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

uplanderguy

A female classmate of mine, whose grandfather was the Dodge dealer in our town until 1961, found these pics and asked if I knew what they were. Not a clue! Looks to me like the row is the same year, make, and model. Are they Dodges? Calling andre! Prewar stuff, I'm not at all good at. I know they're '20's.

texases

Looks a lot like a 1920 Dodge Series 20:

uplanderguy

Thank you, I agree! Online, looks like the 1918-1921 are very similar. I let her know. Thanks again!

xwesx

Oof. That's one helluva muddy road. Looks like our roads around here! The rain has been incessant this summer....

texases

Let her know Dodges of that era were some of the best non-luxury cars out there, very well built.

uplanderguy

I will.

Looks like Pennsylvania plate in the one picture, which would make sense.

andre1969

Well, it hasn't been started since before the Pandemic. It needs a good bath, and it looks like either the feral cats or racoons have had their way with it. But, it's ALIVE!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5VzQYYt2Gs&feature=youtu.be

sda

andre1969 said:

Well, it hasn't been started since before the Pandemic. It needs a good bath, and it looks like either the feral cats or racoons have had their way with it. But, it's ALIVE!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5VzQYYt2Gs&feature=youtu.be

Sounds like it needs some exhaust work but otherwise fine. Looks all of one piece. A little cleanup, wax would go far. I liked the looks of those. My dad’s cousin had a black on black with red leather same style New Yorker. He bought it new and extremely cheap at the time it looked like Chrysler was doomed. They drove it for years.

fintail

I wonder how many of those 5th Avenues are still on the road and the survival rate.

andre1969

The exhaust on my '79 5th Ave came loose right behind the catalytic converter years ago. I kept meaning to get it fixed, but then at traffic lights people would ask me if I had a big block or Hemi under the hood, and it also tended to piss off the tuner crowd because it drowned out their little fart cans, so I just left it

But, I was also in my 30s when that happened, and I'm 50 now, so maybe it's time to grow up!

As for survival rate, I'd imagine that the 5th Ave probably had the best survival rate of any of the R-body Mopars. In '79 a lot of Newports and St. Regises were sold as police cars and taxis. For '80, when the Gran Fury came out, it took over police car duties from the Newport. But, I'd imagine a lot of them were still sold as taxis, fleet cars, etc. And because they were a hard sell new, with Chrysler's shaky future, I'd imagine even the New Yorkers and 5th Avenues were sold on the cheap, maybe dumped into rental fleets, and in their older age turned into taxis.

Still, being a more expensive car, I'd imagine the New Yorkers and especially the 5th Ave editions had a better survival rate than the cheaper ones, simply because more of their buyers were older, moneyed people who took care of them. In a similar vein, a '79 Electra, Ninety-Eight, or DeVille probably has a better survival rate than, say, a '79 Impala.

I guess I don't think of them as being *that* rare, but I'm probably biased because I see mine all the time. And friends are usually mentioning whenever they see one, or forwarding me a link when they run across one for sale, etc, so that keeps them more relevant in my mind. But, now that I think about it, I can't remember the last time I've seen a '79-81 New Yorker, or any R-body on the road. And when I'd take it to the Mopar show in Carlisle, many years it would be the only R-body there. Sometimes another '79 5th Ave would show up that was really loaded to the gills...sunroof, the 4-bbl 360, dual exhaust, factory road wheels that look similar to what big early 70's Chryslers had, or 80's GM pickups and vans. Mine originally just had wire hubcaps...the wheels that are on it are off of an '80-83 Cordoba/Mirada. Occasionally this St. Regis that used to be a police car would show up, as well.

But, I guess they're not exactly a dime a dozen anymore!

ab348

I think I mentioned on here last summer seeing a R-body New Yorker 5th Ave on the road locally in decent condition, which surprised the heck out of me.

Chrysler's shaky future in '79/'80 likely did deter many buyers. Although I remember at my first job in 1980, the owner's wife bought a new Cordoba, the restyled version with the sharp edges, because according to her she wanted to help support Chrysler and keep it alive. Nice looking car in a metallic light green (maybe 2-tone, I don't recall) with green velour upholstery inside.

sda

As I mentioned dad’s cousin bought one at a deep discount. Dad told me someone from Chrysler approached the company that dad and his cousin worked for and offered a discounted price or percentage off, I don’t remember but it was huge. I tried to encourage dad to look at one, but no Chrysler belonged in dad’s driveway, lol.

uplanderguy

I'm not generally a 'Cadillac guy', but I came across this '71 Coupe deVille TV commercial. Back in our town, Cadillacs were considered something to aspire to then. I like the nostalgia part at the beginning of this commercial, the late '30's Cadillac. Commercials don't play like this anymore, sigh. I know tastes change but I'm not a bandwagon guy (obviously, LOL).

When the '71 big GM cars came out, at the time I thought they were boldly modern. That enormous windshield with those slender A-pillars! And on the deVilles, I loved the brushed metal interior trim. I wonder if it was really metal or plastic. Midway through the '71 model year, deVilles started having fake wood panels inside, so I'd say the dealers and/or potential customers were squawking about the metal trim.

The '72's are similar, but I like the nameplates on the fenders on the '71's.

The caddy (kid) at the end looks like he could be a Cassidy, IMHO.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKHx1Dib0hs&fbclid=IwAR0Bua9tgn-HVC_8VVqhlcIDVXgbdFmV0Nxer8GznRtRc2euXQPyCbAFgyU

ab348

I thought the best feature of the '71-'76 GM full-size cars were those skinny A-pillars, all chrome too. That '71 Caddy is a nice design with the split headlights up front and the modest fins in back.

kyfdx

ab348 said:

I thought the best feature of the '71-'76 GM full-size cars were those skinny A-pillars, all chrome too. That '71 Caddy is a nice design with the split headlights up front and the modest fins in back.

We had '72 and '74 models. I took my driver's test in the '74.

benjaminh

Check out the specs on a 1983 GTI.

roadburner

benjaminh said:

Check out the specs on a 1983 GTI.

I was impressed as my 1979 Arrow GT 2.6 could only manage a 10 second 0-60 run. As noted in the November 1982 CD road test the GTI was nearly a second faster than the contemporary 5.0-liter Trans Am four-speed. How embarrassing was that?
I gave the GTI a hard look, but the local dealers were loading them up with garbage like aftermarket sunroofs and such. If a dealer had been willing to sell me one for close to MSRP I might have bought one instead of my 1973 Bavaria.

explorerx4

The old days, when 90 HP was a lot.
Still could have plenty of fun, though.

andre1969

I don't know much about disc brake sizes, but is that 9.4" considered pretty good for a disc brake on a car that lightweight?

The 7.1" drum in back might seem kind of small. I think the smallest drum brake setup I had was on a 1969 Dart with a slant six, which had 9" drums all around. But, on a small, lightweight, FWD car, I guess the rear brakes don't really need to do much work, other than keep the wheels from locking up.

Actually, now that I think about it, my '88 LeBaron turbo coupe was probably still drum in the rear. I guess they might have been pretty small.

Overall though, that GTI's performance seems very impressive, especially for 1983, and for only having 90 hp. The 26 mpg sounds pretty good too, considering I'm sure C&D flogged the hell out of it.

I'd love to know what the Trans Am's excuse was for being so slow? I couldn't find the exact C&D article, but did find mention elsewhere or Road & Track testing a fuel-injected version with 165 hp and getting 0-60 in 9.2 seconds. It mentioned C&D "bemoaned" their test car's "10.6 second waltz to 60 mph". So maybe that was a reference to the 305/4-speed Trans Am?

Oddly, it also mentioned Consumer Guide testing a carbureted one with an automatic and 0-60 was 10.8 seconds. I'd think the automatic would have much more of an acceleration penalty than that?

Still, I'd think any of them *should* be quicker than that. Heck, my Mom's old '86 Monte Carlo, with a 150 hp 305 and 4-speed automatic, was probably good for 0-60 in about 10 seconds. And it was held back by a loafy axle ratio, probably around a 2.41:1 or something stupid-tall like that.

roadburner

andre1969 said:

I don't know much about disc brake sizes, but is that 9.4" considered pretty good for a disc brake on a car that lightweight?

The 7.1" drum in back might seem kind of small. I think the smallest drum brake setup I had was on a 1969 Dart with a slant six, which had 9" drums all around. But, on a small, lightweight, FWD car, I guess the rear brakes don't really need to do much work, other than keep the wheels from locking up.

Actually, now that I think about it, my '88 LeBaron turbo coupe was probably still drum in the rear. I guess they might have been pretty small.

Overall though, that GTI's performance seems very impressive, especially for 1983, and for only having 90 hp. The 26 mpg sounds pretty good too, considering I'm sure C&D flogged the hell out of it.

I'd love to know what the Trans Am's excuse was for being so slow? I couldn't find the exact C&D article, but did find mention elsewhere or Road & Track testing a fuel-injected version with 165 hp and getting 0-60 in 9.2 seconds. It mentioned C&D "bemoaned" their test car's "10.6 second waltz to 60 mph". So maybe that was a reference to the 305/4-speed Trans Am?

Oddly, it also mentioned Consumer Guide testing a carbureted one with an automatic and 0-60 was 10.8 seconds. I'd think the automatic would have much more of an acceleration penalty than that?

Still, I'd think any of them *should* be quicker than that. Heck, my Mom's old '86 Monte Carlo, with a 150 hp 305 and 4-speed automatic, was probably good for 0-60 in about 10 seconds. And it was held back by a loafy axle ratio, probably around a 2.41:1 or something stupid-tall like that.

Yes, as I said before I was fresh out of school and hoping the the new Z28 would be a world beater- and it turned out a 5.0 liter V8 Z with Cross-Fire Injection(what a stupid name) was slower than the carbureted 2.6 liter I4 in my Arrow GT- and my Arrow already had four wheel disc brakes and a five speed manual.

kyfdx

explorerx4 said:

The old days, when 90 HP was a lot.
Still could have plenty of fun, though.

My '82 Accord hatch had 78 HP. Decently quick for the time.
15% bump for the GTI would have been substantial, I think.

fintail

Spotted a first gen Hyundai Excel - those have to be very thin on the ground nowadays. Pre-facelift version, too..

ab348

My 1990 GTI 8V had a rousing 105 HP. I never thought it was fast, but it sure was fun.

andre1969

Yeah, "Crossfire" sounded more like a name for an engine malfunction, than something to be proud of. As in "Stand back, son, that sumbitch is about to cross-fire!!"

texases

My '83 GTI was fun, day in, day out, 25 mpg all the time. I never had an issue with the brakes not being good, only 2100 lbs, not a lot to stop.

Michaell

kyfdx said:

explorerx4 said:

The old days, when 90 HP was a lot.
Still could have plenty of fun, though.

My '82 Accord hatch had 78 HP. Decently quick for the time.
15% bump for the GTI would have been substantial, I think.

Honda must have breathed on their engines - my '85 Accord hatch had 85hp.

stickguy

saw 2 different tri 5 chevies today driving around. A 55 4 door (must have had rear passengers, or lousy springs since was riding low in the back) and a 57 (I think) 2 door.

uplanderguy

I thought the best feature of the '71-'76 GM full-size cars were those skinny A-pillars, all chrome too. That '71 Caddy is a nice design with the split headlights up front and the modest fins in back.

I never saw one of these in our small town, but in the brochure, I thought the '71 Fleetwood Sixty-Special Brougham looked pretty magnificent, with that roofline (later cribbed by the '73 Colonnade sedans), coach lamps on the C-pillars, and that old-timey gap between the front and rear doors. You could get an interior with three horizontal sections to each seating position, and on the seat back, the lowest third only was leather. I thought that was cool.

Our local dealer did sell a '74 Fleetwood Talisman, with those almost-obscene heavy-velour seats for four, to a local bail bondsman.

My best friend worked in high school for a local pharmacist. He'd give my friend his '75 Sedan deVille to run through the car wash, and my friend would pick me up beforehand, LOL.

He said his boss would say, "John, you like driving that Cadillac, don't you? It took me twenty years in business before I bought my first Cadillac". Something that reminded me a bit of the guy in the commercial I posted.

fintail

Saw a 32 Ford Vicky, typical 80s/90s boomer rod, I hope/assume it is a fiberglass version. Also saw a 57 Nomad rear end peeking out of a garage, a 63-64 Bonneville 2 door HT, a first gen Geo Metro 3 door, and a Ford Aspire 3 door.

Michaell

fintail said:

Saw a 32 Ford Vicky, typical 80s/90s boomer rod, I hope/assume it is a fiberglass version. Also saw a 57 Nomad rear end peeking out of a garage, a 63-64 Bonneville 2 door HT, a first gen Geo Metro 3 door, and a Ford Aspire 3 door.

Went around the corner and down the street to collect the mail, and saw a Model A (?) parked in a garage. Hadn't seen it before.

texases

Saw a really nice '59 Ford in a driveway on our 'we need to get out for a drive' this morning. Something like this:

fintail

Just saw another oddity - Jensen Healey. And the amount of 90s stuff still on the around here makes it feel like a time warp at times.

fintail

A few more cars: house on one side of my mom's place just sold to some California retirees (because of course), and although they aren't here right now, there's a car in the driveway, apparently a project for the husband - a 70s Dodge pickup. And the house on the other side is occupied a typical young enthusiast, so out back there are 4 Civic coupes in various stages of roadworthiness, along with a matte black Duster.

benjaminh

Leno's Chrysler that used to be owned by Carson.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz5cJNpIso8

andre1969

I remember Grandmom saying that Granddad had a 1940 Chrysler Royal, when they met in 1946. I think it was a Business coupe.

uplanderguy

I seem to think this car was a gift to Johnny by people in his hometown in Nebraska, after he had said his first car was one. Something like that, anyway. I remember a pic in People magazine of him standing next to the car, not looking at the camera, wiping a tear.

benjaminh

About 25 years ago I subscribed to the magazine Collectible Automobile for a year or so, and also bought a few back issues. I don't think I've looked at them for more more than 15 years. But today I pulled some them down off a shelf and started browsing through, and read an interesting article on the Thunderbird square bird from 1958-1960. I was guessing the magazine was long gone, but to my surprise it still exists....

https://collectibleautomobile.com/

I'm thinking about subscribing again. Doesn't anyone here currently get it? Is it still good?

Below is most of my little collection from long ago.

fintail

This thing just drove by:



I took the pic a few years ago, but small town - you eventually seem the same cars.

benjaminh

5-minute video of a 1960 Thunderbird with three rare options—the sunroof, factory air, and the "chrome package."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvBfMpDv9dQ

benjaminh

A 6-minute video of a 1968 Thunderbird with the optional 429 Thunderjet engine. This car has been in the same family since it was new.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8jfHzVz2kM

ab348

I have close to every issue of CA. It really hasn’t changed much over the years although the roster of contributors has evolved. I like it the best of all the old-car magazines.

uplanderguy

I love Scouts! Just personal preference, but I like them better than Jeeps with the traditional separate-front-fender look, and also like them better than the first Broncos. Maybe because they were built in Indiana, like Studebakers!

Speaking of Broncos--I do think that red-haired gal in the Otezla commercial, who drives an early Bronco at the end of the commercial, is a real doll!

stickguy

saw one of these today. Sounded fast! Had an SSV badge on the back. Not sure if that was actually a real thing, or just an owner having fun.

Michaell

stickguy said:

saw one of these today. Sounded fast! Had an SSV badge on the back. Not sure if that was actually a real thing, or just an owner having fun.

Unless it was RHD, it was an owner having fun.

jwm40517

My father had 2 or 3 Scouts in late 60's til about 1978. The 78 had rust thru in rear quarters in just a few years.

explorerx4

Seeing that '60 Thunderbird reminded me that my dad bought the owner's(where he worked) 56 Fairlane in maybe 1960?
It was a black 4 door with a gray interior. Under the hood, the engine had Thunderbird valve covers.

fintail

That oncoming wagon can't be common (no sound due to fear of copyright nonsense - and I notice the cam is a little crooked, I think the adhesive is failing):

https://youtu.be/3OQTct5D63U

stickguy

Valiant?

ab348

My L.A. FB friend came across this old Studebaker just parked at the curb in her neighborhood. Cool thing to spot.

stickguy

don't think I have every seen one of these, even in pictures.