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I spotted an (insert obscure car name here) classic car today! (Archived)
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I always liked those pimpy 80-85 Sevilles, too, but I think the only one I'd even touch would be the 1980 with a Caddy 368. Although I guess you could take an '81 with the V-8-6-4 and just disable the cylinder de-activation. For such a blighted era, the '80 with the 368 wasn't a bad performer. MT or C&D tested one, and got 0-60 in 10.6 seconds. They also tested an '80 Mark VI, which I think had the 351, and it did 0-60 in 11.0 seconds. I think the Mark had a 4-speed overdrive tranny and a 3.08:1 rear, while the Caddy just had a 3-speed auto and tall gearing, so if the trannies were more evenly matched, I'm sure it would've done even better. They also tested an NYer 5th Ave that year, but got one with a 318 2-bbl, which was down to a sad 120 hp that year. 0-60 was a laughable 14.1 seconds. If nothing else though, you could get a 130 hp 360-2bbl and a 180-185 hp 360-4bbl, which would have evened the odds.
That '76 Caddy's kinda neat, too. I guess that price comes out to just under a buck a pound! Normally I don't like the 2-doors, because they did away with the hardtops after 1973 or so, but the sunroof's cool!
And I absolutely LOVE that '78 Toro XS! I always thought the wraparound window was cool, and just loved the smooth-but-pimpy style of it! Didn't they make a few of them with T-tops, too? Or was that just a concept car? I remember there was supposed to be a model called the XSR, but I think only a few concepts ere built, and it never went into mass production.
Funny thing about the Edsel...I think this is one example where the uglier they were, the cooler they were. The '59 was way less ugly than the '58, and the '60 was just kind of a 1960 Ford wearing a '59 Pontiac grille, and dulled-down a bit. But it seems like the '58's are much more desireable, perhaps BECAUSE they're so ugly! They were also much more unique for '58, had a wider array of styles, and bigger engines. CR tested on in '58, but I forget the series. It was either a Corsair or Citation, though, the bigger Mercury-based ones. I remember them saying that at that time, it was the fastest car they ever tested. But keep in mind, that CR mainly only tested mainstream family cars with basic V-8's, where you were lucky to get 0-60 in under 11 seconds, or worse, with an inline 6 which put you more like 15-16, or they'd test some little oddball foreign cars that took about half a minute to get there. I'm sure they had tested a Corvette and a '55-57 T-bird, but the T-birds really weren't THAT fast, and neither were the Corvettes, until '57 with fuel injection or dual carbs.
Before I left , I did see something unusual. A 77-79 Fleetwood, the kind with the non-parallel B-pillar. It was white, and it was absolutely mint, it looked new. It even appeared to have real wire wheels - not the pimpy kind, but the old school kind. The more I look at those cars, the more I like them, or at least don't mind them. The design seems so gothic in a way, very imposing. The car I saw was really something to look at.
I feel sorry for that crunched fintail...poor thing indeed. But as a lowly W110 car, nobody would ever save it. Maybe something could be salvaged.
That Toro XS is really something eh. I haven't seen one of those on the road in at least 10 years...I remember seeing them now and then as a kid, you don't forget that back window. I don't know the history of them, but there can't be many good ones left. Kind of like with bustleback Sevilles.
I kinda liked that odd, tapered B-pillar on the Fleetwood, too. Even if it threw the lines of the car off a bit, at least it did add some interest. I think the 1980 facelift really cleaned these cars up and made them "prettier", but there's just a hulking, menacing presence that the '77-79 models possess!
On the Toro XS, wasn't there some sort of retractable T-top option with those? Or am I thinking of a concept that never made it to production?
As we went over a bridge crossing a river, I saw what I thought was an object flying off the roof of the van. In fact it was the Camaro's driver's side T-top, which blew off the car, over the van, and off the bridge into the river.
I must admit to having a pretty good laugh over that one.
Just out of curiosity, I went out and measured the distance on my LeMans, from the tip of the bumper to the front of the radiator. It was a comparatively measly 19 inches. Just for kicks though, I measured the Dart too, and it was only around 10 inches. I guess that 36" on your old Cougar was a rudimentary crumple zone! :P
It's also very inefficient in interior room as well, but at only 208" long, on a 112" wheelbase, it was actually one of the smallest intermediates of that time, except for the Matador coupe, I guess. It's actually very comfortable up front, with a well-padded seat, and with the power adjust I can get it to go back further than on most modern cars. The roof feels low, although it doesn't actually touch my head. On my buddy's Mark V, if I lean forward I'll graze the headliner. Depending on how I have the steering wheel adjusted, I can smack the windshield when I'm turning the wheel, though! On long distance trips though, overall it's more comfortable than my Intrepid. I don't know if that's praising the LeMans or damning the Trep, though! :surprise:
But then, just for kicks I tried sitting in the back seat, and it was torture! The worst part was I had to turn my feet sideways to get them down on the floor, and then turn them normally once I got them under the seat. Gives me an uneasy, trapped feeling. And I have to either spread my legs or sit almost sideways to fit back there. One thing that surprised me though, is that, as low-slung as the roof is, I don't hit my head back there!
I think the trunk is rated at like 15.5 cubic feet, which is around the same as a modern 300. It's awkwardly shaped, though. I took a cooler full of beer to the GM Nationals last week, and there was only one spot in the trunk it would fit. Then, there was plenty of room around it to pack other things, but nothing really bulky. For instance, last month when my buddies and I went to Florida, there's no way we could've packed everything we got into the Intrepid into this car!
Back to those late 70's Toronados...IIRC, they were actually a tad LONGER overall than the Caddy Eldorado! They were on a shorter wheelbase (122" versus 126.3") but had more overhang, coming in at like 226-227" long, versus around 225 for the Eldorado. Oddly, the Mark V, which I think is the best looking of those big personal luxury boats back then, is even more disproportionate...230" long, but on a relatively stubby 120.4" wb.
I'm glad I had my phone to show off the rebadging. I love the attention to detail...Skyline 350GT, but leave on the Infiniti emblem. Brilliant.
There was an incident here on Saturday of a guy fueling his early version 70s Ferrari 308 that caught on fire, and burned the car pretty good. Luckily the owner was unharmed. When the online media gets this, I'll try to find a pic.
it was a metallic purple maveric with a silver wing on the back, chrome rims, dual exhaust, and white mud flaps with orange reflectors built in. i don't think it was a V8 either.
what I remember:
- a 1967 (I think, could be a '68) Shelby GT 350, looked nice but not real restored.
- A bently COntinental (the new one)
- a '70 Cuda 383 coupe, in that snappy yellow color.
A couple of other good ones that slipped my mind now.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
I suppose the front end might have a few usable parts left.
Anyway, hard to imagine that Ferrari people do much with salvaging parts off a burned up car, but anything is possible.
A while back, I remember seeing links to a site that re-sold wrecked high-end and exotic cars. Probably all came with salvage titles, but it was the place to go if you wanted a Lambo for 50K that was shunted off into a wall. And that you could never resell!
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
You could probably replace that car with a very nice one for $25,000 so trying to build one from scrap metal is kinda foolish.
http://photobucket.com/albums/v247/jgandrew/GM%20Nationals%202005/
Hope y'all like it! Oh yeah, I do have to put in a few disclaimers. First, there's an '87 or so Olds 88 in there in a parking lot. Main reason I took it was because the car has been sitting in that same spot for what must be close to two years now! It's outside a diner that Grbeck and I usually hit after the car shows.
There's also a '55 Chevy camper in the pics. One of the pics is of the interior, but it's canted sideways. Also, there's a couple pics of Jim Wangers, "Godfather of the Muscle Car", and a pic of Grbeck and I posing with him.
Nice rusty Ciera too
Cool pics, thanks for sharing. Some interesting old metal...I wish we had an event like that here. I'd have to attend in some kind of special interest car.
BTW, the Mopar show is this weekend, so I'll be posting another montage of pics soon!
Oh yeah, that '68 Olds Delta 88 that was up on the dyno? Guess how much hp it put out at the wheels? Big, monstrous 455 4-bbl, yet measured at the wheels it was only putting out 160 hp! It had massive rear tires on it though, so I wonder if that affected the reading much? And the owner mentioned that he had been playing around with the tuning and thinks he did more harm than good! It sounded real nice, though!
I really liked the herd of Can Ams. I really wanted one of them in 1973 when they came out. Too bad I was only 10 at the time.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
That Ciera must have been there to help a club. Is there a Ford event out there like this too?
The Chrysler show is the biggest, followed by Ford show, with the GM event bringing up the rear. In all fairness, however, the separate Corvettes at Carlisle event draws a fair number of people away from the GM Nationals. The Corvettes at Carlisle event is huge.
Some of them were sent to me by the seller before I bought it, and some of them are pics I took of it after I washed it and got it ready for the GM Nats.
There is a Ford event, too. I think it's usually the first weekend of June. That's one I've never been to, as there used to be a Nash/Rambler/AMC show on the same day that Grbeck and I would usually go to. Well, the guy that held that show got old or in bad health or something, so he quit doing it, but since then it always seemed something would come up on that weekend keeping me from the show.
As for the 160 hp "at the wheels", I guess that would translate to around 200-220 hp as it's measured for the net rating? There was a guy in my Mopar club who put an Intrepid with a 2.7 on the dyno, and it only measured 150 hp, at the wheels, versus 200 net. I'd guess an engine that puts out 200-220 hp net probably put out around 270-290 gross? That sounds awfully low for a 455-4bbl! I had a '67 Newport with a 383-2bbl that put out 270 gross! And my '67 Catalina originally had a 400-2bbl that put out 290 gross. I'd think a late 60's 455-4bbl would be around 330+ gross?
I was almost tempted to put my LeMans on the dyno to see how bad it was, but they wanted something like 35 bucks!
They had some pretty nice rides at the GM Nationals from what I see. Good thing I didn't go. If many of those cars were for sale I might've depleted my bank account. Did that black 1972 Sedan DeVille look nice in person? I also like the black 1967 Buick two-door hardtop. The 1980s Parisienne looks like it would be a nice daily driver.
They also seemed to have a lot of hoopties there. What's with the rusty Ciera? I'm sure that's one car GM would hope folks would forget.
The silver 1989 S&S Cadillac hearse with the black top belongs to a member of my chapter of the Cadillac-LaSalle club. He also has a really nice 1979 Cadillac ambulance, (last of the Cadillac ambulances), a 1974 Cadillac Flower Car, and a really cool 1963 Cadillac hearse-ambulance combo.
But yeah, Lemko, there is a pic in my main album of a '77 or so Chrysler New Yorker, replete with vent windows!
I figured since you're the Mopar guru here I'd ask you what issues to be on the watch for when acquiring a RWD Chrysler of that vintage. Now if I recall they still used the carbureted 2-bbl 318, right?
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
Speaking of Bristol...the prewar BMW influence is obvious. I think these had a normal spare tire setup. Worth more in England for sure
Siata = good name, but you'll spend years finding the missing parts on this
Not supercharged, but what a front end
Shifty-mobile
Or is this a Shifty-mobile?
Freakshow of the week
Ghastly car, good description
Shame this is so far gone...not a horrible thing. I wonder what else is in that garage
1930s bottom + 1920s top = cartoon car
Not many left like this. I won't say if that is good or bad
Even fewer of these left. They seem to have a cult following
Interesting resto-rod
I've never seen one of these so nice. I'm ashamed to say...I almost like it. Loads of kitsch value
"Project" - yeah right, Bill Gates couldn't save this poor old thing
Anyone want a new Aspen?
All I can say is wow. I know the price is silly...but...wow
Now this is a Caddy. Needs better tires
Minty Eldo diesel...loads of fun
If you're a pimp, this is your car
Lemko-mobile
It should be illegal to put those wheels on that car
the wheels on the Conti rag. I love the Airflow, just love it! What style.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
As for that '77 Cutlass cruiser wagon, I guess it doesn't seem so bad, price-wise, to me, because I've been so sticker-shocked by what I saw over the weekend! There was a '71 Monaco wagon there that the seller wanted $13,000 for, and it didn't look as nice as that Cutlass! BTW, the last time I remember seeing a Cutlass cruiser wagon of that vintage was in the movie "Maximum Overdrive" It was at the beginning where the drawbridge goes up on its own. It had a sunroof (most likely aftermarket) that a watermelon fell through, and then a few moments later an old Ford medium duty stake-bed truck with a load of watermelons toppled onto it.
Jrosa...as far as those 5th Avenues go, I don't think they have any real standout troublespots. They are still carbureted, though, and I think they still have Lean Burn. The weakest point of those cars was probably the fuel economy. Chrysler never used an overdrive automatic in them, so they never got very good highway mileage, although some people in my Mopar club have claimed getting mid 20's on the highway. I'd imagine the Lean Burn could give problems as it ages (although I've had two R-bodies with it and never had any problems). They were also using a lightweight starter by that time, which was more suited to a 4-cyl than a 318. They tend to be expensive when they break, and I think they changed the way that it bolts up just enough that you can't use the older, heavier, cheaper starters as a substitute.
Oh, and under the hood it's going to be a maze of wires and hoses and vacuum tubes with little T-connectors all over the place. Make sure you keep a handy supply of those little T-connectors, because chances are you'll break one every time you have to take the air cleaner off! Also, check for water leaks. That car's in its late teens now, so Chrysler or not, it's definitely at the age where it might start springing a leak or two. My '89 Gran Fury started taking on water somewhere around the rear window, or maybe the little spacer panel between the rear window and the decklid. Sometimes when the rain hit it just right, the drop-off in the rear quarter panel on the driver's side would fill up with water. And check up under the suspension, to make sure that the rubber parts are still good. These cars also used an isolated sub-frame, where they had four big rubber donut bushings that isolated the sub-frame from the body of the car. When they go bad, the car will get really wallowy, as the sub-frame will actually start to move independently of the rest of the car!
Andy S, yeah, Jim Wanger's toupee was pretty amusing!
Sunday, I70 in Colorado, three Porsche Speedsters in a row, one yellow, one blue, one red. The one we were closest to was pristine.
Then, a BMW Z1, German plates front and rear, top down, crusing at just below the speed limit. Red. Sort of homely looking, really, but turns out it was 15 years old and probably more of a looker then. What could the story be for this car on our roads?
And today, something strange: Looked like a Porsche 959 convertable? I just did a little reading about that car, and it looks like it was never legally sold here either? I didn't come up with anything about a drop top either. Again, this car looked new except for the wheels: Chrome aftermarkets that would look odd on any car. Any ideas? I must be IDing this one wrong!
There are some Mopars that are very very rare (only a couple made) and also heavily and perfectly documented, and also perfectly restored, and when you have that 1-2-3 combination you are going to see big bucks. But those cars are special, and some owners think they can ride on the coat tails of mega-buck sales with their common R/Ts and 318cid Chargers.
If you don't have build sheets, fender tags, 100 resto. and matching #s, you don't have the same car you saw sell for $100K on TV. You have one worth 1/4 the price.