I spotted an (insert obscure car name here) classic car today!

texases · February 2013

ateixeira · February 2013

That's why my Range Rover buddy now drives an Explorer.

ateixeira · February 2013

I remember both...they did pioneer the idea of low maintenance. I wonder how dealers felt, though.

Deleted ABS as standard was a mistake, but GM supposedly did it to compete with Kia on price. Bad idea, IMHO. They had more overhead so you just can't. Better to make cars that are worth more.

ateixeira · February 2013

Cool car, and a true Saab. Belongs in a Swedish museum.

fintail · February 2013

I am surprised at the bid, to be honest. You really can't drive it much as these things seem to wear hard, you'd also ruin the preservation if not careful. Also, repairs.

Whenever I see a 900 Turbo, I think of this underrated movie

ateixeira · February 2013

Good bet to lose money. Big.

boomchek · February 2013

Whenever I see a 900 Turbo, I think of this underrated movie

You fintail is in a part of that clip, looks like same color as yours too lol

boomchek · February 2013

Maybe the oil spot is from another car as the Esprits are mid engined, unless this one was parked nose in before :confuse:

fintail · February 2013

Yeah, I remember that fintail - it's a W110 or the very off chance of a W111 220b - single bumpers, small taillights. Color does look like mine.

Who says an Esprit would only leak from the engine? :shades:

uplanderguy · February 2013

That mongrel '76 GT Kammback we discussed last week sold for $870.00--2 bidders, 3 bids.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1976-Chevy-Vega-GT-Wagon-/160968666258?pt=US_Cars- _Trucks&hash=item257a7aec92

hpmctorque · February 2013

I hadn't seen that movie, but it's a riot.

fintail · February 2013

Lots of unobtanium parts there, no doubt.

fintail · February 2013

Sometimes I'm glad I was a kid in the 80s. There were some highlights.

kyfdx · February 2013

Yeah a buddy had a 911 and you do *not* want to know what he spent on oil changes.

My '84 911 (air-cooled) held 14 quarts.... but, only 11 came out in the change... $60 oil change in 1992...

lemko · February 2013

My Dad had a black 1962 Beetle that the local mechanic ruined when he ground down the nuts and bolts so the S.A.E. tools would fit. An ex-girlfriend had a light blue 1972 Beetle that I remember nearly freezing to death while riding in it in the winter because the heater was inadequate.

lemko · February 2013

Somebody won a Vega on LMAD? He or she obviously got ZONKED! :P

lemko · February 2013

I remember that show! I remember a guy going upstage to start a Camaro, but it wouldn't.

I would've gone for the Impala myself!

andre1969 · February 2013

Yeah, I've seen a couple Vegas as prize cars. I remember an earlier one that they said was worth about $2100, around 1972? Another episode had a '71 or '72 Coupe DeVille valued around $9000.

I also remember a later episode where they gave away a '76 Regal coupe (or could have been a Century) and they were boasting about its new, fuel-efficient V-6.

I haven't seen the Game Show Network in awhile now. I wonder if they still run those old repeats? I used to get a kick out of the Match Game.

uplanderguy · February 2013

I wonder if they still run those old repeats? I used to get a kick out of the Match Game.

I remember the original Match Game in the '60's, and very much remember "Match Game '74", etc., in the '70's. They totally goofed off and it seemed like Gene Rayburn was a bit of a dirty old man!

tjc78 · February 2013

I also remember a later episode where they gave away a '76 Regal coupe (or could have been a Century) and they were boasting about its new, fuel-efficient V-6.

Yeah, that couldn't move out of it own way.

Was watching an episode of Law and Order SVU last night and an early 90s RWD Buick Roadmaster was part of the plot. I got a kick out of the lawyer later in the show calling it a Buick Regal. I guess it just sounded more familar.

ab348 · February 2013

A few years ago my cable carried Game Show Network and I would watch those old early-mid '70s Match Game shows. They seemed like a pretty loose bunch of panelists! Half of them smoked on-air, I suspect there were a few adult beverages consumed during the tapings, things you could never get away with today.

Mr_Shiftright · February 2013

I'm shocked at the price, not merely surprised. Having owned a corral of Saab turbos, I'm equally shocked that it could go 54000 miles and not be a total wreck.

Well live and learn. Personally, I think it's money down the toilet, but there are at least two people on eBay who say I'm wrong.

lemko · February 2013

Heck, my college roommate had a dark green 1977 Dodge Aspen SE sedan and I thought it was pretty plush at the time. His previous car was a white 1965 Rambler American two-door hardtop with a red interior.

lemko · February 2013

The GM forum should be renamed "Uplander Guy versus The Usual Trolls!" :P

lemko · February 2013

A ten-year old car when I first started driving was a 1970 or 1971 model, the cutoff point before domestic cars started really going downhill. My first car was a 1968 Buick, so my impression of domestic iron was very positive.

uplanderguy · February 2013

Why thank you, lemko (I think!).

I see myself as a little bit of truth crusader over there. Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion--unless you own and enjoy GM products there.

I see some of the most ridiculous "facts" posted there, I just can't let them go. LOL

lemko · February 2013

16? Are there two plugs per cylinder? Is your car a V-8?

lemko · February 2013

I got tired of fighting with those knuckleheads a long time ago. I don't answer any of their posts unless they've got something reasonable to say.

uplanderguy · February 2013

I got tired of fighting with those knuckleheads a long time ago. I don't answer any of their posts unless they've got something reasonable to say.

No wonder you've been scarce over there lately!

lemko · February 2013

...gold 1966 Plymouth Barracuda at the Wawa on Longshore and Rising Sun Avenue in NE Philly.

fintail · February 2013

A 10 year old car from when I hit the road would have been a 1983 model, nothing more need be said :shades:

fintail · February 2013

Yes, 2 plugs per, and it's a V8. I think the plugs are also roughly $20 apiece.

Obscure cars - yesterday spotted my car's twin - another tectite W210 E55, and also a tectite E430 sport with parktronic - very rare option back in the day. This morning saw a little old lady in an immaculate 86-87 XJ6.

boomchek · February 2013

300 TE Wagon with 5 speed
Interesting car, especially with stick.

Another wagon, this one looks decent

Nice 190E, very tempting at $1500

Another 190E, this one an import from Vietnam - owner exaggerating a bit about what it cost new

Overall good shape - yeah right, love the write up on it and the spelling

uplanderguy · February 2013

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/George-Romneys-Personal-Rambler-/281064157945?pt=- - US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item4170bab2f9

The documentation is hard to dispute, that's for sure.

Funny, as well off as he was, to have such a pedestrian model--the lowest-line 550 in the Classic series.

I like the '63 front end better, but I always thought this was a decent-looking Rambler...although I think some '60-62 Chrysler designers must have worked on the instrument panel! LOL

Conversely, Sherwood Egbert, who was Studebaker's president from '61 to '63, had a '64 Avanti R3 as his personal car. He sold it in '68 through the Avanti club's magazine, and had his name and phone number listed! The car sold for around $75K if memory serves me, a few years ago at auction.

ateixeira · February 2013

First one's two tone reminds me of an Outback, just add big tires. Those wheel covers are awful.

2nd one is nice.

That last one is so neglected it's sad. Could use a Wheeler Dealers re-do.

Mr_Shiftright · February 2013

It would make a good street rod! :P

uplanderguy · February 2013

I'm not a Rambler fan by any stretch, but I'd rather see it stay stock, but I'm biased that way.

Obviously, on a car like this, the ownership history means almost everything...although the car is in excellent original condition, I'll certainly say that.

Mr_Shiftright · February 2013

I'm not sure anyone cares much about the ownership history--maybe a little. It's not like Henry Ford's car by any stretch.

I think Mr. Romney would have been very amused to see it street-rodded.

fintail · February 2013

I'm really leery of some of the grey market/private import cars that have made it into Canuckistan - I'd want a really good inspection for rust, and to know where the cars came from. That being said, I like the low spec manual red wagon.

Maybe the Vietnam (yeah, I want a car from there!) car cost that much when new, after insane southeast Asian import duties?

uplanderguy · February 2013

Well, he was the president of AMC. You had told me it was Mr. Egbert's ownership that had driven that Avanti to $75K a few years ago.

I will be curious to see what the Rambler brings. Certainly different than a run-of-the-mill Big Three-mobile on eBay, I'll say that.

fintail · February 2013

I am surprised he had something so relatively basic, as he was a bazillionaire even then. Nice old car.

uplanderguy · February 2013

I worked with an older, soft-spoken, conservative fellow 30 years ago, mild-mannered accountant, and he would say whenever we'd talk cars, that his (new) '64 Rambler Classic was the best car he'd ever owned! It was white, too, but he'd always add that he had the roof painted dark blue.

Mr_Shiftright · February 2013

Did I tell you that? I'm sorry about that--I've changed my mind. I don't think old CEOs that are slipping out of the American consciousness (or like Egbert, not a bad fellow really, have disappeared from it) have much effect on value. Of course, all it takes is one person who thinks so, and who maybe has a Romney shrine in his garage, but I doubt there's much market effect overall.

It's a curiosity at best.

fintail · February 2013

When I was a kid, an older lady in town had a pretty 64 or so Rambler 2 door HT - red and white, I thought it was an attractive car. It was in good shape through the 90s. The wagons were also nice looking. But, the mid 60s were probably the pinnacle of American car design - almost everything was nice looking.

uplanderguy · February 2013

But, the mid 60s were probably the pinnacle of American car design - almost everything was nice looking.

I've long thought so, but figured it was a function of those cars running around when I was a car-crazy little kid. But maybe it's true...I know you're a good bit younger than me. Good to hear!

Mr_Shiftright · February 2013

I used to work for a Rambler dealer when I was in high school, as a kind of lot boy, valet, etc.

I remember, compared to what was on the road then, that the Ramblers were certainly built to a price. They were the Toyota Echo of their day. When I would go from a Rambler to a Buick Electra on the lot, it was like going from a stagecoach to the starship Enterprise. Well, okay, maybe not quite. :P

Even when I got my first car ever from that used car lot (Studebaker), it seems so much nicer than the Ramblers, even though it was ten years old.

uplanderguy · February 2013

I think pro-Rambler people would think it's a plus, like the way a lot of Stude folks think Egbert is a larger-than-life figure. I will say that whenever there's an article even in a general old-car mag about the Avanti or performance packages on lesser Studes, Egbert's name is always mentioned.

With this Rambler, you've got '...it was owned by the Dad of the 2012 Republican candidate and used in the campaign', as well.

Regardless, I'll like to see what it brings.

I always heard Ramblers had excellent heaters and defrosters--seriously!

Since I personally have owned only 1963-66 Studebakers as 'hobby cars', I was surprised to see that metal instrument panel in the Rambler. My cars' dashes were all fiberglass and padded, top-to-bottom. But now that I think about it, I remember my grandparents' '63 Bel Air wagon having a metal instrument panel.

texases · February 2013

"Of course, all it takes is one person who thinks so, and who maybe has a Romney shrine in his garage, but I doubt there's much market effect overall."

And I can more easily imagine a Studebaker fan upping the bid on a 'special' Studebaker, than a Rambler fan on that Rambler. I don't see near the fan base for them.

fintail · February 2013

I was a kid in the 80s and 90s - not a high point for the automobile. I can appreciate design no matter the era. And at the same time, my dad was a car guy and had old cars, that opened my eyes too.

uplanderguy · February 2013

And I can more easily imagine a Studebaker fan upping the bid on a 'special' Studebaker, than a Rambler fan on that Rambler. I don't see near the fan base for them.

We are a rabid bunch, for good or bad!

I'm assigned to work near Harrisburg, PA the last week of Feb. The annual big Studebaker swap meet is in York, PA that very weekend, with a gorgeous '60 Hawk raffle car being given away that weekend, so I can tie the trip to the swap meet into a work expense or two! Am I lucky or what?!

(Yeah I know, doesn't take much!)

I spotted an (insert obscure car name here) classic car today!

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