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

oregonboy

Cars: my 1996 Tacoma came with a cassette player, which I replaced with a combo cassette/single-CD unit from a 2001 Solara, (soon to be an obscure car, (on topic!). I have even used the cassette part once or twice... I think.

Regarding library DVDs, they are great to protect hardwood floors when moving heavy furniture... just slip one under each corner and slide! :shades:

Mr_Shiftright

i think pretty soon we will be downloading all our music, movies, etc. All "hard" media will be history, even in cars. My Subaru has a cassette deck and a multi-disc CD player conveniently located under the passenger seat. How dumb is that?

SPOTTED: Citroen 2CV "truckette". Some people like "cute" in cars, and as you know I am a microcar junkie, but sometimes a car crosses over from "cute" to "precious" and then I can get an ugly attitude.

fintail

This went up through 2002, at least in the E-class. It was crazy...my E55, which would have stickered in the low 70s base, would have had a tape player and nothing else. You had to get COMAND (around $2500 IIRC) to get an in-dash single CD with nav, or pay extra for a trunk mounted 6-disc changer (maybe $1K, both of which my car has).

However, COMAND was in one way ahead of its time in that it has an aux input - so I have mine set up for both satellite radio and ipod connectivity. So, not a total loss.

andys120

VHS (and Beta) tapes are quite prone to internal jams and tape breaks, perhaps that's the fault of high-speed rewinders. I have a VHS on my workbench that I'm going to take apart and try to unjam, it's reel One of the awesome CBS documentary
World War One (unavailable on CD AFAIK)

Wish me luck!

ghulet

So, I'm trying to recall (not that I was alive) which years the phonograph mounted to the transmission tunnel was available in Chrylser products (I think 1957-61 or so?). First 8-tracks in cars, I think, the 1965 T-bird and maybe Cadillac? The only car I owned with a factory 8-track was my '77 Caprice, which I bought in 1986, and even then I thought it was funny; thankfully, my aunt gave me a big case of tapes....they were frequently 'eaten' by said player. In any case, I didn't know they were 'repairable', so they were just chucked.....the claim that 8-tracks were 'durable' strikes me as strange given my limited exposure, but could be....?

Factory cassette players in cars, I think at least in the U.S., were first available in 1971 in certain Chrysler products, but I could be wrong. I don't think I've seen a factory cassette in a GM car before maybe 1977....our '78 Pontiac Sunbird had one.

I did think it was kinda funny that CD players were the norm in GM cars by '95 or '96 (my brother's 96 Blazer has one, and my friend's '95 Monte Carlo had one), but MBs and BMWs had cassette players at that time (unless, as mentioned, you coughed up big-time, or waited til 2002). :confuse:

boomchek

Good luck. I have a handful of VHS tapes I need to tape over to my HD DVD recorder. I just need to borrow a VCR somewhere.

boomchek

Maybe because in europe people did use cassettes a bit longer than in the US.

Heck, even some Mercedes models had those custom cassette drawers in the centre console below the HVAC controls, and this was in the 90s.

kyfdx

My mother's car...

Had an AM/8-Track Stereo....

But.. no FM!!

Mr_Shiftright

Send it to me, I'll fix it for you!

fintail

My C43 had a cubbyhole in the center stack that I am pretty sure was designed to hold cassettes. This was a C-class that based at $53K in 1998 dollars, and you had to pay extra for the CD changer.

explorerx4

limited

imidazol97

Those tires look too big for the car.

Those Cragar style wheels weren't right for the car.

andys120

Actually they look a little smallish for the car to me but they're prolly 14"ers. Style-wise they're a variation on the Magnum 500 stamped steel wheels that were widely used on many cars beginning in the 70s. They don't look like Cragars to me, IIRC those were true alloys with real "spokes".

berri

I think people liked cassettes even after CDs first came out because you could easily dub and copy them. Its only in the past decade that computer software that could easily accomodate this effort came about. The earlier stuff was somewhat complicated for an average computer user to use. I like to burn customized CDs from my music, but I usually make an extra copy in case the original gets damaged so I don't have to go through all that original recording effort again. Honestly, I wouldn't mind a car unit that had both cassette and CD since I still have a lot of old stuff on tape. IMO the fullness of an old LP fidelity comes out better in analog tape than the compressed world of digital, but then given all the noise while driving a car its probably academic and I'll admit using Dolby technology to reduce tape hiss also uses a bit of compression. But heck, we replaced $5 LP albums with $9 cassettes and then $12-14 CDs, so why not spend a bundle of fixed cost on a hard drive or I-pod instead.

imidazol97

berri

The downsized cars are hard to differentiate given the similar looks. I'll guess around a 79 Buick Lesabre 4 dr and maybe an 83 coupe version? I remember GM's love affair with glued on trim pieces that fell off after a couple of years like on that sedan.

texases

Those Cragers were odd ducks - alloy centers staked into steel rims. They were average quality, if they weren't lined up right on the tire machine it was easy to crack the alloy right next to the center opening...don't ask

andre1969

Nah, they're most likely 15", but it might have larger-than-stock tires on it, which will make the wheel look smaller. And they might only be 15x6 wheels, rather than 15x7. Even though the diameter is the same, a wider wheel still helps fill out the wheel well better, essentially widening the track and making the sidewalls of the tire appear more filled-out, rather than rounded off. Also, that coupe looks like it's sitting a little high to me. As far as I know, GM never put a 14" rim on these cars. However, Ford put 14" rims as standard equipment on the similar-vintage Crown Vic and Grand Marquis, and they look REALLY tiny on a car that size!

IIRC, the Cragars, if it's what I'm thinking of, actually look a little more like a Pontiac Rally II wheel, with the spoke part being much more pronounced.

There was another style of Buick rally wheel from that era I really liked. It was this style, which seemed to be used mainly on Electras and wagons. When I had my grandmother's '85 LeSabre, I wanted to get a set of these for it, but never got around to it.

imidazol97

The Craig's car still looks like the tires are bigger than original and the car sits up too high.

But when I looked at the barn car, it sits high also while the tires look smaller than the Craigslist car.

I called the wheels Cragar as a generic term from long ago. It's apparently the wrong term. I wonder if the Craigslist car wheels are factory? I couldn't find any pictures to support that tenet. But it's like the center spoking of the wheels is smaller proportionally than the whole rim

Maybe the wheel wells are extra large in size to allow for sharp wheel turns and that looks different to me.

ghulet

....appear to be factory Buick mags, nothing out of the ordinary, though they were optional, I think on RWD Regal/Century/LeSabre/Electras. That sedan (two-tone, no hubcaps, missing trim) is an '83 (I cheated and found the exact same photo on google).

andre1969

I couldn't find any pictures to support that tenet. But it's like the center spoking of the wheels is smaller proportionally than the whole rim

I think that center spoking definitely creates an optical illusion. The eye tends to focus mainly on the spokes and the black part, and that makes the wheel itself look appear smaller.

Maybe the wheel wells are extra large in size to allow for sharp wheel turns and that looks different to me.

For their size, those B-bodies were pretty nimble. Turning circle was something like 38.7 feet. When the shrunken FWD C- and H-models came out, they actually had a slightly larger turning circle! And now today, with transverse engines and the big wheels that are in vogue, I'm sure that turning circles have only gotten worse. Even a Honda Civic has a turning circle of 35.4 feet. Not too impressive for the size of the car.

ghulet

....I remember my '77 Caprice handling really nicely, in general (WORLDS better than the '71 Electra I had before it, though that's not saying much). My Caprice had the F41 suspension, too, which I suspose helped a bit, but still. I really liked that car, save for some of the strange equipment (or lack thereof....it basically just had cruise, power locks, air and a factory AM/FM 8-track) and not-so-great color combo (brown w/tan vinyl interior). A friend of mine (well, his parents) had a Bonneville sedan with a split power bench, windows, locks and sunroof, tilt, rally wheels and a 350...I liked that car just a leeetle better than mine. Dark green with white vinyl, strangely enough.

texases

...saw some interesting cars, after a few months of nothing. Most interesting was the good looking 1970ish BMW 2002 cabriolet (a full convertible, not the Bauer targa thing). What year had just the round taillights? That's what it had. Too bad it was going the other way in traffic, I would have wanted a better look. The other sighting was a clean RX-7 GSL-SE.

andys120

IIRC all 2002s had round T/Ls until about '74. I'm not sure there were any Cabrios or Bauers officially imported, you probably saw a grey market car, did it have the US side markers?

jrosasmc

Yes, that's correct - 2002s did have round taillights up to 1973. For the '74 model year, they went to the rectangular kinds, as well as those ugly 5-mph bumpers, or "battering rams." And the grille became black instead of the more tasteful chrome.

I believe that the 3.0 CS also got the 5-mph bumpers in '74 as well. Weren't those cars essentially hand-built, and not mass-produced like the 2002s?

texases

"did it have the US side markers? "

I don't know-I saw it cross ahead of me as I was waiting for a light, but I was several cars back, wish I got a better look

Mr_Shiftright

No the 3.0 CS is an assembly line car. They made almost 12,000 of them, and almost 10,000 of the earlier 2800 CS.

Perhaps the 3.0 CSL, much rarer, might have some hand-built components, as this was a competition car. (This was the first car developed under BMW Motorsport)

But really no postwar car I know of was hand-built except for those with custom coachwork, prototypes, or serious race versions.

Unfortunately, the term "hand-built" when used in cars ads usually stands for "no one bought them when new, they were troublesome, and I want a lot of money for it". Another form of typical ad "puffery".

ghulet

.....the '60s-72 Mercedes (S and SE) convertibles referred to as 'hand-built', but I'm guessing the convertible part is custom coachwork (with the rest of the car factory built), no?

Mr_Shiftright

They rolled off the assembly line just like any other Mercedes. True, they had to chop the cars down accordingly and fit the tops and craft some of the bows and all that, but that's hardly "hand-built". Parts were hand-crafted, but not the basic car.

Besides, "hand built" would be the worst possible way to make a modern car. People make huge mistakes, robots rarely do. Would you really want Gepetto filing a block of steel to make your ABS module or hand soldering your air bag circuits?

late 40s and early 50s Rolls Royces were often "hand-built", and, as beautiful as some of the work is, as total cars they were rattle-traps and leakers. Ditto early Ferraris.

Henry Ford pretty much eliminated the concept of the "hand built" car way back when and once the Budd company figured out how to do large metal stampings, very few car bodies were touched by hands---only the custom coachbuilders, most of whom disappeared after World War II.

boomchek

I thought the new Rolls Royce Phantoms are hand built. Maybe not the electronics, or the frames, but the paint, the polishing, some welding, the leather stitching, the wood trim etc... At least that's what the brochure I have on the Phatnom claims.

Mr_Shiftright

Painted by hand? Don't think so. You mean the trim work----sure, but that's not the CAR, that's the decorations on the birthday cake. By "welding" I bet they mean that the robot welds are finished smooth by hand grinder--you know, some of the visible seam-work that one might see in the trunk or engine bay.

I don't mean to quibble, only to try and define "hand built" as not referring to the actual car, but rather how parts of it might be assembled or finished off.

And again, I'd much rather have a car made by robots. Aston-Martin engines are put together by one person, who signs the engine---does that mean it runs longer than a Lexus V-8? Doubt it.

boomchek

Yes, you are correct Shifty, I think it was the welds were hand polished, and pinstriping was hand glued on.

My parents' first car, a late 60s Austin 1300 traveller was also hand assembled by my dad, after he had to hand disassemble it to fix it, because everything was breaking on it.

Here he is delighted to be hand assembling the car:

See more Car Pictures at CarSpace.com

Mr_Shiftright

I've walked in his shoes! Great photo!

davidmk

I don't get to see stuff like this very often having a desk job in Essex, but we have a contract with a company called Clark and Carter who specialise in classic Rolls restoration. We get to see some quality work there - they're pretty close to Stanstead, so they get to do work for foreign collectors coming in through there too. (Probably costs as much to ship the damn thing as to restore it!) I'm hoping we'll get to do a photoshoot for them sometime.

Link, if anyone wants it: Clark And Carter Restorations

Mr_Shiftright

usually a good restoration shop returns the car to a state better than when it was first built.

boomchek

Was at our dealer's auction with my manager.

Saw a 2004 VW Phaeton V8 that wasn't getting any interest or bids at $16k. :surprise: It had 100k (60k miles), some minor accidnet history, and a delay in regi papers but otherwise looked sharp in black.

ghulet

what does 100k (60k miles) mean (I'm not being a smart [non-permissible content removed], I just don't get it)?

Phaetons are very nice cars, pretty much everything you'd expect in an Audi A8 (though I don't think Phaetons are aluminum-bodied, are they?): beautiful interiors, lots of gadgets, GIGANTIC rear leg room. I imagine all the negatives apply: expensive to repair, etc. Biggest problem, you get to tell people you drive a presitigous seventy thousand dollar Volkswagen. But you guys know all that.

boomchek

Sorry, it had 100000 kms as it's in Canada, same as 60000 (60k) miles.

Phaetons are not aluminum bodied. Although they do share the engines with the Audi A8, their platform is based on the one off the Bentley Continental I believe.

british_rover

100,000 kilometers or 60,000 miles.

Roughly.

ghulet

hpmctorque

The $16,000 price represents huge depreciation from that Phaeton's original price, but I imagine the maintenance and repairs expenses over the next 40,000 miles would involve giving back a nice chunk of that initial depreciation.

Mr_Shiftright

Your classic money pit. Cheap enough, and seductive enough, to lure the financially marginal, yet troublesome enough to break the buyer's back. Depends how risk averse you are or are not. I wouldn't mind borrowing it for a few days.

boomchek

It's funny because I have a 2006 Car Buyer's Guide imported from europe, compiled by What Car? magazine.

In there they review the Phantom's reliability as good stating:

"Build quality is second to none, and, being a VW, very little should go wrong."

Not sure of VW slated for europe are better built, or if europeans have a higher tolerance of stuff going wrong. VWs are very highly rated there.

Mr_Shiftright

Perhaps it's because they are reviewing a new car in that article, without a paper trail of years in the field?

If you check reliability data for VW in America, no matter which source you use, it's not very good at all.

I mean, the first year for an Audi Allroad, with the car brand new and the warranty in place, might be idyllic; but you buy one now and you're cooked.

boomchek

No, I totally agree with you about VW's reliability. Whenever we have one on the lot I dread selling it because it almost always comes back with problems.

The worse is when VW lovers buy it and decline extended warranty because they say they "know these cars inside out" and when you follow up a few months later they blame you for selling a lemon. :confuse:

By the way I like Audi Allroads. But I dread the problems that might come with them too.

oregonboy

This seems like a reasonable deal for a desirable E30 that looks to be in pretty good shape with relatively low miles. The ad is a bit short on details and the photos don't show much, but I WANT IT :P

BMW 318is

andys120

I'm aware of the terrible rep VW's have had for reliability but that is at variance with my experiences as well as with their reputation in Europe where they are highly regarded.

I don't have a definite opinion on this matter but I can tell you that there are a lot of Jettas, Golfs and Passats running around New England with >100K mileages on them giving good daily service several are owned by various friends of mine, one of whom has two of them.

kyfdx

Looks real nice... price seems decent..

Couple of things that raise a red flag..

1) "I just got it a couple of months ago"

2) Those don't look like the sport seats that came standard on the '91 318iS.. Maybe they were replaced with seats out of another E30, but not having sport seats would be a big minus..

oregonboy

Now that you mention it, the seats appear to be a shade or two lighter than the door panels.

I'm not really familiar with E30s, but the description of the sun roof sounds to me as if it could be an aftermarket unit... another big minus. Personally, I would prefer NOT to have a hole in the roof, factory or otherwise.

kyfdx

A lot of E30s come with manual sunroofs.. They are solid panels, and crank back.. That sounds like the factory roof..

I had one like that in my '88 Mazda 323GTX... I sort of like those..

But.. those seats didn't come with that car..