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

Michaell

I’m sorry, I misidentified the Opel from the other day. It was a GT, not a Manta.

kyfdx

uplanderguy said:

Who ever thought 'Probe' was a good name for a car? LOL

Always made me think of "speculum". Hard to believe the Probe was marketed to women, with that name.

fintail

uplanderguy said:

Who ever thought 'Probe' was a good name for a car? LOL

Probe eventually made it to the UK, where the motoring press roasted the name. I like the Probe looks-wise, a retro thing now, but glad it didn't actually replace the Mustang.

fintail

andre1969 said:

I think a lot of stuff that we took for granted back in the past, sometimes looks out of place, when viewed from a modern perspective. For instance, for most of my life, I liked the '73 Chevelle. But nowadays, whenever I see one, either in person or in pics, that front bumper just bothers me. Not the bumper itself, but the way it juts out. I notice things like that a lot more with cars from that battering ram era these days. Perhaps because they're not so common, the flaws suddenly stick out more? Seems to me that Fords tended to be the worst.

With the Mantas and those crash bumpers, I think sometimes it's the angle that you view it from, that makes it look worse. For instance, in this view, I think it looks a bit awkward... With the way the fender slopes upward, and doesn't really meet the bumper, it leaves a triangular void that just doesn't look right. I wonder if they could have corrected this by simply extending the bumper backward at the edges, and slanting the back edge of it, to fill in that void?

I call that style of bumper "railroad tie" (as opposed to the "park bench" on old MBs.

I think I have seen the bumpers tucked in on period Porsches as well.

sda

The 73 Pontiac front bumper was one of the worst looking GM designed. You could actually use it as a bench. https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https://www.wplr.com/2019/03/13/ajs-car-of-the-day-1973-pontiac-catalina-400-coupe/&psig=AOvVaw2hICWUYxwZZPLLNP3dE1XS&ust=1681752292020000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CA0QjRxqFwoTCJjh7tH1rv4CFQAAAAAdAAAAABAa

andre1969

The Buick and Olds bumpers stuck out as well in '73, but they seemed to handle it better...



I think Olds and Buick handled it better, because the top of the bumper was longer, so you saw more chrome and less filler panel, as is the case with that Pontiac.

The Impala went for a really big, bulky piece, but it doesn't seem like it juts out quite as far as the B-O-P cars...

explorerx4

With a name like Probe, maybe it was set up to fail.
Nobody really wanted or wants a front drive Mustang.

uplanderguy

That '73 Impala was the color called "Green Gold". Never a fan, LOL.

The vertical guards add nothing to the looks, IMHO....I always would just rather have had the strips.

uplanderguy

Here's the '73 Chevelle front bumper, IMHO one of the worst that year, even though I like the rest of the car. It seems like it shouldn't matter, but midyear, this car would have had the light green filler panel instead of silver and it did help some.

fintail

Early Colonnade cars like that remind me of the son's car in 'Harry and Tonto' (which IIRC was also a sunroof car):

uplanderguy

I do think the '73 Chevelle coupe is pretty from the rear, and also in profile.

I wanted my Dad to like them, but he hated the front bumper and especially...."What? The rear windows don't roll down??!".

stickguy

I don't remember the bumper on my 1975 Manta sticking out nearly that far.

uplanderguy

A lot less car to stop.

andre1969

Yeah, I like everything about that '73, except for the way the bumper sticks out. If it was in just an inch (and the filler body color), it would be just about perfect. I like the way the grille extends outward under the headlights, too.

Well, maybe give it some rally wheels, too. Didn't the '73's still use a 14" rim as stock?

stickguy

those bumpers might stick out, but they really worked. Told this before, but in the late 70s my friend drove his families 74ish Caprice 4 door. one day on the triboro bridge an idiot in a downsized Monte Carlo (the goofy styled ones) was weaving in and out like a madman, and spun out right in front of us. T Boned him so hard it nearly caved in the side of his car. But he managed to drive off, in quite the crablike fashion.

the relevant part to this, when we checked the mighty Caprice (it's official name), we found a little scratch on the chrome, and a couple of cracked plastic bars on the grill. I don't think his father even noticed it.

ab348

Well, sorry guys, but you'll never be able to sell me on the '73-'77 Chevelle/Malibu front end. It was like GM Design got caught with their pants down with the bumper regulations for reasons that escape me. The original renderings of the design for the Chevy A-body were only a bit better even without the bumper regs. Maybe it was just a bad time in the GM Design Chevy studio.




The article those pics are from makes for some fun reading (the author didn't like it either):
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/cohort-classic-1973-chevrolet-chevelle-deluxe-sedan-the-no-frills-colonnade/

explorerx4

The first rendering reminds me of a Monte Carlo.

sda

andre1969 said:

The Buick and Olds bumpers stuck out as well in '73, but they seemed to handle it better...



I think Olds and Buick handled it better, because the top of the bumper was longer, so you saw more chrome and less filler panel, as is the case with that Pontiac.

The Impala went for a really big, bulky piece, but it doesn't seem like it juts out quite as far as the B-O-P cars...

Olds at least made an effort to minimize the bulky look by curving the grille into the bumper. Olds hinged and spring loaded the grille so it would move back upon impact and spring back into place undamaged afterwards.

andre1969

It's interesting that the author made the comment about the 4-door's greenhouse bringing back memories of the old 6W hardtops of the early 60's. I never thought of that, but I can see it. I always thought the 4-door's greenhouse had a futuristic look to it. It's open and airy, and if you look at it side by side with a 1986 Taurus, I don't think there are too many degrees of separation there. And if you compare it to the '73 Torino and Satellite/Coronet, which went for a more closed-in look, it's almost a polar opposite.

Although, I think the Colonade 4-door's greenhouse is one of those polarizing things, where you either love it or hate it.

With those early concepts, the one that looks a bit Camaro-ish is, at least interesting, but I'm sure would have looked horrible if it made it into production. The other one sort of looks like what became the Laguna, but with the mock-up, the bumper just looks TOO dainty. And the way the grille juts out in profile, just doesn't look right. It makes me think a bit of the 1970 Pontiac LeMans, even though the Pontiac's bumper/grille surround were one piece. But, on the Pontiac, it worked. Not so much in this case.

fintail

Colonnade sedan greenhouse was so modern some said it could have been at home in 2043:

uplanderguy

Well, maybe give it some rally wheels, too. Didn't the '73's still use a 14" rim as stock?

Yes, 14". In '73, the only Chevelle available from the factory with Rally Wheels was the SS. They were marketing the Turbine wheel as the sporty wheel.

In '74-77, the old five-slot Rally Wheel was available on all Chevelles. That was apparently one thing that changed after the brochure was photographed, as it shows a Chevelle with the same Rally Wheels the Nova and Camaro had. I was a student of those cars and about lived at the dealer in those Colonnade years. They were always the five-slot style when optioned. The five-slot version looked much richer IMHO.

uplanderguy

I always thought the four-door Colonnades looked 'stretched', not unlike the longer version of the Trail Blazer some 15 years ago.

Well, I guess the sedans were indeed 'stretched', as the wheelbase was four inches longer than the coupe.

Not the bumpers, but a Colonnade front-end lowpoint for me was the sloped '76 Cutlass front end.

uplanderguy

On the four-door Colonnades, I'm glad at least that they didn't try to do various roof treatments, filled-in rear quarter windows, etc., like on the coupes!

andre1969

Yeah, I think messing around with the roof treatment on the Colonade sedans would have been a bit messy. Although, the way the '76-77 Cutlass sedan was squared up a bit, I have a feeling it might have been able to get away with full C-pillar that did away with the quarter window.

I don't think the sedans were really high volume enough warrant different rooflines. At least, not anything substantially different. For example, in 1977, as popular as the Cutlass lineup was, only around 96,000 of them were 4-door sedans. Roughly 70,000 of them were the S coupe, which used the faster roofline. Roughly 367,000 of them were Supreme/Supreme Brougham, which used the more formal roof. The Salon was good for another ~57K, and I think it used the formal roof as well. And then there was around 40,000 wagons.

The '77 Malibu was good for around 116,000 sedans, 138,000 coupes, and 72,000 wagons. And then there were another 400K+ Monte Carlos, on top of that!

Buick was good for around 43,000 Century sedans and 18,000 Regals. In coupes, they did around 66,000 Centurys and 175,000 Regals. And 19K Century wagons.

Pontiac's LeMans, bringing up the rear, only moved about 36,000 coupes, 28,000 sedans, and 15,000 wagons. And then, throw on about 288,000 Grand Prixes.

When they downsized for '78 though, sedans started outselling the coupes (not counting personal luxury coupes), which I thought was a bit odd, as the coupes were so much more practical than the Colonades had been, yet were still able to maintain their good looks and proportioning. That's often hard to do, as a coupe tends to put more importance on style, over practicality.

andre1969

Oh, just wanted to throw it out there, if anyone's in the area...the Spring Carlisle PA swap meet is this week...April 19-23. I'm planning on going up on Saturday.

It kind of caught me off guard; I thought it was the following week. Time's going by too fast!

uplanderguy

Enjoy Carlisle!

sda

Nuts, I missed the Charlotte AutoFair last weekend. We nursed a sick daughter who we believe had the flu. She tested negative for Covid or Strep. It was a long weekend for her and us and thankfully she is feeling much better and sassy as ever.

fintail

Spotted this obscure spec on local CL - for uplanderguy

stickguy

I love that color. but not with a black interior. Maybe Oyster.

sda

fintail said:

Spotted this obscure spec on local CL - for uplanderguy

Isn’t this the color @uplanderguy ordered?

explorerx4

I'd prefer a Latte interior.

fintail

sda said:

fintail said:

Spotted this obscure spec on local CL - for uplanderguy

Isn’t this the color @uplanderguy ordered?

Yep exactly

xwesx

Such a pretty exterior color, too!

uplanderguy

I LOVE that color but it is almost assuredly gone for the '24 model year.

I wanted the light-colored interior. I can't even think what they call it!

Boy, that's a 1LT coupe, base model. I think he's asking over MSRP. The sticker for the 2LT convertible I worked up was $83K. He probably figures if dealers can do it, so can he.

I've got my $1,000 deposit paid (I know, big spender, LOL, and it's refundable) but I will be curious to see 2024 colors in late summer.

andre1969

uplanderguy said:

I've got my $1,000 deposit paid (I know, big spender, LOL, and it's refundable) but I will be curious to see 2024 colors in late summer.

If you ever get cold feet and think about backing out, just remember, you'll never be as young again, as you are today!

tjc78

@andre1969 said:
If you ever get cold feet and think about backing out, just remember, you'll never be as young again, as you are today!

Ain’t that the truth!

I told the wife the other day that by 2025 I want a classic car. We have a pretty pricey vacation in 24 and want to do the kitchen at the shore. After that it’s shopping time!

Good thing is the barges that I want aren’t too costly for driver quality. I keep leaning toward a 77-79 Mark V. It would have to be a Designer series or a Collector’s. The Diamond Jubilee is basically a Collector’s with the 460 and different colors, but I don’t like the gold and the blue is a very similar color to the 79 Town Coupe I had.

Most would say don’t get a 79 because you couldn’t get the 460, but quite honestly both are slow and not much different from each other.

andre1969

Yeah, I've found that the older I get, I'm not that picky about a slower engine, either. One car I really regret passing on was a 1980 New Yorker that I saw back in 2006 at the Mopar show in Carlisle, PA. It was Nightwatch blue with a tan leather interior, and looked almost flawless. It only had something like 34,000 miles, and they wanted $4300 for it. The main turnoff for me was that it had the 318-2bbl, which only had 120 hp that year. The one 0-60 time I recall seeing for that car was either MT or C&D, where it was good for something like 14.1 seconds.

But, seriously, it's not like I'm going to buy a car like that to put it in the Cannonball Run, or try to break some speed record by running up to New England and back for some clam chowder.

I've heard that the 400-2bbl, even though it only had 159 hp in 1979, still put out a good amount of torque, so it performed better than that hp figure would suggest.

And when these cars were new, you probably would have noticed the difference between a 460 and a 400, but nowadays, even the cheapest cars would probably blow the doors off of either one in a drag race, so it just doesn't seem like it matters anymore. Well, maybe MOST of the cheapest cars these days. That Mitsubishi Mirage my house mate had as a rental might still be slower. The one time I rode in it, he tried to stomp on it, and the way it took off, I told him it made me think of how I take off in my '03 Regal. The only difference is, when I take off in the Regal, I'm babying it so I don't put too much strain on its iffy transmission!

He ended up swapping that car out a few days after he got it, and is currently in a 2020 Altima. HUGE difference.

kyfdx

@breld

It's in Denver!

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1964-volkswagen-karmann-ghia-type-34-2/

stickguy

won't run into many of those out and about. Good luck finding any model specific parts!

rusty frunk is a big letdown. Would have to get that taken care of.

texases

For all the improvements to that VW, what's with the 'eyelids' on the headlights?

kyfdx

texases said:

For all the improvements to that VW, what's with the 'eyelids' on the headlights?

It's like fuzzy dice, I guess?

Also, with all that work, it's amazing they didn't convert it to 12 Volt (though I have no idea what all that entails)

Michaell

kyfdx said:

texases said:

For all the improvements to that VW, what's with the 'eyelids' on the headlights?

It's like fuzzy dice, I guess?

Also, with all that work, it's amazing they didn't convert it to 12 Volt (though I have no idea what all that entails)

I don't think it's hard.

My dad, uncle and cousin swapped over our '66 Baja Bug to 12 volt before my sister started driving it. When it was a 6 volt system, I had no end of trouble with it. Constantly left me stranded.

texases

Maybe being that oddball KG makes it harder to find the parts needed to convert to 12V? But yes, that would have been one of the first things I'd have done.

uplanderguy

‘Buic Ucerne’ LOL

I liked these cars but especially the trim level that got this chrome strip at the bottom of the deck lid

andre1969

I liked the Lucerne. I think my biggest problem was the engine choices. The 3.8 was getting a bit overwhelmed in a car this size. Supposedly the 3.9 was better, but I don't know much about it. And I know this is silly, but I'd have to warm up to the idea of a Buick with a Chevy engine Now a V8 would be nice, but I worry about the reliability and cost to repair of the Northstar, although I have heard the later ones weren't as bad.

I think its image suffered a bit to me as well. It replaced both the LeSabre and the Park Avenue. While I do think of a base Lucerne as a step up from a base LeSabre, I guess I still think of the Park Avenue as a more upscale car. The same thing happened with the second-gen Aurora, when it had to start filling the role of both the old 88 and the first-gen Aurora. I understand, GM had to do this, because the market for bigger cars was drying up...doesn't mean I have to like it, though!

I briefly thought about getting a used Lucerne, when my 2000 Park Ave racked up so many issues it wasn't worth fixing. But, it never came to pass. I just used my Ram as my daily driver, until I inherited the '03 Regal from my Dad. And now, with as little as I drive, I have mixed feelings about getting a car to replace the Regal. Plus, every time I look at cars online, I just go into sticker shock at the prices! I really need to learn to take my own advice of "you'll never be as young again as you are today" more seriously.

ab348

If you wanted a V8 you could get the rare Lucerne Super, which came with the Northstar V8. Whether that’s a good thing or not depends on your point of view I suppose. I wouldn’t want one now.

tjc78

The Lucerne was not a bad car. The loaded up Northstar versions were very nice and pretty close to a Park Ave if not a little smaller.

If I was shopping for a used one I’d seek out the later run 3.9 models. They were about 30 HP more than than the 3.8 and from what I’ve heard are pretty reliable. Problem could be many were lower optioned cars that started off as rentals.

uplanderguy

Made a quick trip to the Indianapolis area on Tuesday and came home Wed. Drove across OH on Route 30 and Route 224, far-more scenic. In some little village on Route 224 in central OH, was a white with white top '77 or '78 Eldorado Custom Biarritz, closest thing ever to a factory pimp mobile; cushy padded top; smaller rear window, chrome spear on the side, big pillow leather seats. I typically can't stand those cars but this one looked pretty darn presentable, sitting in a driveway--besides it having blackwall tires.

kyfdx

We are on Route 30 quite a bit, but just the part between Van Wert and Fort Wayne.

uplanderguy

I actually got on Route 224 in Indiana and missed Fort Wayne, but it and 30 are the same road for a while and I came very close to Van Wert.

Long story short, but I'm a board member of my old hometown's Historical Society. They bought a film of the town's 1963 125th anniversary celebration--five big 35 mm reels. We found a place in Indy that would digitize it reasonably. I'm sure I'll recognize some faces in it (I was born in 1958 and lived there until 1980). I personally worry a bit if it is copyrighted. No one knows who made it and it was last shown in the old (now gone) movie theater in the '80's.

Coming home a different way for some country scenery, I again stopped at Fairmount, James Dean's hometown, and took some pics. I didn't stay for the museum this time as it didn't open until 11 and I was there at about 9. Saw Dean's grave and boyhood home, where his cousin, whom he grew up with, still lives. Nice old farmhouse with a recent F-150 and Edge in the driveway. Had lunch in a little town called Berne, Indiana, then across Ohio without stopping until I got home.