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

magnetophone

I think I needed to create a message board where we talk about crazy old obscure cars that we saw on the way to work, in the neighborhood, or at the junkyard.

I'll start:

2 blocks from my house, someone owns a red Yugo with a flapping American flag hanging on its rear!

On my way to work, I saw both a DeLorean and an AMC Spirit 4WD station wagon with wood paneling.

How bout you?

andys120

on the Classic Cars board.

Saw a Ferrari 360 Modena the other night. For more details, see "Ferrari sighting" under the "Ferrari the Ultimate Classic" topic
(Classic cars board)

machiavelli

This isn't anything exotic, but it was somewhat surprising -
I saw a newer Saturn SC coupe with the full "rice" treatment - giant rear wing, coffee can muffler, clear tail-lights, lowered suspension, etc... It's the first time I've seen a Saturn like that.

magnetophone

I've never seen a Saturn SC like that.

andys, I never noticed that message board.

sonjaab

A what I thought was a 90s Chev. Corsica
Looked closer and it was a Pontiac Tempest.
Rear end the same as chev. but it had a
pontiac-esc double egg crate nose. It had
Canadian plates on it..........geo

magnetophone

Has anyone ever seen a Pontiac Firefly?

andre1969

...but there was a bad horror movie called "Valentine" that came out in 2001, that had a Firefly in it. I had to do a double-take at first, because it just looked like an old Chevy Sprint. The grille was a bit different though.

I wouldn't recommend renting the movie just to see the car though, unless you're into bad horror movies!

drivinisfun

Yes I saw a Pontiac Firefly at least once when I was up in Toronto, Ontario last week. The Firefly is the Canadian market version of the late Geo/Chevy Metro. Also saw a couple of new Lamborghini Murcielagos as well.

Here in my neck of the woods, Ferrari Modena 360's are pretty common sight as well as new Mini Coopers, etc.

By the way, during the last 6 months I have seen 3 times a white Mercedes A140 and even a new Smart driven around a Mercedes Benz dealer.

Thi sis the happening place if you want to see fancy cars and beaters sharing road space.

wale_bate1

"I seen a peanut stand,
Heard a rubber band,
Seen a needle that winked its eye!

But I'd be done seen
About e-ev'rythin'
When I see a Fi-i-re fly..."

Sorry. Dumbo, you know. Great picture.

Not this AM, but last Friday, I happened on a 4-door Maverick with a carriage roof, wire rims, whitewalls and a full-on gold package. Oh yeah, it had hood scoops too.

Why?

drivinisfun

Who has seen a Pontiac Tempest?

wilcox

Everytime I see a Contour, I see a car that Ford of America really destroyed to save it's 3.0 pushrod pos Taurus. Now they are doing their best to drive people away from Focus.

Ten years from now, someone will be seeing a nice green '96 V6 Camry, and they'll say, "That's the one wilcox bought back 16 years ago...it still runs real good."

jrosasmc

I saw a pristine-looking '88 Cadillac Cimarron at a restaurant parking lot in Connecticut yesterday. Like, who in their right mind keeps one of those?

machiavelli

I've seen a Pontiac Tempest in Western PA, too. It even had PA plates. It's exactly the same as the old Chevy Corsica, with Pontiac badges.

drivinisfun

Has anyone ever seen:

1996 Caterham 21
1989 BMW Z1
2000 Pagani Zonda C12S
2000 TVR Tamora
1975 Maserati Merak
1989 Alfa Romeo SZ
1994 Schuppan 962CR
2000 Ford FR200

machiavelli

None of the above

magnetophone

I've seen a Maserati Merak!

andys120

andys120

I saw a Bora from the same era on I-684 in New York (great road to go fast on.)

lokki

I wish I'd posted this before that list of interesting cars, but I DID see a Nash Metropolitan convertible today.

Maserati Bora.... Nash Metropolitan... never mind

lemko

...not far from my neighborhood. It's outside a repair shop and is primered. Looks like an aborted restoration project.

magnetophone

There's an orange Rambler sedan about 2 blocks from my house, but I don't know if that counts as obscure.

diploid

Saw one drive by today. Are they even out yet? I am positive that it was a 2003 Saturn L-Series. Trust me, it doesn't look any better in real life.

kw_carman

I saw a Renault Medallion recently, and I thought, "Hmmmm...they had something going." What happened there? I missed out on it, and now it's driving me insane!

To jog your memory: http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/m/p/mps165/renault.html

sildog

My fiance and I have a running contest spotting El Caminos, Caballeros, Sprints and Rancheros. You get points if you are first to spot. Number of points is based on if it is actually moving, looks like it recently moved (like in a parking lot of a store) or looks dead! GMC Sprints and Caballeros get quadruple points over Caminos. Rancheros get double points over Caminos. A 59 Camino gets max points (we've never seen one). The problem is they are getting so rare that we sometimes have to add other vehicles to the spotting list just to add some scoring-otherwise it is too much like soccer!

We did see a very clean Pacer recently in Cincinnati area.

logic1

Sunday, I saw an Aston-Martin Vanquish parked in front of the 4 Seasons Hotel just off Michigan Avenue. Wonder which lucky hop got the honor of parking that beauty?

ajvdh

There's one of them right near where I live. He brings it to some of our club functions.

There's some other weird machinery around here: I see a beat-up Maserati Bora parked at the local Home Depot once in while. A local bakery has a Citroen DCV with a big plastic bread loaf sticking out the back. Then there's the guy with the Pinzgauer.

We get some neat stuff at our open track days. A Pantera, a real Shelby GT350, and a Sunbeam Tiger that competed in the '66 Targa Floria. Also a Shogun (Ford Fiesta with a Taurus SHO drivetrain stuffed into the area where the rear seat would be). Oh yeah, there's the guy who has two vintage Camaros built to Trans-Am specs.

Weirdest thing I've ever seen was some years back, I was driving past a low-rent used car dealer in NJ, and they had a Kaiser-Darrin on the lot: A fiberglass two-seater from the '50s, with doors that opened by sliding forward into the fenders.

magnetophone

I guess I am lucky to live in a quirky neighborhood, but here's what we have:

My apartment complex: it's just a gated walkup complex, but the quirkest car is probably the TDI Passat wagon. Nothing too special

But in the neighborhood, we have a Yugo at the hardware store down the block, a Mini Cooper a few blocks down the street, a Rambler on the same street. But within about 10 blocks, there's also a Renault Fuego, VW Thing, a house with three Citroen 2CV's. Also, there's a French family who owns a large house and has a Peugeot 604 from the mid-70's, as well as a 505 and a 405 (these people are extremely rich - I applaud their choice in cars!), a Volvo P1800, a Merkur Scorpio, and my personal favorite - an Eagle Premier with maroon landau roof and gold accented trim! Klassy!

nwng

One of my neighbor owns a red pantera, the only time I can see it is when it is nice and warm outside, otherwise it stays inside his garage.
Also saw a beat up Rover in faded British racing green sitting on a driveway. A couple weeks ago I saw a Aston Martin Lagonda - what a weird car!

jrosasmc

I saw yet another Cadillac Cimarron today, only this was one of the earliest models- an '82. It was very rough, with plenty of rust, cracked windshield, etc.

sildog

About 9 months ago, I saw a - GET READY - remember the Dodge OMNI? I saw one stretched like a limo! It had some graphics for a business on it. It was stretched quite far - I would estimate about 6 to 8 additional feet.

magnetophone

Hahahahahaha! I saw an Escalade limo recently. yuck!

lemko

...how about a Hummer limo! Just saw one about two weeks ago. I swear they'll make a limo out of anything these days. Back in college I saw a beige 1986 Honda Accord made into a limo.

magnetophone

verozahl's dream!

Limos as we know it in America are the stretched to infinity versions, but in Europe it's just a term for a really nice private taxi with possibly an extended rear end. Like an SEL Mercedes.

chmeeee

I saw a 60s vintage Mustang limo a few years back at a show. More recently I saw a Z1 in Germany, and I have seen not one but two Caterhams in Eastern Mass (on separate occasions). There is an old Saab 96 parked on the side of the road a few blocks up from my apartment, the only one I have ever seen.

logic1

I saw a stretched Hummer in Chicago as well. Thoroughly bizarre.

logic1

Right you are.

Some of my older relatives from the Strassbourg area say they would not want to buy larger Benz, BMW and Jaguar models people in the US think nothing of buying as they do not want to hire a driver. Seems among some of the more conservative French there is a feeling a car does not have to be all that large to be considered a limo.

In Italy I have seen modest sized Alfas with uniformed drivers.

ghulet

I guess I'll have to find the place that will make my '87 Accord into a limo. Let's see, 98hp from carburated engine, manual transmission, crank windows, no a/c, 13" wheels. Sounds like a limo to me.

Lately, let's see: I still see that Maserati Quattroporte in my neighborhood once in a while ('80s, faded ice blue paint with buttery tan leather seats), a '60-61 Rambler Ambassador sedan for sale near me, also a same era Rambler wagon for sale, just saw a '64 or '65 Studebaker (Lark? Commander?) sedan (the bigger, boxier one) in burgandy, kinda nice and unusual. Um, more later. Must go out and drive now.

nickper

I have seen a couple of the Pontiac Tempest versions of the Corsia too. Does anyone know the story about those? One had Canadian plates, the other had Michigan plates. What were those supposed to be???

logic1

Every now and then I will see auto transport trucks with Neons heading east toward the Chicago railyards from the Rockford area DC factory. What strikes this US citizen as odd is that these are Chysler Neons. Obviously on their way to Canada and beyond.

verozahl

Accord limos? ewwwwww!

My building's real estate agent owns an old Alfa Romeo convertible. Any guesses as to what it might be? I'll have to ask him.

magnetophone

Alfa Romeo Spiders were very popular... I see them around occasionally. I saw a Fiat X1/9 recently and remembered that my grandfather owned an orange one around the time I was born.

magnetophone

Vero, unless it's one of the really really old Alfas (pre-1976 or so), and it's about the size of a Mazda Miata, it's just an Alfa Romeo Spider.

It may be an Alfa Romeo Spider veloce...they made them until 1995 or so and was the last car sold here. In fact, you could say it was Italy's only fairly reliable car sold in America...

g1994sts

Saw an older couple driving It today. The car was in like new condition. From the back bumper to where the door ends, It had that upside down Nike swosh shape, hidden headlights, no grille? and overall a very handsome and with design details that seemed to be ahead of It's time. Were these cars forgotten and junked or are they collectable today?

verozahl

magneto, that Alfa, it's pre-1980s.

wishnhigh1

g1994sts...sounds like a 65, but that description could also fit up to the 1970 model. My favorite Riviera is the 65. Hell...my favorite American car of all time is the 1965 Riviera.

ghulet

G1994sts, I think you saw an Oldsmobile Toronado. The Buick Riviera was kind of similar in size, price and likely buyers at the time (late '60s) but was rear-wheel drive. The Toronado was front-wheel drive (the first mass-produced FWD car built in the U.S., I think).

jrosasmc

I also see a few Alfa Spiders on occasion, as well as a few MGBs. Would it be safe to say that the MGB was Britain's only reliable car sold in the States?

dinu01

All those cross-border, cross-branded, cross-plated vehicles you mention.

We have the Corsica/Tempest. Firefly/Geo Metro/Suzuki Swift < All 3 the same.

But question is: Have you ever seen an old-school:

Skoda
Lada (not just the Niva "SUV", but the cars too)
Dacia (Romania's fame on middle-eastern roads)
Oltcit (same as a Renault Axel 11R, but made in Romania - we actually bought one in 1989 and it drove remarkably well - by Eastern Euro Standards)
Aro (Again, a Romanian-made SUV)

Seen the Fuego, the Merkur, the 2CV.

Dinu

lemko

...but a cardboard showroom advertisement for an obscure car - the Plymouth Cricket - at a flea market this weekend. It was a 6' tall cartoon cricket wearing a jacket and bowtie and a text balloon that read "Chirp Chirp! Introducing the new Cricket - the little car from Plymouth that can!" Mr. Cricket's face had several large dents, probably from being slugged by some disgruntled customer who purchased a Cricket.

andys120

RWD sedan/hatchback. I think it was sourced from Talbot which Chrysler got when it bought Talbot-Simca in the 70s.

It was succeeded by the Omnirizon twins.

verozahl

Here in Ann Arbor, I see a Merkur or a Sterling on a bimonthly basis or so... not every day, but often enough to know that they're out there.