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

uplanderguy

Congratulations, looks great!

uplanderguy

You vette guys must be young, to get in and out of one of those!

Johnny Cash has the right idea here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LFoYikvSXQ

I'm sure I'll be pushing myself up with my arms on the door sill, once the door is open....particularly since I'm 65, fat, and my inseam is 26 inches.

tjc78

Congrats Andre!!! Great color!

stickguy

That looked like my wife getting out of my Miata.

ab348

Well done, Andre! That is indeed a great color.

It goes well with what I assume are the extra-cost yellow accents on the edges of the front splitter...

stickguy

Andre, you need to go post your story on CCBA. The crowd over there wants to hear it so you can get credit!

andre1969

Thanks everyone! And yep, the Regal is gone. However, they wouldn't let me transfer the tags, so I had to get new ones. Apparently, Maryland has an age cutoff for transferring tags. The finance guy at the dealership told me what it was, but I forget now. But anyway, the old tags were 20 years old.

Kind of a shame though, because I liked the old tag. It was "KNK 383". I can still remember when Dad got those tags. I joked and said that people are going to think he's a dirty old man who's into Mopars!

Funny thing too, It was almost as if the Regal knew somehow, that this was going to be its last trip. It didn't act up at all. No random transmission lurches or slippage. In a way, it made me think of of a day, years ago, when I had to take my aging, sickly golden retriever to the vet to have her put to sleep. I had second thoughts about the dog, even though it really was the right thing to do. And, I'll admit I was having second thought about getting rid of the Regal as well. I spent the morning taking all my personal stuff out, and vacuuming it and cleaning it out. I even popped out the back seat, to see if anything had worked its way under there over the years. Oddly, the only thing I saw under there was a small cluster of what looked like spider eggs, and an old Crayola crayon. Probably an artifact from when it was a rental car...unless I have (much) younger siblings Dad never told me about!

Another weird thing...when I had the seat out, I looked down into the hole in the floor bracing where it clipped into. In the blackness, I could see sort of a semi-circular cutout in the bottom of the car, and the gravel of the driveway! The hole looked too perfect to be rust-out, but I wonder if perhaps a rubber plug had popped out, or something?

Anyway, out with the old...
And in with the new!

Oh, and on the obscure car front, on my way to the dealership, I spotted this G6...Nothing to write home about, but still, I can't remember the last time I saw one.

andre1969

ab348 said:

Well done, Andre! That is indeed a great color.

It goes well with what I assume are the extra-cost yellow accents on the edges of the front splitter...

Y'know, it's funny...A few years back, a friend of mine got a Charger R/T as a rental car, and it had those yellow accents on it. He told me that if you saw those, it was a sign that it was a rental car, that the privately purchased ones didn't have them.

But, as the years went by, I noticed more and more of them. Well, it turns out, they're just a protective strip that's pressed on the car, meant to help against stone chips and such when the car is in transport! The only way I found that out was when the sales lady said, after the car was washed and prepped, that they left them on, and when I was a bit confused, she explained to me what they were.

tjc78

Impressed you get plates the same day. We wait a good while in Jersey to get them when you buy a new car from a dealer.

kyfdx

stickguy said:

That looked like my wife getting out of my Miata.

Any time I get out of the Cayman without ending up on all fours is a bonus..

stickguy

That’s why my wife is not a huge fan of my plan to get a real sports car. And I might regret it!

A 2 series or mini cooper seems a lot more practical.

sda

@andre1969 said:
Thanks everyone! And yep, the Regal is gone. However, they wouldn't let me transfer the tags, so I had to get new ones. Apparently, Maryland has an age cutoff for transferring tags. The finance guy at the dealership told me what it was, but I forget now. But anyway, the old tags were 20 years old.

Kind of a shame though, because I liked the old tag. It was "KNK 383". I can still remember when Dad got those tags. I joked and said that people are going to think he's a dirty old man who's into Mopars!

Funny thing too, It was almost as if the Regal knew somehow, that this was going to be its last trip. It didn't act up at all. No random transmission lurches or slippage. In a way, it made me think of of a day, years ago, when I had to take my aging, sickly golden retriever to the vet to have her put to sleep. I had second thoughts about the dog, even though it really was the right thing to do. And, I'll admit I was having second thought about getting rid of the Regal as well. I spent the morning taking all my personal stuff out, and vacuuming it and cleaning it out. I even popped out the back seat, to see if anything had worked its way under there over the years. Oddly, the only thing I saw under there was a small cluster of what looked like spider eggs, and an old Crayola crayon. Probably an artifact from when it was a rental car...unless I have (much) younger siblings Dad never told me about!

Another weird thing...when I had the seat out, I looked down into the hole in the floor bracing where it clipped into. In the blackness, I could see sort of a semi-circular cutout in the bottom of the car, and the gravel of the driveway! The hole looked too perfect to be rust-out, but I wonder if perhaps a rubber plug had popped out, or something?

Anyway, out with the old...

And in with the new!

Oh, and on the obscure car front, on my way to the dealership, I spotted this G6...
Nothing to write home about, but still, I can't remember the last time I saw one.

Love the new car. How many miles were on the Buick? Did they offer you anything for trade? Years ago I got $750 for dad's very clean 95 Cierra with about 80k on it. Not great but didn't stop me!

andre1969

They gave me $500 for the Buick which, all things considered, I was glad to just have it gone. In addition to the transmission not being long for the world, it also had that infamous 3.8 plastic intake manifold issue. Luckily that was minor, and had been threatening for years. My mechanic said to basically just keep watching the coolant level, as it would eventually start leaking faster, but most likely would not just fail, all at once.

Let's see, what else? It needed two front tires. The muffler was starting to rust out at the seam, and it needed other emissions work on top of that. In back, one power window motor didn't work. The other worked sporadically, but had separated from the window. The window would slide down into the door, but thankfully didn't roll all the way down, so I could always pull it back up. I put a suction cup on it at the base, to keep it up, but over time it would still slowly slide.

So all things considered, I think they did me a favor, just taking it off my hands! I think the Buick had around 108,200 miles on it.

The Charger had 17 miles on it when I took it for the test drive. The test drive was about 7 miles, so I think "officially", it had like 24 miles on it when I bought it.

In a way, I'm kind of glad the Buick was on its last legs. If it was still in really good shape, I would have been tempted to keep it around as a spare car, and that's the last thing I need! Especially now that I mostly work from home, and don't do a whole lot of driving any more. Or, I might have been tempted to just keep driving it and not look for a new car. But this way, it basically forced me to go get something I really wanted.

uplanderguy

Beautiful '79 Eldorado on Barn Finds. Aluminum wheels.

I used to not be crazy about Cadillac yellow, but it's grown on me. What a sweet car.

OK, the Biarritz metal roof applique and (overdone) multi-button-tufted seats are over-the-top, but still, I like these cars...quite a bit.

https://barnfinds.com/41k-mile-biarritz-beauty-1979-cadillac-eldorado/?fbclid=IwAR3oVZrLNIK5Hkb7owH3c4WlcrMSettI4-IpPist2oH-wIbPFJJbGTFYYFM

stickguy

I like the MGB on that site better!

fintail

andre1969 said:

Oh, and on the obscure car front, on my way to the dealership, I spotted this G6... Nothing to write home about, but still, I can't remember the last time I saw one.

Funny thing, I read just yesterday that Wednesday was the 19th anniversary of Oprah's G6 giveaway. You get a car!

I see those now and then, usually in very rough condition. I wonder how many of Oprah's giveaway cars still exist. I did see a G6 convertible a couple weeks ago, rare when new.

sda

I saw a G6 convertible today going down highway 485 today, looked ok. They were a handsome car. IIRC, the G6 offered one of the first panoramic sunroofs which ended up being problematic. It was quickly discontinued and was replaced by a standard size sunroof.

stickguy

I remember having one as a rental in Iowa when I was there for 2 weeks on business. Not a great car. I seem to recall a knocking steering column?

was there a G5 too? It was a G something!

fintail

stickguy said:

I remember having one as a rental in Iowa when I was there for 2 weeks on business. Not a great car. I seem to recall a knocking steering column?

was there a G5 too? It was a G something!

G5 was the Cobalt equivalent. There was a G3 as well (Aveo), probably even more rare.

stickguy

I definitely had a G6 then. Probably 2 since I was there twice!

fintail

stickguy said:

I definitely had a G6 then. Probably 2 since I was there twice!

Yeah, G6 was dumped in fleets I am pretty sure. I don't think G3 or G5 were, as they were really uncommon even when new.

fintail

sda said:

I saw a G6 convertible today going down highway 485 today, looked ok. They were a handsome car. IIRC, the G6 offered one of the first panoramic sunroofs which ended up being problematic. It was quickly discontinued and was replaced by a standard size sunroof.

I remember that, a unique large sunroof in sections that opened in a unique way, kind of an old fashioned European look:



Pano roof is such a mainstream thing now, available on many cars, but was exotic 15+ years ago. I think a pano option existed from MY 1996 onwards on the hardtop for the MB R129 SL, and entered mass production as an option on the W211 E-class in 2002. I've had 3 MBs with it, including the wagon.

uplanderguy

That yellow '79 Biarritz was bid to $22,100, but reserve not met.

I like that car a lot, but I doubt I'd have bid that high.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/314813224703?mkcid=1&mkrid=711-53200-19255-0&siteid=0&campid=5337851298&customid=658152&toolid=10001&mkevt=1

andre1969

okay, time for a few more "baby pictures"
Here's the 5th Ave, viewed from the Charger's backup camera...
And, "kissin' cousins" or "bitter sibling rivalry"?
Getting tucked into the crib...
And finally, snuggled up against "Grandpa"...

Michaell

I gotta ask ... how do you keep all the keys organized for the fleet?

explorerx4

Saw this for sale on the corner near the exit to my sub.

andre1969

Michaell said:

I gotta ask ... how do you keep all the keys organized for the fleet?

just different key chains/fobs.The only one that's missing in that batch is for my blue '79 New Yorker. I'm not sure where its keys got to, but until I find them, they're "in a safe place"

stickguy

Driving around a yellow 1970ish beetle (with red flames on the hood!). From the sound a modded engine. The real odd part was when I saw the back. Had been converted into a little pick up bed.

fintail

Saw a nice ~70 AMX and a 64-65 Chevelle out on the road a short while ago.

uplanderguy

That blue Chevy is a '67 Impala. Somebody tacked on that aftermarket side molding (ugh!), but although I don't like the styling nearly as much as the '65, the '67 had the best full-size Chevy instrument panel ever IMHO, and had nice thick seats and upholstery, and pretty plush door panels.

My grandparents had a new maroon '67 Impala Sport Coupe with maroon brocade interior. As a kid, I thought it was very plush compared to our '67 Chevelle 300 Deluxe, sigh. And the '67 was the last Impala to have the cool, bright-metal center rear-seat speaker.

texases

Not a fan of that Chevy’s two-tone paint.

imidazol97

andre1969 said:

okay, time for a few more "baby pictures"
Here's the 5th Ave, viewed from the Charger's backup camera..
Getting tucked into the crib...
And finally, snuggled up against "Grandpa"...

I figured out the blue car on the right is the 79 New Yorker. I didn't remember
that you had one. Couldn't figure it out until you mentioned the keys to it being missing.

Nice collection of cars. I still love the Desoto.

The school building custodian for our high school had a brand new one in
1957/8. Bright red. Parked in the driveway where he lived across from the school.




I loved seeing that car at my tender high school age as a car lover.

I never understood how he could afford it. But later our class play money disappeared
from the school office the night of the play.
And later his son was arrested and convicted of robbing the
local bank in the village where the school was.

Moral: Never rob a bank where the people know your voice and your red hair helps
make you stand out despite the mask and disguise...

uplanderguy

Texases, I hadn’t even noticed the two-tone paint on that ‘67 Impala. I detest that myself!

andre1969

Yeah, I didn't notice the two-toning at first, either. I just thought it was a dark blue car, and a trick of the light and shadows. It also looks odd, viewing it from a modern perspective, seeing it sitting on those stock 14" rims and relatively skinny tires. Most of them these days have probably been upgraded to those big 15x7 Rally wheels or something aftermarket, which fills out the wheel openings much better. But, this is how most of them came, back in the day.

explorerx4

I didn't see that Impala when I came back from the grocery store this morning.
Maybe they put it in the garage overnight.

andre1969

I caught a couple obscurities while out shopping yesterday. First, in the parking lot at what had been a Walmart, that was now broken up into a Gabe's, Tractor Supply, and Halloween store, I saw this Jeep Compass...
These things always struck me as a weird blend of a Gremlin, Pacer, and Matador coupe! Not exactly "old", but obscure enough that it caught my eye.

Oh, and then we went to Hardee's for lunch, and out in the parking lot, this beauty showed up... As we left the Hardee's,'97-05 style of Buick Park Avenue, pulled into the drive-in. I didn't get a chance to get a picture of it, but it looked almost brand-new. At a quick glance it looked like the same color as my old 2000, but in looking through old pics, this one was more goldish, whereas mine was more of a champagne/driftwood color. It was really shiny, like it was brand-new. Or freshly repainted. No sunroof, and a standup hood ornament, so most likely not an Ultra. The Ultra had the Buick logo in the top of the grille. At least, mine did.

sda

Do you still have the Ultra? Any plans for it?

andre1969

I hate to 'fess up to it, but yes. It's over at my grandmother's house. In fact, on the day I bought the Charger, I took a "family pic" of the two Buicks together...
Admittedly, we've been really slow and lazy about cleaning Grandmom's old house out. Plus, my uncle is still living there. The ultimate plan is for him to move in with me, but I think he likes having his independence, so he doesn't seem to be in much of a rush. Plus, that house has been in the family for longer than he (or I) have been alive. He was born in 1952; Grandmom and Granddad bought it in 1950. So I think it's just hard to let go and move on.

As for the Park Ave, my plan is to eventually have it towed over here to my house, and then try to sell it. Perhaps on Facebook in one of those "Brougham Society" or similar type pages. I occasionally see people over there whining about finding this or that car in the junkyard, and wishing they had saved it in time. Of course, it's easier to talk about saving an old car with a lot of needs, than actually going through with it. But I figured I'd rather try and sell it from my house, than Grandmom's. Grandmom's neighborhood is going downhill, and I'd rather not have strangers coming around, seeing how secluded the area looks, and then coming back to break in or something. At my old house, which was across the street, after I'd moved out but before I sold, the garage got broken into a few times, and once or twice I found evidence of kids hanging out on the deck drinking and partying and getting high.

Out here at the new place, it's not quite so "desolate" looking. And there are security cameras and motion lights all over the place. But anyway, I figure I'll try to sell it, and if that ends up being too aggravating, I'll just donate it or call the number on one of those "CASH for your unwanted car!" signs people sometimes nail to telephone poles.

It hasn't been started in a few years, but as the old cliche goes, "It ran when parked!" The brakes went out on it. Driver's door won't open. It also needs suspension work, tires, rear shocks, brake work, emissions work, and I forget what else at this point. If someone was masochistic enough, it could be fixed up. Or, more likely, be used as a parts car for someone who has a nicer one.

stickguy

If you have to pay to have it towed, just have them disappear it instead is my recommendation.

ab348

Most wrecking/recycling yards will pick up a car for you. Some might even pay a small sum if it is a useful thing for them to have,

roadburner

When I ran for judge in 1986 my opponent sold his Mercedes of that vintage and bought a Crown Vic to curry favor with the Ford employees. I was still driving my 1973 Bavaria.
His cunning plan failed...

uplanderguy

andre, drove past our nearest Mopar dealer and they had a Charger like yours, except it was retina-searing chartreuse! That blue you chose is muchhhhh better!

RE.: That era Park Avenue you have....I always liked those. Taller and roomier inside than the ones before; very American styling and six-passenger seating if you want it. Pretty unlike anything else at the time. I always liked that bright green metallic available in '99 only on them.

texases

This shows how big modern cars have become:

andre1969

uplanderguy said:

andre, drove past our nearest Mopar dealer and they had a Charger like yours, except it was retina-searing chartreuse! That blue you chose is muchhhhh better!

RE.: That era Park Avenue you have....I always liked those. Taller and roomier inside than the ones before; very American styling and six-passenger seating if you want it. Pretty unlike anything else at the time. I always liked that bright green metallic available in '99 only on them.

You mean like this?
Actually, if things fell through on the blue one that I got, I was thinking about going to look at this one! At quick glance I actually do kinda like that color, but I have a feeling the novelty would wear off pretty quickly, and I'd get tired of it, and it would just be TOO much for my tastes.

As for my Park Avenue, I think it has its good points and bad points compared to the '91-96 style. It's a bit bigger, and definitely more substantial looking. But at the same time, doesn't seem as well-built, and the interior seems like they did some cost cutting in some details. It definitely has big, thick, comfy seats though. Mine has a column shift and a split bench, so you could get 6 people in there if you wanted. I do remember a few months after I bought mine, I happened to spot a nice looking dark green one for sale, and was kicking myself a bit for not having waited. Of course, you can't predict stuff like that!

roadburner

texases said:

This shows how big modern cars have become:

On the European side most every car has gone up one size or more since the '90s. My C Class is approximately the same size as a an E Class from 20-30 years ago. I wish it was smaller and lighter but it is what it is.

roadburner

andre1969 said:

uplanderguy said:

andre, drove past our nearest Mopar dealer and they had a Charger like yours, except it was retina-searing chartreuse! That blue you chose is muchhhhh better!

RE.: That era Park Avenue you have....I always liked those. Taller and roomier inside than the ones before; very American styling and six-passenger seating if you want it. Pretty unlike anything else at the time. I always liked that bright green metallic available in '99 only on them.

You mean like this?
Actually, if things fell through on the blue one that I got, I was thinking about going to look at this one! At quick glance I actually do kinda like that color, but I have a feeling the novelty would wear off pretty quickly, and I'd get tired of it, and it would just be TOO much for my tastes.

As for my Park Avenue, I think it has its good points and bad points compared to the '91-96 style. It's a bit bigger, and definitely more substantial looking. But at the same time, doesn't seem as well-built, and the interior seems like they did some cost cutting in some details. It definitely has big, thick, comfy seats though. Mine has a column shift and a split bench, so you could get 6 people in there if you wanted. I do remember a few months after I bought mine, I happened to spot a nice looking dark green one for sale, and was kicking myself a bit for not having waited. Of course, you can't predict stuff like that!

I came very close to buying a Challenger Scat Pack in that color until I priced track tires for it...

stickguy

the Dodge dealer closest to me has a Charger that color parked on the driveway out by the road.

stickguy

roadburner said:

texases said:

This shows how big modern cars have become:

On the European side most every car has gone up one size or more since the '90s. My C Class is approximately the same size as a an E Class from 20-30 years ago. I wish it was smaller and lighter but it is what it is.

same with the Japanese cars. A civic now is as big as an Accord was a couple of generations ago, and the original Accord is probably the size of a Fit. and the original Civic is about the size of a mini cooper.

andre1969

The Charger is in kind of a weird spot, size-wise. The wheelbase is 120". But, it's only something like 198.4" long, which surprises me. For comparison, the wheelbase of that 5th Ave it's nosing up to in the pic is on a 118.5" wheelbase, and something like 221.3" overall.

My old 2000 Intrepid was on a 113" wb, and around 204" long. My '89 Gran Fury was on a 112.7" wb, and I think was 205" long. A Dodge Diplomat would have been identical. I guess about the smallest Dodge's "wanna-be" big cars got would be the Dynasty, which bridged the gap between the M-body Diplomat and the Intrepid. It was on a stubby 104.3" wb, an artifact from the K-car era. I think the Dynasty was around 192".

So, it's sort of a combination of a big car wheelbase, but midsized car length. I think one thing that hides the fact that wheelbase is so lanky is those large wheels. It's also a bit tall for a car that looks low-slung. I don't know the exact height, but online I found "57.6 to 58.5 inches." For comparison, the 5th Ave is listed at 54.5".

My old Regal was around 196" long, on a 109" wb. I kinda wish I had gotten a pic of the Charger and the Regal nose-to-nose, to see the differences.

I was a bit worried that the Charger would feel cumbersome, and be hard to see out of, but it's not as bad as I thought it would be. The only thing I don't like, so far, is backing up. It's really hard to judge. But I'm getting used to that backup camera real fast! The side mirrors are also kind of small. But, just like any new car, I have to get used to its nuances.

ab348

Pictures of modern classic cars being built/shipped/at dealers pop up on FB fairly often and most of them I’ve seen multiple times. This one made an appearance today and I don’t recall ever seeing it before. 1970 model year. Seems too good to be true, so who knows if it is legit.