Wow, small world! My uncle has a 2003 Corolla CE! FWIW, CE is the base model. I can't remember if his has a "CE" badge on the trunk or not. I think the LE gave you a slightly dressed-up interior, and a few more adjustments in the seat, and a few other odds and ends. His is white, but I can't remember what color the mirrors are. I want to say they're dark gray or black?
FWIW, my uncle broke a mirror on his car, too. His was the driver's side. I think he just ordered the glass though, and not the whole mirror.
CE models are usually basic with non body color mirrors, black door handles, no standard power options (although some had power locks and window pacakges ordered on them).
LE models usually have alloy wheels (nice looking mag wheels instead of wheel covers), sunroofs, all power options, and more.
Either way the mirror should fit your Corolla but like fintail said, if you have a Corolla LE with body colored painted mirrors and you ordered a CE mirror, it will fit but it will have a matte black plastic finish instead of it being body colored.
Wow, that's pretty hard core. I have to say I have more magazines than what he showed in his video tour, but I'm impressed with his brochures and the video collection. Glad to know I'm not the only crazy car guy around, no matter what others think :P
I have about: -2000 auto brochures, most from the 90s to current -500 issues of various car magazines -30 to 50 car posters -other auto and racing promotional items (plaques, license plates, videos) -some autographed racing items -400 to 500 Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars, nearly all Hot Wheels unopened in boxes -another 50 to 100 of unopened DubCity, Johnny Lightning, Fast & Furious toy cars, GM Design by Maisto, original Modifiers -about 20 or so 1:18 scale cars -a partial Danbury Mint porcelain Corvette collection with a matching shelf (I didn't know it was porcelain until I got my first one :sick: ) -about 50 books about cars in general (I always get those from family as gifts)
The magazines I have are as follows (I don't have any complete sets altough it would be nice):
-Automobile (80s to current) -Motor Trend (70s to current) -Car and Driver (80s to current) -Road & Track (70s to current) -Max Power UK (98-02 every issue) -Import Tuner (every issue since #1 for the first 3 or so years) -Sports Compact Car (early 90s to early 00s, almost all issues) -Super Street (every issue from mid 90s to early 00s) -Lowrider Magazines -Import Racer magazines -Mini Trucking magzines -Every Road & Track Annual Car Buyer's Guide from 1976 to current. -Every Carguide Annual Car Buyer's Guide from 1991 to current. -other odds and ends including european car magazines I also had a ton of car audio magazines which I got rid of because I had no room.
When I have time I'll take all of these out of boxes and sort them out on shelves in my storage locker for easy access. Right now I have is a few books and my select brochures (Rolls-Royce, Lotus, Maserati etc.) sitting on my shelves at home while the rest is in my storage locker.
I liked the "swept back" design of the '61/62 Bel Air 2 door hardtop better than the design of the Impala
With a 4 speed, positrac and a 409!
Actually, the 2 dr sedan wasn't bad looking either.
I remember as a kid growing up in the Chicago area that sometimes the greasers would put a lesser engine emblem on the fender of a 409 to try and fake out a drag opponent. I suspect it never worked though - A 283 or a six banger didn't have quite the same engine rumble!
I remember those "CHEVY" radio buttons on my Dad's car. My 1968 Buick Special Deluxe had a Sonomatic radio with black buttons which had BUICK spelled out in white letters.
I could handle buttons that spelled out "BUICK", but I think "Chevy" is cheesy! It's a "Chevrolet"! It'd be like spelling out "Jimmy" for GMC, or "Olds" for Oldsmobile. It's low-class!
But, otherwise I love '61 Impala Sport Coupes! I'm not sure why, but it always seemed like I saw far less of them than '63 and '64 Impalas...and probably also '62's.
I could enjoy a '62 Bel Air Sport Coupe, as long as it had wheel covers and whitewalls. It wouldn't even have to have a 409!
Bill
2024 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 2LT; 2019 Chevrolet Equinox LT; 2015 Chevrolet Cruze LS
Those '73 Grand Ams were huge new-car news back in '73. In fact, I think most car mags considered them the biggest new-car story of the year, although the all-new '73 Monte Carlo won Motor Trend's Car of the Year Award, based on its formal styling and Benz-inspired suspension and handling.
The Grand Am had every bit of the Grand Prix's wonderful interior (way better than the '69-72 IMHO and reminiscent of the wonderful '65 Grand Prix panel, probably best ever put in a car IMO), but lacked the creased, formal Grand Prix styling...which to me WASN"T better than the '69-72 Grand Prix!
It seems like most Grand Ams were white with red and blue pinstriping.
The big news was the 4-door Grand Am. In my memory it was the first four-door GM with buckets and console. But as much as you saw them in ads, I'm hard-pressed to remember if I ever even saw one real one.
Bill
2024 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 2LT; 2019 Chevrolet Equinox LT; 2015 Chevrolet Cruze LS
I used to think the Grand Am was something really special and unique, but weren't the Olds Cutlass Salon and the Chevy Laguna S-3 the same basic idea? And Buick still had a Gran Sport, but I can't remember if they applied it to the Century or the Regal? My memory's fuzzy without looking it up, but I think it was the Century. I remember seeing one at Carlisle years ago, and I think it had a 455 and 4-speed! I think it had the big triangular windows and more rakish roofline, which would suggest a Century and not a Regal.
The Grand Am might have been a bit better in the sense that it came standard with a 400, while I think the other three just used a 350 as the base engine. And that front-end on the Grand Am was certainly pretty wild. The Grand Am did have a beautiful interior, as well, IMO. It used the same dashboard as the Grand Prix, while the LeMans used a different, cheaper-looking dash. For 1975 though, the Grand LeMans started using that same dash, although you had to pay extra for full gauges, something the original owner of my '76 Grand LeMans chose not to do.
And yeah, I think white was the most common Grand Am color, although I've also seen them in black and maroon. The guy I bought my '76 Grand LeMans from replaced it with a black Grand Am...1974 I think. And years ago, I do recall seeing a burgundy Grand Am 4-door at a local car show. I've also seen one pop up at Hershey on occasion.
In the pilot of "The Incredible Hulk", David Banner had a white Grand Am 4-door. He had a blowout and rolled it over in a meadow. He got thrown out but his wife died in the ensuing fire (I think it's a Hollywood law that every flat tire causes a crash, and every crash results in a fire.) As a little kid, I went through a phase where I was afraid to ride in my Mom's '75 LeMans...I was afraid that it was going to roll over and she was going to burn up in it! :surprise:
I actually have 5 Jaguars that range from 1954-1965 all with the Straight 6 (varying displacements). None of them have issues at all. They are well maintained and driven regularly. They are WONDERFUL reliable cars.
I do agree that the Jaguar DOHC Straight 6 was a great engine, but it was not the only good part of the cars....design, ingenuity, modern thinking, IRS, disk brakes, all GREAT parts of old jags.
What am I willing to admit? Oil leaks, Lucas Wiring, slightly temperamental carbs (once set by someone who knows what they are doing they can remain set for YEARS).
That brings up a distant memory. I was always afraid to ride in a 1968 Chrysler Newport because there was a frequently recurring TV PSA ad for auto safety showing a 1968 Chrysler Newport flipping on its side and a crash test dummy dressed in little kids' clothing crashing through the windshield!
Oh I drove my Jaguars many miles. If you buy a good one, or restore one, and keep after them religiously, they can perform just fine. But they really were not built in those days for American driving conditions, and winter driving or prolonged freeway driving will kill them off pretty quick. The heaters suck, they don't start in winter, they overheat in summer, electrics are dodgy, and the steering and gearbox are very heavy.
As for styling---yes, a real plus. "Modern Thinking"? Pardon me please if I have to laugh at that. No offense intended. What we have in a '55 Jaguar is a wonderful motor and front disk brakes in a 1935 British car.
I loved my XK140s and the 3.8 Mark II sedan. I think I only broke down maybe 5 or 6 times a year. Not too bad. Once I installed a cut-down Lincoln radiator in the 140, with an electric fan, that cured that problem, and an engine heater helped with winter. I know all about SU carbs, so no issues there.
Andre, you are right about the Cutlass Salon; I had forgotten about that. It came out in '73, with all the European flags in the emblem, and I believe that first year it was only available in a four-door version. It had those great, high-back corduroy bucket seats and console. I had forgotten about that.
The Chevelle Laguna came out in '73 as a top-level trim, available in coupe, sedan, and wagon (including Estate) bodystyles. It had no sporting pretense whatsoever. In '74, the top Chevelle trim level was renamed 'Malibu Classic' and the Laguna S-3 took over what had been the 'SS' place in the lineup the year before. From '74-76, all Laguna S-3's were coupes and many had the '73 SS-style side striping.
Bill
2024 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 2LT; 2019 Chevrolet Equinox LT; 2015 Chevrolet Cruze LS
Believe it or not, back in the mid 70's you couldn't get as much off the sticker on a Pontiac compared to a comparably priced Buick or Olds. The Pontiac gave you a bit more features and equipment for the dollars, but the sticker percentage discount was lower. I started off looking at the Pontiac, but price drove me to buy a Cutlass instead.
Today I spotted an early'ish 2002, dark blue, thin bumpers etc - and it looked brand new. Of course many cars look that way in the rain...but I am sure this was a restored car. One funny thing...it was an "automatic" badged car.
Also a restored looking white 65 Mustang with year of manufacture plates.
One funny thing...it was an "automatic" badged car.
Automatic 2002s were pretty rare here and in the home market but since A/Ts of any kind were so unusual in Europe cars so equipped generally got badges just as American cars did when they wore badges that said "Fluid Drive" and "Dyna Flow" back in the early 50s.
Yeah, I think most automatic fintails after 1964-65 wore an "automatic" badge too. And I can't forget the Peugeot 604 "Automatique" that caught my attention as a kid.
yuck (the color) and DOUBLE yuck (say it like Shaggy from 'Scooby-Doo') as to the wheels. Good Gawd, y'all, what are they good for? Absolutely nuthin'. Say it again.
I'd never seen a 'donk' version of a classic Lincoln. I hope I never see it again. It's fine on an 85 Caprice or a 77 Buick, but on a timeless car...no. At least it wasn't done up with a candy or fast food logo.
...for the past few weeks I've been seeing a rather ratty 1970 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow driving past my corner. I've seen this same car earlier last summer. It appears the owner is using it as a daily driver. I wouldn't be surprised if it's a "FrankenRolls" and there's a Chevy 350 under the hood.
Replacing Brit engines in Jaguars was common out here in the 80's. There was a shop on Columbia Blvd., Portland, OR who made the conversion for $1,000 including the 350. He had a mass production of conversions going for quite a while.
I hope he did a franken-brake conversion on that thing, or it is still the worst money pit imaginable. Brake system rebuild can be 8K or more. Sign me up!
Speaking of franken-cars, I just got a British market MB magazine...there's a story of a crazy German guy who put a 190 Ponton body on a 190E Evo II floorpan/chassis. The only Ponton part is the body, the full interior/dash, and all mechanical parts are Evo II (a rare race-tuned 190). Insane.
The Rolls V8s of that era were very troublesome---dare we say "defective"?
It's not a car for the faint of heart. Generally they will eat any new owner alive. Fortunately, death comes quickly, albeit expensively. If you can go 1500 miles on a 60s-80s Rolls without a breakdown, you are among the Few the Brave the Chosen.
My wife and I are doing a James Bond marathon, watching all the 007 movies from the earliest one on wenow have the complete set of 007 DVDs. In tyhe fisrt 5 movies there are quite a few Fintails seen. In one shot a Fintail wagon (which I assume is rare) is seen, and in another scene a Fintail ambulance. Also Pontons are common too, quite a few of them used in Goldfinger by the bad guys.
Also, didn't they use Citroen's hydralic suspension (all 4 wheels first few years, rear wheels afterwards)? I can imagine how much 'fun' it is to keep that working! :sick:
MB sedans have always had a bad guy/sinister role in films, the Bond films used this stereotype very well.
If you haven't seen 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' yet, you'll see a very amusing car chase involving a fintail...driven by the bad guys, of course.
Yep, the ice track race where the fintail rolls and then of course bursts into flames. It's pretty fun, lots of odd 60s European cars in that...and "the Cougar" too. I've seen a diorama-boxed model of the Cougar from that movie, with an ice track background.
"Ponton" is German for "Pontoon", referring to the fender shape. Per Wiki:
"Pontoon fenders are a type of fender for an automobile. Unfortunately, two entirely different types of fender are defined by this term. The earlier American meaning did not reach all nations. Later, a European use of the term, with cognates in several languages, was accepted by the British.
Some cars designed in the United States in the 1930s had front fenders which encased a wheel and ended in a teardrop's point which was not connected to a running board or the body of the car. Instead, a bit forward of this point, sheet metal narrower front to rear than the fender itself attached it to the body quite a bit lower than the highest point of the fender and well forward of the front door. The Cord 810 and 812 are possibly the most well-known cars of this design. A bit earlier, the same company made the Auburn boat-tail speedster with this feature on both the front and rear wheels. And several French Carrossiers, notably Figoni et Falaschi made several extraordinary cars with this feature as well.
In Germany during the Second World War, however, additional armor for the treads of tanks was devised. These long boxes were attached to tanks primarily on the top edge, and resembled pontoons to the soldiers. Hence cars which had the front fenders not just melt into the front door but extend back to the rear fenders were called by them, in translation, pontoons. Hence a type of Mercedes-Benz car is called the "Ponton". The British took this as the definition, and so use it in such works as the Beaulieu National Motor Museum Encyclopedia of the Automobile. The American term for this type of fender might either be "meltaway" or "full fadeaway"."
my favorite is 'From Russia with Love', although there wasn't much emphasis on cars. egghead got a pretty nice scholarship offer, basically 4 years of T,R, & B for the price of 3, and the stock market had a good day, so i am thinking again about a new car. i wonder how many people replace the car they own with the same make/model time after time. my neighbor across the street buys one honda accord after another. i am pretty brand loyal, but switch models. for example, i had an 83 tbird, traded for an 86 mustang, swapped for an 88 tbird, which i sold and replaced with a 91 mustang(still have it).
2024 Ford F-150 STX, 2023 Ford Explorer ST, 91 Mustang GT vert
I think the folks that treat their cars as nothing more than transport appliances are more likely to stick with the same make and model when it's due for replacement especially if they had good luck with it in the past.
I think for car enthusiasts like us we need to expereince all types of different vehicles from different brands and therefore might not be as loyal to one type of brand or model.
Comments
I discovered it while randomly looking around and happening upon This MW test of a W124 diesel
FWIW, my uncle broke a mirror on his car, too. His was the driver's side. I think he just ordered the glass though, and not the whole mirror.
Your Corolla is either a CE or a LE.
CE models are usually basic with non body color mirrors, black door handles, no standard power options (although some had power locks and window pacakges ordered on them).
LE models usually have alloy wheels (nice looking mag wheels instead of wheel covers), sunroofs, all power options, and more.
Either way the mirror should fit your Corolla but like fintail said, if you have a Corolla LE with body colored painted mirrors and you ordered a CE mirror, it will fit but it will have a matte black plastic finish instead of it being body colored.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
I have about:
-2000 auto brochures, most from the 90s to current
-500 issues of various car magazines
-30 to 50 car posters
-other auto and racing promotional items (plaques, license plates, videos)
-some autographed racing items
-400 to 500 Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars, nearly all Hot Wheels unopened in boxes
-another 50 to 100 of unopened DubCity, Johnny Lightning, Fast & Furious toy cars, GM Design by Maisto, original Modifiers
-about 20 or so 1:18 scale cars
-a partial Danbury Mint porcelain Corvette collection with a matching shelf (I didn't know it was porcelain until I got my first one :sick: )
-about 50 books about cars in general (I always get those from family as gifts)
The magazines I have are as follows (I don't have any complete sets altough it would be nice):
-Automobile (80s to current)
-Motor Trend (70s to current)
-Car and Driver (80s to current)
-Road & Track (70s to current)
-Max Power UK (98-02 every issue)
-Import Tuner (every issue since #1 for the first 3 or so years)
-Sports Compact Car (early 90s to early 00s, almost all issues)
-Super Street (every issue from mid 90s to early 00s)
-Lowrider Magazines
-Import Racer magazines
-Mini Trucking magzines
-Every Road & Track Annual Car Buyer's Guide from 1976 to current.
-Every Carguide Annual Car Buyer's Guide from 1991 to current.
-other odds and ends including european car magazines
I also had a ton of car audio magazines which I got rid of because I had no room.
When I have time I'll take all of these out of boxes and sort them out on shelves in my storage locker for easy access. Right now I have is a few books and my select brochures (Rolls-Royce, Lotus, Maserati etc.) sitting on my shelves at home while the rest is in my storage locker.
Here's what it all looked like before I was married and before my wife and I got a place together:
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
With a 4 speed, positrac and a 409!
Actually, the 2 dr sedan wasn't bad looking either.
I remember as a kid growing up in the Chicago area that sometimes the greasers would put a lesser engine emblem on the fender of a 409 to try and fake out a drag opponent. I suspect it never worked though - A 283 or a six banger didn't have quite the same engine rumble!
But, otherwise I love '61 Impala Sport Coupes! I'm not sure why, but it always seemed like I saw far less of them than '63 and '64 Impalas...and probably also '62's.
I could enjoy a '62 Bel Air Sport Coupe, as long as it had wheel covers and whitewalls. It wouldn't even have to have a 409!
Bill
The Grand Am had every bit of the Grand Prix's wonderful interior (way better than the '69-72 IMHO and reminiscent of the wonderful '65 Grand Prix panel, probably best ever put in a car IMO), but lacked the creased, formal Grand Prix styling...which to me WASN"T better than the '69-72 Grand Prix!
It seems like most Grand Ams were white with red and blue pinstriping.
The big news was the 4-door Grand Am. In my memory it was the first four-door GM with buckets and console. But as much as you saw them in ads, I'm hard-pressed to remember if I ever even saw one real one.
Bill
The Grand Am might have been a bit better in the sense that it came standard with a 400, while I think the other three just used a 350 as the base engine. And that front-end on the Grand Am was certainly pretty wild. The Grand Am did have a beautiful interior, as well, IMO. It used the same dashboard as the Grand Prix, while the LeMans used a different, cheaper-looking dash. For 1975 though, the Grand LeMans started using that same dash, although you had to pay extra for full gauges, something the original owner of my '76 Grand LeMans chose not to do.
And yeah, I think white was the most common Grand Am color, although I've also seen them in black and maroon. The guy I bought my '76 Grand LeMans from replaced it with a black Grand Am...1974 I think. And years ago, I do recall seeing a burgundy Grand Am 4-door at a local car show. I've also seen one pop up at Hershey on occasion.
In the pilot of "The Incredible Hulk", David Banner had a white Grand Am 4-door. He had a blowout and rolled it over in a meadow. He got thrown out but his wife died in the ensuing fire (I think it's a Hollywood law that every flat tire causes a crash, and every crash results in a fire.) As a little kid, I went through a phase where I was afraid to ride in my Mom's '75 LeMans...I was afraid that it was going to roll over and she was going to burn up in it! :surprise:
I do agree that the Jaguar DOHC Straight 6 was a great engine, but it was not the only good part of the cars....design, ingenuity, modern thinking, IRS, disk brakes, all GREAT parts of old jags.
What am I willing to admit? Oil leaks, Lucas Wiring, slightly temperamental carbs (once set by someone who knows what they are doing they can remain set for YEARS).
As for styling---yes, a real plus. "Modern Thinking"? Pardon me please if I have to laugh at that. No offense intended. What we have in a '55 Jaguar is a wonderful motor and front disk brakes in a 1935 British car.
I loved my XK140s and the 3.8 Mark II sedan. I think I only broke down maybe 5 or 6 times a year. Not too bad. Once I installed a cut-down Lincoln radiator in the 140, with an electric fan, that cured that problem, and an engine heater helped with winter. I know all about SU carbs, so no issues there.
The Chevelle Laguna came out in '73 as a top-level trim, available in coupe, sedan, and wagon (including Estate) bodystyles. It had no sporting pretense whatsoever. In '74, the top Chevelle trim level was renamed 'Malibu Classic' and the Laguna S-3 took over what had been the 'SS' place in the lineup the year before. From '74-76, all Laguna S-3's were coupes and many had the '73 SS-style side striping.
Bill
Also a restored looking white 65 Mustang with year of manufacture plates.
Automatic 2002s were pretty rare here and in the home market but since A/Ts of any kind were so unusual in Europe cars so equipped generally got badges just as American cars did when they wore badges that said "Fluid Drive" and "Dyna Flow" back in the early 50s.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
Sadly, it was that shade of blue I used to see on repainted old police cars, and it looked to have 22" wheels. What a waste :sick:
Speaking of franken-cars, I just got a British market MB magazine...there's a story of a crazy German guy who put a 190 Ponton body on a 190E Evo II floorpan/chassis. The only Ponton part is the body, the full interior/dash, and all mechanical parts are Evo II (a rare race-tuned 190). Insane.
As for a 70s Rolls engine, these are expensive and troublesome, neither fast nor efficient powerplant. Definitely the "Rolls on the Skids" era.
http://autos.yahoo.com/used-cars/rolls_royce-silver_shadow-cars209497364
It's not a car for the faint of heart. Generally they will eat any new owner alive. Fortunately, death comes quickly, albeit expensively. If you can go 1500 miles on a 60s-80s Rolls without a breakdown, you are among the Few the Brave the Chosen.
Whenever I see a Shadow now, I think of Clarkson driving one into a pool
It's neat seeing this old German iron in action.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
If you haven't seen 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' yet, you'll see a very amusing car chase involving a fintail...driven by the bad guys, of course.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
"Pontoon fenders are a type of fender for an automobile. Unfortunately, two entirely different types of fender are defined by this term. The earlier American meaning did not reach all nations. Later, a European use of the term, with cognates in several languages, was accepted by the British.
Some cars designed in the United States in the 1930s had front fenders which encased a wheel and ended in a teardrop's point which was not connected to a running board or the body of the car. Instead, a bit forward of this point, sheet metal narrower front to rear than the fender itself attached it to the body quite a bit lower than the highest point of the fender and well forward of the front door. The Cord 810 and 812 are possibly the most well-known cars of this design. A bit earlier, the same company made the Auburn boat-tail speedster with this feature on both the front and rear wheels. And several French Carrossiers, notably Figoni et Falaschi made several extraordinary cars with this feature as well.
In Germany during the Second World War, however, additional armor for the treads of tanks was devised. These long boxes were attached to tanks primarily on the top edge, and resembled pontoons to the soldiers. Hence cars which had the front fenders not just melt into the front door but extend back to the rear fenders were called by them, in translation, pontoons. Hence a type of Mercedes-Benz car is called the "Ponton". The British took this as the definition, and so use it in such works as the Beaulieu National Motor Museum Encyclopedia of the Automobile. The American term for this type of fender might either be "meltaway" or "full fadeaway"."
egghead got a pretty nice scholarship offer, basically 4 years of T,R, & B for the price of 3, and the stock market had a good day, so i am thinking again about a new car.
i wonder how many people replace the car they own with the same make/model time after time.
my neighbor across the street buys one honda accord after another.
i am pretty brand loyal, but switch models.
for example, i had an 83 tbird, traded for an 86 mustang, swapped for an 88 tbird, which i sold and replaced with a 91 mustang(still have it).
I think for car enthusiasts like us we need to expereince all types of different vehicles from different brands and therefore might not be as loyal to one type of brand or model.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX