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

andys120

Hillman Husky-Cool, sort of a precursor of today's crossovers.

Lancia Appia S2- Sweet,nice buy if i9t's as good as the pix.

'71 Pontiac Ventura "GTO"-Whaat?, better to buy a ''71 LeMans and replicate the more desireable "big" Goat than to bother with the little desired, later Nova-based cars.

andys120

while driving across Vermont:

1964 Pontiac Grand Prix, sitting in a weed-filled lot on the outskirts of Brattleboro. Badly faded dark blue paint, these were favorites of mine and it was sad to see it in this condition but I didn't notice any obvious rust.

1962-63 Falcon Convertible, very nice, top down, leading a stack of cars east of Bennington, couldn't get close enough to tell if it was a Futura 6 or Sprint V8 but it definitely had the extra chrome of a higher end version.

andre1969

That '71 Ventura is pretty lame. I've heard that the Chevy 307 is a pretty weak engine and NOT something you want to build up. I looked up the '71 Ventura in my old car book, and it lists the 250-6 at 185 hp and the 307 at 235 hp. But for the Nova, it's only 155 hp for the 6 and 200 for the V-8. So I wonder if the Ventura really WAS more powerful, or if they just lied? I guess it's possible the Nova 307 just had a 2-bbl and they put a 4-bbl on the Ventura?

Anyway, for 1972, in net hp, the 307 was down to 130 hp regardless of the car, so I'm guessing only the 2-bbl was available.

I kinda like that '74 Dodge Coronet copcar. It just has sort of a tough, industrial, no-nonsense look about it. No pretense at all, just an honest workhorse.

Oh, and that '61 Catalina Ventura? That sucker's within maybe 1.5-2 hours from me, and awfully tempting! I think the '61 is actually my favorite 60's Pontiac, with the '67 being a close second. Only thing is, '61's are worth a LOT more than '67's, which is probably why I ended up with a '67. Dammit Fintail, why must you tempt me so? Don't make me raid my home equity, now! :surprise:

kyfdx

From the mid-late '80s? In pretty much pristine condition... :surprise:

fintail

One of these days I will post a car that someone will buy...maybe that someone will be you :P

A friend of mine in high school had a 69 Nova sedan, bought new by his great-grandfather and handed down to his parents in the 70s when they were in college...and kept around as a beater since. It had a 307 with a 2-speed powerglide. I do not remember the car having any decent performance, and that transmission amused me as it would hold 1st until maybe 50-60mph on hard acceleration with the engine working very hard - but it admittedly did have transmission issues, along with many electrical issues. I think it got pretty bad mileage, too.

fintail

An old co-worker of mine had a Fox, and he loved it. He wasn't exactly great at maintaining his car either, but he had that thing up to maybe 200K when he moved, and it was running fine and he was very happy with it - he had owned it for maybe 10 years by then. I was very surprised.

boomchek

Nice selection this week.

The Jag/Benz from the Indiana Jones movie would be a nice addition to any car collection.

I like the blue Dodge cop car too. I always wanted to have a basic doemstic boat from the 70s (well I did, my Impala), or an ex-cop car. Just a basic car with base equipment but with heavy duty mechanicals.

Dang, all thse listings are so tempting. I need money and a huge garage, and my life will be complete.

andre1969

I was down in DC, and spotted a couple of old ones. First, a real oddity. It was a 1975-76 Dodge Coronet sedan, apparently still being used as a taxi! Unless someone restored an old cab, or just took a regular car and dressed it up as one, but I couldn't see going through the trouble. It looked like it was in pretty good shape.

About a block later, I saw a '67-68 Cadillac Sedan DeVille. 4door hardtop. Dark blue with a black roof. It was parked on the street. Paint looked faded, but the car looked pretty solid otherwise. At least, from a quick glance.

As for old Novas and Venturas, I think it's a bit odd that Pontiac only let you get the 307 as the top engine in '71. The Nova offered a 200 hp 307 or a 250 hp 350, while the Ventura just sort of split the difference with a 235 hp 307. I guess maybe since that was the first year for the small Ventura, maybe Pontiac just wasn't taking it too seriously, and didn't want it to overlap too much with the midsized Tempest/LeMans? They did start offering a 350 in '72, though.

explorerx4

andre, if it makes you feel any better, the trunk of the '61 looks pretty faded out, so don't forget to add a new paint job.

Mr_Shiftright

HILLMAN -- the seller wanted more than $4,700 for this car? Well plan to be buried in it then.

64 Fintail -- a starting bid of $9000? I don't think so. Try openers of $2,500. It's not even an SE for gawd's sake.

300SE - might be worth $2,500 if it's not a complete rust bucket. Needs a lot of work though, so you'll never see paydirt here. Nice ride though...comfy.

79 Dodge with Daytona Wing --- just shoot me now, I don't wish to suffer.

58 Lancia Appia -- these are high quality, wonderful cars and a pleasure to drive, but this one looks pretty incorrect. Engine looks wrong. Bidding is now $4,500, and I don't see it going too much higher. I'd almost bite at $4,500 myself but I'd bring a magnet along. I kinda smell a rat. Bidding might not go too much higher. Lancia collectors are like Studebaker collectors. Enthusiastic tightwads who horde more parts than the factory ever had.

boomchek

93 Supra GT, a bit steep starting bid, no wonder no one is bidding. Very nice shape though.

Another one, but better mileage and price, although an automatic.

Anoter one, this time a 98, with cloth, and automatic, and odd looking wheels. Weird combo, good miles, but steep price

Integra Type R, rare, not stock. Originals are pretty much impossible to find

These will be the cars I'd be willing to blow big bucks on now or i the near future, when I have the means, and only when they'r original. No mods.

fintail

That 98 is not far from me, and the guy has been trying to sell it for at least a few months. I think the price is very steep for a non-turbo car, and I don't care for the cloth. I think the late Supras like 97-98 had those wheels.

andre1969

79 Dodge with Daytona Wing --- just shoot me now, I don't wish to suffer.

They were talking about that same Magnum in my Mopar club. I think for the most part everyone concurred it was a horrible thing to do to a car, but one guy argued that at least this guy is keeping these things out of the junkyard!

Still, I dunno. I love the '78-79 Magnum, but I wouldn't touch that one, so I guess to me it shouldn't matter if it ended up in the junkyard or not! Evidently the guy has a fetish for putting those wings on Magnums. I've heard that the same guy has a bunch of them that he's inflicted this treatment on.

I wonder how big of a deal it would be to just take the wing off and fill in the holes? Then all you'd have to worry about is that loud, "ARREST ME" color that simply does not suit that car well at all. These things look much better in dark colors, like black, midnight blue, or even the lighter blues and greens they offered back then. Heck, even brown would look better on this car than that yellow!

jrosasmc

I'd rather be driving my Volvo 850 than any mid-90s Toyota Supra. I'd get bored rather easily if I owned one of the latter. With the 850, I never get bored with it- it's such a great car to drive, even though the maintenance costs are a little above average.

jrosasmc

You drove through Bennington, Vermont? Bennington is my hometown! I love it there- small world.

boomchek

I think with the Supra Twin Turbo, in order for it to be of any interest to a collector, it's gotta be stick, leather and Turbo.

I can't see any righteous tuner guy shelling that kind of money out for a cloth automatic Supra.

fintail

I think some who own those cars get a little ahead of themselves as it is one of the few Japanese cars of the past 30 years to have any collectible potential at all. I agree with your statement, if I was looking for one of those it would be a turbo. How does the targa affect values?

andys120

Yeah Bennington is a great town but I was just passing thru on my way to meet some guys in Albany. It's more fun to take the back way than the boring Turnpike even if the Mass Pike is the only East-West Interstate North of CT.

I didn't have time to step at Hemmings.

magnette

That Alta - what a lovely car. I've seen several different Altas. but they were very rare, and although probably most survive, they are probably unheard of over the pond.

Mr_Shiftright

The few, the brave, the chosen----WE know! :shades:

fintail

Today I saw an MG Magnette of the type Magnette owns. Can't be many of those on the road on this continent.

kyfdx

A friend of mine has a '58 Magnette.. He says he is in the process of restoring it.. No evidence, so far, though.. :surprise:

He also has a '62 MGA that he's driven back and forth to Key West, one and 3/4 times...

Mr_Shiftright

magnettes are tough to restore. No body or trim parts, and not much value when you're done. Too bad, I really like them.

fintail

Wow, thats at least 3/8ths more of a trip than the average old British car completes :P

boomchek

I don't know if Targa wold affect values on the Supra. To me it doesn't make a difference.

boomchek

Went to an Italian car show on the weekend. There was a bunch of newer Ferraris and Lambos, but I took photos of mostly the old stuff.

The show only had about 40 cars, but it was free and fun.

You can see the photos here: Italian Car Show

The first two photos with me in it are from a different show n shine 2 weeks ago.

Enjoy.

fintail

Do I see an Alfa 1900 SS there? I've always liked those.

kyfdx

Yeah... when he told me he was making the trip for the 2nd time, I replied that he was really sticking his tongue out at the car gods...

Pretty good traveling cars, if you didn't have to carry all the spare parts..

boomchek

Are you talking about the one where ther'es two in the photo (black and red?) or the single old Alfa in the photo, the coupe.

fintail

Yeah, the red coupe beside an early model black Spider

boomchek

I didn't write down what it was, but it was a coupe Alfa. sorry :confuse:

jrosasmc

I just had to show you this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mercedes-Benz-300-Series-300SE-1991-Mercedes-Benz- -300SE-Sedan_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ6330QQihZ019QQitemZ290247963426QQrdZ1QQs- spagenameZWDVW

What a waste of a final-run W126 300SE. Just curious, how much would a good, clean, mint 300SE or SEL, with average miles, from 1991 run today? I know you once owned one, and loved it. What was yours, an SE or SEL?

fintail

Yeah a 91 300SE is pretty unusual, most you see are 89-90. That one has really been tackified, the chrome wheel lips, wheels, tint, and grille kill the simple elegance of the W126.

Mine was an 89 300SE. It was pretty miled up by the time I sold it, but it was still a beautiful car, and I would have kept it if I could. I think those cars are just so good looking, when stock anyway. I wouldn't mind having another sometime, I would especially like to to find a diamond blue (same color as mine) with a creme interior. 4 place seating in a SEL would be very cool too. I also wouldn't mind finding an unmolested period AMG example.

A very clean 100K mile late W126 with documented maintenance and no deferred issues should run maybe 5K. Prices are pretty equal no matter which model. Only the very special cars will go significantly higher than that.

magnette

The body panels are difficult, but not impossible - there is a specialist in Norwich, who has a substantial catalogue, and they re-manufacture bits that are unique to that model, from time to time. I just got a repair section for the nearside rear door, which is basically a 6inch strip of the bottom of the door skin, as mine has rusted out. This arrived yesterday, and will in due course be welded on the car, but it cost about £ 99 including tax....
Most of the bits needed to get it running are pretty standard, though,, as MG and the rest of BMC ( Austin/Morris etc) used the same engines and so on in loads of cars. I can even get a wiring loom for about £300, which I think will be needed, as the mice appear to have had a few bits of the old wires.
I'm lucky that I've actually got loads of bits of trim like spare dash instruments, steering wheel, etc, and various lights, but inevitably there are some bits which will be a problem. I am initially concentrating on getting it mobile, then structurally sound enoufgh to pass our MOT test, basically the government roadworthiness test, and then phase three will be to get it reliable (!) and finally I will then deal with what it looks like - I suspect it will be like a piebald pony for a bit, with various bits in primer, and different colours on some odd panels...
My main problem is that I can't tackle big jobs like taking the engine out, and the car is 200 miles from where I live, as it has been in my mother's garage in Wales..
Just to make it worse, I don't have a garage at all in London - and no off-road parking on a fairly busy main road...
I will have to rent a garage, but that won't be that near where I live either, unless I am very lucky.
This isn't remotely going to be a project that would make economic sense, but I'm trying not to think about that - instead I'm concentrating on the dream that next year I will somehow get the old girl to a few car shows in my local area....

lemko

...powder blue 1975 Chevrolet Caprice convertible with a white top and interior.

boomchek

A late 80s Mercedes Benz 400E. Looked just like a normal E class except for the badging. Even the grille was a normal chrome grille. Maybe it was rebadged.

I thought they had wider fenders, but maybe that's only on the 500E.

fintail

Yeah, only the 500E/E500 had those fenders.

400E was a much less performance oriented W124 compared to a 500E (but moreso than a standard 6cyl model), sold only in 1992-93 - and then became the E420. I don't think it had any different trim, just a bigger engine. Probably not a rebadge, nobody would bother.

boomchek

Yeah that's what I thought. I'd love to have a nice 500E in my collection.

fintail

Same here, I have always had a thing for those since the first time I saw one. Heck, there's even a trio of them on the calendar in my office cube right now. Very cool car.

bumpy

was a Vega, solid cow(poop) brown with antique plates, but now that I look the taillights are wrong. Maybe one of those it's-really-a-Vega Monzas? Oddest thing is that it was actually in amazing condition for a '70s POS. I can't imagine it surviving this long, nor can I imagine anyone actually restoring it to a good #3.

kyfdx

Pontiac Astre?

bhill2

Fin,

If I may take a side road here for a minute, I've got a question. Over in the Diesel Forum discussion "Honda Diesel????", post 672 contains a link to a NY Times review of the upcoming Acura/Honda diesel. That review questions whether a diesel could be considered an upscale alternative, referring to the "...ill-fated Mercedes 300SD". Now, it may be because have lived the last 30 years in California, but it is my impression that Mercedes sold a whole bunch of those and their successors. Am I not right?

fintail

The 70s-80s MB diesels were a huge success, even today many W123 diesels are still in service in harsh areas as taxis...this is no coincidence. They didn't sell in Camcord numbers as they were not cheap, but they were not ill-fated. I see them all the time even today, and they have an obsessive (often penny-pinching and DYI, which isn't always bad) cult behind them.

The 300SD was sold in NA for a couple years as a W116 S-class, and then for 5 model years as a W126 S-class, starting in 1981 (I believe NA was the only market for the W126 300SD). The cars themselves were of the highest quality, and the engines will go hundreds of thousands of miles on recommended maintenance. The 300SD was replaced by the 300SDL and a few years later as a 350SD/L. The 350 series cars had some bugs, but the older ones were solid if they were taken care of. I would hardly call these 'ill-fated'. These cars did a lot to give MB a "quality" rep.

Shifty had a W123 diesel, he can probably chime in too.

Mr_Shiftright

yeah I'm not sure what this "ill-fated" business is all about, unless they are referring to the 350SDL, which did have some serious engine defects. The 300 series diesels did very well, relative to the very small American market for diesel cars.

Maybe what they meant is that Americans simply do not like diesel cars, period. We associate diesels with heavy equipment, trucks and bad smells.

bumpy

Nope, doesn't match that either. The tails were a sort of inverted chevron out at the corners.

explorerx4

hood had a bulge in it. gold with some white on the fins. nice condition.

andre1969

Did it look anything like this?


This particular one is a Buick Skyhawk, but I think the fastback models of the Skyhawk/Sunbird/Monza/Starfire all had that same rounded off rump with the Camaro-ish taillights. Now the Buick and Olds only came in the fastback, but the Sunbird and Monza also offered a notchback style. It had a flat rear deck and the rear-end had sort of a reverse-slant to it, I think. And the taillights were taller and larger overall. The Monza also offered a 2-door wagon, but I can't remember if the Sunbird did, as well.

I think these things are actually sharp looking cars, if viewed from a distance. That way all you see is their sporty, rakish looks, but not necessarily the shoddy build quality.

hpmctorque

Could you comment on the reliability and quality of the W124 6 cylinder? I like the styling of these cars, and I perceive them to be comfortable, nice riding and driving cars. Great highway cruisers, with the downside being that the mediocre (or worse) reliability translates into high cost of ownership, this despite their relatively low market prices.

The V8 W124s appeal to me less than the 6 cylinder ones because, from what I've read, their reliability is even worse, and the performance of the 6 is very adequate, considering current gasoline prices.

Given the time these cars have been around, I'm wondering about the likelihood that the original owners have had plenty of time to deal with the quality glitches, and that the ones on the road today are reasonably reliable.

I'd be interested in your comments.

elcolason

Hello Everyone! I am having some legal issues that would be better taken care by a legitimate person and I am really looking for a lawyer to take me out of this critical situation. I have searched a lot but did not find the right person to hire for my issues. I am seeking some suggestions here as I know and I believe that people here come from different streams and can better advice me on this issue. Any help will be appreciated.

seminole_kev

Had the old girl out and ran across an old Mini. Had to park next to it and take a quick cell phone picture (sorry for quality).