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I spotted an (insert obscure car name here) classic car today! (Archived)
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Not a typical Torino
A little overdone
Land yacht getting some bids
Nice period piece
What old cars were really like
SSS SSS
Interesting re-creation
Nice fintail
Low
You don't have to shift
And so the invasion started
Maybe an Andre-mobile
You'll be the only one at pretty much any event
"Funwagon"
Car body, chainsaw engine
I don't think purists will appreciate that paint
Somehow I think the Funwagon wouldn't be much fun.
More on IKA.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
Renault Torino -- is there a Renault in the world built after 1904 worth $19,000??
73 Caddy Deville Custom -- impressive work even if done in the service of Satan. What's really "overdone" is the ad copy. $100K to paint the car---yeah, right.....hard to price---I'm guessing $70K--$75K is all its worth. Today's custom is yesterday's news.
Datsun 411SSS + SSS --- very cool set of cars.
76 Caddy Fleetwood -- current bid is market correct for a show car. Anything over $12K and the bidder is in the hole for life.
MB 300 SLR fakey-doo --- hmmm 900,000 Euros spent and he doesn't mention a word about what they did or didn't do to the engine? Is this supposed to be a go-fast replica or just a 300SL with performance to match the stock car? The world would like to know. Remaking a 300SLR is like remaking "The Godfather" movie---DON'T.
61 Bel Air custom -- nice way to ruin a good looking car.
41 Olds -- the very first car I drove (courtesy of a drunk neighbor) when I was 16!! Neat old guy. Mr. Davidson was his name. I remember the interior perfectly!!
76 Corolla--incredibly good car for the time. Bullet-proof as long as you could keep the rust-bunnies at bay.
58 Vedette -- did ANYONE make a decent looking car in 1958 that wasn't over the top with birthday cake trimmings? Maybe VW. Pretty weird.
Iso Lele -- you couldn't give these cars away ten years ago--I wonder if you still can? Big bag 'o trouble.
I also saw an immaculate ca. 1975 Buick Regal coupe today.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
I want one of those and have for years..... but $20K just puts them out of reach.
I sometimes wondered if you could just buy panels and graft them onto a later spider.... They're readily available... if they'd line up.
My weekend spots were less exciting. A old Maverick survivor that was obviously not restored zipping along the interstate, and a Buick Roadmaster Wagon from the 90's parked down the street from my house.
I'd have rather spotted the Duetto's.
Woodsmanspare thattree!Yeah, nothing worth saving there.....
Now if the rest of the wagon was something like this:
Maybe I could put up with some fake wood.
I never understood the thinkikng behind using "plood"
Not only that, re-making the wood was not a simple matter of a table saw. Some of the real wood woodies use very complex compound curves. You really need to hire a shipwright. Many a home hobbyist has given up in frustration. No wonder woody restoration is very $$$.
Of course that plastic stuff faded like crazy and today is a nuisance to replace as well. Something about restoring plastic doesn't sound all that appealing either, as you lovingly apply decals---lol!
I particularly liked the Chrysler Windsor, as it was so original and understated - so many surviving cars are bedecked with loads of extras like the dreaded Continental tyre kits or wire wheels - I liked the fact this guy had bought whitewall tyres but had put them on the other way round to show the black side.
Also liked the 41 Oldsmobile - that would probably be unique over here, as we didn't import many cars that year.
The SImca was great - I like the Vedette, but it is so rare - practically the only time I have ever seen any version of these was in France.
Never seen a Renault/IKA Torino - now that is a nice rarity.. Bit pricey, though.
The Trabant - well, it's probably rarer there than here, as we have a few imported since the Wall came down, although you rarely see them even at car shows.
That "Funwagon" intrigued me. Was this van sold over there as a Sunbeam? We had the van as a Commer - they were very common and indeed popular, both as a panel van and for things like Motor Caravans (think Motor Home only European sized - more Minibago than Winnibago). About half the ones sold here were for our telephone engineers in the days when all phones in the UK were provided by our Post Office...As a result they are often referred to as "Busby" vans after a cartoon character in our British Telecom TV adds, of about the late 70's. You still see the odd one in use as a motor caravan but they are obviously rare now as a panel van....
Why? I'm not being a smart a** here, you are not the first person to say that and I never knew what it was about them. Is it that little V-8? Did it somehow work better than a similar sized 6? I would think that with the displacement split 8 ways it wouldn't have enough torque to pull your shoelaces tight. Or was it something else about the car?
2009 BMW 335i, 2003 Corvette cnv. (RIP 2001 Jaguar XK8 cnv and 1985 MB 380SE [the best of the lot])
It did have a small V8, though the same basic style body - as the Ariane - was available, in France, with the Aronde engine - no power at all.
By contemporary standards it would have been powerful enough here - we didn't get big engines in most cars at that time. Torque is not always the best thing - although I suspect these were generally available with column change, which would mean the gearchange couldn't have been slick. Revvy little engines are more fun on little roads.
Of course, you could haul all kinds of stuff in these wagons.They had their place.
Those were actually fairly common on Duettos seen in the US too. I'm not sure if they were optional or aftermarket. Almost nobody drove a bone stock sports car back in the 60s.
The glass covers really dressed up the Duetto Spider>
<img src="http://www.carsfromitaly.net/alfaromeo/spiderroundtail_200.jpg
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
Lotus Elcat
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
'74 Nova, pretty rough
Also saw a Previa (the egg-shaped one), the older ones (the "Van") always remind me of those vans you see in photos of Hong Kong, etc.
38 Benz--- cars from central and south America are usually thoroughly altered and missing important components, so I'd be highly skeptical about this one. You'd have to hire an expert and fly him down there.
Did you ever do any overseas appraising Shifty for vehicles like that MB?
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
The scariest cars are the ones that "mysteriously appear" out of nowhere. This '38 Benz could be a bitsa car...bitsa that Benz and bitsa this one...with who knows what for an engine, lights, trim. It could have a completely customized rear clip for all we know.
Usually a buyer will hire a local to look over the car, although I have no idea if such a person exists in panama. Certainly in Europe and Japan there are experts you can hire.
They need you there, Mr. Shiftright, and you should absolutely go if they ask!
I spent a couple of years in Panama, and I'm pretty confident that no such person exists in Panama. There may be a Panamanian who has such skills, but odds are that there wouldn't be enough business to keep him employed. The tropics are hard on cars, given that it rains for a couple hours every afternoon for 3 months a year.
However, I've been to Volcan, and it's a little different than most of Panama. It's up in the mountains and very cool and pleasant. Because you're so close to the equator, the climate is pretty stable - a function of altitude unaffected by the tilt of the earth. They grow a lot of flowers up there for export. Pretty place. If you're at all rich in Panama, you spend a lot of time up there when you're tired of the heat. It's a quite plausible as place for an unmolested Mercedes to end up (compared to the rest of Panama anyhow). I can see someone with a lot of money having a home there with a car that was kept garaged and not used much. I used to say that If I had druglord money, I'd build a home on a peak up there and just keep the whole thing powered by a 50 ton generator. I'm sure that wasn't an original idea.
Because of the mountain landscape It's sometimes called the Switzerland of Panama and I believe that quite a few germans moved there (but not right after WW2 - at least that anybody know of
http://www.yourpanama.com/volcan-panama.html
I do notice the top seems to be missing landau bars...that's worrisome too.
Sounds kind of like Bogota, but safer...are there many ex-pats retired there? I always thought Bogota might be nice, except for the security issues...
Panama has quite an international population in general. For example, in Panama City, I've eaten in Swiss, Indian, Japanese, French, German, Venuzualan, and Chinese restaurants - not to mention Nick's which was a Greek place with good gyros. And, if you're inclined to care about such things, Panama City has banks from even more different countries than it does restaurants!
Never made it to Columbia, although there was a ferry that you could take pretty cheaply. I wanted to go and buy cheap emeralds. My wife stopped that idea after a Panamanian friend showed her a newspaper ad from Columbia. They were selling Chevy Blazers and the pitch was that Blazers were less likely to get you carjacked and kidnapped than a Land Cruiser!
Uhm. No thanks, there... :P
Also if I were buying a car in that area, I might check with Interpol first.
(Well, it's rattier sister, anyhow.... but same color and so forth.)
I was surprised at how small it is. I walked to its rear and peaked down under the bumper to see if I could spot the VW engine, but much to my surprise, there was a pumpkin instead!
A close look at the grill showed this logo :
Didn't seem worthy of Mystery Car Picks, and is probably more suited to "Project Cars, Hold em or Fold em" but here is it.
I'm guessing that over the years though, there have been plenty of replicas of the Model A?
Well, ya never know...as those cars got older, maybe people pimped them up? I remember an episode of "The Waltons" where Jim-Bob put a Rolls Royce horn on the beat-up Model-A roadster he was trying to put together. :P
http://www.thekinseys.com/glassic_ford.htm
The later ones did use Ford engines, but it seems that the early ones at least were based on the International Harvester Scout
Gentlemen, I remind you that it's spring and that men do not think clearly about women or cars in the spring. Not my cup of tea at all, but I'm confident that the owner drove to work this morning grinning like a fool, and that's mainly what matters with cars like this.
It's from a Flikr site and there's no info about the car. No idea if it's a production car, but the caption suggests not. I think it's really pretty and find myself wondering if you could put a Z3 under one of these bodies...
In all fairness, I wonder if the typical person off the street would even realize that these Shays, Glassics, or whatever, are fakes? A lot of these people have probably never even seen a Model-A in person! So to the typical passerby, they might just look at the thing and think hey, neat old car.
Plus, I guess if you want the style of a Model-A,but some modern convenience, they're not TOO horrible. I think they look better than that neoclassic crap from the '80's like the Tiffanys, Zimmers, Excaliburs and such. As long as the owner has fun with it and enjoys it, that's all that matters IMO.
The most bizarre thing about these Model A kit cars is that you can buy the real thing for less money. This suggests absolutely no appreciation of the actual car-- which is why these kit car owners suffer ridicule.
Yeah, and I found myself wondering - just exactly how much of an improvement is a 1963 International Harvester - over a real Model A?
Maybe the brakes are better....
Some history
That pic is a car with a Glas body - a German firm, no connection.
Model As can be a good deal as the key interest group dies off and many youngsters don't care for something so slow. Tons of available parts too.