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

speedshift

What I would give to be able to report a Trailblazer (or Suburban or Land Rover) as a rare sighting.

Mr_Shiftright

Funny thing about Deloreans....painted, unpainted, even gold plated (yes there were 3)...they are all worth the same.

sildog

Just got back from 4 days in Palm Springs area. There were so many original El Caminos and Rancheros, I thought I died and went to.... Even saw a Rambler era Ranchero with original paint and an elderly couple who drove it all the way from Colorado.

Oh, and Mr. Speedshift, there is another Town Hall room for you. It is called "I Don't Like SUV's, Why do you?" There are tons of people THERE who would love to here your sentiments.

stever

Especially today - it's Sadie Hawkins day in there and the antis and pros have switched roles. Everyone is getting brain cramps!

"I don't like SUVs, why do you?" Nov 1, 2002 11:46am

Steve, Host

dgraves1

Huh, I go to Palm Springs a couple of times a year and never noticed a significant number of the cartrucks. What I usually notice is a large number of older luxury cars cars like Mercedes, Jaquars, Caddy and Lincoln. I always assume all the retirees bought them when they first retired but can't afford to replace them.

mateyo

So a lot of cars that are sold in Mexico but not in the U.S. can be seen. Recently I saw a Mercedes A-class as was mentioned a few posts back, as well as a few Hyundai (Didge?) AtoZ cars and many Opel-designed "Chevy" cars.

Other obscure cars I've seen in the past two weeks: Plymouth Caravelle from the 80s, Datsun B210, Datsun 200SX, Fiat Strada, and a 1970s Toyota Crown coupe that was really sharp. One car I haven't seen in a long while but wish I could have today would be a Mazda Cosmo coupe from the 1970s.

bretfraz

I'm in So Cal for the weekend. There are plenty of cars here that one doesn't see too often in other parts of the country. At LAX someone was being picked up in an early 70s 280SE Benz. You see plenty of 70s & early 80s Japanese cars on the road also.

But the most obscure car I saw yesterday (since it officially does not exist in the US) was a brand new Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII driving on Michigan MFR plates. Looks like Subaru will have to import their STi version of the WRX to keep pace with that Lancer.

orangelebaron

Tonight I parked nose to nose with a 1978 red Ranchero with stacked square headlights and fancy maroon seats that looked like they were from a Thunderbird, at Borders in Lake Grove, NY. In the rusty bed was a cinder block and a coffee can full of bolts. These loose items must come in handy to cause extra damage and injury/death in a collision! The hood appeared to be longer than my LeBaron!!!

nolid5

was the top down

danf5

Saw one yesterday in Philadelphia, not sure which engine. Looked funny even for a DS, I think it was running with the suspension at "highest," not recommened by Citroen. Brought back memories, not all bad, of my DS-19. They looked funny back then too.

Mr_Shiftright

Very innovative car the DS, voted one of the century's most important cars by automotive historians--as it paid attention to aerodynamics, active suspension, safety concerns and fuel economy in 1955, when most companies didn't have a clue.

idletask

That was the adaptive headlights! It was been the only car to have such a system. With this car you would illuminate the interior of a curve while braking... No other car has ever offered such a feature until now, as an option, on the... Audi A8!

Unlike the A8, though, this adaptive headlight system was 100% mechanical...

carnut4

that one-spoke steering wheel on the DS-19s. I guess they had power steering too-of course, with the front wheel drive and all. Any big car in those days with manual steering would have broke the spoke on the first turn.
How reliable were those hydraulic systems? I take it there were no Renault engineers on the design team...

Mr_Shiftright

Well, the hydraulics were complex but if you understood them, you could maintain them and make them work for a long time. Many companies licensed the Citroen system, including Rolls Royce for many years.

But may God have mercy on your soul if you let some uninformed mechanic monkey with these systems!

andys120

will illuminate the interior of a curve if the turn signal is on. I believe that's on 9-3s and 9-5s as well.

corsicachevy

For some reason my neighbor's adult son decided that last weekend was an appropriate time (horrible weather) to take his pristine Trans Am Super Duty out for a joy ride. The car is in perfect shape (unrestored) except for fading paint - was red, starting to look pinkish/orange.

checkme

magnetophone

I am so tired of this! Why is it that every two weeks or so, I get unsubscribed from several message boards?

ghulet

The system you describe on your Saab are generally known as 'cornering lamps' (Cadillac was the first to use them, in model year 1962), with a bright white light illuminating the side of the car while the turn signal is on.

The Citroen system, IIRC, makes the headlights 'swivel' in the direction of a turn while driving.

andys120

andys120

headlights that swivelled with the steering?

Duesenberg? Cord? I think they called them Pilot Rays (auxiliaries mounted below main headlamps).

ghulet

...I'm pretty sure the center headlight on Tuckers swiveled (sp?) as well.

danf5

I had a DS-19, it absolutely positively didn't have self-leveling headlights.

It did have Citromatic (automatic clutch, shift-by-wire manual box), and that was an unexpected nightmare. The way it worked was pretty simple, in principle. The shift lever, which stuck up out of the dash, worked valves in the hydraulic system to pressurize/depressurize cylinders attached to the transmission case. When pressurized, a cylinder pushed on a shift fork. One fork for 1 & 2, another for 3 & 4, and third for reverse. So far so clear?

Well, on the 1=>2 shift, the cylinder for 2 pushed the fork out of 1, through neutral, and into 2. On the 2=>1, things went the other way. Similarly for 3 and 4.

Reverse was different. The R cylinder pushed the fork against a spring that butted on a pad, part of the gearbox casing. When R was depressurized, the spring pushed the fork back to its disengaged position. The pad stuck out from the side of the gearbox casing. So far so clear?

Well, one day after I'd put the car in reverse the pad that the 'get out of reverse' spring butted on broke off. And there I was, stuck as could be.

Cheers,

Dan

a_l_hubcaps

One for Andre: Today I saw a huge old Dodge Monaco. I am not sure of the exact year, but I would guess 1976 or 1977. It was beige in color, with concealed headlamps. The condition was not mint, with a few small dents and very minor rust, but a little body work and a good cleaning would get it looking really sharp. I wasn't a big fan of the color, though.

-Andrew L

lemko

...is the police car that appears at the beginning of "Hill Street Blues."

PF_Flyer

Drivng home today I passed a gold 1966 Cadillac Coupe de Ville on I-83 running with the top down. My 10 year old saw it first and said, "Oh my God... look at how HUGE that thing is!!" LOL

PF Flyer
Host
Pickups & News & Views Message Boards

ajvdh

I was waiting for a light today, and at the same intersection I saw a Fiat X1/9 (the street coming in from the right), a VW/Porsche 914 (across from me), and a Pontiac Fiero (coming from the left).

petra02

I saw a rather obscure car not long ago; a Mazda Millenia. Seriously, when was the last time you saw one? I kind of feel sorry for the Millenia... it should have done so much better than it did. The RX-8 will fix that, though.

Another obscure car I saw a few months back was a VW EuroVan. Yep, they still make 'em. And I was lucky enough to see 3 of them that day... there must have been a VW owners convention, or something. When was the last time you saw one of them, either?

a_l_hubcaps

petra02-

I have a friend whose parents are die-hard Eurovan owners. They had a 1993 model, and traded that for a 2001. Eurovans seem kind of overpriced to me, but I guess there isn't much else like them out there.

-Andrew L

pat84

There is a Corvair sitting on a car trailer on my way to / from work. It has historic tags. I think the owner carries it on the trailer to car shows or such. I remember when they were popular and no one ever heard of Ralph Nader.

idletask

Four days ago I saw a Ford F250. I didn't even know that they could be homologated in France... Brownish color and a Diesel engine. This thing is damn huge!

Also, during my WE in Belgium, I saw a Chrysler 300M, a Cadillac Seville, a Maserati Spyder and a... Trabant.

Finally, yesterday on the highway I saw a GMC Sierra and Mitsubishi L200.

magnetophone

What the hey is Europe coming to? I remember it used to take months before you'd see an American car other than the Chrysler Voyager.

blh7068

"For some reason my neighbor's adult son decided that last weekend was an appropriate time (horrible weather) to take his pristine Trans Am Super Duty out for a joy ride. The car is in perfect shape (unrestored) except for fading paint - was red, starting to look pinkish/orange."

Is it a 73 or 74?

Ouch! What fun would that be? Driving around in bad weather, that is. Those early 2nd gen F bodies are some of the worst as far as body integrity go.

corsicachevy

This almost made me cry - on my way to work today I saw an old black 911 Turbo fall off of a trailer. It fell off the back, dug its nose into the pavement and ended up being dragged about 100yards before the driver came to a complete stop. The whole front end was destroyed, not to mention what likely happened to the underbody of the car.

I stopped to see if I could help, but the guy (not the owner) had already called for a tow truck. The car WAS absolutely beautiful.

checkme

This weekend, I saw not one, but two Toyota Soarers. At least that's what the decals said. Since they were left hand drive, I strongly suspect that they were really Lexus SC400's that had been rebadged as Soarers. The one I got the best look at was covered with ground effects, so it was hard to tell.

lemko

...I saw a man filling his 1973 Plymouth 'Cuda at the local Sunoco station. I once had a neighbor who had a hot-rodded 1969 Plymouth Roadrunner.

Mr_Shiftright

He's probably still there filling it

checkme

50's Citroen- don't know what model, I've never seen a Citroen of any kind in the US before.

stever

Early 50's era tan/beige Pontiac "woody" station wagon at the coffee shop the other morning. The wood looked good from across the parking lot and turned out to be one of those models with the wood painted on. Nice looking ride.

Steve, Host

magnetophone

One of my high school teachers had two Citroens, a 2CV and a XM.

auerbach

1969 Jaguar XKE V12 today. Looked inside - it had an automatic! Wasn't expecting to see that.

Mr_Shiftright

The car you saw was probably a 1971 or newer Series III. Automatics were popular enough in the Series III because the V-12 E-Types lost just about all of its sportscar personality when the V-12 was fitted. Why pretend it was a lean, mean sportscar anymore?

Wheelbase had to be increased, and the car, while not much slower than the 6 cylinder cars, handled badly in comparison. Understeer was ferocious. They aren't nearly as much fun to drive as the earlier E-Types, which are lighter and much more tossable with the 6 cylinder engine. But the V-12 was fitted for emissions reasons. The 6 cylinder just didn't have the power to keep up in the 1970s.

So shocking as it may have looked to you, there is a logic in having an automatic Series III. It fits the V-12, which is a big, heavy, very relaxed high torque engine.

idletask

Are you absolutely sure about this one? I've never heard that it was homologated in the US...

Mr_Shiftright

Maybe he means SM?

magnetophone

I mean the larger hatchback model that was ubiquitous in the late 60's early 70's...not the 2CV but the large one.

Mr_Shiftright

Oh, you mean the Ami 6?

auerbach

because I looked at the tailights and they had a "69" on them. I guess this "trick" I learned long ago to determine model year doesn't always work?

Anyway, the Jag was a big red coupe with a black (perhaps removable) hardtop.

Mr_Shiftright

No, there are no 1969s with a V-12 engine.

If it's a '69 Coupe 2+2 automatic it is a very unloved E-Type that you can buy much cheaper than any other E-Type, not only because of the auto trans, but because it is decidely homely in comparison to the other Es.

.

alfox

I understood to be the year they were design and the specs sent to parts makers. If the same tail light moldings were used on subsequent years' cars, the date would be misleading.

Mr_Shiftright

Maybe it was indeed a '69 but not a V-12. Some folks who look at the engine, which is a twin-cam 6, think it's a sohc V-12. because it looks like a very long V engine.