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

texases

Didn't the early 911 Targas have a fabric panel? For me Targa = removable panel from driver's window to passenger's window, with a solid bar remaining behind the two. So the Corvette would be a hardtop convertible, like the recent SL500, etc.

stickguy

Plastic I thought.

kyfdx

911 Targa '84-'89.
Collapsible scissor frame
Thick pebble grain vinyl cover, with interior finished in headliner type fabric.

It would fit under the hood in the front, when collapsed.

texases

You're right, it was a hard panel, not cloth. So ignore that part of my comment...

uplanderguy

Friends take delivery at 8:45 EST this morning. I'll be tuning in of course.

https://www.corvettemuseum.org/explore/web-cams/

ab348

I really do not like screaming loud yellow paint, which unfortunately tends to be the most common type used. There have been a few softer shades used on cars over the years but not many. Chevy had a shade in the '60s called Butternut Yellow which was a nice color in person but almost too pale. The one I liked best was what Volvo used on some of the 850s, I believe called Cream Yellow, which was brighter than Butternut but not overdone.

uplanderguy

Bunch of old guys that are built like, ahem, me, working there, doing last-minute detailing, etc., at the museum. I did see one female employee at my friend's car. Funny to see the old guys getting out of a car.

My friend's brother (delivery 7) doesn't look happy about something. I'm only guessing but I saw arms go up and down and the employee doing the same and then both walked away.

uplanderguy

Funny Greg, that you mention Butternut Yellow. For decades, whenever I'd see a '66 Chevy, almost any model, it was either Butternut Yellow or Marina Blue, which made me very sick of those colors. I've softened on the Butternut Yellow by now but Marina Blue is still too-much-everywhere for me.

sda

I used to see a car just like this frequently at the Charlotte Auto Fair at the Speedway. Isn't this Olds' version of Butternut Yellow?

uplanderguy

Sure looks like what I remember, although maybe a tad lighter. Could be my old eyes. That's a '67.

stickguy

Your friend getting the orange convertible?

I assume that the take a chubby old guy and design the car around them, since that is most of the buyers pool, right?

uplanderguy

No doubt!

My friend's is the yellow car (delivery 2) and his brother's is the orange car (delivery 7).

I gotta say, after being 'meh' about the industry for probably decades, I feel like "Go GM!" about the C8. And the museum delivery is cool I think. There's really nothing else like the car especially at the price point.

My friend and his wife are both retired university profs, and his brother is a businessman and was a pilot in the Gulf War.

sda

No doubt the C8 is impressive and shows GM hasn't lost the ability to deliver a premiere product. Yes, that is a 67 Olds 98.

uplanderguy

....and they're off.

I feel sorry for the employee on one knee to the left of the car, talking to my friends and pointing out various stuff for about an hour.

andre1969

I think Olds called that shade of yellow "Saffron". Pontiac called it "Mayfair Maize" or something corny like that. There was also a slightly lighter shade, which is what my Catalina is painted. I always forget whether it's "Capri Cream" or "Montego Cream". I know it's one of those two Mercury-sounding colors, and whichever one it isn't, that's the name Chevy used for their version!

The Capri/Montego and the Butternut et al look very close, but if you see them side by side the difference is noticeable. Years ago, I took a pic of a '67 Delta 88 convertible in the darker color, and the hood of my Catalina was in the lower corner, and it was a noticeable contrast. I've tried looking for it, but can't find it. I know it was on my old Photobucket account, but I let that go.

Of course, over the years, cars do fade, get repainted, etc, and the repaints aren't always true to the original color. My Catalina was repainted at some point, before I bought it in 1994. And this '67 Delta 88 may have been repainted as well

Edit: I just looked it up. The Olds version of Butternut is indeed "Saffron". Cameo Ivory is what they called Capri Cream (Chevy) and Montego Cream (Pontiac). Buick had "Ivory" for the lighter hue, but it looks like they didn't have a version of Butternut.

Cadillac had something called "Persian Ivory", but it looks like it's unique. It has a unique code number (81581). Butternut is 81500. Capri/Montego cream is 81578.

Oh, and the Corvette had something called Sunfire Yellow (81540)

Here's a Chevy paint chart from '67: https://www.autocolorlibrary.com/pages/1967-Chevrolet.html

sda

Photo quality varies greatly as well. I remember talking to the owner of the 67 98 that was very similar, maybe the same one in the pic, I don't know...but he said his still was all original including the paint. It was a low mileage car. I haven't been to the Auto Fair for several years so I don't know if he still has/shows it.

uplanderguy

RE.: '67 Chevy colors: We had Mountain Green on our Chevelle, and my grandparents had Madeira Maroon on their Impala Sport Coupe. I remember that car having a great interior--thick seats in a maroon brocade; I still think it's the best Chevy instrument panel of the '60's, and it still had the center-rear-seat-speaker. I'm pretty sure '67 was the last year for that. Nice door panels and armrests too.

I always liked the Royal Plum color that year, but not often seen. I saw a low-mileage '67 Impala Sport Sedan in that color on a Facebook page a couple years ago and here it was sold new in the town of Meadville, PA, maybe 25 miles north of where I grew up.

My aunt and uncle bought a new '67 LeSabre 400 two-door hardtop that year, in a light metallic turquoise. They traded it on a '69 Ford Country Sedan wagon. I remember my uncle saying years later that the LeSabre needed engine work already, but didn't specify.

andre1969

Yeah, photo quality/camera settings also makes a difference. FWIW, here's a pic of a '67 Catalina in the Mayfair Maize (butternut) that I found on the web...

And here's a pic of my '67, taken last summer at the GM show in Carlisle...


The colors are similar enough, that I'm sure if you played around with the brightness/contrast/saturation in a photo editor, you could make them both look identical without too much trouble.

The way the light hits it can make a difference, as well. And, it also doesn't help that if you google "1967 Pontiac Mayfair Maize", you'll get some pics of the Montego cream as well. And vice versa!

imidazol97

uplanderguy said:

....and they're off.

I feel sorry for the employee on one knee to the left of the car, talking to my friends and pointing out various stuff for about an hour.

Check Slot #2 now. There's a car in your color sitting there.

imidazol97

Cameo Ivory or Saffron are color names for Oldsmobile. Cameo Ivory is much lighter--
I think it's the color in the piccture.

https://www.autocolorlibrary.com/pages/1967-Oldsmobile.html#parentHorizontalTab2

ab348

uplanderguy said:

Bunch of old guys that are built like, ahem, me, working there, doing last-minute detailing, etc., at the museum. I did see one female employee at my friend's car. Funny to see the old guys getting out of a car.

My friend's brother (delivery 7) doesn't look happy about something. I'm only guessing but I saw arms go up and down and the employee doing the same and then both walked away.

Looks like Col. Sanders is picking up his new Vette in slot #5 right now.

uplanderguy

I do indeed like that brown (insert incredulous, nasaly voice here: "A brown Corvette?!"). And that does look like ol' Harlan at number 5. Those two employees are the same two people who assisted my friend this morning.

I remember reading at least a couple months ago, anyway, that the C8 is the car that stays in dealer inventories the least of any vehicle made by anybody. My friend and his bro both paid MSRP for theirs through a Baltimore dealer, but rumors abound of dealers receiving cancelled orders, or whatever, and tacking $20K or more on MSRP. Insane. I'd pay MSRP for one, and wait a year and two months or whatever, but "market adjustment" markups are a total turnoff.

Somehow, I predict that brown will be discontinued, like the dark green on the 2014 C7 that was my favorite color. I wonder what happens if you order brown and within the year or more it takes to get your car, it's discontinued? I guess you're told to pick another color.

BTW, my friend is 62; his wife is 61; his brother is 59.

stickguy

$20k on a vette seems less insane than $10k on a Maverick.

uplanderguy

I've heard a few examples of $30K over, and one example of $40K over.

I didn't know Mavericks were doing that, but I have heard they're popular. I saw one at the Cleveland Auto Show the other day. Not a pickup guy, so like all the other trucks there, I didn't linger around.

xwesx

Very impressive system. Best of both worlds... though you DO lose the transparency to the engine (not like you can see that from the driver's seat anyway!).

uplanderguy

I don't care for the flat rear window of the C8 convertible, but I guess the ability to raise and lower the top in a couple seconds, and while the car's moving, is a lot more convenient than removing and storing the removable top on the coupe.

uplanderguy

We had recently been talking about these cars. This one was at the Kent Post Office this afternoon. Either '84 or '85, since it has the body-colored side molding with no chrome beading (I like that; gives the protection but also the look of no molding) and has no big "HT4100" front fender emblem (apparently they were no longer proud of that by '84!).

The mock top is most unfortunate.

sda

I wonder what percentage were sold with the mock top? It was certainly popular.

andre1969

I know this is blasphemy, but I think the Seville is one of the few cars that can actually pull off that carriage roof, or whatever the local vernacular is these days, with some dignity. The car is retro (or "neoclassic" as they called it back then) enough that I don't think adding that roof makes it any worse.

I still prefer it with a plain roof, but I don't hate it this way, either.

fintail

Would be even uh...better....with a faux Rolls-Royce grille and a continental style spare with straps on the trunk:





Affluent people under the age of 60-70 started flocking to the Germans en masse, I wonder why.

uplanderguy

Shame on Caddy dealers for those tack-ons.

roadburner

I love Dakar Yellow- first introduced on the E36 M3:


The Challenger Yellow Jacket is also a favorite:


I almost bought a Nitro Yellow Supra 3.0- until I started reading the horror stories about terribly incompetent Toyota service...

andre1969

fintail said:

Would be even uh...better....with a faux Rolls-Royce grille and a continental style spare with straps on the trunk:

Now that's going a little TOO far. Even I have my limits!

andre1969

I have a feeling the main reason I don't normally go for yellow is that the types of cars I tend to go for usually don't wear it well. If you paint a big domestic car in a bright yellow, it looks like a taxi! I think it works well on the three examples Roadburner posted. One thing that helps, I think, is that both cars have enough black contrasting, that accents it pretty nicely.

Looking at the hood ornament on that Challenger, I'm getting a bit nostalgic...might be time to dig out the CB radio and go bear huntin'! Right after I take a Ten-Two-Hundred!

ab348

Another Caffeine Vette being delivered right now, Lane 2, with tan interior. Looks nice. Owner and his wife appear mid-40ish.

There's another one in lane 7 but with black inside, ugh. Can't tell who the owner is yet.

texases

I always like tan leather. I'm pleasantly surprised that most have silver/polished wheels, instead of black.

ab348

There is/was one there earlier that was black inside and out with black wheels. I don't get the appeal.

uplanderguy

I detest black wheels.

I like the tan interior too.

Although, for looks, gotta say I like Delivery 7 better since it's a coupe. Looks like it may also have the glass top which I'd have to have, since it's black against the 'Caffeine' car and I think non-glass roofs (rooves?) are the same color as the car.

ab348

Delivery 2 now has your exact car, Bill. Caffeine, tan inside, black roof. They must be putting all the brown ones in lane 2.

imidazol97

I never would have thought there were this many brown ones being sold
based on the ones that show up at cruise-ins and that I see on the road.

I like the brown with rich metal flake colors. Reminds me of the beautiful
brown on my '77 Olds Cutlass Supreme Brougham with the ten vinyl roof.
Oh those were the days. I kept that thing waxed.

https://www.gaaclassiccars.com/vehicles/30894/1977-oldsmobile-cutlass-supreme-brougham

xwesx

Lane 7 now has a caffeine one. Looks pretty good, TBH. WAY better than nearly all the other lanes, which are either black or white (BORING!!!).

stickguy

I like that bronze color on the C8. Interesting.

ab348

There was a Rapid Blue (think Ford Grabber Blue, almost) with yellow full-length stripes there earlier today. Person ordering must have wanted a 1-of-1 car for resale at some point, but it was pretty ugly. The color choices are pretty limited from what I see. Two grays, two blues, red, orange. yellow, silver, white, black, and the Caffeine brown. They should bring back War Bonnet Yellow from the early '70s, a yellow-gold metallic.

uplanderguy

There are two reds. One is a ‘mist’ so it’s probably metallic.

I saw that blue car with yellow stripes. Awful.

My friend had to pay a $500 override charge to get the black and red interior with the yellow exterior. Nearly certain that blue car’s owner would’ve had to do the same.

ab348

uplanderguy said:

There are two reds. One is a ‘mist’ so it’s probably metallic.

That's the one that looks washed out in the webcam shots, which do it no favors.

imidazol97

uplanderguy said:

There are two reds. One is a ‘mist’ so it’s probably metallic.

I saw that blue car with yellow stripes. Awful.

My friend had to pay a $500 override charge to get the black and red interior with the yellow exterior. Nearly certain that blue car’s owner would’ve had to do the same.

I don't see the caffeine dark brown color in the choices. Is it already discontinued?

https://www.chevrolet.com/performance/camaro/build-and-price/color

uplanderguy

That link is for Camaro colors.

ab348

That’s a Camaro page. You’d be pretty disappointed if you ordered thinking you were getting a Corvette. Must be that word game affecting your focus. 😆

imidazol97

Good catch. I went down the Corvette.com page, and down, and down and came to a build
box having passed some earlier build boxes. I was hoping to just find a color chart.

Turns out at the bottom of the page, there's a switch to "Maybe you'd like this" and it
is Camaros!

https://www.chevrolet.com/performance/corvette/build-and-price/color

uplanderguy

Well, they made it home, 500 miles, no hotel stay. He's ecstatic about the car.

RE.: Dark brown--I always liked the dark brown on the '73 Colonnade cars, and the 'Bermuda Brown' on '64 Studebakers. It looks rich. Maybe I'm reminded of chocolate.