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

xwesx

uplanderguy said:

I'd retire there, but my wife (who's not from there) said I'd go by myself if I did.

Yeah, I've heard that line, too!

sda

uplanderguy said:

My first place (really, a room plus bathroom) was $40 a week in 1980, but again, I travelled half the time.

Even where I grew up, my parents (Dad worked at the post office; Mom was a housewife) paid $200 a month rent for a 1956 small ranch with attached one-car garage and a half-acre property, until my mother moved into assisted living in 1999. My Dad never wanted to own a home for some reason. Homes there are still very reasonable, even compared to where I live now. Most industry is gone there but it was an old money town, so there are still nice houses on nice pieces of land. I'd retire there, but my wife (who's not from there) said I'd go by myself if I did.

Heard that.

fintail

In anywhere that has rust, yes. On the west coast, no

I think the base wheels on one of those were 13". Oddly enough, the same size as fintail wheels (I think MB did this to make the car look larger, and it has tall sidewalls). I think cars like Corvair and Dauphine also had 13" wheels.

xwesx said:

Getting slightly back on topic.... does a 1990 Civic count as classic/antique nowadays? It seems shocking if it does.

Either way, there is a white coupe of this age that took to parking next to the Q5 this week. It looks like maybe a student's car and is fairly well ratted out. However, it is a manual transmission, which is somewhat redeeming! It shocks me just how tiny the wheels and tires are on these cars. I don't remember them so tiny, but I doubt all four weight as much as one wheel/tire on the Q5.

fintail

Those are the issues - affordable housing crisis, and economic mobility. This nation is great at many things, but is doing a pretty crappy job at both of those.

Solve them, and we might have more people with the resources to maintain obscure cars we can spot in the future

xwesx said:

/ranton

Agreed; a solo-earner at minimum wage shouldn't be, was never meant to be, a living wage for a household. For people willing to accept that as their top earning potential, they either need to be in a multi-earner scenario in terms of living expenses, or have housing that accommodates that level of income.

As a society, perhaps one of the single most-needed items that we currently overlook is the availability of such housing that also honors human dignity. With such in place, it might not be such a stretch for people to dream big enough, and realistically enough, to eventually move on to higher wage scales.

One argument I regularly hear about minimum wage jobs is that "society needs the minimum wage jobs to function. These are the retail/service workers, the janitors, the people that keep the most basic things working." And, this is completely true. However, what goes unsaid is that there is no need for the people in those roles to be "lifers." There is an endless supply of unskilled labor entering the workforce... they're called "teens." If people cycle through those jobs in 2-4 years on average, moving on up the skill chain, nobody will ever miss them; they should do this; we WANT them to do this.

/rantoff

stickguy

add my wife to the list of people telling me to go by myself.

what I really need to do is find a great job offer someplace I want to go. She would have to move for that, and once there, easier to just stay!

stickguy

out walking tonight, a really nice 66ish Nova drove by. Definitely modded. Nice rumble and stance. I liked it.

uplanderguy

Friend sent me this. First off, I don't really like the exterior styling of these cars, nor do I like the color combo on this one. That said, I have always loved this exact interior and color.

The identical interior was offered on Impalas that year. I always have thought that one of the last traditional boats I could enjoy owning is a 1975 Impala Sport Coupe, which still had four side windows that all went down and no "B" pillar, with this interior. Conservative styling, without the clipped corners the Caprice had that year. The Sport Coupe was not often seen that year, though.

One might think cleaning the whitewalls wouldn't be too much to ask at a Sotheby's auction.

https://rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/af20/auburn-fall/lots/r0255-1975-chevrolet-caprice-classic-convertible/941673https://rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/af20/auburn-fall/lots/r0255-1975-chevrolet-caprice-classic-convertible/941673

uplanderguy

Addendum: For some reason unbeknownst to me, the link won't publish here.

Stuff like this exhausts me.

stickguy

you somehow got it double posted. This will work. I do love that color combo, one of my favorites.

holy moley. over $36K for one of these?

https://rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/af20/auburn-fall/lots/r0255-1975-chevrolet-caprice-classic-convertible/941673

uplanderguy

Thanks!

sda

Good looking Caprice. It is very nicely equipped and I like the cloth upholstery. I was always puzzled why Chevy didn’t include carpet in the lower door kick panels on the convertible. It looks cheap with the ribbed plastic and not fitting for a Caprice.

ab348

Unlike @uplanderguy I am not a fan of how Chevy sold a Caprice on the outside with an Impala on the inside. I never understood why they did that other than perhaps to add to the profit margin. If you are spending Caprice money shouldn't you get a Caprice interior? I was not a fan of that herringbone cloth upholstery either although I do concede it looks a lot better in tan than it did in our '74 where it was black over light gray. If you are buying a Caprice with cloth inside I can imagine it should be a nice brocade or at least good-quality velour back then.

uplanderguy

The wagons were like that too, ab348. Only thing I can think of is maybe trying to not outshow-off a B, O, or P convert or wagon. Caprice sedans and coupes could be had a with a quite leather-like vinyl in a more deluxe pattern, and better door panels. I just don't get it. In '77, at least, Caprice wagons got Caprice interiors. I believe all Chevy converts before this year had only all-vinyl interiors available.

I've daydreamed about having ordered a '75 Impala Sport Coupe (which to my eyes, with that color herringbone inside, looked nicer than a base Catalina interior), plush enough for me without being frou-frou, exterior either a dark brown or light copper color that year, white painted top, F41, wire wheelcovers, bumper strips, and that exact interior--including the minor gauge package which put the speedometer numbers closer together. Without those two small instruments, they put 0-100 where they used to put 0-120, and spaced out so much looks cheap to my eyes.

Impalas were ubiquitous then. I typically play snob about that kind of thing, but we had a '74 and a '77 and they were the Accord or Camry of their time I'd say. I think about by '74 they had been America's best-seller for 15 years.

tjc78

I like that Caprice. You would think the seller would have grabbed some Brillo or SOS pads and do the whitewalls.

Also... look I found it's 90's twin! It's what I thought of when I first saw this car in the color combo.

uplanderguy

I've said it before, but I always liked the bright metal power window and power door lock switches GM used then. I despised the plastic buttons used by other makers, and GM itself, later.

stickguy

I like that K car. If it’s a manual and for sale, let me know!

omarman

Seller was convinced that the white fuzzy dice and valve stem caps offset the dirty Toyo Extensa whitewalls. Looks like he was $o right. In a way.

ab348

stickguy said:

I like that K car. If it’s a manual and for sale, let me know!

I remember test-driving a new 2-door Plymouth Sundance in the late '80s, the regular hatchback body style. Despite being nicely trimmed inside it just drove terribly. Felt very flexible and the controls were all quite flimsy and floppy. Didn't take me long to return to the dealer.

fintail

Back around maybe 1993-94, my aunt and uncle had a Shadow or Sundance as a tow-behind (I called it a dinghy) for their behemoth motorhome. Absolute bare bones model (maybe called "America"?), one of the last cars to have plain wheels without hubcaps IIRC. I want to say when the models were new, my dad looked at one too, as he had fond memories of his Horizon, but he too was not impressed.

tjc78

I don't have any poor memories of the Shadow. My Dad had an 87 ES Turbo two door all loaded up, it was a nice upgrade from the 86 Shelby Charger he had. My aunt had a 94 ES V6 in the same color I posted above and it was a nice little car, quick for it's time too. It (of course) puked a transmission early on but was really good to her in the time she owned it.

fintail

My brother had a Sundance Duster around 15 years ago. I think it was kind of a dark blue-green with gold trim. He was quite fond of it, I have to imagine the V6 wedged into that thing had some torque steer. Eventually something failed and it ended up in my mom's carport, I had to nudge her along to telling him to fix it or move it on, not sure what became of it.

tjc78

Yes, the V6 had some TS but it wasn't any worse than say a Maxima at the time.

sda

A decent looking medium metallic red CLK 500. Sounded good. The top was starting to come apart at the seams, black tape patch job. I wonder how much it would cost to replace, $4k+?

fintail

Dame Diana Rigg passed away today, who starred in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, an underrated Bond film I've always liked. The memorable chase scene from that movie, featuring obscure cars:

https://youtu.be/yBI44xnQ9oE

And the sad end scene, with typical car casting:

https://youtu.be/bxDRVE-UfHk

Michaell

And her character in the Avengers was immortalized in this song by Dishwalla:

https://youtu.be/c795LkPo9kE

andre1969

sda said:

Good looking Caprice. It is very nicely equipped and I like the cloth upholstery. I was always puzzled why Chevy didn’t include carpet in the lower door kick panels on the convertible. It looks cheap with the ribbed plastic and not fitting for a Caprice.

That always bugged me, too. In the past, the full-sized Chevy convertible was only in the Impala trim level, but for '73 they moved it to the Caprice. But, for whatever reason, it kept the Impala interior...the cheaper seats, thinner trim on the door panels, and no carpeting on the lower part. The Caprice interior was pretty ritzy back then. I think most of them were cloth, which doesn't usually lend itself well to convertibles. I have seen a few in vinyl though, and they were pretty plush.

I wonder if GM was worried that if they used true Caprice interiors on the convertible, it would make it look too upscale compared to a Delta 88, LeSabre, or Grand Ville? I can't find a pic of a vinyl-interior Caprice, but here's the standard cloth, from '75, in a 4-door hardtop...


I have a feeling a vinyl-trim version of this in a convertible would out-ritz the B-O-P versions.

uplanderguy

Something the B-O-P versions had over the Chevy, even if the Caprice convertible used regular Caprice all-vinyl interiors, was a center armrest--not available on a two-door Caprice at any cost from 1970 through 1976.

There are times I like an Impala better than a Caprice, simply for the simpler trim and some years, the interior trim seems more tasteful/restrained to me. As I'd said, I'll still take a '75 Impala Sport Coupe with 454, dark brown or light color paint, white painted top, wire wheel covers (I hate the '75 full wheel covers--look like a moon with a trim ring), the gauge package, F41, and that brown herringbone 50/50 cloth interior

I think in '75, that instrument panel was the best it had ever been in that generation big Chevy--even Impalas had both color-keyed wheels and colums, instrument cluster, and less black plastic and more woodgrain. As I've said though, I would HAVE to buy the gauge package which pushed the speedometer numbers closer together. I hate how wide they were spread apart without that package.

IMHO only, the Catalina had lost its way by '75, inside and out. I was never a fan of the three-window profile of B-O-P big coupes starting in '74, nor the revised Buick and Olds instrument panels for '75 (due to airbag availability I think), but of course I know styling is totally subjective.

RE.: GM convertible interiors for '75--I always like the LeSabre Custom's pattern, but the heavily-grained vinyl always reminded me of a naugahyde recliner.

Before my time, but my wife's grandparents had a triple-white '75 Caprice Classic convertible, last in a string of Chevy convertibles they had. My wife remembers the white vinyl interior resembling a band-aid. I know what she means...the vinyl was perforated.

sda

That is a very handsome interior on the Caprice and looks great in that shade of blue.

andre1969

I think one thing that kills the Catalina's charm for me, as the 70s wore on, is that it lost the convertible (after 1972 I think?), and then it lost the 4-door hardtop after '74 I believe. So for '75 it was down to just a 4-door sedan and the 2-door that tried to be a combination of "Colonade" and true hardtop. And, the wagons.

The interior doesn't bother me...it's nothing ritzy, but presentable, at least. But, overall, I just don't find it to be all that attractive of a car. I think the '75 LeSabre looks great. I know it's a stretch of the imagination to call anything this big "sporty", but I think the LeSabre pulls it off about as much as you could hope for. And the Delta 88 has a nice look that's handsome, if conservative. And the Chevy does a pretty good job looking like it's trying to ape Cadillac a bit. So, I'm not sure where that leaves the Catalina.

One detail I also don't like about the Catalina, is how the hood extends all the way to the front of the car. The headlights are inserted in body-color panels (I guess they were still metal?), and in my opinion, there's just too much body-color on the front of the car. Plus, the way you can see the hood gap from the front makes it look a bit unfinished to me. With an Impala, there's a header panel so that the leading edge of the hood is further back. So when viewed from the front, to me at least, it looks like the front-end is less pieced-together.

For some odd reason, I don't mind that '74-76 B-O-P 2-door hardtop roof. It's weird and "off", but I think that might be why I like it!

There was a '75 Impala sport coupe at the Spring swap meet in Carlisle PA a few years back. I remember it was drawing a bit of a crowd.

andre1969

sda said:

That is a very handsome interior on the Caprice and looks great in that shade of blue.

One thing I really miss about cars, is those interiors that would be in just the right hue where on a hot summer day, you could just look at it and mentally feel a few degrees cooler. Usually it's those hues associated with the Caribbean and swimming pools, but that dark blue in the Caprice above does look inviting.

uplanderguy

That blue Caprice interior brochure shot has the C-pillar airbrushed in, LOL. That small window had a flat edge at the top, not coming to a point.

Chevy made a point in the brochure that year about the side moldings being glued on instead of drilled into the sides; that said, it is virtually impossible to see one now that doesn't have aftermarket body side moldings, an enormous turn-off for me. Honestly, I can remember seeing them two years old or so with a molding missing.

For some reason, the moldings used on Impalas seem to have more problems with adhesion, than Caprices that year.

ab348

uplanderguy said:

For some reason, the moldings used on Impalas seem to have more problems with adhesion, than Caprices that year.

Probably they were narrower and thus had less surface area for the adhesive. Adhesive technology in the '70s was still in its infancy compared to today so a lot of them came off fairly early in life. You'd often see cars back then driving around with one end of a molding hanging off. Not so much today.

uplanderguy

The optional Impala moldings were wide, but were a different style of insert than the Caprice's.

sda

Dad’s 71 Catalina coupe had body length hard mounted side moldings. The one on the right fender didn’t line up well with the door, the end piece was tilted up slightly. I think it was produced around the time of the big GM strike that year. That car rattled and squeaked and the ac dripped water on the passenger floor which created a moldy smell. His 73 Catalina sedan, though not at all sporty looking seemed to be built better. It did have the stick on side moldings which were perfectly lined up from panel to panel, the car was quieter and no rattles and squeaks. Dad liked the looks of the 71 more but thought the 73 was the better car. The interiors on both were saddle tan morokide, seemed very plain but comfortable. I never liked the cheap looking plastic lower door panels which GM used across the lower level full size cars.

uplanderguy

The only thing I did like about those cars with the hard-lower plastic door panels, was the look of integrated armrests, instead of screw-on.

andre1969

I've caught a few errors in some of those sales brochures from time to time. For instance, can anyone notice what's wrong with this interior shot from the 1981 LeMans brochure?


And, here's a 1980 New Yorker brochure pic. I don't know if this one would really be classified as an error or not...


The reason I consider this one sort of a gray area is because here it is again, in the 1979 brochure...



So, they're merely taking a 1979, and airbrushing on different hubcaps! However, those same hubcaps were available in '79 and '80, and as far as I know, there really is no way to tell the difference between a '79 and an '80. My second NYer, the blue base model, has them. It would tend to throw one of them from time to time. I'd usually be able to chase it down, but finally lost it for good on the interstate somewhere between Harrisburg and Allentown PA going to a car show one year. I was able to get a replacement...can't remember if I found it at one of the Carlisle swap meets or on eBay.

FWIW, I used to have a '79 Newport that had those deep turbine-style hubcaps pictured on the '79. You got those with the extra wide 7" road wheels. I kept them, when I junked the car. For awhile I had them on my '79 5th Ave, but it tended to throw one of them, as well. And, I lost one of them for good on the way to Baltimore one night.

andre1969

Hmm, I just noticed that for '80 they also airbrushed out the little light on the opera window in the back door. Unless it was airbrushed in for 1979?

I couldn't remember if my '79 has it, so I had to look it up! Here's an old pic of it...


Doesn't look half bad, when it's clean. And wet

explorerx4

I never heard this song before. There is one glaring error in he video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQZV6q00sUc

fintail

That pic appears to show the 6 window style, which was only made from MY 1978-80.

andre1969 said:

I've caught a few errors in some of those sales brochures from time to time. For instance, can anyone notice what's wrong with this interior shot from the 1981 LeMans brochure?

andre1969

There wouldn't be a 455 in THAT particular Oldsmobile...unless it blew its engine and someone threw a used one in. But I guess "394 Rocket" doesn't flow off the tongue quite as easily...

uplanderguy

fin is correct on the '81 LeMans sedan pic.

Someone, I think maybe ab348, posted a brochure pic some time back of a very nice looking '81 LeMans coupe, but the bench seat is clearly a four-door sedan seat!

I remember a '72 Caprice coupe being airbrushed into a Sport Sedan in the '72 brochure.

I can't say I've noted errors of fact in the brochures (unlike 'expert' books and websites made decades after-the-fact, hooboy), but I've seen a handful of photo, ahem, 'opportunities' made from airbrushing. And that's just looking at Chevy brochures for about 15 years primarily, from '69 to probably '84.

I've even seen that in some Studebaker brochures of the early sixties, now that I think about it.

explorerx4

@andre1969,
To me, that's not the glaring error.

andre1969

Now that I'm watching the video, the interior appears to be of a 4-door pillared model, with some of that "coke-bottle" kick-up toward the back, which would put it around 1965 or later, whereas the car they're showing in the exterior shots is a '59 4-door hardtop.

uplanderguy

I don't know what they're sitting in, but it's no Olds I've ever seen, LOL.

Whew, she's a bad lip-syncher!

An old grumpy friend of mine decades ago used to tell of a song she sang that about put him to tears--either about a long relationship, or someone getting Alzheimer's, I can't recall.

andre1969

uplanderguy said:

I don't know what they're sitting in, but it's no Olds I've ever seen, LOL.

The interior shots make me think of a '65 or so 4-door pillared sedan, but in some shots it definitely has bucket seats.

WAIT...now that I'm seeing the video all the way through the end, I'm seeing three "ventiports" on the front fender. That damn thing turned into a ~65 LeSabre!!

explorerx4

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

stickguy

Who is that?

Never mind. I found the title line.

sda

andre1969 said:

uplanderguy said:

I don't know what they're sitting in, but it's no Olds I've ever seen, LOL.

The interior shots make me think of a '65 or so 4-door pillared sedan, but in some shots it definitely has bucket seats.

WAIT...now that I'm seeing the video all the way through the end, I'm seeing three "ventiports" on the front fender. That damn thing turned into a ~65 LeSabre!!

Fun song even if not shot in a similar Olds or correct displacement.

ab348

explorerx4 said:

I never heard this song before. There is one glaring error in he video.

"One glaring error"? Just one??? :laughing:

That song/video was very big among Olds aficionados back when it came out in the '90s. My buddy was particularly taken with it because his name is also Smith, so he would tell everyone it was about him. The video is just for fun obviously. Not even Olds fanatics minded they were sitting in a cobbled-together Buick.

The favorite line for just about every Olds person was "What kind of piece of Chevelle is this?". That told us that whoever wrote it must have known a little bit about owning an Olds. The enmity towards Chevy generally and Chevelles in particular among Olds collectors, who see them as exactly what that implies, is strong.

andre1969

I remember the song when it was new. But the last time I remember seeing the video, Youtube hadn't been invented yet, flat screens were a plaything for the rich, and the only way you were going to pause it and play it back would be if you recorded it on a VCR! But yeah, I can still enjoy the song, despite the glitches in it. Heck, the glitches almost make it even more charming!

And, on the Olds versus Chevy front, I can proudly say that the 3.8 in my '82 Cutlass Supreme would walk the 3.8 in my '80 Malibu like a dog (even if it was a Buick engine in the Olds...)