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

imidazol97

There was a GMC version of the El Camino. I can't recall the name.

andre1969

The GMC version was called the Caballero, but it still used all the Malibu/El Camino sheetmetal, trim, etc. However, I do seem to recall a one-off Pontiac version they made based on the 1978 Grand Am. It was a Grand Am front clip and interior mated to an El Camino body, but I seem to recall they also did something different around the rear, that made it unique. Either using fiberglass for something, or making the tailgate retract like the '71-76 GM "Clamshell" wagons. I think they only made one though, or a handful, at best.

I imagine it wouldn't be too hard to make a Pontiac version of the El Camino, though...at least the '78-87 version. You can't just take a LeMans or Grand Am grille and slap it on an El Camino. You'd have to also get the front fenders and possibly the hood, as well. But the doors were the same, so all the creases and such would match up. And all the interior stuff would probably be direct bolt-ins.

Now the older A-bodies, it might be harder to fake. For instance, the '73-77 LeMans had a lot more creases and curves than the Chevelle/Malibu, which carried back into the door. And you couldn't just swap the doors either, because there were other creases that started in the back of the door and carried through to the rear quarter panel. I guess if you were a really talented welder you could make something up, though.

I'd imagine the same would hold true for the '68-72 and '64-67 generation, as well.

imidazol97

Like this?

imidazol97

link title

I think it loses something in the translation.

Pontiac dealers built this one example when Pontiac wouldn't pursue an El Camino for their line--in Buffalo, of course!

imidazol97

More examples at

http://www.chevelles.com/elcamino/ec_mutate.htm

andre1969

here's a blurb I found about that '78 Pontiac-based El Camino. Evidently, it's still in existence.

That Cutlass conversion looks really good.

fintail

I watched 'Caddyshack' on my laptop the other day, and thanks to the high resolution and I spotted an obscure car in the background I never noticed before, a fintail.



I can't tell what it is...a W110 or a W111 220b

jrosasmc

Caddyshack is one of my all-time favorite movies.

Did you know Dr. Beeper drives a Porsche 911 SC in the film? It makes an appearance during the dinner scene, where Spaulding Smails lets go of his dinner in the open sunroof.

Judge Smails tells Porterhouse the club attendant that "There's a brown Audi parked in my parking spot!"

fintail

Yep, it's one of my faves too. I saw it so many times when I was in college that I can pretty much recite it line by line when I am watching it now. That fintail never caught my eye until now.

The Shadow in the pic is Judge Smails car, of course. I remember the Porsche too, a dark grey whale tail model. There's also Lacey Underall's light yellow 450SL and Al Czervik's red 'Chinese eye' Rolls SCIII convertible.

68delmont

GMC made an "elcamino" for Pontiac division around 1974 called "Sprint"

toomanyfumes

I'd like to see a picture of that. I'm pretty sure what I saw was an ElCamino with a Pontiac clip. It was pretty big, must have been '77 or earlier. I saw it while traveling, so I can't go back and take another look.

Mr_Shiftright

"Chinese Eye" is no longer PC in collector car circles. You'll get a severe finger-wagging if you use that term anymore

andre1969

I'd like to see a picture of that. I'm pretty sure what I saw was an ElCamino with a Pontiac clip. It was pretty big, must have been '77 or earlier. I saw it while traveling, so I can't go back and take another look.

Do you remember much about how the front-end looked, such as if it had two headlights or four? Or if they were stacked? Or rectangular? Here's a rundown on how the headlights were configured on Pontiac intermediates over the years...

1964: 4 round headlights, side-by-side
1965-67: 4 round headlights, stacked
1968-72: 4 round headlights, side-by-side (also an option to have them hidden)
1973-75: 2 round headlights
1976-77: 4 rectangular headlights

dunno if that helps any with narrowing it down. Also, the El Camino body was really boxy in 1964-65. In 1966-67 it was smoother, but still pretty angular. In 1968-72 it was much more rounded, and wider. And the '73-77 was bigger still, pretty rounded off. If you've ever seen "My Name is Earl", they use a '73-77 style in that show (I think it's a '73).

Oh, as for the GMC Sprint, I googled it, and it doesn't really look like anything exotic. Just an El Camino with GMC and Sprint badging, although in some years it looks like they might have made some slight changes to the grille. Still had Chevy engines, interiors, and sheetmetal though. It was offered from 1971-77. here's an old advertisement showing one.

lemko

...a late 1960s/early 1970s Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow, two tone shades of bronze with a black vinyl top.

andys120

A real rarity, a '59 Caddy 4-door H/T in fair (#3+) shape that is apparently in some kind of daily use as I have seen it around town before.

In the less rare but still obscure category, a Caddy Catera in decent shape with a temp new owner plate on it and a garish Caddy symbol decal covering the entire rear windshield
totally blowing the car's aura of restrained Euro elegance. :sick:

And... a nice yellow Chevy SSR, IMO these look better with the roof up but it still seems dumb to drive that way in sunny 75F weather.

fintail

All the better reason to use it :P

Oh, and this morning I saw a blue MGB-GT...supposed to be hot here this weekend, so I suspect there will be some oldies out on the road. When it's 90F I usually end up parking my nice air conditioned modern car and drive the very hot no ac fintail.

Mr_Shiftright

I like MGB-GTs, or as we call them MUGGUBGITS---one of the first practical hatchbacks ever made---rugged, simple, handsome, practical, useful, good on gas, fun to drive. What a great little package!!

minus side: a bit low on power, not reliable in the wrong hands.

lemmer

You'll be fine with any MG as long as you rip off the carb and replace it with a Weber, right Shifty?

Mr_Shiftright

no, I'm not going to bite on that one.

andys120

I saw a ca. late 60's Midget sitting along the side of the road, placed in such a way as to get maximum visibility, it looked pretty inviting on a sunny summer's day w it's top off and a nice set of wires. It had decent paint, 'cept a primer spot and chrome.

Lemmer it's "carbs" (plural) unless it was one of those awful rubber bumper cars. Most Brit sports cars of the '60s sported @ least two SUs or Strombergs, on balance I suspect the SUs were better.

andre1969

I saw a sporty little European looking roadster that I couldn't identify. Up front it looked vaguely like a Fiat, but less graceful, somehow. It seemed a bit narrow and upright. It was a darkish green, but not that British racing green. And from the rear, the taillights made me think of, of all things, a 1970-71 Ford Torino!

I know that's a really vague description, but any idea what it could be?

andys120

Your description of the tailights and the words "narrow and upright" made me think of a Triumph TR-6>



Front view.

andre1969

Nah, it wasn't one of those. I know that TR-6 style. I hate them, in fact, but not for a rational reason. Back in college, I had a buddy whose Dad had two of those things. His Dad hated me with a passion, said I was a bad influence on his kid. His kid got bad grades, and that was my fault. His kid finally stood up to his old man (who really was an ogre) and that was my fault. His kid "ran away from home" (is it still called running away from home when you're 18?) and I talked my grandparents into letting him stay with us, and that was my fault. We eventually had a falling out and I lost touch with him when he dropped out of college, and I'm sure that was my fault, too! Heck, 5 years later I heard through a mutual friend that he brought a date to the wedding of a family member and it caused quite a ruffle. You see, his date was named "Peter" or "Mark" or something like that, and somehow I imagine his old man turned it around so even THAT was Andre's fault! :surprise: So basically, whenever I see a TR6, I think of that ogre. I know I know, not fair to the car, at all. :sick:

But, I digress. :shades: Anyway, my friend's Dad had two TR6es. One of them was blue and the other was maroon, I think. The maroon one was a POS parts car, and the blue one had some rust issues.

As for what I saw, I did some Googling around, and I think it might've been a Fiat 850 Spyder. I didn't get a good look at it from the front, but I saw the side and rear. And it did look sort of like this.

I don't think I've ever seen one before. Are they fairly rare? I know I used to see the later 70's style 124 Spyder, or whatever it was called, all the time. And the X19.

texases

Friend had an 850 in high school - rear engined, slow, but fun. I don't remember seeing others, then or now, I'm sure they didn't do well with salt. I insulted an Alfa owner at the gas station when I asked if it was an 850 :surprise:

oregonboy

Ohhh, I'll bet that he was displeased, big-time!

I always thought that the 850s were pretty little cars. Perfect for Andre's friend's "date".

non-PC jamez

andre1969

I don't remember seeing others, then or now, I'm sure they didn't do well with salt. I insulted an Alfa owner at the gas station when I asked if it was an 850

Is there a similar insult you can hurl at a TR6 owner? For some odd reason, I still remember my college buddy's phone # from when he was living at home, and googling it confirms that's still his parents' number. Once I get a few more beers in me, I might be up for a little fun. :shades:

oregonboy

Oh-oh. Drunk dialing is usually a bad idea... although it was a favorite pastime of my (former) roomies, Juli and Denise! :surprise:

jamez

toomanyfumes

I have a good friend whose parents never liked me. They think I was a bad influence, but I think he actually corrupted me more. This was 20 years ago, and I still think they don't like me much!

I think that Pontiac ElCamino had Stacked headlights like a '67 or so. I had a friend with a '76 Elcamino and my neighbor has a beat up '79 (that he swears is worth alot). I just remember thinking "hey that has a Pontiac front end!'

lemko

...a beautiful teal green 1966 Pontiac Catalina Safari station wagon.

andys120

Back in the day (mid-late 60's) the 850 Spider was fairly commonplace, being just about the cheapest Sports roadster you could buy. Like all Fiats of the era they rusted out quickly (cheap Russian steel! :mad: ) so there were very few survivors after a decade or so.

kyfdx

Headed to vacation last week, spotted a chrome bumper Midget... Had a luggage rack on the rear lid that held a monster suitcase.. A1 condition..

Driver and passenger on board.. Driver looked to be about 240 lbs... Really, really stuffed in there.. tooling along about 55 mph (maximum speed with 450 lb. load?).. :surprise:

fintail

Went to a few yard sales this morning and saw a couple odd cars. Parked beside one place was an 80s Isuzu Impulse turbo - can't be many of those still on the road. And in the garage at another place was a 1970 Porsche Targa (I asked the owner the year). It was in very nice condition, but it had that air to it that it hadn't been driven in several years. The owner said he's had it since 1973.

And last night I saw an odd custom. It was a 58 Impala...and the roof had been removed targa style, so the vertical component of the B/C pillar was still intact, but there was nothing from the back of the side window forward to the A-pillar...in essence, the tops of the side windows were gone. I imagine it now has the structural rigidity of an overcooked piece of spaghetti.

quade420

I use to have a '76 Elco. 305...it was this terrible cream yellow color...slowest/loudest car/truck I've ever owned but man I loved that thing.

merckx

Wow!...Someone has finally deemed a Catera "obscure"! Our 2001 purchased new just became my weekend hobby car two weeks ago when I bought my wife a new Lucerne.

I've been waiting for this day!
May I never hear the word "Cimmeron" again...

toomanyfumes

Dodge Rampage, red, in good condition, for sale. Really not a bad looking "truck" for the era. I suppose you really can't haul much in one, though.

Mr_Shiftright

You could always refer to it as an Opel if you want to be really obscure.

boomchek

You could always refer to it as an Opel if you want to be really obscure

I think there was a Catera on eBay last year, where the ownher totally rebadged it to make it into an Opel

Mr_Shiftright

A desire for individuality or a slap in the face for Cadillac? I wonder.

fintail

Lots of odd stuff today. One fool sweltering in a fintail in 95F heat...I also saw a Ferrari Dino, a pristine better than new Porsche 914, an 80s Rolls Corniche, an 80s Bentley sedan, a pagoda and a bunch of 107s, a first-gen MR2 with a 'supercharged' badge, and a restored (!) looking 80-83 Civic hatchback.

lemko

Spotted what looked to be the remains of a Ford Model T truck on farmland in NW Montgomery County, PA.

texases

Saw Get Smart, in addition to the Sunbeam was a good cameo of Bernie Kopell driving an Opel GT. Also good number of old Russian iron.

lemko

On my way to the bank today, I spotted a Chrysler Town and Country minivan that somebody painted Purple Metalflake!

Speaking of minivans, I think the winner of the burnout contest at the Carlisle GM Nationals actually entered a Chevy Astro van!

lemko

...light yellow 1977 Buick LeSabre coupe and white 1983 Toyota Cressida.

kyfdx

'76, I think.... amazing that any of these are still out there...

Also a 4-door Dodge Shadow..

andre1969

One of my roommates had a 1979 Granada with the 250 straight six. I think it was the coupe model. He swears it was an awesome car and really misses it, but it was also his first car, and I think people tend to get attached in that way. I think the Granada is one of the few cars from that era where the sedan model actually looks better than the coupe.

I can't remember the last time I saw one on the road, though. Although I think I saw one at a classic car show a couple years ago.

My grandparents had a '77 coupe, back when it was new. I also dated a girl who drove a '77 sedan, with the 302 V-8. I drove it a few times...not a bad running car with that engine. And the manager at the pizza place I worked part time at had a '78 or '79 Granada, a sedan with the 250 6-cyl.

Those Granadas were wildly popular for the first couple years, but then I think the Fairmont really stole its thunder.

lemko

...had a 1978 Ford Granada coupe. His was dark red with a white landau roof, thick white moldings, and white accented hubcaps. It had the 250 inline six which I remember being a pretty decent and fuel-efficient engine.

kyfdx

My girlfriend had a '76-'77 Granada in the early '80s... Now.. all American cars were dogs at that time.... but, I remember her shutting off the A/C to go up hills. :surprise:

My '77 Cobra II had a 302 V-8 with a tiny 2-barrel.. rated at 135 HP.. Was really quick off the line, but ran out of breath pretty quickly.. (don't ask me about the rest... really, really sad.. )

boomchek

(where Van Damme played twins in Hong Kong), and saw a ton of classic cars in the first part of the film.

Double impact Cars

andre1969

And here I always thought "Double Impact" was a porn movie. Or am I thinking "Deep Impact"? :shades:

fintail

Fintail and a W126...can't ask for more