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

uplanderguy

So the Galaxie 500 was gone in the U.S., but the Custom 500 was here? Call me incredulous, LOL. I was pretty in-tune with what was going on in the U.S. car market then. I watched and played no sports and didn't have a girlfriend then, sigh!

I know I goof on 'expert' websites decades after-the-fact, all the time, but 'Curbside Classics' says Canada-only.

https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/another-car-i-forgot-existed-1977-ford-custom-500-2-door-pillared-sedan-the-customs-swan-song/

ab348

uplanderguy said:

https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/another-car-i-forgot-existed-1977-ford-custom-500-2-door-pillared-sedan-the-customs-swan-song/

Yes, the correction with the link to the American brochure was down in the comments.

imidazol97

fintail said:

Saw this online, I wonder how these cars were(n't) optioned - key word, "FROM":

What does the Custom model ad mean when it says "delivered in metropolitan area"?

kyfdx

uplanderguy said:

So the Galaxie 500 was gone in the U.S., but the Custom 500 was here? Call me incredulous, LOL. I was pretty in-tune with what was going on in the U.S. car market then. I watched and played no sports and didn't have a girlfriend then, sigh!

I know I goof on 'expert' websites decades after-the-fact, all the time, but 'Curbside Classics' says Canada-only.

https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/another-car-i-forgot-existed-1977-ford-custom-500-2-door-pillared-sedan-the-customs-swan-song/

I had a '70 Galaxie 500. It was my first car.

2-door, baby-poop beige with black vinyl interior, and no A/C.

113K miles when I got it in '76 for $600. (overpaid)

uplanderguy

What does the Custom model ad mean when it says "delivered in metropolitan area"?

That's a good question. It's the only one with that line in the ad.

fintail

Ad is from the Syracuse NY area IIRC,

ab348

The others all say immediate delivery meaning it’s on the lot. Maybe that meant a factory order.

xwesx

Maybe they are willing to go that "extra mile" since it is the Custom model.... was vehicle delivery a thing at all back then?

ab348

Was out this AM and despite being a damp, foggy day here I saw 2 interesting vehicles on the same street within minutes of each other. First, a Bronco is this exact livery, must have been restored since it looked too nice to be original:



Then a short time later what I believe to be a late '70s/early '80s 911 with rear fender flares and whale-tail, in silver like this one:

kyfdx

ab348 said:

Was out this AM and despite being a damp, foggy day here I saw 2 interesting vehicles on the same street within minutes of each other. First, a Bronco is this exact livery, must have been restored since it looked too nice to be original:



Then a short time later what I believe to be a late '70s/early '80s 911 with rear fender flares and whale-tail, in silver like this one:

Link seems to be restricted on the 2nd one

ab348

Speaking of vintage print ads, how about this one I found online from 1970 in Baton Rouge?

explorerx4

The Callenger's got a Hemi.

ab348

kyfdx said:

Link seems to be restricted on the 2nd one

Fixed

omarman

I had to click on the link on the Porsche but it did show after that. "Terrifyingly good looks" was the description when I followed the link to pics. Can't argue with that!

Love the Free Wheelin' package available on both F100 and Bronco.

omarman

HS friend bought a '70 Dodge Dart with black vinyl top over Top Banana yellow.

I liked all the high impact Mopar colors back then although Panther Pink seems to be an example of bad judgement despite good intentions in that era.

Chrysler/Plymouth had different names and they declined to think pink calling it Moulin Rouge instead.
Still I don't see it listed on the chart/pic below but it may have been offered later for Plymouth.

ab348

I think it must have been a mid-year addition. Many of the C-P paint chip charts for 1970 don't even list it, but a few do.

It would have to have been a tough sell as a color even back then. I was thinking maybe that was why the Charger seemed relatively cheap in that ad.

stickguy

out on the highway, a nice bright red 75ish Corvette. Plastic rear bumper but flat rear window still. I liked it.

uplanderguy

The "Sub Lime" looks like it could be a pricing mistake? What would make this car--a Dart--be more expensive than the larger mid-size cars around it, and $600+ more than the Duster with the 340?

explorerx4

If you can believe the graphics in the ad, the Dart looks like a GT which mat be a higher end model than the Duster. That's just speculation.

ab348

uplanderguy said:

The "Sub Lime" looks like it could be a pricing mistake? What would make this car--a Dart--be more expensive than the larger mid-size cars around it, and $600+ more than the Duster with the 340?

A/C, PS, PDB and a radio could easily account for that.

kyfdx

ab348 said:

kyfdx said:

Link seems to be restricted on the 2nd one

Fixed

911 Turbo

Definitely '80s.

Might even be an '84+ Carrera turbo

explorerx4

The neighbor across the street had a Bronco with the same stripe package.
He swapped out the 351 for a 429, then a 460.

fintail

I have a strong suspicion that ad is a modern fantasy piece meant to appear vintage.

Saw a few things on the road today - green and white Nash Metropolitan convertible, 56 Nomad (boomer custom/rod style, of course), early Firebird and mid 60s (maybe GTO) Pontiac convertibles traveling together, R63 AMG,

ab348

fintail said:

I have a strong suspicion that ad is a modern fantasy piece meant to appear vintage.

That thought crossed my mind as well, but the source site had numerous comments and nobody mentioned that. I guess everything these days is potential fake news.

ab348

kyfdx said:

911 Turbo

Definitely '80s.

Might even be an '84+ Carrera turbo

The picture is of a '79 that is/was for sale.

omarman

It's garage art for sale at the Mopar Collectors Guide website.




edit to add: I don't remember the Dispatch or CJ daily newspapers with color car ads in 1970

explorerx4

That would be a nice wall art poster.

ab348

Well, there you go. No indication on the site that it is real. Someone manipulated the image to make it look like slightly crumpled paper. Sorry about that.

omarman

Looks like they are all metal a couple of them are faux "neon" look which look nice too. The description below is for the colorized car ad design:

Reminiscent of a vintage newspaper ad, this 50th anniversary large 35x40 sign is perfect for any shop or man cave, depicting many of the most popular Mopars of 1970.

We took our popular new shirt design and brought it up to the next level by colorizing the cars, and as with all of MCG's garage art, we printed it on aluminum, then UV coated each piece for a long-lasting finish indoors or outdoors.

Just like all our other pieces, these will be numbered and limited to 2,500 total pieces. The goal is to have this one ready in time for Chryslers at Carlisle, but because of the Coronavirus outbreak, we can't get a guaranteed delivery date from our manufacturer. Nevertheless, they will definitely begin shipping sometime in July, come what may. The new retro signage is priced at $69.95, plus shipping and handling, so call today to get yours!

The text above mentions the Chrysler nationals at Carlisle. I wonder if that got cancelled or is it going on this weekend?

fintail

It's still a cool image, and would be great in the right garage.

I suppose I'd take the Panther Pink just for laughs, and I bet it would turn some heads.

explorerx4

Chrysler Nationals looks like it is happening this weekend.

andre1969

According to my old car book, a '70 Duster 340 started at $2545, while a Dart Swinger 340 (there was no Dart GT, or GTS in '70, those were last seen in '68) started at $2631. The ad mentions a Torqueflite for the Duster and a 4-on-the-floor for the Swinger. I'd imagine a 3-on-the-tree was standard on either of those. Either of those optional transmissions probably added about $200 to the MSRP. A/C might have been around $350-400 by that time?

I had a '69 Dart GT hardtop, and I think its base price was $2672, so they somehow managed to do some price cutting (and de-contenting, perhaps?) to get these 340-equipped cars to start off cheaper than a slant-six hardtop was a year earlier. As-equipped, I think my Dart was around $3600 MSRP which sounds ridiculous, but in those days you had to pay extra just for the bigger slant six. The tiny 170 was standard. Then throw on the Torqueflite, a/c, vinyl roof, AM radio, tinted windows, power steering, 3-speed electric wipers, whitewall tires, and a few other odds and ends and it wouldn't be hard to get it to $3600.

Oh, and yeah, the Carlisle Mopar show went on today, as normal. I'd say attendance was maybe 50-60% of its normal? This is usually one of Carlisle's biggest shows, so even with the off numbers, there was still a pretty good turnout. I didn't register a car this year, because everything was just too iffy, but went today, as a spectator.

uplanderguy

RE.: The "ad"--I never knew a dealer to leave A/C out of an ad with a price for a car. But apparently this is a 'dream' ad. Still pretty cool.

stickguy

I don't think the Duster ever had 3 on the tree. The 3 speed manual was standard, but on the floor. My Duster had that (though it was later, either 73 or (I think) 74. Ditto my Gremlin.

sda

My 62 Galaxie had a 3 on the tree. Other than a non-synchronized first gear, which was a minor pain, it was easy to shift and had precise crisp feel. It freed up room on the floor, which I guess was the point.

andre1969

Here's a screen capture from the 1970 Dart brochure; sorry for the grainy quality...


To sum it up, looks like a column shift (3 on the tree) was standard on the 198/225/318.
3-speed floor shift was standard on the 340, optional for all others.
4-speed floor shift was only optional on the 340, not available on others.
3-speed Torqueflite was optional on all four engines.

Now this is the Dart brochure and not the Valiant, but I'd presume they're the same. Basically, I was just too lazy to scroll down to "Plymouth", and "Dodge" came up first.

I knew someone who had a later Dart, like a -73-76, sedan, with a 3-speed floor shift and a bench seat mated to a slant six. That must have been a rare beast.

omarman

In our HS senior year a friend bought a new '76 Duster, slant 6 engine and a 3-speed plus overdrive on the floor and IIRC it also had a bench seat. Before graduation day he listed it for sale. Said he missed his 442 too much.

Another HS friend would sometimes borrow his dad's new Granada which had a 302 and a 3-speed with overdrive floor shift as well. But the Granada base was a six cylinder with a 3-speed column shifter.

That would be around the same time that I recall reading that Olds was offering a proper 5-speed manual which was tied to the un-rocket 260 V8.

uplanderguy

I know we're talking Mopar, but our '73 Nova coupe, six-cylinder, had a three-speed floor-mounted shift, with the cheapest bench seat offering. The floor shift was a $26 option on the window sticker. A small thing, but added to the Rally Wheels and Exterior Decor Group (body side moldings and bright metal around the door glass and quarter window frames), made a cheap car a little sportier.

I would be surprised if the standard, base Duster came with a 3-speed floor shift standard, but don't know.

texases

My '72 Duster had a 198 with the floor 3-speed and a bench seat.

omarman

I forgot about 198 slant six. I remember that in the '60s the big slant six was the 225 and the small one was the 170. I think that's the engine that my math instructor had in his new '69 Valiant.

uplanderguy

Page 4 of the '70 Valiant/Duster brochure shows a bunch of optional equipment, and a 3-speed floor shift, but I can't blow the pic up enough to read it.

https://www.moparmall.com/1970-Plymouth-Valiant-Duster-81-505-0024-Catalog-p/81-505-0024.htm

I didn't remember seeing 3-speed floor shifts on Novas at our local dealer until the '72's, but the '70 Nova brochure shows it as an option then too. My first guess was that Plymouth beat Chevy to that as an option.

texases

This might be easier to read:
http://oldcarbrochures.com/static/NA/Plymouth/1970 Plymouth/1970 Plymouth Valiant Brochure/image1.html

uplanderguy

Thanks, it is!

ab348

I'm astounded at the bidding on this 1969 Ford Country Squire:

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1969-ford-country-squire/

Over $15K with 4 days left to go. To me the car is in an unattractive color combo and is in good condition, but does nothing for me. Hey, what do I know?

texases

Yeah, go figure. And the guy couldn't take 2 minutes to tidy up the seat belts?

andre1969

Reminds me of something that would leave you and your young son stranded just outside of Tuscon, Arizona

fintail

It's the hidden headlights.

Oddly,the floor mats catch my eye. I swear I recall seeing translucent floor mats, I have a vague memory of an older relative, probably one of my grandparents, having a car with those when I was a little kid.

omarman

And it's this too. For me anyway.


By 1971 Ford went back to boring IP. And added the sad emoji steering wheel in '75 or so.

uplanderguy

Sheesh, look at that driver's door fit too, although it's no doubt typical for the time period.

I can't get past the radio to the driver's left...although I guess that's not much worse than '71-76 big Chevys having the heat/A/C controls to the left of the driver.

My aunt had a new '69 Country Sedan, and I also remember the area where the glovebox was looked big, but the door looked like it was two inches tall (eleven-year-old kid's memory here).

One thing I thought was marginally cool about Ford's wagons was they made no pretense to hide that the Ranch Wagon was a Custom or Custom 500; Country Sedan was a Galaxie 500; and Country Squire was an LTD. They even had the nameplates of the sedans inside the car. Chevy tried to pretend by having the wagon-only names on ID inside the cars, too. Nobody was fooled though, LOL.

ab348

We had a set of clear floor mats in our '71 Monaco. It had a gold interior and Canadian Tire didn't sell mats in that color, but they had the clear ones, so Dad bought those to show off that sweet gold carpeting.