The driver of this aging Volvo either managed to parallel park with amazing aplomb, or managed to get stuck through the poor practice of at least one other driver.
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You should always leave room for others to get out, of course.
Check it out - right in front of the University of San Francisco’s Malfoy Hall (where Draco and Lucius got their MBA’s) are two parking spaces where you may park forever. That’s right, no two, three, or four hour neighborhood parking limit but also no street sweeping hours either.
Just down the hill, you have to move your car on Wednesdays, and just up the hill you have to move your car on Mondays. Just consider these spaces on Fulton your own personal open-air garage.
Just check it occasionally to see if it’s been tagged for violating the rarely-enforced California 72-hour parking law and you are good to go.
Finally, the little guy gets a break!
Just call (415) 485-1238 to sign up, according to the ad that occludes the rear view of anyone driving this Toyota Prius.
The first lesson for Prius drivers in the Bay Area is how to turn the headlights on at night. An amazing number of drivers of these cars just don’t seem to be aware that their lights aren’t on. No headlights, daytime running lights, turn signals, tailights - no nothing except the brake lights occasionally.
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All you can do is yell “headlights!” when they drive past.
In these days hybrid buses, cars and everything else, it’s interesting to see the OFFICIAL BUSINESS of a City and County vehicle, such as this SFPD Dodge Charger R/T in a plain wrapper, being powered by such a non-hybriddy engine like a 5.7 litre V-8 HEMI.
So, this explains the MY NEXT POLICE CAR IS GOING TO HAVE A HEMI bumper stickers seen around town. What’s left a mystery is why these engines are called Hemi’s anyway.
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“Hemi” stands for hemispherical combustion chamber, but the term as used these days is “little more than a copyrighted word that bears little meaning, descriptively, for the engines designated as such.” Or, in other words, ”that thing got a Hemi? No, not really.”
On the other hand, your 1975 Toyota Corolla just might have an actual hemi, if not the boss HEMI logo on the side.
Choose wisely
This red 2007 Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano F1 has an asking price from British Motor Car Distributors (or Bentley of San Francisco?) of $395,000 - feel free to check it out the next time you’re on Van Ness near the remnants of Auto Row.
Can this be a money-making operation?
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Oh, don’t look now, but the price of ZFFFC60AX70153544 might have dropped a bit, all the way down to $375k.
Act now.
This genuine San Francisco Police Department Ford Crown Victoria prowler sports a bumper sticker that states:
“MY NEXT POLICE CAR IS GONNA TO HAVE A HEMI“
This is a reference to the hemispherical combustion chambers of the 5.7 litre engine of the Dodge Charger Police Interceptor. So, did the S.F.P.D. place an order for Daimler-Chrysler squad cars?
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Signs point to “yes.” So soon, the SFPD might start looking like the CHP.
Poor Ford!
A Ford SUV and a Ford F-150 both managed to get sideways during an accident near Bernal Heights this afternoon.
Back in the early 2000’s, the light truck rollover issue was big news. John Carman (yes, Carman) of the San Francisco Chronicle watched Rollover: The Hidden History of the SUV and concluded:
“The unsparing conclusion: SUVs aren’t safe…”
This sort of simplistic, black and white, polarized mentality has led to such a thing as ”SUV Rollover Attorneys.” Ah yes, attorneys - those people who brought us the Audi 5000 unintended acceleration imbroglio about two decades ago.
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Of course in all probability the cause of this unfortunate, potentially fatal accident as well most transportation accidents is operator negligence. There can be other factors as well, of course, and they’re well worth exploring, but let’s not lose the forest for the trees.
At least it looked like the 1950’s what with all the classic cars parked about the other night near USF.
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Oh no! Look out BMW Gran Turismo, the Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG, Aston Martin Rapide, Lamborghini Estoque, Maserati Quattroporte, Bentley Continental GT, and Ferrari 612 Scaglietti. ‘Cause here comes der neu 4-door Porsche Panamera!
You see, they need to find out if such a fine vehicle can handle the steep streets of San Francisco. Fair enough, but doesn’t the body look all stretched out, like a 1978 “pregnant cow” Nissan / Datsun 280Z / Fairlady 2+2?
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Both photos via the photostream of Hysterical Bertha:
No front license plate, which is required in California. Minus 5 points, Gryffindor House.
It sure looks fast though.
Can it outrun a recession? We’ll find out soon enough.
