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

Mr_Shiftright

Two of my favorites!

corrado54

The body was built by Intermeccanica in Turin Italy. The chassis was American made and the engine was a small Buick V8. I think there was fewer than 300 built. Almost all of them were Coupes but I saw a convertible at the Concorso Italiano in Monterey last year. If you remember the original Love Bug the Yellow car that he raced against called the Thorndyke was an Apollo 5000GT. Just saw the movie last night and recognized the car.

british_rover

a black Panterra earlier today and a 1996 911 Carrera 4.

ghulet

this one is VERY nice:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BEAUTIFUL-BEEMER-GORGEOUS-1982-BMW-633CSI-FIVE-SP- D_W0QQitemZ260115237335QQihZ016QQcategoryZ6129QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Mr_Shiftright

Sorta funny he thinks the 635 is so "fast" and his wife was afraid of the awesome power--LOL!---he's only an 8 second car at best unless there's been serious massaging going on here....A Honda Civic should be able to slap it silly...

fintail

You'd have liked the Jag - it was red, looked very restored and was wearing whitewall tires, as of course was typical for even sportscars in the NA market back then.

Today I also saw a fake Porsche Speedster - or at least I assume it was fake, it sure sounded like an old Beetle. And a Ferrari 360 or 430 Spider, in silver, kind of odd.

texases

You gotta remeber, she's moving up from a clapped-out Saab. A Corolla would be a rocket for her.

Mr_Shiftright

Yes it IS all relatives isn't it? Still, the idea of someone going 0-60 in 8.2 seconds and going WHOA! is kind of amusing.

I mean, my puny Scion xA would make an old 6 series have to sweat for its 0-60 victory.

texases

Also, it could be a speed, not an acceleration, thing. She could be used to 'car is starting to shake and rattle, must be doing 60' in the Saab. Same noise level in the 6 might have been 80, 90? Perhaps some traffic tickets were a factor.

Mr_Shiftright

A 633 is kind of a tank to drive...very large, deliberate kind of car, not a "sports" car feel at all...more of a GT car, a high speed cruiser. Definitely not a car you want with a manual transmission. It feels like you're shifting a lead baseball bat inside of a barrel.

fintail

Today I have seen a guards red Porsche 928S4, a couple W126, an early W124, an 80s 3er, and of all things, a black 80s model Excalibur with its top down/off.

I also saw that same red E-type from yesterday.

seminole_kev

Fintail - tomorrow, could you club the driver of that E-type over the head and send the car to me? I'll send you my shipping address........

fintail

Sorry, this is the best I can do

fintail

Today I have also seen a ca. 1957 Dodge station wagon, and a late 90s Viper coupe

seminole_kev

It'll have to do Fin

Mr_Shiftright

A four-door '57 Ford Fairlane 500. I haven't seen one of those in years. Pretty good shape, too.

Hillman Husky station wagon, also really good shape.

andre1969

I spotted a clapped-out hulk of a '67 Malibu station wagon. It was a not-very-attractive goldish color, and filthy, which actually helped diguise the rust. But as I got closer, I saw it was pretty bad. Driven by an old guy that probably used it as an old appliance, for hauling and stuff. He had a bunch of boxes in the back.

Then, while stopped at a traffic light, something big and red, with a continental tire on the back drove past. I was pretty far back, so I didn't get a good look at it, but I think it was a '56 Buick convertible. Probably a Roadmaster, but I only caught a quick glimpse.

Also saw a '68-69 Buick Special convertible in a driveway. Black-on-black, and pretty sharp looking.

A four-door '57 Ford Fairlane 500. I haven't seen one of those in years. Pretty good shape, too.

My grandparents had a '57 Fairlane 500 4-door. I don't know if it was a hardtop or pillared, though, and I doubt if Granddad would remember. He still has the paperwork for it though. In fact, he has the paperwork for every car he ever bought! He showed it to me a few years ago. I remember being initially shocked that the Fairlane stickered for $3500! I spec'ed out my '57 DeSoto once, using one of those American Standard catalogs, and I figure it was only $3800! Back then though, it seems like once you optioned up cheaper cars to where they were comparably equipped to a medium-priced car like a Mercury, DeSoto, Olds, Buick, etc, often there really wasn't much difference in price.

Granddad's next car was a '61 Galaxie 500, and I think it was about the same price, $3500. Then he had a '63 Mercury Monterrey, with the "Breezeway" roll-down rear window, and it was about the same, $3500. Those old pre-inflation days must have been really nice!

lokki

But it was in nice enough shape and cruising along in the light rain at 60 (the rest of us were doing 75). I'd forgotten that MG-B's have 3 tiny little windshield wipers.

Mr_Shiftright

I doubt a rubber bumper MGB could do 75 mph. Maybe just barely.

kyfdx

My friend just got back from an MG get-together in Key West..

He drove his MGA.. :surprise:

2700 mile round trip.. Mostly back roads going down... 3.5 days.. 2 days coming back on the highway..

andys120

I spotted a Merc 300SE Cabrio (ca. 1970?)
parked downtown (top down!), I walked over and took a good look and it was in beautiful shape with good (dark blue) paint and chrome (a bit cloudy if you're a stickler).

I thought there was something a little off about it but I realized that the 15" alloys (Bundts) were pretty small for a tank that size, they weren't then but they are now. It needed the whitewalls to make the wheels look bigger.

The light tan leather was perfect!

I also saw a nice ca. mid 90s BMW 525i (E 34) in Rose Quartz, the interior was perfect and the paint was very good except for three or four parking lot dings.

A well cared for car with a decade under it's wheels.

merckx

...saw a car like the first new car I bought, same color,too...a 1981 Chevy Citation 4-door hatch...even had the same slotted steel wheels and dog dishes...I don't even see one Citation a year...I got oddly choked up for a minute..

fintail

The W112 300SE was made through 1967 I think. Bundts were actually never stock on the car, but were a period update to make it resemble the last of the 280SEs, I am sure. Stock wheels were 14 or 15" I think, with color coded caps.

That car has the air suspension and the high tech (for 1961) M189 engine. Very pretty cars, lovely dashes and door panels especially.

fintail

Today I saw a late 60s Stingray convertible in that period butternut yellow, driving in morning rush hour traffic...a white Rolls Silver Cloud I or II, crawling through evening rush traffic in a very stately manner, and a Porsche 968 convertible.

bocatrip

I owned a 59 Alvis TD21 (Red Triangle) years ago that was had for free without a title. It sat in someone's back yard for so long that the roots of a huge tree got under the chassis. I had it towed out, brought to my garage and got someone to actually start it up for a few seconds. It has a very strong 6 cylinder but like all the early british cars was a truck to drive. I put an ad in Hemmings at the time and sold it for $995. I should have kept the grill which was quite classey. After the buyer who drove halfway accross the country to tow it back gave me 10 one hundred bills, he actually had his hand out for the $5.00 change. 67 was the last year, but it was a handsome car.

bocatrip

My first new car I ever purchased out of the showroom was a 70 MGB, Glacier White, 1798 CC engine, with the better convertable top and the only year for the split rear bumper. I paid $100 over cost in PA which was approximately $2500. The better top didn't come off like the cheaper top but it was absolute crap, leaked, had a zillion snaps and was a [non-permissible content removed] to close. British Leyland was having serious labor problems and many of the cars were screwed around with at the factory. Mine threw a rod in the first 3 months, and after I received a short block from England, an electrical fire developed under the dash. An alligator clip was found on the harness as the culprit. I also heard stories of soda cans found in the seats. It was a fun car with a very short throw transmission. It ate up internal regulators in the alternators and exhaust resonators under the drivers seat.

bocatrip

If anyone wants back surgury for getting into the lowest car I have every experienced, try a 73 Lotus Europa JPS (John Player Special). I believe they only came in black. I had 2 of them. One purchased from a salvage yard due to hitting something in the front end. I had most of the parts needed hand made since they were not available. The car was so low that when driven on the highways there was always a chance that a tractor trailor would not see you and actually run completely over you. I never in my life drove a car that handled like it was glued to a track around corners. However it was hard as hell trying to get it into reverse. It looked like a little milk truck.

Mr_Shiftright

They called them the Lotus Bread Van.

Also very hard to shift because there was no room for any shoe larger than about a size 8.

Fun car to drive though, in your bare feet I mean.

andys120

I spotted a black 1972 BMW CS in town yesterday with an "Automatic" badge on the trunk. It looked very classy even though the paint lacked the deep gloss you'd see on a modern BMW in black.

License plate read 1972CS

bocatrip

The 3.0CS was probably one of the most beautiful BMW Coupes ever produced. It still looks good even today. In 73 they had one in a neighborhood BMW dealership showroom for ages until it sold. It wasn't easy selling a car for over 12,000 dollars in 73. Unfortunately, the car had major issues including overheating, bad transmissions, and eventually of course rust. I wish I had a "healthy" example for myself today. What a classic!

Mr_Shiftright

Yes, very prone to rust those cars and not worth all that much today unless it is the desirable "lightweight" CSL model; otherwise, $15,000 should buy you the best one in the world and $8,000 should score you a decent example. The 2800CS would be worth even less.

They aren't really sporty cars, more like nice straight line cruisers....GT cars for fast comfortable long distance touring.

fintail

These are interesting, but this isn't cheap

Why did people buy these?

Same here

A weirdo that mistakenly made it to NA ebay

I will admit it looks remarkably well preserved, but "micro car"?

Here's something you don't see every day

Was the "Diesel Engine" label on the gauge cluster meant to remind or to taunt?

Andre-mobile

Early automatic

This is so tempting, and not far from me...yeah

boomchek

Haha, Zimmer Golden Spirit. Is that based on a Ford product? I'm trying to pinpoint it by looking at the dash. Sorta reminds me of early 80s Ford interiors.

I like the looks of the Toyota Crown. sorta like a mini challenger, the way the rear window kinks up.

Mr_Shiftright

Facel Vega II -- it would help the seller if he started the auction at a price somewhat lower than $10,000 over high book value. Knucklehead. :sick:

texases

What's worse - he had an $80,100 bid last go-round, 'Reserve Not Met'

fintail

I think that Zimmer was based on an 80-82 Mercury Cougar. The door looks like one of those.

I kind of like that Crown too, a real oddity.

Mr_Shiftright

oh NO! He turned down $80K?!!!!

That is so sad....I'd have said $65K is the real money on the car. What does he think he has here? There are about 9 people in the galaxy who want a Facel Vega, of which only 3 want a Fecel Vega II, of which 2 live in France.

Well if he gets a French bidder using Euros instead of dollars, an $80K bid is very close to $65K USD.

kyfdx

It's the other way around.. $80K USD is about $65K Euros..

$80K Euro would be closer to $100K USD..

Maybe he can find a Canadian buyer?

boomchek

I like Facel Vegas. If I'd be a gazillionaire I'd buy one..... but not red :P

british_rover

I just saw the dealer that is selling that Facel. I know people down at carriage house mercedes.

Mr_Shiftright

DUH--what was I thinking? What I MEANT was that if you bid in Euros you are getting the car cheaper.

Anyway, eBay would show a 65K Euro bid as something like $80K is USD---that's what I meant...that Euro holders get a discount---thanks for helping me out.

Facel Vegas are really "look but don't drive" cars IMO...the body integrity is very shakey...they rattle like old taxicabs and handle like '39 Buicks....I really fail to see the appeal except as stationary works of art. I pushed one around in a tour and I'd had enough within an hour. As yes, that usual French-American harmony translated into machinery!

Rover, go over there and tell them there's no more money in the car---sell it!

british_rover

Nah thats ok they are jack asses.

Let them take a bath serves them right.

Mr_Shiftright

Facels are such a niche market, you have to know how to sell them and to whom. I have a friend in LA who specializes in Facels and basically he has a small list of collectors around the world he caters to. But they are fussy so even he has to be careful. I don't think a Frenchman is going to buy blind off eBay but maybe, who knows? Also you can sell them to the Swiss.

andre1969

I like that '79 Newport. Nice color scheme, that dove gray with the gray cloth interior and black accenting. It's so nice and refreshing to see a big 70's car that's not slathered in ploodgrain. I wish my NYer was like that, but I guess the driftplood is still a nice accent to its light creme interior.

Shame about the Diesel engine in that '82 Riv. Looks like a beautiful car, and I love that "jadestone" color. Seems like that color was all the rage around 1981-82, particularly on Oldsmobiles, but then went away quickly. My '82 Cutlass Supreme was that hue.

It's kinda weird, but with Facel Vegas, I actually prefer the big 4-door hardtop version. I hear that they were awful with regards to flexing, leaking, twisting, etc, but they're just so danged pretty! I know this is probably a fine line, but to me the 4-door hardtop looks like a custom-built car, where that 2-door coupe just looks kinda home-made!

That Zimmer's kind of a sad looking thing. You'd think that for a limited-production car like that, which I imagine was very expensive to buy at the time, they'd dress it up with something nicer than a Fairmont dash and armrests!

And for some odd reason, I kinda like that '80 Cutlass, except for the fact that it's a Diesel! That was the first year that Olds (and Buick) ditched the Aeroback look for their midsize sedans. Sales immediately took off, from about 37,000 of the clunky '79's, to about 175,000 of the notchback '80 4-doors. Pretty impressive, considering what a down year 1980 was for the industry as a whole. I wonder though, with the gas crisis starting to ramp up, if a lot of people downsized to these things, thinking of these things as small cars? Which, compared to a LeSabre, Electra, etc, they were.

Mr_Shiftright

The Zimmer should go into a "Bad Design" textbook--it makes just about every mistake and commits every crime a designer should never make.

andre1969

Are any of those neoclassic revivals considered worthy of any recognition? Seems like Excalibur stuck around the longest, starting production in 1965 and building them through 1996. And supposedly the company is still around, selling parts for the cars and doing restorations on old Excaliburs.

At least with the Excaliburs, it looks like they tried to completely fabricate their own body, instead of working around a Cougar or Town Car, as so many of them did. Still, reading through my history book, it looks like the Excalibur company has been on the rocks more often than Chrysler and been reincarned as many times as Shirley MacClaine.

Mr_Shiftright

The very very early Excaliburs (1964-69)are interesting cars, because, as you say, they are basic, no-frills cars that deliver pretty exciting performance. Having said that, I've driven them, and they are total death traps, among the scariest, most unstable, frightening cars I've ever driven---in other words, lots of fun! :P They were built on Studebaker Daytona chassis (and later Ford) and designed by none other than Brooks Stevens.

Stevens actually built earlier versions of the Excalibur in the 1950s, but only a few copies. Some of these had Alfa chassis and one of them, using a Kaiser frame and a supercharged Jaguar engine, actually won the SCCA national championship outright.

But the 1964-69 cars were a lot tamer---they were Mercedes SSK look-alikes. Over time they deteriorated into total poseur-mobiles.

explorerx4

a '70's eldorado convertible drove up the street.
my wife went up there to see them take pictures.
turns out it is a '76. triple white. the father of the prom date bought it 3 years ago. it had 30 miles on it!
now it has 48!
those cars really need the 'longhorns' on the hood.

Mr_Shiftright

They were supposed to become rare expensive collectibles but somehow they stalled out at $10,000. And the lowly Plymouth Barracuda with a Hemi went to Hollywood instead. Go figure.

andre1969

They were supposed to become rare expensive collectibles but somehow they stalled out at $10,000. And the lowly Plymouth Barracuda with a Hemi went to Hollywood instead. Go figure

Just out of curiosity, what would something like a decent driver Barracuda or Challenger convertible with a 318 go for? I didn't like these cars when I was younger, because to me they seemed like a ripoff of the '67-69 Camaro/Firebird, but in later years I've grown an appreciation for them. Although there's no way in hell I could ever afford a big-block, or probably even the 340/360!

I guess the 318 and slant-6 cars might be harder to find than the 340/360 and big-block cars, though. At least, unmolested ones. I'm sure a lot of those lower-output cars ended up with transplanted big-blocks at some point in their lives. Especially once values started shooting up.

Altough, I guess I'd be more at home in something like a '72 Impala convertible or a '75 LeSabre!