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I spotted an (insert obscure car name here) classic car today! (Archived)
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They were beautifully made but not necessarily well-made by modern robotic standards. That custom coachwork of the 30s 40s 50s and early 60s tended to shake apart, and the cars did not weather well.
You have to remember that until the Germans bought them, Rolls was a severely under-capitalized company that made do any way it could, to survive. Constant revisions and modifications, and under-developed engine technology, and rather complex and untested engineering results in many mishaps.
I'd think one would be a superb alternative to a convertable....I think my dreamcar would be a Fintail with one(I do think I've seen one or two of these in America over the years).
I'd settle for the factory sunroof too, which on old MB is a nice piece of work, with the handle you pull down and turn to open.
Great idea about the Webasto su roof. Jeremy and I are talking about it now.
I wanted to post a link for everyone to look at the style of convertible top Jeremy and I have sort of fallen for. ..
it isnt a direct link because of the way the site works but if you go to
volvo1800pictures dot com
and click on the cabriolets....
it is the second from the bottom.
It is dark green car... 1966, Holland. ID:439
hit the little blue dot to see more pictures.
It is a very custom job as the guy that owns the car had desigend the top himself. Jeremy and I think we are willing to put the money into havint it done, because this is going to be our first baby together.. and nothing but the best for our baby, right? hahaha.
But really, we wouldn't ever expect to sell the car and are looking at it as more of a project, recreation, etc... we would likely just spend the money elsewhere, so why not for a beautiful car that is exactly what we want.
So , let us know what you think about of the top. I think it really preserves the look of the car. Also, What do you know about putting power steering into this car???
Natasha
So , let us know what you think about of the top. I think it really preserves the look of the car. Also, What do you know about putting power steering into this car???
I can see why you like that particular top, it preserves the look of the original coupe when up, very nicely (I'd have gone with black fabric to mesh better w the dark green bodywork.)>
link
Good luck finding someone to replicate that style, there's a reason why most convertibles do not have tops that so closely replicate their coupe brethren.
As for power steering, I recommend strongly against it. P/S is a neccessity in a modern car because of the vehicle weight and tire size but those skinny old 165-14
radials worked fine with a direct mechanical linkage to the steering. Save your money for the conversion you'll need it.
I Googled "custom convertible conversions" and got 249.000 hits :surprise: Adding
"for Volvo" gets it down to 23,4000, adding "1800" gets it down to a mere
8300.
Good luck!
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
I guess my main concern is a) costs getting out of hand and b) that you are going to end up with a real rattle trap of a car.
As for the steering, the P1800 is an extremely nose-heavy car that is true. Like everything else, you can make any modification work if you want to spend the money, but I have no idea how you'd adapt a Volvo 240 series steering post, rack, pump and steering linkages to the P1800---which is based on a 122 series cars. Once again, you never want to be a "pioneer"---you want to find someone else who's done it, and ask them how!
"the clever woman learns by her mistakes, the really smart woman learns by other people's mistakes".
I'd just learn to live with what you have here regarding power steering, if I were you. Once the P1800 gets rolling, it's not so bad. It's only parking that's a hassle. You might try harder tire pressures and a stock size tire (nothing too wide, that's going to enlarge your biceps if you do).
By all means, explore the Webasto idea. In this way you'll get that "open air feeling" without turning the car into a flexi-flyer.
I'd tend to put your $$$ into the Webasto, some IPD performance parts for the engine and suspension, and corrections to the car's weak spots, such as the timing gears, u-joints, instrument panel gauges, and oil cooler, all of which cause trouble and all of which are correctable.
Not that anyone seemed to notice or care, but I looked up the Buick that Tom Cruise drove in the 1988 movie Rain Man, with Dustin Hoffman as passenger, and it was a '49 Roadmaster convertible.
Is it just me, or was that really a beautiful classic car?
Ah, the magic of the movies.
I am often amused, in a nice way, how people dress up in their cars but they get their period costumes all wrong for the age of the car. So, too, apparently, the colors.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
Interesting, but too bad about the frame rust. That car probably hasn't survived. However, movie viewers will see it in all its glory for years or decades, so in a sense the car has survived.
Question, unrelated to cars: when is it proper to use brackets and when is it correct to use parentheses around names in discussion titles?
The shoes are the killer :P
Hawks of any kind are rare but I 'spect the small finned '56s are really rare.
-Triumph TR-3A- Faux Brit front plate indicated it was a '59 (59TR3A). Perfect bodywpork, non-period paint color (bright medium blue) and Minilite-style alloys (Panasports?), top down on a gorgeous summer day, he got a thumbs up from me in downtown traffic.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
A couple years back, when I had my '76 LeMans in that movie shoot, they actually told us NOT to wash or wax the cars. They wanted them to look authentic! They also didn't care if they had nicks, scrapes, or other body damage.
I finally got to see the movie my car was in, "Talk to Me", a few months ago. Great movie. However, you could only see my car in it for a split second, and only if you knew where to look. And it was only the rear of the car, maybe the lower quarter panel and the back tire. I think I got paid $250 or $275 for that, but had to be on the set from like 5 in the morning till 9 at night, and it was hotter than blazes that day! It was a fun thing to do...once. I'm not too anxious to do it again, though. :shades:
One little problem. This episode took place in roughly 1936. John-Boy had been in college for awhile, so he was probably about 20. So that would put those days of reminiscence at around 1915. Maybe 1916 if it was a shotgun wedding. Umm, DeSoto didn't hit the market until 1929!
I imagine most people wouldn't notice something like that, or delve that deeply into it, but it struck me as odd the moment Ralph Waite uttered that line!
The other day I watched a bad Roger Corman movie called "Cannonball". One of the car was referred to as a "1971 Dodge". Not to be too anal about it, but does this look like a 1971 Dodge to you?! :P
I would love to have my fintail in a movie, even if in a background scene. I would want to be with the car as you were. But, a sky blue fintail is pretty odd and wouldn't have been much more common even 40+ years ago, so that might limit its film use.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
I am trying to link it, but it doesn't seem to work here.
OK at a glance this looks like a Rolls_Royce Silver Spirit, but it is a 2-door, and that badge on the rear says Hooper. According to the only reference I can find, they made just one of these for the 1985 Geneva show, but that car is silver in the only photo I can find. Could have been repainted, I suppose.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
i can see it now, lee iacocca calls them in and tells them they have to go to washington dc to get funding to save chrysler. he tells them, "i did it once, now it's your turn".
A weird car, probably really something in the late 70s
I guess that car isn't considered a Rolls Royce high point!
And the funny thing is, as Boomchek and I were discussing...a Camargue was the first large scale metal model I ever had.
Still wouldn't want one though
That 80s coupe you posted is the pinnacle of taste compared to the weird Camargue.
The coupe looked good as a convertible, in this memorable role:
I am very surprised the so-called authorities even knew what it was.
Ummm...
Plenty of bids for what it is
A Volvo 444 and a 39 Plymouth had a baby
Not many of these survived so well
Fixer-upper
Another from the same seller...should go back to Europe
Fun rat
Cool, don't know what you'd do with it
Nice chevrons
Period colors
Andre-mobile
Topless relative for the fintail
"1 of 1"
I even like that '86 Ciera convertible. Normally I hate chopped coupes, but I think that one's one of the better efforts. I like the fact that they worked roll-down rear windows into the design.
The behemoth Fleetwood is cool, too. Normally I can't stand brown, but that one doesn't bother me. Maybe because it's more caramel than poo? :surprise:
Kinda neat to see a 1929 DeSoto rat rod (I'm sure some of the perfectionists in my old DeSoto club would have a fit!), but who the hell rebuilds a 305?! Once it blows, don't most people just throw in a 350?
One of the most disappointing conversions I ever saw was of an early 80's Monte Carlo. I figured it would be a prime candidate for conversion, because it already had frameless windows, and the fairly short roof should have been easy to make disappear. But this sucker had no side windows in back; it was all top. And it wouldn't go down all the way, sticking up worse than with that Ciera.
Years ago, the local Pontiac/Dodge dealer had a used Mirada conversion on their lot. I took it for a test drive. It was midnight blue with a white top. It didn't look that good with the top up. It was one monstrous thing that, like the Monte Carlo, did away with any side windows in back, just giving you these little clear plastic slits. But once you put the top down, that sucker was stylin! Just don't try to take it through any railroad crossings, especially if you have loose fillings! :sick:
Last time I was in the junkyard (about two years ago, getting a new wheel and tire after someone stole one off the Intrepid