bright orange (which was a factory color, by the way!) This was, of course, an import as they were never sold here, so they are INCREDIBLY rare. I’ve only seen two in person EVER...this one and another one in black a few years ago that I see once in a blue moon as it was imported and owned by somebody fairly local to me...

Last spot was a classic 50's cruiser I saw in Lunenburg around noon - I BELIEVE it’s a Ford Fairlane? Despite being Canadian, my knowledge of 50's American classics is dwarfed by the random knowledge of quirky little Euro rides from the same period due to my preferences, so I am not 100% certain on that....gorgeous old thing though, LOVE the color scheme...dark green, light green and cream go awesome together! Modern cars need more color...

cmill189 - sans Volvo > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 07/18/2020 at 19:36

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The Probe is interesting. Likely just a Euro swap done back in the day. The facelift 96-97...maybe 95 I’m fuzzy on it now, moved the plate down not up. I think 95 was included but still had red outlined tails.

Here’s my 96.

kanadanmajava1 > cmill189 - sans Volvo 07/18/2020 at 19:53

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But it also has an Euro spec rear bumper. Would someone really want to change the rear bumper and then fit a license plate that doesn’t fill the gap nicely?

ranwhenparked > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 07/18/2020 at 19:53

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Yup, that would be a '55 or '56 Fairlane

cmill189 - sans Volvo > kanadanmajava1 07/18/2020 at 20:27

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I dunno. People do all kind of swaps that seem pointless. Maybe it was wrecked and they got a good deal? Maybe they stuck a euro plate on it at car shows in 2004. 

onlytwowheels > ranwhenparked 07/18/2020 at 21:40

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RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > cmill189 - sans Volvo 07/18/2020 at 22:04

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Nice! Ah, gotcha...I don’t know Probes well, so I thought the plate moved up.... think it looks better with it up, personally, with it down it looks a bit more dated to me!

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > kanadanmajava1 07/18/2020 at 22:04

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Yeah, that was the odd thing, considering North American license plates aren’t the same size...

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > ranwhenparked 07/18/2020 at 22:05

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Yay! I knew a thing! It had one of those ‘Continental’ spare tire kits on the back too! :D