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

ab348

fintail said:

I like Adam's Fomoco boats, but I wish he had more 60s cars or more 80s examples. I also noticed a video where he was at a big pretentious suburban house rather than the unassuming 50s rambler he's usually at - maybe he has multiple places.

I have noticed the big house a couple of times, and yesterday when he posted the video of his '65 Pontiac there I said to myself "That must be the family home", thinking of where his wife and child live. I think the '50s brick bungalow in Warren is where he works on his old stuff and it seems to be close to his storage facility. Obviously money is not his problem.

He just took delivery of another '68 Marquis so I would guess he'll be featuring that soon. One thing I would like to see him get is a '65 or '66 Chrysler, which I think was their best of that decade. Second choice would be a '67 or '68, preferably a "fast top" 2-door.

andre1969

I'd be kinda curious to see what his take would be on a '67-68 Chrysler, as well. I briefly owned a '67 Newport hardtop coupe, the style with that Barracuda-like roofline. I never really cared that much for it, but it was also a free car, so I guess I can't complain!

laurasdada

Downtown Walnut Creek, CA: A white Toyota Paseo convertible. And, looked like dad was trying to cram in the family of four, with the top up.

fintail

Saw a Subaru XT6 street parked, but looked to be on the road. Someone has to be into it, those don't survive by random chance today.

fintail

We're in strange times - Top Gun is lighting up the box office, Kate Bush is a top 10 artist, and the west is having difficulty with Russia. Is it 1986? On that theme, I recently read a mid-June 1986 local newspaper, after wincing at the real estate ads, found some car ads.

I guess the Taurus was selling so well it could command a higher interest rate:



Something for everyone here, 4Runner may be the choice:



Weird ad copy at left, I think that's a Dave Smith ad, and some generous trade-in allowances:



Another odd premise, guaranteed trade-ins for certain years and models, with prices apparently reflecting the net price after trade. Maybe a RX-7 upgrade was fair:




I think this is a typo: either missing a zero, or these are down payments. If not, I'll take a few dozen $300 240Zs to hold for 36 years and flip for a windfall profit:

uplanderguy

Just as an aside to our seeing "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" on the big screen yesterday--man, that is the way to see that movie. It is greater on screen than on the TV for sure.

It is also showing in theaters nationally on June 15. If you go know it started exactly at the advertised time....zero coming attractions, but a brief introduction by Ben Mankiewicz.

I think it has really held up. I can't think of a Hitchcock movie I like any better....in fact, I think "Psycho" isn't as good a movie. Also, I think the much-later "Misery" cribs some of the concepts of '...Jane' but to me isn't half the movie.

Seeing it yesterday, plus my wife's input, made me realize how very good and believable Joan Crawford was in this movie.

uplanderguy

In discussing cheapening out of interior trim in cars, I think a good bit of that, not all, has to do with safety regulations. Seems to me that starting with '67's in GM cars, the bright metal and real wood and such of the prior few years was gone.

Here's to me one of the most obvious cheapening out of trim on a Cadillac. I always loved the individual "FLEETWOOD" lettering on those cars. Starting in '75 or '76, and carried through to the downsized '77's, note how they tried to replicate the individual lettering. Fail!

tjc78

The Taurus had waiting lists and ADMs at launch.

My Uncle had on of the first ones. It took him a few times to actually get one. One story in particular was that as he was locking in the paperwork another salesperson was walking that same unit into the finance office.

ab348

The federal safety standards of the mid to late '60s were met with lots of uncertainty by automakers but let them do cost-cutting in the name of safety. I think of the handsome slim chrome-plated column shift and turn signal levers on mid-60s Pontiacs. While I suppose they could have been lethal if they were met side-on during a crash, did that ever actually happen? Pointy metal dashboard knobs and hard dashboard surfaces were perhaps a better place to put such safety efforts as those would be more likely to cause injury in a crash. The thing that jumped out at me was the removal of bright metal interior moldings from A-pillars, over side windows and elsewhere. In those cases it wasn't because they were metal, as GM eventually replaced the formerly chrome A-pillar metal interior pieces with similar ones that were painted (though for '68 and '69 those were soft-surfaced until GM discovered they did not need to be, saving some $).

andre1969

I can't remember now, but did the Taurus launch on time for 1986, or was it delayed until later in the model year? I know they ran the old Fox-based LTD concurrently, for a bit. I do remember the Taurus being a smash hit right from the get-go. However, for the 1986 model year, they only sold about 235,000. I have a feeling that Ford had no idea the car was going to be as popular as it was, so they just hadn't planned for that kind of production, so they were sort of caught with their pants down. That somewhat low supply no doubt contributed to the ADMs and waiting lists.

ab348

andre1969 said:

I can't remember now, but did the Taurus launch on time for 1986, or was it delayed until later in the model year? I know they ran the old Fox-based LTD concurrently, for a bit. I do remember the Taurus being a smash hit right from the get-go. However, for the 1986 model year, they only sold about 235,000. I have a feeling that Ford had no idea the car was going to be as popular as it was, so they just hadn't planned for that kind of production, so they were sort of caught with their pants down. That somewhat low supply no doubt contributed to the ADMs and waiting lists.

Initial launch was delayed, not surprisingly, for several months as the early production cars showed flaws that Ford wisely tried to correct before sending them into the market. It only hit dealers in December of 1985. This NY Times archive piece outlines some of the issues:

https://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/19/business/the-taurus-big-sales-big-repairs.html

andre1969

Now that I think about it, I can see some evidence of that confusion from 1968, and the over-compensation by the auto makers, in the '68 Dart I once had. It had this thick, rubbery lip along the lower edge of the dashboard that jutted out a few inches. The a/c ducts, which hung out under the dash, also had padding around them. Neither the '67 nor the '69 models had this extra padding.

Actually, that padded lip may have added to some unintended consequences. It served as a handy little shelf to lay things, such as cassette tapes and other small objects. They'd slide around sometimes in hard cornering, but just back and forth...it was hard to make anything actually fall off of that little shelf.

Well, you know how people tend to do stupid things when they're younger and think they're indestructible? Well, there's this railroad crossing in the old neighborhood, where the train tracks are a few feet above the road, so the road makes somewhat steep ramp to cross the tracks. I don't know if people still do it, but that ramp used to be a popular spot to make your car go airborne. I did it once in the Dart, but probably a bit too fast, because when the car came down it did so with a hard thud and a bounce, and I swear it felt like it went airborne again on the rebound! A couple of my cassette tapes got jostled, and ended up jamming the cigarette lighter in, and holding it so it couldn't pop out. Needless to say, it stayed on, got hot, and melted the case of one of the tapes. I didn't discover it until the next day. I guess it's a miracle I didn't catch the car on fire!

uplanderguy

ab, I think one reason some of the chrome interior metal got changed to painted was there was also a move against reflections inside of cars in the late sixties--no more chromed wiper arms or things around the speedometer to add to reflections.

ab348

Yes, that was the reason for a lot of that. But it was typical govt blunt-instrument overkill. Bright inside trim over a side window was unlikely to do anyone any harm.

I remember when Dad got his new '78 Grand LeMans Safari, the chrome exterior molding at the back edge of the hood had a bevel to it that reflected the sun right into your eyes given a combination of time of day and direction you were traveling. It was intolerable. Guess that slipped past somehow.

uplanderguy

Speaking of visible screw heads earlier--and now that I think about it, I think this was where a screw head was visible--I remember these window cranks on Mopars of the late sixties or early '70's. That look always bugged me.

ab348

We had those window cranks on our '71 Monaco. I didn't mind the screw particularly because the design of the crank center was very flat and I thought somewhat cool. Certainly better than what Mopar used earlier with the thick, heavy-looking center, which also had a screw.

Ford also used a screw in their window cranks seemingly forever. I always found it odd since GM had mastered the use of a springy C-clip for theirs and I never had a problem with those. They looked a lot better.

andre1969

My two Darts had this style crank, which used an Allen wrench bolt, or whatever they call it...


I thought it was rather attractive, actually. I really didn't care for that style with the oversized crank center that they used on bigger cars, though.

explorerx4

That piece between the doors on the white Cadillac looks awful.
I can't believe they didn't make the doors a bit longer.

sda

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.caaarguide.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/DODGE_FULL_SIZE/.pond/1959dodges.jpg.w560h612.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.caaarguide.com/id913.html&tbnid=8VPG4umgkC1PPM&vet=12ahUKEwjg-ae11Kv4AhVB81MKHWN-ALYQMyhhegUIARCsAg..i&docid=uDcBcI2Xy3D-oM&w=560&h=612&q=1959 Dodge Custom Royal&hl=en-us&client=safari&ved=2ahUKEwjg-ae11Kv4AhVB81MKHWN-ALYQMyhhegUIARCsAg


A good friend's father in law bought for my friend’s wife some years ago a 59 Dodge Custom Royal 2dr coupe. It was immaculate, local car. They used the car in my friend’s wedding. They still own it, been parked in an out building for years. He says it is solid but as it hasn’t been run, needs work. It has pw, p seat, ps, pb, am, rear speaker, factory ac, 383, 4bbl, at, less than 50k mi, single exhaust. I believe it is two tone blue like this in the brochure. At some point he wants to give it a refresh and use it as a weekend cruiser.

texases

Any thought of dual exhausts? With the 4bbl that could add some hp for cheap.

sda

texases said:

Any thought of dual exhausts? With the 4bbl that could add some hp for cheap.

Yes, dual exhaust is on his list. Essentially a good clean up, make it road ready and add dual exhaust but quiet to mellow, not loud.

andre1969

That '59 Custom Royal sounds like it was equipped almost like a luxury car! Hopefully they can get it on the road again; that would be awesome! There's a local guy who has a two-tone pink/lavender '59 Coronet hardtop, with the 383-4bbl. I think they called that the D-500 option, and if you got the 383 Cross Ram, it was the D-501

uplanderguy

I liked the GM window cranks of the late sixties, although as the cars aged sometimes that clear cover yellowed.

We've discussed this before, but a lot of it is just what you're used to. All the years I was around GM product, whenever I'd climb into a Ford or Mopar, everything seemed 'foreign' to me....things like armrests, door lock buttons, speedometer and odometer numerals, automatic trans quadrant, switches, etc.

andre1969

uplanderguy said:

I liked the GM window cranks of the late sixties, although as the cars aged sometimes that clear cover yellowed.

Didn't they also sometimes alternate between clear and black, for the handle knob? I pretty much grew up with those types of handles. I remember one broke on my 1980 Malibu. My neighbor in back had a bunch of old cars and parts and such, as he was always working on, restoring, and racing cars, usually GM products. He had an early 60's Chevy II, and he let me take the window cranks from it.

At this point, I don't remember what those cranks looked like. I've looked at pics online, and nothing is refreshing my memory. I swear google and other search engines aren't as reliable as they used to be, but apparently it was something like this...I do seem to remember it having a hollow, two-arm handle, but I don't remember the grooves cut into the knob, or the round base part. All I do remember, is that the Chevy II window crank seemed a lot nicer than the one in my Malibu!

One advantage to that later GM style though...to this day, I think you can still go into most chain auto parts stores and buy one. A few years back, the knob on the passenger door crank of my Catalina broke off, and I just went to an Advance Auto or Autozone or whatever, and found one on the shelf.

ab348

uplanderguy said:

I liked the GM window cranks of the late sixties, although as the cars aged sometimes that clear cover yellowed.

When the"safety" crank knobs were introduced for '67 or '68, they originally were color-keyed to the interior. So you got blue crank knobs with a blue interior, red with red, etc. Of course they quickly realized that was a nightmare for inventory and logistics, so they eventually went to the clear style for everything, which did have a bad habit of yellowing. The main problem with the GM design was as Andre mentioned, the knobs would invariably come off over time. Thankfully the clear (and also black) replacements were easily found in auto parts places.

andre1969

ab348 said:

The main problem with the GM design was as Andre mentioned, the knobs would invariably come off over time. Thankfully the clear (and also black) replacements were easily found in auto parts places.

If it's any consolation, the knob on one of the cranks in my '69 Dart GT broke off, too, so that wasn't just a GM thang

Now that I think back on it, I think it was one of the back window knobs on the Dart that broke. I do remember it took more effort to roll down the back windows than the front. Part of that may have simply been that the rear windows had been opened less frequently than the front, over the 20+ years before the car fell into my hands. But, also, those back windows didn't roll down straight, but rather pivoted. As I recall, I think the whole window dropped just a bit, downward and backward, but then it would pivot at the rear, to get the taller front part to drop down to the beltline. That pivoting action might have required more effort than a straight drop-down.

andre1969

On the window crank front, I just got my Catalina back from the mechanic, and made it a point to look at the window cranks. The two in the back, as well as the two small ones up front for the vent windows, have black knobs. The driver's side was clear, but is pretty yellowed at this point. The passenger side, the one I replaced a few years ago, is also clear. I'm guessing the two in back, as well as the vent window cranks, could be original equipment.

Also, while I was there, I spotted this modded & rodded '78 Malibu...Looking inside, it had carpeting on the lower door panels, so it was a Classic. The interior was, refreshingly, fairly stock. Still had the strip 85 mph speedo. It had bucket seats installed, but the seat pattern, as well as the back seat, and the upper door panels, was non-stock, a vinyl with vertical stripes. And it had a few extra gauges installed.

Oh, there was also a 2003 or so Ford Escape in the shop. It had actually belonged to the mechanic who does most of the work on my cars, but he just sold it to a friend. It had the V6 (3.0 Duratech, I believe?) He said it had about 270,000 miles on it, but I didn't think to ask whether it ever needed a rebuilt engine or transmission. Anyway, it was apparently a trim level I've never heard of before (mods, feel free to delete if this is too PG-13)

kyfdx

🙂

xwesx

Okay, now that's just too funny. TOOO FUNNY! I need one of those badges for my Q7.

Interesting on the window cranks. I had no idea that such a subject could be so thorough! I will have to look at the ones on my C20. Stock and probably in pretty pristine condition.

fintail

Fintail's window cranks are maybe unique - they screw in and have a spacer:



And a vinyl cover that clips on to make it look neater once installed:



(pics from ebay auctions)

roadburner

fintail said:

Fintail's window cranks are maybe unique - they screw in and have a spacer:



And a vinyl cover that clips on to make it look neater once installed:



(pics from ebay auctions)

The 2002 and E3 also had the covers on the handles.

imidazol97

andre1969 said:

Anyway, it was apparently a trim level I've never heard of before (mods, feel free to delete if this is too PG-13)

Available on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/353536702003?chn=ps&_trkparms=ispr=1&amdata=enc:1aoxR3zbCSga7Ubx68U8AdQ7&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-213727-13078-0&mkcid=2&itemid=353536702003&targetid=4580153136941808&device=c&mktype=&googleloc=&poi=&campaignid=437225722&mkgroupid=1224856224320848&rlsatarget=pla-4580153136941808&abcId=9300906&merchantid=51291

I even saw a blacked out version for those so inclined. For those with more than one car, I'd suggest looking for a lower price for multiples.

uplanderguy

Too lazy to change the channel so watched some of tonight's 50th anniversary edition of "The Price Is Right". This car was a prize and was won by a woman. They claimed the value at $27.5K. '72 Mach I.

No expert on those cars but I KNOW they didn't have a 351 badge on the front fender, sigh. Stuff like this is sooooo easy to verify online, but people (even restorers) get lazy I guess. Still, interesting prize.

fintail

Seeing as 27.5K today might get one a loaded Corolla, the old Mustang seems like a value, at least until it comes time to fill the tank.

uplanderguy

Further, I'm told there wasn't a Mach I convertible, which appears confirmed by the '72 brochure.

roadburner

uplanderguy said:

Further, I'm told there wasn't a Mach I convertible, which appears confirmed by the '72 brochure.

That is correct, although I saw some 1973 convertibles in the showroom with a stripe package and wheels that looked a bit like a Mach 1.

fintail

Found on a fb page devoted to MB photos - not sure if I would try this!

imidazol97

My laugh of the day came from the rockauto.com newsletter. They had a question about which year the name "Century" was first used by Buick and why that name was used.

They answer was 1936 and that the name was because the car could reach 100 miles per hour.

AND they used this picture:


The license plate with "37" made me curious. It's a 1937 Buick Century, NOT a 1936 Buick Century.

https://www.rockauto.com/Newsletter/


1936 Buick Century

kyfdx

imidazol97 said:

My laugh of the day came from the rockauto.com newsletter. They had a question about which year the name "Century" was first used by Buick and why that name was used.

They answer was 1936 and that the name was because the car could reach 100 miles per hour.

AND they used this picture:


The license plate with "37" made me curious. It's a 1937 Buick Century, NOT a 1936 Buick Century.

https://www.rockauto.com/Newsletter/


1936 Buick Century

Looks like a KY historic plate on the '36

imidazol97

You're right on the Kentucky plate. Here's the original source posting!

https://classiccars.com/listings/view/858263/1936-buick-century-for-sale-in-ripon-wisconsin-54971

fintail

Funny that a 37 is a completely different body and grille than a 36. 100 in something like that must be fun.

xwesx

fintail said:

Found on a fb page devoted to MB photos - not sure if I would try this!

You know, those trailers are kinda funny nowadays....

I see a few of them pulled around from time to time, and they have such a drastically lower hitch height than modern units (as they were actually designed for being pulled behind sedans or wagons) that they tend to have their noses up in the air and their butts dragging the ground. It's a rare thing when a pickup driver will actually use the proper drop hitch for a low-riding trailer.

imidazol97

I can only imagine the acceleration of that fintail MB with that trailer attached. The MB's weren't speedsters to begin with so that would be a slow but sure drive with the trailer.

texases

A ‘54 Ford drove by our neighborhood this morning. Can’t remember the last time I saw one one the road.

fintail

I see people restoring those old things today. Cool if you can tow it with a 58 Olds or similar, but maybe not suited for many newer vehicles. Not an accessory I will be seeking for the fintail anytime soon, I can only imagine the performance - as imidazol mentions, it's not like the car has 200 extra hp waiting to be used.

Note the fintail driver didn't skimp on the mirrors, safety first!

xwesx said:

fintail said:

Found on a fb page devoted to MB photos - not sure if I would try this!

You know, those trailers are kinda funny nowadays....

I see a few of them pulled around from time to time, and they have such a drastically lower hitch height than modern units (as they were actually designed for being pulled behind sedans or wagons) that they tend to have their noses up in the air and their butts dragging the ground. It's a rare thing when a pickup driver will actually use the proper drop hitch for a low-riding trailer.

fintail

The most powerful that car could be is a 2.2l I6 with 120 of today's hp. One would hope the cars behind it were all diesel MBs, Model As, Nash Ramblers not stuck in 2nd gear, etc.

imidazol97 said:

I can only imagine the acceleration of that fintail MB with that trailer attached. The MB's weren't speedsters to begin with so that would be a slow but sure drive with the trailer.

stickguy

Street parked in Boston. A Citroen 2CV. outside a French restaurant so I’m sure it was part of the advertising. I think it had a logo on it. But was plated.

And just normal parked outside a pizza joint, a Porsche 356. Labeled on back as Porsche 60.

uplanderguy

Spotted at a cruise-in in Norton, OH yesterday. For andre. It's a mutt, but a Catalina two-door sedan is a rare sight, especially in '67 and '68 vintage (this is a '67). The rear seat was in good shape, anyway, original/authentic.

kyfdx

There are so many 356 replicas out there. Strangely enough, the Porsche 356 crowd doesn't look down on them, so much.

andre1969

I just looked up the stats...wow. They actually made more '67 Catalina convertibles, than 2-door sedans (10,033 vs 5633). I guess the Catalina might have been the last middle-priced big 2-door sedan around. I thought Mercury was still offering one, but if my old car book is right, they stopped after 1966.

I don't think I've ever seen a '67 Catalina 2-door sedan in person. Years ago, a local guy who ran a towing company and junkyard had a '69 Chevy, either a Biscayne or Bel Air, 2-door sedan. It sat in his driveway with a for sale sign on it for awhile.