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

Mr_Shiftright

Yeah, that's a hit on originality, for sure. And the wiring would have to be the same old style wiring that went with the house originally. As for the foundation, maybe the new buyer won't notice, as foundations aren't stamped.

explorerx4

still low mileage though?

bumpy

I saw a fintail badged (I think) "200 Diesel" today. Looked like a shade of blue similar to yours, maybe a bit darker?

fintail

Interesting. Over the life of the fintail there were about 30 color choices, and there were a couple blues similar to mine. 200D was from 1965-68, but had the same power output as the 190D it replaced, which means 0-60 is timed on a calendar (around 30-35 seconds I think).

explorerx4

geez andre, you didn't ask those lincoln owners the hp/torque numbers for their cars? instead of guessing like we had been, they could have shown you original owners manuals which probably has the info in there!

british_rover

Oh yeah super low original mileage of around 15 or so.

The sellers real estate agent has the pictures from when they moved my house originally. She said I can have them and I just keep forgetting to pick them up.

andre1969

Your house was moved from another location? Cool! A few years I looked into having that done with my house. When it was first built, it was a little country store, and it was practically right on the road. Here's an old pic I found of it from 1965, according to the stamp on the back of the photo.

A few years ago I looked into having it moved back off the road. The moving company quoted me $25,000, but that was just the actual moving. Didn't include a new foundation or relocating the utilities. At the time, I really wanted a garage more than having the house moved back. I figured that if nobody had run into the house in 90 years, it could wait a few more. :P Plus, with it being that close to the road, when you look out the front windows upstairs, you can't even see the road, so it's easy to forget that it's there. Unless a school bus goes by.

If you ever get those pics of your house being moved, could you scan 'em in and post them somewhere? Or email 'em to me? I'd like to see that.

imidazol97

1953 Chevrolet 150 Utility?

That's a great picture, Andre, it documents the period of th picture with a car in the picture!. I thought I was in Mystery Car discussion for a minute.

andre1969

Yeah, it's a '53 Chevy, but I'm not sure of the series. Probably a lower level, judging from the lack of chrome on the car. The store had closed up sometime in the 1940's, and by this time the house was a rental, so I'm guessing it belonged to one of the tenants.

Oh, for a little "now & then" comparison, here's a pic I snapped of the place during a snowstorm back in 2005. The front porch, with all its windows just waiting for passersby to throw bottles at, are no longer there, as it was converted into a small office with a walk-in closet off to the side. The railing on the little decorative balcony has long since rotted away. It needs a new roof and some work on the eaves. And I learned to stop parking my car in that spot. You really have to back in, which makes it dangerous when people want to come flying through there at 50 mph. It's also on a blind hill, which makes getting out of there a bit of a challenge, as well.

I'd still like to get it moved back off the road one day. Get it on a basement foundation so I'd have more room, and also open that front back up so it looks like a porch again. But if nothing else, that front room provides a good buffer between the road and the rest of the house. I also replaced and extended the stockade fence so that it comes halfway across the front of the house, so that probably helps deflect the noise as well. You can barely hear the traffic from inside the house, unless someone goes by with the bass cranked on their ghetto blaster. Or something with a fart-can on the exhaust goes past. :P

british_rover

Yeah my house sits right on the town line and was moved from one town over to its current location in the late 80s or early 90s. The sellers real estate office is just down the street from the dealership and I keep meaning to swing by there and ask about the pictures but I always forget.

magnette

I love the idea of moving your house - it isn't something we have an option on doing here although if I had my choice I would move this house about ten miles west - that would take us from suburban east London to somewhere like Chelsea...
Mind you, I think our neighbours might object - we live in a terrace....

Mr_Shiftright

What is a Suzuki Esteem 1.8?

It was moving along the freeway at a good clip---however, it was behind a tow truck.

What are these things? Do they still make them?

fintail

A lovely 90s econobox. The name always was a point for ridicule from me, jokes about low self esteem and all that.

The Esteem was replaced by the Aerio, which I think sold a few dozen copies, and that is now replaced by the SX4, which could sell even better.

fintail

This morning , heading to work about 20 to 6, I get behind a car at a light. As I approach, I notice that it's another MB W210. As I get closer I see it's another E55 and as I pull up behind it I see it is grey - my twin. Grey is one of the rarest colors for the W210 E55 - I have been told only about 80 were sold in the US in MY 2002...so that has to be somewhat obscure, and a very strange coincidence.

texases

You just met your doppelganger!

bumpy

I actually see a burgundy one around every so often, under its own power even. :P I think if you look up "rare car that no one cares about", the Esteem is pictured.

Mr_Shiftright

I typed those very words into Google images and got a Delorean!

That's a pretty accurate search engine.

fintail

It had a personalized plate...I wonder if I can look the guy up. I wish it would have been light out so I at least could have got a good pic.

lemko

...I just spotted one at the local repair shop near where I work. I went to the store at lunchtime and spotted a 1988 Buick Electra Limited, white with a black top.

andre1969

but this morning on my way into work, I saw an '81-84 era Datsun 810/Maxima. I can't remember the last time I saw one of these. I always thought they were pleasant looking, if a bit staid.

lemko

...black 1967 Pontiac Firebird convertible.

fintail

Not so old, but odd anymore...an early (single headlights) Cavalier wagon. I guess that would make it an 82-83? It was a boring light beige, and it looked immaculate, it was even shiny.

andys120

on two separate occasions, First Gen Mazda RX-7s each was in pretty good shape.

' 66 Mustang notchback in an unusual white over turquoise (I think they called it Twilight). The white roof was painted metal, not vinyl and the bodywork was perfect.
The once commonplace notch back was my least favorite 'Stang body but this one looked just sensational it was sitting in a lot normally occupied by basket cases or near basket case parts cars but it was gone the next time I passed it. Good thing, I might have been tempted to bid on it.

andre1969

a tailfinned Chrysler, with single headlights, so that should narrow it down to a '56 or '57. My coworker couldn't tell me much else about it, except that it was light blue and needed a paintjob. He spotted it a couple miles from where we work, so it could be a local car. It doesn't sound familiar to me though. Maybe I need to track it down and welcome it to the neighborhood.

lemko

I recently saw an early episode of the "Beverly Hillbillies" on TV Land where a drunk guy with his crabby wife back into Jethro's truck with a single-headlighted 1957 Chrysler 300 convertible.

andre1969

I think I remember that episode! Wasn't the crabby wife played by Kathleen Freeman? Did she ever play a character who WASN'T crabby? :P

fintail

Weird, but I kind of like these

Style and class...I like the gauges too

Camry's dad...and it looks better

OF course it was sold new in Quebec...whenever I see these, I think of Danny deVito going over a waterfall

Lots of bids here - I wish I could find pics of the 60 Ford Country Sedan my dad had in the 90s

I can't recall seeing these without opera windows...I am sure Andre knows all about it

Nice color combo...good for a disco vampire

Mr_Shiftright

I'm amazed people would pay that kind of money for an Edsel ANYTHING. I guess they get the "rare" bragging rights and all that, but who seeks glory in a station wagon? GEEZ, you could buy a decent 60s full size drop top for that money.

Well now we know that a '77 Pontiac Bonneville in like new condition is worth less than $3,800. eBay has spoken, and it is cruel.

texases

To me that's a non-Edsel, worthless without the Edsel grille. And why do people set these high opening bids on a '77 whatever, why not at least get the bidding going, use a reserve instead?

Mr_Shiftright

Selling is a skill like any other---some people have it, some never get it.

andre1969

I guess it's not going to shock anybody around here when I say I kinda like it, because, well, y'all know how my tastes run. :P Still, even I'm picky about my 70's cars, and can think of a few reasons why that one's not getting any attention. First and foremost, it has the dreaded 301 V-8. Now it seems that a lot of those have actually survived, so maybe they're not THAT horrible. However, that engine has always had a bad reputation. I think the biggest problem is that it tended to spin main bearings, but I'm sure it had other issues as well. If this car had a 350 or 400, or Olds 403, I'm sure it would've attracted a lot more interest.

Another issue is that, no matter how nice it is, it's a very basic car. Most people who go for these pimpy 70's cruisers want the highest trim level and as many power options as possible. If this car was a Bonneville Brougham with power everything, rather than a stripper model, it would definitely be getting some bids. And bonus points if it had that gaudy striped "Valencia" interior option.

And yeah, no doubt starting the opening bid at $3800 didn't help things much, either. If he'd started it off really low, who knows? It might have bid up to $3800.

andre1969

I've seen factory photos of that awful padded roof on a '74 Delta 88, which was the first year they went to that roofline that gave you the little roll-down rear window and the large, fixed opera window. Never seen one in person. Funny, looking at the window sticker, that gaudy package was a $598 option. Yet more useful items, like the a/c, were only $549. And even the 455-4bbl V-8 was only $147, a cheaper option than the AM/FM radio at $153!

I imagine that padded roof made for some horrible blind spots. A shame, really, that Olds would offer this option, as I always thought these hardtop coupes were kinda neat looking...open and airy.

fintail

Scene from a parking lot...something here is unlike all the others - it was about the oddest car I saw today, too. I did see a dark blue fintail yesterday, and I noticed the 67 Lincoln convertible sharing a garage with the fintail has acquired a year of manufacture license plate. The only other old car I saw on the road today was actually another MB, a W113 SL.

explorerx4

strange, but i saw that same car posted on a completely different site.
maybe someone who posts here, does there too.

andys120

1964 Ford Galaxie 500 Sport Coupe, this one was at a local wrecker who occassionally gets interesting cars that need a ton of work. The car looked okay from a distance and sported the NASCAR roof introduced in mid '63. I suppose I ought to in and find out what it has under the hood. :shades:

imidazol97

">Is this the roofline that's Nascar?

andre1969

I never really thought of that roofline as all that radical. IMO, the rake of it looks about proper for that type of car. I think the more upright 2-door hardtop back then actually used the same roofline as the 4-door hardtop, which is probably why it was so boxy.

Still, handsome looking car. I always liked the '63 Ford. The styling just seemed so "right" that year, like they finally tweaked the '61-62 styling to get as close to perfection as possible. And then for '64 they cluttered it up a bit.

Mr_Shiftright

Today on Show and Tell:

64 Falcon convertible, red, nice

Yet another '69 Chevelle (is Toyota making these now?)

Ratty Peugeot 505 turbo with 4 sale sign (ptooey--I speet on you)

90 or 91 red Miata for sale for $1,500. Geez, these are getting cheap. Flower slipcovers, not a good sign.

63 or 64 Split Window corvette coupe---I say '64 because there are many bogus ones out there, and this had a cheap "Scheib Blue" taped paint job on it---you know, that lovely purple-y blue? Arrest that man.

The good weather has brought them all out!

fintail

90s Ferrari 355...as non-classic Ferraris seem to age twice as fast as normal cars, I guess it is obscure.

andys120

Yep, the "NASCAR Roof" was so called because it gave Ford better aerodynamics in the era when NASCAR racers used stock bodywork. The regular coupe roofs were pretty conservative, using a wide C-pillar to give a Thunderbird look>

andys120

Any Ferrari is uncommon if not obscure, but I kinda like the styling of the F355, IMO it's held up well.

fintail

An improvement over the 348 for sure. And of Ferraris from that era...I actually have always kinda liked the 456...although as a big cruiser rather than a wannabe racer.

fintail

Today I saw 2 of the previous version BMW M coupes (I call them 'the shoe')

merckx

Yesterday, i saw a really pristine version of a car i greatly admired when i was in high school-a Fiat 124 sedan. The father of one of my friends had brought back from Italy a 1971;I'd done a lot riding in that one. It had a really smooth ride,and a comfortably back seat.

But the one i saw yesterday had federalized bumpers-they looked like railroad ties....absurdly ungainly. and the tires were so absurdly skinny it gave the appearance of a clown car.

A really ancient couple were in it;the man had a "praying mantis" 10 and 2 hold on the wheel....or more like 11 and 1...A really silly sight....but the car was immaculate!...what a car to baby...

But it did look totally inappealing...and it seemed like the perfect car all those years ago.....

hpmctorque

Are you sure, given your description of the bumpers, that it was a Fiat, and not a Soviet era Lada. The Ladas that were exported to Canada, or at least most of them, as you may know, were based on the Fiat 124. These were built in the huge Fiat designed Togliatti factory in Russia.

merckx

It did have that on the trunk lid...And i don't speifically remember that...But it also had antique plates on it,which made me think it wa a Fiat....But it being a Lada could certainally explain the absurdly narrow tire ans the oversize federal bumpers....It just didn't hve the pleasing shape i rememgered from my youth...

oregonboy

I always rather liked the 124 Sedans; clean, honest looking design. (But I really lusted after the 124 Coupe)

fintail

I remember an old slogan for the Canadian market Lada (Signet) was something like "little red square". I remember seeing a wagon variant, in red, that seemed exotic to me when I was younger - as I knew it was an oddball commie car. I still see a Lada Niva/Cossack around Vancouver now and then.

lemmer

Saw a guy piloting a really nice TVR 2500 to work today.

Anybody know much about those cars? Are they a nightmare to own? On the web, I see a lot of them with Ford 302s under the hood.

andre1969

on my way to work, I saw a Dodge Viper. Not sure of the year. It was yellow with black stripes. I can't remember the last time I saw one of those out on the streets.

In the parking lot at work, I spotted off in the distance, a '75 or so Chevy Nova coupe. Faded red, and I think it had black stripes. So I'm guessing some kind of SS package? I only saw it from a distance. Looked a bit faded and worn, but still serviceable.