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I spotted an (insert obscure car name here) classic car today! (Archived)
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1) 1977 Impala coupe, bright red (gift from parents in May 1980)
2) 1981 Monte Carlo, two-tone light and dark jade (new)
3) 1982 Monte Carlo, dark jade, bought to replace stolen 1981 (dealer demo bought in Nov. '82)
4) 1985 Celebrity Eurosport coupe, solid dark plum (new)
5) 1963 Studebaker Lark Daytona Skytop R1, white with red vinyl interior
6) 1989 Beretta GT, bright red with camel cloth interior (new)
7) 1990 Corsica 4 cyl. 5-speed, charcoal gray (new)
8) 1993 Caprice Classic, metallic maroon, F-41 (new)
9) 1997 Cavalier sedan, 5-speed, light brown metallic (new)
10) 1999 Venture LS van, so dark blue almost black (new; only car I ever leased)
11) 2002 Cavalier coupe, 5-speed, very dark green (new)
12) 2002 Venture LS van, brownish (new)
13) 2005 Uplander LS van, metallic maroon (new)
14) 2008 Cobalt XFE sedan, 5-speed, silver (new)
15) 1964 Studebaker Daytona Hardtop, Strato (dark) Blue metallic
16) 2008 PT Cruiser, silver
17) 2011 Malibu LT, metallic black (new)
18) 1966 Studebaker Daytona Sports Sedan, Niagara Blue Mist (light green in all actuality)
19) 2009 Cobalt LS sedan, white (totalled May 2017)
20) 1966 Studebaker Cruiser, Timberline Turquoise
21) 2015 Cruze LS sedan, black (totalled Sept. 2017)
22) 2015 Cruze LS sedan, navy blue
23) 2015 Equinox LS, navy blue
24) 2017 Cruze LT (bought new at astonishing price of just under $12k with all the offers and my GM card money, even before trade)
25) 2019 Equinox LT, white (new)
Runner-up for lamest rental car: Beautiful blue 1980 Grand Prix that ticked like a time bomb and I added 3 qts. of oil. Only interior light that worked was on the RF floor and radio would fade in and out when you hit a bump.
Budget used to give Town Cars in the late '80's and early '90's at good prices, so I drove my share of those.
I had Merkurs and really everything you can think of, up 'til about a decade ago.
First real slap in the face of foreign compact 'differentness'--Toyotas that had smelly vinyl to my nose, were very 'buzzy' in the engine department, and first cars I can think of that looked like the hubcaps fell off--on purpose. But of course those cars won out in the Buyers' hearts and minds. I get it.
I will say my first experience with a Taurus, I was impressed with the room in the back seat, and rear-seat center armrest. I knew the '83 T-Bird looked nice but it seemed cramped inside and in the trunk compared to what I was used to. But the Taurus was round AND roomy.
It really was revolutionary; my only gripe is that everybody, and I mean everbody, cribbed the concept and we are still dealing with soap-bar/all-the-same shapes now.
Just blew up the side street as I sit on our front stoop…perfect stock- looking ‘63 Mercury Comet S-22 convertible in bright red with the top down. I’ve never seen it before.
Reminded me that you just never see Meteors anymore. Only built for ’62 and ‘63.
https://www.streetmusclemag.com/news/the-mercury-comet-s-22-a-forgotten-classic/
It's equipped just like my '64 1/2 Mustang was, 170 CID with the four on the floor.
I know Fairlanes could be had with the 221 V8 in '62 and also a 260 V8 in '63, so I'll assume the Comet could as well. I have no idea what engine this Comet had. I think unlike the Fairlane, I don't remember that Comets had V8 emblems or the like then. I didn't see anything like that on the car that blew by.
EDIT: Sorry, I'm thinking the Comet and Fairlane were similar, when it was the Comet and Falcon that were similar. Sure doesn't seem like much size difference between a Comet and a Meteor then.
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I did like that the General built a coupe this large, and it could be had with a bench seat, column shift, and center armrest, but otherwise I was so disappointed with these cars when they came out. As my Dad, a former happy Monte Carlo owner opined, "Those are Monte Carlos in name only" and of course he was correct.
They had so many horizontal lines down the side, and I detested the seam around the quarter windows.
Really, I much-preferred the '90-92 Lumina Euro coupe, with the delete-option of no 'Frisbee' spoiler. (I know the coupe was made through '94 but I liked that the '90-92 had wheel opening trim, which got chucked for '93 and later.)
The dealer ID on the car is for Ron Marhofer, who is still a dealer in Stow, OH and has been since 1919. In 2009 his franchise was taken away, despite his selling more new Chevys the year before than any other dealer in the county, including in larger Akron. Buzz was he was a Republican donor and well, you know. After about three months, in which he lost long-time employees and some regular customers bought elsewhere, he had his franchise reinstated. Not exactly sure why but I do remember a customer letter-writing thing going on. I bought six new Chevys there but my last few I've bought at the dealer about six miles down the road from him, who always seems to beat his prices on like merchandise by about a grand, although I like the people at Marhofer better.
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However, the Comet was made bigger, by the same way Pontiac made a Bonneville bigger than a Catalina. Stretch the wheelbase at the rear, but without giving the car any more interior room, and then tacking a few more inches of overhang on at the back. So you got more trunk space, but no more passenger room.
Here's a pic of a Comet 4-door from the side, and you can really see how they pulled the rear axle back, in relation to the back door...
I always thought it was a shame that the Meteor never caught on. I thought it was an attractive, nicely proportioned car. The Comet seemed too narrow to pull off the quad headlights, and having them widely spaced made it worse. But the Meteor seemed just wide enough that quads looked good.
Now the '65 Comet, with its stacked headlights...I thought that one looked really good.
A ‘65 Cyclone, I like quite a bit.
I know the ‘63 you showed is a low-line model, but it just looks so dumpy to me. Among other things, fins in ‘63.
Here are a couple of Bentleys that showed up for the Hilton Head Concours. The owners were driving them rain or shine:
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
Here's one that does the car a bit more justice...
I think my issue with it is those tiny wheels. I know they're most likely 13" rims, but somehow they manage to look even smaller than that!
From 1964-67 we had a white '62 Fairlane (not 500) 4-door sedan. Red interior. I'm old enough to remember it pretty well. It was a six with stick, manual choke. The AM radio didn't work and my Dad's friend whom I called "Uncle Charlie" said he'd fix it, but he took forever so I largely remember a big hole and two smaller knob holes in the dash there. It was the car that turned my Dad off Fords forever as it would just quit running IIRC, although never with me in it. I'll guess that it was a 170 or 200, no idea.
'69 Grand Prix. Just gorgeous to my eyes, in every exterior detail.
I've mentioned that I typically can't stand fake vents or hash marks, but I don't mind them up on the C-pillar. The '70 exchanged locations for the "GRAND PRIX" nameplate and hash marks. I like the '69 locations better.
Nice interior too, even though I bemoan no glovebox!
I know the '70 Monte Carlo was less expensive, but I don't think the styling comes close.
Rest of pics here:
https://www.mcecars.com/vehicles/345/1969-pontiac-grand-prix-j-hard-top-coupe
Of course, the GM C-series pickup was the best, but the Econoline wasn't far behind.
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
I grew up Chevy obviously, but a '57 does nothing for me (don't get me wrong; I'd try and snap a pic of one on the road too!). So hyped. Other than the '57's didn't rust out over the headlights like the '55 and '56 did, I sure prefer those earlier ones.
I do like '57 Dusk Pearl color. I sort-of like the One-Fifty that year, which has the straight side trim and non fanned-out trim on the rear quarter. I'd happily take a Nomad, too.
I have a friend who is a fan of independents, but has worked on all types of cars for better part of sixty years. He claims that '57 Chevys became most-popular as used cars in the '60's, as they were mechanically more-reliable and had better body integrity than Fords of the same year, and were cheap to buy. Cheap to repair and 'hop up'.
That said, I'd rather have a '57 Ford now. At Hershey some years back I saw a '57 Fairlane 500 in black and red; a two-door sedan with narrow side pillars covered in chrome so it resembled a hardtop. I'd very much enjoy that car today. I remember that Iacocca's book called '57 Fords "a styling gem that sold like hotcakes".
When the book was written, the American convertible was dead, and in the late 70's I don't think anybody was expecting it to ever come back. But one thing the author mentioned, that I thought was interesting, is the mention of aftermarket convertibles. They said that there were companies out there that, for about $10,000, would turn a closed coupe into a convertible. So far, the author said, the majority of them have been Lincolns and Cadillacs, "because a $15,000 Ford or Chevy just doesn't make sense."
LOL, give it a few years, with inflation! Although, at the time the book was written, I don't think you were going to get much of a Ford or Chevy for $5,000, so I have a feeling this writer might have been a bit out of touch!
With the '55-57 Chevy, it seems like the '55 has a good deal of fans, and the '57 does, while the '56 is sort of like the red-headed stepchild of the trio. Maybe I have a habit of subconsciously rooting for the underdog, but the '56 was always the one I liked the best!
And yeah, even cars that are a common sight at car shows, are always much more interesting, out in the wild!
I know I've complained about the jutting, bug-eyed headlights of the '57 Ford, but there are other things about the car I do like. I actually think it's attractive from most angles...I'm just not a fan of that front. One thing that I thought was interesting was how that year, Ford started separating its cars into the lower-level Custom/Custom 300 and high-line Fairlane/Fairlane 500. And it wasn't just a matter of giving the high-line cars more trim, nicer interiors, and the more flashy hardtop and convertible body styles. The wheelbase on the Fairlane was a bit longer than the Custom: 118" vs 116". Although, Consumer Reports noted that the Fairlane 4-door they tested had less interior room than the Custom. I think most of the loss was headroom and legroom in the back seat. The 2- and 4-door pillared models in the Fairlane were more swoopy and low-slung than the Custom. The 2-door looks like it could have been a hardtop coupe with a B-pillar put in, and a frame around the door window, whereas in the Chevy and Plymouth lines, the 2-door pillared models looked like they shared as much of the roof structure as practical with the 4-door sedans, and were more upright. So Ford tried to add a touch of distinction and flair to even the more mundane, pillared body styles.
I saw an online article about a '58 Impala yesterday, and for the first time in my life, I thought, "I just really don't like the looks of that car".
We've discussed this before, but I like the '58 Ford a lot. Yeah, it's got a lot of tack-on stuff on what's basically the '57 body, but I like it anyway. I think much of that is that my favorite aunt, a young widow, had one when I was a kid. I always liked the reverse-opening hoods of the '57 and '58. I think the '59's does too, which with its blunt front end doesn't look like it would open that way!
Remember growing up in the '60s and '70s how just about every cartoon and comedy show on TV had the same car wreck sound effect? You know, first the screeching tires, then various impact sounds with glass breaking, metal pieces hitting the ground, all sorts of wreck-sounds, that went on for what seemed like forever? I just found the source:
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And, here's a '57 that's been given quad headlights from a '58, and a customized grille...
It doesn't really wow me, either. I'm trying to picture it with the proper '57 grille, and don't really imagine it to be an improvement.
So, even though I'm not a huge fan of those jutting headlights, I guess the Ford stylists knew what they were doing!
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That Jeep almost looks like it's going to lift off the ground!
Small story, but after I moved my Mom into assisted living, our town's Jeep dealer moved in. His family put a sign on his apartment door, to the effect of, "If he's sleeping, wake him, he'd love to see you". I introduced myself one time in the hallway and said, "You used to be the Jeep dealer" and he said 'yes'. I said that I always thought those little flat-fronted Jeep pickups that the Erie railroad in town used were cool, and even though he was pretty 'foggy', right away he said "FC".
Little things can sway me one way or another on whether I'd consider buying a particular model year of a car.
Well, my housemate went over there with me, because he wanted to look through some of the stuff we haven't brought over yet (admittedly, a good deal of the stuff we left behind is going to the landfill!) I stopped off at Advance Auto to get some brake fluid. I had some old brake fluid around, but it said "Trak Auto" on it (Trak Auto became Advance Auto well over 20 years ago), and had a drawing of a car that looked somewhat like a '70 Hornet hatchback, but without a B-pillar...so I figured it was NOT a good idea to use that for anything!
I don't think the LeMans has been started this year, but I put a fresh battery in it, and tried it a few times. It turned over pretty strong but just wouldn't catch. Sprayed a little carb cleaner down in the throat, and it fired right up. I drove it out of the garage, and noticed the brakes did that thing where, while the pedal would go to the floor, the car would still stop...it just took longer. So, I started thinking thoughts I probably shouldn't have, and figured, what could go wrong? I popped the fluid reservoir, and noticed that the larger, more forward part of it was still nice and full, but the rearward, smaller one was almost empty. I topped it off, closed it back up, and tried to pump the brakes some, but it still felt about the same. Still, I felt like taking a chance. I really wanted to get the car over to the new place before the first road-salting of the season.
Sooo, I had my housemate drive my Ram, and I followed in the LeMans, and we got it back home. I figured we'd just take it slow and easy and that, if worse came to worst, I'd end up ramming my own Ram. Now, here's the weird thing...after a few miles, the brake started feeling better, and at some point the "brake" idiot light turned itself off. By the time we got back to the new house, the brakes actually felt normal!
Still, the car is going to the mechanic for a thorough checkup before it goes any significant distance. Plus, it needs new tires. The current ones have plenty of tread, but they're the same tires that were on it when I bought it...and I've had the car since late April 2005!
Anyway, here's a video of the car on the final leg of its journey, pulling into my driveway. My apologies for the thick coating of dust. It definitely needs a bath!
That’s a good color. I think that’s what Chevy called ‘Mahogany’.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
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This new garage of yours would be perfect for such activities! It's starting to look like quite the nice building.
Congrats on the successful transfer of the car to the new place. I probably would have done the same thing. Of course, I *did* drive my Econoline nearly 1,500 miles with a bad master cylinder. After a while of no brakes (or nearly so), you get used to it and plan accordingly.
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I know 'andre' is just your handle here, but the only 'Andre' I really knew, was a service writer at the Chevy dealer that was here in Kent until 2009. He was a favorite of mine, very friendly, and helped me out more than once. That Andre resembled Barack Obama with wire-rim glasses....really. He knew it too as some of the mechanics kidded him about the similarity.
So, in my mind, that's the image that always comes up when I see your name by a post, LOL.
I'd forgotten the color on Andre's Lemans. I was expecct a light color like
the convertible.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Keep hoping you will do Michigan Adam videos on your cars, I'd watch them
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Uplander and Stickguy, I'm not sure what the color is called. It was repainted, but not the original color, which is "Firethorn". It's honestly not a very good repaint, and is mis-matched in a few spots, so I think the car may have been wrecked after it was repainted. Here's a '76 Grand LeMans wagon in Firethorn. This is also what the '76 Grand LeMans grille *should* look like (mine is sporting a '77 Grand LeMans grille)
Xwesx...yeah, that buzzing noise definitely brings back some childhood memories! When I bought the car, the buzzer wasn't working, but at some point I had some work done on the car, that was totally unrelated, but they must have accidentally made some connection or jiggled something, because dammit, now it works! As for working on cars myself, I used to do it more, but will admit, as I've gotten older, have gotten lazier. Plus, I don't have quite the flexibility (or the patience) that I used to, so sometimes it's in my best interest to let someone else do the work!
Sda and Fintail...the front-end of the car is the main thing, I think, that attracted me to them, ever since they were new. And "Smokey and the Bandit" had a lot to do with that! In contrast Mom had a '75 LeMans, which still had the single round headlights. I hated that car at the time. I hadn't seen a picture of it in years, but oddly, at my Grandmom's funeral back in 2015, somehow it made it into the slideshow the funeral was running in the background, during the viewing. It was a picture of Grandmom in her driveway, and their '72 Impala and Mom's '77 LeMans were in the background. Kinda morbid, I guess...here's Grandmom, laid out and ready to be buried soon, and I was reminiscing about the cars! Anyway, in that pic, the LeMans looked more appealing than I remember. I'm going to have to ask Mom for a copy of that pic.
Imidazol97, thanks for the rundown on how the power brake light works. It just seemed odd to me that the brakes would start getting better, and then basically back to normal. I figured that there would be air in the system, and that while adding fluid might help somewhat, it still wouldn't be 100% normal, and that they'd need to be bled. "I was expecct a light color like the convertible." Funny you'd say that...I've had more than enough cars over the years, in that rough color range (tan/beige/creamy yellow, which all sort of blurs together in my mind) that I swore I'd never get another. But, every once in awhile, I'll see an otherwise nice car that catches my eye, but damn if it isn't in that color range! But, I also once swore I'd never get another silver car...yet here I am, with a silver '03 Regal.
Ab348...yeah, that gap with the filler panel has always bugged me. I've tried to gently push it down on the past, but it wouldn't hold. I've been afraid to whack it too hard, for fear I might break something!
Uplander, which pic are you talking about? The one with me in the swimming pool with the flavor ice in my mouth? Probably not the most "presidential" pose in the world
Mrwhipple311... thanks, but I absolutely HATE the way I sound on video/audio! But, I might be tempted to try something sometime. My cars aren't anywhere near as nice as the ones Michigan Adam finds, though!
I always found these kind of appealing, in a weird sort of way. It seems like a Japanese interpretation of an American style. To my eye at least, it has sort of a long, low look to it...even though it's 57.6" tall, according to the specs on Edmund's.
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