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I spotted an (insert obscure car name here) classic car today! (Archived)
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2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
The Eldo--I say again, I didn't like these at the time but rather do now, particularly these later ones. It's begging for the original-style pinstripe whitewall though. Also, the pinstriping is aftermarket--I am nearly certain the factory job followed the actual contours of the body.
Right. Isuzu taught Buick how to lop two cylinders off of an Oldsmobile engine. Actually, DID Isuzu have any input in designing the Olds Diesels, or was that all on GM?
Good to know 11.9% financing was still available! Better hurry before the interest rates change!
I wonder if the '83 LeSabre in the ad with the 'newest, most popular color...' was that light briar brown.
By the 1984-85 tv season, I remember AMC offering 0 percent financing. And at some point, GM was offering some deal where you got 2.9% for 36 months, 3.9% for 48, and 4.9% for 60.
I remember my Mom taking advantage of some low-APR finance deal when she bought her Monte Carlo. I forget the exact terms, but I'm thinking it was 48 months, and the payment was either $272 or $282 per month. But I don't know how much she financed, or what the interest rate was.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
Those low interest rates were a big deal back then, I’m sure that helped sell a lot of cars.
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic
Incidentally, every car since that Monte Carlo, she has financed. It's not that she fell on hard financial times, but at those low interest rates, it made it too tempting NOT to finance!
I wonder what the auto industry would be like today, if things were like back in the day, where leasing was rare, most terms were only 36 months at best, and there was none of this "yo' job's yo' credit"/anybody-with-a-pulse easy credit type stuff going on.
For the most part, my family has never bought anything all that extravagant. I'd guess the most extreme was a '97 or '98 Expedition my Mom and stepdad bought new, but they had that thing for about 20 years. But I imagine that, with low-apr financing, leasing and such, there are plenty of people who use it to go out and buy more vehicle than they would, otherwise.
2021 VW Arteon SEL 4-motion, 2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech
This is my favorite example of real estate excess recently: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/312-N-Faring-Rd-Los-Angeles-CA-90077/20523932_zpid/?fbclid=IwAR3jAdP7A_PQ9upX3O2TffY0KAaj9NuUFOxNcOLD8QadahaHA1_qLkG-Kgw&mmlb=g,0
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
But, car loans were at 5%-8% APR, so it was still a balanced choice between buy/lease.
My first car loan was in '77. I don't remember the interest rate, but the payment was $108/mo for 48 months.
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Haha 18k sq ft. I build and remodel retail stores half that size.
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic
Car was $8,192 and I'm almost sure my trade-in was $3,100. I have no idea what cash I put down.
I remember I had worked at my job since Sept. '80. Where I banked wouldn't give me a loan, even with a co-signer. My Dad went to his bank back in my hometown in Greenville, PA and talked to old Mr. Mortensen, president of First National Bank, and got me a loan and I didn't even have to go there. I signed everything via the mail and talked on the phone. I remember rubbing it in a bit to my banker in the town where I worked and banked.
I started paying cash for new cars in 2005 although my wife was nervous on our current ('19) Equinox so I financed $10K for 48 mos. and paid it off about a year-and-a-half early. My habit though is generally buying comparatively inexpensive new cars.
I’ve only financed one car, my 98 Olds 88. Everything since then has been leased.
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic
Cheap per square foot, though!
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rapper-50-cent-sells-massive-connecticut-mansion-at-84-percent-loss/
We leased my wife’s 1991 Volvo 740 Turbo; it was as open end lease; the value at lease end would be NADA retail. We came out OK.
My only other lease was the 2016 i3 REx; no way would I pass up a two year $100/month deal…
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
I've tried looking into leasing and reading up on it, but it's just something that kind of confuses my mind. It's like explaining bitcoin/crypto-currency to me
https://jalopnik.com/dont-lease-a-car-right-now-1848703172
Sad thing about a bigger house though, is that once you get used to it, you wonder how you got along without it! My house was advertised at 2872 square feet, although 432 of that is an enclosed sunroom that's really more of a 3-season room. But, it has one of those dedicated-plug window a/c units (220V?) and electric baseboard heat, so I think for assessment purposes they consider it true living space. The basement is another 960 square feet. The house seemed HUGE when I moved into it. I was coming from about 1500 square feet and no basement. But now, every once in awhile, I question myself, and think, "is this big enough?" But then, I learn to throw things out, and that helps somewhat.
Even with the garage I had built, which is 36x60 with a 15x60 loft, I've caught myself second-guessing...is this big enough? It's an easy trap to fall into!
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Leases are terrible right now on just about everything. Article nails it. No incentives or super low MF and discounts from the dealer are non-existent.
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic
Apparently they toyed with the idea for the Colonades, as well...
I don't know if GM ever thought about trying it with the downsized '78+ Monte. But that didn't stop the creators of "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" from making one!
The Colonnade pic reminds me that the '73 Monte rear end styling is the best of the '73-77 years, but I guess that's natural because it has the smallest rear bumper.
I think the '74 looks a bit clunkier. Not only the thicker, more jutting bumper, but I don't like the trunk treatment, either. The way they put the license plate above the bumper, and have the lower edge of the trunk cutting across it, and the way that area between the taillights is more squared-off.
At least the '74 taillights still look nice to me. In '75 they were more flush, and it looks like they tried to square off the rear, in general...
In '75 they started using that wide body side molding, which totally detracts from the side styling IMHO. I'm thinking that year, or maybe a year or two later, the GP also had a wide molding which actually was picked up again behind the rear wheel opening. Ick.
I'll always remember the firethorn-ish new '73 Grand Prix SJ in the showroom of Phil Godfrey Pontiac in Greenville, PA. It had those vaned/finned wheelcovers, and matching cloth bucket seat interior. I don't know if I've ever seen another I liked as well. The door panels then didn't have the flimsy Monte Carlo-style pull straps, which later ones had tacked right onto the big woodgrained panel on the doors.
It looks like that '75 Monte was repainted, as it's lacking the standard Landau pinstriping on the top of the body side, ending at the rear of the door.
I preferred the styling of the 1973 as well; my only gripe was that you could see several bits of the wiring between the top of the rear bumper and the trunk. It looked unfinished- my mother even noticed it.
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
And the '77...
Boy, in that era Chevy, I can't stand when you don't order the 'Deluxe Bumpers' (bumper strips) to cover those awful bumper bolts. I can usually do without the guards, but I need the strips.
Interesting that they offered 4 rear (and presumably front) bumper variations - plain chrome, chrome with guards, chrome with rub strip, and chrome with guards and a rub strip. Those were the days.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
so start with the nose and see what happens!
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
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I like that SS wagon. A crate 350EFI and 6 speed Tremec, modern suspension steering and brakes, and good seats. Ready to go!
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
It doesn't quite work, as the side creases were different, so the two don't line up where the door meets the rear quarter. But still, it fits better than I thought it would. I'd always heard the personal luxury coupes were a bit narrower than the regular coupes and sedans, but that could have simply been the doors being more slab-sided.
I do remember my '82 Cutlass Supreme and '86 Monte Carlo were a bit narrower inside than my '80 Malibu was. You could see it in the gap between the edges of the dashboard and the door panels. That could have just been a matter of the Malibu having less padding, though, and the other two being a bit more ritzy.
This is also a low-res pic, so it's possible that the area where the back edge of the door and the rear quarter join together might look sloppier in person.
More from March 1983:
Odd ad format, quaint use of "R/H" (radio and heater, 1950s ad terminology):
Deals to be had:
This prediction was done around 8 years later:
and that GTI lease in the ad. Terrible. total payments only $200 less than the cap cost, and that is before the 50%ish residual. pay for the whole car in 4 years, then give it back!
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
I'm reminded from this pic that the Monte was the only one of the four GM specialty coupes available with the swivel bucket seats, although other than easier access to the back seat I think living with them would be a pain. I'd have chosen one of the optional split bench seat interiors on a Monte.
A positive about the Monte, from '73 to '80, was every single one of them had the bigger, wider tires and sport suspension standard equipment. I wish they wouldn't have dropped that for '81 although they were optional.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
2021 VW Arteon SEL 4-motion, 2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech
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