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

kyfdx

A Geo Storm wagon.. (sportback?).. I didn't even remember these... Has a rear sort of like the optional "wagon" rear on a Pulsar NX... only not removeable... Looked to be in amazingly good shape...

andre1969

I spotted a few old ones. First was a burgundy colored T-bird, '79 I think. Looked good and solid, but the paint was shot and the bumper was rusting. Had a leather interior, but interstingly, just cheap basic T-bird hubcaps.

Also saw a Benz that I couldn't identify. It was fairly big as Benzes go so I'm guessing an S-class. Not sure of the year, though. It had round quad headlights. Dark blue, and in beautiful condition. I guess it's the generation before the S-class that Fintail had?

fintail

If the lights were horizontal, it would be a W116 yes, the 70s S-class. Getting harder to find really good ones anymore, but not many people are looking.

andre1969

"W116" on Google, and sure enough, that was it! Interestingly, most of the ones in pictures have flush-mounted composite headlights. Were the round quad headlights a US-only thing?

andys120

Were the round quad headlights a US-only thing?

Yep, at least three generations of S-Class suffered the indignity of having their headlights converted to US Spec sealed beams before H/Ls were "liberated" in the '87 MY. Mercedes was an early adopter of non-round headlights going back to the '50s.

prosa

By far the most unusual car I ever saw was a 1904 Oldsmobile (it had a small sign on the side proclaiming it as such). I saw it in Connecticut about 15 years ago. Now, seeing such an ancient vehicle in a parade or car show might not be too extraordinary, but this one was being driven down a busy commercial street on a weekday, with no parades or shows anywhere in the area.

fintail

I don't think the W111/112 and 108 cars looked bad with the sealed beams - the vertical/stacked look has a very 60s flavor to it and is handsome. I have no plans to convert my fintail to Euro lights for example, the US spec lights look cool enough, and a proper conversion is a chore.

On the W108 (late 60s S class) the 6cyl models would have the euro flush lights, and the V8 cars the stacked round lights.

In 86 the S-class lights went semi-flush from the ugly inset lights used on 81-85 models, but were not close to the grace and smoothness of the Euro lights. I put Euros on my 126 and it took 10 years off the car. The first real flush lights for a US spec S-class were on the W140 in 1992.

AFAIK, MB was the first to use non-round flush/composite lights of that type, on the 57 300SL.

I've always thought an early car would make a fun in-town car...maybe something like a brass Model T (extra cylinders can be handy) or an even earlier car. If you live in a little town and don't need to go over 30...why not, might be fun.

andre1969

but an obscure part...I wonder how hard it would be to hook up this gauge cluster in my '76 LeMans? It would be cool to have full gauges in it.

andre1969

and their headlights, I thought the S-class I saw today looked handsome with its round quad headlights. I think they suit the car well.

fintail

Yeah, the lights on those weren't *too* bad....the problem with those cars was the huge ghastly DOT bumpers.

The inset lights on 81-85 W126 spoil the otherwise smooth and aerodynamic (for the time) lines

Adn I'd think hooking up those gauges couldn't be too hard

lemko

Spotted a silver 1981 Chevrolet Citation five-door hatchback, a gold 1982 Cavalier sedan and a very nice mid-80s Cavalier convertible.

fintail

I saw a 2 tone brown Pontiac Phoenix not long ago - not the nicest sight. A Fairmont woody wagon this morning, too.

mazda6iguy

I once owned a two tone brown and gold 1981 Pontiac Phoenix. My Dad gave it to me after he put around 50k miles on it. I remember my dad paid around $9000 for it new. It had all of the options on it. I think it was an LJ. I remember it had an 8 track tape player option installed.

prosa

Chevettes seemed to disappear from the roads fairly quickly after production ceased in the late 1980's. And I can't remember the last time I've seen a Vega.

jlawrence01

First, the production of the Chevette ceased in 1986 but sales fell off around 1982 with the introduction of the original Cavalier.

Second, it reallt depends on where you were at. Up to 2000, they could be seen frequently in the midwest. Last summer, I saw about 35 while driving in Western Washington and British Columbia.

andre1969

since I've seen a Chevette, but occasionally I'll see a T-1000 in the parking lot at work. And I used to see a real old Chevette with round headlights running around with historic tags.

From what I've been able to tell, they seem pretty resistant to rusting. And I don't think the engine and tranny were particularly troublesome. It's just that they were cheap, inexpensive cars that people threw away when they got tired with them.

My Consumer Guide used car book basically just criticizes them for being crude and outdated, squeaky and rattly, and prone to leaking oil and other fluids, but that they'll last along time (provided you don't let the oil and other fluids run dry! :surprise: )

Now the last time I saw a Vega was at a classic car show. There is a local Pontiac Astre that looks almost showroom new, though.

lemmer

I remember a guy at my high school had a T1000 (this was in 1986). He spent most of his time explaining to everyone that it wasn't a Chevette, but a Pontiac sports coupe.

I haven't seen Chevettes on a regular basis in 15-20 years. They don't rust in the South, but they seem to fall apart immediately nonetheless.

fintail

Chevette died in 88 didn't it? GM has to milk it for every last day it can, no matter how archaic the car might be at the time.

You do see them here in the northwest now and then. Although it is wet here, cars do seem to hold up OK. You see K-cars now and then too, and lots of 80s Japanese metal is still on the road.

andre1969

but I think it was 1987 that the Chevette got canned. If it weren't for the Koreans undercutting it at the time, I wouldn't be surprised if GM didn't try to milk a few more years out of it.

IIRC, they did slash the price of the Chevette in the final year or so, because it looked pretty lame compared to a $4995 Hyundai Excel.

But, if it's any consolation, the Chevette DID at least have an OHC engine! :P

themoon77

Funny how this Chevette thing came up. I was driving through a nearby town yesterday afternoon and saw a cream colored Chevette for sale which appeared to be like new. I knew some people who had them in the 80s, even rode in one, but can't remember them being unreliable.

andre1969

went through a phase in the 80's when he wanted to buy a used Chevette. I think he just wanted something cheap and economical to knock around in. Grandmom was still working and so she needed the car. Granddad was retired and had his truck.

Fortunately I guess, that was one dream Granddad never saw to fruition. Probably didn't miss much! And considering that he really wasn't driving a whole lot, it probably didn't make sense to buy a Chevette and keep up insurance on it, just to save gas compared to driving the truck. It's not like gas was prohibitively expensive in the mid-80's.

jlawrence01

IIRC, they did slash the price of the Chevette in the final year or so, because it looked pretty lame compared to a $4995 Hyundai Excel.

They may have LOOKED lame but compared to the awful Excels thay were bullet-proof.

My first contact with Hyundai Excels were negotiating manufacturing buy-backs for a local preacher.

andre1969

yeah, in retrospect I'd take a 1986 Chevette over a 1986 Excel, but I have a feeling that most people at the time were just wow'ed at how much they thought they were getting for their money when they looked at the Excel. Of course, you usually get what you pay for!

fintail

My grandpa had a couple Chevettes. One rental he drove into (literally) a gas station in Hawaii. The other was a company car that broke a timing belt at under 20K miles. I remember the company car that replaced it was one of those Nova/Corollas. It was badged as a Nova but the floormats said 'Toyota'. He finally retired after that one.

mazda6iguy

Not sure of the year, but on the way to pick up lunch I saw a blue Ford Fairmont station wagon. The body looked ok, but the rear tailgate was plastered with about 15 - 20 bumper stickers.

jlawrence01

At the time there were a number of cars at or near that range ($4995) ... Fiats, Renault, and a few other land mines.

I cannot think that a stripped down manual transmission equipped Chevette would be much more than $5k.

Do realize that in the late '70s and early '80s, interest rates for people with GOOD credit ratings were 17%+.

And that was the "good old days"??

Mr_Shiftright

I think if I woke up one day with a Chevette in my driveway I would have shot myself, but again, that's just me. :P Totally depressing car.

jrosasmc

My dad had one of those Novas that were rebadged Corollas. He bought one brand-new and kept it for 16 years (that's right, 16 years!). To this day he claims that it was the best-driving car he ever owned in his life. Well I drove it all throughout high school and I thought that Nova was just an all-around dog. It had no power to speak of and it was plain dreary to drive. The car finally rusted away and we gave it to charity.

mazda6iguy

Was it a "normal" nova or a "Twin Cam 16" performance model?

fintail

All I remember about my grandpa's car is that it was red with a grey interior, and those floormats stick out, of course. He got a kick out of that. Trouble-free car from what I recall.

big_prize

Chevettes seemed to disappear from the roads fairly quickly after production ceased in the late 1980's. And I can't remember the last time I've seen a Vega.

I see a Vega almost once a week near my parents' house. It's "painted" with brownish primer, but it's otherwise still in decent shape. On a similar note, in the mid-seventies my parents had the Pontiac Astre, the Vega clone.

big_prize

With all the talk of Renault Appliances and Entrails (Alliances and Encores), has anyone seen a "Le Car" lately? If so, I'm sorry.

Mr_Shiftright

I see dead ones now and then on craigslist. Haven't seen a running one for about two years now.

Ditto for the "other" Renault:

http://www.craigslist.org/pen/car/113673464.html

lemko

This morning I saw a Ford Contour SVT. Not sure of the year as I was behind it.

andre1969

I saw something that looked like a LeCar, but it looked like a high performance version! :surprise:

As for the Chevette, I'd have to dig up my old car encyclopedia to be sure, but I think in the final year or two they did slash prices on them, once the Excel and Yugo hit the streets. IIRC, when the Excel started at $4995, the Chevette was down to around $5249. Of course, that's MSRP, I have no idea what actual transaction prices were.

Back in college, a friend of mine bought a brand-new 1989 or 1990 Plymouth Horizon America, and I think it stickered for around $6,000. Total stripper, except for having an automatic transmission. By then the 2.2 was the standard engine, so it was almost a musclecar as these things go. It was black with a light silver/gray interior, and it had cloth seats.

Overall it didn't seem like a bad car, although IMO it was inferior in every respect to the $1100 1969 Dart GT hardtop I bought around that time. Well, except maybe fuel economy! Although it wasn't bad for what it was...around 15-18 around town, 22-23 on the highway.

fintail

There was a high performance LeCar, kind of. There was the R5 Turbo, which was based on the same shell as a LeCar.

andre1969

and I was thinking it was called an R5, but then for some reason R5 made me think of Fiat. IIRC the one I saw had one of those extra-wide European license plates on it.

fintail

It was shipped over as an unofficial import, they were never officially sold in NA that I know of...no way something like that could make it past DOT junk

lemmer

Actually they had a FWD Renault 5 Turbo which was the sports version of the Renault 5. I rode in one in the Neatherlands. The clutch slipped like crazy and the guy drove like a maniac.

The Le Car and the R5 were completely separate cars that were both based on the Renault 5.

Mr_Shiftright

R5 Turbo was a screamer (still is). Don't mess with that car if you see one on the highway. They can pack up to 200HP in street versions and 250HP modified in a very light package. They were legally imported by Sun International in the 1980s. Supposedly, 0-60 in is the 4 second range, top speed just under 150 mph, so not much is gonna touch you out there.

On the downside, ZERO respect or prestige and they break a lot.

They also bring a pretty good price in the US.

I think it helps to be crazy to drive one.

andys120

Thanks for reminding me that the 300SL Roadster was the first to employ non-round lights. I should've remembered that, it's one of my favorite cars, possibly the greatest car of the 1950's, even better in some ways than the Gullwing which IIRC only came w round lights.

Peugeot was another early adopter of composite h/ls but I can't recall which of theirs had 'em first.

fintail

Several Euros had them by the early 60s, I believe German Ford had them early too. BMW by 65 or so I think as well. Peugeot was in there too.

W111 fintails had them when production started in 59. And yep, the gullwing never had roadster style lights.

andys120

Yeah, you're right about mid '60s Bimmers, the BMW 2000 and other models had Euro lights. We tend to think of BMWs as always having round lights but it wasn't so outside the US.

stickguy

a 1970 ish Maverick 2 door, decent shape, with period mag wheels.

And even more rare, an Aztec! Later model monotone paint, but still hideous.

lemko

...beautiful maroon 1971-72 Pontiac LeMans convertible.

andre1969

composite headlights, but the various Mopar divisions all sported headlights in 1939 of various shapes that were just about flush with the fenders.

On another note, I had to go down to southern MD today for a relative's funeral, and, well it's nice to know that the hobby of keeping lawn ornaments is still alive and well down there. I saw too many old cars in various states of repair to recount them all. And heck, I'd have to buy a few more lawn trophies if I wanted to have a snowball's chance in hell of competing with some of those collections down there! Unfortunately (or fortunately, I guess, if you were my neighbor) they have more restrictions and covenants up here, so I couldn't get away with it.

fintail

Today I pulled up at a red light, and a black and white c. 2002 T-Bird pulled beside me. Then, across the street in the oncoming lane, another c.2002 T-Bird pulled up. I've never seen two at once on the same road.

Seeing as I live in Bellevue, I do see odd things now and then. More than once, at 4 way stops, the other 3 cars have all been Mercedes (mine too).

fintail

Nice survivor

Some of the larger early cars are still worth a bit. I see six figure asking prices on the real grand ones

What a beauty

Same here

I've never heard of this model

For the ambitious

This is kinda neat,for its history - an early import

Those lovely 58s

Pretty boattail

Menacing limo

Cheaper than a new one

Kind of amusing

I suppose Andre can appreciate this

More interesting clone than most

Big and seldom seen anymore

imidazol97

I'll take the 62 Pontiac if they just put a 3800 in it for durability. I have nice memory of that car year.

andre1969

or is that '74 Cutlass brown on the outside, but a combination of eggshell and green on the inside? :confuse: Yuck! I mean, it's good that they gave you the variety of choice with colors back then, but sometimes too much choice is a bad thing! Doesn't look like a bad car overall, but just an unfortunate color choice.

I'm not a big fan of brown cars, but if it had, say, a light brown or tasteful beige cloth interior, it would be easier on the eye. I think brown is just one of those colors that doesn't look good in vinyl or leather, but isn't bad in cloth. Or even if the vinyl was left eggshell, but that green was swapped for brown.

Or, if that interior was matched with either a white, eggshell/ecru, or a very pale green, it might not be bad.