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I spotted an (insert obscure car name here) classic car today! (Archived)
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I've always kind of liked these
Talk about an unusual emblem
Uncommon survivor
From the same seller, another you don't see every day
For the commercial car enthusiast
Nice state of preservation
Who would have bothered?
Kind of a handsome old beast
Freakshow
Much nicer fuselage
Seems more exciting than many late model Ponchos
As for the low mileage AMC, I can only imagine that in 30 years we will see low mileage Azteks, Ford 500s (current models), and other slow sellers of today popping up on online auction sites.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
My name is Diana C. I have been trying to purchase a new Mercedes suv. I got a great deal on it but they said that they can't deliver without a Chrysler i.d. number for purchase. I have asked so many people and they said its no big deal to get one but I was hoping you could help me. I am happy to compensate for the i.d. number but I can't afford the car without it. Any help you could give me? Thank you! Diana
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1946-48 DeSoto 4-door, parked in a driveway, originally blue but with a lot of gray primer on it. Looked pretty solid, at least from a quick drive-by.
1976 Olds 98 4-door hardtop, in another driveway, in a shade of brown that only a 70's car could pull off with any dignity.
Then, in another driveway, a 3-fer...
1964 Impala 4-door, black, kinda rough looking.
1970-72 Monte Carlo, mostly primer/blackish/brownish, rough but looking like a work in progress.
early 60's Chevy pickup, 8-foot bed, again in primer, and servicable looking.
I also dug my '76 LeMans out of the garage and drove it around the neighborhood for a bit. It had been awhile since I've run it, so it had to be jumped.
it did not look to be in running condition, perhaps undergoing restoration.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
The rims matched the vehicle perfectly and didn't lok out of place probably because it was lowered a few inches.
It alos had Euro bumpers.
Overall it was the only modified W126 that I saw that actually looked good.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
Would that be the ugly bright lime green, or the ugly avacado green? :confuse:
james
2009 BMW 335i, 2003 Corvette cnv. (RIP 2001 Jaguar XK8 cnv and 1985 MB 380SE [the best of the lot])
And re: boomchek's W126...there's a period Lorinser conversion on a pre-86 Euro 500SE sitting at my local MB specialist. It has the bodykit, wheels, interior mods, etc...it's pretty decent. If it's there when I visit again, I will get a photo of it.
This afternoon's spottings were a really nice looking Ford Fairmont woody, and a very nice looking MB W123 in an ugly period 'cookie dough' tan.
2009 BMW 335i, 2003 Corvette cnv. (RIP 2001 Jaguar XK8 cnv and 1985 MB 380SE [the best of the lot])
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
It was something of this style:
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20070405_Wagoneers_ho__Still_rolling_on.htm- l
I'm amazed there is even one left.
Classic Pinto
"The pictures speak for themselves" (and they say, I'll show you the back seats, but not the front) :P
james
I've always been fascinated with that kind of stuff, like what percentages of old cars are still around. I'm guessing there's not an easy way to find out, though.
Another useless statistic I remember is that, as of roughly spring 1987, roughly 50% of all the 1980 GM X-cars were still on the road. I think it came up because there was some news report at the time of them being implicated in yet another fiasco.
How old does a car have to get before it won't get covered in a recall anymore?
When did Toyota first start in US? How many of the first 10 years are left?
This is interesting.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Similarly, I'd guess that the first Hondas hit our shores around 1968 or so? They made a Honda 600 or something like that, and they also made something else, before moving to "big" cars like the Civic.
Once you started getting into serious attempts at small cars, like the 70's imports, I'd imagine that they probably had a fairly good survival rate once you got out of the rust belt.
However, like the Vega and Pinto, most small cars back then were viewed as cheap, basic transportation. Sure, if you drove a 1976 Accord, you probably looked down through your nose at a Chevette, Pinto, or Gremlin driver, but most of the vehicle buying public was still looking down through THEIR noses at you! And a lot of people bought those little things not because they wanted to, but because they felt forced to.
Therefore, they just got used up and disposed of once their usefulness was gone.
I'd imagine that the best survival rates would be found among luxury cars like Cadillac, Lincoln, and Imperial. People tended to buy them and pamper them, and hold on to them longer. And when they got traded, often they ended up in the hands of second hand buyers who still pampered them and held on to them.
Musclecars and ponycars and such might be considered much more desireable, but they were often driven hard, abused, smashed up beyond repair, etc., and that probably keeps their numbers comparatively low. Although if they're desireable enough they'll get salvaged. Still, musclecars went to the crusher in droves once the first fuel crisis hit.
And more mainstream cars, like a Chevelle, Impala, etc, while not as disposeable as some cheap subcompact or compact, still were often discarded once their usefulness was up, or something new and (not necessarily) better came along. A lot of these big mainstream cars also got ditched once the fuel crisis hit
There's an advertisement currently saying a certain percent of the 11 years of a car model are still on the road. 90%. And I don't remember the car right now. But they sold few of those cars through the first years so having sold lots of them more recently means most of them better still be on the road since the firs 3 years may only be 10% of the whole mess of vehicles sold. Statistics misused to mislead people.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
220 SE
the Honda S500 was the first ca. 1965 followed by the Honda
N600 and Z600 ca. 1970. First imports of the Civic were around '76 IIRC.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
they weren't "cute" like a VW bug or pretty like a Renault Dauphine but probably a much better car all in all....
Remember, too, that in 1958 many Americans still hated the Japanese. The war was only over 13 years, well within the memory of veterans and their families.
I think you don't see many early Japanese cars because the bodies just disintegrated and the cars themselves not worth restoring.
It's the popular cars that disappear at the fastest rate, ironically....no one thinks of them as precious or rare or special.
High bidding
Maybe a Shifty-mobile
"Diplomatica"...yeah, if Elvis or Liberace ran an embassy
Odd survivor
Perhaps my favorite 1930s Packard
Sharp fins
Big bucks
It would be hideous if it wasn't so unashamed
OF all the things to be saved
Very nice fintail...so correct, but the hubcaps aren't
The 1958 Buick is supreme! Red!!! Wow. Most striking of the bunch.
Then the 1958 DeSoto. It's my favorite car because of the big fins from that era, but the colors look bland after the _red_ 58 Buick.
Then the 1953 Buick Skylark popped up. Beautiful burgundy restoration. The curves on that babe are spectacular.
What a bunch of US cars this time around. Thank Fintail.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Every time I see one, the front end looks like it's unfinished (the front corners look like there's turn signals missing.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
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That '58 DeSoto Firedome is cool too, although the fit of the passenger side front door is awful. And I think those close-up pics confirm somethng I've always theorized...that the 2-door hardtop and 4-door hardtop used the same roofline. I think the interior looks pretty good, too...one of the better non-original interiors I've seen.
About the only thing nice I'll say about that Stutz is that I love that shade of dark green! But otherwise, it's pretty hideous. Hey, I caught a Stutz reference on tv this morning. Don't laugh, but I was watching "The Perils of Penelope Pitstop", and at one point she jumps into her racing car to escape. She refers to it as a Stutz Bearcat model XKZ.
And this is probably gonna sound weird coming from a big-car fan like me...but I like that '69 Toyota! Neat looking little car.
That '58 Buick wagon is a neat car, too. I think the '58 Buick is about as excessive as cars got that year, but somehow I think it wears it better than something like an Olds or Edsel. I still think it's a styling mess compared to any '58 Mopar, which were almost too tasteful to be 1958 cars, but it's still pretty cool. One thing I notice about it that's interesting, is that, for a station wagon, it looks like it would be almost useless. The cut of the C-pillar makes it look hard to get into the back seat, and the cargo area looks fairly small, as well. I wonder how much cargo space these things were rated at? For comparison, I think the Mopar wagons were rated at 95 cubic feet back then. Didn't matter which brand you got, as the body shell was the same from the cheapest Plymouth to the priciest Chrysler. Of course, today it's a moot point, because nobody's going to buy something that nice and use it for trips down to Lowes and Home Depot! Another thing I noticed, looking at that Buick, is that Buick did a good job at making their cars look more massive than they really were. IIRC, a Special was only something like 207" long. I think that was only incrementally longer than a '58 Chevy, and well short of a Mercury, DeSoto or Chrysler, and I think even a '58 Dodge was about 214" long. '58 Buicks were heavy little suckers though. I dunno how well that translates into being well-built or sturdy, though!
Is a 928 one of those cars that often gets a Chevy smallblock transplant?
In stock form they sound very mellow, and with an Ansa exhaust they sound really nice.
Yeah, you can do the engine conversion to a Chevy and then they sound like a jack-up Chevelle on Flowmasters, but a "truck" noise is usually just rotten out exhaust, a common problem.
Of course, the engine conversion costs more than the entire car is worth, so I'm not sure what's up with that. That's easily a $10,000 project. So I don't think it's done "often". I've only seen one (pretty neat, actually).
The 928 engine is not a problem, it's everything they attach to it. So unless your steering, AC and electrics are also early GM, you still got many of the problems. It's like the Jaguar V8 conversions--they throw away the best part of the Jaguar, the engine. Well at least in the case of the XJ6, they also throw away the pathetic automatic transmissions, so that's a good thing. Can't beat a TH400.
and it's a pretty car besides, although it could use a better color.
-"Italian Stutz" my :censored:!
-I totally agree on the Fintail, it just doesn't look right without the color matched hubcaps.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
Daihatsu had already tried to sell cars in UK before that, with the Compagno in 1964, but they were rare - I think they only had about two dealers, and I never saw one on the road...
Toyota started selling the Corona here in 65, but they were only in big towns like London at first - again, they weren't on the roads where I lived.
We got small Datsuns from 1966, too, and I started to see those as there was soon a dealer quite nearby - little did we know......
http://www.carspace.com/justaveragejoe/Albums/truck/