’81 Camaro, Slightly Used

There’s an old joke among car aficionados that a car’s brand name isn’t a true name, but is actually an acronym that could be equated to a sick burn. For example, “FORD” could stand for either “Found On Road Dead,” “Fix Or Repair Daily,” or “Found Outside Rotting Dump.” “FIAT” could stand for “Fix It Again, Tony.” “DODGE” could be “Drips Oil, Drips Gas Everywhere.” And suggesting that the greatest car brand in the history of motorized transit stands for “Cheap, Hardly Efficient, Virtually Runs On Luck Every Time,” is a great way to get your comments deleted on my blog. 😀

Last Sunday, I was in Saratoga County, waiting for an opportunity to photograph the Saratoga, Corinth & Hudson Railroad from what I hoped would be a new angle – alongside Route 9N at the old Kings station in Greenfield Center.

My original plan was to try to capture the train as it crossed over the Route 9N railroad bridge. Maybe I could shimmy up the side of the embankment and photograph it there – no, I’d need my right hand to hold onto a rail, and nobody’s made a left-handed Nikon to my knowledge.

Okay, maybe I can just walk up this hill over here, right next to what appears to be a dilapidated old building with lots of “NO TRESPASSING” and “KEEP OUT” signs all over it. Yeah, my days of “urban exploration” are few and far between.

But right next to the building – were several old, rotting, rusted-out, moss-covered, pine-needle-draped, torn-to-shreds cars and trucks. And the worst one in the pile was what appeared to be a 1981 Chevrolet Camaro Z28. In mint condition, that car could fetch $14,000 easy on the open market.

This car, however, was NOWHERE near mint condition. It was beat to death. It put the “rust” in rust-bucket. There’s probably trees growing through the floorboards. Trust me. I could hook this car up to a winch, tug it out of the muck, strap it to a flatbed, drive it all the way down to Gas Monkey Garage in Dallas, and Richard Rawlings would probably PAY ME to haul its rotting car carcass back to Albany.

Well … I’ve got a few minutes before the SC&H arrives … and there’s plenty of film in my Rolleiflex Automat MX … I mean, what else can I do with this moment?

Yep. Took the lens cap off and captured some photos.

The Rollei photos were taken with film, and since the film was sent off to the developers yesterday, you won’t see those photos for a while.

But I did take some test shots with my cell phone camera …

So if this whets your whistle until the film photos arrive, that’s fine by me.

I don’t know what it is about rusted-out abandoned cars, but they do fascinate me. And they make for interesting photos, and in some cases, they become award-winning captures.

So let’s definitely see what happens with those efke film photos. I also want to see if the Rolleiflex still has some oomph left in it.

Because I may have a surprise photo project involving the Rollei.

You know … in case I get creative again. 😀