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

fintail

This site has quite a few colors and codes for W111 cars

I've never looked for anything newer, but I suspect these are accurate for cars a little newer, as MB colors evolved slowly.

andre1969

who drove a Toronado? I'm thinking it was Banacek or someone like that?

**edit: looking at that Mannix website, maybe I'm thinking of that chopped Toronado from the first season?

Also, on the Barracuda, I guess Mannix and Mr. Brady got together on that one and coerced Chrysler into building a '72 convertible for them. The last year for the Barracuda and Challenger convertibles was 1971. I heard that for the Brady Bunch, they just took a 1971 or a 1970 Barracuda and put a 1972 nose on it. Maybe they did the same for Mannix?

kyfdx

Cannon drove an Eldo, didn't he?

imidazol97

Can someone come up with some pictures from these old time serials? Banachek? I know the name but can't remember the show; Cannon, I remember.

andre1969

that heavyset dude with the gravelly voice? Oh wait, that's Harvey Firestein! :P

I can't place Banacek either, but I'm thinking it was George Peppard (Hannibal on the A-team) who played him?

andre1969

last nite I caught "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes". Lots of old Ramblers in it. I'm wondering if they placed the Ramblers in the movie on purpose, because it just seemed like there were too many parked on various city streets to just be coincidence. And this movie was made in 1978, long after the Rambler name was dropped.

fintail

This site has some good pages on cars from movies and TV. And an 'unidentified' section which is fun to play with, too

lemko

Banacek, (George Peppard) drove a 1941 Packard Darrin convertible. I believe Cannon, (William Conrad) had a Lincoln Mark IV. Kojack drove around in a brown 1973 Buick Century.

kyfdx

yeah.. you are right... Mark IV..

mazda6iguy

Heres one for you. What did Joe Friday drive?

andre1969

I recall one episode where they were riding around in a 1966 or 1967 Ford Fairlane sedan. Did the Dragnet guys get a new car every season, like Andy Taylor did?

fintail

Andy Griffith...it was like a Ford commercial

bhill2

here's one for you. What kind of car did Mike Longstreet drive?

andre1969

What kind of car did Mike Longstreet drive?

Oh no, I'm not falling for that one. I fell for it once before, believing "Spurs and Leather" was a Western, but I'm not falling for it again. :P

Seriously, though, that's one I never heard of. Had to look it up, but I'm still not familiar with the show that character was in. Looks like it started off as one of those ABC Sunday Night Movies, just as Duel did, and around the same timeframe.

bhill2

Yes, it was a detective series in the early '70s. Starred James Franciscus. Just about anyone who watched the show should know the answer (a small hint).

fintail

Can't these be had for like $20 in Germany?

Classy old thing

Kinda freaky

Hideous car and similar colors

Blech

Neat little old thing, getting some interest

Impressive...could be the best left

Another of these horrors turns up

Cheerful little thing

Big project

Lemko dream car

Or this

I think Andre wanted one of these

Here's an oddball

Semi-celebrity history

Unusual, a bit steep

The roughest looking C43 I've ever seen (something is off here, too...'sport' badges are not correct, and the radio is off a newer car)

chuck1959

Walker Texas Ranger drove a Dodge Ram truck. when they were filming an episode in Galveston, Texas I happened to be staying at the same Holiday Inn as the crew while Chuck Norris stayed at a very expensive 5 star hotel that was next door! Anyway I parked next to 3 Dodge Rams they were using. When I was in the lobby of the Holiday Inn Chuck Norris was walking through the lobby. I said hi and he was very nice. I dunno if it's just me, but he looked shorter than I expected.

explorerx4

yesterday in unionville, a land rover that looked just like your stores '59, except the body was a grayish blue.
had the same roof in the same color.
mass plates and a camel sticker in one of the rear windows.

also, the othe day, 3 pontiacs in about 15 minutes.
fire engine red early firebird convertible, egg yolk yellow bonneville convertible from the late 60's, and a mint looking, last of the full size, light metalic blue grand prix's in mint condition.

andre1969

I do like that '61 Coupe DeVille, except for one little detail...its lack of power windows! I wonder if something like that would hurt the desireability of a car like this, as most people who want an old luxury cruiser like this want as many luxury touches as possible?

And something about that carpet just doesn't look right to me. But maybe it's just a combination of the color and the way that it aged?

That Zimmer thing is HORRIBLE! I didn't think this was possible, but it makes the Tiffany look like a class act in comparison! What did they use as the basis for that Zimmer? Looks like a 2-door Crown Vic or Grand Marquis to me. In contrast, I think the Cougar body works better (or is the proper word "less tragically"?) with these neoclassic abominations.

One of my relatives had a Tiffany at one point, but I dunno if he has it anymore. I forget what he does for a living, but I think he's in one of those professions where it's fashionable to show off expensive bad taste.

british_rover

That franken volvo estate showed up at a couple of my other car forums.

Pretty cool little car although I don't know if I would have picked that buck/oldsmobile/rover V8 to power it.

I guess it is a nice, light and fairly powerful motor when built correctly. The problem is they don't like running hot and it doesn't look like there is a lot of room for proper cooling with that swap.

Mr_Shiftright

I thought the Rambler wagon ad was pretty funny---it's such a tinny slapped-together excuse for a real car, and no fun whatsover to drive in any conceivable fashion....grandpa's econo-box---whoopee!

1962 Olds 98 --- a bid of $10,000 and the seller is waiting for MORE? Big mistake.....

fintail

I thnik that Rambler bid at 7K+ is pretty amazing, too.

I don't get that 98 bid.

Was the Zimmer based on like an 80-82 Cougar? I see something in the door that reminds me of one.

mazda6iguy

I've never heard of any of them turning up. However, I wouldn't mind having Jerry Lewis' Chrysler 300 convertible or that pretty blue Impala bubbletop or that 48 Ford convertible that Phil Silvers ruins, or Don Knotts' 56 Ford convertible

I kind of liked the Plymouth taxi's and I think there was a 1963 Dodge 330 police car.

prosa

I thnik that Rambler bid at 7K+ is pretty amazing, too.

Maybe people think those cute little white dogs come with the car

Mr_Shiftright

I don't think I'd want anything Jerry Lewis even touched much less drove, but I guess you could have the car blessed or exorcised.

magnette

Went to the London - Brighton car run this morning - over 400 cars ranging from 1895 Peugeot to comparitively modern cars from as recent as 1904. Pretty cold on Westminster bridge, but it was worth it, so many obscure makes, some of them unique, and because they start off in batches, in date order, only a mile or so up the road from where we were, it is like a sort of demonstration of the evolution of the horseless carriage, from the earliest days....

fintail

Awesome, I've always wanted to see that...or drive in it. I'll take a Mercedes Simplex. One of these days I'll make it over for that.

fintail

Certainly one of the best all around cars of the 20th century

This is up there too

Mr_Shiftright

Hard to believe anything made in 1979 could be the best, but perhaps relative to other 1979 cars you could make a case. If one were to vote according to book values, a '79 Benz sedan wouldn't score very high. But then, a Plymouth would be worse.

A century is a real long time :P

fintail

Well, the best all around...not the best in any category, but it sure was good in a lot of areas, and put many newer cars to shame. The fact that Lexus carbon-copied it for their first NA market car says a lot.

This would be a fun toy

andys120

I'm a fan of the W-126 as well.
I liked the preceding eneration (W-1??) even more,
it really stood out in an era of shabby cars, the 70s.

w9cw

british rover said: "Pretty cool little car although I don't know if I would have picked that buck/oldsmobile/rover V8 to power it."

Although the Buick/Olds V6 all aluminum V8 later used in the Rover 3500 has its problems, the main reason for an engine swap with this engine is weight. It's almost exactly the same weight as the Volvo 4-cylinder. And, with all of the Volvo engine swaps, this is very important to front end geometry, springs, and weight distribution.

fintail

Yeah, the W116...for the 70s, a fantastic car

Here's the W116 video story

No W111 yet

fintail

Today I saw a couple of oddballs in the rain...a 4 cyl ca. 1985 Jeep Cherokee 2 door, and a Mercury Topaz diesel. I've seen diesel Tempos, never a Topaz.

magnette

It's always fascinating to see such ancient cars actually moving, and they make quite a spectacle, with some of the drivers and crew in period clothes etc... Also there are quite a few non entrants in more recent cars which tend to tag along, like a couple of vintage Rolls Royces yesterday, and the odd Austin Seven or Bullnose Morris. Most years they are lucky with the weather, as even though it is usually cold as it is so early in the morning ( they start off at dawn these days to avoid the traffic ) it tends not to be wet - except last year where it poured. Some of the cars are steamers, or electric, and there are loads of cars which are effectively unique. It makes for a great morning, or if you go to the end at Brighton which is inly 60 miles from London, they straggle in for much of the day.
There is a link for the run;
http://www.lbvcr.com

fintail

Cool link, thanks. Looks like a very fun event. I love how those old cars sound. People here, on the west coast anyway, seem to rarely own veteran cars, or rarely take them out for any events. The last really old car that happened onto a local event was This 1906 Winton , a fairly fancy old beast. A 1-cyl Cadillac from the same year was at a show earlier, too, it was very neat.

I wonder how those prehistoric little things are to drive. I think it would be great fun.

boomchek

A Triumph Spitfire, in cream color. Very decent condition too.

gsemike

Anyone see the recent episode of Mythbusters where they were looking at a number of myths relating to disposable butane lighters?

They were looking at a myth where they wanted to see if 500 butune lighters in a locked car could spontaneously combust. To test it out, the used an old Toyota. I'm very bad with models from back (maybe it was a Corona) then but it was early 70s at the latest. The car was a two-door in excellent shape and upgraded rims.

It was a very nice looking little car and unfortunately the myth was confirmed. The explosion actually blew the back window out and the car was for the most part destroyed.

Usually I enjoy seeing a good explosion on that show but can't understand why they'd use such a nice car.

imidazol97

Can someone explain what this means? Five hundred butane lighters just sitting in a car will catch on fire of their own will?

mazda6iguy

Can someone explain what this means? Five hundred butane lighters just sitting in a car will catch on fire of their own will?

They had to use a special heat source mounted on the underside of the roof, and some kind of spark source.

lemko

...on Rte 63 just outside Montgomeryville, PA where a guy has not one but TWO Lincoln Versailles! Both appeared to be in good condition - one was white and the other some sort of metallic orange.

boomchek

Don't know much about values of classics but you guys can decide if the prices are reasonable or not:

Old Caddy

67 Camaro

68 Malibu

A bit too much for this Bel Air?

Original SS

Expensive Vette

"Too much more to list... he didn't list anything

A bit too much for this?

Too bad the rims aren't original

Mr_Shiftright

Oh these are Canadian dollars right? What's the exchange rate.

boomchek

$1 CDN is $0.88 USD

Or take away about 11% from the price to get USD value.

kyfdx

$10K CAD = $8850 USD

Mr_Shiftright

Okay then,

56 Cadillac Sedan de Ville: wildly overpriced by at least 100%. Hopeless asking price.

67 Camaro: If it's a show car, price is about 10-15% too high even after adjusting for Canadian. reason? Not a big block, not an SS

68 Malibu--- a good buy! It'll remain a six cylinder car for about 3 days.

57 Belair -- hard to say, could be a real roach.

66 Corvette Big Block coupe -- don't know if someone would pay top dollar for an automatic. Depends a lot on the options and how well the resto was done. Seems like we're 10-15% high on this one.

65 Mustang convertible -- seller is nuts, especially for an automatic. High 20s/ low 30s at best if it's stunning to behold. For his price, it'd have to be a K code GT 4 speed.
Options, options, the name of the game is options.

69 Camaro SS -- not too bad a price...knock off $3,000 USD and you're close to a sale if the car is decent in and out.
Plusses are original SS (if you can PROVE IT) and 4-speed.

bhill2

I think Santa Rosa CA has a 'white '60s cars' fan club. A while ago I posted a sighting of a showroom quality (from a 20 foot distance at least) '60 Valiant. Today I saw a '65 Chevrolet Bel-Air 2 door post in equally good condition.

boomchek

I thought some of these seem priced higher than they should be. I bet many are brought up from the states, redone, and put on the market right away. The selection up here is probably not as big as you have down in the US.

lemko

1969 Ford Torino GT in olive green metallic with black vinyl top.

1971 Chevrolet Malibu in similar olive green.

1967 Chevrolet Caprice four-door hardtop, gold with black top.

boomchek

Cool car to have, but a bit too much money

Nice SL I'd like to have, too bad about the color

This Benz has been on sale for over a year. He dropped the price from $24k he was asking before

This guy's out to lunch
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