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

texases

Obviously I’m having problems posting pics from my phone.

uplanderguy

Good ad. The sentimental thing may wear thin for some people, but I would rather look at that Suburban than a new one

I think so too. I'm a sentimental and nostalgic guy, but impatient about a lot of newer stuff.

Funny that those old Suburbans were three-doors.

fintail

The new Suburban may be capable and comfortable, but not so much a looker.

When I was a kid, I knew a kid who's dad had a 3 door Suburban. Even then it was obscure, and it was being customized in the style of the time (lowered, multiple neon paint shades, billet style wheels, etc).

Spotted this in a real estate listing of a time warp 1975 house that last sold in 1977:

uplanderguy

I knew a family in my hometown who had Suburbans as family cars. I remember two or three of them over the years. First one I remember was one of the vintage of the one in that commercial, but it was orange with a white painted top.

The Dad looked like Stalin.

stickguy

Love the color on that truck. If it was a short bed step side it would be perfect!

stickguy

I also had a friend with a 3 door burban. Early to mid 70s (not sure how old I was at the time!)

uplanderguy

They used to give you your choice of panel doors in the rear or a typical tailgate with window that lowered and raised. For some reason the family I remembered always got the panel doors.

fintail

Suburbans weren't uncommon family cars when I was a kid in the PNW, but I was in areas with agriculture in one form or another, and they were often used as utility vehicles as well as people haulers. There were also conversion models, along the lines of conversion vans - those were status symbols for affluent farmers.

I think the barn doors could be had into the GMT800 series.

uplanderguy

Now that you mention it, I seem to remember dutch-style panel doors being available in later Suburbans. I mostly remember just the plain old panel doors.

uplanderguy

Cleaner, bigger version of the new Chevy extended Christmas commercial. From their own site, not copied from as was the first site I'd posted from.

https://www.facebook.com/chevrolet/videos/867062728300619

andre1969

Ouch, that one kind of hits...sort of like a 1-2 punch of a tear-jerker episode of "The Waltons" followed up by one of the bittersweet tragedy-themed episodes of "Little House on the Prairie."

uplanderguy

I probably like it the least of all three they've made. I like the '66 Impala SS convertible one best, followed by the '57 Nomad one, but this one is a good storyline other than an old Suburban does much less for me than those earlier Chevys.

I'm a numbers guy so in my head I'm always trying to figure out how accurate the characters' ages are compared to the setting of the old Chevy, LOL.

andre1969

It sort of hit with me because it got me thinking that could very well be the last Christmas they have with that old lady, but at least they're making the most of it. And in a sordid way, makes me think of last Christmas, in '22, which didn't go so well. My uncle and I had gone down to see my Mom and stepdad a few days after Christmas, and my stepdad definitely had some kind of burr under his saddle, because his toxicity level was off the charts.

When my uncle and I left I said something like "you know, if we NEVER come down here for Christmas again, I won't have a problem with it!"

And, here it is, almost a year later. Mom's gone. My uncle's gone. Even the rig we drove down in, Dad's '03 Regal, is gone. Probably cubed and on its way overseas to get turned into something else. Yet, in 2022, none of us had the slightest idea that, as off-kilter as it was, that would be our last Christmas together.

uplanderguy

Sorry all of that happened for you, andre.

uplanderguy

Just saw this pic on FB, taken recently in CA. '67 GTO. This car just grabs me, and I can't say I'm a true GTO guy. Looks so bone-stock. Those wheel covers, I'm pretty sure, are the disc brake wheel covers that year. I like the color, the shape and size of the car, and the restrained styling. Nice rocker trim and no need for louvers or fake vents on the body sides.

fintail

Great color on the GTO.

Is the emotional Chevy ad going to be on TV too? Better than those old Lexus commercials for sure.

uplanderguy

In past years, the commercial was shown in movie theaters, and I was told this morning someone saw it during a football game over the long weekend.

The earlier Christmas commercials, had shortened versions which played on TV.

I haven't seen it anywhere aired yet, just online.

stickguy

the Suburban ad has been on TV. I saw it, but did not really pay attention to it.

uplanderguy

Suburban is the oldest continuous nameplate in the industry, since 1935. When I was a kid, the brochure referred to them as "Suburban Carryall".

Other than the International Travelall, nobody else made anything like it.

It's funny to think that back in the era of the Suburban in the commercial, GMC sold their own version too, but they didn't even try to call it something else....theirs too was the Suburban.

andre1969

I wonder if the word "Suburban" is common/generic enough that it can't be trademarked? DeSoto used the word "Suburban" for its long-wheelbase sedans in the 40's, through 1954, cars that were famous as taxis. And Plymouth picked up the word and used it for their wagon models, for years.

If it's a case of one company using the word at one point in time, and another using it years later, I can see there not being a problem. For instance, Edsel Citation vs Chevy Citation. But, the DeSoto and Plymouth Suburbans were on the market at the same time as the Chevy/GMC Suburban.

andre1969

I like that '67 GTO. They're usually not my thing either, but I'm loving the color on that one. Normally, I'm used to seeing them in more gold hues.

My uncle had a '67, back in the early 70's, that was gold. He paid $500 for it. I remember a story about how one time he went through some little podunk town in Appalachia and got the cops after him. He somehow managed to evade them. But, on the way home, was dumb enough to come back the same way, and they nabbed him! When he sold it, I think he got $500 for it as well. Ah, the good old days when stuff like this was just everyday used cars!

uplanderguy

In your opinion, are those the factory '67 disc brakes wheel covers? I'm thinking they are. So nice to see a car that was the way most of them left the factory...I mean, no big blackwall tires, no Cragar mags, not lifted up in the rear, etc. I like the whitewalls and wheel covers on it.

uplanderguy

True on the Suburban. I remember the full-size Plymouth wagons using the 'Suburban', 'Custom Suburban, and 'Sport Suburban' names for a number of years. Maybe 'Suburban' was not copyrighted by whomever used it first.

Pretty amazing that the name has been used by Chevy for nearly 90 years, and that the vehicle is the same type vehicle now as then--a station wagon built on the truck chassis and body.

ab348

fintail said:

Is the emotional Chevy ad going to be on TV too? Better than those old Lexus commercials for sure.

I didn't care for this year's Chevy commercial. The dementia theme did not sit well.

I was just thinking about the Lexus "December to Remember" ads last week when the football games had a lot of ads for the holidays and Christmas. I assume if they run them, Lexus will not pull the trigger until the end of this week.

kyfdx

Yeah, all it takes to cure dementia is to drive by the high school. After that, it's all peaches and cream.
"I don't know you! Get away from me!"

uplanderguy

Speaking of commercials, Fox used audio of Eisenhower addressing D-Day troops in their commercial for the Ohio State/Michigan game.

Sheesh.

fintail

ab348 said:

fintail said:

Is the emotional Chevy ad going to be on TV too? Better than those old Lexus commercials for sure.

I didn't care for this year's Chevy commercial. The dementia theme did not sit well.

I was just thinking about the Lexus "December to Remember" ads last week when the football games had a lot of ads for the holidays and Christmas. I assume if they run them, Lexus will not pull the trigger until the end of this week.

It's a tough line. Sweet grandma suffering from dementia cheered up via a ride in 'ol Betsy, or the Lexus theme of aggressively bougie suburban consumerism.

The sentimental commercials should be about the car, like this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR6eirhr1Eg

This spot is old enough now that the type of new car at the end is starting to age off the road a little (some variants were also not the brand's finest hour - I hope no 60s models were reincarnated as such).

uplanderguy

That's a nice ad, which I don't remember seeing previously.

I think Chevy can get away with ads like these Christmas ones, because they are sentimental, like them or not, and like them or not, virtually everyone can relate to older Chevy models since they were pretty ubiquitous then and are often among the most-sought-after today because of their popularity when new.

andre1969

Is that actually what dementia is like? My paternal Granddad had it, but it was nothing like that. I guess it can affect different people, differently though. He was actually pretty good, up until his mid 90s, but then he went downhill fast, and eventually he was like a 3 year old in a 100 year old body.

For some reason, this lady seems more like how my maternal Grandmom was, later in life. Couldn't remember if she took her morning pills, and not much of a zest for life left in her. But if you asked her where the farm in Pennsylvania was that her parents had when she was a kid, her face would light up, and rattle it off without missing a beat "In between York Springs and Heidlersburg." And that's a farm that her family lost in the Great Depression, so she could only have had childhood memories of it, at best.

But then, maybe that's just human nature. I can remember a lot of stuff from my childhood, both good and bad, but then I can't remember what I did yesterday!

fintail

I think it varies a lot. My maternal grandfather suffered from it - he didn't do the silent thing, he would just get forgetful and sometimes say things that were wrong. Initially he would catch himself and he knew he was making mistakes, which was sad (I called once and asked about my grandma - he told me she was out fishing - he was an avid fisherman and no doubt this was in his mind). By the time he was around 80 he knew he was declining, and stopped driving. Eventually his coordination was impacted, and by the time he passed, he wasn't in good shape. Not something I'd wish on someone.

I am also at a point now where I can remember things I did in grade school but can't remember a random task from yesterday.

uplanderguy

My mother had it. She was sad a lot. She did have some days better than others, which would give you a glimmer of hope, but then a bad day would follow. At the nursing home they told me that at church services she'd know every word of an old hymn, but of course didn't even know where she was.

I used to be great with names. At 65, sometimes it takes me awhile to pull one up. I have a sharp memory, usually, of things in my childhood. If one of my school classmates, whom I've gotten reacquainted with by Facebook (why do some people resist FB with every inch of their souls? It's been a good thing for me) have a question about school, usually another will say "Ask Bill, he'll know" and I'll get a phone call or message. I never use a calculator to add or subtract; do it in my head. My wife says that they didn't call it that then, but now I'd be considered 'on the spectrum', LOL. A teacher, she says "You're like that kid who knows everything about dinosaurs and wants everybody else to, too", LOL.

My MD told me just a week ago that there is evidence that some vaccinations, primarily the flu shot, have been shown to ward off dementia. I found that study online afterwards.

uplanderguy

Unrelated to the topic, but on my FB page friends were commenting on a clip from "Everybody Loves Raymond" where Marie tells Frank, "I'm not just a trophy wife", LOL. Now, I never watched that show when it was on network TV, thinking it would be another white-bread sitcom where the Mom is wise and the Dad is a doofus that gets no respect from anybody.

I discovered it in reruns and it's the first sitcom I can remember where the wife is largely unlikeable, petty and vindictive. Of course, Raymond is like a little boy.

Anybody ever see the episode where the grandparents accidentally back their Spirit or Acclaim into the house? Classic. (Apparently they were Mopar buyers as another episode was built around their old Valiant second car).

I think the writing is not witty like Seinfeld and Modern Family, but it's relatable, if you have in-laws, for sure. I'm surprised the concept--husband's parents and brother live across the street and barge in announced all the time, no boundaries--wasn't done before.

uplanderguy

For some reason, the last post reminds me.....I only post on two Edmunds forums now; down from past years, but I can't say I remember a single female poster. Does anybody here who does post on other Edmunds forums see any female posters? Only curious.

kyfdx

uplanderguy said:

For some reason, the last post reminds me.....I only post on two Edmunds forums now; down from past years, but I can't say I remember a single female poster. Does anybody here who does post on other Edmunds forums see any female posters? Only curious.

There used to be three or four regulars. I've seen maybe two in the "conversational" discussions, in the last year or so..

Plenty of females post in the Lease Questions forums.

kyfdx

My mother had dementia. I became her guardian when she was 75 (she passed away at 80). 3.5 years in a nursing home. It's pretty ugly.

My M-I-L has dementia (90 yrs old). She's been in memory care unit (assisted living, now a nursing home) for the last 8 years, or so.

She seems pretty good when we visit. My sister-in-law manages her care, as she lives close by. S-I-L says that she's angry a lot. If I lived in a 12 X 20 room with a room-mate, had to use a wheelchair, and never got to sit on a toilet, I'd be angry, too.

uplanderguy

RE.: The Chevy commercial--for someone who has owned all my daily drivers but one that were Chevys--and haven't regretted it, yet--I really never considered buying a Chevy as a hobby car. Too commonplace. Really, although I love '62 Corvettes and second-gen Corvairs, I never got close to buying either. I could probably push the button on a '77 Caprice Classic coupe or '78 Malibu Classic coupe with pretty specific equipment and in original or authentically-restored condition, but the chance of finding one is pretty slim.

My love of Studes (mostly '60's models) comes from being old enough to remember them on the streets, plus the Stude dealer butted up back against our hometown Chevy dealer, so whenever we were there I could see the Stude dealer.

andre1969

Now that I think about it, all the Chevies I've owned were hand-me-downs from family members. When I first started driving in 1987, Mom gave me her '80 Malibu coupe. And on the subject of remembering minute details, I can still remember the day my car insurance started...1/19/1987, and it was $1,361 for the year, liability-only.

In March of 1998, Mom gave me her '86 Monte Carlo, which was the car she had replaced the Malibu with. It had about 179,000 miles on it. I was still delivering pizzas for a second job back then, and in three months, got it up to around 192,000, when I got t-boned by a teen in a 1992 Tempo who ran a stop sign in the parking lot.

Then there was Granddad's '85 C10 Silverado. He bought it new in the summer of '85. He passed away in 1990, but Grandmom kept it around awhile. At some point in the mid 90's, Grandmom gave it to my Mom and stepdad. They sold it to me for $1200, in 2002. Grandmom was mad that they charged me for a truck she gave them, but to be fair, they did put some money into it.

And now, the latest Chevy, my uncle's 2016 Colorado. He bought it new, in June of 2016. And now that he's gone, it's getting passed to me.

There's actually a lot of old Chevies that I like, but for whatever reason, one never fell into my hands. I'd say the closest was a '72 Impala convertible that I found for sale, back in college, around 1991. At first I was really psyched, and serious about it. But the sales guy on the lot didn't have a key to the trunk. One of the latches to the convertible top was also broken. Still, the guy quoted me $1995. However, when I went back, the sales manager suddenly changed the price to $2500. He found the trunk key, and I could see how the rear quarters looked like they had rusted out, but someone had pop-rivited some new sheetmetal in, and smoothed it out enough on the exterior to make it look good at a quick glance. Oh, and they wouldn't even fix the latch to the top, but rather said they'd split the cost 50/50. So I walked.

I think for the most part, whatever Chevy is out there that I might like, I happen to prefer the Pontiac version of it. Although, I'd still be happy with a nice '72 Impala, either a convertible, or a 4-door hardtop. My grandparents had a '72 4-door hardtop, Sequioa green with a white vinyl top, and I was fixated on that thing as a kid.

stickguy

Advantage to Chevy is they made so many and replacement or repro parts are plentiful. Nobody wants to restore an oddball made out of unobtanium!

uplanderguy

Funny, I didn't know this when I got into Studes, but for the years I liked (not far from the very end), there were both tons of NOS, even sheetmetal, and also reproduction trim. One of the former mods here used to doubt me on that, until I showed him a pic of the NOS parts place inside, and a pic of the catalog of the biggest parts place that did reproduction parts. (The fellow spoke first with absolute certainty, and maybe asked questions later, LOL.)

That was a nice fringe, but not the reason I got into them. I liked that they were different. Really good club support in general too, and the museum is great, including their archives.

In 1993 I bought NOS doors, rear quarters, hood, grille panel, and rear panel for my '63 Lark Daytona. Total was about $750. My Stude restorer told me it was cheaper to buy new than for him to repair what was on the car.

ab348

My buddy who moved up country bought a '63 Impala 2-dr HT last year, I believe it was a slightly older restoration when he got it, and he immediately set to work making it perfect. Which he pretty much has, and it now looks remarkable, but aside from his skill and effort it really doesn't do much for me. White painted top over the '63 Chevy Tomato Red paint and red interior. It has some power options (windows and seats I think, which he had to rebuild) and there isn't a surface on the inside or out he hasn't touched. Underhood looks fabulous as does the interior and trunk. It's just a 283/Powerglide though he says it gets around fine. I admire his determination and craftsmanship, but the car itself not so much.

texases

Does he have a special link to the '63? Or just likes it? If I ever go that route, the car will need to have something special under the hood.

uplanderguy

My friend with the '63 Riviera bought a black '64 Impala SS coupe, 327/300 with 4-speed, last year. In the '61-64 model years I like each year less than the previous one. But it is nicely equipped, with the 4-speed and tach. It had no power steering but he added it. It's a bone-stock car otherwise. I can't imagine when '65's started showing up at the dealers, next to that squared-up '64.

I remember the '63 and '64 had a green "COLD" light. Did the other divisions have that then or not? I have no idea.

ab348

texases said:

Does he have a special link to the '63? Or just likes it? If I ever go that route, the car will need to have something special under the hood.

I don't think so. He had a '55 Chevy as his first car as a teenager but I don't think he ever had a '60s one. I guess he just likes them.

ab348

uplanderguy said:

I remember the '63 and '64 had a green "COLD" light. Did the other divisions have that then or not? I have no idea.

When I was a kid Dad had a '63 Pontiac and it had a Cold light. But remember being in Canada that was a Chevy chassis/drivetrain with a Pontiac body and interior so who knows for sure. But the Pontiac instrument cluster it had included the light.

roadburner

I would still like to have a 1970 Camaro Z/28 RS or maybe a 1987 IROC. I also liked the later Laguna S3.

andre1969

On the subject of sentimentality, today's a bit of a bittersweet moment for me. I called the phone company, and had the phone service turned off over at my Uncle/Grandmom's house. I think they had that number as long as they had the house, which they bought in 1950, although I guess it's possible they might have transferred that number from their previous home? Back then, I think home phones were still a bit of a plaything for the rich, especially out in the boonies. And I remember Mom saying that in the early days, it was a party line. And it was always referred to by its 7 digit number, and not "KLondike5-2368", like how you heard on a lot of tv shows and movies back then.

I'm a bit too much of a sentimentalist, so for a brief moment, I thought about trying to hold onto the number, and perhaps try to have it transferred as a second line to my home. But, common sense prevailed, and I just canceled it, entirely.

Anyway, to keep it somewhat auto-related, here's a few pics of what I'm now, for better or worse, inheriting...
First, here's the 2016 Colorado that I've mentioned before...

Here's the 2006 Sienna minivan he bought a little over 4 years ago. Eek, I'm now technically a minivan owner!
And, while I was over there, couldn't forget this. FOR A GREAT BUiCK CALL 555-7617
And, hell, a "family portrait!" I'm really starting to appreciate people who move every so many years, and as a result don't accumulate so much stuff. I'm NOT looking forward to clearing out that house!

I have to admit, I'm starting to like that Colorado more and more, and lately have been tending to drive it, versus the Ram or the Charger. Although, some of that may be out of laziness. The Charger and Ram stay in the garage, while the Colorado is parked outside, so it's just easier to hop in it and go, rather than open the garage door, take one of the other cars out, get out and close the garage. And repeat when I come home. I know, that sounds lazy as hell...

ab348

The Colorado looks like new. Not so much the other two.

laurasdada

It's always a bit of a teary-eyed event when you are wrapping up the physical possession remnants of people's lives.

Michaell

My sister took care of my moms belongings when we moved her out of the house she’d been in for 50+ years.

tjc78

We moved my Grandfather out of his house into my Moms before he passed thankfully. That was a nightmare cleaning his house out.

Same with Mom, she has been with us for six years. Her house wasn’t a picnic either!