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

Michaell

We did keep moms car, however. My sister drives it on occasion. 2003 Hyundai Sonata GLS V6 that now has around 55,000 miles on it.

kyfdx

My uncle had been in his house for 42 years, before passing last year.
He was in a nursing home, the last five months. The month before he died, I hired an auction service to dispose of his stuff. I forgot to save any of his suits. When he passed away, the next month, I had to go to Goodwill to find clothes to bury him in.

stickguy

My father sold his house before we had a chance to deal with 60 years of stuff and gave me and my sister about 6 weeks to help empty it. I lived 2 hours away she lived 5. I spent a lot of time driving back and forth. Not fun. But at least now he lives in 1 room. That should be easy when the time comes.

stickguy

Andre, do you really need the barge if a ram for real truck duties? I know you complain about taking it into the city. If not I would keep the Chevy and sell the ram and probably still have more truck than you really need. And unload the minivan ASAP

texases

I might spend a few bucks on headlight polish jobs...

explorerx4

I went to visit my Dad while were on vacation, my Mom was in Germany visiting her sister.
When I got the house, I knew something wasn't right, there were 3 newspapers on the front stoop.
Broke into the house using my old high school entry method, climb up on the back porch roof, jimmy the storm window and open the real window, which was unlocked like I had always left it.
Found him in his recliner with a phone in his hand.
He had an 83 Plymouth Reliant 2 door, 2 tone gray and silver. Not sure what happened to it.

When my Mom passed, we were on the way to the grocery store where we went just about every Sunday.
One minute we were talking about Thanksgiving and the next when I looked over she was totally slack.
She had a bad heart but didn't want to anything about it being in her 80's.
I ran every stop sign and red light getting her to the hospital about 5 miles away.
Held her hand and kept talking to her but it was too late, they couldn't bring her back.
She had a 5 year old 2010 Ford Fiesta with 15K on it.
It got over 40 mpg going from Harford to Wilkes-Barre and back but it had that awful transmission.
Ford dealer offered 7500 for it and Carmax offered 8K, so I sold it to them.

ab348

I’ve been here 25 years and will probably be here until they carry me out, hopefully many years from now.

A couple of weeks ago I was getting foam insulation sprayed into the unfinished part of the basement which is a utility room and storage. I had to get the perimeter walls in those spaces clear of stuff. It was a gawdawful job. There was barely enough space to move everything into. I made a pile of stuff that I wanted gone. I called Just Junk to take it away, best move I made. I probably need to do it all over again with what remains when I do a finer-grained culling. Found stuff I had forgotten about. I’ve got way too many LP records, old stereo gear, you name it.

xwesx

andre1969 said:

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...

You know, a few years back, they invented something known as an "automatic garage door opener." It's an excellent addition to any lazyman's garage. Check it out! ;P

Also, you can get phone numbers ported to cellular as well. And, when your phone company isn't incredibly incompetent, I hear that it is actually a very easy thing to accomplish. Not that there's anything wrong with cancelling, but it's a fabulous nod to sentimentality to port a phone number. Haha!

What's your plan for the property? Clearing it out to sell?

roadburner

When we traded houses with my mother in 1992 she was kind enough to leave enough cr*p that it required three 30 yard and one 20 yard dumpster to clean out the house and the detached garage.
When we moved her into assisted living in 2005 she had accumulated enough detritus that another 20 yard dumpster was required.

stickguy

when we dealt with my father's house, he got at least 2, maybe 3, of the big dumpsters. My sister and I referred to them as "packing in the big red box". A lot of history just heaved over the side. Did not miss any of it.

uplanderguy

The back of that Hyundai says "Olds Intrigue" to me.

andre1969

stickguy said:

when we dealt with my father's house, he got at least 2, maybe 3, of the big dumpsters. My sister and I referred to them as "packing in the big red box". A lot of history just heaved over the side. Did not miss any of it.

Back in 2014, when Grandmom went into the hospital, we got a dumpster. The main reason, was that we had the bathroom remodeled to have it wheelchair accessible, and also with a walk in tub. At the time, we figured Grandmom would be coming home eventually, but in a deteriorated state. The remodeling guys said that it would make things cheaper if we got a dumpster, so they could just bring the old debris out on the front porch, and throw it in, rather than haul the stuff away themselves. We used it as an excuse to go through the house, garage, and even my house and garage, and get rid of a bunch of stuff we'd never need.

I forget how many cubic yards it was, but I'd estimate it was about 20 feet long. I tend to take pics of just about everything, so I looked back and yup, found a pic of I snapped of it!
And, a pic of my Ram being put to work, cleaning out my own garage... I'm just thinking...WOULD that be roughly a 30 cubic foot dumpster? It was taller than me, and even accounting for it having the frame underneath, and sitting on boards, I'm sure the inside area was at least 6 feet. Even though it angles inward at the bottom, I'd guess it was about 8 feet wide. If I do the math...20 feet x 8 feet x 6 feet, divided by 27 cubic feet in a yard, I come out with 31.1

Anyway, even with all the junk and artifacts we jettisoned, I'd say we barely made a dent, in the overall contents of the two houses.

tjc78

We’ve been in our house three years now and I’d comfortably be able to say the “stuff” (not counting furniture) is about the same as when we moved in.

We did a mini purge upon unpacking and recently cleared out a bunch of stuff the kids don’t use any longer.

andre1969

stickguy said:

Andre, do you really need the barge if a ram for real truck duties? I know you complain about taking it into the city. If not I would keep the Chevy and sell the ram and probably still have more truck than you really need. And unload the minivan ASAP

Oh, it's not because the Ram is too big, that I don't like going into the city. It's because the Ram is not bulletproof! I haven't been into DC in about 4 years now, unless it was to go to Union Station to pick up someone/drop them off. And my only treks into Baltimore in the past few years, were to take my uncle to the hospital and pick him up.

Prior to the past 4 years or so, it had gotten to the point I'd just park at a Metro (what we call the subway) station out in the 'Burbs, and take the train in if I wanted to go anywhere. With Baltimore, it was often a tossup between the Light Rail, or just driving in and hitting a parking garage, which seemed more plentiful in Baltimore than DC.

Last time I rode the Light Rail though, it was somewhat reminiscent of the Griswold's unexpected detour through St. Louis! At one point, the cops were even waiting at one of the stations, and held up the train searching for someone!

I don't know how common it still is, but for awhile, in Baltimore they'd do something called "The Bump Game." Basically, either steal a car, or use one that's already a bit beat-on, and then rear-end the person in front of you. Then, when you get out to exchange insurance information, that's when you get carjacked. They're less likely to do it if you're in a truck, because they'll go up under it, although it does beg the question...why not just use a truck to do your dirty work?

I'm convinced someone tried the Bump Game on me a few years back. I was in Baltimore, in Dad's '03 Regal. Stopped at a traffic light, I swear I felt just the slightest tap, and looked in the mirror to see a Pontiac Torrent a little too close for comfort. I figure they tapped me, but I knew it wouldn't have been enough to damage the car. Anyway, when the light turned green and traffic started moving, I drove off, and saw the driver throw up his hands, almost in shock, as if to say "Oh crap, he's getting away!" or "He didn't fall for it!" etc.

I don't really "need" the Ram, but I like the Ram. It's more comfortable, roomier, a LOT more powerful. I can back it up more easily than the Colorado, because it has bigger mirrors. The architecture of that extended cab also hinders visibility. However, the Colorado does have a backup camera.

And, this might simply be because I'm more accustomed to it, but I swear the Ram feels like it handles better. It's bigger, yeah, but just feels more stable and well-planted, whereas the Colorado feels jittery.

I haven't driven the Colorado enough to get a good gauge of what kind of fuel economy it will get, as I've only topped it off once, and I'm still around a half tank. The trip computer says 20.5 mpg, but I'm curious to see what result the pen & paper calculation shows. For comparison, the Ram's last tank got me about 15.9 mpg, in similar type driving.

Admittedly, it is wasteful to keep both trucks around, and when you calculate time value of money, and the potential money tied up in those vehicles, and stuff like that it's not an efficient use of resources. But, it's not straining me financially, as both vehicles are paid off. Now, if I had to make payments on one (or both) of them, or parking/storage space was limited, I'd probably be in a rush to unload one of them.

But yeah, I'm definitely looking to unload that minivan! Probably not until after I get the house sold, though. I like having a vehicle over there, so the place doesn't look abandoned, and invite burglars, squatters, or feral teenagers looking for a place to get drunk, high, and reproduce. Every time I go by, I start the minivan up, and move it to a different spot in the driveway, sometimes have it face the other direction, etc.

andre1969

tjc78 said:

We’ve been in our house three years now and I’d comfortably be able to say the “stuff” (not counting furniture) is about the same as when we moved in.

We did a mini purge upon unpacking and recently cleared out a bunch of stuff the kids don’t use any longer.

When you moved, was the new house bigger, smaller, or about the same size as the old one? In my case, I went from a 1254 square foot condo (plus a 1-car garage that was about 10x20), to a ~1500 square foot house (with a ~12x16 workshop, and later I built a 24x40 garage), and finally to a 2440 square foot house (above-grade, plus a 960 square foot basement, 432 square foot sunroom that's more of a "3 season" room, and a few outbuildings, and then I had the 36x60 garage with a ~900 square foot loft built).

It's scary, how easily that extra square footage fills up, if you let it!

ab348

andre1969 said:

It's scary, how easily that extra square footage fills up, if you let it!

Nature abhors a vacuum.

stickguy

We have more stuff after a year but it’s mostly some furniture we bought to replace old stuff we did not move. 99% of the treasures my wife had to move are still in the box on a shelf downstairs. Our plan is to finish the thinking out process we did not complete last year when we ran out of time and the remainder got shoved in boxes

We did get rid of a lot though. And at least most is still neatly packed!

uplanderguy

andre, your Baltimore remarks made me chuckle a bit.

My friend with the Riv and '64 Impala is from Baltimore and lives in Timonium. His wife is from my small hometown but moved when she was a toddler and still has family there.

Both seem to almost enjoy goofing on the old town and how glad they are to not live there. I think it's quite typical for people who moved, to say it was the best decision that could've been made. I don't live there anymore but live close enough that I volunteer at the historical society there and also at this time of year give to local charities there. They could use it more than where I live now. And, I still know people there and picked up a sense of values there, which I know everyone thinks about where they grew up.

I often think, "Well, people in Greenville most likely don't want to live in Baltimore, either", LOL.

Totally different subject, but I follow a FB page called "Little Indians", about '61-63 Tempests. For some reason, I have always lusted after a '62 LeMans coupe, maroon, with the aluminum 215 V8. It was only put in 1-2% of production I've read, and I know it was used more often in Olds and maybe Buick compacts that were similar, but I always liked the Pontiac's detail styling better. My late Stude friend Bob P. used to tell me I must be a masochist to want one of those as the rope-drive was a service headache in his opinion, LOL.

I think through probably most of the '60's, Pontiac exterior styling and instrument panel styling was the best of GM....compacts, midsizes, and full-size. As an example, that '67 GTO I posted a couple days ago...I thought hard what the other '67 GM midsizes looked like. To my eyes, that car is the prettiest of them all.

I do sometimes think the seat trim and door panel designs are behind what even Chevy offered then, but Pontiac sure nailed it everywhere else.

tjc78

@andre1969 said:
When you moved, was the new house bigger, smaller, or about the same size as the old one? In my case, I went from a 1254 square foot condo (plus a 1-car garage that was about 10x20), to a ~1500 square foot house (with a ~12x16 workshop, and later I built a 24x40 garage), and finally to a 2440 square foot house (above-grade, plus a 960 square foot basement, 432 square foot sunroom that's more of a "3 season" room, and a few outbuildings, and then I had the 36x60 garage with a ~900 square foot loft built).

It's scary, how easily that extra square footage fills up, if you let it!

Much bigger home. Easily double the size plus a two car garage.

We did a monster purge of our old home which had remnants of Grandpop’s and Mom’s house. Our attic was full and basement not far behind.

The new house has a pretty large storage room in basement that’s 2/3 full with decorations and some misc boxes and my excess audio equipment.

We have two attics. The large one over the main part of the house has nothing in it (I’ve never even looked up there). The one over the garage is 95% empty just has a few empty equipment boxes I want to save.

Garage can still fit two normal sized vehicles with storage on shelving and the edges. I can’t get the Ram in there because I have a workbench on the deep side. That will change soon since I don’t use it anyway. I’ll also have to raise the shelving up on that side since the Ram is so tall it hits the shelf with the door

xwesx

andre1969 said:

stickguy said:

when we dealt with my father's house, he got at least 2, maybe 3, of the big dumpsters. My sister and I referred to them as "packing in the big red box". A lot of history just heaved over the side. Did not miss any of it.

Back in 2014, when Grandmom went into the hospital, we got a dumpster. The main reason, was that we had the bathroom remodeled to have it wheelchair accessible, and also with a walk in tub. At the time, we figured Grandmom would be coming home eventually, but in a deteriorated state. The remodeling guys said that it would make things cheaper if we got a dumpster, so they could just bring the old debris out on the front porch, and throw it in, rather than haul the stuff away themselves. We used it as an excuse to go through the house, garage, and even my house and garage, and get rid of a bunch of stuff we'd never need.

It's amazing how quickly they fill up, even the 30 c.y. monsters! Yes, that orange one is a 30.

laurasdada

Spotted today, the mythical Nissan Murano Cross Cabrio. In copper!

explorerx4

@laurasdada,
Sorry for your loss.

fintail

andre1969 said:

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Last time I rode the Light Rail though, it was somewhat reminiscent of the Griswold's unexpected detour through St. Louis! At one point, the cops were even waiting at one of the stations, and held up the train searching for someone! .

Don't take the Charger into Baltimore! And don't park next to that Torino with no wheels.

andre1969

fintail said:

Don't take the Charger into Baltimore! And don't park next to that Torino with no wheels.

"What I look like? Christopher COLUMBO?!" (network tv version...I couldn't repeat the original theatrical release here )

When I used to have to run my uncle back and forth to the hospital for his regular procedures and such, I had to do what I called "Running the Gauntlet". Between the Squeegee Boyz on every corner, kamikaze drivers and wanna-be carjackers trying to play the Bump Game, and the final stretch through a public housing area, where a surprisingly well-maintained '80's Monte Carlo sat parked for years, it just did not seem like the kind of place you wanted to take a car with a high theft rate.

But this last hospital, where he went in and never came out, was mostly a quick interstate run through one of the tunnels under the Baltimore Harbor, and when you got off at the exit, there was one light and the hospital was on the other side. So the Charger probably would have been safe enough there.

But, when I took him into the hospital, the first leg of the trip was going over to his house and getting him, bringing him to my place, and then I'd run him up first thing in the morning for his operation. I took the Charger, for that first leg of the trip, and had a lot of trouble getting him in and out of it, and on the way over made a comment along the lines of "this thing doesn't ride very smoothly, does it?" He also said "No way in HELL should you take that Charger into Baltimore!" so he was on the right page with me, there!

So, we used the Ram. It was a struggle to get him into it. I had to get a cinder block for him to stand on, to help get up into it. But, it was easier for him to climb up into the Ram, and then just sort of fall out out of it into a wheelchair, than to maneuver in and out of the Charger. He was getting so bad though, that he would've had trouble getting in and out of anything.

stickguy

Should have taken his sienna. Nobody was going to bother that.

andre1969

stickguy said:

Should have taken his sienna. Nobody was going to bother that.

LOL, I didn't even think of that! Admittedly, I was a bit leery of driving it, just because I'd never driven it before, or any minivan for that matter. However, from moving it around in the yard, I realized that it's not half bad. I don't like backing up with it, though!

fintail

andre1969 said:

fintail said:

Don't take the Charger into Baltimore! And don't park next to that Torino with no wheels.

"What I look like? Christopher COLUMBO?!" (network tv version...I couldn't repeat the original theatrical release here )

When I used to have to run my uncle back and forth to the hospital for his regular procedures and such, I had to do what I called "Running the Gauntlet". Between the Squeegee Boyz on every corner, kamikaze drivers and wanna-be carjackers trying to play the Bump Game, and the final stretch through a public housing area, where a surprisingly well-maintained '80's Monte Carlo sat parked for years, it just did not seem like the kind of place you wanted to take a car with a high theft rate.

But this last hospital, where he went in and never came out, was mostly a quick interstate run through one of the tunnels under the Baltimore Harbor, and when you got off at the exit, there was one light and the hospital was on the other side. So the Charger probably would have been safe enough there.

But, when I took him into the hospital, the first leg of the trip was going over to his house and getting him, bringing him to my place, and then I'd run him up first thing in the morning for his operation. I took the Charger, for that first leg of the trip, and had a lot of trouble getting him in and out of it, and on the way over made a comment along the lines of "this thing doesn't ride very smoothly, does it?" He also said "No way in HELL should you take that Charger into Baltimore!" so he was on the right page with me, there!

So, we used the Ram. It was a struggle to get him into it. I had to get a cinder block for him to stand on, to help get up into it. But, it was easier for him to climb up into the Ram, and then just sort of fall out out of it into a wheelchair, than to maneuver in and out of the Charger. He was getting so bad though, that he would've had trouble getting in and out of anything.

Kids, you noticing all this plight?

That ease of access bit reminds me of when I had an Escalade rental a few years ago for a road trip with my mom. She loathed getting into that thing, and I got a small stepstool to help her. Getting out wasn't a problem.

andre1969

I first saw National Lampoon's Vacation at my paternal grandparents'. They were early adopters (for my family at least) of cable tv. I remember back then, 1984 or so, you got the basic cable, plus three movie channels (I think they piced HBO, Showtime, and The Movie Channel) for $30 a month.

When it came on network tv, when I was in 9th grade I think, I taped it with the VCR, but the version on cable tv was fresh in my mind, I remembered most of the differences. At least, the main ones I remember were the "What I look like, Christopher COLUMBO" instead of a suggestion of what Clark could do with his mother, and "But Daddy says I'm the BEST" was changed to "But my science teacher says I'm the BEST." I dunno if that was really much better, though!

I watched my old VHS tape version of it so many times over the years, that once I saw the "real" version, it didn't seem right. For one thing, all the scenes where Clark runs into Christie Brinkley out on the road, the network version played "I'm So Excited". And that's just how I remember it. But now whenever i see it on cable, they have "Little Boy Blue" or something like that playing during those scenes. I've heard that sometimes these distributors lose the music rights to the original songs over time, and have to put something else in. But, now it has me wondering, which song DID they use, during the Christie Brinkley scenes, in the theatrical release?

My old VHS tape of the network version only had "Little Boy Blue" playing when they were at the rest stop, where Clark was flirting with her and making suggestive motions the sandwiches.

The network version also cut out all of the pot scenes with Audrey and cousin Vicki, but leave in the later scene where Audrey shoves her purse on Aunt Edna and says "Here, take my purse! Just take it!" So for the longest time, that scene just didn't make sense to me...until I saw the original version years later. Not surprisingly, the part where the tilt steering wheel gets stuck while Ellen is laying her head on Clark's lap was cut out, too!

That movie was on, over Thanksgiving weekend, and I watched it. It's weird to think that every single car in that movie is now at least 40 years old, and most probably long since junked. Good Lord, 40 years!! Where did the time go?!

fintail

Funny coincidence. I remember when we moved into a new house in 1984, the first show I saw when the cable was hooked up (I think there was a couple day delay, so we were antsy for it, and where we lived cable was a desired luxury as there wasn't much broadcast TV and what was there was iffy due to distnce) was Vacation. I think we had a package like that, basic plus a few channels - surprised my parents went for that expense, but TV was a babysitter.

A detail I have always noticed is the scene where Clark can't find the gas cap/filler on the Truckster - the car alongside them, a blue AMC Eagle wagon, is what I think was meant to be the "Antarctic Blue Super Sports Wagon" that Clark originally ordered.

I was too young to see it in theaters when new, but I recall the differences between VHS and TV, especially the "Christopher Colombo" line, the Vicki scenes (and maybe a couple lines with the male cousin too), and the Christie Brinkley scene. Also some profanity cut out, as expected for TV.

Some years ago on a trip to LA, I stopped by the filming location of Lou Glutz Motors (which was a Mopar dealer when filmed in ~1982 and still is):

andre1969 said:

I first saw National Lampoon's Vacation at my paternal grandparents'. They were early adopters (for my family at least) of cable tv. I remember back then, 1984 or so, you got the basic cable, plus three movie channels (I think they piced HBO, Showtime, and The Movie Channel) for $30 a month.

When it came on network tv, when I was in 9th grade I think, I taped it with the VCR, but the version on cable tv was fresh in my mind, I remembered most of the differences. At least, the main ones I remember were the "What I look like, Christopher COLUMBO" instead of a suggestion of what Clark could do with his mother, and "But Daddy says I'm the BEST" was changed to "But my science teacher says I'm the BEST." I dunno if that was really much better, though!

I watched my old VHS tape version of it so many times over the years, that once I saw the "real" version, it didn't seem right. For one thing, all the scenes where Clark runs into Christie Brinkley out on the road, the network version played "I'm So Excited". And that's just how I remember it. But now whenever i see it on cable, they have "Little Boy Blue" or something like that playing during those scenes. I've heard that sometimes these distributors lose the music rights to the original songs over time, and have to put something else in. But, now it has me wondering, which song DID they use, during the Christie Brinkley scenes, in the theatrical release?

My old VHS tape of the network version only had "Little Boy Blue" playing when they were at the rest stop, where Clark was flirting with her and making suggestive motions the sandwiches.

The network version also cut out all of the pot scenes with Audrey and cousin Vicki, but leave in the later scene where Audrey shoves her purse on Aunt Edna and says "Here, take my purse! Just take it!" So for the longest time, that scene just didn't make sense to me...until I saw the original version years later. Not surprisingly, the part where the tilt steering wheel gets stuck while Ellen is laying her head on Clark's lap was cut out, too!

That movie was on, over Thanksgiving weekend, and I watched it. It's weird to think that every single car in that movie is now at least 40 years old, and most probably long since junked. Good Lord, 40 years!! Where did the time go?!

tjc78

I remember all the same things about the movie on regular TV. Too funny

andre1969

Oh wow, that dealership is in Glendale! Small world, as I'm from Glenn Dale (Maryland)!

For some odd reason, when I saw Vacation the other weekend, they had cut out the gas station scene where Clark couldn't find the fuel filler, and pulled the license plate off the car. They also cut out the scene where they back out of the garage, and the door takes off all the luggage. BUT, it did have the "#### Yo Mama!" part, although the R-rated part was blanked out.

fintail

I think when Clark knocked the luggage off (I guess the late model Volvo brick in the garage wouldn't have enough luggage room for a cross country trip), a neighbor quipped something like "watch out for them Indians", which might have been a dorky joke then but might be enough for the axe now. Too bad they don't run with the Christopher Colombo version instead of censoring the word - the alternate version might be even funnier than the profanity.

The Griswold house from that same trip - it's behind a wall, so not easy to photograph:

andre1969 said:

Oh wow, that dealership is in Glendale! Small world, as I'm from Glenn Dale (Maryland)!

For some odd reason, when I saw Vacation the other weekend, they had cut out the gas station scene where Clark couldn't find the fuel filler, and pulled the license plate off the car. They also cut out the scene where they back out of the garage, and the door takes off all the luggage. BUT, it did have the "#### Yo Mama!" part, although the R-rated part was blanked out.

fintail

From a fb group spotted at Mecum - are ordinary 80s-90s cars coming into their own as collectibles? (this was a 17K mile car):

Michaell

I looked at those after graduating college, before I picked up the year old Accord hatch.

tjc78

Late 80s / early 90s Pontiacs definitely had a vibe about them.

I’d assume this one may be a “quad 4”.

uplanderguy

Seems like that color, and the metallic maroon, were the only colors I remember seeing!

A fellow I worked with had a maroon one of that vintage with 5-speed, the next gen with 5-speed (almost certain, anyway), and the gen after that with automatic.

I remember his first one most. I seem to remember thinking it had a pretty nice interior for a car that size.

Michaell

Was also a common rental for me when I was travelling in the late 80's and early 90's....

fintail

I looked into it via some chatter, apparently the car has been at Mecum a few times. Auction listing says it is a 2.5, is that the Iron Duke rather than a Quad4? (I also notice no special badging)

Michaell

fintail said:

I looked into it via some chatter, apparently the car has been at Mecum a few times. Auction listing says it is a 2.5, is that the Iron Duke rather than a Quad4? (I also notice no special badging)

2.5 is the Iron Duke; I had one in the ‘79 Sunbird I drove in college.

Quad4 is 2.3L

andre1969

My uncle looked at the Grand Ams back in early 1990. He just couldn't get past the interior. So he ended buying a used '88 LeBaron turbo coupe. And now that I think about it, Mom was kind of enamored with them as well. However, Granddad talked her out of a Grand Am, saying it would be unreliable and hard to work on, so she bought an '86 Monte Carlo instead.

I had one of the redesigned 1992 Grand Ams as a rental in California one year, and was excited about it, at first. But, the car was kind of a piece of junk. It squeaked and rattled, and seemed to get winded at higher speeds. And it had some kind of short in the horn, where it would honk when you hit a bump. Eventually, it got stuck, at night, in a bad neighborhood, and I had to pull a wire.

It does kinda blow my mind, that stuff like that is now fetching a price like that. But, there are worse things to blow your money on, I guess. Personally, of that '85-91 N-body, my favorite was the Calais. I think all three versions were nice looking on the outside, and the interiors were even pretty nice as I recall, on the Somerset/Skylark and the Calais. But the Grand Am just had too much plastic, and too many pieces.

tjc78

IMO Chrysler products had better interiors than GM or Ford during the 80s. Especially so in the lower line models.

uplanderguy

I had a Somerset four-door as a rental once, but had to return it as the wipers didn't budge, LOL.

My friend and coworker's current wife had a 5-speed Calais coupe when they started dating, certainly an unusual piece.

I know rentals aren't necessarily representative, but in 2014 I rented a Camry. I thought, "OK, the ultimate in reliability". At 14K miles it had a check engine light on the whole week I had it, and it had the sounds of needing control arm bushings up front. Just sayin'.

I used to rent 26 weeks a year, and I drove 'em all.

I had a few Merkurs back when. My memory is that the styling was goofy and the interiors acres of flat black. I had the XR4Ti and the Scorpio. The sedan styling was a bit tamer I think.

Only car that left me stranded was an '80 Fairmont.

After that, worst car I had, although it was beautiful in and out, was an '80 Grand Prix V6. Dome light burned out; courtesy light on driver's side burned out, but the RF courtesy light worked, LOL. Bumps in the road made the radio go off and on. And it ticked. I checked the oil and had to add upwards of three quarts. Worst, when I returned it, the 20-something girl mocked me for saying I hadn't rented such a bad car before. I think they did take something off the bill for the oil, although since it was a work rental I wasn't paying for the car rental itself anyway.

andre1969

tjc78 said:

IMO Chrysler products had better interiors than GM or Ford during the 80s. Especially so in the lower line models.

Yeah, I think that was one advantage of putting just about everything on the K-car platform. They saved a lot of costs on platform sharing, so they could spend a few more bucks on the interior.

Even on something like a low-rent Aries or Reliant, they seemed tolerable, at least. my uncle briefly had an '82 Reliant, which had a vinyl interior. It was one of the earlier models with the GM-style fixed rear door windows. And even though it was cheap in its own way, it still seemed like an improvement over an entry-level Citation or Cavalier.

uplanderguy

The above Grand Prix comment reminded me of a potential safety problem that I had in my '81 Monte Carlo V8 that a district manager for the company I worked for told me his same-year Cutlass Supreme did too. There was never a recall while I owned the car (stolen Oct. '82).

When cold and in reverse, as in backing out of a driveway or space, you had to stand on the brake to get the car to stop. That district manager told me he worried about hitting a kid with it like that. I never did have mine looked at by a dealer shop; I should have, don't know why I didn't.

uplanderguy

I didn't take a pic, but in a parking lot yesterday, I saw an upper-trim K-Car, but I can't recall if it was a LeBaron or New Yorker. It was a darker goldish-brown. It had a padded vinyl top as I drove by, but I don't recall it looking longer like a New Yorker did. Anyway, it sat level, had blackwall tires with wire wheelcovers, and was a turbo, as it had the "TURBO" nameplate low on the front fenders and had chromed louvers above that. It was out-and-about, so apparently ran.

When those were new, I wished the K-Car heritage wasn't so visibly obvious, in things like wheel openings, etc., but I get why they did it.

I used to enjoy getting Omnis and Horizons better than K-Cars as rentals, which struck me as Grandpa/Grandma cars. I remember the Omnis and Horizons feeling peppy to drive.

uplanderguy

Probably the rentals I hated the worst--so far as to request something else if they gave me one--were Renault Alliance and Encore. Bad styling, slow as molasses, and an Encore I rented had the right-side arm that held the hatch up, laying in the channel on the right side of the body there.

andre1969

uplanderguy said:

When cold and in reverse, as in backing out of a driveway or space, you had to stand on the brake to get the car to stop. That district manager told me he worried about hitting a kid with it like that. I never did have mine looked at by a dealer shop; I should have, don't know why I didn't.

You mean, as in when the fast idle was on, the engine was almost powerful enough to over-ride the brakes?
I don't recall my '82 Cutlass Supreme doing anything like that, but maybe the issue was fixed by then? One thing that car DID do, under my watch though, is have issues with the cruise control. It worked fine when I bought it (11 years old, admittedly), but one time out on the interstate I had to tap the brakes, which normally turns off the cruise until you press "Resume". But this one would resume, all by itself!

The first time it happened with me it was a bit scary, because I had to hit the brakes for slowing traffic, and when I took my foot off the brake, traffic was still slowed, but then the car tried to accelerate!

I probably should have gotten it fixed, but I just learned to live with it. I didn't really do a whole lot of long-distance driving where I'd use the cruise, anyway.

uplanderguy

Yes, the idle felt it was overpowering the brakes in reverse. Both ours were '81's, first year of 'Computer Command Control', but I don't know if that had anything to do with it or not.

andre1969

As for rentals, I've only had a few over the decades...
1991 Honda Civic 4-door (California trip). I actually liked this one a lot, more than I thought I would, and it gave me a new respect for small cars
1992 Grand Am (another California trip). Probably the worst rental I had, with the squeaks/rattles, seemingly getting winded, and the horn issue. I remember the redesigned '92 Grand Am being a pretty hot item at the time, and the reviewers seemed to like it, so perhaps I also built it up in my mind to the point it just couldn't live up to my expectation?
1999 Alero (quick work-related trip to CA). It had the Quad 4, and was a coupe, in dark green. I liked this one a LOT!
2001 Malibu (work related trip to Florida). It was pretty much meh. Not horrible, but nothing to brag about. It had the slightly revised 3.1, which I think got it up to like 170 or 175 hp. I remember the whole pushrod vs OHC online debates back then, and this car made me see the shortcomings of the pushrod, at the time at least. The only thing I really had to compare it to was my Intrepid, I guess, which had a 200 hp 2.7 V6. The Malibu seemed like it was definitely quicker, say from 0-60. but at higher speed driving, merging onto a highway, passing slower traffic, etc, I could feel it getting a bit winded.
2017 (I think) Dodge Journey. I had this one as a loaner, when my Ram was in the body shop in early 2017. A teen switched lanes without looking, and put a nice long crease down the side of the bed. The Journey never seemed like it was the darling of any auto tester, but I rather liked it. I figured the one they gave me was just a 4-cyl stripper, but I went to stomp on it one time and realized hey, this ain't no 4-cyl!

uplanderguy

You know, a Mopar that I thought would be a hit but I was wrong...the Caliber. I remember thinking it was cheap to buy, roomy/practical, OK looking, and could be had with a 5-speed. Seems like not many others agreed and I was dead-wrong on it becoming a hit.