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

boomchek

Nice car and nice price. Speaking of S class MB, the W221's looks are finally growing on me.

andys120

I saw a Mercedes B-Class with B.C. Plates, no doubt belonging to a Canadian Snowbird.

I also saw a new Taurus, the first I've seen. I thought it looked good in silver and I don't think many cars do.

boomchek

The B classes are really common here. That's a long drive from BC to your location though!!

andys120

Oh I'm "wintering" in Arizona where BC or even Alaska plates aren't uncommon.

fintail

If it was lower mileage and non-tinted, I would almost consider something like that. I remember seeing a graphite W211 E55 some time ago, and it made me drool...great color for it. I am very sensitive to color and it will easily make or break any potential deal.

W221s are depreciating nicely too, I've seen many for under 50K now. I think they have very nice interiors - the navigation hump is kind of unsightly, but ergonomically it works well, and the cars seem light years ahead in quality compared to similar/early W220s.

W220s are really spiraling down, 2006 end of the run cars can easily be found for around 30K. If I was to get one, I would only want an AMG...I suspect quality will be at least a little better, and I think the name adds a little cushion at the bottom of the depreciation line, as it does in older E and C AMGs.

fintail

My grandparents had a winter place in Quartzite, which is apparently a great place for octogenerians. They drove down each winter until my grandfather was in his late 80s.

andys120

Quartzite is one of the more bizarre places I've ever been. In the winter it's a metroplolis of RVs, I doubt it's much of anything after that. Plenty of ocogenarians, nonagerians tec. for sure.

lemko

Nice car, but I'd be worried about maintaining and repairing a 63K mile AMG S-Class. I certainly hoped they worked a lot of the bugs out since 2000.

Yeesh, but look at the monthly payment, even for five years (that is assuming a 12% interest rate). Only somebody desperate to look rich for what is really not that cheap would go for this deal. I don't pay nearly that much a monthly payment the Cadillac DTS that I purchased new!

fintail

I've read the later W220 aren't so bad, but maintenance on it will still be significant, and if the owner can't afford it, the car will slowly but surely die.

I noticed that interest rate assumption too...must be a special clientele that lot has as a target market. Shame as it's a pretty rare car in that color and option listing.

Mr_Shiftright

With a car like this you just make monthly payments to your mechanic rather than the bank. It's to be viewed as an auto loan with no termination IMO. Too new to be collectible, and too old to rely on for trouble-free driving.

fintail

I don't know if any of the kompressor AMG cars will really be collectible. Production numbers were way up from the pre-2003 models, and they have a lot more gadgetry to break than the earlier cars too. Not that I think the earlier cars will ever be extremely valuable, but I suspect the W202 and W210 AMG models will fare better than their later counterparts. They'll probably end up like the 2.3-16...sought after by a few and bringing a premium over their normal brethren, but not exactly big bucks.

Mr_Shiftright

It's difficult for any sedans to make the major leagues of collectibility. Very few have succeeded, no matter what the horsepower, equipment, styling etc. Probably the Jaguar 3.8 has been the star in this field and even they, despite skull-crushing restoration costs and 40+years of trying, have rarely topped $40,000.

The 2.3--16V is a very good example of what any AMG car could hope to achieve---after 20 years, maybe worth $15,000 if restored. It's not a bright future.

fintail

I'd be happy with that, as it is about 4x more than the value of its non-AMG brother in similar condition.

Mr_Shiftright

Yeah, there is some consolation in that.

hpmctorque

5 speed semi-automatic on that AMG? What makes it "semi," or is that an inaccurate description?

fintail

Yeah, that's an inaccurate term. The car would have an adaptive 5-speed auto with touch shift mode - you can rock the shifter back and forth while in drive and upshift and downshift manually or just drive it like a normal auto.

hpmctorque

Ah, okay. Visions of an early '50s Chrysler Fluid-Drive transplant popped into my head, but only for an instant.

tjc78

while out to lunch within minutes saw a early Chevette and a mid 80s Cavalier staion wagon. Both looked really bad but appeared to be running along in traffic just fine. Don't see many of those around south Jersey too often (probably a good thing!)

andys120

but surely obscure,( I have never seen one on the street). I was at the local GMC/Pontiac/Buick store to get my MIL's car serviced and I wandered over to the showroom. You won't be surprised that they had only one new Poncho in the place but you might be surprised (as I was) that it was a Solstice Coupe. Odd looking thing, it looked good from some angles, not so good from others. The side glass was extremely narrow due to the low-cut roofline; in fact you have to be careful to scrunch your head down getting in and out.

It stickered over $35K! (sale price $33.5).

Coincidentally I recently saw a nice clean-looking Fiero, lemon yellow notchback model. It was parked outside a house with a chalked on For Sale price $7895.

I have no idea if it's worth that.

fintail

I just remembered, the other day I saw an immaculate Saab 99...it wasn't restored, but still looked mint, and it was a period poopy brown. I can't imagine what kind of labor of love that is...

Today I saw one of those Tauri-continentals from the late 80s-early 90s...suspension looked OK...so far.

And I'd think nearly 8K would be too much for anything but the mintest Fiero GT.

suzanna444

I've ordered and received a passenger side mirror for my 2003 Toyota Corolla. But, it didn't come with instructions. How do I install it???? Do I need to remove any panels from the inside of the door?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Mr_Shiftright

Yeah you do. I left you detailed instructions in your question in the Answers department. Should be a link in your mailbox. This topic is for Classic cars. You can find Corolla topics by using the "Browse by Vehicle" feature on the right of this page.

suzanna444

Thank you for your response.

Sorry I'm in the wrong place....I'm new here and it's a bit confusing. I couldn't find your answer and there's nothing in my mail box. I did re-ask the question in the answers section.

Mr_Shiftright

e-mailed you.

fintail

Anyone want a new Buick made when Buicks were big?

The greenest interior in automotive history

Fancy X-car

Pickup

Odd pace car

This should bring insane money

Very subtle elegance

That 70s SUV

Fine fintail

Not bad either

Franken-Volvo

Good old name

Would be better at home

Aussie

stickguy

put the doorhandles andOEM tails back on it, and I'll take it!

stickguy

the lesabre should have about 18K whenAndre finishes driving it home from Florida.

eck, I wouldn't mind having it, and I hate cars like that!

even though the seller called it a Lincoln a few times.

andre1969

That '79 is a nice car, and an interesting color combination. I normally don't like white cars, but I think on a big luxury car like that, it looks classy. It's also nice that it has the rally wheels rather than wire hubcaps. That green interior is a little loud, but I still love it! I prefer the green that Chrysler used back then, though...it was a bit more subdued, as if it had just a hint of blue/silver in it.

I like that '76 LeSabre too, although I don't know what I'd do with a car like that. It's actually TOO low-mileage and TOO well-preserved to be of any use, IMO. I really couldn't drive it to car shows, as that would rack up the miles too fast. It's one thing to put a few hundred or a thousand miles per year on a 17,000 mile car, but a whole different story with one that only has 372!

The '79 is a nice old car that could still last you a long time, and be good for cruise-ins, car shows, fair weather drives, etc. But I guess that '76 would be better served as a museum piece or private collection. It could take its place in history as an end-of-an-era dreadnaught, perhaps the biggest car to ever wear the LeSabre badge.

kyfdx

I'm with stick... put the tail-end back to stock.. give me real door handles, and I'm good to go...

(would like to have the heater hooked up, though... :surprise: )

boomchek

I agree on the Volvo too. Cool car but it would be much better with stock tail lights.

stickguy

yeah, forgot to mention that. Probably come in handy right about now in NJ.

Probably not much of an issue though in san diego, where the seller is!

lemko

Oh my God! That 1979 Buick Electra Limited also has the 403 V-8! Oh man, if I only had the space. How does one only manage to have 372 miles after 33 years? Did he drive it only a little over 11 miles a year? Even 17K after 30 is extremely low. I only have 10,054 on my 2007 Cadillac DTS Performance and that seems excessive compared to these two.

fintail

Today I have seen a restored looking TR6 that had yellow wheel centers - does this have some kind of significance? I also saw a mid-60s Beetle, a W116 300SD, and a 50s Jeep pickup.

An obscure car sighting to beat all others today just drove by my window....a Ferrari F40.

fintail

Andre's local relative might have got a new car. Parked among the 2 Eldos, the big Chrysler, the W126, and what I think is a 61 Ford parked in the garage, (the 90s Civic was gone) was this very clean looking BMW E30. I have never seen it before, but it was there very early today, so maybe not just a visitor. All of those cars and one garage spot!

boomchek

Maybe this is Andre's second stash of cars in case he visits the northwest. :P

fintail

I think he mentioned coming out this way once years ago. Hmmmm

Today's oddball - Peugeot 604 diesel parked on a residential street in Seattle. I like how those look, but can't imagine trying to find parts for it or any mechanic who would touch it with a 100 foot pole.

andys120

While waiting for some work to be finished at a local garage I saw a very nice 1969
Camaro SS 350 It was white w blue interior, a/t, small stripes on fenders (not the wide hood stripes), slotted steel wheels w crome rims and hub centers.

I'd give this car a near-concours (#2) rating except the carpets looked a bit dirty and perhaps worn. The paint on this car was excellent, at least as good as factory new.

I'm not sure why anyone would paint any performance car white. :sick:

Mr_Shiftright

I have a friend who is a trained and certified Peugeot mechanic and HE won't touch one, either.

explorerx4

paul newman put ford 5.0's in his franken-volvo's.
they seem more appropriate.
i agree about the tail lights.

Mr_Shiftright

Yeah but Paul Newman could really drive! :P

ghulet

....of the apocalypse:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1985-BUICK-LE-SABRE-MONSTER-4X4_W0QQitemZ32047312- 2869QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Cars_Trucks?hash=item4a9dafc835

tjc78

That should be illegal.

andre1969

Maybe it's my inner redneck showing through, but I actually think that '85 LeSabre is pretty cool! I guess it's kinda odd though, that I'd hate the car if it had 24's and Lambo doors or whatever on it, but jacked up and ready for mudding, I like it!

I never would've done that with my grandmother's '85 though. About the most I wanted to do with it was put on those alloy wheels that were common on Electras and wagons, and when the Olds 307 finally went, I wanted to find a 350 or 403 to put in. Alas, the engine would probably be the LAST thing to go in that car. I got rid of it with about 157,000 miles on it. It needed about $1,000 worth of work, and when the brakes went out that was the icing on the cake. But the engine was still running strong. Well, as strong as 140 hp can be.

Mr_Shiftright

Well it is kinda "cool" in the same sense that firing a pig from a cannon into a wall of flaming Barbie dolls IS inherently interesting for a few brief moments.

omarman

Re: painting performance cars white

Except for the Superbird, I've seen white cars similar to these pictured and really liked them.

On the right side are the iconic Vanishing Point Challenger and an early
Shelby Mustang. Hard to picture them any other way after all the exposure.

On the left are 2 lesser seen examples that also look good in white. I
really like the shading effect around the fender flares against the white
finish of the AMX. (I thought the 1997-2003 Pontiac Grand Prix looked good
in white for the same reason.)

The Superbird, always a jarring sight with wild colors on the wild bodywork,
seems toned down just a touch by all the white expanse. Might be different
in person, though. Hard to tone down the effect of anything with a wing like that on it.

Mr_Shiftright

What could be more "right" than a white Corvette with red interior?

omarman

What could be more "right" than a white Corvette with red interior?

A blonde in a white Thunderbird. :shades:

andys120

What could be more "right" than a white Corvette with red interior?

-A red Corvette with a Black interior.

-A Black 'Vette with red interior.

...I could go on.

andys120

Of the cars you've shown the only one that appeals to me is the GT-350 but that is saved by those neat blue LeMans stripes (and by the fact that it's a car I like so much that I'd be willing to overlook the white).

That said I'd much prefer a blue GT-350 with white stripes.

White was a signature color on the Porsche 911 Carrera RS of the 1970s. I saw one the other day and as much as I liked it, I'd prefer it in one of those really LOUD yellows or greens that were common then.>

Mr_Shiftright

The first Corvette was white w/ red. It is considered the classic color combo, at least for vintage Vettes. Have some respect for tradition, man!~! :P