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Comments
So if you were lucky and had everything in your favor, the K&N might show 2-3 HP on the dyno with the Diplomat wound tight and flat out.
Those things had a 2.26:1 rear end, to compensate for not having overdrive. So it might take awhile to get one revved up to where it's going flat-out!
I had an '89 Gran Fury ex-police car (318 4-bbl, 2.94:1 rear). Looking back, I really wasn't all that impressed with the M-body. They were good, sturdy cars, probably more over-built than most cars of that time. My biggest beef with it was that it acted like a bigger car than it was. I swear, my R-bodies, which are about a foot and a half longer, and ride a ~6" longer wheelbase, feel more nimble. I think the turning circle is about the same.
I also didn't like the position of the steering wheel...too close to my chest, kinda like a pickup truck, or an older car. I guess when you figure it dates back to the 1976 Volare, that might make sense. However, the steering wheel of my '76 LeMans doesn't crowd me like that.
Being a copcar, my Gran Fury handled quite well, but I hear the civilian versions of these things were a bit sloppy. Interestingly though, when CR tested an '85 Fifth Avenue, they rated it poor for routine handling, but better than average for emergency handling. So they could handle when you really needed them to, but just didn't give you that impression in day-to-day driving.
Visibility was actually excellent in these cars, thanks to the low beltline, thin pillars, and huge glass area. An added bonus was that you could see the edges of the car. Also, it was more slab-sided than most cars, which helped make the car feel roomier inside than the published interior specs might suggest.
I dunno if I'd ever want to get back into another M-body, although I do sorta like that Diplomat.
I think the M-body Diplomat might have the distinction of being the only car ever marketed as a compact, midsize, AND fullsize! From '77-79, it was marketed as sort of a luxury compact, Mopar's answer to the Granada. From 1980-81, they marketed it as a midsize...nevermind the fact that it was no bigger inside than the compact Aspen/Volare inside. Then, after the R-bodies were canceled, the '82-89 models were marketed as full-sized cars.
Or he and the car could have been frozen in 1982 and recently rejuvenated. :P
Spotted: gold 1963 Ford Galaxie convertible with ratty white top.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
it's a stick?
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
AMC Eagle wagon, it looked like this one....>
...except for missing chrome and dents.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
Homely big beast
This survived very nicely
Now this is the 80s
Send it back to blighty
Granada headlights?
Classy
This is unusual anymore
Toyota tried to be a little less dull once
Leviathan
Late series tin can
Impressive resto-mod
Patina...price didn't seem too bad
Rare and very involved project with bids
I could see Andre in this
Neat hauler
Companion for your 21 window Samba
Excalibur Sedan "Royale" -- OMG! That's awful!!
80s 'gullwing' -- he's just pilin' up the bids ain't he? Well, another Mercedes ruined. There oughta be a law against this sort of thing....
Riley Kestrel -- nice interior though.
52 Benz from Argentina --- totally cool...probably dangerously slow, ridiculously slow, unbelievably slow---but what a great looking old thing. Love to have it.
60 Chrysler New Yorker Wagon --- nasty looking rust there, BIG JOB---not sure about the upside on this one, but it would be nice if someone saved it. You rarely see them around anymore. You might get $20K for it when you're done.
Fiat 850 -- It could always be recycled to make Italian frozen TV dinner trays.
Stutz Bearcat IV-Porte --- well, if Wayne Newton likes it, it MUST be good.
The ALTI is not the ALTO of car design is it? Sure botched that one up. How can these guys keep getting this "neo-classics" SO WRONG?
Mercedes Combi -- I'd buy it just for the license plates! LOTTA work, enormous task, a very large mountain to climb. You need to be crazy....there, let's just say it.
I understand why Elvis and Wayne Newton would own them: It takes heavy drugs and a Vegas sense of style to think those ugly piles of **** are sensible.
Okay, I'm calming down now.
I think the white powder fad of the 80s made a gullwing SEC seem almost sensible.
The MB microbus is similar to one I "discovered" several years ago:
Eccentric owner was adamant about not selling it, but of course lacks the means to restore it. A lot of cars are lost that way.
Alti boat tail...wow, can't believe it has tha many bids. And I think those are Granada headlights.
Stutz... I think they're so ill styled and disproportional, that in my opinion they take the cake for one of the ugliest cars ever. I'd take that Town Car conversion over this thing. And why is one bidder bidding over himself, like 5 times. :confuse:
I like how the Fiat 850 is kept inside a living room of some sorts. I always wanted to once stick a car in a living room, or a livable area.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
Early '70s BMW 3.0 CS.. automatic (in script along the trunk edge). It was in that nice vanilla color... recently restored, apparently..
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That's funny. maybe it was engineered that way so that customers wouldn't own one for too long, but instead buy something new. Fiat had the auto manufacturing monopoly in Italy anyways during that time, didn't it?
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
Not quite, when the 850 was designed in the early 60s Lancia, Alfa, Maserati and Ferrari were still independent. Fiat had a monopoly on low end cars made in Italy but still had to compete with Volkswagen, Renault, Opel etc.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
All those neoclassic things are hideous, but of the three, I think the Stutz is the least so. Perhaps because it's still a reflection on the times, something that a lot of people still aspired to, just taken to grotesque extremes.
I don't like that Lincoln Town Car based thing, partly because it's too big I guess, but also because when you look at it, it's so blatantly obvious what it's based on. At least the Stutz keeps you guessing for a few minutes.
You could make a game out of that Cord thing, such as "guess that part!" In addition to the Granada headlights, I see a lot of Cavalier on the interior, such as the dash and the door panels. And what are the taillights out of? They kinda make me think of a big mid-70's Monaco.
I do like the black Cordoba. I always thought the '80-83 Cordoba and Mirada were sharp looking cars...almost too tasteful for the 80's! One thing I just realized...I don't think I've ever seen one in green. I wonder if Chrysler might've dropped their greens from their color choices in 1980? In '79 they two greens. One was a dark emerald-type green, and the other was a pale silvery green. Looked really sharp in 2-tone.
Old Q45s are rare sights these days, but this may be the only one in the world that's used as a taxi. I wonder what the economics are like. I assume the owner bought it very cheaply, but one would think that the combination of low fuel economy from the V8, plus expensive maintenance and repairs, makes that Q among the least cost effective taxis anywhere. Oh, well, at least the passengers ride in luxury. Too bad the vast majority wouldn't know or care what they're riding in.
I didn't need a cab, but was tempted to take a ride anyway, just to be chauffeured around in an old Q.
You see all kinds of strange old taxis in the nation's capital, but this one was among the wierdest I've seen. Among the newer taxis are some Priuses, but I've seen those in other cities too. That's not too surprising.
I rode in an Audi A6 Quattro cab in Nice, France once. Can't remember whether it was a diesel, but it probably was. Nice ride, bad pun.
I've never driven either, so I trust your opinion, but given that the 164 had FWD and a very spirited V6, was torque steer an issue, or was it pretty well controlled?
Your comment about the Q45's driving dynamics (I assume that's what you were referring to) is interesting, since I remember reading that Infiniti aimed the Q at the German luxury brands, while Lexus engineered the LS400 for luxury rather than sport. I gather, from your comment, the Q fell short. The Q's weak sales support your evaluation.
Certainly not a handful like a Saab turbo of the same era.
You rarely see any Qs around. We had one traded in at Honda when I worked there, and compared to today's standards the car has nothing special about it. A leather Accord has more bells and whistles today than that Q had. At least an old MB S Class or BMW 7 series of that era has some prestige, where as the Q is just an old Japanese uplevel car.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
Yeah, there's no prestige factor associated with an old Q. That's largely due to the fact that very few people know what the heck it is. For that matter, I don't imagine early '90s Lexus LS400s are very prestigious either, but they're probably recognizable to more people than the Qs.
Regardless of whether an old luxury sedan has more or less prestige, the bottom line is that none of them, not even Mercedes and BMWs, are worth much these days. The difference between, say, a '92 Q or LS400 compared with an S-Class or 7-Series from the same year may be significant in percentage terms, but isn't very meaningful in absolute terms.
Beige 1964 Lincoln Continental sedan with ridiculous Dubs.
Beige 1962 Lincoln Continental convertible
Yellow 1966-67 Lincoln Continental sedan
We had one on the lot a few years back with about 120k miles. Usually we won't keep anything that old, but this Lexus ran like new. You could start it up, and place a cigarette lighter standing up on the top of the running engine, and it wouldn't even fall over, that's how smooth it ran.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
SDC400 --- Sensory Deprivation Chamber.