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

Mr_Shiftright

Mr_Shiftright

I think stylists took a huge leap from the dowdy and drab cars of 1954 (especially in the entry-level makes) to The Clean Sheet of 1955 (the first consistently modern-looking and technically advanced cars after WW II), and then with that momentum they tried to outdo themselves every year. Well, as you can imagine, at that level of intensity and change, you'd soon go from classic clean to highly stylish to grotesque in a red hot minute. And by 1958, that's what happened.

It's not ALL BAD. Even when designers went over the top, there was a *vitality* to car design that we don't see as much today---now and then we do, but not at the ferocious pace of the mid 50s IMO.

1955 brought luxury, style and technology to the "common man". A great year for cars--perhaps the most defining year *ever* in automotive styling.

imidazol97

>'57 Oldsmobiles was that 3-piece rear window that they used.

Was the 3-piece rear window a throwback to an earlier car which used that pattern of rear window? I keep thinking it was to give the car a halo of elegance by association with an earlier car model that was luxury with a 3-piece rear window.

fintail

Today I saw one of the new style Ladas on the road, German plates, actually moving about 150 km/h on the Autobahn. Homely thing.

I also saw a 2CV on a country road, a Daewoo Lanos, and a Hyundai Pony.

And the highlight, spotted on another country road, a SWB Quattro, like this:



In the same area, not far from the Czech border, I also saw some kind of classic auto dismantler. Piles of body parts, including roof sections for fintails and pontons. I don't know what good those could do.

On another subject, I have noticed Germans will tow anything with anything. Tow a gigantic camping trailer with a Mondeo? No problem. Tow a wrecked 911 with an old W124 coupe? No problem. Tow a horse trailer with a Focus wagon (I'm not kidding)? No problem.

Mr_Shiftright

That's because Germans KNOW HOW TO DRIVE. It costs them quite a lot of $$$ and plenty of testing just to get a license, unlike America, where you can procure them in vending machines.

andre1969

Yeah, it's amazing how fast everything changed in 1955 Even if some cars weren't all-new, they still seemed it. For instance, GM actually re-did all their B- and C-bodies for 1954, so for 1955 only the Chevy and Pontiac were actually new designs. I've also heard that the 1955 Ford and Mercury weren't all-new, but rather just a heavy facelift of the 1954. However, they still looked fully up-to-date.

That must have been an exciting time to buy a car, with so much so new out there. I think 1957 and 1965 were probably also exciting years. We'll probably never again see a time when so many new vehicles get launched at once.

For comparison, here's what Consumer Guide highlighted on the front cover of their 1980 auto guide...
"All New FWD Cadillac Seville"
"Four Wheel Drive AMC Eagle"
"Distinctive Dodge Mirada"
"Smaller, Lighter Ford Thunderbird".

And on the back cover, in full color...
"Chrysler's Classy New Cordoba"
"First Four Door Continental Mark VI"
"More Aerodynamic Buick Electra"
"Mercury's More Compact Cougar"
"Popular New Pontiac Phoenix"
"Plymouth's Gran Fury Returns"

Exciting times, eh? :P Actually, they seemed it at the time to me, but I was only 9 years old. Plus, we got a new car that year, a 1980 Malibu. Not exactly cutting edge technology, but at the time it seemed light years ahead of the '75 LeMans it replaced.

fintail

Oh, I know that...I spent over 5 hours on the Autobahn today and maybe 90 mins on secondary roads. Zero LLCs. Zero phone yappers. Zero oblivious idiots. Germany might have its share of problems, but roads and drivers are not some of them.

I was thinking of vehicles being over-exerted. Pulling a trailer holding a Porsche with a 20 year old MB, almost certainly an automatic...seems risky.

Oh yeah, overall mpg in the diesel tank is 8.2l/100km so far...not too shabby, as I cruised at around 100-110 mph for long stretches today and even got up to about 130 for a little bit...but the winter tires are rated for no more, so I backed off.

fintail

Wow, 1980 was an awesome year :shades: . My 1981 CG makes no such bold statements on the cover...they must have learned hard and fast that most of those cars were marginal at best.

In 1980 my mom was holding on to her bloated T-Bird as neither of my parents embraced the downsized models. I think my dad's Horizon was around by then...which he was very fond of.

Mr_Shiftright

1955 brought us 12 volt systems, a short-stroke V8 for "everyman", fabulous new colors and two-tones (or three-tones) beautiful interiors. It was a great year. I don't think we'll see another like it.

berri

I agree that 55,57 and 65/66 were pivitol years in postwar American cars. You might also consider 1949.

euphonium

"You might also consider 1949"

'49 was the BIG change/improvement because it was the first year the manufacturers didn't inflict their 1942 warmovers. '49 introduced the new Cad and Olds Kettering V8's in new bodies, although the '48 Cad had the same Fisher, but with the old Flat head V8. GM's Hydromatic was a 4 speed, but power steering was yet to be. A 49 Cad torpedo coupe with the 331 c.i. V8 caught my eye then.

explorerx4

no props for the old everyman ford v8 flathead?
i have to laugh, my neighbors Z06 sounds like one.

Mr_Shiftright

I'd go for '65 for a number of reasons but 1949 still had flathead engines in many cars, (Ford, Chrysler, Studebaker, Nash, Hudson) boxy styling (although finally a break from pre-war dies and bodies). Also few cars with AC, only upscale models with power steering.

65 of course is the beginning of the muscle car era (well '64 I guess), the Mustang, fresh new body styles.

hpmctorque

Chrysler introduced its 331 c.i. hemi and power steering for the '51 model year.

Mr_Shiftright

Yes. Of course that "Hemi" is not the hemi of the 60s. Good for its day, but soon dethroned by the 265/283 Chevy. And a '51 Chrysler still looks like grandpa's car.

andre1969

Yes. Of course that "Hemi" is not the hemi of the 60s. Good for its day, but soon dethroned by the 265/283 Chevy. And a '51 Chrysler still looks like grandpa's car.

Those old Hemis were pretty impressive for the time, though. The Chrysler 331 put out 180 hp when it first came out for 1951. That same year, Cadillac's 331 only had 160. 1955 marked the end for the Caddy 331 and Chrysler's 331 Hemi (the 1956 Windsor used a 331 but it was a poly head), and that year they both had 250 hp, although the Eldorado offered 270 hp while the C300 had 300.

DeSoto's first Hemi, the 276.1, put out 160 hp in 1952. Oldsmobile's famed "Rocket" V-8 put out the same hp...but required 303 cubes to do it!

Mr_Shiftright

Yeah but if you drive an early Hemi, it's pretty lazy compared to a short-stroke Chevy and it's a gas hog. But sure, for 1951 the cat's pajamas as grandpa used to say. I think they had some good success with hot rodders though who built the engines up and made them work better. But these early Hemis never did well against GM cars in the 50s and early 60s. Later on, of course, Mopars ruled!!

andre1969

But these early Hemis never did well against GM cars in the 50s and early 60s. Later on, of course, Mopars ruled!!

Not always. To use one example, one of my old managers from when I worked at Denny's, once had a 1957 DeSoto Fireflite. This was 1965, so being a defunct brand with big tailfins, it was considered a major loser car. However, he was able to embarrass many cars that were considered much cooler. He ended up selling it and got a '57 Chevy convertible. It was a 283, but I dunno which one (I think thye had like 5-6 variations that year) He said that while the DeSoto wasn't nearly as cool back then, it would walk that Chevy like the dog it was.

Speaking of old dog Chevies, here's an old Tom McCahill test of a 1959: http://www.xframechevy.com/MexIll-11-58.htm Now I know a 348 is a whole different beast from a smallblock, but why would it end up being this slow? With the 3x2 carbs and 3-speed turboglide, he was only getting 0-60 in 13.1 seconds. It mentions that he got 10.4 out of a 1958 Impala, but no details on which engine.

I know the '59 Chevy was porking up a bit, but 13.1 seconds sounds more like what Consumer Reports might get out of a mid-60's 283/powerglide (they got 14.5 out of a '68 Impala 307/powerglide)

wevk

I think that Chevy used the 283 (fuel injected) for NASCAR racing in 1959 because the 348 was a dog on the race track

WVK

Mr_Shiftright

old truck engine is all it was.

boomchek

Ouch. You gotta be making a few million a year to be able to swallow that kind of a loss without blinking.

andre1969

How was the turboGlide when it came to performance? Usually a 3-speed automatic will be better for performance than a 2-speed. At least it was with Chrysler...when they started using Torqueflites, it would sometimes shave as much as 3-4 seconds off the 0-60 time compared to the Powerflite. Maybe the TurboGlide wasn't that big of a boost over the PowerGlide, though?

Why did Chevy quit making TurboGlides, anyway? I heard they weren't as reliable as the PowerGlide, and nowhere near as good as the THM400 and THM350 transmissions that came in later years...but were they THAT bad?

boomchek

When we lived in Poland, it was the same thing. People would tow a camping trailer with a tiny Fiat 126p that had about 30hp.

And the smaller the car was the more people and cargo it had. It was funny.



Not sure what this one is but it looks like a Yaris sized subcompact:

See more Car Pictures at CarSpace.com

hpmctorque

"How was the turboGlide when it came to performance? Usually a 3-speed automatic will be better for performance than a 2-speed...Why did Chevy quit making TurboGlides, anyway? I heard they weren't as reliable as the PowerGlide..."

Turboglide wasn't really a 3-speed, at least not in the traditional sense. Like Buick's Dynaflow, you didn't feel any shifts in drive. It was very smooth, but didn't yield much acceleration. And, yes, Turboglide was troublesome. Many went bad. Powerglide wasn't the epitome of efficiency, but it was rugged and low maintenance.

andre1969

First thing I did when I got my '59 Chevy Impala convertible was ditch the Powerglide. it's worthless. I don't know anyone who would voluntarily keep one in his old Chevy.

Wait, I'm 'fused. I thought it was the Powerglide that was the good tranny! :confuse: What did you end up replacing it with?

Mr_Shiftright

My BAD. Got the names mixed up. I'll rephrase that:

"First thing I did when I got my '59 Chevy Impala convertible was ditch the Turboglide. it's worthless. I don't know anyone who would voluntarily keep one in his old Chevy. "

See? I get to rewrite history!

I replaced it with a rebuilt POWER-glide.

lemko

...but my wife and I spotted a kid driving a Subaru WRX travelling south on Rte 309 near Montgomeryville, PA. He had replaced the letters that spelled "SUBARU" with the word "PiMP!" She thought it was awful. I thought the kid was just a little misguided. Another strange sight was a white 2001 or so Buick LeSabre sedan with red and green racing stripes!

michaellno

...but my wife and I

That still sounds strange to read.

Another strange sight was a white 2001 or so Buick LeSabre sedan with red and green racing stripes!

There is a LeSabre sedan in my town that is dark blue or black with wide white racing stripes on it.

Who thinks that it's OK to do that? I mean, on a coupe or hatchback, perhaps, but a sedan? And a Buick, to boot?

Wow.

toomanyfumes

Maybe someone with Mom and Dad's hand me down that tried to make it look less like a Grandma car. I had a friend whose Mom gave him her early 80's Cutlass 4-door. He put some fat tires on Cragar rims in a misguided attempt to look cool. :sick:

michaellno

I'm sure it was inherited. IIRC, it also has either +1 or +2 wheels and tires.

texases

Saw a '66 Buick Skylark convertible driving into work. Can't remember last time I've seen one. Looked very nice, top down, clean. :shades:

stickguy

triple white. Looked new, but considering it had only 850 miles on it (yes, less than a grand) it should!

It was in the showroom of the VW dealer I stopped at yesterday. Still an odd looking piece. But, I was reading the auction results in the latest issue of Automobile, and they had the same car (with about 30K miles IIRC) selling for over 15 grand!

best of all, in 1979, it still had 4 wheel drum brakes?

Mr_Shiftright

The ladies love these cars and will pay a good price for one. I wonder if they had fuel injection in 1979----somewhere around then. Also AC !!!

fintail

Very amusing. I bet that Scirocco was a real exotic there, too.

I saw another Focus towing a horse trailer the other day...maybe it has some super torque diesel option here or something.

jlbl

May be…

For instance, Ford Focus Sportbreak Trend 2.0 TDCI 136 HP, 265 Nm at 2.000 rpm.

Regards,
Jose

fintail

I have now been in Switzerland for a couple days....wonderful place, I think I might like it more than Germany. It's more easygoing, less silly about meaningless rules and procedures, albeit more expensive, but you get what you pay for.

My big 730d Panzerwagen is now getting 7.8l/100km thanks to slower Swiss roads...it's a great long distance cruiser, but is like herding cats in ancient narrow city streets with high traffic volumes. I think I would have a motorcycle for normal commuting here.

Also, hugely diverse auto selection here. I've seen everything. The Swiss are much more openminded than Germans in terms of car purchases - a lot more Fiats here, for example, and many more French cars too. Also, there must not be strict inspections here...I have seen some somewhat beaters on the road. Now for the oddities... Off the top of my head...Dodge Aspen, Dart Swinger, 64 Riviera, 63 Vette made into a 4x4, 90s LeSabre, 90s Roadmaster, 90s Grand Am, early 00s Grand Prix, W123 taxi in Zurich, tons of W220 and W221 taxis, Aston DB7, and on the Autobahn just south of Stuttgart I saw a 90s Grand Prix, a 90s Neon, and a 90s Cadavalier - exactly the cars I wanted to escape from! :shades:

And the best weirdos of the past few days:

Spotted yesterday in Bern traffic

And possibly the oddest taxi in Zurich

Mr_Shiftright

Is that an old Tatra?

fintail

That must be it...they were wagons, too.

Diesel makes a lot of sense.

fintail

Yep, Tatra 603 IIRC

explorerx4

your Tatra picture reminds me of a joke.
what is is orange and sleeps 5?
a state DOT truck.

Mr_Shiftright

TRIVIA -- the 40s era Tatras were called "[non-permissible content removed]-killers" by the Czechs because they were so tail happy that German officers would commandeer them for their own use and promptly end up on the wrong end of a tree.

fintail

Yep I have heard that one too. A 1930s rear engined V8 car has to have some weird handling characteristics.

For obscure cars today, not so busy....I was in some smaller cities, I did see a 90s Caddy Fleetwood - the car I would want least to have in Europe. Also saw a late 90s Eldo and a 90s LeBaron convertible, and a mid 60s Rambler convertible. I am surprised by the amount of plain boring American cars here.

jrosasmc

Shifty - yes, the Beetle ragtop came with Bosch injection in its final year in the U.S. (1979). However, I believe it was the crude D-Jetronic version that caused - and still causes - grief for a lot of owners. And at a base retail of $6,800 when new, I don't think it was exactly on the cheap side either.

jrosasmc

Hey - have you seen much old Swedish iron during your travels overseas? (i.e. Saabs and Volvos) Knowing me, I just had to ask

fintail

I have noticed a lot of 7 series Volvos in Germany and Switzerland, and a few old 2 series too. I saw one 544 in Germany and one in Switzerland. I seem to remember quite a few 900 series Saabs in Germany too, but have seen virtually no old Saabs in Switzerland.

magnette

I was following a 1982 Saab 99 two-door on the way to work this morning - silver paint which looked original, ie a bit flat, but otherwise very sound. Also one of my neighbours has a 1983 twodoor but that is black, and a bit more scratched...

ghulet

.....I didn't know they still sold (built) the 99 in 1982, until I looked it up in wikipedia (they were only sold in the U.S. til 1978 or 79); they were actually built until 1984, long after the 900 was introduced in 1978 (I think they were first sold in the U.S. in '79).

jrosasmc

The 99 was sold in the U.S. until 1980 - after that year, Saab withdrew it from our market, as they realized that the then-new 900 would be their volume seller. In both the 1979 and '80 model years, the 99 was sold in only one trim level - a GL two-door sedan. This was a sharp contrast to '78, when you could have your 99 in basic four-door form or as the high-performance two-door Turbo.

That one-year-only 99 Turbo, I believe, was the first mass-produced European car with turbocharging sold in North America, and introduced that technology to a host of enthusiast drivers. I may be wrong, and someone please back me up on this fact. :P

andys120

That jibes with my recollection as well. Porsche introduced the 911/930 Turbo a few years earlier (IIRC '76) but it was an expensive bauble.

I'd also mention that GM was the real pioneer in Turbocharging street cars, introducing a Turbo version of the Olds F85 and the Corvair in 1961.

I recall reading that the Saab turbos were based on technology used on turbo-diesel trucks made by Scania.

texases

When did MB first put a turbo on their diesels?