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

Mr_Shiftright

Most have been upgraded. They were bedeviled with some serious mechanical and engineering issues, but by now, most hobbyists have figured out how to make them a) reliable and b) bearable to drive.

boomchek

Ha, I also saw an XR4Ti yesterday on the way home. Looked beat up too but it was moving.

fintail

"clean and cute"....well, you're half right

Lots of these seem to be in Ohio

Centenarian

Big red

Classy

Year one

Freakshow

When small pickups were small

You won't pull up beside yourself at a stoplight

GM old time Euro style

Rare

Might sell in Quebec

The vintage photo is cool

I just love that door panel

Height of malaise

Not a taxi

Horrible vision of the future

Buy in bulk

imidazol97

The 59 CAdillac, big REd, is awful. Get rid of those wheels. Get rid of that urban fake grill.

I like reading the descriptions such as the 61 Olds with the bubble top.
It's unmolested. Hmmmm.
However it has dent in trunk. Dent in bumper. Damage around wheel. But it's unmolested.

But I love the car! Didn't recall the 394 cu in as an engine from the past.

Mr_Shiftright

Pacer Wagon---bidders are clueless, they keep asking him what his "reserve" price is---the WHOLE POINT of a reserve price is that it's a secret!!! GEEZ....

1909 Cadillac -- he wants $87,500 for it and he has one photo and two lines of text that tell you the car is 100 years old. Gee, I wonder why his auction failed?

59 Cadillac --- painful to look at. Cadillac becomes an object of ridicule.

24 Chrysler -- hard to price. Should be worth more than a Model A roadster but how much more?

69 Opel Wagon ---bid to $4000?? SELL IT already!!

42 Packard --- would make a neat rod. Or, restore it for $40,000, and sell it for $20,000.

61 Olds 2DHT --- at $7000, we are getting close to fair market. Hope the reserve isn't too much higher, or seller will be buying the car a birthday cake every year.

81 Olds -- I am .....speechless.... :surprise:

81 Pontiac Phoenix --- who on earth cares?

61 Checker --- looks pretty correct. $4000 should be enough to take it.

4 Yugos --- 4 is not enough to keep 1 running. That's a real optimist.

texases

Can you imagine what it would be like to drive that Elcar? In traffic?? During rush hour??? :surprise:

andre1969

Back in 1993 I looked at a 1960 Olds 98 hardtop coupe that was for sale locally. Body was pretty solid, but the interior was gutted. It had a 394-4bbl. I think that engine came out for 1958 or 1959, and was an enlargement of the 370 or 377 or whatever it was they had in 1957.

I took it for a spin, and it was fast, but I remember something about the transmission being funny. This was the only time I ever drove one of those old-style 4-speed hydramatics, so maybe I just wasn't used to the way it shifted? Or maybe it was missing a gear too, who knows?

Call me crazy, but I kinda like that 1981 Phoenix. Not that I'd ever bid on it, but being a die-hard Pontiac fan, I guess it's just kinda cool to see something from one of Pontiac's darkest hours that held up so well. Someone at work has a similar-vintage Phoenix coupe that I see around from time to time. It's white with a red interior, and looks well-cared for. Younger guy driving it too, so maybe it got handed down from his mother or grandmother? Even though the cars were getting pretty bad by that time, I think they were dressing up the interiors pretty nicely. Heck, most mainstream midsized-type cars nowadays don't look that nice inside! Sure, the seats might be padded a bit better, and the turn signal stalks might not fall off, but I miss those days of fabric and carpeting on the door panels, and that fake stainless steel strip is a nice touch, too. Nowadays it's just a sea of plastic.

imidazol97

I looked at the 81 Phoenix. I didn't care as much for the aero styliing as I did the sedan. But that car's interior and exterior are great!

How did they keep the wire spokes on the wheel covers from rusting in from the ends? I thought those things rusted just sitting in the atmosphere? Around here after several years of salt they start rusting.

kyfdx

I really like that car... Too bad it's the diesel and not the straight-six gasser..

RWD, too!!

dieselone

Can you imagine what it would be like to drive that Elcar? In traffic?? During rush hour??? :surprise:

Probably would be similar to the Phoenix, only you'd have more metal around you.

I didn't see what engine the Phoenix had, iron duke?

Mr_Shiftright

Ah, the Phoenix! That wonderful .29 cent switchgear. The reedy thwang of the trunk lid as you slam it and the plastic pieces vibrate. The soothing vibration of the engine as it massages your body at idle. The soft lumpy seats, with their sexy bordello fabrics, and their ability to sway your body right and left as you turn. The mellifluous sounds of the 8-track coming through that 1-inch speaker from a 9V Taiwanese portable beach radio.

It really doesn't get much better than this folks.

boomchek

HA! Those Yugos are in my neck of the woods. I'd seriously consider buying them and making one running one out of them if I had the space. Cheap and unusual car to play around with. Registration is not hard to get from ICBC here anyways.

andre1969

I didn't see what engine the Phoenix had, iron duke?

Yeah, Iron Duke 2.5, all 85-90 hp of it. Horrible by today's standards, but in range of the likes of the Mopar 2.2 and Ford's 2.3. I think the Iron Duke was rougher, although none of those engines were exactly sewing-machine smooth.

andre1969

I looked at the 81 Phoenix. I didn't care as much for the aero styliing as I did the sedan. But that car's interior and exterior are great!

I wasn't so crazy about those hatchback sedans either. I thought the notchback they used for the Omega and Skylark 4-door was a lot better looking. The notchback coupe was decent though. One of my car encyclopdias has a factory photo of a black 1983 or 84 Phoenix, the one that tried to be sporty. SJ, maybe? It was pretty sharp looking.

stickguy

not that bad an engine, for the time. Certainly better than the 2.3 from the Vega that it replaced! Nothing like sleeveless aluminum to let oil burn...

A friend of mine inherited a late-70s Monza with an iron duke (this must have been the mid-late 80s someplace). Don't remember it being a bad car overall. Of coruse, it did replace a Fairmont 4 door 4 cyl. Now that was a dog, but it still maanged to haul around 3 large guys on the highway without noticable trouble.

People forget what normal was 20-30 years ago. 15 sec 0-60/ Plenty good enough, and most people still didnt use it all.

I love that a Camry can get to 60 in 7 secs now. THe average owwner would pee in their pants if they ever punched it hard enough to break 10 secs.

Same with lateral Gs. I think most drivers think they are about to fall off the earth at around .4. THe difference between .7 and .8 is effectively meaningless for 99% of the population, especially with stability control.

hpmctorque

Humorously correct!

hpmctorque

Accurate description of those three engines. The Iron Duke was the least refined of those engines, and the Mopar the least unrefined. I guess that leaves the Ford 2.3 in the middle. But wait, there were two Ford 2.3s. One was the OHV 2.3 that went into the Tempo/Topaz, which I believe was the Falcon/Comet/Maverick/Mustang I-6, less 2 cylinders. The other was the OHC 2.3 that was introduced in the early '70s. I'm thinking that these two Ford engines were fairly comparable, in terms of NVH.

Incidentally, Ford offered a 2.5 version of that OHV 4 in the early Tauruses.

dieselone

One was the OHV 2.3 that went into the Tempo/Topaz, which I believe was the Falcon/Comet/Maverick/Mustang I-6, less 2 cylinders. The other was the OHC 2.3 that was introduced in the early '70s. I'm thinking that these two Ford engines were fairly comparable, in terms of NVH.

Yeah, I'd agree except for the OHC 2.3 turbo used in the mid 80's T-bird Turbo Coupe and Mustang SVO. In HS, a girl friend of mine's brother had an 86 SVO and it wasn't a thrash box like n/a 2.3s. It wasn't a v8 either, but not bad for the day. Fun though.

hpmctorque

You may be right, but I've read mixed comments regarding the Ford turbo 4s. For example, the reviews of the T-Bird Turbo 4s seemed to be more favorable than those of the Merkur, even though the engines were similar, I believe.

dieselone

I don't think the Merkur ever received the latest version of the 2.3. IIRC, the Tbird got a 190hp with a 5speed manual (automatic was rated lower I think) and the Mustang SVO was the 205hp version in '86. I think the Merkur had like 170hp.

I don't think the 2.3 turbos were great in terms of durability, but they were among the best turbo 4s available at the time.

IIRC, some of Chryslers 2.2 turbos back then were okay too. Remember the Dodge Spirit Turbo's and the Shelby trimmed Dodge Horizons etc.

fintail

Those cars might have been perception killers....period Hondas were sewing machine smooth, even if they liked to get rusty in some climates.

My fintail has an amazingly smooth little I6, and it even kind of clatters like a sewing machine. Probably puts out about as much torque, too :shades:

fintail

A few oddities today. 68 or so Barracuda convertible, black. Red 59 Caddy 2 door HT (like that red sedan from ebay) driven by an old man. 57 Bel Air 2 door post. Late 70s Datsun 810 wagon, And I looked at an unusually well equipped 1997 SL500 sitting at a local dealer...60K miles, sport/AMG package, 18" monoblocks, xenons, and the unusual for the R129 panorama roof. The car is pretty mint.

And I saw something I have never seen on the road before. I saw an old car coming at me from several blocks away, and by the shape of it I thought it was a 39-40 Ford. As it got closer, I could see it was larger than a Ford car, almost resembling a small truck if you didn't see the side. When I got beside it I could see what it was - a ca. 39 Lincoln Zephyr convertible. It was pristine and driven by an older guy, who gave me a look of acknowledgment as I drove past in the fintail. It was something like this:

...very dapper

oregonboy

Stunning car! He probably wouldn't have even noticed you, if you had been driving your E55. :P

imidazol97

All of your sightings are making me anxious for the cruise-in season to start here. April and May are a long time away. We have had some days of melting but still have maybe six inches of snow in parts of the yard.

fintail

Yep, the E55 is anonymous...the only people who notice it are MB enthusiasts...which is fine with me.

The car I saw was a maroon-dark red kind of color.

We're having amazing weather here, cloudless weekend with highs near 60s. The east has had a frigid winter, we've had spring for weeks...flowers and buds everywhere now.

imidazol97

>flowers and buds everywhere now.

Ahhhh, man. That's cruel to tell me that. We've had snow on the ground for weeks.

Do you read Stuart Wood's novels? Stone Barrington bought an E55 with light armour plate and windows, and a certain motor, radar detectors built in, etc.

fintail

I saw convertibles with tops down today :shades:

I'm not familiar with that author, but that sounds interesting. The older cars are less obvious than the later models, and much less common.

lemmer

I saw a mid-90s Crown Vic today. What is so interesting about that, you ask? Well, it had big ole side pipes on it, the likes of which I haven't seen on a street car in over twenty years. It was driven by a rough looking fellow smoking a cigarette and wearing a sleeveless t-shirt. I saw him in the parking lot of our business offices before 8 in the morning, but he sure looked like someone trying to find his way home from last night. In any case, wow, sidepipes.

dieselone

Hmm, sounds like the character Kurt Russel played in Deathproof, minus the classic muscle car though.

kyfdx

You don't see many of these... this one was in pretty decent, un-modified shape.... stick-shift, and sounded good (I was walking).

ghulet

...they're usually modfied and/or rusty (Chicago); most I've seen were also painted in that period aqua/blue, of which I'm not a fan. Cute lil car at the time, and I imagine pretty quick with the V6.

dieselone

Cute lil car at the time, and I imagine pretty quick with the V6.

yeah, wasn't the v6 in a mx-3 like a 1.8 liter or something. I remember test driving one a long time ago and they were pretty cool.

kyfdx

Nice little car.. the V-6 wasn't all that powerful.. Just a lot smoother than the four...

dieselone

Nice little car.. the V-6 wasn't all that powerful.. Just a lot smoother than the four...

Yeah, that is for sure. Mazda's 1.8 and 2.5 v6's from the 90's were incredibly smooth and they had a nice growl too.

boomchek

I actually like the aqua blue of the 90s. The Civic coupes wore that color too.

As for the MX3's, every one I see are beat to death. Cool lil cars though.

ghulet

....OK colors, stick, power stuff, looks bone stock (though the front suspension looks a little low), and I guess when it comes down to it, I can probably think of $2k cars I'd rather have than a 20 year-old MX3:

link title

ghulet

....while walking back from the market, a Ford Festiva, and it actually looked and sounded decent. My bro's ex girlfriend had one of those, I drove it around for a week; miserable little car, even with a stick.

hpmctorque

I also saw a Festiva today. It was an aqua green color, was being driven, and, judging by the appearance, it looked to be in good shape.

ghulet

My current favorite, crazy loaded (first-year tilt and AM/FM even) '63 Impala, though I'd prefer factory wheels and suspension:

link title

I had a Matchbox version of this rare Stude, price may be OK, definitely worth saving:

link title

Rare '64 Buick hearse, though I don't know quite what I'd do with it:

link title

Cool, probably fairly rare, massive Buick wagon, with good pics, honest description and reasonable price, IMO:

link title

euphonium

As for the hearse - I'd park it in front of BO's home.

fintail

Husky, the ca. 1:64 version of Corgi, also had a toy Wagonaire.

I wonder if Impala guy could get more for that thing if he hadn't blinged it out.

Too bad that big Buick appears to have sat outside for eons.

ghulet

...though I remember it being a different color. I could be wrong, I had it circa 1972. Of all the junk I have kept, I wish I had more of my Matchbox (I do still have some, but not nearly all).

I agree with you re the Impala wagon; the rest of the car is so nice and original looking (the interior is great), why eff it up and waste probably five grand lowering it and adding those rims. I will admit he at least did a reasonably tasteful job, but I'd definitely prefer the factory wheels, tires and hubcaps. If you check the wagon section, there are an alarming amount of that era that have been lowered, blinged, have crazily redone interiors and wild paint, especially true with Fords and Chevies.

fintail

I have only seen that Matchbox in variations of blue. I think the Husky version was white. One could probably find that car in mint condition for no more than $20 or so, mint in box for around $40.

IMO, that Impala would look better on correct deluxe or even '63 SS hubcaps, and period correct whitewalls. It is so rare with that option load, at least the interior hasn't been ruined.

boomchek

Pictures

Story

Seems like this guy is trying to save every 70-81 Camaro out there. I like this well preserved collection!

fintail

That's insane...it literally looks like he has tried to assemble every possible color combination. A time warp back to a dark age. That being said, I'd pick one of the blue ones. I also have to wonder what's the story behind that Caprice coupe.

kyfdx

Hmmm...

Why didn't someone tell him that if you are collecting 2nd Gen Camaros, you should stop after 1972? :surprise:

ghulet

Why didn't someone tell him that if you are collecting 2nd Gen Camaros, you should stop after 1972?

I agree with you, kyfdx, for the most part, though on 2nd-gen F-bodies in particular, you must admit that the sheer number of color/model/interior/powertrain/stripes-spoilers-mags combinations, particularly from, say, '76-81 is staggering. Makes it kinda fun.

What strikes me even more is that, if I could afford eighty or so restored cars, I'd certainly have a little more variation. I mean, he had scant Corvettes, a few who-really-cares '78-79 Monte Carlos and a couple new Challengers. I can think of at least thirty cars I'd like to have in addition, even if the majority of the collection were just one thing.

explorerx4

that was great! I sent the link to my BIL. He had several of those gen Camaro's.
One time he even let me drive his black one, with 'Born to Run' on the back of the rear spoiler.
It had a tubbed rear end and a built 350 with nitrous. This was back about 1987/88.

ghulet

....had a '73 Z/28, burgandy, white vinyl interior, no spoiler, and those cool graphite mag wheels. Beautiful car, I was crazy about it (at 6 years old), but he said it was a 'dog' (this was likely in comparison to cars my other uncles had, e.g. a '70 4-4-2 W-30 convertible, some Road Runner or other, and a '67 4-4-2). Didn't keep it long.

Mr_Shiftright

He's going to need that many for parts cars.

He should have stopped in the late 60s/early 70s. :P