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

michaellno

Didn't you go to Ohio to get your Grand Am?

I smell a road trip coming!!!!

fintail

I could see you in that...you need a Buick...

Those seat covers...uuugh...they have to be the first thing to go

andre1969

Yep, got the Pontiac out in WKRP-land. That was about 500 miles away. This Buick is kinda tempting, but I'm trying to force myself, if I ever do get another old car, to try to get something a bit more desirable. I always liked the '75-76 LeSabre, but if I really want one, I should probably try to find a convertible.

Plus, I really want to get serious about getting my DeSoto roadworthy again, and if I got another car, it would take money away from that project.

fintail

The small wheels, and the odd droopy snout reminds me of an elephants trunk in profile.

I am trying to think back...I think Hot Wheels had a toy Aerostar...I know Matchbox had a toy Caravan, made in about 100 variations...Majorette had a dustbuster van and a Toyota cabover style van. I don't think anyone made an Astro.

My grandpa had a later Lumina dusbuster van, I think it might have been his last brand new vehicle. I don't think it gave him any problems.

Oh, and Andre is right in his thoughts. Get the DeSoto back on the road! It's cooler than any 70s Buick :shades:

michaellno

My cousin's husband used to work at the plant in Tarrytown, NY, that assembled those. When the NY plant closed, he and the family (including my aunt) moved to Oklahoma City.

Well, that plant closed, so for the past year or so, he's been commuting to the Arlington, TX plant.

Andre, I agree with yours and fin's assessment .. get the DeSoto running again!

boomchek

I think the matchbox caravan had a sliding side door too!

I actually have the Majorette Toyota van, mine is white with a rear opening hatch.

fintail

Yep the Matchbox van had a sliding door, which seemed pretty cool at the time. It was actually a relatively nice little model:





And the Majorette Toyota:



The Hot Wheels Aerostar (with nice period paint scheme):



And a link to a Majorette dustbuster

Even minivans were captured by toy car makers.

explorerx4

back in the day, when minivans had sliding doors only on one side.

texases

Or the egg-o Previa (by Diapet, sorry, biggest pic I could find):


Don't know why, but I always liked these way more than the 'Dustbusters'

boomchek

I remember when the Previa came out, Toyota had these commercials that amde it seems like the van is out of this world. The people they interviewed were saying it's like nothing they've ever seen before.

There was another commercial about the Previa. Apprently the couple in the commercial also had an early 90s E class mercedes. In the commercial they were saying they fight over who gets to drive the Previa, and "the loser gets to drive the Mercedes"

My dad would yell BS everytime he saw that tv commercial. It was funny.

boomchek

My Majorette Toyota Van is all white with red interior and fishing gear in the back.

andre1969

Don't know why, but I always liked these way more than the 'Dustbusters'

I think the Previa was really weird in its styling, a little too egg-shaped, and that "pregnant" dashboard inside didn't help things much. But it just looked like a more efficient vehicle, overall. One thing I hated about those "Dustbusters" was that the swoopy looking front-end looked like it took up too much room. The B-pillar (or whatever you call it on a minivan) looked like it was about halfway back. So that means that half of the vechicle was taken up by the front seat and engine compartment...seems a bit inefficient for a van-type vehicle.

I don't know if actual measurement bore this out, but the Previa just looked like it made better use of space.

boomchek

Previa just looked like it made better use of space

Probably cause it's engine was located underneath the front seats.

explorerx4

i have a hatred for those previas even since one went out of control and caused about 10k damage on my expedition, back in 2002.
it was pretty near where Andre lives.
mine was repaired in Laurel, Md, right off I 95 when the accident happened.

andre1969

it was pretty near where Andre lives.
mine was repaired in Laurel, Md, right off I 95 when the accident happened.

Yep, Laurel's only about 10-12 miles from me. In fact, my '85 Silverado came from up there. Bill Ayares Chevrolet on Route 1. It's part of the Fox network now, home of the $1995 ADMU sticker on base-level Impalas and such. :surprise:

ghulet

....I ran a few annoying errands, and in my travels, saw the following:

'67 Impala 4-door hardtop, I've always liked these, but this one was fairly nasty, and painted in the popular-that-year gold

'70-ish Chevy Nova, in one of those original greens they were all painted, so-so condition

'70 Impala 4-door hardtop, equally ratty, but dark green

nice-looking early '80s MB 300D turbo, metallic light brown

'86 Saab 900 (base 8-valve 3-door); I see Turbos every now and then because people keep them alive out of guilt (they're kinda fun when they're not in the shop) but can't remember the last time I saw a base model (red/tan/manual); even had steel wheels with the little hubcaps. Driver looked like a mechanic-type, which makes sense

'83-ish Toyota Supra, faded paint, rusty, wipers stuck halfway up, but at least running and unmodified, as far as I could tell

this was the best.....a brown Rolls Royce Silver Shadow, nice period brown with tan vinyl top, covered in dust, with bricks behind all four wheels. I imagine someone attempted a brake job (or maybe was hoping for a transmission at the nearby pick-and-pull) and gave up? It's the fanciest dead car on the west side of Chicago (near the City of Chicago's ONLY Wal-Mart, if any of you are familiar)

fintail

I thought the Previas were relatively cool, very futuristic and a minivan with supercharged AWD variants? It's impossible to imagine Toyota was ever so wild. But, I guess they aren't the safest thing, and they still can't be much fun to drive.

I remember when they were pretty new, I had just became a licensed driver, and I was sitting behind one in traffic. They had very nicely done shaded taillights...at least it caught my eye then. That memory has stuck with me.

Your dad was pretty right...about as likely as Tiger Woods actually driving a Buick :shades:

fintail

The brown Rolls...a brake job is a very possible culprit. From what I understand a complete brake overhaul on those is something like 7-8K, so someone might have got in too deep and had to quit.

In the little town where my mom lives, there's a brown and gold Shadow AND a brown and gold Corniche. Someone liked the 70s.

fintail

Coming home

Another early airbag

Good luck with that price, psycho

A price closer to reality

Send it home

Cheaper than a Tesla

Cool but priced about 1000% too high

Toyota tried to be interesting once

The true meaning of "limo"

Easy to find parts

Another fusion of Mopar and Mercedes design

Mr_Shiftright

71 Citroen---try half that price, take $12,000 in a heartbeat.

58 Mercedes Bus -- um....pile of junk in case he didn't notice. Maybe $2500.

1920 Fiat -- price is crazy. It's a FIAT, not a Lancia. I'm thinkin' half that price is about right.

74 Buick----ohhhhh, an early airbag....well that's another story. I'll bump it up to $500 and $1.

Boy oh boy, the bottom drops out of values on American iron right about 1972, doesn't it?

andre1969

I kinda lost interest in those big Rivieras after they lost the boattail and went to stationary rear windows. Plus, that one just has vinyl seats, so it really makes me wonder...what are you getting in that car, above and beyond a LeSabre? At least the LeSabre coupes still had roll-down rear windows.

I guess you got a little more ploodgrain, maybe some standard power features, and maybe a standard 455? But still, nothing that you couldn't get at extra cost in a LeSabre, and still come out with a less expensive car overall.

I always thought it was amusing though, that they featured a 1975-76 Rivera-looking car in a few games in the "Grand Theft Auto" series...even if the headlights look a bit morel like a '75-76 Caprice:

ghulet

....I know this indicates I watch WAY too much TV, but anyone ever notice the steering wheel in Kramer's green '73 Impala sedan on 'Seinfeld'? I swear it has an airbag, though I'm certain it wasn't offered (unless the producers inexplicably put some kind of dummy steering wheel on that thing).

fintail

I noticed that too, but didnt' think much of it, assuming it was a dummy wheel.

I went to the IMCDB page for Seinfeld, to see if they had a pic...they don't, but there is some interesting discussion:

"In 73 GM made some Impalas for fleet use with the airbag- The cars had an OLDS dashboard and were supposed to be given back after a lease was up or something like that.

So in that episode where Kramer is painting the lines, you can see a 71-73 Olds dash in there, but Chevy doorpanels. This explains the airbag wheel too. The car is indeed an "airbag" Impala.

This car is EXTREMELY rare, and seems to have been in immaculate shape...I wonder where they got it and what happened to it after the show ended???"

andre1969

Fintail beat me to it. I was always under the impression that airbags were only offered on the 1974-76 big Buicks, Oldsmobiles, and Caddies, but swear I've heard of some Chevies with them. According to Wikipedia, there was a test fleet of '73 Chevies, and then in 1974-76 they made it an option on the Buick/Olds/Caddy cars. I don't think Pontiac ever offered it though. However, I've seen an old GM photograph of a 1969 Catalina or Bonneville with an airbag undergoing crash testing...so GM had been experimenting with them prior to '73.

The airbag system was surprisingly inexpensive too, IMO. In 1974, it was a $225 option on Cadillacs. Now, that was a lot of money back then, but an AM/FM radio was $203. An AM/FM with tape player (an 8-track I'm guessing) was $426! A sunroof was $610. And the paint options were interesting. Firemist paint was $132. "Special" Firemist paint was $200. "Special" NON-Firemist paint was $174.

I could see it now..."Oh sweetie, if we're on a budget, let's forget about the airbags...I really want that Special Firemist paint in glazed-honey-mustardcrust!" :P

boomchek

I notice in movies and on TV, when there are scenes shot inside cars, they almost always remove the front headrests. Maybe so that you can't see glare or reflections from studio spotlights. :confuse:

boomchek

They have a lot of "generic" looking cars in that game. It's pretty fun though. I used to spend hours playing it.

andre1969

Maybe so that you can't see glare or reflections from studio spotlights.

I think they might also do that for better visibility, especially if you have actors in the back seat. I've also noticed that they'll often remove rear-view mirrors from cars. From inside the car, that might be to keep from seeing reflections of the crew, camera, etc, but from outside the car, again I think it gives a better view of the actors inside.

In some old movies and tv shows, if they were on a soundstage, they'd often remove the windshield and window glass, as well. I think I first noticed this with Lucy and Ricky's '55 Pontiac in "I Love Lucy".

boomchek

I'd get the 77 Citroen and keep it as a lawn ornament or garage decoration if it would be local and I had the space and it would be priced at $500 or less.

The electric Omni I think it's junk. It's rusted way past repairs I think. And besides why would any one want to put money into it to convert it back to gasoline. Yuo can prolly buy a mint condition gas model for abnout $2000-$3000 from an old timer or estate sale.

The Mercedes bus seller also has a supposedly super rare 64 Mustang that needs full resto that he's asking $15k for. He says that this could have been a pre production test mule of some sorts. It's here

The Russian limo is neat, considering it's already in Canada and registered and ready to go!

andre1969

They have a lot of "generic" looking cars in that game. It's pretty fun though. I used to spend hours playing it.

Yeah, same here. I don't even want to think about how many hours of my life were wasted on those Grand Theft Auto games! But then, either my tastes changed or I outgrew them or whatever, because as the games progressed, I sort of lost interest. First one I played was GTAIII. My roommate had bought it used, and I remember staying up so late playing it on a Sunday night I had to call in sick at work that Monday. It was so danged addictive! I guess the only thing I didn't like about it was that some of the vehicle dynamics were a bit unrealistic. For example, you could jack a mid-70's Eldorado looking thing, or the above Riviera, and repeated ram into the little K-car looking thing, and your big car would blow up before the K-car!

They improved those dynamics considerably for Vice City, I thought. And I wasted a lot of time playing that one. I think one problem though, was that in Vice City, you pretty much saw all the cars there were, right towards the beginning. At least in GTA-III, you only had a few cars on the first island, and then there was a wider variety on the second and even more on the third, so that kinda gave you something to look forward to. When San Andreas came out, I think it was just TOO big, and could get a bit overwhelming. Plus, we had gotten it for the Playstation II, and it was just pushing the limits of that system.

Last summer, we got the latest GTA for the Playstation III, the one where you play as the Russian dude. It was fun for awhile, but I just sorta lost interest. Maybe I'm getting ADHD in my old age or something.

fintail

I remember that Pontiac...I want to say the paint and chrome had also been dulled as to not show reflections too - to the point where it almost looked like a mock-up of a real car. Guess I should check it out on IMCDB.

I also remember when Fred Mertz showed up in a big early 20s open Caddy...also painted a flat color to avoid reflection, can't remember if they removed the windshield.

boomchek

I used to like driving the Hummer looking thing into the subway and on the tracks, or driving it up onto the skytrain (the above ground rail). :shades:

andre1969

Yeah, they definitely did something to that Pontiac to make it duller. Now I know paintjobs have improved since the 1950's (well, maybe not in orange-peel...I think that's actually worse on some cars these days), but after 52 years, the paint on my '57 DeSoto is still shinier than what was on Lucy and Ricky's Pontiac on the soundstage.

I also noticed that the Lincolns (Mercury Grand Marquis in the final season or two) that they used on "Green Acres" was pretty dull for the soundstage shots.

fintail

Yeah, the Pontiac looked really dull, and without shiny chrome or glass, it almost looks fake

Lots of room for the camera though :shades:

Looks like no windshield for the matte finish Caddy too

Just a 30 year old heap back then no doubt

explorerx4

a rat rod ford excursion. :surprise:
lowered, big rims, hood scoops, matte black paint.

Mr_Shiftright

I think the so-called "1964" Mustang is probably a fake. Anyway, without proof he has nothing but a story to tell over a beer.

lemko

I think getting the airbag would've been a better deal than that Pharoah Gold paint on a 1974 Sedan DeVille! :sick: I had a sales brochure for my 1975 Cadillac Sedan DeVille and an airbag was offered.

tjc78

I believe that the mid 70s Eldorados could be had with an airbag. IIRC they also could have been ordered with an Anti-Lock system for the rear wheels. Funny, over 30 years ago these options were conceived, however, not until the early to mid 90s did they become commonplace.

andre1969

Couldn't you also get ABS on a Lincoln back in those days? I think it was either a Mark IV or Mark V? Or am I just thinking 4-wheel discs all around? IIRC, the early 1970's Imperial also offered some kind a ABS setup, for the rear wheels only.

Mr_Shiftright

I guess it would be folly to trust a 30 year old airbag, huh?

imidazol97

What is a timeline for life of airbags, both the bags and the ancillary triggering parts and computer? 15 years?

andre1969

What is a timeline for life of airbags, both the bags and the ancillary triggering parts and computer? 15 years?

I remember the owner's manual of my '89 Gran Fury said to take the car in every 30,000 miles to have the airbag checked out. That car had about 73,000 miles when I bought it, and I retired it with around 118,000, and I never messed with it. My attitude was that I'd never had a car with an airbag before, so I really didn't care whether it went off in an accident or not. I wonder if there's ever been an incident of an airbag accidentally deploying, just from a sensor going bad or a computer getting confused?

british_rover

Most of the time on new cars it says the airbag should be checked/replaced every 10/15 years. It depends on the make and model but some say 10 years and some say 15 years.

fintail

MB used to put stickers on the cars that gave the airbag "expiration date"...I think it was something like 12 years.

Sometime in the 90s, MB sought and found one of its early airbag cars, a 1980 W126, I believe they traded the owner a new car for it, and they crash tested it. Everything worked.

Mr_Shiftright

Somehow "test-crashing" an old Benz to display confidence in the old air bag system is not as impressive as it would have been for some high safety official at Benz to drive it into a tree himself. :P

tjc78

Couldn't you also get ABS on a Lincoln back in those days?

Yep, I believe it was called "Sure Trac" or something along those lines. 4 wheel disc was available on the Mark V as well. The 79 Collector's Series I looked at a few years back had them.

fintail

Hey, back in the day they actually used people in low speed crash simulations. :shades:

boomchek

I guess he'd need factory documentation to prove that such a car ever existed.

Mr_Shiftright

Absolutely, that's what he'd need. His .02 cents about what the number "4" means on a fender stamping is fine, and maybe interesting, but that's just him spinning a tale. It's not something you'd pay real money for. You can't base value on "so and so told me that he thought that this car might be this or that".

Now if a retired Ford exec who was in charge of Mustang development certified that this particular car was a test mule, well that's a whole other story.

Given the extremely clever levels of fakery that have emerged in the classic car world, some of them brilliant in execution, one has to remain highly suspicious.

explorerx4

maybe he could call Lee Iacocca a call and see if he remembers it. :P

Mr_Shiftright

I have no idea why they would put a VIN # on a test mule anyway. There are no 1964 Mustangs, and none (as is NONE) are coded as "4" (meaning 1964). They are all "5".

So basically he's claiming that he has the only "4" stamped Mustang in the world, that anyone anywhere has ever seen.