It's Time to Play "WHO AM I"?

stephen987

Shot in the dark: William Crapo Durant?

Mr_Shiftright

That's right!

Interestingly enough, he gave an interview while he was managing the store, and seemed quite content with his lot. Basically he said "I had a great ride".

For those who don't know, he founded General Motors, lost it, and then managed to buy it back one more time before losing it for good.

lemko

He also tried AGAIN to build an auto empire called Durant Motors with cars such as the Star, Durant, and Flint.

Mr_Shiftright

I still see Star hubcaps on eBay now and then.

bhill2

Mercury Cyclone GT? 1965 with the 427, 1966-67 with the 390?

Well, the 427 was a very limited option in 1964 and 1965. These were also not the only engine available in their respective year, and the Cyclone was available for 4 years (also in 1964). The model I am thinking about was available for only 3 years, and each year was available with only one engine; a larger one the first year, which was replaced with a smaller one the next two years.

I will add a hint; they supercharged the smaller engine to give the same horsepower rating as the earlier, larger one.

If no one gets this by Friday, I will give the answer.

texases

Audi S4? V8 to supercharged V6 (confusingly called a T)...

Mr_Shiftright

I was one of the world's greatest architects (even if my roofs leaked), and naturally I chose a car as distinctive as my work. The name of the car was famous but is no more, and the model I drove was not the one normally associated with the marque.

Who am I and what car did I drive?

bhill2

Audi S4? V8 to supercharged V6 (confusingly called a T)...

Refer to my earlier posts. the model that I am referring to was available for only 3 years; the S4 has been available in various iterations for almost 20 years and still counting.

Another hint; the 3 year run was in the mid to late '50s.

bhill2

Are you by any chance thinking of the Cord that Frank Lloyd Wright owned and painted something like burnt orange? I think that the model predated the better known J and SJ (my failing memory is that it looked much less streamlined), so that may reference to 'the model I drove was not the one normally associated with the marque.'

texases

OK...but you might try and wrap this up, they go stale after too long...

Mr_Shiftright

Yes a Cord driven by FLW, but you don't have the model right.

bhill2

OK...but you might try and wrap this up, they go stale after too long...

You're right. OK, the answer is.... The Studebaker Golden Hawk.

It debuted in 1956 with the Packard 352 ci 275 hp V-8. For '57 and '58 the 352 was replaced with a 289 ci blown V-8, also rated at 275 hp. In 1959 it was gone, along with most of the rest of the earlier Studehonkers (except the Silver Hawk), to be replaced by the Lark.

Mr_Shiftright

Frank Lloyd Wright drove a Cord L-29

texases

"Frank Lloyd Wright drove a Cord L-29 "

Can't say he was bashful:

boomchek

I drove heads of state around the world
My design was classic although it was old
I was hand made, so complex and such
I cost an arm, a leg, oh so much
When you buy me used, you better make sure
That you have a mechanic at your front door
I am not a Yankee, a Brit, or from Japan
And was discontinued in eighty one

michaellno

MB 600 Grosser

boomchek

Good jon Michaell. Well that lasted all of 3 minutes. I think I gave up too many clues.

boomchek

I used to have 2 seats, now I have 5
A few years ago I was told bye bye bye
Now my name gets resurrected again
To compete head on with the popular one
We're different than mainstream, but have been around
For about a decade, in one shape or form

What am I and what is the popular one?

bhill2

Hmmm. How about the Honda Insight, resurrected to compete with the Prius?

ateixeira

At first I was thinking T-bird but you must be correct due to the dates.

stever

I was one of the world's greatest architects (even if my roofs leaked),

I toured a FLW house in Buffalo a few years back. Great house. But a flat roof in Buffalo?

kyfdx

We did the same one... I think in summer of '07...

boomchek

Bhill, you're correct. The Insight name was recently resurrected after or so dormant years. When I worked at Honda in 2003-2006, the old Insight was a specila order type thing but I never saw a brand new one in the showroom during those years.

fezo

Out local Honda guy had one of those in his showroom back then. One of the few Hondas I never entertained owning.... The new Insight is another story.

isellhondas

Really?

We sold quite a few of them then they really died down.

Not my cup of tea.

Mr_Shiftright

They handled a lot better than the Prius, if that's any consolation.

bhill2

No matter whether you win gold, silver, or bronze,
it makes you the same thing as my model name.
I was introduced as a low-cost trim level in one year,
disappeared the next year,
reappeared for one more year,
and then disappeared forever.
Who am I and what year did I debut?

nippononly

There was an "Olympian" somewhere along the way?? :confuse:

lemko

Hmmm. Are you the 1956 Mercury Medalist?

boomchek

I'm gonna guess a Plymouth Champ of some sort.

210delray

I think Lemko's got it. The Champ was around longer. I don't remember an Olympian, but I certainly am not familiar with all prewar model names.

stephen987

Well, Opel fielded both Olympic and Rekord models, but like the Champ, they were around longer.

Same for the Studebaker Champion, I think, though it was definitely an entry level model, below the Commander and President in the '50s.

bhill2

You're right; Lemko's got it. The Mercury Medalist was offered in '56, dropped in '57, and then brought back for an encore in the recession year of '58, and dropped after that.

ateixeira

Good one.

I thought of horse racing, Win, Place, or Show. Show would be 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, which made me think of Taurus SHO, but it didn't meet the other criteria.

I like the ones that get you thinking...

boomchek

For about two decades I've been around
You could get me in coupe, topless, or sedan
I have bigger brothers who also run with the best
But I am the favorite, test after test
My first generation is a bit hard to find
My second is easier, if abused examples you don't mind
The third one's becoming affordable now
My fourth one of course makes you saw Wow!

What am I?

isellhondas

Changing my oil filter for those who got the itch would quickly prove to be a [non-permissible content removed].

You could look at cars for miles around but a harder to change oil filter just couldn't be found!

The mechanics would swear because nothing else could compare.

To make your guess less of a test, I was born in a "nifty" time but I sure wasn't spiffy!

kyfdx

BMW 3-series.. or M3?

boomchek

Correct, it is the legendary M3!

ateixeira

Hmm, not a lot of clues there.

I have 2 guesses:

1. 2002 Honda CR-V. The oil filter is above the exhaust headers, so you'll burn your forearms reaching for it.

2. 1991-1995 Ford Escort GT (and clones Tracer, Protoge): same issue, oil filter above the hot exhaust.

I had a '91 Escort and if you wanted to drain the oil while it was hot, you'd better be wearing long sleeves, else 1st degree burns. If you're lucky and they're not 2nd degree! :sick:

isellhondas

Nope, and I have to admit that unless you were working on cars that were built in Ike's era you probably would have no idea.

This car was an oldie when I worked on it in the late 60's.

The cars you mentioned were a piece of cake compared to this Detroit nightmare.

Mr_Shiftright

Let's see---the hardest oil filter on an "oldie" that I remember was the early Chrysler "hemi" (not the "real" hemi).

hpmctorque

I can't guess the car in the riddle. However, regarding the history of the Chrysler hemi, there have been three Chrysler hemis. The first was introduced in '51, and it was this engine, enlarged, that went into the legendary '55 Chrysler 300. Originally 331 c.i., it was later expanded to 392 c.i. Smaller versions were used in Dodges and DeSotos. This hemi was phased out after the '58 (or '59?) model year.

For the '64 model year Chrysler Corp introduced a new 426 c.i. hemi, which is the one that Shifty referred to as the "real" hemi. I believe the first generation was also a "real" hemi, although it wasn't as ferocious as the second generation. To be more specific, the second generation became king of the drag strip. while the first generation (Chrysler 300) was king of stock car racing in the mid '50s (prior to that the "fabulous Hudson Hornet" held that honor).

If there's a hemi that isn't the real Mc Coy, I'd say it's the third generation hemi, which has been in production since the '05 model year, since its combustion chambers aren't truly hemispherical.

isellhondas

Yes, that's the one!

I was a kid working in a gas station part time in the late sixties.

We had a customer who owned a 1954 Dodge. These normally came with a flathead six but this one had the Red Ram Hemi V-8 which barely fit under the hood.

The oil fllter was a cannister type on the right side of the block. It had a long bolt that had to be removed which was near impossible because it would hit the frame rail. There was a rubber O ring and several gaskets that had to line up perfectly or it would leak. It was almost impossible to get everything in perfect order.

We would start the Dodge up and hope like hell it didn't leak which it almost always did. Then we would have to start the whole miserable job over again.

And, this old guy was a stickler for oil changes! We saw that Dodge every three months. To make things worse, the customer would stand and watch us while we did the work!

Mr_Shiftright

I remembered that obscure fact because a friend of mine had a '55 Dodge Royal Lancer and she always begged me to work on it, since I (the fool for love) was the one who originally rescued it from a wrecker's "fixer-upper" lot. She loved it because it was pink and white (no it wasn't the "La Femme" model but it looked like one). It was a good engine but in no way "fast" with the automatic. But yeah, by mid 50s standards, all souped up in a "proper" dragster, it was a decent engine. But as Chevy's small block expanded into its myriad variations, and with that short stroke, you didn't see many Red Rams on the street duking it out.

I always think of the 426 as the "real" hemi because, in comparison to the earlier Hemis, which were so polite, the 426 was a ferocious, big bad dog that strained to break its chain, even at idle.

The lady who owned the '55 Dodge was no pushover, though. She was drop-dead beautiful but could knock a man down. She called her car "Amelia" and later went on to become a highly competent Alaska bush pilot. I don't know what happened to the car, though.

fintail

Did Chrysler keep up this difficult-to-access design for large engines in later years? Way back when before my time, my dad had a Chrysler with a 383, and years after he had it, he was still complaining about the layout of the engine, especially for changing spark plugs.

Mr_Shiftright

People who complained back then didn't know how good they had it, compared to cars that came later. There were a couple of cars though, where you had to jack up the engine to get to a certain spark plug, or remove an inner fender liner. I even recall a few that had doors in the firewall. Ferraris make it simple. On some models, they want you to remove the engine and do $6000 worth of work all at once.

hpmctorque

Yeah, the 426s were real monsters. As such, they were better suited for life on the strip or the track than as family haulers. The first generation served the daily driver need just fine, and also gave its owners some performance bragging rights. With 331 c.i., the hemi equipped '51 Chryslers and Imperials had the same displacement as the '51 Caddys, but 180 hp vs. 160 for GM's flagship. Unfortunately, Chrysler's transmissions, Fluid Drive and its myriad variations, or the clunky 3-on-the-tree, didn't allow the hemi to shine. If only Chrysler had had a version of the 4-speed Hydramatic of that time.

fintail

Well, a Chrysler station wagon isn't in the same league as an Italian exotic

I think he said on that car, a couple of the plugs were very hard to reach, you had to get under and really root around. Maybe another reason why I6 engines are so good.

Mr_Shiftright

The 426 was an animal. The 331 was a quiet little kitten in comparison.

But even just having a "big block" didn't mean you'd win anything. There were certainly clunker big blocks out there.

isellhondas

Oh, you are so right!

Some of the jobs that we thought were so hard are nothing compared to some of the cars today.

Still, changing spark plugs on a 1967 Mustang with a 390 was a nightmare!