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

davem2001

Yeah, I remember when car dealers would try to sell you "undercoating" which was basically just some tarry goop that they painted on the bottom of the car..

andre1969

how the bed of my '85 Silverado could stay rust-free, considering that it's scraped down to the bare metal in plenty of places. But then again, the bed floor doesn't get exposed to salt, much, standing water, etc. As soon as the sun comes out after a storm, it's nice and dry.

Mr_Shiftright

It's when the crude collects and STAYS in nooks and crannies that you'll get serious rust. Rust is from the inside out. A piece of flat metal that doesn't trap anything will take forever to rust.

jrosasmc

Did early '70s AMCs have a reputation for leaking oil from their motors?

fintail

Get behind one on the highway and find out. You'll have to use your wipers

grbeck

...a red 1972 Ford LTD Country Squire still used as a daily driver. A teenage girl of about 16 was waxing it...maybe she'll be taking her driver's test in it.

andre1969

I actually had played a part in making my friends' AMC turn into such a leaker. They came over one day when I was sick as a dog, and wanted me to replace the headlight. They had been driving around at night with the HIGH BEAMS on, just so the cops wouldn't stop them for having a headlight out! Maybe this should be a post for "inconsiderate drivers"!

Anyway, the sucker was also leaking oil from somewhere that's easy to get to. I think it was either the valve cover, or the intake or exhaust manifold. Most likely it was the valve cover. Well, while I was had it in the garage, I noticed the leak, and they asked me to tighten it down. And so I did. Unfortunately I snapped off one of the bolts! After that, I think it started losing about a quart of oil maybe every hundred miles or so. I forget how long they drove it like that, but they never did get it fixed correctly. It went to the junkyard like that. Another problem I remember it having was one of the rear windows came off its track and fell down into the door. I forget what they did with that. I think I got into it, put it back up, and they just never rolled it down again after that!

lemko

My Dad had a 1972 Ford LTD Country Squire when we were kids. His car was a dark green metallic with the 400 CID V-8 with 2 bbl carb. That car rusted with a vengeance and was forever suffering from some mechanical malady while my Grandpop's 1974 Chevrolet Impala remained extremely reliable and rust-free. Dad eventually sold the LTD to some kids for $150 in 1981.

PF_Flyer

Saw an Olds Toronado on the road today. Had the split front grille, so it wasn't one of the earliest ones. I'm thinking 86 or 69.

210delray

Reminds me of the guy up the road from me who was still driving his really beat-up looking '74 Ford Galaxie 4-door as recently as about 6-9 months ago. It was also dark green metallic. The vinyl top was in tatters, and at one point the left rear bumper mount gave way, so he just used a wire to hold the bumper more or less in place.

The guy actually used his 3-point seat belt though, so I knew it was a '74 and not a '73 that had the separate nonretracting shoulder belts.

Well, the car must have given up the ghost, because I no longer see it.

andre1969

wasn't 1974 the last year for the Galaxie? I think at some point around that time, Ford dropped the name Galaxie and Custom 500, and just called all the big cars "LTD" They probably went to a lineup like "LTD, LTD Custom, and LTD Brougham"? I don't think they dusted the name "Crown Victoria" off until the downsized 1979 models, though.

toomanyfumes

I saw one of those bizarre little Isuzu 2- door SUV's. Vehicross or something like that? Really wild looking thing. :surprise:

andys120

I saw one the other day, and could not remember the model name until I read your post. They're actually pretty rare.

PF_Flyer

Not sure I've EVER seen a Vehicross on the road. There was a yellow one sitting on the dealer's lot for an eternity here. It finally disappeared, so i assumed that someone, somewhere wanted it, although if it had been local i would have expected to see it around.

kyfdx

I must keep seeing the same one... Probably every month or so..

grbeck

...disappeared after the 1974 model year. But Ford didn't start using the Crown Victoria nameplate until the 1980 model year, or one year after the downsized LTD appeared.

As for the Isuzu Vehicross - I thought I saw one last weekend at the Spring Carlisle show driving by the main gate. They are rare birds.

ghulet

....someone down the street has one, or at least did, I think they might have traded it in on an Element. They must have a 'thing' for weirdo SUVs. I think the thing that hurt sales of the Vehicross more than the fact that they were Isuzus and rather strange looking was the $26k+ base price at the time, IIRC. They were unique and quite powerful for the time, but popularity of 2-door SUVs was waning, and the fact that one could buy a Blazer/Exploder/Grand Cherokee for the same price 'sealed the deal'.

kyfdx

Poor rear seat access.. Terrible visibility... Weak dealer network... They had a lot of problems...

I still like the commercial, though.. A guy in his Bonneville Salt Flats speed record car on a run.... looks to his left.... Vehicross is pulling along side.. Guy in the passenger seat of the Vehicross points to the back of the racer and mouths, "You left your wallet on the back of the car".

andre1969

about 5 or 6 times a week! Of course, it's always the same one, in yellow and silver. The people who own it either work at the school up the street from me, or have kids that go there.

fintail

There are a couple of those Vehicross in my area too. Strange things

Yesterday I was in Seattle...I actually didn't see too much in the way of unusual metal. Ferrari 456, beat up two tone blue 55 Pontiac still soldiering on, a couple generic 30s car hotrods, Subaru SVX....that was about it.

Ebay time:

Speaking of Jowett

Good deco styling, should be saved

And as its ebay, there's another right around the corner

A good old name you don't see much anymore

I've always thought these looked unpleasant...surprised it is bid so high

Unusual 'hot rod' of sorts

Shifty-mobile

Maybe one of the nicest Dauphines around

Low mileage late Packard. This would have been top of the line IIRC

Elegant real classic

Not many left like this. Nice car, but 'buy it now' seems silly

Every surviving one of these will make it to ebay soon

The 34 was better, but this still has some charm

Pretty DeSoto

'Wants to be your friend'...well, I don't know if the feeling is mutual

Fintail ad with video (again). You get to hear the clattery idle of that odd old engine, and it seems to be driving well. I like the background on this ad

Run down W112 fintail...maybe a nut will save it or ship it to England

andre1969

except for one detail...I just never liked the front-end of these cars. They took Dodge fenders and a Dodge hood, and mated a DeSoto grille to it. They were trying to make a smaller, less expensive car (this was around the timeframe that they were thinking of moving both DeSoto and Chrysler downscale to let Imperial fly more on its own), but the DeSoto grille just didn't mate up right. As a result, it stuck out more, and a Firesweep only ended up being 2 inches shorter overall than a "real" DeSoto.

Also, those Dodge fenders (Plymouth too) were designed with 4 headlights in mind, which is the way everybody would be going for '58. For '57 the Plymouth and Dodge placed the turn signals inboard of the headlights and made them oversized, giving the car a quad headlight look. And a few Dodges actually DID have quad lights. AFAIK though, all the '57 Firesweeps just had single headlights, and there's just too much empty space in the "sockets" It makes me think of an owl, for some reason. For '58 they went to a quad setup, and looked much better, IMO.

Still, a purty car, and looks to be in good shape. I wouldn't drive it long without the power steering pump working, though! Been there, done that with a '68 Dart...and these are a few pounds heavier!

fintail

I think the quad lights look better too

PF_Flyer

Was parked next to an AMC Concord today and it was showing its age!

ghulet

....in '78 when they debuted, eh (being thinly disguised '70 Hornets and all)?

andys120

You found the world's best Dauphine Gordini and 850 Sport Coupe in the same week.

Still, I think I'd rather have the carriage house that Fiat lives in. :P

fintail

Yeah me too. I dream about the cars I'd have if I had that kind of space (and the money to afford it)

The more I look at the Fiat, the more endearing I find it. Really neat little car. I am sure Shifty will correct that thought though.

andys120

IIRC that's Bertone styling on the 850 Coupe. It was pretty much gutless but an all right car I think, given the limitations of having the motor humg out the back.

wimsey1

There is a Gen 1 Firebird on my commute, nicely oxidized red. Looks straight.
At Gingerman I saw a couple of odd ones.
A little red Turner (in a herd of Bugeyes).
A series 1 Lotus 7. Rare-but to top it off it had a Climax engine. Shifty-what do you think the world population of those is?
Lotus Elan +2 for sale-never seen one in person before.
Lola T-70 (I think) coupe. Chevy V-8 thunder buggy.
Lotus 23. Screaming green color, those things are loooooow.

Dad used to have a Dauphine (not a Gordini) and my brother had a 17 Gordini.
I don't remember either running long enough for me to get a ride!

lemko

...white 1973 Oldsmobile Cutlass coupe with factory "dog dish" hubcaps. This vehicle had PA Classic plates.

Also - a black 1985 Chrysler Conquest by Mitsubishi.

PF_Flyer

1966 Chevelle parked next to, of all things, an AMC Pacer in the parking lot of a bank. Neither one looking particularly "restored", but not showing their age either. No car shows currently running here, so these just looked like they're everyday drivers!

Of course, they could have been at the bank arranging financing to keep them that way!
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jescue1

on the way in today.Light blue with smoke boiling out and the "Oldsmobile Diesel " logo on the trunk.

ghulet

...in the last three days or so, I saw both a '65 Buick Skylark (black w/red interior, shiny, wire caps, stunning) and '65 Olds Cutlass (faded light blue, but not rusty, very straight, had all hubcaps, looked like a decent daily driver from thirty years ago) four-door sedans. One day last week, I saw two different Peugeot 505s, both running :surprise: Also saw a second-generation Audi 5000 Turbo, in really nice condition. I shudder to think what it costs to keep a 15 year-old Audi turbo on the road!

merckx

Boy,that little Renault really got to me! What a beauty? Are these cars really the dogs they're usually made out to be? I'm trying to talk myself out of bidding on it....apparently, $4,000 isn't enough to take it...

that metallic red fintail posted is really sharp,too...they've always been my other dream car...

fintail

Shifty will say it is an unreliable car worth 2500 tops...and I am sure he is at least partially right. But when you have the best one...the price can go above logic.

So you like fintails? Cool...not many people like that out there...but the numbers are slowly rising.



Here's mine

Mr_Shiftright

Well it's a GORDINI, not a regular Dauphine. Gordini is like Abarth is to Fiat. It's worth a lot more than a Dauphine. I personally wouldn't give you $1,000 for a show quality plain old Dauphine.

No the Dauphine isn't a dog like say the wretched and miserable Le Car was. What you don't want is the 6V models though of the Dauphine.

Dauphines were very popular in their day. In 1960 they actually OUTSOLD VW for a period of about 4 months.

What killed the Dauphine was LOUSY service and parts availability. It was really a much better car than the VW, at least in terms of engineering, amenities, power, comfort, etc. But VW service was very good and Renault's stunk. Ditto Fiat, Lotus, Alfa Romeo, etc. at that time.

The "cool" Renault to have is the 4CV, the predecessor to the Dauphine.

merckx

I* have seen your car here before-it's really sharp! That would be my idal "take the kids for bagels on a Sunday morning car". I've always admired them...They rarely seem to come up for sale here in Virginia Beach....But I'm on the ocean front now,with no garage space-I'd hate to have to keep it out in the salt air.

I have driven several,though-i think they're magnificent drivers!
Randy

fintail

It's a good sunny day cruiser, yeah. I do keep it out of the elements too...60s Euro cars can rust away in most climates, and fintails are certainly not excluded from that. The car won't win any races, but it handles surprisingly well. They weren't rally winners out of coincidence.

lemko

...I've seen fintails rust is right above the headlight bezel. When I was a kid, a guy in the neighborhood had a fintail. The rest of the body appeared solid, but the area on top of the fender near the headlight bezel was rusted through. He did a rather sloppy repair using duct tape.

kyfdx

In what looked like original condition.. I'll have to google to figure out what year it was, but my first guess is '64...

lemko

...had a light green 1968 Dodge Coronet 440. I believe it had a 318 V-8 in it.

kyfdx

As near as I can tell, it was a '65... It definitely isn't a '66, and I can't find any references to any Coronet 440s prior to '65..

Looked decent.. had a little wider tires than original, but everything else looked stock... kind of a faded, peeling light green paint...

merckx

I saw a 1960 one of these at a boardwalk car show last weekend. A '68 Hemi
Super Bee with dod-dish hubcaps also caught my eye,but I'd rather the Minor...

debaser853

Testarosa, red, of course. Sounded fantastic.

andre1969

to see a Coronet 440 at a swap meet or car show. Inevitably, someone always thinks that's a reference to the engine size! I had a guy who wanted to buy my Dart pull something like that a few years ago. I was talking to him on the phone, and I told him that honestly I didn't know if it had a 273 or a 318 in it. I had looked up the VIN # on the internet, and it originally should have had a 273, but the guy I bought it from said it had a 318. And it had a rebuilt engine in it. Dunno if it was the original engine that was rebuilt, which would make it a 273, or if a 318 out of something else was rebuilt and put in it.

Anyway, this guy kept telling me it was a 270. When I told him that Dodge hadn't made a 270 since like 1956 (an old poly-head engine...there may have been a 270 Hemi, as well), he kept swearing up and down it had a 270 in it. He even told me the car "said" 270 on it. Now considering I'd had the car about 10 years at the time, I didn't know WHERE he pulled that figure out of! The car has a "V-8" badge on both fenders, but nowhere does it list the displacement. Then, it hit me. On the glovebox door it has "Dart" written in cursive, with "270" after it. The buffoon was getting the trim level (Dart 270, renamed Dart Custom for '69) confused with the displacement!

And naturally, this guy said he was a Mopar connosieur, and knew just about all there was to know about them.

That being said, I think I'm going to go out and find me a Dodge Custom 880. With 880 cubes under the hood, I'm sure it would blow anything off the road! :P

ghulet

Today I saw two early '70s (pre-73) Chevy trucks, both in that pukey gold, though one was two-toned with white (a 'Cheyenne 10'), the other a Custom 10, so both 1/2 ton models, both with 350s (parents had a '72 with a six and three on the tree, nothing but problems, gramps had a '71 'Longhorn' with a 350BB, that thing was fast and indestructible).

I also saw a Jeep J4000 4x4 today (likely very early '70s), light blue and white, in decent shape, chugging along slowly. It had a '350V8' emblem on the side; apparently (according to a guy on eBay selling a J2000), Kaiser still owned Jeep at the time and the trucks had Buick 350s in them. Interesting lil' tidbit, I would have thought they had AMC engines by then, guess not.

Mr_Shiftright

Noooo I don't think so. That's a 360 V-8 AMC engine. You're right.

michaellno

Sounds like my dad's truck, except his is that pukey orange rather than the pukey gold.

It's been getting "restored" for the past 6 months .. pretty much a full restoration:

- removing/repairing all the rust (CA car that lived it's life within 3 miles of the ocean for 35 years)
- replacing all the rubber window trim
- replacing all the chrome bits around the windows, etc.
- replacing all the side trim pieces
- full repaint (same pukey orange color)

As to why this has taken 6 months ... the guy doing the work is a HS buddy of mine and both he and his wife have a small problem with the casinos on the Indian reservations. I think they blew all the up front money Dad gave them, so the truck sat for quite a while. Dad was able to borrow a vehicle from a friend for a time, so no big deal. The friend lost the lease on their original shop, and had to relocate. We're now at the point where the materials are being ordered, and Dad is paying for them directly and bringing them to the new shop.

Last I had heard a week or so ago, they had repainted the body and were now in the process of reassembling all the misc bits and pieces.

orangelebaron

Months ago I aked for help naming a car that I saw on the Meadowbrook. No one could think of anything that looked like Ouale. Well I saw it again today with a different driver... maybe a different car but I doubt it.
Isaw it up close.... a royal blue Qvale Mangusto convertible.
That's right... Qvale. I got to see it up close right by where the INS building was evacuated today because of a powdery substance.

http://www.qvaleauto.com/
:confuse:

ghulet

Here's the eBay ad in which the owner insists that Kaiser still owned Jeep at the time ('71) and that Kaiser bought Buick 350s for them (kinda makes sense, and the emblem on the J I saw today clearly said '350 V8').

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6286&item=4547147142&rd=- 1

fintail

You're right about the rusty headlights on fintails, lemko. Somehow the cars really rust away there...then the floors, the trunk, the rockers...I'm glad mine is a California car.