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

Mr_Shiftright

Lucas electrics fail because no one replaces the smoke inside the components. Once the smoke leaks out, you have to replenish with new smoke.

texases

"Once the smoke leaks out, you have to replenish with new smoke. "

Heck, you can even buy it ready to install!

fintail

The problem with the fintail is that it was designed for a useful life of 20 years, and it has more than doubled that. The blinker unit is difficult to service, and is now running low on fluid:



Newer models with synthetic fluid shouldn't have this problem.

Mr_Shiftright

Damn! I haven't checked my blinker fluid in MONTHS. I am soooo embarrassed.

I think Rolls Royce used only the RED smoke----$40 a bottle.

fintail

The old MB 600 actually had a blinker fluid gauge. Newer models have a light. The diesel models take a special fluid, something like $25/qt.

fintail

Odd fantasy racer

" You must treat it like a motercycle and keep it under carport or in garage, I will include the car cover. "

"Opera Sedan"

The early ones are the best

It survived

Frankentruck

Andre-mobile

"Time capsule"

A little pricey

Sharp disco cruiser

Rare for a reason

Looks to be of excellent quality

For those with an 80s fixation

Early subcompact

Questionable aesthetics

The car company owned by Homer Simpson's brother

"BEST ADVERTISING MONEY CAN BUY!!!"

ghulet

.....I didn't know super bad taste=good advertising these days. My bad.

andre1969

When I see that jacked up limo, for some reason Larry, Darryl and Darryl from "Newart" pop into my mind, dressed up in chauffeur uniforms.

andre1969

That '61 Bonneville is pretty sweet. But I'm guessing that's way too pricey for a hardtop coupe, unless maybe it had tri-power and a 4-speed.

That '76 Ninety-Eight really catches my eye, too. Normally by this time, I prefer the 4-door because it was a real hardtop, and I never really cared that fixed-pillar 2-door roof, which I think they started offering in 1974 as an option above the true hardtop coupe. But I just think it looks so pretty in that light blue. And the fake woodgrain seems to have been kept to a tasteful minimum. I think it was the Recency model that the tacky inserts on the doors that had the fake carved wood look. I also like seeing an LS, as they weren't all that common. Most people spent the extra couple hundred bucks for a Regency.

uplanderguy

One-piece curved windshield on those '50-51 Studebaker coupes, ahead of its time.

Bill

uplanderguy

Thanks for the photo of the '76 Vega GT wagon. I haven't seen one in years and I like the dark blue color too! To my eyes it would look better without the optional body side moldings though. The Pinto wagon advertised as having more cargo space than the Vega, but the Vega looked better.

Bill

uplanderguy

Re.: the Chevy Monza:

I was starving for a look at one when they came out. Our small-town dealer didn't get one at all until Feb. '75. It was a plum-colored 2+2 with V8 and it was drop-dead gorgeous to my 17-year old eyes. TWO high-school friends of mine got '75 Monza 2+2 V8's that year. One was trash in about five years; the other is still owned by the same guy with about 40K miles now.

Both cars had SCREAMING brakes that you could hear coming a block away. Both also wore out front tires rapidly. But, they looked great and had nice interiors and V8 sounds coming out of a car that size was an unusual thing in 1975!

They were pretty expensive cars that first model year. Both friends' 2+2's stickered at $4,800-odd--the same MSRP as a typical new Impala 4-door sedan that year.

Bill

Mr_Shiftright

76 Cadillac Chop-Top

"The hinges on the hood are not completely flush at the back of the hood."

That could be because the body is slowly breaking in half. Even the real 76 Cadillac convertibles have chassis flex like you wouldn't believe--I can hardly imagine what a chop-top would feel like.

ghulet

I seem to remember our '78 Sunbird (Pontiac's Monza) being about $6000 in '78 (V6, air, cassette, alloys, metallic paint but nothing super-fancy).

andre1969

That's also the type of car that you never open the doors on. You just hop in and out of it, Dukes of Hazzard style. Eventually the body will buckle just enough that someone will open a door and won't be able to get it closed again. Although I guess if you put a jack under the right spot, maybe you could flex it back just enough to get the door to close?

A guy in my Mopar club once told me that back in the day, he and his buddies used to like to get these big '71-76 B/C body 4-door hardtops, and do just that to it. This is back when they were just cheap, ratted out old cars, and were a dime a dozen, so it really wasn't that great of a loss I guess. Seems a shame to do it to a nice one though, although this one's not really THAT nice...with that repaint and the makeshift repair on the driver's door panel, etc.

boomchek

The chop top caddy: doors show gaps, hood has horrible alignment. I guess that's what happens when you chop the top off without reinforcing the rest of the vehicle. Load up 5 big guys in there and you're toast.

Seville Opera sedan - 0 bids. He needs to start bidding at about $2k and go from there.

I like the 1976 Olds 98 LS, the lines are so clean. Very nice unit.

Firebird convertible. I suppose if you really want one, you can take a Camaro convertible and just graft on a Firebird front end and rear taillights. This one looks nice, but I don't think he'll get his $15k asking price. He's probably shooting for anything over $10k.

Firebird kit car: "looks exactly like a 308 Ferrari" - no it doesn't. not even if you squint your eyes.

Knight Rider - yes, if you have a collections of stuff from the 80s this would be a great addition. Does it come with Robocop too?

The Crosley looks to be the same size of today's powerwheel jeeps for kids.

Batmobile actually sold. I don't see any collectibility in it except for local relevance.

Town Car 4X4 Limo is definately a head turner. I actually like it.

magnette

I think I'm going to need some of that smoke or the fluid - went out round the block in the Magnette just now and all the indicators had failed again. I think it's a loose connection in the steering column, because the switch is located on a segment at the top of the steering wheel hub, and I was using full lock having just squirted some EP90 oil into the steering rack, so that's probably the cause. Can't be a fuse, because it's only got about two, and other components on the same fuse - brake lights and washer motor - are working ok.

In fairness to Lucas, the flashers on my car aren't theirs at all - they were an after market set stuck on in the seventies, to replace the old semaphore trafficators, using the same switch. It's probably something to do with the way they are grafted on to the wires somewhere down the column - but it will need sorting because it is a bit dodgy, not to mention illegal to have no indicators at all....

uplanderguy

I like that '76 Ninety-Eight. That light blue was popular on those cars. I clearly remember a family friend's wife who had a '76 Delta 88 Royale 4-door Hardtop in that same color.

Although it's less practical, I like the coupe roofline on the Ninety-Eight better than what was on Catalinas, Delta 88's, and LeSabres from '74-'76--that 'three-window' side look.

The Ninety-Eight is located only ten miles from where I live. If it runs good and everything works, someone got a nice car for four grand.

Bill

explorerx4

a mint dodge l'il red wagon.
going to a combo car show/fly in this afternoon.
too nice to stay in watching football.

texases

Saw a Studebaker Lark last night - first one I've seen in years. In that light green color.

uplanderguy

I own two Studebaker Larks...a white 1963 Daytona Hardtop with factory Avanti engine, and a dark blue 1964 Daytona Hardtop in not nearly-as-nice condition but I think the squarer styling of the '64 is more handsome. Here is a link to pictures of my '63:

http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=23330

Bill

imidazol97

Beautiful car in the light pink. I can't remember that I saw one of those in the old days in the wild.

Mr_Shiftright

Has all the right goodies on it....great. I owned quite a few Studebakers....a '55 President Speedster, a '56 Golden Hawk, and a '63 Gran Turismo Hawk. Very sturdy cars. The '55 could definitely give a '55 Chevy a run for the money. The '56 was fast but not a great handling car...more of a hand-ful. The 63 was a nice GT type car, that is a comfortable fast flat road cruiser. I really liked the '63 the best, but please don't tell the other cars that. :P These cars are best as automatics IMO. Their 4-speeds are heavy clunky things, like most 4-speeds of that era.

fintail

Nice old car, the sunroof is pretty cool

fintail

I think maybe the left turn channel on my blinker unit is blocked, so the fluid isn't flowing as it should. I have noticed my right signals work virtually always, while the left ones work maybe 50% of the time.

It's only illegal if you get caught :shades:

uplanderguy

You had a '63 GT Hawk? GT's are my favorite Studebakers...probably in no small part to me being born in 1958. A '64 GT is my favorite of all. They took that metal overlay off the grooved decklid and retooled a smooth, plain decklid, as seen here:

http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=8084

I've read that although you can 'see' the '53 in the GT Hawk, there were actually very few parts that totally interchanged. I know in the bodywork, the scallops were removed from the doors sometime, the frame got an added crossmember and twice the gauge, and many, many other changes were made. I love the instrument panel with full gauges.

Here's a picture of a '64 Daytona similar to my other Studebaker (different color though, and much nicer than my '64). I think they're more contemporary-looking than my '63 (although I love my '63) You can't see it in these pictures, but the round taillights of the '63 were replaced with rectangular taillights over mirror-image backup lights, directly underneath:

http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=8017

Bill

explorerx4

great pictures of your car. i like how they are 'past' (the car) and 'future' (the leaves and pumpkins in about a month in ct) at the same time.

explorerx4

i just don't have andre's dicipline when it comes to taking pictures.
took a few, but was mostly watched the planes take off.

uplanderguy

Thank you. I'm photographically-challenged (hell, technically challenged) but a friend took these photos a few miles out in the country from where we live last October and I am delighted with them. A small version of the one with the car in motion (now that's a story!) was in the 'Letters' section of this past June's 'Collectible Automobile' magazine.

Bill

andre1969

i just don't have andre's dicipline when it comes to taking pictures.

I hate to say it, but I haven't been in much of a picture taking mood lately. I don't think I've posted anything at all of the various car shows I went to this year. I think part of the problem may be that, by and large, the same cars show up every year, so if it's something that catches my eye, chances are I already took a pic of it!

andre1969

Wow, beautiful car! And that sunroof option is really cool, too.

fintail

Yep, I have seen many pieces of fintail promo material with the Studebaker-Packard branding. I am sure it made for some interesting showrooms - maybe a 300SL roadster beside a little Lark coupe.

Here's a fintail ad from that era:

explorerx4

it wasn't until a few pictures down that i figured that you were driving the car in the first picture. you were mostly obscured by the a pillar and the vent window, but then i recognized the red sweater.
i'm thinking that 'in motion' picture was not taken @ 25mph.

fintail

Today I have seen a Porsche 928 that sounded deliciously mean, a W210 E55, a W211 wagon in the same color as my car, a pristine 89-93 Sedan DeVille driven way over the limit by a granny, and a 5 door 83-87 Mazda 626.

ghulet

I have several ads (B&W, illustrated, from National Geographic, IIRC) with early '60s MBs touted as being sold at Studebaker dealerships (I'm looking for them right now, I'll get back w/specifics).

fintail

When I was a kid I would buy old Geographics at yard sales to cut the ads out of them. I later sold the pile of ads when my mother was involved with an antique mall.

I remember most of those Studebaker-Packard MB ads were B&W drawings in a period style.

oldcem

IN 75, I was working for GM, and, ordered myself an Olds Starfire, the sister car to the Monza. It was bright red with the 231 cube V-6, a Turbo 350 automatic, and positraction. The car was quick, got great fuel economy, but had pathetic brakes. I sold it to a friend who put close to 250K on it. It finally got totaled by a car running a red light. It was a decent little car, but, needed front brake pads every 12K miles.

Regards:
OldCEM

boomchek

I see cut out ads for sale in old antique stores. I'm tempted to buy them but at $3-$4 a pop it'sa too much money to be wasting right now.

Did you make some good coin selling them?

fintail

I'd buy a big box of Geographics at a yard sale for a few bucks - once I got a huge lot of about 100 at a flea market for $5 when I was maybe 12 years old (I thought my mother was going to kill me for dragging those home). Each issue would have a few ads. I'd then put them in a lot of 10 or so and clear it out for around $10 - kind of wholesale. I made a bit of money on them, yeah, especially to my then teenaged eyes. I'd also sell the Coca-Cola ads for about the same money. These were primarily 40s-50s issues.

Old Geographics are so common - it seems every middle class family subscribed, and they were all saved - so no harm done cutting some up. The ones that are worth anything are prewar, and they have to be very old to be worth more than the ads in them. When my grandfather passed away a few years ago, my grandmother took that as a chance to finally get rid of the 50 years of Geographics he had accumulated. I told her I wasn't interested...I think a cousin took them off her hands.

boomchek

My parents ahve a ton of National Geopraphics from the 60s 70s and 80s. My dad bought them cheap at lfea markets and used book stores when we came to Canada in late 80s.

I'd enjoy flipping through them again.

andre1969

My grandparents used to have a bunch of National Geographics from the 70's, but at some point I think they got thrown out. My uncle decided to go on a cleaning spree a few months ago, going through my grandmother's house, and he set aside the rest of them, which I think date from the early 80's to mid/late 90's. I salvaged them at least, and they're in my garage right now.

fintail

They have almost no real collectible value of course, but can be fun for the ads. The 60s ones might have some nice car ads.

Every now and then the local Goodwill will have some 50s-60s issues, but I have no interest in lugging those home, even at a quarter apiece.

ghulet

Starting in my pre-teens (early '80s), I'd buy National Geographics (I had a few as far back as 1929, IIRC) at thrift stores, occasionally antique stores and garage sales, mostly for the ads. I still have several hundred ads, but the magazines themselves are long gone....some time in the mid-90s, I moved into a 4th floor apartment at the end of July and ended up leaving a BUNCH of stuff, including my Nat Geos and hubcap collection, at the old place. Kinda regret that, not that I don't have enough crap in my place right now, though I at least now have 4BRs, an attic and garage. Sigh.

We were strange kids, eh? :confuse:

fintail

Yep, we were odd :shades:

My parents were small-time antique dealers and obsessive collectors, so when they'd go out buying, they'd let me get things to keep me quiet. I had Geographics going back to 1914 - but I traded a lot of the really early ones to a Dutch guy in exchange for things that I could sell at a profit (no, nothing like that :P ). I also had a couple boxes of hubcaps, license plates, car magazines, and tube radios - not too surprising for a kid I guess, things I could tinker with. And I won't even get into the other junk I accumulated...books, toy cars, silver, stamps, clocks, military items...the herd has been thinned out now though, and I have just enough to make my place feel like home.

Around 1998 or 1999 my mother decided to have a big clear out-the-garage yard sale, and as I was away at school most of the year, I decided to let it all go. All of the hubcaps, license plates, and radios went in that sale, along with most of the magazines. I kept some of the better magazines and sold them on ebay when I was in school...some of those 1950s pocket sized issues can bring good money. I still have a few things reminiscent of my junk-searching childhood, but as I live in an apartment, it limits what I accumulate. Probably a good thing, as my mother has about 5000sq ft of stuff in a 1500 sq ft house. Funny thing, a few years after that sale there was a flood in my mother's area, and most of the stuff still in the garage was ruined (the garage sits lower than the house, so there was no other damage). Maybe it was meant to be.

boomchek

Andre, you're a hoarder like Ghulet, Fintail, and I.

Since my wife and I bought our new condo, I had to package and store my magazine and brochure collection. It's in about 40 boxes in our storage locker. It takes up the entire locker except for tiny bit of space that's left at the front that's 6' high by 2' deep by 4' wide that I actually use for storing household stuff.

My wife was cool with me keeping EVERYTHING as long as it's not taking up space in the condo. :shades:

ghulet

Forty boxes? I thought I was bad....of course, had I kept all my old R&T, Motor Trend, C&D, etc. over the years, it'd probably be something like that. I do have quite a few bags (from Chicago Auto Shows) of brochures I've accumulated over the years, and one box and several three-ring binders filled with ads, most of which are stored in the large closet, fka bedroom #3 (opens door, winces, closes door, process to be repeated every three months or so).

Then, of course, are the books, CDs, records, clothing I haven't worn or fit in for ten years, the ashtray collection (I've never smoked), dishes, my PeeWee Herman placemats........yeah, I'm a hoarder. :sick:

fintail

I still have a closet full of junk at my mom's house - one of those days I need to clean it out. She says she's going to toss it all, but the closet is upstairs and I know it would be too much work for her :shades: ....maybe I should go through it all and rescue any old brochures etc and give them to boomchek.

lemko

...is "Collectible Automobile." I have every issue back to the premiere issue in May 1984. Per obscure cars - I spotted a Park Avenue of my old car's vintage at the corner of Oxford and Cottman this morning. This one was light yellow and appeared to be in pretty decent condition at a distance.

ghulet

yeah, my brother moved from here to a one-bedroom apartment and half his crap is still in his old room (our other catch-all). Ugh.

ghulet

....that's a good one to save, lemko. I love the Future Collectibles and car-spotter (or whatever they call it) sections. Kinda hard to find on the newsstands, too, I generally have to pick that up at Border's.