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

uplanderguy

Really.

Friends of mine are saying, "See? Time for an EV".

I know this can be discussed ad nauseum, but for me, range, no. of charging locations, and charging time needs to be improved before I'd buy one. Plus, prices would need to come down.

In a few days I'm driving to Columbus to pick up an old high school buddy of mine, and we're driving directly to Auburn, IN for the three car museums there. He's never been. Looks like we're primarily staying off the interstate, which I'll enjoy. I'd be nervous about that drive in an EV--although I'll be nervous about the stupid gas prices.

stickguy

price is still an issue on the EVs for sure. I mentioned to the wife yesterday that for our normal use having one makes a lot of sense. We seem to either drive 10 miles in a day running errands, or go on a long (250+ mile) highway trip. So having 1 EV car for all the local stuff, and a 2nd for travel, does make sense.

the problem is, the travel car is going to be a nice one (the "good" car). And a local runabout can be less fancy, but I can't see spending EV money ($40k+ for anything I might like) for a spare errand runner. More if it is going to also serve as a PU!

probably will make the next purchase a plug in hybrid if there is something we like. At minimum, I won't buy anything else that isn't at least a regular hybrid.

Michaell

stickguy said:

price is still an issue on the EVs for sure. I mentioned to the wife yesterday that for our normal use having one makes a lot of sense. We seem to either drive 10 miles in a day running errands, or go on a long (250+ mile) highway trip. So having 1 EV car for all the local stuff, and a 2nd for travel, does make sense.

the problem is, the travel car is going to be a nice one (the "good" car). And a local runabout can be less fancy, but I can't see spending EV money ($40k+ for anything I might like) for a spare errand runner. More if it is going to also serve as a PU!

probably will make the next purchase a plug in hybrid if there is something we like. At minimum, I won't buy anything else that isn't at least a regular hybrid.

The MINI EV starts at $30k before incentives, with a 114 mile range. Perfect for those around town trips.

sda

I am thankful that our fleet are relatively thrifty with gas, the TL being least at around 19-22 mpg local driving. I can't imagine feeding a daily driver that got 10-11mpg like the cars from the past.

andre1969

Hows this for a blast from the past? When I used to deliver pizzas, back in the 1996-2001 timeframe, I started off using a '68 Dart with a 318, then on to a '79 Newport with a 318, an '86 Monte Carlo with a 305, an '89 Gran Fury with a 318 (and by that time, the 318 called for premium!) and finally a 2000 Intrepid with a 2.7. While it was hard to get the Intrepid to get UNDER 20 mpg in even the worst of circumstances, most of those others only got like 11-13. The Monte got around 14-15. Oh, I also occasionally pressed my grandmother's '85 LeSabre into service. In that type of driving, it would get around 13-14

Gas was usually averaging around $1.00-1.25/gal, although the Gran Fury was more like $1.30-1.60. Ironically, as soon as I got the Intrepid, gas prices shot up. I can still remember, that car's first fill-up was something like $1.399/gal, for 87 octane, sometime in November of 1999...and complaining about it!

But, I can remember the good old days, of a busy Friday or Saturday night, in the Dart, starting off with a full tank of gas. I'd have to refill by the end of the night, but $20 would get me a full tank. And I would've usually pulled in something like $120-140 in cash.

With the way I had been driving, I remember part of my rationale for buying the Intrepid was that its improved fuel economy over the Gran Fury, plus not needing premium fuel, would have saved me about $120-150 per month, just in fuel. I had also just refinanced my condo a few months before, and that saved me somewhere in the $225/mo range. So I used those two numbers to justify my Intrepid being "free", as its payment was $347.66/mo. Eh, call it "common core math", if you will

sda

I thought the profile of the 77-79 Olds 98 was handsome. This is a pic of the 78 98 Regency that we had just bought used for mom. I think it had every option except additional engine gauges--speedo and gas gauge only.

She loved that car and drove it for years.

andre1969

Wow, that is NICE. I'd imagine a sunroof was an extremely rare option!

fintail

Looks like real fancy wire wheelcovers on that Olds, with the large center cap.

Fintail drank some $4.59 PUG yesterday. It gets around 15 city/20 highway, wagon is low 20s city, 30 highway, I don't have to commute every day, so I am surviving.

uplanderguy

Wow, that is NICE. I'd imagine a sunroof was an extremely rare option!

I gotta believe that too.

andre1969

Back before COVID sent me to work from home, I think I was averaging around $30/week to fill up the Regal, which included all driving, not just to and from work. If I had to go back to the office, I imagine I'd be up to around $60/week. The extra $30/wk won't break me. But I'll still complain about it

ab348

Those late '70s C-bodies were extremely nice cars regardless of whether they were in the Buick, Cadillac or Olds stable. The neatest thing was that if you were even just moderately handy at wrenching, you could go to a junkyard and get the thick front sway bar from a Chevy with the F41 option along with the rear bar and the two brackets that it needed to fit the rear lower control arms and they would suddenly corner really well.

sda

As luck would have it, my wife and I are being called back into the office starting next week. We work for the same company but different divisions and locations. Worked from home for 2yrs so not real excited about going back. They are proposing a 3 day in office work schedule so it could be worse. Daily travel mileage will be about 50 for me and 25 for my wife.

sda

andre1969 said:

Wow, that is NICE. I'd imagine a sunroof was an extremely rare option!

It was an expensive option. Every car since has had a sunroof as mom loves having it open and its a deal breaker for her if it doesn't have one. As @ab348 stated, that series of car was a delight to drive and own, though gas mileage from the Olds 403 was not good.

xwesx

stickguy said:

price is still an issue on the EVs for sure. I mentioned to the wife yesterday that for our normal use having one makes a lot of sense. We seem to either drive 10 miles in a day running errands, or go on a long (250+ mile) highway trip. So having 1 EV car for all the local stuff, and a 2nd for travel, does make sense.

the problem is, the travel car is going to be a nice one (the "good" car). And a local runabout can be less fancy, but I can't see spending EV money ($40k+ for anything I might like) for a spare errand runner. More if it is going to also serve as a PU!

probably will make the next purchase a plug in hybrid if there is something we like. At minimum, I won't buy anything else that isn't at least a regular hybrid.

That sort of setup only really makes sense if you plan to keep them for the long haul. Example: You already have your traveling car for the next decade!

andre1969

I just saw this on a facebook forum, and had to laugh...

roadburner

I still drive 25 miles round trip five days a week. The Clubman averages over 35 mpg so the fuel cost is tolerable.

fintail

andre1969 said:

I just saw this on a facebook forum, and had to laugh...

I read that in Jerry Seinfeld's voice.

explorerx4

We loved our Gen 3 Explorer V8. This one is pretty nice.

Michaell

explorerx4 said:

We loved our Gen 3 Explorer V8. This one is pretty nice.

I had an '03 XLT, with the 4.0 V6. Green over tan leather. Loved that the 3rd seat folded into the floor.

uplanderguy

Every car since has had a sunroof as mom loves having it open and its a deal breaker for her if it doesn't have one.

I've only ever owned one car with a sunroof. One thing I did like about it was it was a big sunroof.


Sorry for the stupid "Photobucket" wording. I can find a pic of it online but I can't find that pic of it in my own house, LOL.

uplanderguy

I read that in Jerry Seinfeld's voice.

That, or in George's voice ("The sea was angry that day my friend").

I recently read that the single episode which had Jerry cracking up the most during filming, requiring multiple retakes, was the "Mr. Bookman, Library Cop" one, where the guy was doing his Joe Friday imitation. I searched it out and it is hilarious.

tjc78

That can’t be a real gen 3 Explorer. The panel below the back glass isn’t cracked.

My buddy had an 03 Explorer V6. He ran that thing to over 200K. He did do a transmission and the rear end sounded like it would grenade at any time but it kept on chugging along. Believe it or not the nail in the coffin had something to do with the seal on the HVAC box failing. It was blowing air into the cabin so much the heat couldn’t keep up.

To fix it was very labor intensive and a while you were in there thing of the heater core/evaporator so he traded it in.

sda

"That can’t be a real gen 3 Explorer. The panel below the back glass isn’t cracked." Isn't that the truth. Did Ford ever come out with a replacement that didn't crack? I remember a friend had a white Eddie Bauer, very nice. The dealer replaced that panel under warranty. Soon thereafter the tranny failed. The traded it for a Toyota and have been loyal to Toyota ever since.

explorerx4

The back panel in my 02 Explorer cracked a couple of times. The grinding in the rear could be fixed by changing the rear axle fluid about every 50k.
The trans went at 90k and the blend door actuator broke, at some point.
We went a lot of places in that thing.

fintail

Ha, it was George, now I am thinking of it, when he was dealing with the Andrea Doria survivor:

"It eased into the water like an old man into a nice warm bath"

And to relate to an obscure car, or should I say, obscure equipment:

uplanderguy said:

I read that in Jerry Seinfeld's voice.

That, or in George's voice ("The sea was angry that day my friend").

I recently read that the single episode which had Jerry cracking up the most during filming, requiring multiple retakes, was the "Mr. Bookman, Library Cop" one, where the guy was doing his Joe Friday imitation. I searched it out and it is hilarious.

stickguy

the airbag chevy!

uplanderguy

There was a 'George' line once about someone being as angry as "...an old man returning soup at a deli", LOL.

uplanderguy

I'd be curious to know where they got that airbag Chevy. I remember seeing the Olds airbag steering wheel and instrument panel right away when I first saw the car on the show.

andre1969

Out of curiosity, I looked up the LeSabre interiors from that era. At a quick glance, it looks like the '71-73 dash was the same, but then for '74, it seems like they modified the passenger side area, to where it makes me think of the Colonade era Century/Regal, but left the driver's side "cockpit" mostly alone. The speedometer is a bit different, though. Then for '75-76 they did that linear dash.

I actually like that linear dash...to me it has sort of a "70's-futuristic" look to it! In some ways, it also makes me think of the full-sized '74-78 Mopar dash. Oddly though, I don't really care for that dash in the Mopars, but love the Buick dash. The Mopar dash actually looks better built, but just something about the way it has an over-padded look to it, and that big blank area between the ducts on the passenger side, just seems amateurish. But then with the Buick, I think it's more attractive looking, but looks like it will crack more easily as it ages.

andre1969

I just checked out the Caddy dash, to refresh my memory. Wow, I've gotten so used to that '74-76 dash as being the "default", I guess, that I had totally forgotten about the '71-73 dash! I guess I just must see more '74-76 models at car shows (plus '77-78 Eldorados), and comparatively few '71-73's.

I did always know about the '71-73 vs '74-76 Olds dash, though. Well, thru '78 I guess, since there was the Toronado as well.

I don't think Pontiac changed their dash much, other than, at some point, putting the two big round dials in square bezels, and putting the turn signals and the PRNDL in between the bezels. And I don't think Chevy really changed their dash, at all.

uplanderguy

I think finally by '75, the Chevy dash looked right....as long as you got the 'Econominder Gauge Package' which put the economy gauge (a waste, I know) and Temperature gauges up in the same line as the speedometer. I hate how if you didn't get those, the speedo numbers changed from 0-120 in '74 to 0-100 in '75....looked too spread out without the additional gauges. But finally, the cluster was color-keyed, and to my eyes, the fake woodgrain looked better than earlier years. Still, the heater/A/C left of the driver is stupid.

In '75 and '76, I liked the Chevy panel with those extra gauges, in black.

The Pontiac dash looked OK I think but I never liked square instrument pods when anybody did them. I sort-of like the '71 and '72 Pontiac dash, but at the time I remember thinking that two round pods in a GM full-size was unusual. The right 1/3 of the panel was a bit plain.

My favorite '71 to '76 big Chevy panel. Too bad this one's from a Caprice Classic convertible so it has the Impala seating talked about here at length previously. To me, "sweeping" described this panel design:

andre1969

I know it's a minor detail, but I don't like the "Classic" lettering on the steering wheel.
I wonder if it would rub off with a heavy cleaning, like the "Bonneville" lettering did on my '69 Pontiac?

ab348

I didn't like that either. It sounds generic and should show the make.

uplanderguy

I don’t like that either. No one ever referred to a Caprice as just ‘Classic’.

uplanderguy

The Impala had a different wheel with “Chevrolet” on it. Strange, but the woodgrain was different from the Caprice (lighter in color).

I believe the “Classic” was raised on the wheel.

ab348

The Impala didn't have the woodgrain on the instrument cluster side of the dash like we see in your picture though, IIRC.

uplanderguy

In '75 and '76 it had woodgrain down on the lowest 1/3 part of the panel--where the heat and radio were...but not in the center area. It was color-keyed there though, unlike previous years where it was black no matter the interior color.

explorerx4

Adam from RCC latest aquisition.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYFZjF7oeGY

tjc78

@explorerx4 said:
Adam from RCC latest aquisition.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYFZjF7oeGY

That’s a nice car. No vinyl roof and black exterior. If it had grey or beige interior it would be perfect.

stickguy

Out today in Albany area. All in driveways.

64 or so Valiant. Baby blue. And a house with a pair of maybe early 50s suburbans. Looked nicely restored.

laurasdada

Yesterday, a black Mazda RX-8. On a tow hook...

Filled the A7 with PUG before heading to SF, $3.60/gal. Two weeks later, filled it yesterday at Costco, $4.49 PUG. For the 350 miles between fill ups, the mammoth hatch averaged ~42mpg.

Also, decided to do an all electric drive the other day, good conditions to kill electrons (60 degrees). I got the EPA estimated 24 miles of shock drive before the dead dinosaurs awoke.

explorerx4

Parked next to the toy store i took my grandson to yesterday.

fintail

Just a normal random street in Savannah:

ab348

This supposedly original car was posted on FB. I normally don’t post things like this but this one is such a pretty color, Evening Orchid.

tjc78

That’s a color you don’t see everyday!

stickguy

I like it.

uplanderguy

I love it, other than the wire covers which I think might be later.

The most beautiful full-size Chevrolet IMHO, in the best one-year-only color IMHO.

The '65 SS did not have rocker moldings like this car has....only the regular Impala did.

UPDATE: Maybe those wire covers are original optionally in '65. I've seen Corvairs, like this one, with them. The rocker moldings have been added though. This Corvair was posted on the 'All Original Cars' FB page back in 2019.

If I didn't own Studebakers over the years as a hobby car, a second-gen Corvair in Evening Orchid like this one would be my next choice. I'd probably have a harder time getting it worked on than a Studebaker though. The dealers used to seem to have one dedicated Corvair man back in the shop.
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=2317390725198576&set=pcb.2426075510957866

Many more pics, including the excellent white interior, in the link above.

andre1969

For some reason I keep getting drawn to the pic of that '65 Impala that ab348 posted. The car is gorgeous, but even the setting looks nice. Just looks like a perfect spring day, the type where you wish you could just freeze time for awhile, and enjoy it.

1965 just seems like such a magical year in general for the auto industry. We'll probably never again have a year like that, where there is so much that's new, all in the same year.

uplanderguy

Yep, at GM, Ford, and Chrysler the full-size cars were totally restyled. And Corvair was all-new. And even at Rambler, the Ambassador and Classic were redesigned, and the Marlin (gulp!) was introduced. Of course not to even mention the first model year for Mustang.

uplanderguy

Not to change the subject, but an old HS friend of mine and I just got back from a day-and-a-half at Auburn, IN at the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum, followed by the National Automobile and Truck Museum of the U.S. right behind, followed the next morning by the Early Ford V8 Foundation Museum (first time for me).

$20 get you a two-day ticket to the first two, and I think the Ford Museum was $8.

I can't recommend enough what a terrific time is to be had there for car buffs. From my friend's house in eastern Columbus, it was only a three-hour drive.

After I dropped him off on the way home, I couldn't get on I-71 N as that morning someone had been shooting at northbound cars on the interstate. They got the guy before I got there but I-71 was closed 'til about 6 pm I heard. Long story short, I took Rt. 23 as did about everyone else, and then got on the interstate some miles north of where the closing was. I lost two hours in all that, and in that time the temperature had dropped over 20 degrees and it was snowing/sleeting. I stopped to eat at an Amish-style place in Bellville and just decided to spend the night at the hotel across the street.