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

grbeck

Across the street from my place, at a small private repair shop, is a 1975 Buick LeSabre convertible. The car is pale yellow, with the Buick mag-style wheels. It has a nasty dent in the passenger side rear fender.

Coming home from work I saw a 1976-77 AMC Matador sedan, in very good shape (green, with a black vinyl roof), pulling into a local gas station. It was driven by a young lady. Boy, were those final Matadors UGLY...

wevk

I recall reading that AMC sold the Matador in some spanish speaking countries where (so they said) "matador" translates as "killer".

Cool name for a car, no?

WVK

210delray

Older model with the big "Jeep" logo on the tailgate. I didn't see any Gladiator nameplate on the sides. Must have been from the 70s, nice two-tone dark red (probably a respray). Chrome vertical bar grille with two round headlights. Still had the very unaerodynamic lip over the windshield that was smoothed off in later years.

andre1969

a '76 model. I think it was called "Honcho" by that time. Even though they tried to make it look more modern for the 70's, and it did have a good looking, rugged look to it IMO, if you looked behind the grille you could still see the old cutout for the slimmer grille, with the widely spaced headlights and turn signal/parking lights, that looked vaguely like a crib from Jaguar.

I think my uncle paid about $600 for his. It was 4wd and had an AMC 360 mated to a 4-speed manual. The bed on it rusted out so badly that he just pulled it off and built a new one out of wood! The cab and front-end clip weren't too bad though, except for some rust around the holes where somebody had put trailer mirrors on it at one time.

My uncle ended up selling it to one of his buddies down in Appalachia a few years after he bought it, and I think that guy still uses it to go hunting and such.

fintail

I saw an amusing 70s Trans Am today...it was in decent shape, and on the side in big letters it said "Macho T/A". Must be some kind of early limited edition...devoid of taste as all limited editions are, of course.

Ebay time:

My dad has a story about something like this...in the 50s someone he knew had a later Bearcat for sale for like $1000. He still regrets not buying it, although I don't know what he would have done with it

Kind of a Shifty-mobile

A real Shifty-mobile

Worst one of these I've seen

Nicer than average early Minor

"Lucas/Bosch fuel injection" doesn't make it sound very reliable

Odd little rodent...I can't imagine people buying these

This is pretty nice for one of these

Let's find a full classic and add some tackiness to it

Back to England with you

Back to an English junkyard with you

Pretty Bonnevile bubbletop, even though the engine apparently isn't right

Neat low mileage DeSoto roadster

Sad late Airflow

Nicer than average aeroback sedan

I could buy this for what I have in my wallet...but I suspect it's a typo bahahaha

There was a beat Universal fintail on craigslist out of SF area I think for $1200, but it's gone now.

andys120

the Mercury Marquis (which begat the Grand Marquis?)
but that '66 looks like a nice car. So does the
'61 Bonneville. Why do you think the engine doesn't look right, Fin? I think the 421SD/triple carb would have been optional for that year.

andre1969

big Mercuries pretty much lost me with the 60's models, with the exception of maybe around '61-63, and the later 69+ (IIRC) models that had hidden headlights. That '66 Marquis does look like a nice car, though...looks to be a very nice example of one.

As for that Bonneville, it's listed in the text that the engine is incorrect. It's a 1966 379 hp 421 3x2 that was bored 0.060" over. Sweet car though...I'll take it!

fintail

Yeah, the ad said it wasn't original. I guess it doesn't matter in the long run. Lovely car though, I certainly wouldn't turn it down.

It was a lovely day to go for a cruise here today, and I saw a few nice old cars out on the road...a white 64 GTO convert, a 67 Chevelle SS, a 56 Chevy convert, a 66 Galaxie 2 door HT, maybe a couple others I've forgotten

carlisimo

"I recall reading that AMC sold the Matador in some spanish speaking countries where (so they said) "matador" translates as "killer"."

More specifically, the matador is the bullfighter that kills the bull.

Even though the word comes from the verb "to kill" and should logically be the word for "killer," if you use it outside of bullfighting it's more like "slayer" (with medieval/fantasy connotations).

Still a good name, and currently used by the Harrier fighter jet in the Spanish Navy.

Mr_Shiftright

Just saw a Ford V-8 powered Italia being worked on at a friend's shop. Nice looking car. One thing I noticed is that they are using both Fiat and Peugeot suspension pieces. It's going to be hell rebuilding the front end trying to find Peugeot 403 bits and pieces.

kyfdx

In that really nice purplish brown color.. with the matching color landau vinyl roof, peeling off to a nice shade of beige..

I'm amazed that something like this is still running... although, the straight-six in them was a decent engine...

andys120

I haven't thought about an Italia in years. Weren't they put out by Intermeccanica, the same outfit that did those nice (IMO) Speedster Replicas?

Mr_Shiftright

Dat's right, early 70s Intermeccanica product. Here's some info on them if you are interested:

http://intermeccanica.org/

andys120

I'd forgotten that Carrozerie Intermeccanica built the Apollo as well (along with a bunch of other things.

michaellno

Saw my first Audi A3 last week in Denver. It had Alabama plates and had the "2.0T" label on the back.

Silver, quite sharp looking!

lemko

...I saw a 1977 Ford Pinto last night. Now, the car looked like something from "Mad Max" but it was still running. I thought all of these cars died off at least 15 years ago.

Mr_Shiftright

I saw a 1970-71 Toyota Corolla---those little fastbacks---they were great little cars.

lemmer

I saw one this morning. I would something negative about it, but I don't want to feel the wrath of the Fiero fanatics. I'll just say that was a model that could have been cool.

Mr_Shiftright

I think it took a kind of perverted genius to make a small car feel so big when you drove it.

andys120

a Volvo V50 I saw yesterday wore what appeared to be French License plates (oblong red with whit lettering).

jrosasmc

I think this would qualify as obscure- I saw an early '80s Jeep Cherokee being driven on the main road this morning (the big Wagoneer-based one, not the smaller XJ series). I know they were popular back in their day but it seems to be getting very difficult to find one now in good condition, as most have already died off. This example I saw, a two-door Laredo, was pretty beat but still ran. How much are these older big Cherokees in really nice, tip-top condition today?

Mr_Shiftright

It would help to own your own oil field if you plan on driving one regularly.

fintail

Ebay time:

Never liked these...U-G-L-Y, gawky proportions, etc...but apparently some like them

This could be fun...the market for old timers has declined, but Brighton cars still remain strong

Probably a lost cause but still a cool front end

Only 50 made? What a shame

Shifty-mobile

I've heard these are a joy to own

Ebay is like a dumping ground for mint original Newports

I don't know if the wood trim was a good idea

Ebay is also a dumping ground for mint Andre-mobiles. This one seems like it wasn't a horrible deal

Nice looking Mirada

An old Mercedes and Alabama...maybe not a good match. Hint to seller: It's actually a German car

Lovely lowline fintail...well worth this bid.

Mr_Shiftright

Damn, why are all the Shifty-mobiles 3,000 miles away?

Lancia HPE--a joy only to the person sellling Lancia parts. Piece of junk.

Only 50 convertible 200sx made because....nobody wanted any more than that! Yeah, have Italians chop the top off an 80s japanese car...good idea.....not!

RE: Supercharged Graham---oh, someone will buy that and fix it up, definitely. They aren't worth that much money but it's an unusual car. The buyer will be buried financially but he'll have something few people have.

andys120

The Lancia HPE was one slick, sophisticated car in it's day, too bad they wre only good for about 5000 miles.

That 250S was one of the cars that established Mercedes as a luxmobile brand in the US.

I never heard the Daimler SP250 referred to as a Daimler "Dart", perhaps that was limited to the UK. They were indeed extraordinarily ugly which was a shame because it had what the Brit roadster buyers of the day craved, V8 power.

andre1969

it's a Hemi Dart, how can ya go wrong? ;-)

andre1969

on his '79 5th Avenue, touting how rare it was. Yeah, it was rare alright...I think of the roughly 55,000 NYers made in '79, "only" 15,000 of them had the 5th Avenue package!

And if this guy's only seen two of 'em on eBay over the last year, he must not have been looking very hard! Seems to me like one pops up every couple weeks or so! Still, looks to be a nice car...

I like that Mirada too. I always thought the Mopar J-body was one of the few cars that could actually carry off a carriage roof with some grace. Probably the lack of a B-pillar that helps out some. Even with those wheels, I like it!

Mr_Shiftright

Daimler Dart can bring big money, hard as that is to believe. It's a car only it's mother could love, but people do vintage race them, once they squared away the flexi-frame. It's supposed to be a pretty fast, good handling car, if you like driving a lizard I mean.

Andy, I think by 1978 Lancia was nothing more than a Fiat. You might be thinking of earlier cars, when they made really fine rallye cars.

"rare" is like....12 of something, not 6,000 of something.

andys120

Andy, I think by 1978 Lancia was nothing more than a Fiat. You might be thinking of earlier cars, when they made really fine rallye cars

Nope I wasn't thinking of cars from the classic Lancia era (Fulvia/Flamina/Aurelia). The HPE was essentially a Fiat but it was a pretty sophisticated one IRRC which was both it's beauty and it's downfall

andre1969

that 200SX convertible. However, the fact that they don't show it with the top up gives me cause for concern. I always liked that style of 200SX in general.

Mr_Shiftright

It's hard to chop a car and get a good looking top to fit tight and right. I have rarely seen this happen. It either looks bad UP or looks bad DOWN.

Personally, chopping an 80s Japanese car sounds pretty scary to me. There must be some monstrous scuttle shake on that baby unless they've welded railroad rails to it.

Chopping a modern car is very risky business, since it is a unibody. Ever cut one side out of a cardboard box?....there you go...

fintail

Yeah, those NYers come up every other week. Seems quite a few of them survived, and many of them survived pretty nicely. Maybe, for the time period, they were a decently made car. Or maybe it's just luck...

I bet that 200SX looks atrocious with the top up. You find very few aftermarket converts that look right. When I was younger I knew someone who had a Celica Sunchaser, and it was also awkward. On the SX note, today I saw a c.1991 240SX convert, the factory built one...it looked normal.

I once had a dream about a Graham Sharknose convert...I have a thing for more outrageous deco cars. I bet that'd be one that really is "rare"

andre1969

I got to drive a 1982 or so Dodge Mirada that had been chopped into a convertible. It was nightwatch blue with a white top and a blue leather interior. It was absolutely stunning with the top down, but looked hideous with it up. For one thing, they got rid of the rear side windows...both the opera windows in the C-pillar AND the fake-me-out hardtop side windows. So basically, with the top up it was all canvas-covered blind spot from the back of the door window all the way to the back of the roof. It did have a little parallelogram-shaped slit on each side though, a lame attempt at improving visiblity.

Now that thing shook horribly when driving it. Everything that's bad about chopping a small unitized car like a 200SX is amplified when you do it to a big unitized car like a Mirada!

As for being well-built, well, as much as I love the R-body, sadly, I'll be the first to confess that they were anything but! So I can't explain why the 5th Ave seems to have had such a good success rate? Perhaps they were bought mainly by older people with money who babied them more? I think that's one reason why those mammoth late 70's Lincolns seemed to have survived so well, along with late 70's/early 80's Oldsmobiles and Buicks like the Electra and Ninety Eight.

I guess the R-body was just typical Chrysler of the time...bulletproof engines and drivelines with iffy electronics and bodies that were heavy and sturdy, yet somewhat slapped together and not rustproofed too well. The passenger-side door on my NYer is so far out of alignment (right from the factory, no doubt) that my legally-blind grandmother can spot it!

ghulet

...one of my aunts had a 200SX of that era (not a convertible), it wasn't a particularly good looking car (at least not now, maybe then, but it hasn't aged well), and was a rattly rust bucket by the time she got rid of it. Minus a solid top, it must be quite a bit worse. Still, if you must have a cheap, likely reliable convertible, I guess that one's OK.

Fintail, shame about the condition of that 250S, since it has the factory sunroof, which must be a bit unusual (notice I didn't use the term 'rare'). That 190 is really nice for two thousand bucks, makes me wonder if it's hiding something (other than 50hp on modern roads, which cuts its pool of buyers considerably). I don't think I've ever seen an old Benz with those front fender lights (turn signals), and the passenger side only headrest is interesting.

fintail

Yeah the sunroof is uncommon...but as I am sure you know a very very nice 6cyl carb 108 is worth 5K on a good day, so that one is far beyond redemption. It's a parts car, and if it is as rusty and weathered as it appears, maybe not even the best parts car. 250S, for all its stately looks, was also the lowest model 108, and the one least likely to be saved. Sad.

I can't see much wrong with that fintail, I looked close and I know a little about them. I think those signals were unique to the lowline 4cyl cars like that - not difficult to replace. The trim is all correct. The headrest is an uncommon factory option, and is almost always only seen on the passenger side. They bring $100+ alone. There's some kind of weird market out there for diesel fintails, they always attract attention even though their performance is borderline dangerous. Local MB specialist sold his pristine one on ebay for 12K, and it was a legit sale, I saw the auction and talked to him about it personally. Crazy.

guss

I see this almost every day on my daily commute. The car actually looks pretty good, and the guy must take really good care of it because I am sure it is his daily commuter.

What really amazes me is how small it looks. It is really narrow and low to the ground.

I used to have a '74 Corolla and remember lusting after a Celica. I guess some of them lasted 30 years, but probably not many.

andyman73

I just returned from a 10 day road trip to Disneyworld, and as per request by some cohorts on the Mazdamania Tuesday night chats...I kept my eyes peeled.

So, here is the list of what I saw, over the last 2 weeks, starting with the trip down...1,028 miles one way...

Mustang Cobra R
05 Tundra
Altima SE-R
3000 GT VR-4
Triumph TR8 from Quebec
05 GTO
H2 with 4-6inch lift kit
Porsche GT2 or 3 on trailer w/team livery.
SRT-10 Ram
Lincoln Blackwood(first I've ever seen!)
International Pickup...one of those monsters!
Lambo Gallardo
50s Mercedes, low slung w/bubble top shape, in a beautiful creamy tan, very sharp...for you fintail!

andyman73

My return trip list...

05 C6 on display at BMW dealer
several Mercury Marauders
H2s everywhere!
Izuzu Oasis...aka Honda Oddy?
another Internat. pickup, this one towing an offshore deep V style racing boat
1st Gen. M3.
Caddy XLR at dealer
A few Chebby SSRs actually on the road!!!
latest Gen Thunderchickens everywhere!
Mini Cooper 'vert.
Girls Gone Wild Spring Break tourbus.
540i touring, with sport package, looking quite vicious!!!

There were quite a few new Mustangs about, also, most were V6s, tho. At one point a beautiful red new F150 went by, in the opposite direction, must have been running open headers. Even my deaf father in law asked what was that!?! And that was over the noise of the Disney video playing, and the radio in front, and road noise!

I've been on many long distance road trips, but this one I noticed a strange absence of tour buses. Only saw 3 Greyhound buses, over the whole 2k miles.

Coming to work last night I was in front of an attractive blonde hauling her family in a newer A6 Avant with the sport package...looked like the S6 Avant or RSR. Had a nice pearlescent white paintjob, and looked like the 19s off the new A8.

fintail

I see what you mean, shifty. Here is the auction link. Feedback has been left, and the car is gone.

A low slung bubble top MB...hmmm...maybe a 190SL with a hardtop, but it makes me think more of a 300SL roadster with a hardtop or even a 300SL gullwing, a car which was just about perfect even with the doors not involved. Awesome sighting.

Seeing a running TR8 has to be rare, too.

I saw a couple SSRs the other day, red and black. People should drive them, they are so overpriced, their collectible potential is very limited.

michaellno

On my way to work this morning, on I-25 in Denver, with the ambient temp at about 25 degrees, I see a Lotus 7 replica merge onto the highway. Purple in color, driven by a guy with not much in the way of weather protection - sunglasses and a hat were all I saw.

Very nice looking example.

jaserb

Caterham's US headquarters is located in the Denver area. IIRC, they sell them on a semi-kit car basis. You buy the car and engine separately. I don't think there's a car on a planet that would be a worse daily driver, but man would it be fun at a track.

-Jason

Mr_Shiftright

Probably better than a Suzuki Samurai for your back however:)

michaellno

You know, now that you mention it, I think you're right about the HQ being here in Denver somewhere. Yep, quite aware of how they are put together -- they do some, you do some, you can choose from a variety of engines, etc.

The guy driving sure looked like he was enjoying himself. The car had what looked to be 225 series tires on it ... classic definition of "cornering on rails" ... esp. when the car is probably less than 1500 pounds!

andys120

remember the Intermeccanica Italia you looked at?

It's involved in an amusing goof at a weekly publication that ran an article about the Intermeccanica Murena 429GT. Take a peek and you'll see that the car shown is not a Murena, it's
either an Italia or a Torino....

http://www.autoweek.com/article.cms?articleId=101839

To their credit they have a correct picture elsewhere in the online edition...

http://www.autoweek.com/department.cms?departmentId=15

Mr_Shiftright

they must have corrected it. That's a Murena all right. You'd couldn't miss that ugly mutt anywhere.

The Italia on the other hand is quite attractive.

andys120

The first of the links I posted still goes to a pictue of a yellow roadster with Cromodora wheels
the second show a red hatch/shooting brake.

Since we're on the subject was there any difference between the Italia and the Torino?

Mr_Shiftright

You know Andy, even car nuts like me find that question quite esoteric. I dunno, really. We'd have to dig that info out. On a somewhat related subject, I did meet the designer of the Apollo (built by Intermeccanica as you know)---Milt Brown I believe was his name. Really gracious older gentleman, smart as a whip. He lives in the Bay Area. I think the Apollo is one of the nicest looking cars of all times.

andys120

I share your appreciation for the Apollo, a great-looking car whose appeal stands the test of time IMO. Apparently the Torino and the Italia were the same car and are sometimes referred to as Torino/Italias...

http://www.motorcities.com/photo/?image=http://media3.motorcities- .com/00B9J364926362A.jpg&mfid=00B9J364926362

The Intermeccanica bodied Griffith was no doubt related but was Plymouth-powered (not to be confused with the TVR-based Griffith w Ford power).

Now if you want to get really esoteric we can talk about the Indra....:^P

seminole_kev

..seems WAY to high for a starting price to me:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&ite- m=4531743378&category=6278

andys120

They pulled it Kev. Just how much did that MkII start at?