By accessing this website, you acknowledge that Edmunds and its third party business partners may use cookies, pixels, and similar technologies to collect information about you and your interactions with the website as described in our
Privacy Statement, and you agree that your use of the website is subject to our
Visitor Agreement.
Comments
I'm in podunk now, and have seen a few old cars, but nothing exciting. A 66 Olds driving in town, maybe a 67 LeMans, a decent looking 78-81 Pontiac coupe at a used car lot, several mint looking late 80s fullsize cars driven by octogenarians or older, etc.
Re your message #18085, Shifty, did the Ford flathead V8 have other problems, besides proneness to overheating and vapor lock? Not that these aren't serious problems, but these are the only ones I've heard about.
There will always be flathead enthusiasts, and god bless 'em, since authenticity in certain types of rods is admirable, but for an everyday "classic" driver, a flathead V-8 would not be my personal first choice.
Isky's still in business
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1972-LINCOLN-BUGAZZI-STUNNING-GEORGE-BARRIS-CREAT- ION_W0QQitemZ380190710979QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Cars_Trucks?hash=item588521dcc3
Yeah, that steering wheel looks terrible. If the old one was worn or decayed, I am sure it wouldn't cost too much to fix it properly, especially on something of that price
I suppose being seen in one of these it beats getting stabbed to death.
Also it would be inconvenient to get your car re-upholstered by a stone mason.
An almost perfect restoration, from where I was sitting... but, not a very attractive car...
Had to look it up on google... Other than seeing F O R D on the rear end, I woudn't have known.. Of course, the fact that it was ugly, put it in that '60 cusp of years, and made it easier to find...
Edmunds Price Checker
Edmunds Lease Calculator
Did you get a good deal? Be sure to come back and share!
Edmunds Moderator
1956 – Exner introduced fins, but I thought the 55’s were cleaner. I liked the new dash and front end parking lights on the Ford and Lincoln finally started looking like a luxury car. GM’s seemed a bit heavier looking and Chevy styling seemed to step backwards. Rambler began its long run as a successful intermediate
1957 was a great year. Chrysler product styling was a homerun, but not build quality. Ford and Mercury looked good, even the 4dr sedan and wagons. GM looked a bit old and tired, but still decent. The retro inspired Caddy and its suicide doors didn’t work real well, but the Eldorado was interesting. Studebaker’s redesign on a shoestring looked it unfortunately.
1958 seemed like a year of too much change for the sake of change. The smaller taillights on Chrysler and Plymouth were detrimental. Ford and Merc seemed a bit overwrought while the new Lincolns were a large box on wheels. Edsel came out. Besides looks and the economy, it was hurt by the same price and market segment confusion as Mercury. Harley Earl at GM appeared obsolete. Excess chrome doesn’t clean up a pig as Buick and Olds looked old compared to the competition despite the bright work. Impala was nice, but the other Chevy’s were a touch dowdy. The quad lights further hurt Caddy styling. Pontiac probably looked the best.
1959 was a rather wild year. The truncated fins on Chrysler and DeSoto didn’t work well. Plymouth looked decent, but Dodge looked like the clay model stayed in the oven too long. The new Imperial grill looked like it was developed by an orthodontist and metal worker on a drinking binge. The rear end on Ford was a bit over the top, but the formal roofline Galaxie was nice and I liked the Squarebird. Mercury went a bit overboard. GM certainly got attention! I liked them, but buyers tend to be conservative.
1961 was a mixed year. The Plymouth was an abomination and Exner seemed to use an ugly stick on most everything else. Why did they bother with several months of the ugly snouted DeSoto? Ford products were clean, but mostly boring. Ford introduced the new controversial Bulletbird. I grew to accept it over time. The new Continental was a winner. GM had a great looking year as Bill Mitchell took over styling. I liked the new BOP compacts as well.
1962 – Mostly minor facelifts. They helped Chrysler some, but it stumbled on the downsized Fury and Polara. They were a mix of good and bad styling cues. I wonder if they would have been more successful if introduced as intermediates like the Fairlane along side the original planned full sized Virgil Exner cars. GM lightened up their looks a touch. Olds came off best. The conservative Chevy II supplemented Corvair. Studebaker introduced the nicely styled Hawk GT and the Lark updates came off decent. Not sure why Rambler bothered with the one year facelift?
1964 – Chrysler looks improved some more. I liked the C pillar and rear window design on the big Ford, particularly the 4 door hardtop. Didn’t care for the new Mercury front end, but liked the Marauder coupe greenhouse. Not sure about the larger, more squared off Lincoln. The new more formal T-Bird became a luxury personal sports car which I liked. The midyear Mustang still looks great today. Mostly minor GM tweaks, but I thought the Chevy looked better in 63. The heavy Pontiac front end worked better on Grand Prix than the other models. Caddy fans were mixed on the all new look. I liked it. GM successfully upsized their BOP compacts to intermediates and added Malibu. I thought Rambler uglied up their clean 63 look. The new American looked nice though.
1965 was another great year for auto styling. Elwood Engel and the new Chrysler products successfully carried off the more squared, formal look he was previously working on at Ford. I thought Ford and Merc looked even better. GM went the other direction with flowing lines and Coke bottle styling that may have been best of them all. The new Corvair was very nice, but it was too late. Rambler cleaned back up. The new Dodge Coronet marked the start of Dodge’s resurgence as an intermediate model powerhouse. The one bad thing though was the beginning of cheapo looking dashboards like those on the Chevy and Ford.
Edmunds Price Checker
Edmunds Lease Calculator
Did you get a good deal? Be sure to come back and share!
Edmunds Moderator
I couldn't disagree more, 1956 was IMO the best year for GM styling, particularly Chevrolet. They did look a bit "heavier" but they were so beautifully detailed that a '56 210 looked classier than a '55 Bel Air. I'm well aware that it's the '57s that the collectors fork over the big $$ for but I'd take a '56 Chevy over an equivalent '57. The same applies to the rest of the GM lines.
1959 was a rather wild year.
You can say that again, it took some years for all of the Big Three to get over the excesses of '58 and '59. In most cases I think the '59s looked a little better than the awful '58s but not by much. Nevertheless '59 was an important year for it was then that full-sized Detroiters reached the basic proportions and shapes they carry to this day.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
I do wish the '56 had the ventilation above the headlights like the '57 does, since I remember them rusting out over the headlights.
I must admit to thinking that the '55 is the best styling of all three years though.
I think the '57's instrument panel was a step backwards from the neat, Corvette-like '55 and '56 panel.
Now, I think the '65 Chevy is the most beautiful Chevy of the '60's. I imagine it was hard to sell a leftover '64 Impala once the '65's were out. I cannot think of a model of car that changed so drastically in looks from one year to the next.
Bill
My Grandpop had a black 1964 Chevrolet Biscayne 4-door sedan and my Dad had a cream-colored 1961 Chevrolet Biscayne 2-door sedan which had a little lip over the rear window.
But really, giving the benefit of all doubts, I'd extend Detroit's "Second Golden Age" from 1955 to 1971 or so. After that, my interest in Detroit styling, and not co-incidentally the price guide values for post '71 cars, seem to fall off a cliff.
My theory is that the styling demise in Detroit was first caused by a) loss of talent and general loss of enthusiasm; and b) using computers too much to design cars. There are only so many ways you can stretch an egg.
And Lemko, I love '61 Impala Sport Coupes. I was always a fan of GM's fastback cars with large quarter windows....I'd take an Impala Sport Coupe over a Caprice coupe, a Wildcat over an Electra, a Bonneville over a Grand Prix, and a Delta 88 Custom over a Ninety-Eight, in the mid-to-late '60's anytime...plush interiors, but sporty and non-formal exteriors. The '61 Impala has a sporty, glassy roofline as you know.
I like the Corvette-inspired steering wheel the '61 Impala used, too.
One small thing I can't stand about '61 Chevrolets with pushbutton radios, is how the buttons spell out "Chevy". It's cheesy! It doesn't say "Chevy" on the car anywhere else; it's a CHEVROLET Impala, not a Chevy II for gosh sake! If I looked for one to buy, I'd want it with manual tuning radio just to avoid the cheesy pushbuttons!
Bill
I agree, it was rather chintzy compared to the competition. I think the real reasons the 57 endured were several; Harley Earl used a lighter brush on it than the other GM models, the car was rather lightweight and had the new "283", and its overall mechanical and build quality probably was a bit better than at Ford and Chrysler that year. So it ended up an enduring used car model, and later a relatively cheap one that youth could easily pump up.
Now, I think the '65 Chevy is the most beautiful Chevy of the '60's
Totally agree, but I felt they messed it up a bit in 66. The only real weak point IMO was the dashboard. My favorite 65 was probably Pontiac though, both full size and intermediate.
That's a fair statement. It includes vehicles like the 69 Grand Prix and other sharp GM revised intermediates styling, the 70+ Camaro, the 71 Sebring and Charger and the 70 Challenger and Barracuda. Some might extend it to 73 to include the new GM intermediate Colonade coupes, but unfortunately I think that was about the only decent revison that year.
They actually had several of those at the 57 Heaven Museum in Branson which was unfortunately recently auctioned off. I was very sad to see that museum close, but a lot of them are folding, probably because of the economy and upkeep and insurance costs.
(H.D. front/rear shocks $1.10!)
http://www.348-409.com/1961factpage.html
WVK
1973 ---there are a few (very few) cars of this era that collectors will (might) notice---the Nova SS coupe comes to mind, the El Camino SS 454 and the Caprice convertible, but this more about the engine power, not the styling IMO.
If you mean a GP, I guess it would depend entirely on condition, but even in top shape I couldn't see more than $7500 for one. Certainly not worth restoring.
http://www.stationwagon.com/gallery/1973_Chevy_Chevelle.html
My uncle had one of these, briefly, in the '80s (kind of attractive metallic gray with red vinyl interior), it had lots of goodies (tilt, all the power stuff and a 455, IIRC). My 'little cousin' (she's 32 now) had a '73 GTO, which was very similar to the Grand Am, except hers was a 'stripper', it even had a factory 4-speed. Kinda wish she still had that car.
It's basically what the GTO morphed into. The concept was "Grand Prix luxury with Trans Am performance". Standard engine was a 400 with 170 hp, but I think the optional 400 had 200 hp, or you could get a 455 with 250 hp. It was offered as a coupe or sedan. I think they sold about 37K coupes and maybe 9K sedans that year.
The GTO was still around, but that year was an option package for the LeMans sport coupe. Oddly, while it was a rung below the Grand Am, it came standard with a 230 hp 400.
As for the Grand Prix, I've heard rumors that the SuperDuty 455 went into a handful of them. That was the 310 hp Trans Am engine, although I think it got cut to 290 hp for the GP. I'd imagine one of them might be worth something, wouldn't it? That engine was supposed to go in the Grand Am, but after building 1 or 2 prototypes, they didn't go any further with it.
I will say this for it---for 1973, it's probably the most valuable fixed roof Pontiac that isn't a Firebird. A GTO would be about the same value.
I doubt many have survived because restoration costs would eliminate all but the few originals still around.
The big money cars for '73 are the Formula and Trans Am 'birds with the 455 SD. You can get serious money for those.
Everything else for '73 is just a nice old used car.
Thank you for your reply!!