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

andre1969

how are those French Pastry style cars as far as reliability/durability goes? I always thought they were pretty cool. And if there's one furrn' car I wouldn't mind having, it's one of them!

Mr_Shiftright

Yeah, you saw a Traction Avant, 1955 and mis-registered or a 1954 model not sold until 1955. The year 1954 was last year of manufacture.

The DS19 of course was extremely modern for 1955, and easily one of the most significant/influential cars in automotive history. Great aerodynamics, active suspension, FWD, superior road holding, radial tires -- these are still modern specs today.

Reliable? Pretty good if you understand them. A labyrinth of puzzlement if you do not. Like most things in life....

jrosasmc

On occasion I see a few DS19s and 21s on Ebay bringing quite a lot of money.

andre1969

I posted all the pics I took at the car show in Macungie, PA, back in August.
http://photobucket.com/albums/v247/jgandrew/Macungie%20PA%202005/
Have fun wading through them...there's like 177 in all! :shades:

andre1969

is that $800 Toronado I was drooling over while we were at the show...


And here's a Riv I really fell for, in spite of its $10,000+ asking price!


I thought I had snagged a pic of that awful gold Caddy that we see there for sale every year, but I didn't. You can see a tiny slice of it in the pic with the Riv, though. And, no worries, it'll be back next year I'm sure, no doubt with an even HIGHER asking price! FWIW, I think they were asking $8200 this time around.

merckx

I saw a Mini-Moke this morning;it was in really good shape. I haven't seen one on the road in years....It looked a little smaller than I'd remembered...

fintail

Yesterday I saw something that is getting rarer with time - a pristine MB early W140 500SEL. It was probably a 92 or 93 model, black, and it looked brand new. Even in black, the paint looked perfect, and so did the wheels. 140s on the used market tend to appeal to a demographic that doesn't like to maintain their vehicles in any way, so nice ones are becoming less common. I bet this was a very low mileage car.

Mr_Shiftright

They're cheap because they are so expensive to keep up and they're rare because they are being scrapped, sad to say. Very few people will endure restoration costs on a 4-door luxury car.

That's how the vicious cycle starts, where someone who cant' afford to keep up such a car buys it because it is so cheap for what you get, and they in turn degrade it even further, then re-sell it for even less to someone even less able to maintain it, blah blah and then finally something big goes out and the car gets junked.

mazda6iguy

While not exactly an obscure car, this one is unique. I spotted this driving down I480 in Cleveland...

http://www.redbull.co.uk/mime/1077808830633-1635127172/mini2.JPG

kyfdx

An original Ford Bronco... No top or doors... Looked nice... kind of a seafoam color.. Sort of a CJ-5 substitute in that configuration... early-mid '70s?

fintail

Yep, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. It's kind of sad seeing an old S class beater running around on its last legs. I hope they guy who bought my 126 maintains it. I think he will.

Mr_Shiftright

If not maybe you can repossess it. :P

jaserb

A real, live, running on its own power Yugo. Driven by a kid who looked like he was driving it to spite the world. I can think of less unpleasant ways to do that. Actually looked to be in OK shape, other then the exhaust system dangling 1" above the pavement.

Then at that mecca of good taste and restraint - cruise night at the local burger joint - a jacked up, monster truck tired, bright orange, 4x4 Karmann Ghia! It looked like Bigfoot's little sister.

-Jason

merckx

I also saw a new Porsche Carrerra GT at my Porsche/Audi dealer. It looked a great deal more dramatic than it does in photographs...

gsemike

When I saw that GT at the car show, it was really striking. Everything looks great there, but that car was a stunner. That was the first and last time that I ever saw one in person.

fintail

Well this guy lowered his price...not a lot of market for a battleship like this given these gas prices, I guess. It could be worth the money

And on a happy note, I seem to be getting about 20mpg in my mainly city commute in the C43, as I have been trying to take it easy. That's acceptable, just about on par with the much less powerful 126.

Mr_Shiftright

It's hard to sell most late 70s and most 80s American cars for any serious money. These were not the Golden Years. Couple of bright spots but few and far between.

kyfdx

Okay.. name one bright spot... really... go ahead.. I dare you..

Mr_Shiftright

Buick GNX?

Ummm............

Umm..............

Um.......

ghulet

....um, I dunno. There were some relatively kinda OK cars, the C4 Corvette, Thunderbird Turbo, uh, um.....I'll get back to you.

I saw a bright red (lipsticky) C36 yesterday. Don't think I've ever seen one that color. I also saw a nice, blue, Merkur XR4ti today. Unfortunately it was an automatic, but in really good condition. Shame those weren't successful here, they were kind of a nice alternative to, say, a SAAB 900 Turbo, and probably a bit less money (though considerably pricier than most American cars at the time).

boomchek

Saw one in excellent condition on the road, I think it had a 220 badge on the back, and it was a sort of flat pale purplish blue color.

andre1969

ummm...the '76 Grand LeMans coupe? :shades:

chuck1959

I had a '76 Grand LeMans coupe. Whata great car. I pu over 150,000 nearly trouble free miles! Unfortunally a toronado took it away from me in 1990.

andre1969

here's a few pics of mine, if ya want to see...
http://photobucket.com/albums/v247/jgandrew/1976%20LeMans/

I've always wanted a '76-77 LeMans, ever since I was a little kid. I think "Smokey and the Bandit" had an influence on me! I found this one on eBay back in April, in Cincinnati, and made the 500 mile drive to get it. I found out, after the fact, that mine took a minor hit to the front, which is why it has the grille inserts of a '77 Grand LeMans, and not a '76. At first, I figured that one of the pieces had just been broken, but at the GM Nats at Carlisle this year, I learned that the '76 Grand LeMans used a slightly different header panel from the rest of the '76-77's As a result, I couldn't just buy '76 Grand LeMans inserts and put them on my car to make it look "correct" I'd have to get the whole header panel! My car is also supposed to have a stand-up hood ornament with a sunburst in it.

Now when you say "a toronado took it away from me in 1990", do you mean a tornado, as in mother nature? Or an Oldsmobile Toronado? :surprise:

fintail

I've seen painfully little this weekend...most notable a pair of women in a 50s looking custom job of a 48 Ford convert, going down a rural highway at 60mph with their hair flowing in the wind.

lemko

...the 1989 Cadillac Brougham?

lemko

...black 1969 Chevrolet El Camino with Ralleye wheels. Also spotted a lightly hot-rodded 1965 Chevy II Nova convertible.

toomanyfumes

Within a few blocks of each other. A perfect '65 Vette convertible in a medium blue metallic. Then a '66 Chevelle SS, beautiful condition. The plates read 396 4SPD.

freak show

saw a hershes kisses car...totally obsure.....think three big kisses on a truck bed!!!
...spotted by chicago ohare airport
FrEa|<

chuck1959

Sadly it was mother nature. You won't believe this, but mine was the same color inside and out! All in one of your pictures they is a 1979 (?) Chrysler New Yorker in the back ground. I had one of those too! I had bought it used in '85

andre1969

you didn't, by any chance, sell the carcass of your '76 to a kid in Illinois, did ya? :surprise: And yup, the NYer is a '79, Fifth Avenue edition. I found in on eBay, at a small used car lot in West VA about 155 miles away, and fell in love with it and bought it.

I think I need to stay off eBay!

jrosasmc

My best friend's dad, who operates a successful used-car dealership in my hometown has recently acquired a '77 Chrysler New Yorker. It is the base model but is loaded with goodies such as power seats, automatic a/c, etc. And it only has 22k original miles on it! Since I don't know much about big Chryslers of that era what engines were available on them?

andre1969

According to my Consumer Guide used car book, which groups the Newport and New Yorker together, 4 engines were available...

360-2bbl, 155 hp
360-4bbl, 170 hp
400-4bbl, 190 hp
440-4bbl, 195 hp

However, I don't think I've EVER seen one of these, Newport or New Yorker, with a 360. I think the NYer actually had the 400 standard and the 440 optional, and perhaps the 360 was a credit option?

They were nice, big, comfy cars. And by that time, I don't think they were really any more troublesome than any other car of the time. The Lean Burn gave its usual fits, as did the carburetor. Catalytic converter rustout was common. And, being unit-bodied, rust was more of a concern with them than it would be on a body-on-frame car. I've come across a few from time to time that I've been tempted by. About 9 years ago, I found a '76 NYer 4-door hardtop at a local park-and-sell lot. 440, which had 205 hp that year. Didn't appear to be in bad shape, but when it sprung a fuel leak, I took that as a sign. Around the same time, also saw a '78 Newport 2-door hardtop at a local used car lot. I really liked that one, because it was still a true hardtop. Most of the 2-door NYers and Newports by this time had a landau roof with fixed opera windows.

And around this time last year, there was a '74 Imperial 2-door hardtop at another local used car lot. I was kinda tempted, except it was brown, a color I really don't like. And they wanted $5995 for it...it was probably worth around $2500-3000, I'd guess.

chuck1959

No I was living in East Texas at the time. I love my Fifth also. I regreted it when I sold it.

andre1969

I walked to the bank, and saw a 1969 or so Lincoln Continental sedan in the parking lot. Looked in really good shape from a distance, but as I got closer, I could see that it had rust in the lower front fenders at the bottoms, behind the wheels. That was the only place, though, otherwise it looked good and solid. It was a light, soothing green with a dark green cloth interior, and looked like it could've been the original paint. Still shiny, but aged. It originally had skirted rear wheels, but the skirts were taken off. Gave it a bit of an unfinished look, as you could now see the "double edge" around the wheel opening, but overall I think it made it look better.

Nice looking old beast, and one that I haven't spotted before. It was sporting regular, non-historic tagts, too.

ghulet

I think only the '70-75 or so Continental sedans had skirts, the '69s (which were basicaly a carry over of the '66-67, except with slightly different taillights and front side marker lights) didn't have fender skirts.

andre1969

as some pics on Google, and now I'm thinking it was a '71.

merckx

I saw that same Mini-moke on our local expressway today. It was zipping right along...Are these mechanically the same as regular Minis?-Just open air/ Do they drive about the same?

andys120

AFAIK the Mini-Mokes were identical mechanically to the Mini 850, I doubt they came with the 1275cc motors or the Cooper hop-ups. Being lighter, with lower CGs I imagine they drove differently, just as dune buggys were quite a bit different from the VW Bugs they were derived from.

andys120

Seen today--

-'56 or '57 Corvette. Orangy red w white coves, didn't get a good look.

-Nissan 240SX, silver, in extraordinarily good shape, it looked brand new.

-'49 or '50 Ford 4 dr. repainted in orangish red, good paint and chrome, no hub caps, just dull black wheels w white walls. :confuse:

-'75-'76 (?) Pontiac Phoenix, the rwd one based on the Nova, not the X-Car based on the Citation. Pretty clean and straight w some scratches but no visible rust. Conservatively driven by a 70is gentleman.

au94

I saw one of those Subaru XT sports cars from the late 80's. Looked like a door stop on wheels to me. This was the predecessor to the SVX which was a much better, if not radical, looking car.

explorerx4

i have driven by these 2 cars several times and forgot to mention them. 2 'rallied out' fiat 500's(?). small, like original mini's.
finny... saw a chevy 'epica' wearing some kwee-beck plates. looked like a suzuki verona to me. actually, it looked pretty decent.

andre1969

I pulled up at a traffic light next to a '71 Chevelle Malibu convertible, in kind of a nasty looking green. Beautiful car, except for that color! Since I was in the Catalina, we struck up a brief conversation. Now normally, these types of conversations run along the lines of "whaddya got under the hood?". Must be a sign of the times, though, that the first thing we brought up was fuel economy!

kyfdx

Pulled up next to an old service station... A red Ferrari Testarossa... Looked real from a distance... moving too fast to tell if it might have been a kit, but it definitely had the yellow Ferrari logo on the rear...

chuck1959

I spotted an obscure car today. A Ford Freestyle!

railroadjames

Last time I saw one gas was $1.19 a gallon. This`was, for all practical purposes, an excellent all around econo car. Boxy but well built with ample room for 4 adults and a huge trunk. They were sold at Ford Dealers late 60's and were good for 40 plus miles per gallon. In my youthfull vigor I traded one for a testosterone igniter...71 Mustang Mach #1. Don't cha just wish you'd a kept 5 or 6 of yer old cars sometimes? I know I do!!
Railroadjames(Want World Peace?..Try Using Your Turn-Signal) :shades:

lancerfixer

Obscure? They seem to be selling pretty well here in Iowa, which incidentally has seen a very noticeable increase in the number of import brands seen on the road in the past few years (interestingly, and I don't think it's just because I drive one, I'd say Volvos are the most common after Camcords around here. LOTS of 850s running around this town.)

I do see a fair amount of Freestyles, though.

chuck1959

Sorry but they are obscure here is Houston, Texas. Glad to know they are selling somewhere .

boomchek

The Epica is the same thing as a Suzuki Verona, I didn't know they don't sell Epicas in the US

andre1969

in Canada do they sell Suzuki-badged vehicles, or are they all badged as Chevies? Isn't the Epica actually built by Daewoo? I think it's whatever model was slated to replace the Leganza?