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

uplanderguy

Seen in the parking lot of the restaurant we went to on the water in CT after my daughter's graduation: A '60 Falcon Ranchero. I only know it's a '60 by the 1960 license plate on the front. I think it is owned by the restaurant. It was white. When I saw the front I assumed it was a Falcon sedan.

Ford did really 'buzz' Chevrolet by introducing a low-price utility vehicle like the Falcon Ranchero. Not unlike the current Maverick--but I have a hunch dealers weren't adding ADP to the Falcon Ranchero! But then again, who knows?

david2212

"Wow! Spotting an (insert obscure car name here) classic car is a rare gem! It must have been an incredible sight. Thanks for sharing your exciting find!"

texases

And those Falcon Rancheros are good for transporting former crime bosses:

uplanderguy

Spotted this in the BK parking lot today. I actually pulled in to ask him if it was an '84 or an '85. '84.

Bad white tape job on RF corner, but I've always been intrigued by the idea of a Fleetwood coupe, even though it's a car I'd never own myself. He said he'd had it about a year.
.

fintail

texases said:

And those Falcon Rancheros are good for transporting former crime bosses:

Always amused me that a Continental could be cubed so small and that a Ranchero had the payload to haul it

andre1969

I always got a kick out of that, too. I mean, a ~5000 lb Continental that's been crushed and cubed is still going to weight ~5000 lb, no matter how small you smash it down. In reality, I imagine you'd need at least a 1-ton (3500 series) pickup to hold something like that safely.

Oh, on the way to work this morning, I saw an '82-87 El Camino, in sort of a light/medium blue. Looked to be in good shape. Interestingly, it was actually being used for truck-type stuff! It was hauling a small utility trailer full of firewood! I didn't notice if it also had anything in the bed as well. It was oncoming, sort of in the shadows on a winding road, and we passed each other too quickly.

I wonder what the maximum tow rating was for the downsized El Camino? I tried looking up the brochures, and all they mention is that it has the same 38 cubic feet of cargo space and 800 lb payload capacity as the '73-77. I have a feeling the tow rating was down, though. IIRC, the Colonade cars could be equipped to tow up to 4,000 lb, and I presume that would apply for that era of El Camino as well? For some reason I'm thinking the LTD-II could be equipped to tow up to 6,000 lb, which again, I guess that would apply to the Ranchero?

Incidentally, a '65 Ranchero also had an 800 lb cargo bed capacity. Pretty impressive, IMO, considering it was a much lighter vehicle than either of those El Caminos. Still a bit inadequate for a Cubed Continental, though

**Edit: Looks like the LTD-II based Ranchero, at least, could be equipped to tow 6,000 lb, and up to a 1250 lb payload, with the heavy duty/trailering package. That included a 3.00:1 axle and the 400 V8.

kyfdx

Use your scroll... If anyone can point out a violation of our TOU, let me know.

kyfdx

@ab348 Where did your post go?

Oh, that's right... moderator discretion.

ab348

kyfdx said:

@ab348 Where did your post go?

Oh, that's right... moderator discretion.

You seem to be proud of that. All I can say is that you asked a question and I answered it.

How about sharing your rationale for tolerating the original problem post? That might help some of us to understand better.

kyfdx

ab348 said:

kyfdx said:

@ab348 Where did your post go?

Oh, that's right... moderator discretion.

You seem to be proud of that. All I can say is that you asked a question and I answered it.

How about sharing your rationale for tolerating the original problem post? That might help some of us to understand better.

Okay.. even though you missed the point..

The post is basically repeating the title of the discussion.
It isn’t directed at any specific member.
It doesn’t quote another post.
It isn’t derogatory

I’d suggest anything else that is read into it is the reader’s issue.

laurasdada

At Stop & Shop this evening; a comedy fan, no doubt.

kyfdx

No more posts about forums moderation, please. They are all off-topic.


I can be reached by direct message.

ab348

@laurasdada said:
At Stop & Shop this evening; a comedy fan, no doubt.

I tried watching that show and while the production values, sets and wardrobe were wonderfully authentic, I could not get past one thing: for a character who was supposed to be achieving fame and fortune by becoming a standup comedian, the on-stage comedy scenes were decidedly unfunny and hence did not have credibility. After getting partway through season 2 I decided it wasn't going to improve so I abandoned it.

andre1969

Wow, cool Corvette sighting! I haven't seen a Vette from that era out in the wild, in ages.

I saw a few obscurities over the past few days, but wasn't able to get any pics. Just yesterday, walking up to check the mail, what looked like a '49-52 Chevy 2-door sedan drove past, in sort of a medium/dark metallic green. I've seen it go by once or twice before, from a distance, if I happened to look out the window as it was passing. I didn't get a good enough look at the front as it went by, but I'm pretty sure I saw a split windshield.

A day or so before that, I saw something that I honestly couldn't identify. At a quick glance it looked like a Rolls Royce, an older 2-headlight model. But, something about it seemed off, like it was some kind of knockoff of a Rolls. It was narrow and upright.

And then on Wednesday, on my one day I have to drive into the office, out of the corner of my eye I caught a quick glimpse of something sitting in a yard that looked early 50's, but it didn't immediately register with me what it was. I just did a google street view, and this turned up, but a couple hundred feet away and on the other side of the street from where I saw it...
I think it's a '54 Dodge. You'd think I'd know my Mopars better, but the '53-54 Dodge/Plymouth sort of blur together to me. Anyway, what I saw was blue and white, so I'd imagine it was the same car.

uplanderguy

andre, my first guess on that pic was a Borgward! But it probably wouldn't have been two-toned.

I sorta remember Dodges that looked like this.

uplanderguy

That Corvette is a '59 or '60. I didn't learn how to differentiate the two until probably five or seven years ago, but it requires me to look inside the car.

I love original/authentic, and that C1 is it. In my mind, I use the term "jewel-like" to describe a car like that, although it's probably not the right use of speech.

I have always loved the '62 best of all though. Has to have the hardtop, and has to be Fawn Beige or Honduras Maroon. I never saw a real one until I was probably 18 or so. I remember thinking, "WTH? Sting Ray in back; old 'Vette in front". I'd be happy with a 250 hp Powerglide. They are tight for big guts though.

laurasdada

ab348 said:

@laurasdada said:

At Stop & Shop this evening; a comedy fan, no doubt.

I tried watching that show and while the production values, sets and wardrobe were wonderfully authentic, I could not get past one thing: for a character who was supposed to be achieving fame and fortune by becoming a standup comedian, the on-stage comedy scenes were decidedly unfunny and hence did not have credibility. After getting partway through season 2 I decided it wasn't going to improve so I abandoned it.

I'm shallow, she's pretty so I watch.

explorerx4

Here's a picture of me and the wife in her sister's brother in law's 59, in the late 80's.
Picture was taken a mile or two away from where Adam from RCC does his reviews.

laurasdada

That's just a great picture!

andre1969

uplanderguy said:

andre, my first guess on that pic was a Borgward! But it probably wouldn't have been two-toned.

I sorta remember Dodges that looked like this.

Yeah, I could see that. It does have sort of a "foreign" car look about it. Or at best, independent. But, Chrysler styling at that time did have a slight touch of Italian/Pininfarina influence, so maybe that's why it has that slight "foreign" look...even if a Borgward was German!

On Wednesday, I only caught the quickest glimpse of it out of the corner of my eye, as it was towards the back of a parking lot and not close to the road. The first thing that popped into my mind was something like a '53 Studebaker, or maybe a Kaiser.

fintail

53-54 mainline Mopars do have kind of a small look to them. That two tone pattern makes me think Dodge too.

stickguy

a real oddball today, in a weird place. A busy shopping center parking lot, driving through was a rat rod. a pick up of some sort, looked to be around early 40s cab, typical rust paint job and really low. nice rumble though. Not something you expect to see out driving.

explorerx4

Looks like the 90's. Some crazy looking stunts in this car chase.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l20a772vacQ

fintail

Spotted in a listing photo of a one owner time capsule 1976 house:

stickguy

Must be a big garage.

explorerx4

That garage looks like it is 8 pieces of sheetrock wide.

sda

73ish Buick LeSabre 4dr hardtop.

fintail

It's a wide garage, right side door suitable for an early 70s Buick:



Listed at a random seeming 728K, good area and solid house, I bet they get close to it if not the whole thing and then some, given the local market which hasn't really cooled.

andre1969

I like that house a lot. Looks really picturesque, almost resort-like. I might worry about those evergreens being that close to the house though, if it's an area that gets a lot of snow, or even high wind.

Both of the houses I've owned have been grazed by falling trees, so I guess I'm a bit paranoid about that! Back in 2003, one of those hurricanes (Isabel or Irene, I forget now) came though. This big mulberry tree near the house split in half. The far half fell out into the yard relatively harmlessly, although it smashed a grape trellis flat that my Granddad had built in the early 80's. The other half, leaning back towards the house stayed upright for a bit, but then slowly listed towards the house. My uncle took it down, bit by bit, but weren't fast enough, as it eventually ended up leaning on the peak of the roof over the bathroom. But, as we kept working on taking it down, I guess it kept enough weight off the roof that it didn't do any damage.

Unfortunately, we didn't take the tree down all the way, leaving about eight feet of trunk, and it began to sprout back up. I liked it, because it blocked the afternoon sun and helped cool the house a bit. But then in 2014, a pretty big limb broke off, landed on the housemate's 2006 Xterra. I think it put a few small scratches o it, but that was it.

In 2022, another big limb came off, and just barely grazed the side of the house. I chopped it up, threw it in the back of the Ram, drove it down to the edge of the woods. And promptly got the truck stuck, as it sank into the soft ground! I needed my uncle to pull me out with his 2016 Colorado, which is 4wd. Sold the house in October of last year, and one of the first things the new owner did was take that Mulberry down completely!

And, dangit, I just remembered, about that grape trellis! One of the grape vines was still alive. I moved it to another part of the yard, and put a pole in the ground for it to climb. I kept meaning to dig it up and bring it over to the new house, but it slipped my mind. Oh well, if I had brought it out here, it would just be something else to maneuver around when I'm cutting the grass.

I'm liking that LeSabre 4-door hardtop, too. Not my first color choice, but it looks like it's in nice shape. And, I think that as cars like that become less and less common, I'm not so picky about the color anymore. Maybe that's a true test of how much I really like a car, as well...if I can still tolerate it in a less than savory color. And I think that is a '73. It's hard to tell without seeing the front, but it looks like it might have that '73 taper around the headlight area. And something about that color just screams "1973" to me!

fintail

It's Spokane, so we have wind, snow, and hills! Based on anecdotal experience, pine trees scare me most, seems every time we have a wind event, those have problems.

Listing for that house, showing how it is sited, and some time warp interiors:
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/7412-N-Panorama-Dr-Spokane-WA-99208/23489491_zpid/

I wonder if that Buick has lived there since the house was built, wouldn't shock me. I guess every metro has little pockets where the passage of time has left a minimal mark, this area has more than a few.

Speaking of garages, here's one in another original owner time capsule house (1977) that caught my eye. I really like the house itself, and the garage looks yuuuge. Big door I assume for like a diesel pusher motorhome, but the garage also looks deep, maybe enough for a tandem setup, or at least a bunch of bikes or something at the end:



This one makes me think of period German cars in the garage, or maybe a period Cadillac or Lincoln.

sda

I can relate to the house in Spokane and like it a lot. I maybe wrong, though not cheap, it’s fairly priced. The vinyl tile in the entry hall is identical to what we had in my parent’s game room in Knoxville. That house was also built in 1976.

xwesx

That Spokane house is so typical for the era that it's almost shocking. I'd have to surmise that it is still the original owners in the place (or were until recently) for it to remain so untouched. Might almost be worth the asking price if the majority of furnishings stayed, including the old yacht!

While nicely situated on its lot, the overall size of the lot is disappointingly small. I was thinking that it needed a few trees removed, but with it being surrounded by streets, and not a lot of distance at that, perhaps it should just keep them for the visual blocks!

fintail

xwesx said:

That Spokane house is so typical for the era that it's almost shocking. I'd have to surmise that it is still the original owners in the place (or were until recently) for it to remain so untouched. Might almost be worth the asking price if the majority of furnishings stayed, including the old yacht!

While nicely situated on its lot, the overall size of the lot is disappointingly small. I was thinking that it needed a few trees removed, but with it being surrounded by streets, and not a lot of distance at that, perhaps it should just keep them for the visual blocks!

Spokane County Assessor has surprisingly detailed data available online - all sales and other deed actions going back ~50 years, and for the city proper one can find a lot of permits going back ~120 years. I found the original permits for my house and the detached garage. For the house in the link, it has no sales history, and the city has the original permit on file, same last name as current owner, dated 4/22/76 with a value of 50K.

That particular house is in an in-city neighborhood probably 15 minutes from downtown if traffic and lights align, it may look kind of outlying, but it isn't. It's maybe 5 minutes from numerous strip mall type stores and supermarkets. It's on two lots, showing its in-city location.

fintail

sda said:

I can relate to the house in Spokane and like it a lot. I maybe wrong, though not cheap, it’s fairly priced. The vinyl tile in the entry hall is identical to what we had in my parent’s game room in Knoxville. That house was also built in 1976.

This area doesn't have Seattle prices, but it is higher than much of the nation I suspect. That house needs either someone with a 70s fixation or someone wanting to take on 100K in cosmetic updates. If it doesn't bring list, it'll go close I bet. The house with the big garage I posted today was listed at something like 1.2MM and went pending in a few days.

One thing that caught my eye was the little kitchen table and chairs on the vinyl/linoleum floor. We had a setup just like that when I was a kid, and I can still hear the metal feet on those chairs kind of juddering as they are pushed on the vinyl/linoleum floor.

xwesx

fintail said:

xwesx said:

That Spokane house is so typical for the era that it's almost shocking. I'd have to surmise that it is still the original owners in the place (or were until recently) for it to remain so untouched. Might almost be worth the asking price if the majority of furnishings stayed, including the old yacht!

While nicely situated on its lot, the overall size of the lot is disappointingly small. I was thinking that it needed a few trees removed, but with it being surrounded by streets, and not a lot of distance at that, perhaps it should just keep them for the visual blocks!

Spokane County Assessor has surprisingly detailed data available online - all sales and other deed actions going back ~50 years, and for the city proper one can find a lot of permits going back ~120 years. I found the original permits for my house and the detached garage. For the house in the link, it has no sales history, and the city has the original permit on file, same last name as current owner, dated 4/22/76 with a value of 50K.

That particular house is in an in-city neighborhood probably 15 minutes from downtown if traffic and lights align, it may look kind of outlying, but it isn't. It's maybe 5 minutes from numerous strip mall type stores and supermarkets. It's on two lots, showing its in-city location.

That's quite a lot of detail! We used to have that ability in this area, but they recently put it all behind lock and key, so it now takes an act of Congress, plus $, to find anything out. Annoying.

I'm probably mostly disappointed with the lot size due to the deceptive precision with which the intro in situ photo was taken.

fintail

xwesx said:

fintail said:

xwesx said:

That Spokane house is the transaso typical for the era that it's almost shocking. I'd have to surmise that it is still the original owners in the place (or were until recently) for it to remain so untouched. Might almost be worth the asking price if the majority of furnishings stayed, including the old yacht!

While nicely situated on its lot, the overall size of the lot is disappointingly small. I was thinking that it needed a few trees removed, but with it being surrounded by streets, and not a lot of distance at that, perhaps it should just keep them for the visual blocks!

Spokane County Assessor has surprisingly detailed data available online - all sales and other deed actions going back ~50 years, and for the city proper one can find a lot of permits going back ~120 years. I found the original permits for my house and the detached garage. For the house in the link, it has no sales history, and the city has the original permit on file, same last name as current owner, dated 4/22/76 with a value of 50K.

That particular house is in an in-city neighborhood probably 15 minutes from downtown if traffic and lights align, it may look kind of outlying, but it isn't. It's maybe 5 minutes from numerous strip mall type stores and supermarkets. It's on two lots, showing its in-city location.

That's quite a lot of detail! We used to have that ability in this area, but they recently put it all behind lock and key, so it now takes an act of Congress, plus $, to find anything out. Annoying.

I'm probably mostly disappointed with the lot size due to the deceptive precision with which the intro in situ photo was taken.

I think sales data at a minimum should be public record - including ownership. So much shenanigans out there involving real estate hoarding, that it needs to be available. Having a permit on file from 1910 is something a little odd, but transactions shouldn't be hidden. At a minimum it lets one see the opportunist flippers who have messed up some segments of the market, but I guess that's a discussion for another venue.

Realtors are ultimately salespeople, gotta know how to promote your product. One would never know from that artful drone shot that there are streets on either side of the lot, and tract housing stacked up behind it. The fake skies still make me laugh, like the little tree air freshner in Repo Man, you'll see it in every ad. Sometimes it's a vocation with little shame.

stickguy

$5k property taxes on that place. Definitely not in NJ Toto.

I wonder what lives on the other side of the garage from the Buick? looks like a single car in the double side, with some leaks based on the cardboard!

fintail

No income tax here either

Looking at some data, I bet the Buick belong to the husband. It appears he passed away some years ago, and the wife passed away past year. I wonder what lived beside the Buick, and if there was maybe even a third car over the years. I suspect she drove something smaller, especially by the time cars downsized. Maybe by the 80s a downsized Regal or an A-body or similar.

andre1969

I noticed that low property tax number as well. I'm wondering if that's what the current owner is paying, which would include any sort of homestead tax credits (what we call it in Maryland at least) for it being their primary residence? The second that house sells, the homestead tax credit goes away, and the new owner would pay the full assessment that first year, although if taxes rise in later years, the new owner would get their own credit to help cap it.

Back in 2016 I looked at a house that was around $530-550K, and its tax bill was only listed as something like $236! I questioned the agent who was showing that open house, and they played dumb. But, that $236 was actually listed, right there on the flyer! Well, it turns out the seller was a disabled vet, and got some kind of serious offset on their taxes. I remember looking that same house up awhile back, out of curiosity, and sure enough, once it sold the taxes were up into the $5K range.

I bought my current place in September of 2018. Because of that timing, the state/county screwed up, and I got the previous owner's homestead tax credit, for just that one year. If we pay our taxes in full, they're due by the end of September. If it gets split up into two payments, like what they usually do with mortgages, they normally make one in September and one in December I think.

Oh, and to make it more interesting, the assessment had my house listed at 960 square feet. It had originally been a small ~24x40 rancher with a full basement and sunroom. But in 2008, the owner added a second level and bumped it out some in the front, making it L-shaped. When I bought it, the real estate listing said 2872 square feet, but they were including the sunroom, which is 18x24, and really more of a 3-season room. But, it has electricity, heat (electric baseboards, is closed in (albeit just with storm windows) and has a mostly finished look about it...no exposed wiring, framing, etc. Well, apparently they were slow with assessments, because when I bought it 10 years later, they still had it at 960 square feet.

Well, it got reassessed in early 2019, and somehow, this time, they went too far in the other direction. Somehow they got 3929 square feet. Only thing I can figure is that they counted the house, the sunroom, and the basement, which would come out to 3832. So I dunno where this extra 93 square feet came from? Unless they simply measured the outside of the house and got a little sloppy with their rounding? There's also a bay window bumpout, that's on the main level and the upper. It might be about 2x12 feet. So that might add another 40 or so. It's angled, so it wouldn't simply be 48 (2x12x2)

Anyway, in 2018 my property taxes were around $3300, but for 2019 they shot up to around $4800. On the plus side though, over-doing it with the assessed square footage let me build a bigger garage, as there's a regulation here that no secondary buildings can have more square footage than the primary. The garage, with the loft, is 3060, so if the assessor hadn't counted the sunroom and basement, and that extra bit of rounding slop in the square footage of the house I would have had to build something smaller.

fintail

I'm not aware of any special exemption for a house that old here, only thing I am familiar with would be an income-dependent senior citizen exemption/discount, which is not present there. The only local structure-based exemption I am aware of is for new build multifamily/high density structures, which I believe are granted a 10 year waiver by the city. Another item of note is that the latest assessment with a tax number is below market value, and the next tax bill will be higher (my assessment increased over 30% for 2023 tax purposes). I think local property tax rates are in the .9% range. We make up for it with gas and sales tax.

On a car note, I saw a red Allante on the road today, top down.

stickguy

a slew today.

very sharp looking dark red chrome bumper MGB GT. Going past on the back of a roll back truck. A 1954ish Ford Wagon, with some pieces off the front end. Something Andre might like, a 1980 +/- Buick Lesabre 2 door. Bright red, no vinyl roof. That one was for sale! A VW dune buggy.

explorerx4

Stick reminded me, I took a pic of an MGB the other day.
Rockers are a bit crusty but looked good overall.

stickguy

Same color. I love those.

uplanderguy

Interesting 1964 photo from FB of what is said to be the Fremont, CA assembly plant. Chevelle, followed by LeMans, followed by Cutlass, on the line.

For looks, I always liked that '64 LeMans and GTO. Seems like hardly-ever seen today.

I did like the two-door wagon, exclusive to Chevelle that year.

stickguy

the wagons are great. But of the 2 doors, I think the Pontiac is easily the best looking, followed by the Chevy.

Michaell

When I first met my now best friend in the early 70's, his family had a '64 or '65 LeMans two door. They kept it until '78 or so, when they traded it in for a new Chevette.

uplanderguy

A miniscule thing I always thought was odd about the '64 and later LeMans models was they only had one turn signal indicator on the instrument panel. Later, when I bought my '63 Studebaker, and the three I've had after ('64 and two '66's), they were like that too.

imidazol97

I saw this picture and really like this car and the color.
Pontiac Grand Am 1974 if I've got the right year...

uplanderguy

I think that's a '75, but the only thing that's making me say that is I remember that being a '75 GM color, but I don't recall it on '74's.

imidazol97

Thanks for the correction!

The 1974 models have horizontal vanes in the vertical openings in the grill.



The 1975 models have vertical vanes in the vertical openings in the grill.