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I spotted an (insert obscure car name here) classic car today! (Archived)
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2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
No, but it was close. OK, I'd call it half way between that and the squared off TVR photos I found yesterday.
I really looked Italian to me.
-juice
What exactly is a BMW 3.0S, anyway? I've never even seen examples of the model, but in previous BMW literature I've looked at, they refer to it and the equivalent 3.0Si. I'm assuming that these Bimmers are relatively rare and difficult to find in the U.S. today and that the 3.0 six is the same thermal reactor-plagued motor in early 530i's. (And what's a thermal reactor?)
Thermal reactor sounds like something out of Homer Simpson's power plant.
A thermal reactor was one of those infernal smog-control gadgets they used until they came up with EFI and Cat converters.
I couldn't tell ya how it works.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
Here's an example of a W112 LWB 300SE fintail, complete with sunroof, which is how I want one. Production on that year LWB was 751 units. Doesn't look completely horrible, but it still looks like it needs a lot.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item- =2442817917&category=6330
And here's a Universal, a RHD 230S no less, which has to be one of the rarest combos. Total 230S Universal production that year was 112 units. I bet no more than 25% were RHD. But this car certainly looks to need everything.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item- =2442276992&category=6315
So was "Universal" used for station wagon body styles? The europeans think of everything, Estate, Avant, Versatility, etc.
-juice
"Universal" is the name of the company that did wagon conversions on MB platforms in the 60s (IMA Universal to be exact). The cars are simply called Universals among enthusiasts. I think the native term for the cars was 'combi' or 'break', real Euro weird wagon names.
-juice
"Travelling in a fried-out Kombi-
On a hippie trail, head full of Zombie.
I met a strange lady; she made me nervous-
She took me in and gave me breakfast."
Arrrghh!
-juice
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
Isn't the internet just grand?
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Boy, was that thing uncomfortable to sit in. Must have been a bear to drive on bad roads.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
I actually see them often in the DC area. They were made up until '97.
-juice
-Jason
-Jason
Oh, BTW, a Hudson Hornet was no "slug". These cars were very fast (for their day) and handled well. They can still be quite ferocious in vintage racing and road race re-creations, especially when everyone cheats on the motors they build. Hudson Hornet commands quite a bit of respect with some collectors for their speed and endurance. They'll pretty much destroy any other American car of their vintage.
RE: Right Hand Drive Cars---Actually a RHD car in America always takes a 30% penalty in price UNLESS the car was only made in RHD. So it's a textbook base of rarity not equaling more value, but rather less value , unless of course you plan to register it in the UK, Japan or Australia.
I bet if that RHD Universal sold to a legit buyer, it will be shipped back to England (I believe the E suffix on the plate is even correct for 1967)
Yes, RHD cars are worth more in England, no doubt about it, although with shipping costs and VAT and all that, I doubt there's much profit left then, in sending old wrecks back to the UK.
A TOFAS is a Fiat built in Turkey. It looks something like a Ford Fairmont sedan, very squarish and old-fashioned.
Most popular cars in Turkey seem to be German and Italian. There are Japanese car dealers, though in the big cities. But Mercedes, Audi and BMW own the luxury car market there, and Mercedes taxis are everywhere.
Nice to see so many Alfa Romeo dealers, made me nostalgic for when they were in America.
Saw a Yamaha 90cc bike with shaft drive on the island of Patmos, and some Skodas in Athens.
Some new Alfas are very pretty...I have to wonder if we will ever really see them again.
Sounds like you just got back from or are in the Balkans. See any old 25+ year old MB diesels still serving faithfully as taxis? Every now and then in a middle eastern street scene on the news, I'll still spot a W114 diesel or even a fintail W110.
Lessee...I saw a few old VW bugs and such, but nothing even remotely resembling a "classic" or "collectible". I don't think an old car would survive very long in Athens or Istanbul.
All the taxis were modern, new Mercedes mostly, or those Turkish Tofas.
Don't know if there is an indigenous Greek car made under license.
Their ferry boats are fabulous, though. Make US boats look like 3rd world stink pots.
RE: Rust-buckets: Yeah, the Brits might tackle a car that we would certaily junk, because they are so much better at dealing with serious rust issues. They cut out rotten rockers and floor boards the way we change brake pads in America. However, I don't see the restoration costs ever being recovered on a patched up rust bucket, since the rust can never be eliminated. You have to be kind of daffy to restore a car like that, but the British certainly know how to be eccentric in that way.
That's exactly why I think it might end up being restored back in GB. They seem to have the desire to restore anything there...they'll restore an Anglia or Oxford as readily as an XKE. Maybe it's looked at as more than a simple investment.
I saw a Series I E-Type here this afternoon looking very good in a Mist Green Metallic that I'm guessing wasn't a factory color. The autumn
sun gleaming of the curvy fenders made it look great!
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
I've seen restored 100E series Anglias (the one before the one with the reversed back window angle, that being the 105E, as I am sure Shifty knows), and I have no doubts there are restored 105Es out there. I've seen things like a restored Vauxhall Viva too.
When I was about 12 or 13 a bad local used car lot had an Anglia from the early 60s. I thought it was really cool...and it wasn't bad looking, although I dunno if it ran. My dad, who had a knack for bringing home bizarre special interest car projects, thought it would be a horrible idea. He's the one who bought a 1960 Ford Country Sedan that needed to be pushed home...so that's saying something.
The Anglia was identical to this, color and all.
Very cold in my neck of the woods...only oddball I spotted today was a Falcon Ranchero.
If I were King, I'd make Anglia restorations illegal.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
Someone someowhere has got to save an Anglia. I wonder when we'll see a restored Chevette. It will happen sometime.
The old timey Anglia from the late 40s and early 50s was the choice of hot rodders, yeah.
Why exactly do we have to save even one Anglia? I always thought the whole point of restoration was to save what was worthy of being saved. Well, okay, I suppose we could save ONE Anglia and put a sign on it that says: "Don't ever do this again".
I saw an odd duck the other day...a Checker Marathon deluxe sedan with vinyl roof and opera windows!
There's an abandoned looking Checker in my area, sitting under some large trees and showing the effects of that. It's one with the blanked out rear quarter windows.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
Steve, Host
Where are all the American Stags, anyway?
At least the TR4/250/6 made it up to Negiotated Settlement. The TR-7/8=Unconditional Surrender.
-former Triumph owner ('66TR-4A)
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
That is a Dodge Atoz, aka Hyundai Atoz. It is sold in Mexico -- do you live near there?
Shifty and Fintail-
I think Shifty has endured this rant from me before, but I can't help myself. In my view, the reason for preserving things is to remember what life was like years ago, good or bad. Would you want to live in a frontier-era log cabin, or ride in a Conestoga wagon? Not for long, I imagine. Neither of those things are any marvels of engineering or passion. Even at the time they were built, people somewhere were building better houses and better vehicles. The point is that we, today, can look back at how ordinary people lived at that time and imagine what it must have been like. For me, looking at a restored 1974 Vega has the same effect. Having been born in 1983, I am always fascinated by stories of what things were like in the '70s when the fuel crisis was on and everything seemed to be falling apart. It must have been quite a difficult time to live, and I think cars like the Vega and the Pinto capture that. Looking at a 1974 Ferrari does nothing to capture what life was like for everyday people at the time. There are reasons to preserve Ferraris and there are reasons to preserve Vegas. They are different reasons.
-Andrew L
Ah, well, nostalgia is SO KIND to us isn't it? Somehow our memories tend to forgive all faults. I think this is genetically encoded, so that we mellow with age and are not burdened with too many horrible memories in old age.
So if, by some freak of nature, there's somebody out there who loves old Vegas or Anglias or whatever, is it really so bad that they want to preserve them? As long as it makes them happy, who cares?
I guess I can kind of see it, because I tend to be attracted to all sorts of cars that nobody else would give a rat's [non-permissible content removed] about! ;-)