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I spotted an (insert obscure car name here) classic car today! (Archived)
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This is cool
A real joy to maintain, I am sure
"Snappy"
Kinda British looking
Someone might have a use for this
Someone likes their car
Seems like a weird powertrain for a car of this size...must have been very odd when new
I think most people hate these
Two of these on ebay now...a bit steep
These must have been decent
New car
Not the best color combo
LeSabre Turbo coupe: I think they made these things from 1977-80, and sold around 3000-5000 per year. You could only get it in the 2-door configuration, and I think they called it the "Sport Coupe". I think earlier versions had 150 hp, but later models had 165. I vaguely remember an issue of CR where they tested one of the earlier ones, and I think it came in slightly slower than a Caprice/Impala with the 305-2bbl. Somewhere around 13.1 seconds, I think, where the 305 was maybe 12.9. While that's nothing to write home about, in 1979 CR got around 13.5 seconds out of a Crown Vic 302, 15.4 out of an Impala 305, and 15.9 out of a St. Regis 318!
I like that Toronado, but agree that the color combo isn't too complementary. I think that top and interior really need to be more burgundy and less red. My '86 Monte was two-tone gray-over-silver, with a burgundy interior, and looked really sharp. And about 11 years ago, I came close to buying a '76 Newport 4-door hardtop that was silver with a burgundy interior/top. It started spraying fuel all over the place when I got it started, and had a myriad of other problems, so I put it out of my mind.
That '76 Supreme is a classy looking car. I can see why they were so popular back in an era when GM could slap a pretty face on any piece of crap and the public would just lap it up. Although to be fair, I think GM's crap did tend to usually be better built back then than Ford's or Chrysler's. :P
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
I did see a nice 80's Buick Gran National running around on my drive. That and a 90's Mitsubishi that was completely crushed in a traffic accident where a cement truck rolled over on it and made it flat as a pancake. Just rolled up on it right as the police arrived. :sick:
Even back in the day, those things held their value pretty well as used cars. And interestingly, while Regal production as a whole tapered off in the 80's (indeed all G-body production did) the turbocharged Grand National/T-type got more and more popular as time wore on. Up through 1985 they only sold around 3-5,000 annually, but in '86 they went up to about 12,000. In 1987, as the G-body was getting phased out, Buick only built about 65,000 Regals. But over 29,000 of those were turbocharged: 8,541 T-types, 20,193 Grand Nationals, and 547 commemorative end-of-the-line GNXes.
That's somewhat small potatoes compared to the Monte SS, which broke 40K units in 1986 and 1987, but Buicks, by and large, weren't the first stop for most musclecar buyers.
I think the Grand National was kind of like the 1994-96 Impala SS, where people knew they were something special and tended to hold onto them. I'd imagine the Grand National was also the first midsized domestic in a long, long time, that could approach classic musclecar performance. I remember as a kid and teen back then, that performance on new cars, for the most part, was pathetic enough that you almost WERE better off buying something that was 20 years old. I think the 70's and much of the 80's reinforced that classic "they don't build 'em like they used to" mentality, almost to the point that once they finally DID start making the cars better, a lot of people didn't notice!
Back when they were new, I had a serious lusting for a Grand National, or even a T-type.
I don't know if it is going on today or if everyone is leaving...as mother nature likes to toy with us here, it is raining now, so I don't think that will help the event.
How the mighty have fallen!
Show is over, about 20 cars from 1910-1960 drove by my place about 10 minutes ago (kind of a cool sight in the rain). I can't say I see a sidemounted 1936 Buick phaeton drive every rainy Sunday morning.
It looks like a 1954?
Thank you very much for posting these pictures, Fintail! :shades:
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Another well-presented car was the black '54 Skylark.
What was the Stutz doing there? I thought they were based on the 1970s Pontiac Grand Prix chassis?
The cream with red convert is backed up to a black convertible. That one has an unusual rear end treatment. What year is it and what model?
These two are in #5 and #52.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I think the 'Stutz' is actually a Zimmer (so Ford-based - not even GM!)...you are talking about the thing with the junk tied to the roof, right? I had to take a couple pics of that...as it was being used for such a purpose, and was not in perfect condition. Someone has a sense of humor to drive it like that.
I realize this is a bit off topic, but is a follow up to a remotely more on topic post above.How lucky is this guy!
Yeah, sometimes luck has more to do with it than anything else. I know I've told this story before, but here goes, again. Back in the late 70's, one of my mother's friends was in a VW Bug, merging onto the DC Beltway. There was a late 70's Impala wagon in front of her and a tractor trailer coming up fast behind her. Well, instead of trying to speed up and merge, the Impala just stopped, dead in its tracks. My mother's friend had no choice but to stop as well. 18 wheeler? Well, I'd like to think that he *tried* to stop. He ended up whacking the bug, pushing it sideways, and then rolling it as he drove over TOP of it! Then he whacked the Impala hard enough to drive the back bumper up behind the back of the front seat. Then, out on the beltway, the trailer came loose, flipped on its side, and set free about 40 tons of paper. Another car slammed into the trailer, but I don't know what kind of car it was. The tractor cab went down an embankment and hit some trees.
Out of all that carnage, the only one hurt, believe it or not, was the tractor trailer driver! He broke both of his legs. Luckily, there was nobody in the back of the Impala wagon. My mother's friend suffered only bumps and bruises, but she was left upside down for several hours in a crumpled pile of metal that was leaking fuel, until they finally cut her out. I'm sure that accident did more to her mentally than physically.
BTW, I can't get that CNN video to pull up. What kind of Toyota was it that got creamed?
The AC Buckland was never a common beast, and although it looks pretty ancient, it was really a variant on the AC 2-litre, which was only introduced as an all new model in 1948. They actually made them well into the fifties, the last one apparently in 1958 ( although they were the coupe, not the Buckland convertible which had died out by then. British cars weren't radical in the most part, and in the late forties when these models were introduced getting anything back into production was an achievement..
Simca made loads of this model of Aronde, as well as the earlier shape - they were big sellers because they were so cheap, but they weren't built to last
The one I did like was the Olds 88 convert. - that looked a nice motor...
Also high marks for enthusiasm for the guy with the Fiat 124 - which looked like a well loved machine.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Anyway, I swear most of these were white, especially 230SL. I can't recall ever seeing one with AC. AC was not common in MB until the mid 70s.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Seeing how to drive it makes me feel better when I rev the hell out of my fintail...even with the car's advanced aged, I do not always drive it delicately.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoVjkmacUcw
Sweet looking cars!
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
I could not make out if it said 230 or 280 because of the sun in my eyes. I hoped the camera would get a good picture of the numbers but it didn't.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Amphicar bah who needs it..
Score one for Land Rover!
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
Shifty-mobile
Fancy Cougar
high price, high class, beautiful dashboard and instruments
Not many of these left
Nor these
Hard to believe these were new cars
Overdone
This is pretty nice
Andre-mobile
Pimps need cars too
I've never seen one of these limos before
Very nice fintail, good bids
There's a reason for that, most Packard fans would like to forget the Studecards, especially those horrid 1957s
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
Oh, and one of the neighbors down the street looks to have picked up nice black and yellow 50's 4-door Buick of some sort. Sharp looking. Not really up to speed on Buicks, but if I had to guess, probably about a '56 or so. Looks really good. A lot like this one I pulled off the internet, only again, black and yellow. Only I don't think the bumper "bullets" are as pronounced. I'll have to take a look again.
Also saw an original Mini running around yesterday. Man I can't help but love those things.