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

lemko

...a beautiful maroon 1966 Chevrolet Impala convertible with a black top. I couldn't believe he had it out in that rain last night. Must've got caught off-guard as it was perfectly clear an hour before the storm.

Andre, are you familiar with a movie called "Dirty Mary and Crazy Larry?"

andre1969

Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry was pretty cool. Actually, wasn't there a '66 Impala in that movie? Or was it a '65? It was the first car that the gang was driving, before they switched to the '69 Charger at the flea market.

There was another movie by the same director (forget his name, but I think he was some French guy, so he was kinda new to the idea of American action movies), called "Race the Devil", about two couples who go off camping in a motorhome, witness a satanic ritual, get spotted, and spend the rest of the movie running for their lives.

Towards the end there's a showdown somewhat similar to the tanker chase in "Road Warrior", where the satan worshippers swarm down on the motorhome in a variety of cars and trucks. Compared to some of the stunt work we see today with car chases assisted with big budgets and CGI it's going to look pretty tame, but for a 1970's movie that probably spent most of its budget booking Peter Fonda and two $26,000 Vogue motorhomes, I'd say it's a good effort for the time.

Come to think of it, there were Oldmobile police cars in that movie too, but I think they were '67 Deltas or Delmonts.

I've heard of another Corman movie called "Eat My Dust", with Ron Howard in it, where he plays a stock car driver in a first-gen Camaro, running from the law. Same basic concept as "Grand Theft Auto" most likely, but filmed a year before. I'm kinda curious to see if it's any good. Or at least, good in a bad sort of way, like most of those other movies.

kyfdx

"Eat My Dust"..

We thought this was the funniest thing ever... Richie Cunningham in his little boy voice saying, "Eat my dust".. We'd mimic it in a falsetto.. then laugh till we cried..

lemko

Yeah, there was a '66 Impala in the early part of the movie. I remember a scene where they're hiding out in a barn trying to fix the suspension on the car after running from the law. Mary is asked to go in the car and turn the wheel, she gets upset about something, and the car falls off the jack and the car almost falls onto Peter Fonda's buddy's head. I haven't seen the movie in over 20 years, so my memory is a little hazy.

fintail

Speaking of those airbags...I remember 'Kramer' on Seinfeld had a big 70s GM car of some sort that appeared to have an airbag steering wheel. Anyone else remember this?

andre1969

Kramer's car. I never watched Seinfeld all that much, but I vaguely remember one of the characters having a goldish-brown 80's Gran Fury. Some real big dude. Newman or something like that? Oh, and John Voit's LeBaron!

kyfdx

For a show that was set in Manhattan, there were an awful lot of episodes that revolved around automobiles.. :surprise:

lemko

Kramer had a big green 1973 Chevrolet Impala. There may have been some experimental Chevrolet Impalas with Oldsmobile dashboards to test out the airbags. I don't think there was a production '73 Impala with airbags. If Kramer has one of these experimental jobs, he has a rare bird indeed.

fintail

Newman had one of those, yep...I think it might have been a Diplomat.

toomanyfumes

Yeah, I've seen Kramer's car with the airbag wheel. I had a '73 Impala myself (school bus yellow on the parts that hadn't been taken over by surface rust) so I noticed the different steering wheel immediately

fintail

Not something you see every day

What a classy ride

Kind of a neat thing

Auto kind of defeats the purpose

I can't believe any of these sold

Nice wheels

The zenith of the American auto industry

Can't be many of these around

Andre-mobile

Or maybe this - but 4 lights do look better

fintail

Cool, I knew I remembered seeing a steering wheel that looked more modern than I expected.

Mr_Shiftright

The Spartan -- hey, it has a "solid state voltage regulator"----WOW!

Datsun Bluebird 1000 -- I just love it. I wish I had room for it. Get it out of the cold and the snow....poor l'il thing....

Simca Sport--kinda cute but a silly, silly opening price. You'd think you'd ask somebody.

'75 Buick--Gee I always wanted chromed tractor wheels on mine, too.

1910 Hupmobile---bidding going nicely. I would have guessed about $18,000, but a few thou more is okay if it's correct and nicely done.

nolid5

The zenith of the American auto industry :P
Too funny Fin.

Are these controls for the space shuttle?

explorerx4

light blue dodge power wagon with a heavy duty looking suspension under it.

Mr_Shiftright

Reminds me of the dashboard on a rocket ship from a 1956 sci-fi film with the Three Stooges Going to the Moon. Maybe I just made that up....

SPOTTED! a 444 Volvo....not a typo...it looks like a 544 but it has a split windshield---that's one way to tell...another is that the engine is the less-than-wonderful B16, a three main bearing engine. This one was very tired looking.

toomanyfumes

Not obscure?..... This one had Vogue Tires and a Carriage roof!!! Actually not as bad as one would think, The side pillars are thin, so you didn't see too much material.

kyfdx

Right up the street, for sale... I'd say late '60s, early '70s.. New white paint..

Very cool..

fintail

I like those "computer" controls too, high tech. Funny that silver for electronics became passe, then came back.

oregonboy

That Spartan is an amazing piece of work. Somehow it seems even more over-the-top than other "neo-classics" that I've seen. I think maybe it's the hugenormous front fenders.

You have to wonder, what kind of person would actually pay real money to drive around in such a creation? If they were a professional clown, I guess it might make some sense.

I would really like to meet the seller (the original owner!) and "JONI" the bimbo dear lady that he bought it for. :P

james

uplanderguy

Man! My buddies and I also used to crack up and say in a whiny, Horace Wimp-type voice mimicking Ron Howard: "Eat My Dust!" I'm glad it wasn't just our little group!

Bill

fintail

Today I saw a pristine showroom looking red 1988 M6 at a local specialty dealer. 24K miles, like new, time warp. They want something like 40K for it though (!)

Lots of other oddities there...54 Corvette sticks in my mind, 190SL and 300SL roadster among others.

Also saw an ad for a W8 Passat, can't have made many of those.

Not many oldies on the road today. An 80s 4x4 Toyota van is all that sticks in my mind.

The fintail puked up its battery too...I tried to drive it a couple weeks ago and it wouldn't start. I came back today with a portable jump start thing, and it started...I drove it at higher rpm for 10-15 mins...came back, and it would start...but I tried it a few times, and could really tell it was cranking slower the more I tried. I guess it is telling me I need to drive it more.

Mr_Shiftright

M6---40K (choke!). Are they drunk or what? It's somewhat desirable but xerox a price guide for them and mail it anonymously. $15,000--$18,000 for a Pebble Beach car should be more than generous. I bet that will remain epoxied to the showroom floor.

battery--how old is that battery....you know, 4-5 years and they get tired.

fintail

This place is notoriously overpriced...I call them the "Barrett-Jackson Dealership". Their modern cars are even overpriced. Their M6 is a nice example though.

Yeah, the battery is 5 or 6 years old I think...I am sure it's more than aged now.

michaellno

Whilst running errands today, my wife and I spotted a pristine '67 Mustang convertible. Almost a mahogany color with a tan top. Ohio plates. Driven by a guy who could be the original owner. Absolutely stunning condition.

Wife comments to me that if I really wanted a Mustang, she would rather see me in something like that rather than in a new one.

stickguy

A Porsche 928S, actually driving around, some guy even had a kid in the back seat!

Just watched a show on GSN about the top ten game show hosts ever (yeah, I know I need a life). A few cars in the clips. A '71 Gremlin on Let's Make a deal. On Price is RIght, a yellow Renault Le Car (even had the big script on the side!), exactly like a matchbox that I still have! also a '75ish Firebird (Jim ROckford special), that (based on the price tags to choose from) cost about $6,800.

british_rover

Saw a TR-7 in decent shape yesterday driving around under its own power in a SNOW STORM.

It was a muddy brown color.

Mr_Shiftright

928s are quite reliable. Especially the S model. What stops them is that people can't afford to repair them when they break. So owning a 928S is like trekking in the Arctic...you're fine as long as you keep going, but don't stop for very long.... :P or, as I learned, "no amount of lavish maintenance will ever exceed one major breakdown."

TR7-- "Hello, Mr Shiftright. You have just won a completely restored Triumph TR7, and it's down the block waiting for you!"

Shiftright: "How FAR down the block?"

oregonboy

I remember that, at the time, I thought that the TR-7 roadster looked pretty cool... it didn't age well though, did it? And of course there are the mechanical shortcomings that Shifty has occasionally alluded to. :P

james

Mr_Shiftright

some folks have good luck with a TR7 but they are invariably very mechanically inclined individuals who are very vigilant and know that you cannot EVER allow a TR7 to overheat, not even once, not even slightly.

The "wedge" styling really hasn't aged well at all--they don't look very attractive to the modern eye anymore it seems. They may end up looking like 40s cars do to us now...kind of a "lost generation".

kyfdx

Remember their tag line?

The shape of things to come

Uh... nope..

andre1969

I kinda like that '75 LeMans, but definitely prefer the style of the '76-77 with the quad headlights. I just think it made the cars look tougher.

Kinda funny that the seller would try to make a smokey and the bandit reference with this car, being off by two years and two doors. Back when Smokey and the Bandit came out, it made me want a LeMans like Sheriff Justice's. But at that time, my Mom had a '75 LeMans coupe, which I hated. That movie didn't suddenly give me any new-found appreciation for it!

One thing I do like about the '75 though, is that you could still get those big triangular quarter windows in back. In '76-77, you could only get opera windows or the louvers.

andre1969

I definitely like that '76 Delta, too. I think GM made a pretty good looking big 4-door sedan back then. Nice, open, airy greenhouse, especially compared to something like an LTD/Marquis. Chrysler's big cars had pretty big windows and low beltlines, but still had massive C-pillars, which gave them a bit of a hemmed-in feel, especially in the back seat.

british_rover

Guy that owned the foreign repair shop next to my old shop had a TR-7.

I actually kind of liked his because it was white with blue stripes starting from the leading edge of the bonnet and running all the way back.

I also liked it because he actually kept it running in tip top shape.

seminole_kev

Didn't the TR7 specify that two(!) head gaskets be put on the engine (either from the factory or rebuild)? I swear I remember hearing that somewhere.

Speaks to some really tight tolerances if true.... :P

magnette

The TR7 is much less common now in UK than it was, although I've seen two or three running round in the last few weeks. The engine overheating was a failing which afflicted the same motor in the (superior) Dolomite Sprint too - I think part of the problem was that British sports car buyers were used to agricultural type engines like the MG , Austin-Healey or the earlier Triumphs, where you might not have reliable electrics, but the motor was pretty well unburstable, but with the alloy head Triumph you got European temperament as in the Alfa or something, but the dealers in Britain were still used to the old "hit it with the hammer" school of mechanical engineering, and that was the finish of it...
It didn't help that they built the TR7 in a new plant in Liverpool where they had the worst industrial relations in British Leyland - a record that was hard to beat - and although they eventually moved it to Coventry, and then Longbridge it was not enough...

Mr_Shiftright

Yep 2 or 3 head gaskets something like that. Also the build quality of an Italian TV dinner tray...

uplanderguy

Andre, you are the first person I've ever heard who, like me, actually likes the large triangular quarter windows on the '73-'77 GM midsize coupes. Sleek-looking, let lots of light inside, and probably the best rearward visibility of any cars since the flat-top GM hardtop sedans of '59 and '60, and the "bubbletop" GM sport coupes of '61!

I hate that in '76 and '77, the large windows were available usually only on the cheapie versions of the cars. Everything else had the stupid opera-window-on-a fastback-roofline look.

Bill

fintail

I saw a facelift W124 E500 today, and a ca. 69 Olds 442 convertible.

explorerx4

just letting you know, i enjoy reading your posts. over here we have a huge following of 60's/early 70's muscle cars. is there something similar across the pond?

magnette

I suppose the big following in US cars is for the earlier, chrome and fins stuff, but in terms of cars you might see in actual use, there are more Corvettes and Mustangs than anything else, with maybe the odd Camaro. The really big muscle cars must be here, because they turn up at shows, stuff like Chargers and Trans-Ams, but there is a tendency for the really big cars to be too large for most people - you can't park wide cars in most domestic garages, or in a single space in city car parks - which tends to be a problem for the Range Rover etc market too, although they are a bit narrower than a full sized American. And then theres the fuel consumption...
Cars that get a following here would include the Ford Capri - especially the big 6's, but there is always more of a following, understandably, for the traditional British sports car - MG/Triumph/Austin-Healey/Jaguar etc...
At car shows,unless it is a one make show, the old stuff that is out there is really varied, and loads of old basic saloons turn up, like Hillman/Sunbeam/Morris/Austin/Vauxhall - there is always a bias towards sporting or at least top of the range cars, rather than the run-of-the-mill varities....I heard somewhere that there are more Lotus Cortinas left than basic ones, despite making up less than half of one percent of those produced...

magnette

Didn't catch these e-bay delights at the time - you certainly know how to find them....
The Hupmobile was great and I really liked the Simca, though I'm not entirely convinced by the description as I think though the coachwork was by Facel, they didn't use the name Vega until they built their own car.
What really intrigued me was the Datsun. we didn't get any Japanese saloons until nearly a decade later, and by now that is probably nearly extinct back home, so that would really be a rare car....

fintail

Do you notice any following for fintails there?

I know they have some on the continent, but in NA, they are just sideshows at best.

explorerx4

years ago, i had a capri ('76 i think) with a 2.8 v6. it was a very bright yellow. if only my kids knew.

boomchek

Light blue 1980 Triumph TR8 convertible. Looked like in pretty decent shape, and the owner said it had 81km (50k miles).

He stopped by our dealer for something Honda related.

magnette

The fintail was an expensive car here when new, but more than a few came in as forces purchases, when British soldiers etc were stationed in Germany, as they could bring cars back tax-free.
The pagoda roadsters were quite popular, and there are still quite a few around, but a good fintail, or ponton is rarer. Having said that I saw a good fintail in Chelsea the other week, and the local garage has a ponton in bits at the back, although I think the garage owner is a bit of a time waster and doesn't seem to be doing much with it.
At car shows I've seen fintails, but not in large numbers - what tends to happen, though is that a one-make car club will organise a run to a bigger show, and I suppose if the M-Bz don't come, then the only ones there would be odd people who turn up, which is always going to be more limited.
They are such well made cars, though, that there are probably still quite a few in daily use, and they certainly aren't especially rare. I tend to base my observations around London, of course, and I would imagine that in other parts of Britain they would be less common...

magnette

I pass a mark II Capri every day on my drive home - just a blue one with the black vynil roof, not a hot one, probably a 2-litre or something, but it is still in daily use - mid-seventies, and now quite fashionable again. In their day they were THE car for the jack-the-lad tearaway aound town and I think they have a following with blokes of a certain age who want to relive those days !
There is a defiite wave of nostalgia for the 70's in Britain at the moment, on TV and in things like fashion, I believe, and the Capri/Escort/Granada image is popular.

What did you replace your capri with ?

andys120

Hey Fin, the Fintails are the subject of the "Collectible Classic" feature in the March issue of Automobile.

Better hurry to the newstand, April issues are coming innow.

explorerx4

i bought the capri used in 1980 as a winter car. i had bought a new vw scirocco earlier that year. the capri had over 100k miles on it. i put some repair money into it and drove it on and off for 2+ years. i sold it cheap to my sister in law. it got totalled in an accident and she got twice what she paid for it! never even got a thanks for giving her a nice deal.

ever seen one of these?
rally cat

fintail

Interesting. I suspect more people have saved and cared for the cars than here - as Brits are good at doing to every car.

Yeah, I have seen that Automobile magazine write up too, a very flattering little article. Nice to see the cars getting some attention. A nice one is a good practical classic.