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

andys120

I saw a very nice silver 456M parked in front of a rinky dink looking local tire store. It was parked in the driveway w a motorcycle and no other vehicles around.

I thought both vehicles complemented each other nicely. We only see F-cars two or three times yearly in Concord NH.

andre1969

I saw an old Peugeot station wagon. I don't know my Peugeots that well, but I think it was a 504. It had round quad headlights, and was a faded, dirty red, but was still moving under its own power! When did they quit making those? I remember the 505 used to be fairly common for a little while, and I used to see an occasional 405, but this beast I saw, I know I've seen 'em before, but it's been a long, long time.

fintail

504 might go to 1980 or so. I kind of like those, somehow.

I remember when the Ferrari 456 came out, I loved it, such a departure from the gaudy Testarossa, a car I never liked.

Mr_Shiftright

Peugeot 504 was a pretty good car, probably the last good Peugeot they ever sent over here. I had a couple of them, and they were reliable. One of them had bulletholes in the hood and an old registration from Malaysia. I thought that was a very nice touch but I can't say the two things were connected.

merckx

I had a chance to drive a few in the late 70s...I thought they were fantastic drivers! I really pined for a new one of these beauties when I was still in school.

jrosasmc

What is it with old low-mileage VW Dashers popping up on Ebay these days? Recently I saw an '81 sedan with 8000 miles trying to be sold for $6500, and currently there is an '81 wagon with 18k miles which is currently at $6700 (the "Buy It Now") price. Shouldn't the owners have learned their lessons by now, that Dashers are definitely not collector cars?

lemko

...1959 Chevrolet two-door hardtop, medium blue with white roof. Looked about midway through a resto. Owner added the stupid "continental kit." Really, how many '59 Chevies really had a continental kit? When I was a kid in the late '60s and early '70s, '59 Chevies were more plentiful and I saw none with the continental kit or evidence it ever had one.

Mr_Shiftright

Nothing like adding a few hundred more pounds to a critically overloaded rear end overhang, which in turn is being flung around by bat-wings. Well, as stationary sculpture perhaps from the Flash Gordon School of Design.

Dasher: It will never be collectible, and never should be declared so, because if a Dasher is hyped as collectible, the very term loses all meaning.

andys120

IIRC the Continental spare was an option on late 50s Chevys. Heck if you're gonna do the real 50s route with the two-tones, fender skirts and the twin antennae you might as well go all the way and get the outside spare.

The '59 Chevy is one of the few cars that'd actually look better w that stuff added.

No doubt there are more running around now with 'em than there ever were back in the day.
It's sorta like 90% of the surviving Sting Rays running the chrome side pipes. Ill bet 10% of 'em came with 'em.

lemko

"Dasher: It will never be collectible, and never should be declared so, because if a Dasher is hyped as collectible, the very term loses all meaning."

Dasher - one of the reasons I still hate VW to this day! I haven't had much good to say about VW since they dumped their classic designs. I would refer to this car as the "Trasher." I believe this car was called the Passat in Germany. Speaking of dubious collectibles, Andre, Grbeck, and I were at Macungie this past August and somebody brought a 1979 AMC Concord!

Per obscure VWs, does anybody remember the Quantum or Corrado? I remember one of my ex-girlfriends, (had a VW Fox) wanted a Quantum really badly. Was the Quantum a good car or another misstep by VW?

There is a certain Japanese pistol from WWII that is collectible, not because it was such a great side arm but that it is the penultimate bad example of weapon design. One can make this pistol fire simply by squeezing the handle. That was not the designer's intent.

michaellno

IIRC, the VW Quantum was similar to the Audi 4000 and was available with "Synchro", similar to "Quattro". Nice car, but out of step with the typical VW buyer of the time.

Corrado was the replacement for the Scirroco (sp?) - small, sporty 2 door hatch. Was available with a supercharged engine and also the first iteration of the VR6.

jrosasmc

I would take an Audi 4000 over a Quantum if I had the choice because they just seem to have been better built than their lesser VW cousins. Also had a nicer-quality interior too, in my opinion.

The 4000 was sold here from 1980-87. The regular S models with the VW 4-cylinder are nothing to write home about, but the CS Quattro models with the fives are really hot cars today. Those look like rally cars (which they essentially were) and can bring some pretty good money on the market; I'm sure Shifty will attest to this.

stickguy

the boys beat me to it on the Quantum and Corrado. Damned job.

I know someone at work that still has a Corrado, but I haven't seen a Quantum in ages.

I did see an AMC Eagle(I think) the other day, actually on the road. This was the jacked-up 4WD version of the old Hornet Sportabout wagon body.

stickguy

anyone see the article last month about people who collect the (generally) unloved cars from the 70s? They had pieces on people with multiple Gremlins, Pintos and Mustang IIs, even a pacer.

Sad to say, I really liked the picture of the red '73 Gremlin X they had. I would buy a clean V8 stick one if I found it at a reasonable price, but then again I have "issues". Actually I owned a '74 X many years ago. Not a bad car for the time.

andys120

Quantum owner told me their car was a great deal for the $$ and very nice to drive. It was considered pricey for a VW at the time.

The Corrado in VR6 trim had a reputation as a BMW-eater. I thought they were quite nice but the only one I drove had the lackluster supercharged 4.

kyfdx

Gremlin, Pinto, or Vega?

I'll take the Gremlin every time.

kyfdx

The Quantum was a nice car.. The AWD version with the five-cylinder engine was a clone of the Audi 4000S wagon.

I did an extensive test-drive of one around '86 or '87 when my uncle was shopping for a car.. He just couldn't get past not having an automatic, though.. otherwise, I think he would have bought it, being a wagon guy.. ended up with an '87 Maxima wagon, instead.

regards,
kyfdx

highender

a weird Franken car....meaning grafted/mixed.

It had the front of a 1950s Chevy pickup, all rusted and old, original color was white, but full of rust...it was this car from the front fender all the way to the end of the cab rear window....

behind the cab, was grafted on a new ,black rear end of a 2000-ish chevy Corvette.....

the two could not have been further apart in utility, fun, year, color, etc....

but it was "one" car.....ugly but visually grabbing.....!!!! ugh.!

ghulet

Kyfdx, I don't think there was a 4000 wagon, at least not here in NA. Speaking of which anyway, today I saw a ratty looking but running '86-ish 5000S wagon (base, no Quattro, no turbo), and yesterday I saw a 4000S 4E, or 4+E, can't remember the designation. In any case, pre-85.

I'm fairly certain all Quantums came with the Audi 5-cylinder; at least in comparing the specs in my '86 VW brochure to those in my '87 Audi brochure (don't ask), it appears so, though the VW doesn't specify five cylinders. Strangely, I just noticed that the 5 in the base 5000S is of different displacement than the one in the Coupe GT or the 4000 Quattro.

fintail

Quantum took over for the Dasher, did it not? All were Passats elsewhere.

For a horrible VW, find a 411/412

Local used car lot has an 86 5000 Quattro sedan, red, 60 or 70K miles, very clean, $2995.

ghulet

ghulet

Today, I saw a beat up light metallic blue '65 Buick Wildcat four-door hardtop and a rusty white '75-ish (whatever year they looked like the Ford Elite) Mercury Cougar XR7.

fintail

No turbo, or at least not touted as such. I saw it in an ad and drove by, but didn't get out and look closely. Still, the nicest looking one I've seen in years.

kyfdx

You are right.. Gee, now I have to proofread my posts.. No 4000S wagon.. but, Quantum with the Syncro AWD was essentially the same car.. Only available with a stick..

Strange about the 5-cylinder.. I always assumed the 4000S and the 5000 had the same engine..

andys120

First Gen MR2. interestingly had had frost on it.
it looked in very good shape for a car that sleeps outside, ditto the mid-80s 6cyl Mustang 'vert I saw which also had frost on it

jrosasmc

I didn't know that you could get a Mustang ragtop in the mid-80s with a V-6. I thought they were all fours and V-8s.

Also saw an interesting Audi this afternoon which is rare and pretty hot on the market these days: the 1990-91 Coupe Quattro. Those cars are pretty quick, with their 20-valve 5-cylinders. Good-looking too.

orangelebaron

nobody can help me with figuring out what I saw that looked like a large TR7 with grid tailights and a name like Oulie or Oglie or....

andre1969

but I think the Mustang could be had with a 6-cyl up through 1986. I think it was '87, when they went to those composite headlights, that they narrowed the engines down to a 2.3 4-cyl or the 302.

stickguy

parked in front of the place I get my hair cut, was a Chrysler Imperial. I would guess about a '59. White 2-door, with gigundo fins, and a continental kit molded into the trunk lid. Fairly poor shape (some primered panels, various shades of white, rusty front chrome, etc). Interior was dirty but not trashed. Definitely needed some serious restoring.

The styling was bizarre. About 4 different planes to the roof, etc.

Just not something you expect to see out in public. Turns out the owner (40ish) bought it for his father that always wanted one, but he turned it down! The guy is supposedly going to fix it up (can you spell "buried")?

stickguy

also saw (in the parking lot at the UPS place) an early (small bumper) Maverick. Obviously a repaint (royal blue), with what looked like aftermarket mags. Otherwise, looked very clean and unmolested. Why anyone would spend time/money restoring one, who knows.

I actually alomst had a '72(IIRC) Comet GT, 302 with a 3 speed on the floor when I was in high school. Guy across the street from me was a used car manager at a Caddy dealer and used to bring stuff like this home. Should have jumped on it when I had the chance...

I better stop reminiscing, or I will be featured in the next issue that profiles people that collect weird cars from the 70s!

kyfdx

I'm thinking something along the lines of an Alfa.. possibly, Quadrofoglio (sp?).

Mr_Shiftright

Probably an Ogle from the UK would be my guess.

kyfdx

Okay.. I'll bite... what is it?

Mr_Shiftright

Well it's a Ogle. It's another one of those weirdo cars they built in the UK (Reliant, Bond, Ginetta, Panther, Scimitar, TVR, etc etc.) in the 50s/60s/70s. It seems part of the genetic structure of Britains to build their own cars.

kyfdx

Okay.. did they use something else as a base for it.. or was it a new ground-up design (read that either way).

Oh..pictures, if you got em...

Mr_Shiftright

Here's a start:

http://www.motorbase.com/vehicle/by-id/265/

But Ogle is pretty obscure and you'll have to dig out the history from the Internet.

kyfdx

Not seeing the TR-7 like wedge shape, though.. That is what got me thinking of Alfas... Milano, 164, etc..

Have to admit.. never heard of that one..

andre1969

is the one that gets a sexual harrassment charge brought against you at work! ;-)

Mr_Shiftright

Ogle made a bunch of different cars.

Well maybe it wasn't an Ogle but it just came to mind from your description.

kyfdx

Daewoo Lanos.. on the way to work today.... I see some Leganzas from time to time, but not many of these..

I'm not sorry they went out of business.....

fintail

With ostentatious declasse pimpified SUVs being such a trendy fad, I wonder if similar cars will come back again

If a Fiat is just too upmarket for you...

For the brave

Immaculate example of one of the worlds worst cars

These go for nothing, even in England. Must be owned by a nut, I think I see a Triumph Mayflower lurking in the background

Alliance with interesting history

Another ugly faced Packardbacker...what an inglorious end

I wonder if the miles are real...nice car

These are pretty cool

This went for a healthy sum

You don't see these 2 door sedan much

Early Traction

Lovely DS, nice Euro tinted lights, dunno about that interior

Like new fuselage Newport

R Body Newport...are these rare, Andre?

"Make thousands" with a fintail...right

Rusty W112 300SE fintail owned by a dreamer

This has an interesting history, and is nicer than most. I never understood the weird vinyl trim under the windows

Never seen one of these before

andre1969

was actually fairly popular, as far as R-bodies go. They made about 77,000 that year, which was the best year for them, and more than the NYer/5th Ave or St. Regis sold.

Today though, it might be pretty rare, because it seems like people held onto the NYers, but used up the Newports, St. Regises, and Gran Furys for police and taxi duty. Most of 'em only had 318-2bbls as well, so for this one to have a 360, it's probably fairly rare.

It's also a stripper model. Believe it or not, that's actually the base interior! The next level up was vinyl, then I think it was a split bench cloth, and finally a split bench vinyl.

That's one thing I never understood about that timeframe, as I'd think cloth would be considered a step up from vinyl.

That car looks a helluva lot better than the $250 Newport I had a few years back!

andre1969

was that vinyl trim under the windows on the doors, or just plastic? It's been years since I've seen one trimmed up like that!

It's really interesting to see some of the strange option combinations you could still get by that time. That car has a leather interior, but crank windows!? In a lot of ways though, it seems like Chrysler was the first of the domestics to really bring luxury into the lower priced field. I mean, back then, if you wanted leather, about your only other choice was a Caddy or a Lincoln! There might've been a few Grand Marquises, Electras, 98's, Toronados, and Rivieras with leather, but even in these cars, I'm sure it was pretty rare at this time.

And certainly nothing in the LeBaron's range, which would have included the likes of the Century, Cutlass, LeMans, and maybe, roughly, the Cougar, would've had leather.

fintail

Yeah, maybe it is because the Newports weren't saved. I think that one was the first one I've seen on ebay.

I think the vinyl-as-upmarket thing started in the 50s, when vinyl was new and modern. By the 80s, that surely changed.

Could that LeBaron have been ordered with individual options, instead of packages? I think that was at the end of cars that could be ordered by specific option.

  There's something similar in the current MB Classic magazine that MB puts out quarterly. They have a tribute to the W126, which is now 25 years old. Their feature car is a mint original 1981 500SE. It is a slightly nauseating mimosa yellow with olive green leather. Leather was a high cost option, yet the car lacks AC and has plastic wheelcovers like a lowline car. Those W126, esp early cars, could be specified precisely, no option packages.

I always thought the trim under the windows of those LeBarons matched the vinyl roof, so it would be the same material. Maybe it is plastic. It's an odd touch no less.

lemko

...that 1970 Newport and the background setting makes the car look like it's in some old cop movie from the same period. The car might be a plain jane, but something about early '70s Mopar styling makes the car look tough and purposeful. Lots of police departments used big Mopars back then.

jrosasmc

I saw a car yesterday that you would have liked: a 1985 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham coupe. Those were pretty rare, as they were dropped in the middle of that year. Unfortunately they had the dreaded HT4100 V-8.

andre1969

but I think they only made 3000 Fleetwood Brougham coupes in 1985, versus about 55,000 sedans. They could've easily sold more, but they wanted to, but they were trying to up-play those shrunken little FWD C-bodies, which got better economy on the EPA circuit.

kyfdx

Chevy Biscayne.. 4-door... Probably '67? In that faded blue-green... pretty much original condition, but with all body and trim in pretty good shape.

Being towed on a trailer behind a U-Haul truck.. A '68 Coupe DeVille.. Looked like they had maybe pulled it out of a barn, or a backyard...

andre1969

except that it's really too far gone, especially with no engine or tranny!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&cate- gory=6190&item=4500330517

Here's one thing that gets me though...the seller doesn't know whether it's a '58 or '59! C'mon, in this day and age, if you don't know for sure, is it really that hard to get online and do some quick looking around at old car pics?!

I actually am surprised about the rust condition though. It's a miracle that this thing doesn't have rust in the rear quarters and the top of the fenders behind the headlights. But the rust seems to be more than making up for it in other areas!

Mr_Shiftright

Looks like a great parts car to me. Certainly not worth restoring unless you need 5 years of at-home therapy in the old workshop.