I couldn't tell you a thing about a Falcon, I know my moaned that he had to drive one after his brother wrecked his Sport Fury convertible back in the 60's.
My aunt bought one new in 1960 and it drove flawlessly until she traded it in for a K car in 1978.
So again what's wrong with a Falcon? Now K car I can understand.
The Falcon was basically just slow, cheap, and simple, and for the most part, not very glamorous. Just cheap, basic, no-frills transportation. Earlier versions came with a tiny 144 CID 6-cyl with something like 85 hp, with a 170 CID, ~100 hp unit being optional. And keep in mind this is gross hp ratings, not the modern net ratings they use today. Nowadays, that 85 hp would probably be more like 65-70 and the 100 would be maybe 80, tops.
They were also very lightweight and easy to total out. Very easy to make them leak fuel in a rear-end collision, although Ford would perfect this to an artform with the Pinto. On the plus side though, they were cheap to fix, easy to work on, and fairly reliable. Later versions with the bigger 200 CID 6-cyl, or better yet, one of the small V-8's of the time, were also better performers.
Also, the K-car didn't come out until the 1981 model year. Maybe it was a Fairmont your aunt traded on in '78? They have a similar boxy appearance, although the Fairmont was a lot longer. Both were designed by the same stylists, as a lot of Ford designers jumped ship and went over to Chrysler about that time.
I always thought they had good potential, but were just poorly executed. GM rushed the Citation and its X-car brethren out prematurely, and in record numbers. That equated to a record number of recalls. They got them sorted out for the most part by 1983, but by then, they were starting to get a bit dated.
As for the K-car, Chrysler tried to make those things feel like bigger cars than they really were. Often, when you do that with a small car, you really mess up the handling and ride.
Both of these cars were also notably bigger than most of the Japanese cars out there at the time...Accords, Corollas, and 210's were still tiny little things, and I believe even the Coronas and 510's were still pretty small. Now there was the 810/Maxima and Cressida, but these were more along the lines of luxury cars at the time, and had a lot more effort but into their construction than the more mass-produced cars like the K- and X-cars.
I'd guess it was 1983, with Toyota's Camry, that the Japanese really got into the market of an X- or K- type of car.
...my friend got 195K miles out of his 1980 Citation five-door hatchback. I believe his car had a 2.3 litre tranverse 4-cylinder engine. His parents bought it new in the spring of 1979. It was an unusual cream and green two-tone with an orangish interior. It took my friend through high school, college, graduate school, and into the first year of his marriage. Oh, the car looked like it had gone through a war by that time, but it was quite a testament to a car that had such a bad reputation.
I think the biggest problem the X-cars had was with the brakes. The 2.8 V-6 was also a bit troublesome, but I think the 4-cyl (it was a 2.5 Pontiac Iron Duke) was fairly reliable, if crude.
My neighbors had been driving a 1969-70 Cadillac Sedan DeVille. They replaced that with a 1980 or 1981 Citation, but hated it so much that it was gone within a couple months. I think they replaced it with a 1981 Monte Carlo with the Chevy 229 V-6, and then a few years later with an '84 with the 305.
I don't think they actually had the Citation long enough to have problems with it, but my neighbor was the type that liked to do all his own work. And one look under the hood of that Citation, and he saw it was totally different from anything he had been used to.
Yes you are correct. That means she had the falcon for 21 years lol!! Hard to imagine. I do remember she was impressed with the power of that K car and was really satisfied with that purchase then again you are comparing it to the falcon.
Yuck! Who would replace a BEAUTIFUL car like a 1969 Cadillac DeVille with a Citation?!?!? The car must've been really beat. I'd have retired the Cadillac and drove it occasionally and then bought something like a Citation if I needed a commuter car.
Just a guess, but someone who was horrified by the escalating price of gas and couldn't afford to keep two cars? The Citation that became the bane of my youth was the end result of trading in some gigantic Oldsmobile in the spring of 1979.
I grew up in Ford P.Us/maverick for the most part and also chrysler/Dodge as well. My first car was 88 dodge caravan aquired from my grandmother in 02, at the time, it had 82k miles on it. it last two years and 12k+ miles until fuel pump died on Rogers pass and things happened and it was totaled by insurance co.
2nd car. Ford tempo 91/92 with a bit over 30k miles on it... good car, kinda was hard on my back with long trips however. and I wanted a truck.
3rd car. 92 Dodge dakota with 160ishk miles on it. Decent truck, but throttle wires were kinda bad.
4th car a 99 dodge caravan. in the time I had this car, it was broken into twice.
5th car. 90 Tempo with 101k miles on it. tranny got stuck in first gear once.
6th car. Ford freestyle.. 7500miles on it. I loved it alot, but kinda thirsty on gas.
Now currently I'm on my 7th car, a Subaru Forester 08. I like it and yet there bad things.. Road noise, lack of blinker volume [too quiet], and very sensitive passenger airbag sensor.
Pondering a GM or ford car.. most likely looking at the Ford Escape Hybrid or a fusion... as for GM... a pontiac perhaps? just a few options.
I recently testdrove an 08 caravan loaded to the gills with electronics... Half the stuff in there would be distracting to the driver.... seriously. Carmakers, whether foreign or domestic need to acheive a proper balance of electronics vs driving experience...
Drivers want a balance between driving experience, entertainment that is restricted to audio only, and reliability... It honestly is up to the driver what they want from whatever carmaker they choose. I grew up in american cars, and they have been mostly really good in terms of quality in my experience.
I drive a Forester based on my cousins advice and recommendation, and I'm currently having an open mind as far as the next car I drive.
One cannot point a single finger at the carmakers founded here in the states without also including not only the UAW, but also the carmaker lobbiers who were in the halls of congress along with the oil companies to essentially resist change until it was already far too late to really influence the general attitude of consumers. It is in the halls of Congress where we should really point the fingers, to the lobbiests for the B3 who didnt want to see any cut in their profits as perhaps would have occured if they had been forced to actively revamp not only the philosophies used, but the carpart makers products as well. Those at the top of the companies who tend to earn the most $ will usually be the most resistant to changing their companies for the better if only to scrounge up every last cent not paying attention to the horizon.
The B3 have some faults, that is true, but yet, whose fault is it that the B3 have not progressed in mpg improvements further then they've come so far?
We need to look at the oil companies who likely heavily influence carmakers.
The VW might be worth something, but the Porsche was 2x the price and 10x more fun..Cruising the autobahn in the 50s was a blast compared to the current nanny state regulation that now exists in Germany..It was pedal to the metal in the bygone days..
The 58 Porsche was sold to a returning GI and my 59 Porsche I brought back to Indiana..It was sold within a short time and making the experience of owning those two cars for approx 50k miles a worth while venture and a profitable one too boot!!
Never drove a BUG to this day..Gutless wonders I was always told..
The car must've been really beat. I'd have retired the Cadillac and drove it occasionally and then bought something like a Citation if I needed a commuter car.
Yeah, I don't know why my neighbors didn't just to that, truthfully. I guess the Cadillac could have just been getting tired, though. These people lived behind my grandparents. We lived with my grandparents for a couple years, but in 1979 my Mom bought a house down in southern MD. Ended up HATING it down there because it was so far from everything she was used to, and really got homesick. So we were back up there like every other weekend, and in 1980 Mom sold the house and we moved back up there. It was around that time that I noticed the Citation back there, and no more Cadillac.
This guy worked on old cars, and probably had about 20-30 of them back there, in various states of repair. He repainted both of my Darts for me, and helped me put a leaf spring on the DeSoto once. He was constantly getting something "new" and getting rid of cars as he got bored with them. His wife was the one that mainly drove the Cadillac, and perhaps she just got tired of it and they wanted something new?
Something else I just thought of. They have a son, whom I think reached driving age around that timeframe. I wonder if they might've bought the Citation, given him the Cadillac, and that was the end of it? I think my uncle sent a few cars to an early grave in his younger days, and I know of at least one, a '65 Impala SS396, that My Dad left for dead on a lonely country road back around 1971.
My neighbors moved out of there back in 2000. They were both retired by that time, and just didn't want to deal with the area anymore. So they moved down to southern MD, maybe 45-50 miles away. I've only seen them once since then, and it was at her mother's funeral. Not the best time to be bringing up cars! :surprise:
I do remember that DeVille being a pretty car, though. 4-door hardtop, medium/dark blue with a white vinyl top. They gave me a ride to school a few times in it, and I think it was the first car I ever saw that had power windows.
Never drove a BUG to this day..Gutless wonders I was always told..
I've never driven in one, but have ridden in a few. In local, around-town type of driving, they're actually not bad cars. In fact, I've heard that from, say, 0-20, they can actually embarrass plenty of much-more powerful cars. Alas, they power died off quickly, and they often took 25-30 seconds to do 0-60, and I think top speed was around 75 mph.
Yeah, I was in a carpool with a woman who had a 63 bug with that giant sunroof. I'd drive most times no matter if it was her turn or not so I drove the bug a lot that year. If it were going any slower we'd be going backward.
2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
Made in Cincinnati, Ohio-4cylinder engine-later was used as a 4-inline outboard motor as well and also stuffed in small hydroplane hull for it's own class of racing..Great little engine, but the car didn't make the grade..
Boats used to be a big passion since we lived on Lake Freeman during the summer months, located near Monticello, Indiana. During part of my adult life I bought and sold new aswell used boats as a hobby to offset my expenses of Great Lakes boating. Been through the Formulas, Magnums, Cigarettes and Donzis as well as the cruisers 30ft to 36ft.. Didn't like to pay winter storage, however I got stuck with a 78 Formula T-250s for 3 yrs and the hull was replaced after 30hrs of useage by the factory in 1980..Made money on the deal even after carrying it for three years, lawyer fees and storage costs..
My first venture with a new 98 Olds Intrigue GLS loaded was a 13 month venture and GM repurchased the car after 26k miles, cost me $635 and I took their check added $700 purchased a new 1999 Olds Intrigue GLS w/3.5 V-6, a sweetheart of a car, traded it on a 2002 OLds Intrigue which went the 119k..Spent 220k miles in Intrigues, should have bought a spare new 2002 model...
Cars from 50 years ago were EXPONENTIALLY more attractive than ANYTHING built these days!
I'd take a Cadillac or a Buick long before any Lexus! Lexus is the ersatz icon of aging irrelevent Boomers who once had the chance to change the world for the better and made it much worse; a generation that sold out and became far more greedy and materialistic than the "Establishment" they once disdained.
I doubt the unemployable real estate scamming 60 year-old ex-hippie in his soon-to-be reposessed leased Lexus could find the accelerator pedal due to a brain addled by decades worth of drug abuse. I'd take something like a 1957 DeSoto Firedome hardtop over any Nipponese wannabe Euro sport sedan.
But I'll just enjoy using my "wannabe Euro sports sedan" to smoke your 1957(lol) DeSoto Firedome hardtop. At the end of the day you get what you want and I get what I want, it's just a beautiful world.
Wait, so based on your train of thoughts, the CTS is just an American wannabe Euro sports sedan right? Gotcha!
Never drove a BUG to this day..Gutless wonders I was always told..
I drove one to Alaska in '73. Stuffed with camping gear, but nothing like the one my wife rode up in with her friend Flo back in ~78 when she moved to Anchorage:
I see you live on the LEFT COAST...I understand your affection for foreign cars...How's your governor Arnold doing with his hydrogen car, maybe Honda will jump in the fray to save the day..What's ole Gov Davis doing these days???
California has it's own unique problems...We are certainly blessed in Florida so far to have stayed from all the west coast maladies...
Oriental could describe most Asian cars...You think???
I though Ah-nold drove a Hummer? Is it a hydrogen-powered Hummer? I'd think it was funny if Schwartzenegger was chaufferred around in one of those big black 1938 Grosser Benz (?) cabriolet sedans.
Well, I grew up in Mississippi so you have to add at least ten years to any trend before it hit there. When we wanted to see Yankees, we'd drive to Florida.
Having grown up (?) during a time, in So. California when it seemed every other car on the road was a VW bug and having owned a few, I have a soft spot for them.
My 1962 with it's mighty 40 H.P. engine never let me down. It could cruise all day at a blistering 73 MPH. When it needed an overhaul, they installed a "big bore" kit, and then it would do 75 MPH.
And, I didn't care! It was fine, and I had fast cars too including a couple of GTO's, a 421 Catalina and a 409 Impala.
Thea 57 De Soto couldn't handle worth a damm and it had probably the worst brakes in the industry. It was what it was and you drove it accordingly or you paid the price!
hea 57 De Soto couldn't handle worth a damm and it had probably the worst brakes in the industry. It was what it was and you drove it accordingly or you paid the price!
Yeah of all the old cars to pick a 57 De Soto wouldn't be the one for me thats for sure.
Drivers want a balance between driving experience, entertainment that is restricted to audio only, and reliability... It honestly is up to the driver what they want from whatever carmaker they choose. I grew up in American cars, and they have been mostly really good in terms of quality in my experience.
I drive a Forester based on my cousins advice and recommendation, and I'm currently having an open mind as far as the next car I drive.
I think that is a great position to be in, define your needs and pick the vehicle that meets those needs. I think our next vehicle will need sliding doors (aka minivan) so that limits our options alot. Right now I am thinking Mazda5 (especially if they keep the availability of the manual trans), although we will miss the AWD of the Legacy. Perhaps by then we will be back in California, having been the last to leave Michigan, and AWD will not be a factor.
I think my age might play a role in this (I am only in my early 30s) but I cannot imagine spending that much money on something that dull and lifeless. I guess if I had to wake up and drive the 405 to sit in a box somewhere all day and take heat and then turn around and driving home, a sensory deprivation chamber might be handy.
That said, the effort required to drive a car from a long bygone era is higher too. I remember the 60s LeMans I used to drive when I was babysitting in HS (the 90s);they figured if their kids were in that barge, the would be safe, but that car was very hard to drive.
Most of the cars I seem to like are 80s/90s European cars. This was a bleak time for American cars (save for a few bright spots) and the Japanese were perfecting the commuter-pod. A 3 series or a GTI was a lot of fun, felt good, and was just a much more rewarding driving experience,
Toyota is a little cheap on the pay side and the Americans are looking for a challenge---it's all about money..
Dana went down the tubes long ago, low bidder always got the business and print specs were mostly ignored..Purchasing dept looked good and burden of making the part to print was left to machining gurus with extra operations required..
Dana's demise was predictable over time..Unions didn't help the situation...
No tears from me...I didn't read the link to the article, just going on memory..Had some good times with the Dana people, however I had my big commission acct only 20 miles away..Mid-Ohio location south of Toledo..
Enough Dana-----Nobody has mentioned the Corvair, it was improved over,time, however a big liberal named Nader killed it., another attorney looking to make a few bucks.
Enough Dana-----Nobody has mentioned the Corvair, it was improved over,time, however a big liberal named Nader killed it., another attorney looking to make a few bucks.
I think Nader's affect on the Corvair has been over-rated. The car itself never quite proved itself as a mass-market compact. The Falcon blew it away in sales, and the Valiant ended up closer in sales than GM would have liked. And then the much more conventional Chevy II came on the market.
The Corvair did, however, open up a new niche...the sporty domestic compact. In that arena it did very well...until the Mustang came along. When the '65 Corvair came out, GM pretty much decided that was it...the car would run its course, and then just get phased out. It just didn't fit with the times. People back then wanted their cars big, bulky, and brawny. Not sleek, svelte, and subtle like the Corvair. And the whole engine in the rear, trunk in the front, and grille-less design was always off-putting to a lot of buyers.
I wonder though, if the car had held on just a few more years, if it might have had a resurgence in the 70's. Once fuel started becoming scarce and expensive, and people started wanting a car that could do more than just boast an impressive quarter mile time.
As for Nader, his book "Unsafe at any Speed", didn't hit the bookstore shelves until after GM made the decision that there would not be a third generation Corvair. And the thing that really got Nader put on the map was that GM tried to dig up some dirt on Nader to make him look bad, and that got exposed and shouted from the rooftops, and probably screwed GM over worse than Nader's book did.
I've also heard that 1961-63 Pontiac Tempests, which had the transaxle in the back, a "rope drive" shaft connecting it to the engine, and swing axles in the back, could be far more dangerous than any Corvair ever was. How Nader missed that scandal in the making, the world may never know.
Certainly the Falcons and Valiants (can you say slant 6?) were much better accepted compacts. My sister had a 63 falcon convertible, metallic rose in color, black soft top and black vinyl interior. Really nice. The next year they made a new model by hanging different sheet metal on it and called it Mustang.
I liked my old Tercel. Liked the Valiant that was in the family too. The Falcon was ok, but maybe I should have left it stuck on the railroad tracks that day.... The Galaxy 500 was better; too bad the block cracked when I borrowed it one week.
I've also heard that 1961-63 Pontiac Tempests, which had the transaxle in the back, a "rope drive" shaft connecting it to the engine, and swing axles in the back, could be far more dangerous than any Corvair ever was. How Nader missed that scandal in the making, the world may never know.
My folks had one of those in its first year. It was in the shop a lot. I remember the loaners more than the Tempest. Not sure what happened to it.
After the Porsche I did drive a Corvair once and was somewhat impressed, but certain aspects of the car didn't really win me over..Never did get into the last Turbo models or whatever they did to boost the horsepower. Rear-engine cars are somewhat tricky in high-speed cornering situations, don't try to shift down, keep your foot buried...plan ahead..I had a few moments after long autobahn runs and getting onto 2 lane mountain passes where trying to shift in middle of a sharp curve was somewhat hairy---too much German gusto, miss those liter beer bottles with the snap caps..Couple botched curves and one sobers up..
I supplied the fifteen ft heater cables on the Corvairs..I remember the Porsche had manifold heaters....no a/c and the heat was either too much or not enough..
We sure had it hard back in the 50s, some great cars w/o gadgets..
I bought a 1967 NSU PRINZ TTI in 1967, made in Germany, rear engine Duel carbs. and a total weight of less than 1500 lbs. The engine was 4 cyc. 1899cc with a 5 speed stick, and it screemed! Gas mileage was consistant at 35 + mpg. It looked live a miniture Corvar. Top speed was 120 mph! At 120 mph it was really scary drifted and a light wind was an accident waiting to happen. NSU also built motor cycles, and was run bu MB. I hit a German Shepard dog and it wiped out the front end, crumppled like a paper bag. After owning it 18 months and 30,000 miles the engine caught fire and totaled the car. But what a thrill and what a fast car. Has anyone ever seen or had or driven one?
Wow! That's the first time I've heard of those in a long time. When I was in high school the nearest place you could buy a new car was an NSU dealer. It was really a gas station that started selling them on the side. Two blocks from the house.
I never did drive one.
2015 Mazda 6 Grand Touring, 2014 Mazda 3 Sport Hatchback, 1999 Mazda Miata 2004 Toyota Camry LE, 1999.
fezo: There were three models the Sport TTI, a longer version something like a streched, and a two door cheap one. I actually drove with the dealer (just like you said a small repair shop that sold them) to the Long Beach dock and picked my NSU off the Dock after it was unladed from the ship. Before we started it we had to put oil in the engine, they were shipped front side up, and was completely covered with a very thick clear bees wax type of covering all ver the car. We went to a car wash and it took a good hour to get the stuff off. When the car caught fire the insurance adjuster could not find it in their book. So he went by some forumla, and I was paid more than I paid for the car when I bought it. After it was totalled the dealer bought it from the insurance comp. and he rebuilt it and drove it for several more years. I last saw it on top of some cars headed for the crusher and it had been painted yellow, orignal was white. NSU went under in the late 70's. NSU developed the Wamkel engine or as mazda calles it the Roterary engine. NSU produced a two door sports car with the Wankel engine. It was fast but seals were a constant problem. Thanks for answering!
"Can't believe no one has commented on Hudsons"...OK, just for you...the Hudson is one of the nicest, picturesque rivers in New York especially if you are upstate in West Point, where the water is clean and crisp, not like NYC, where you can filter old tires from your faucet...
Comments
So again what's wrong with a Falcon? Now K car I can understand.
So again what's wrong with a Falcon? Now K car I can understand.
The Falcon was basically just slow, cheap, and simple, and for the most part, not very glamorous. Just cheap, basic, no-frills transportation. Earlier versions came with a tiny 144 CID 6-cyl with something like 85 hp, with a 170 CID, ~100 hp unit being optional. And keep in mind this is gross hp ratings, not the modern net ratings they use today. Nowadays, that 85 hp would probably be more like 65-70 and the 100 would be maybe 80, tops.
They were also very lightweight and easy to total out. Very easy to make them leak fuel in a rear-end collision, although Ford would perfect this to an artform with the Pinto. On the plus side though, they were cheap to fix, easy to work on, and fairly reliable. Later versions with the bigger 200 CID 6-cyl, or better yet, one of the small V-8's of the time, were also better performers.
Also, the K-car didn't come out until the 1981 model year. Maybe it was a Fairmont your aunt traded on in '78? They have a similar boxy appearance, although the Fairmont was a lot longer. Both were designed by the same stylists, as a lot of Ford designers jumped ship and went over to Chrysler about that time.
As for the K-car, Chrysler tried to make those things feel like bigger cars than they really were. Often, when you do that with a small car, you really mess up the handling and ride.
Both of these cars were also notably bigger than most of the Japanese cars out there at the time...Accords, Corollas, and 210's were still tiny little things, and I believe even the Coronas and 510's were still pretty small. Now there was the 810/Maxima and Cressida, but these were more along the lines of luxury cars at the time, and had a lot more effort but into their construction than the more mass-produced cars like the K- and X-cars.
I'd guess it was 1983, with Toyota's Camry, that the Japanese really got into the market of an X- or K- type of car.
My neighbors had been driving a 1969-70 Cadillac Sedan DeVille. They replaced that with a 1980 or 1981 Citation, but hated it so much that it was gone within a couple months. I think they replaced it with a 1981 Monte Carlo with the Chevy 229 V-6, and then a few years later with an '84 with the 305.
I don't think they actually had the Citation long enough to have problems with it, but my neighbor was the type that liked to do all his own work. And one look under the hood of that Citation, and he saw it was totally different from anything he had been used to.
2nd car. Ford tempo 91/92 with a bit over 30k miles on it... good car, kinda was hard on my back with long trips however. and I wanted a truck.
3rd car. 92 Dodge dakota with 160ishk miles on it. Decent truck, but throttle wires were kinda bad.
4th car a 99 dodge caravan. in the time I had this car, it was broken into twice.
5th car. 90 Tempo with 101k miles on it. tranny got stuck in first gear once.
6th car. Ford freestyle.. 7500miles on it. I loved it alot, but kinda thirsty on gas.
Now currently I'm on my 7th car, a Subaru Forester 08. I like it and yet there bad things.. Road noise, lack of blinker volume [too quiet], and very sensitive passenger airbag sensor.
Pondering a GM or ford car.. most likely looking at the Ford Escape Hybrid or a fusion... as for GM... a pontiac perhaps? just a few options.
I recently testdrove an 08 caravan loaded to the gills with electronics... Half the stuff in there would be distracting to the driver.... seriously. Carmakers, whether foreign or domestic need to acheive a proper balance of electronics vs driving experience...
Drivers want a balance between driving experience, entertainment that is restricted to audio only, and reliability... It honestly is up to the driver what they want from whatever carmaker they choose. I grew up in american cars, and they have been mostly really good in terms of quality in my experience.
I drive a Forester based on my cousins advice and recommendation, and I'm currently having an open mind as far as the next car I drive.
One cannot point a single finger at the carmakers founded here in the states without also including not only the UAW, but also the carmaker lobbiers who were in the halls of congress along with the oil companies to essentially resist change until it was already far too late to really influence the general attitude of consumers. It is in the halls of Congress where we should really point the fingers, to the lobbiests for the B3 who didnt want to see any cut in their profits as perhaps would have occured if they had been forced to actively revamp not only the philosophies used, but the carpart makers products as well. Those at the top of the companies who tend to earn the most $ will usually be the most resistant to changing their companies for the better if only to scrounge up every last cent not paying attention to the horizon.
The B3 have some faults, that is true, but yet, whose fault is it that the B3 have not progressed in mpg improvements further then they've come so far?
We need to look at the oil companies who likely heavily influence carmakers.
The 58 Porsche was sold to a returning GI and my 59 Porsche I brought back to Indiana..It was sold within a short time and making the experience of owning those two cars for approx 50k miles a worth while venture and a profitable one too boot!!
Never drove a BUG to this day..Gutless wonders I was always told..
Yeah, I don't know why my neighbors didn't just to that, truthfully. I guess the Cadillac could have just been getting tired, though. These people lived behind my grandparents. We lived with my grandparents for a couple years, but in 1979 my Mom bought a house down in southern MD. Ended up HATING it down there because it was so far from everything she was used to, and really got homesick. So we were back up there like every other weekend, and in 1980 Mom sold the house and we moved back up there. It was around that time that I noticed the Citation back there, and no more Cadillac.
This guy worked on old cars, and probably had about 20-30 of them back there, in various states of repair. He repainted both of my Darts for me, and helped me put a leaf spring on the DeSoto once. He was constantly getting something "new" and getting rid of cars as he got bored with them. His wife was the one that mainly drove the Cadillac, and perhaps she just got tired of it and they wanted something new?
Something else I just thought of. They have a son, whom I think reached driving age around that timeframe. I wonder if they might've bought the Citation, given him the Cadillac, and that was the end of it? I think my uncle sent a few cars to an early grave in his younger days, and I know of at least one, a '65 Impala SS396, that My Dad left for dead on a lonely country road back around 1971.
My neighbors moved out of there back in 2000. They were both retired by that time, and just didn't want to deal with the area anymore. So they moved down to southern MD, maybe 45-50 miles away. I've only seen them once since then, and it was at her mother's funeral. Not the best time to be bringing up cars! :surprise:
I do remember that DeVille being a pretty car, though. 4-door hardtop, medium/dark blue with a white vinyl top. They gave me a ride to school a few times in it, and I think it was the first car I ever saw that had power windows.
I've never driven in one, but have ridden in a few. In local, around-town type of driving, they're actually not bad cars. In fact, I've heard that from, say, 0-20, they can actually embarrass plenty of much-more powerful cars. Alas, they power died off quickly, and they often took 25-30 seconds to do 0-60, and I think top speed was around 75 mph.
Boats used to be a big passion since we lived on Lake Freeman during the summer months, located near Monticello, Indiana. During part of my adult life I bought and sold new aswell used boats as a hobby to offset my expenses of Great Lakes boating. Been through the Formulas, Magnums, Cigarettes and Donzis as well as the cruisers 30ft to 36ft.. Didn't like to pay winter storage, however I got stuck with a 78 Formula T-250s for 3 yrs and the hull was replaced after 30hrs of useage by the factory in 1980..Made money on the deal even after carrying it for three years, lawyer fees and storage costs..
My first venture with a new 98 Olds Intrigue GLS loaded was a 13 month venture and GM repurchased the car after 26k miles, cost me $635 and I took their check added $700 purchased a new 1999 Olds Intrigue GLS w/3.5 V-6, a sweetheart of a car, traded it on a 2002 OLds Intrigue which went the 119k..Spent 220k miles in Intrigues, should have bought a spare new 2002 model...
What's the hertiage of an Asian Car?????
Why the heck should I care about heritage when I am driving a modern car rather than a POS from 50 years ago?
Both Buick and Caddy has WAY more heritage than Lexus but take a guess on who attracts more customers in the good ole' USA.
I'd take a Cadillac or a Buick long before any Lexus! Lexus is the ersatz icon of aging irrelevent Boomers who once had the chance to change the world for the better and made it much worse; a generation that sold out and became far more greedy and materialistic than the "Establishment" they once disdained.
Good for you!
As long as you enjoy being smoked by a modern Lexus in your 50-year-old whatever then that's fine with me.
But I'll just enjoy using my "wannabe Euro sports sedan" to smoke your 1957(lol) DeSoto Firedome hardtop. At the end of the day you get what you want and I get what I want, it's just a beautiful world.
Wait, so based on your train of thoughts, the CTS is just an American wannabe Euro sports sedan right? Gotcha!
I drove one to Alaska in '73. Stuffed with camping gear, but nothing like the one my wife rode up in with her friend Flo back in ~78 when she moved to Anchorage:
See more Car Pictures at CarSpace.com
I don't remember getting passed by too many Porshes back when the road was 1,000+ miles of gravel.
California has it's own unique problems...We are certainly blessed in Florida so far to have stayed from all the west coast maladies...
Oriental could describe most Asian cars...You think???
The 60s generation!!!!!! Am I wrong???
Well, I grew up in Mississippi so you have to add at least ten years to any trend before it hit there. When we wanted to see Yankees, we'd drive to Florida.
Detroit "stole" another Toyota exec today:
Auto parts supplier Dana names ex-Toyota executive as CEO
Of course, it's Toledo, not Detroit, and the axle and brake production is moving off-shore.
My 1962 with it's mighty 40 H.P. engine never let me down. It could cruise all day at a blistering 73 MPH. When it needed an overhaul, they installed a "big bore" kit, and then it would do 75 MPH.
And, I didn't care! It was fine, and I had fast cars too including a couple of GTO's, a 421 Catalina and a 409 Impala.
Thea 57 De Soto couldn't handle worth a damm and it had probably the worst brakes in the industry. It was what it was and you drove it accordingly or you paid the price!
Yeah of all the old cars to pick a 57 De Soto wouldn't be the one for me thats for sure.
I drive a Forester based on my cousins advice and recommendation, and I'm currently having an open mind as far as the next car I drive.
I think that is a great position to be in, define your needs and pick the vehicle that meets those needs. I think our next vehicle will need sliding doors (aka minivan) so that limits our options alot. Right now I am thinking Mazda5 (especially if they keep the availability of the manual trans), although we will miss the AWD of the Legacy. Perhaps by then we will be back in California, having been the last to leave Michigan, and AWD will not be a factor.
That said, the effort required to drive a car from a long bygone era is higher too. I remember the 60s LeMans I used to drive when I was babysitting in HS (the 90s);they figured if their kids were in that barge, the would be safe, but that car was very hard to drive.
Most of the cars I seem to like are 80s/90s European cars. This was a bleak time for American cars (save for a few bright spots) and the Japanese were perfecting the commuter-pod. A 3 series or a GTI was a lot of fun, felt good, and was just a much more rewarding driving experience,
Dana went down the tubes long ago, low bidder always got the business and print specs were mostly ignored..Purchasing dept looked good and burden of making the part to print was left to machining gurus with extra operations required..
Dana's demise was predictable over time..Unions didn't help the situation...
No tears from me...I didn't read the link to the article, just going on memory..Had some good times with the Dana people, however I had my big commission acct only 20 miles away..Mid-Ohio location south of Toledo..
Enough Dana-----Nobody has mentioned the Corvair, it was improved over,time, however a big liberal named Nader killed it., another attorney looking to make a few bucks.
I think Nader's affect on the Corvair has been over-rated. The car itself never quite proved itself as a mass-market compact. The Falcon blew it away in sales, and the Valiant ended up closer in sales than GM would have liked. And then the much more conventional Chevy II came on the market.
The Corvair did, however, open up a new niche...the sporty domestic compact. In that arena it did very well...until the Mustang came along. When the '65 Corvair came out, GM pretty much decided that was it...the car would run its course, and then just get phased out. It just didn't fit with the times. People back then wanted their cars big, bulky, and brawny. Not sleek, svelte, and subtle like the Corvair. And the whole engine in the rear, trunk in the front, and grille-less design was always off-putting to a lot of buyers.
I wonder though, if the car had held on just a few more years, if it might have had a resurgence in the 70's. Once fuel started becoming scarce and expensive, and people started wanting a car that could do more than just boast an impressive quarter mile time.
As for Nader, his book "Unsafe at any Speed", didn't hit the bookstore shelves until after GM made the decision that there would not be a third generation Corvair. And the thing that really got Nader put on the map was that GM tried to dig up some dirt on Nader to make him look bad, and that got exposed and shouted from the rooftops, and probably screwed GM over worse than Nader's book did.
I've also heard that 1961-63 Pontiac Tempests, which had the transaxle in the back, a "rope drive" shaft connecting it to the engine, and swing axles in the back, could be far more dangerous than any Corvair ever was. How Nader missed that scandal in the making, the world may never know.
I liked my old Tercel. Liked the Valiant that was in the family too. The Falcon was ok, but maybe I should have left it stuck on the railroad tracks that day.... The Galaxy 500 was better; too bad the block cracked when I borrowed it one week.
My folks had one of those in its first year. It was in the shop a lot. I remember the loaners more than the Tempest. Not sure what happened to it.
I supplied the fifteen ft heater cables on the Corvairs..I remember the Porsche had manifold heaters....no a/c and the heat was either too much or not enough..
We sure had it hard back in the 50s, some great cars w/o gadgets..
As they used to say about Packard - "Ask the man who owns one."
I hit a German Shepard dog and it wiped out the front end, crumppled like a paper bag. After owning it 18 months and 30,000 miles the engine caught fire and totaled the car. But what a thrill and what a fast car.
Has anyone ever seen or had or driven one?
farout
I never did drive one.
When the car caught fire the insurance adjuster could not find it in their book. So he went by some forumla, and I was paid more than I paid for the car when I bought it.
After it was totalled the dealer bought it from the insurance comp. and he rebuilt it and drove it for several more years. I last saw it on top of some cars headed for the crusher and it had been painted yellow, orignal was white.
NSU went under in the late 70's. NSU developed the Wamkel engine or as mazda calles it the Roterary engine. NSU produced a two door sports car with the Wankel engine. It was fast but seals were a constant problem.
Thanks for answering!
farout