What's Atlanta Driving? ~ The Unofficial Stig

When I was younger, I swore Atlanta drivers had some of the worst car taste imaginable. Mind you, this was when I still idolized Toyotas held together with zipties. I grew up in the suburbs of Atlanta, where the interesting cars are hidden away, spread apart, sometimes in pieces in a basement garage.

No matter where I go nowadays, I try to seek out the interesting cars that are still going. Now that I've branched out into the city a little more, I've found that the only way to discover the gems of the city is to explore the streets on foot with my camera in tow.

Today I took a trip to historic Grant Park and Cabbagetown, two neighborhoods east of downtown Atlanta. Here, the streets are lined with restored homes from the early 20th century. This area used to be a factory neighborhood. In fact, Cabbagetown's namesake is said to come from the poor Scottish and Irish immigrants who grew and cooked cabbage extensively. Now the area has become gentrified. The houses are painted in bright colors and restaurants like Tin Lizzy's Mexican Cantina line Memorial Drive.

Tin Lizzy's rooftop deck overlooking historic Oakland Cemetery.

A small sample of Cabbagetown's graffiti

Crown Candy, like many buildings in this part of Atlanta, used to be a candy factory, but has since been converted into loft apartments.

The first car that caught my eye was this Land Rover Defender County. Defenders are actually scattered throughout Atlanta, usually found in neighborhoods like this. This Defender was an earlier model and looked like it hadn't been driven in quite a while.

Further into the neighborhood I came across another hip, Atlanta staple: an early model Mercedes 300d.

I then ran into this duo from Ford group. It's a Pinto, right? Well, sort of. It's the Mercury equivalent, the Bobcat. The Mercury Bobcat debuted four years after the Pinto and was essentially identical to the Ford.