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

andys120 · May 2013

The MG-B was the most popular product of the late, not-so-great British-Leyland/BMC at least on these shores but it's successor the MG-C never sold well here and is now a rare sight.

Today I saw a very nice looking MG-CGT coupe in a metallic biege paint on Route l106 in Loudon NH which leads to the NH Motor Speedway. When you see the "C" from head-on, there's no mistaking it as there is a prominent bulge in the hood to clear the long 3-liter six (borrowed from the Healey 3000 IIRC)>

The car I saw sported an oversized chrome roof rack.

fintail · May 2013

Saw an 81-84 Colt 4 door hatchback in podunk - that's a rare bird anymore. Also a Tempo coupe, 80s 5th Ave, a couple of 80-82 T-Birds, several 70s era pickups.

andre1969 · May 2013

You always end up seeming to find a Tempo. I once read that the Chevette was considered the cockroach of the automotive world...something that you wish would die, but it just won't. Maybe the Tempo deserves that title, instead? :P

fintail · May 2013

In small town western WA, where rust creeps up at a snails pace and economic necessity makes old cars a part of everyday life - just maybe. I might have seen 10 (oh, and I saw an 84-85 Topaz yesterday) over the past few days.

andre1969 · May 2013

Over the past few days, I've spotted more than a few W126'es, all of 'em in pretty good shape. Areas ranging from the nicer areas of Washington DC, to some of the more working-class areas of the suburbs. All of 'em in pretty nice shape, at least from a quick glance. Usually in a dull champagne/light brown, or grayish...color that the car wears well, and unlikely to stir up controversy.

Just out of curiosity, did Benz ever offer a W126 in a color that would be considered garish by today's standards? Every one I see always seems tasteful.

fintail · May 2013

A lot of those cars end up with careful longterm mature owners. There are a few beautiful examples in my area - an old woman has a beautiful blue 560SEC that I see now and then.

Some of the early Euro cars could be in questionable taste - the car debuted in 1979 there, and not much else needs to be said about that decade :shades:

Here's a W126 color chart

kyfdx · May 2013

That is rare!

A friend who has an MGA and a Magnette bought an MGC a few years ago to restore. He could never get motivated to do it, though... Ended up selling it, the same way he bought it.. and for about the same amount..

Mr_Shiftright · May 2013

The MGC is actually a pretty nice little car---don't know why it got dissed so much.

right now it'll pull more money than an MGB, so it has its revenge at last. :P

andys120 · May 2013

don't know why it got dissed so much.

So you're saying that substituting a looong 3-liter hunk of heavy cast iron for a little four didn't screw up the whole balance of what was supposed to be a superb little sports car? :confuse:

bhill2 · May 2013

In a wide space on a road near where I live. A '57 220S ponton for sale; black over red leather. I stopped for a quick look. The sign in the window stated that it had been restored to original condition and a brief inspection made the statement credible. Of course I could only look at the visible exterior, and the interior through the windows, so I didn't see the engine or the underside. The seller was asking $15K, which is top retail, but if the body and mechanical restoration was as good as the cosmetic one it might deserve it. Genuinely gorgeous.

kyfdx · May 2013

It worked okay for the Shelby Cobra.. maybe, they just didn't go big enough?

Mr_Shiftright · May 2013

No worse than an Austin Healey. I think the problem is that this 3-liter hunk of heavy cast iron didn't give you much better performance, if any, over the 4 cylinder MGB engine. All you got was a bit more comfortable RPM level at cruising speeds.

I mean, the Sunbeam Alpine and AC Ace didn't seem to mind having large hunks of V-8 metal inserted in them. True, you steering with the gas pedal mostly, but that's part of the appeal.

andys120 · May 2013

I'd bet that the Healey engine weighed 150lbs more than a 260/289 Ford.

Mr_Shiftright · May 2013

I've seen V8s stuffed into Healeys, but for some reason it just doesn't work.

kyfdx · May 2013

Saw a TR-6 recently that was supercharged.... owner claims about 180 HP...

Mr_Shiftright · May 2013

180 HP might be possible with supercharging, if the SC is efficient (let's say 1/2 atmosphere, or 7.5 psi) and compression ratio were around 9:1. That would mean using a non-USA spec motor, though, or rebuilding a USA motor quite cleverly beforehand.

kyfdx · May 2013

I didn't ask for details.... looked like a nice, well-thought out installation, though... Lots of room under the hood of a TR-6

Mr_Shiftright · May 2013

Sounds like a nice car to own!

Have you heard of a TR5?

andys120 · May 2013

Have you heard of a TR5?

Around 150hp in stock form IIRC, Plenty of grunt for a sub-2000lb car, quite a bit more than the carbeurated US version (TR-250=111 hp).

I'd rather have one than an MGC.

fintail · May 2013

Saw a VW Dasher wagon this morning, and that same blue Amazon from earlier.

lemko · May 2013

...in my 1989 Cadillac Brougham on my birthday! :shades:

uplanderguy · May 2013

Happy birthday! Neat color, BTW.

Now THAT's a car!

What? No headlights almost touching the corners of the windshield? LOL

omarman · May 2013

1967 Toyota 2000GT sold for $1,155,000 at an April RM Auction. A related Road and Track online article stated, "For a 2000GT that was never cheap, it's in Ferrari 250 GTO territory now."
Well if you put $1.2 mil and $35-plus mil cars in the same price range maybe. :confuse:

andre1969 · May 2013

Looking good, Lemko! And, happy birthday!

ab348 · May 2013

Happy birthday, Road Boss!

Does that have an Olds 307 under the hood?

lemko · May 2013

Yes.

lemko · May 2013

The color's called "Light Beechwood Metallic." My poor photography skills don't do it justice.

berri · May 2013

Lemko, when you drive that yacht you need a sports coat, cigar and a fine brandy (or a cocktail). That's a Cadillac that looks like one. Happy B-Day.

bhill2 · May 2013

That's a Cadillac that looks like one.

I second that emotion. Cadillac used that body style for something like 15 years (1977-1992(?)) and I liked it as much at the end of its run as I did at the beginning.

fintail · May 2013

Happy birthday. Hopefully you have aged as well as that car :P

I wonder, are you the longest term owner on this forum? I was 12 in 1989!

tjc78 · May 2013

I liked it as much at the end of its run as I did at the beginning.

I like the older front ends better like Lemko's. In 90 it got the composite headlights and wrap around bumpers, that take away from the classic look IMO. Of course, you could get the Chevy 350 which makes up for it a little.

uplanderguy · May 2013

I like lemko's styling better than the later ones, too, not only with the composite headlights but the wide silver section on the bottom of the sides, and the filled in rear door little window.

I always liked on Caddys, starting in '84 I think, when the side molding was entirely the same color as the car, no chrome beading, which gave you the nick protection but gave the clean look of no side molding.

explorerx4 · May 2013

Bring back memories?

Mr_Shiftright · May 2013

Oh, the pain! I really want another old Toronado. That was such an awesome car. I had one in Colorado and I'd put 4 luggy snow tires on that thing and I literally chewed Aspen snowdrifts to pieces.

That one is a most....er...unpleasant....color, but the price is...well...negotiable.

I wouldn't care if the car got 4 mpg. This is the car that god would drive.

berri · May 2013

I think the original Toronado is classically designed in the same vein as an XKE or 63 Sting ray (wait, I'm thinking that's not one of your favorites!). Personally, I like that Toronado in gold or silver.

fintail · May 2013

Seems like a lot of car for the money, and no doubt could be had for less. Not bad.

Recent oddballls - Amazon again, another 60s Land Rover, nice W126 380SE in light grey with 1986+ wheels.

uplanderguy · May 2013

63 Sting ray (wait, I'm thinking that's not one of your favorites!).

You might be thinking of me. Particularly in silver, I think they look like they came right off the 'Buck Rogers' TV show! Too many fake scoops IMHO and I think the split window is dumb. But what do I know.

lemko · May 2013

...black 1963 Lincoln Continental convertible mouldering away under a partially removed tarp near a seedy repair shop at Algon and Oxford Avenue in a marginal neighborhood. Sad to think this forlorn car was once some successful person's pride and joy.

uplanderguy · May 2013

Love those Kennedy-era Lincolns. When we were in L.A. last summer, after early Mustangs, those were the biggest number of old cars we'd see on the streets.

Mr_Shiftright · May 2013

I have no large beef with the Stingray except it needs some finessing so that it doesn't drive like a flatbed truck. Nothing a few grand wouldn't fix.

RE: 63 Lincoln---that's a car worth saving if it's a convertible. They were troublesome cars, and the restoration wouldn't be easy, but the value of that model is only going to go up and up. It's one of those "iconic" cars you see on t-shirts and in bad automotive art shows.

Mr_Shiftright · May 2013

Someone did a very nice job on this custom Ranchero

ROOM FOR FOUR

Be advised, if you watch the video, it features the winners of last year's Crappy Music Festival.

uplanderguy · May 2013

..black 1963 Lincoln Continental convertible mouldering away under a partially removed tarp near a seedy repair shop at Algon and Oxford Avenue in a marginal neighborhood. Sad to think this forlorn car was once some successful person's pride and joy.

I've always thought that there's nothing worse than an old, beat-up luxury car. 'How far they fall', it seems. Much worse than an old, beat-up econobox.

Mr_Shiftright · May 2013

Most of the old luxury barges have to go through the "can't afford to fix it" stage, and if they survive that, they are usually so messed up that even with a potential value of $80,000, that Lincoln is going to be a break-even proposition. As for the old luxury sedans, their current market value, even in pristine condition, is so little that there's no chance of restoration anymore.

Added to that, today's luxury cars, being mass-produced, robot-built, and grotesquely complex, don't stand a chance of survival IMO, except for the ones that are never allowed to deteriorate----the low mileage "survivors" kept in meticulous storage and used infrequently.

Somewhere around $80K--$100K market value seems to be the cut-off point for dragging old cars in horrible condition out of the weeds. I still see horrendously deteriorated "woodies" being restored, and of course, limited production foreign exotics, but for most old cars, they have to be pretty solid before anyone will take them on anymore.

andre1969 · May 2013

I've always thought that there's nothing worse than an old, beat-up luxury car. 'How far they fall', it seems. Much worse than an old, beat-up econobox.

I remember back in the early 1990's, there was a '68 Sedan DeVille sitting, for sale outside of a local bar/pool hall. I went in to inquire about it. It belonged to a guy who worked there, and he only wanted $500 for it. He let me drive it around the parking lot, but I couldn't take it on the road because it had no tags on it.

Gotta confess, I was oddly drawn to it. It sounded nice, and seemed to run well, and from what little you could tell from parking lot speeds, seemed to drive nice. But, it was a dark primer gray, had some dents here and there, and a pretty trashy interior. I guess to me it was cool in sort of a "reverse chic" sort of way, although it also looked like something a serial killer might drive in a Lifetime Original Movie! :surprise:

lemko · May 2013

I'm thinking more like Nick Nolte's 1964 Cadillac convertible in "48 Hours."

andre1969 · May 2013

Nah, this '68 wasn't quite that nice. Oh, on the subject of old luxury beaters, got my blue NYer back from the mechanic yesterday. It has a new starter, and he tweaked around with a few wires, but said he didn't want to get too involved with it, without my okay. So, I told him I'd try it out and see how it acted, and make the decision from there.

It only stalled out twice on the way home, but on the plus side, it started right back up! Drove it to work today, and it stalled once, but again, started right up. Guess the real test will be when I walk out the door this evening!

fintail · May 2013

A neglected Rolls is probably tops for that, although a vintage Caddy can do it too, seeing as they were so high up at one time. For some reason, a worn neglected MB doesn't give me the exact same feelings, as I guess I assume they have a huge mileage on them, and are just used up - as the cars have a more utilitarian bent in Europe than in NA. I've seen Y2K era high end cars already starting to look a little down on their luck.

explorerx4 · May 2013

Watched part of the movie 'The Salzburg Connection', a spy 'thriller'.
Of course the most of the bad guys drove black Mercs including a fintail that was blown up, although a couple of them drove a VW 411. The 'good guy', Barry Newman, a kind of anti James Bond, rented an orange 2002 and ended up driving a 911 Targa by the end of the movie.

andre1969 · May 2013

Well, today was about the most drama-free trim home from work in my '79 NY'er, in recent memory. Went out around 4:15 pm to start it up, and it fired right up. Almost like a new car. And I mean, a NEW new car, not a new 1979 car! :P It was idling way too fast, but at some point, it did kick down, because when I got home I was able to shut it off in "park" without it dieseling on.

Oh, and here's a pic I took of it at work, just for the heck of it. Uplanderguy will appreciate what's parked next to it!

ab348 · May 2013

Spotted on the way to work today, on the top level of a car carrier trailer, a '76 Buick Electra 4-door hardtop. Black vinyl roof over burgundy body, chrome Buick road wheels, looked very fresh. Either heading out of town to a new owner or headed in for the same purpose. Never saw this one around here before, so maybe the latter. Unusual to see a big luxo-barge from that era being treated so gently.

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

Comments

Helpful Tools

Most popular vehicles