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

alltorque

PLease tell a UK guy what a VW Thing is ? I'm intrigued. :confuse:

texases

What is this called over there?

andre1969

I think "Thing" is just an American term for them. Basically it's a little homemade/military-looking 4-door with a convertible top. I think they're known as Kublewagens or something like that in other parts of the world.

Here's a pic of one:


I don't think they even have roll-down windows...they're probably just these clear panels that slide or snap into place.

andys120

VW's "Thing" was a Beetle rebodied to resemble it's cousin the
Kubelwagen which was used to great effect in the Jeep/scout car role by the Wehrmacht in WW II. No doubt the association with the [non-permissible content removed] Army caused VOA to avoid using the name Kubelwagen.

I can't recall the name it was sold under outside North America.

fintail

Yeah it's the NA nickname, otherwise known as the VW Type 181

Patty and Selma drive one on the Simpsons

andys120

accodring to Wik pedia the non-US name was Type 181, apparently 181s were used by German and other NATO militaries, it was succeeded by the Type 183 Ilitis.

For reference here's a Wehrmacht era VW Type 82 Kubelwagwen wearing Afrika Korps (D.A.K.) desert paint>

fintail

I think some of those kooky WW2 reenactment groups make kubel conversions out of Things as well. Might be a way to make it cooler.

fintail

I saw a very nice MkI GTI today...it was shiny black with a red stripe near the bottom. Seemed very unusual, as 99% of these seem to be white.

andys120

Here in the eastern USA Mk1 GTIs were about even split among the four colors offered, Black, White, Silver and Brick Red

My 1983 model was Red.

Mr_Shiftright

LOL! People are re-enacting World War II?

Must have a lot of volunteers...or maybe they just scaled down:

"Now listen up....we only have 9 people to re-enact D-Day, so we're cutting the program short today".

fintail

Yeah, its not like civil war stuff. But I think there's a small industry for fake kubel parts, and someone has to buy all those Russian and Chinese sidecar motorcycles (that I like)

fintail

Maybe it was a regional thing. I know I have seen a silver one, but I have seen many white ones. Quite a few of these seem to have survived, albeit usually very ragged.

fintail

Not a horrible rebody, but that interior wood seems very wrong

"best of the neo classics" - there's something to be proud of

There are 3 or 4 of this long gone marque on ebay

I remember someone here likes these

Odd project

What a way to go out

So overdone, and not cheap

Ha ha ha wrong venue

This should be fun to fix up

Desireable W113

XS

Something you don't see every day

texases

In Dallas GTIs seemed about evenly split - mine was black. Kinda wish I still had it. But yes, the ones I see on eBay are usually pretty beat.

Mr_Shiftright

That Mercedes 300 ad is SOOO funny. Yeah right, Princess Diana would have a Mercedes Benz in her wedding ceremony---LOL!

andys120

'39 Delage-Wow! A testament to the superiority of French styling in the 1930s and 40s. The wood fits the Art Deco styling of the car IMHO.

Mercedes 540K- For once a Mercedes Special Roadster or Cabrio that doesn't claim a link to Hitler or Goering (Himmler must've liked BMWs ).

Toronado XS-Excess indeed!

Mr_Shiftright

Did you know there is no known photograph of Hitler ever DRIVING a car? Historians suspect he didn't know how.

andre1969

That Mercedes 300 ad is SOOO funny. Yeah right, Princess Diana would have a Mercedes Benz in her wedding ceremony---LOL!


Judging from the way it's sitting low on it haunches, I'd say more like it was used in a ceremony for that drag queen, Devine! :P

Mr_Shiftright

"And here comes the Princess now, being driven up to Westminster Cathedral in her wedding dress...yes...yes...she's just stepping out of her used Mercedes Benz".

andre1969

Yeah, I know this is a big shock :P but I really like that Toro Excess model! I've always liked the style of the '71-78 Toro. I think one reason the Toro appeals to me so much is that while I do tend to like cars that are big and overdone, I still prefer the smoother, more understated end of that spectrum. And there's just something about a Toronado that, IMO at least, doesn't come off as pimpy and overdone as an Eldorado. And it just seems less upper-crusty than a Mark IV/V. I love the wraparound window of the XS model.

Mr_Shiftright

A foreign correspondent tells me the Aussies like those 70s Toros. Suits the lay of the land, so to speak.

fintail

Yet of course so many prewar MB, even lowline models, come with old [non-permissible content removed] tales, no matter if the car spent the war hidden away in a barn or a cellar.

I know Göring had a special 540K with an enlarged passenger compartment to accomodate his girth. That car was 'liberated' in 1945 and ended up in a surplus auction ca. 1955, selling for something like 2 grand.

fintail

I suspected that was an andre-mobile.

There is one of those wraparound window models in my area, I see it now and then. I am surprised they put that feature on the highline model, it couldn't have been a cheap item.

fintail

And what does that poor thing need, 50K in work to be right again? Pretty sad. I HATE those wheels, too.

A RHD W112 convertible has to be extraordinarily rare, I bet they made well under 100 of those. With the depreciated dollar, maybe a Brit will ship it back to where it was sold new.

im_brentwood

I'd bet you're right that it goes back to the UK.. look at E-Type and XK completed auctions.. the brits are snapping them up.

A car like that is worth the same dollar amount as it's worth in the UK in pounds... like a clean E-Type roadster is $40-50k here in "driver" condition and 40-50k pounds there.

benjaminh

What a great list. I love the body on the Delage. But you're right, the interior is wrong, esp. at that price.

That Pontiac Hearse is a hoot. Complete with coffin!

fintail

My old C43 has turned up for sale again - I bet someone got tired of the jarring ride and amusing rear legroom. I was the second owner, so I don't know what's up with that, I had it for about 18 months. Still a fun car though.

fintail

I went to a local car show today...I will upload some pics later. I saw A LOT of good stuff, including a few Bugattis (type 57 included), a teardrop Talbot-Lago, some amazing large engined Bentleys, and some really cool brass-era cars. Not many German cars, but I did see a gullwing and a BMW 507.

fintail

Car show photos

This was a 'concours' event, and the quality of the vehicles supported this. The album is arranged backwards, so the older and/or more high end vehicles are several pages in

It's hard to choose what I liked most, so many beautiful cars. Those Bentleys were impressive, as well as the 30s material, and that blue supercharged MG really had me smitten.

The parking garage of this event was a fun place too, lots of the attendees drove their old cars, including myself. The Eldo Brougham and the Triumph parked next to the big Buick were the most amusing as I walked back to my car.

im_brentwood

Wow, some amazing machinery there! A 356 Carrera 2 parked next to a twin grille roadster!

Thanks for the pics!

andre1969

bidding got up pretty healthy on this 1979 New Yorker I mentioned a few days ago. The only thing that really bothers me about it is "Please note the trunk lock is not working due to undercoating that is stopping the lock from turning."

I don't know if that means that the trunk is totally disabled, or just the lock cylinder is disabled and you need to use the button in the glovebox to open it? Seems to me that if it was something easy to fix, the seller would have just fixed it? And I wish the seller would've showed a pic of the rust at the bottom of the front fender. That seems like an odd place for them to rust, as usually these things, if they're gonna rust at all, do it around the rear wheel openings and rocker panels, bottom edges of the doors and to a lesser degree in the lower rear quarter panels. Still, sometimes leaves and other debris collects down inside those fenders, and can cause them to rot out. On the Dodge Dart, the water from the fresh air intake actually drains out into that part of the fender, but I'm not sure where it drains on the R-body. I think my Gran Fury, an M-body, had the drain under the hood in the cowl. IIRC it just drained out and spilled down the front of the firewall.

bumpy

A W140 S320, in white of course. I would assume that acceleration from the V6 in that barge would be charitably described as "stately".

andre1969

A W140 S320, in white of course. I would assume that acceleration from the V6 in that barge would be charitably described as "stately".

I remember "dignified, at best" was a phrase that Consumer Reports once used to describe that a car's acceleration sucked without actually coming right out and saying it.

fintail

I think my W126 300SE could do 0-60 in about 9.5...not fast, but not unreasonable. You have to rev these engines to make them peform, and most are unwilling to do so in such a large and expensive car. Of course, a W140 is a bit heavier.

andre1969

I didn't realize what a W140 was. For some reason I was thinking that was the old 70's S-class (W116?), and not the newer one. I found a Wikipedia entry on the W140 that lists HP in "PS". I searched around, and it looks like PS ratings are supposedly not that far off from domestic net hp ratings. I think the hp # is about 2% less. Looks like the 3.2 was rated at 231, which ain't shabby. But I guess that's still a lot of car to move!

Hey, it just hit me...is that 3.2 the one they use nowadays in the Chrysler Crossfire?

delmotte

Hello there! Wow! what a collection of Cars. I am an enthusiast of BMW 507. Where and when was this carshow? anymore pics of the 507? thanks a million!
delmotte7@hotmail.com

fintail

The 70s S-class is W116, 80s S-class is W126. The 90s car is the W140, the troublesome one from 2000-2006 is W220, and the current model is W221.

Yep, the engine in the 1998-99 S320 made it to the Crossfire.

fintail

The show was in Kirkland WA, yesterday.

Sorry, nothing more of the 507...I was too impressed by the 300SL beside it.

fintail

Someone is proud of their Vega

When a normal Trabi isn't enough

It looks decent, but what's with the hubcaps?

Something you don't see every day

Makes restoring a fintail look smart

Decent looking fintail

Even better looking example

Franken-fin

Decent survivor...I kind of like these huge things

This should bring good money

Good looking brute - but why does it sit so high?

Andre-mobile

Mr_Shiftright

Mercedes Adenauer -- funny ad. He says it's a good way to "make money" (oh yeah) and that he really DID want to restore it but his back went out...er...and well, 20 years just slipped away. Can you say "daunting task?"

im_brentwood

I was wondering Shifty... what do you think makes more sense, buying that Adenauer and restoring it or filling 55 gallon drums with $100 bills, soaking them with gasoline and burning them?

Really I am torn between the two...

Mr_Shiftright

I think stuffing the Adenauer with $100 bills and setting IT on fire would satisfy everyone concerned. This way the gods of German Revenge (terrifying dieties I can assure you) are appeased, the owner can never change his mind or give excuses again, and the car is no longer a temptation for Ulysses as he sails past the Island of Lost Causes.

british_rover

his way the gods of German Revenge

Don't they typically want a blood sacrifice in addition to treasure? You might need to skin your knuckles, bump your head, throwout your back and give yourself carpal tunnel syndrome while stuffing the 100 dollar bills in.

Mr_Shiftright

Been there, done that.

fintail

I think the gods of German revenge will live as long as long as there are Volkswagens, and overcomplicated S class and 7ers. Who gets the last laugh from 1945? :P :sick:

Sad about the Adenauers, as I do like them, both the first series with its somewhat prewar style, and the later hardtop cars. But all in all, I would much rather have a W112 fintail for my money pit.

fiatlux1969

I should have learned my lesson about making pronouncements based on cobwebbed memories from rarely-visited attics of my mind (see the Eldorado Brougham thread for an example), but here goes anyway: I seem to recall that the 300d pillarless cars were the only ones that were properly referred to as "Audenauers." If I am wrong about this, it may force me to do actual research before coming forth with opinions in the future. Nah!

I did own a 300c back in the early eighties, which looked good from a respectful distance. It had an enormous sunroof that was perfect for standing up and addressing the troops from the rear seat while preparing to invade neighboring small nations, but I digress. I found, while attempting to repair a non-functioning tail lamp that the cloth insulation of the entire wiring loom would turn to powder if touched. I jumped the bare wire to the tail lamp with plastic-insulated wire (somehow without touching the existing wire--don't ask me how I did it), and sold the beast, vaguely mentioning that it may require some electrical repair. That project was WAY less extensive than the sure-fire money maker on eBay, but I saw no way of recouping if I pursued it.

fiatlux1969

Ulysses has apparently succumbed to temptation: there is (unbelievably) a bid.

fintail

I think all of them were called Adenaurs. He was the leader during production of both versions of the car, as well.

magnette

That was some show - was the MG a K3 ( ie imagine this was a gnuine one, although I think they may have a few replicas out there - it's one of those cars like Blower Bentleys that there are more around now than ever left the factory ! I liked all those Delahayes, etc - grand tourers from the late 30's and the immediate post-war period...

magnette

We went for a week to Liguria, the bit of Italy which is next to the South of France - a great area. Inevitably saw a few nice old motors there, including various ancient Fiats of every size ( small to tiny) Among the highlights;

Several Autobianchis from the late 50's early 60s
Fiat 1100 - circa 1956
Fiat 2300s coupe - mid sixties
Citroen DS//ID / even a Traction Avant ( we went into France a couple of times)
Lancia Beta Montecarlo
numerous Ferraris /Lambos/Maseratis( mostly from the last 15 years, but odd older ones).
1960s Ford (Germany) Taunus 20M
Best of the lot though was a Ferrari 365GT 2+2. This pulled up next to the restaurant where we were having dinner one night. The driver got in again to drive off after about twenty minutes, and when he started it up, I think most people in that end of the place had a petrol salad ( we were all sitting outside, and basically his exhausts were sticking towards the end tables)...Saw it again the next day at the local yacht club - nice...