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

kyfdx

‘82? I had the hatchback

fintail

Probably smaller than a new Civic, likely lighter too.

stickguy

Old school LWB LR defender. At the beach. Owner has it for sale. $40k asking.

explorerx4

83 Accord. First one built in the US.

uplanderguy

Spotted en route to Seattle airport last Wed. "Eldorette"

I'll resist comment except to say, striking paint.

tjc78

Mid 70s Eldo with T-tops… has to be aftermarket, correct?

uplanderguy

We visited Harry Truman's home in Independence, MO en route to Seattle. I absolutely loved the tour, which was about half-an-hour. I asked the guide how close I could get to Truman's '72 Newport Royal, and he said "not very" and showed me where to glance at it through the fence at the end of the long driveway.

After the tour, he walked towards us and said "I'm not supposed to do this, but come on in here; just don't go in the garage" and I got this close.

It has just under 19K miles and was purchased by Harry six months before he died. Bess continued to use it, and live in the house, until her death in 1982.

Car could use a polish and wax close-up, and still had the dealer sticker, "Hickman Chrysler-Plymouth-Dodge", on the decklid.

Newport Royal was the lowest-priced Chrysler for 1972.

The kitchen in the house looked like 1949. The only modern thing in the house was a late'60's color TV with faux wood cabinet.

We've discussed this before, but Truman reserved the plate no. 5745--V-E Day.

uplanderguy

Yeah, no factory Eldo T-Tops.

roadburner

I spotted a Suzuki X90.

texases

I can't remember the last time I saw an X90.

stickguy

LR for dale is a defender III safari. 1982 RHD.

Also a super early Willy’s Jeep. Probably beginning of the CJ run but could be an ex-military.

uplanderguy

Ok, this pause to verify that you’re not a bot every time I log in here is annoying, but not as much as the layout and fonts being screwed up on my cheap little laptop. Sigh.

Kirstie_H

uplanderguy said:

Ok, this pause to verify that you’re not a bot every time I log in here is annoying, but not as much as the layout and fonts being screwed up on my cheap little laptop. Sigh.

Our team is aware of the Cloudflare security issue, and is actively working to correct that.

We haven't seen any other complaints or examples of screwed-up layout/fonts, so unfortunately we're not able to address that issue.

tjc78

Which one are you getting?

kyfdx

Super Bee, Mach I or the '69 Vette

texases

Lots of great options, but I’m most curious about that “Cobra 302” in the Grabber. Cobra?

kyfdx

texases said:

Lots of great options, but I’m most curious about that “Cobra 302” in the Grabber. Cobra?

No idea, but guessing that is a Maverick?

explorerx4

I'd take the GS 455.

stickguy

Grabber was a Maverick. Cobra might be wishful thinking.

69 firebird sounds nice too.

Lots of manuals for sale. The good old days.

texases

Yeah, Maverick Grabber. Friend had one in high school with the 302, nothing remotely 'Cobra' about it.

ab348

I am pleased to announce that just moments ago, Cloudflare has indeed verified me as human. That's good because I was beginning to think I might be an alien.

andre1969

Of that batch, if I could only pick one, probably the '70 Super Bee. I'm surprised that it has air conditioning. I figured that even that late in the game, a/c in a musclecar was a rarity. I could also go for the '72 GTO, the '70 Monte Carlo, or the '70 GS 455. The '74 Grand Prix could be nice, but I've always heard that '74 was the absolute worst year to get a car, because that was when emissions controls were at their worst. '73 wasn't as bad, and in theory '75 was a lot better thanks to catalytic converters, but that was canceled out to a degree because the few high-output engines that were left by '74 were either gone, or REALLY emasculated by '75.

I think '75 was the year that a Dart Sport or Duster with a 360 would outperform a Corvette, at least in some metrics.

fintail

Mach 1 428 would be a Cobra Jet/Super Cobra Jet? That'd be interesting. That or the Super Bee perhaps.

tjc78

@explorerx4 said:
I'd take the GS 455.

That was my choice too

roadburner

GS 455 and GTO

ab348

Normally I’d say the one to get would be the ‘70 GS455, because those engines in 1970 were beasts. But all black? Nope.

andre1969

Going back to that pristine '82 or so Accord sedan, one thing I've always wondered...how closely related is the '82-85 style, to the '76-81? I know what constitutes an "all new" design is often subjective, but to me the 2nd-gen looks very similar, just more squared-off. Although, looking closer at pics, it does look like the windshield might have been changed, which is often an indication of a new design.

And, the wheelbase on the '82-85 was a bit longer. I had always thought the 2-doors were on a shorter wheelbase than the 4-door in both generations, but from what I've been able to find (which could be wrong) the '76-81 was on a 93.7" wb, and the '82-85 on a 96.5."

Wikipedia isn't exactly the holy grail of all things automotive, but it states "Modernizing the interior and exterior, the second-generation Accord was mechanically very similar to the original"

It's been ages since I've seen one of either generation, although I have seen the occasional '76-81 pop up at a classic car show.

texases

The first thing I look at is the greenhouse, and the 2nd gen is all new, so I'd say the body is all new, even though it had the same engine. That's consistent with the changed wheelbase, width, height, and length.

explorerx4

Shockingly slow times in these 1/4 mile races from 1987.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkLvcOeof_k

xwesx

Haha; wow. Different times, for sure! I think I could smoke most of those cars with my Q7. LOL

fintail

xwesx said:

Haha; wow. Different times, for sure! I think I could smoke most of those cars with my Q7. LOL

Yeah, my white MB wagon with a hood ornament could walk away from most of these - modern cars do have some performance benefit. No single digit mpg as well.

There are other factors though, makes me think of this:

roadburner

As I've mentioned several times before, I have a 1991 magazine that is a compilation of road tests from the old Hi-Performance Cars magazine. The fastest 1/4 mile time was a 12.5 posted by Joe Oldham's 1969 Motion Performance big block Camaro- with 4.10 gears, uncapped headers and slicks. Aside from that car most of the others put up 1/4 mile ETs in the 13.5-14.5 second range. Those times are definitely on the slow side of average for performance cars these days. Even my wife's X1 can run the quarter in 14.6 sec @ 95 mph (a bit faster than my 1988 M6 when it was stock). My 2007 Mazdaspeed 3 could run the quarter in the low 14 second range and trap 100 mph all day long- and that's with a 2.3 liter turbo that averaged 26+ mpg over the 8 years and 158,000 miles I had it. My M235i returned similar fuel economy but ran the 1/4 mile in 12.9 seconds @ 109 mph. The C43 does it in 12.6 seconds @ 111 mph. A new X3 M40i runs the 1/4-Mile in 12.8 seconds @ 107 mph (all times taken from Car and Driver).

A few years ago I took my friend's Mercedes-AMG E63 to Ohio Valley Raceway's 1/8 mile strip. My fastest run was an 8.12 at 89 mph. I easily beat a built 1970 Buick GSX Stage I running slicks. A few years later I took my M235i to Ohio Valley and it ran an 8.59; with no limited slip I had a major problem with wheelspin. In the late '70s -when I hit the strip on a regular basis- there were very few cars that would run in the low eights, and those that did were usually seriously modified.

fintail

These are stats from the C&D long term E450 wagon, effectively the same as my car. Not bad for a non-AMG car:

xwesx

I think the numbers on my Q7, stock, were 15.8 seconds in the quarter mile. However, with the "stage 2" tune I have on it, I could tell immediately that it was a whole different animal (it'll put you right back in the seat if you want it to!). Not really sure what it has in it now in terms of dragstrip numbers, but burnouts? Not on the menu. Kinda sad, too, because I have a set of tires that would be PERFECT for a nice, smoky burnout.

fintail

xwesx said:

I think the numbers on my Q7, stock, were 15.8 seconds in the quarter mile. However, with the "stage 2" tune I have on it, I could tell immediately that it was a whole different animal (it'll put you right back in the seat if you want it to!). Not really sure what it has in it now in terms of dragstrip numbers, but burnouts? Not on the menu. Kinda sad, too, because I have a set of tires that would be PERFECT for a nice, smoky burnout.

The shop where I am taking the fintail is apparently also the RennTech shop for the region, and when I visited last month, they hinted that they could tune the wagon. I wonder what that would do - not that I am really thinking about it, as I think it is fast enough stock.

xwesx

fintail said:

The shop where I am taking the fintail is apparently also the RennTech shop for the region, and when I visited last month, they hinted that they could tune the wagon. I wonder what that would do - not that I am really thinking about it, as I think it is fast enough stock.

Yeah, mine was more about correcting emissions issues than giving it more oomph, but if I was spending the money, might as well pony up! I've been using it all this week (since Monday afternoon) for the first time in over a year, and I am LOVING the upper 30s fuel economy out of a 6,000#+ torque monster.

fintail

Modern diesels are maybe the most amazing mix of power and economy, just too bad about emissions quirks. The two Bluetecs I had were trouble-free - I actually liked the slightly less powerful/smaller displacement (but almost the same torque) unit more I think, it felt more lively for a diesel. Sadly, I will wager a lot we'll never see another new MB diesel passenger car in the USDM again.

xwesx said:

fintail said:

The shop where I am taking the fintail is apparently also the RennTech shop for the region, and when I visited last month, they hinted that they could tune the wagon. I wonder what that would do - not that I am really thinking about it, as I think it is fast enough stock.

Yeah, mine was more about correcting emissions issues than giving it more oomph, but if I was spending the money, might as well pony up! I've been using it all this week (since Monday afternoon) for the first time in over a year, and I am LOVING the upper 30s fuel economy out of a 6,000#+ torque monster.

roadburner

I have a link to a decent tuner for the C43; I’m going to install a mild tune once it’s out of warranty.

andre1969

During a run to the grocery store yesterday morning, I spotted this obscurity in the parking lot:
I can't remember the last time I've seen one of these VW Rabbit pickups (or whatever they called it), anywhere, on the street or in a car show. Here's another pic, just to get an idea of the scale. Isn't that a Honda Fit in front of it?
And, a couple of other obscurities. Nothing to write home about, But that Cavalier has to be at least 30 years old by now. I think it was the '91-94 style, but forget now. It might have been the '88-90, but definitely was not an '87 or earlier. And, I think that Camry's an '02-04.

And I swear, these things, mediocre when new, just seem like they refuse to die... And this one was the second Century/Regal (Cregal? Rentury? ) that I saw while running errands!

sda

I saw this at the gas station today. The Judge. Looked really nice and sounded good. The gal was rocking out on heavy metal. Unfortunately I was not able to take good pics as I was at a bad angle and far

distance.

fintail

Yeah I think with those wheelcovers, the Cavalier is a 91+. Not sure how many VW pickups (I believe "VW Pickup Truck" was the official name here, "Caddy" in some other markets) are still at stock ride height, but they are small indeed. Those Camrys will last as long as they receive oil changes and don't suffer structural rot, same for those W-bodies esp if they have a 3.8 - "Rentury" might be a good one due to original fleet sales, along the lines of Rentima, Rentnata, Rentibu etc.

ab348

Judging from the hair color, the driver of The Judge seems period-correct for that vehicle.

imidazol97

andre1969 said:

I can't remember the last time I've seen one of these VW Rabbit pickups (or whatever they called it), anywhere, on the street or in a car show. Here's another pic, just to get an idea of the scale. Isn't that a Honda Fit in front of it?

Did some of that era Toyota have the word Diesel on the tailgate. I recall being behind one in a parking lot several years ago. It was putting along and somehow I knew it was diesel. It had a few people in the bed and cab, like a landscaping crew...

I recall it was a dark green. Maybe the diesel link was that it was smoking like a diesel used to...

ab348

imidazol97 said:

Did some of that era Toyota have the word Diesel on the tailgate. I recall being behind one in a parking lot several years ago. It was putting along and somehow I knew it was diesel. It had a few people in the bed and cab, like a landscaping crew...

Here ‘s one. I think mostly in the ‘80s.

roadburner

That Judge convertible is almost certainly a clone; only 168 were built in 1970 and just 17 in 1971.

stickguy

on my beach vacation, a flat rear Alfa spyder. Red. Sounded healthy.

and on the Garden state parkway, a chrome bumper Volvo P1800. Squash yellow. Looked brand new.

jwm40517

I bought a pretty loaded base engine 74 corvette for $6200 new.

fintail

I believe the Toyota diesel pickup may have existed in this market until maybe 1986 or so, I know I have seen the 1984+ style pickup so equipped. There were diesel Camrys too.

Long drive yesterday but hot in many places, only saw one oldie on the road, a 55-56 Chrysler Windsor 2 door HT (not in a hot area). Saw a really clean 3000GT in town this morning.

texases

Heat + E10 + carburetors = vapor lock.

fintail

texases said:

Heat + E10 + carburetors = vapor lock.

Also 100F (or more) + no AC = uncomfortable. I don't even think of going for a cruise in the fintail when it is so hot (car is in the shop now, hoping they need it for a few days so I don't have to pick it up today as w).will be around 100)