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

magnette

Not to the French / Spanish / Danish navies...

Mr_Shiftright

sore losers.

euphonium

has a freeway named after him in Honolulu & that's preferred to a pigeon post.

Mr_Shiftright

I always hoped that some American automaker would name their largest car a Nimitz but it never happened.

magnette

Funnily enough I always thought Land Rover could have used the name Dreadnought for something big and formidable - but the spelling would be difficult..

andre1969

I always hoped that some American automaker would name their largest car a Nimitz but it never happened.

Well, if it's any consolation, the 1957-60 Chrysler Saratoga wasn't exactly petite. At something like 220" overall, it was longer than some Cadillacs of the time.

How long did the longest US cars get, anyway? Here's some of the biggest I could find...

c1976 Fleetwood 75: 252.2"
c1976 Fleetwood Brougham: 233.7"
c1976 Buick Electra: 233.3"
c1976-78 Lincoln Continental Town Sedan/Coupe: 233"
c1976-78 Chrysler New Yorker Brougham: 232.7"
c1976 Olds 98: 232.2"
c1976 Cadillac DeVille: 230.7"
c1978 Mercury Marquis: 229"

When you figure that all these 70's cars had crash bumpers that tended to jut out though, maybe they really weren't all that big? In some cases, those protruding bumpers added a good 10" or more. So if you took a 220" long late 50's car and forced it to comply to mid-70's bumper standards, I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't swell up to 230".

oregonboy

The British navy could supply a host of impressive and/or laughable names for plus-sized cars:

Audacious, Repulse, Resolution, Magnificent, Majestic, Venerable,Formidable, Irresistible, Implacable, Adamant, Ardent, Brilliant, Defiance, and my favorite, Indefatigable

euphonium

Abreviating "Indefatigable" would make it an Indefat causing other uniformed to think it was a larger than usual Memorial Day racer.

euphonium

The Ford Excursion is often referred to as the Ford Sub Division & could have been christened Nimitz.

lemko

I heard a guy refer to a Lincoln Town Car as a "Town House."

ab348

I would have thought a better candidate for the name "Subdivision" would be the Chevy Suburban.

euphonium

"Town Car" has always been a missnomer with me. Our 95 T Bird is used around town while the TC is used on the freeway & long trips.

Mr_Shiftright

Oh "town car" is another one of those phony Detroit faux luxury labels, taken from the old days of horse-drawn carriages and early automobile production e.g. Brougham, deVille, Phaeton, etc). The Town Car was a chauffeur-driven type, with a glass divider between driver (the underling) and the passengers (aristocrats who didn't associate with underlings).

Naturally, while this "town car" appellation once made sense in the American society of say New York in the 1920s, it is totally absurd in 2010 Detroit.

Most chauffeurs are a lot more chummy today, and they don't grovel nearly as well as they did 100 years ago.

Back then, your chauffeur took care of your entire fleet of cars, one of which you'd pick that afternoon for whatever event or purpose you had that evening or the next day. So the Town Car for those chilly evenings, with plently of roof clearance for that top hat and wivey's feathered chapeau, and perhaps the open phaeton to take the family to the seashore. Naturally you'd also have a snappy roadster if you drove yourself around and wivey might have a little Detroit Electric closed car for shopping locally with lady friends.

euphonium

a glass divider between driver and the passengers

Could have used that feature in our '80 TC as the MIL was a real yapper!

Mr_Shiftright

Yeah but the old town cars had a voice tube so you could give orders to the chauffeur. You have to plug that up after raising your defensive shields.

What did you mean....."was" a yapper? What have you done with her?

euphonium

We buried her 1995.

Mr_Shiftright

Ah well life goes on.

Very often the town car's chauffeur sat in the open air (roofless).

They even made a Model A Ford town car!! I actually saw one, made by Murray (I think---not sure). The idea was to use such a car during the Great Depression so that you wouldn't get stoned driving down the street. That was a real possibility back then if you flaunted your wealth in the midst of what seems to have been incredible suffering for some people.

berri

I actually recall seeing an open driver mid 60's Lincoln show car at the Chicago auto show when I was a kid. Except instead of Town Car they may have called it something like brougham or landau - I can't remember. It actually looked nice with those squared off mid 60's Lincoln lines. However, if I saw one today I'd probably think it belonged to some third world dictator or something.

Mr_Shiftright

The tasteful customizations are limitless on this car apparently:

fintail

There was one of those at the latest local concours, as it had a Ford theme...fairly handsome thing, there was also a Model T Town Car offered from time to time IIRC.
(and look in the background, a Lincoln TC in the parking garage)

jrosasmc

Here are two cars that one doesn't see on a daily basis:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/1971205769.html

http://duluth.craigslist.org/ctd/1968534524.html

Shifty would probably be all over the Alfa since he's in northern CA. I doubt the Renault will find any risk-takers.

Mr_Shiftright

That's a mighty price for a mighty-miled up Alfa Milano. I don't think he'll get anywhere near that. They are fun cars, but a nuisance. The one you want is a 164LS.

Renault-- well for $300 bucks, why not? You could always turn it into a playhouse for the kids.

explorerx4

You have some great pictures there. I will have to back to #1 and go forward from there.

omarman

Saw a coral finished '03 Ford Thunderbird like the one in the James Bond movie Die Another Day.

fintail

It was a good show if one is a Ford racing enthusiast

fintail

That Renault is a gigantic mother lode of unobtanium and has to be worth that to someone. Of course, that someone is probably 1800 miles away.

The Alfa would be good if your other car is a tow truck :shades:

Mr_Shiftright

If you don't know (intimately) a good Alfa mechanic, and you don't have parts suppliers, new and used, already lined up, then you don't want a Milano. They are "obscure" for a good reason.

lemko

Back then, your chauffeur took care of your entire fleet of cars.

My chauffeur would be very busy and a nervous wreck. I'm extremely OCD about my cars!

lemko

...black Mercedes 300SL. Not sure of the year. Probably early 1960s. Also, spotted the shell of a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air or 210 painted a nice tasteful burnt orange color for any rodder/customized who wants a project to complete.

lemko

Per Hizzoner's Cadillac:

A Real Car Guy Buys Rizzo's Cadillac

fintail

28K eh...well sold, that provenance must be priceless in Philly.

Was the 300SL you saw a gullwing or roadster type?

Mr_Shiftright

I really liked this quote:

"What do we have for this huge piece of history?"

I mean, what is Alexander the Great's breastplate next to THIS?

lemko

Gullwing. I took a picture of it on my cell phone.

fintail

Hell of a sighting, you should post it here

I like to see cars like that actually be driven now and then

explorerx4

It was worth it hitting the 'Previous' button 100 times.
There has been some discussion about ford producing another 'Ford GT'.
If they do it, here is the model Mark IV

fintail

I liked that street model next to it.

I'd never seen so many GTs and Cobras together before, it was pretty amazing.

andys120

The car next to the Mk.IV is the rarely seen Mk.III, the original street version of the GT40 (only 7 made); the Borrani wires are the giveaway.

fintail

Here's a link to that Mk III...I thought it looked pretty cool in a 60s supercar way, and nice color too...I wonder what that thing is worth

Mr_Shiftright

I don't think a MK III would be as valuable as some of the racing GT40s certainly---the III was a softer, road-going car, detuned ("only" 306 HP) and de-styled.

I heard of a "real" racing GT40 that failed to sell in the UK in 2009 when bid up to 1.8 million bucks. I'm not sure if that car had any particularly glorious racing history---which would matter in a car like this.

fintail

So it's still maybe worth a low seven figures then? Nice.

Mr_Shiftright

It's a rarified market so I'm just guessin on this one. I think any "real" GT40, be it road or street, is worth a bundle. These are very historical automobiles. Of course, if one of them has a real race history, that boosts value tremendously.

fintail

And there were something like 9 or 10 of them at that show I think...pretty expensive parking lot...I'd take it...deposited into a nice Swiss account, of course :shades:

Mr_Shiftright

You sure they were real? They make some very convincing replicas. The Holman-Moody Ford GT is one (which is about as real as you can get) and Roush also makes one. These are actual track-able and streetable cars.

fintail

They were all real, with history told on the placards in front of the cars. It's a pretty high end show.

maksimanya

on my way to work today. I know that it is not so rare as the Ford GTs or Merc Gullwings, but it was a thing of beauty. And not so common on the drive from Cincinnati to Oxford, OH.

Mr_Shiftright

I'd still like to see chassis #s on those.

explorerx4

Didn't you know? Ox Vegas is becoming a destination.

fintail

I didn't get any pics of those :shades: ...next year I'll invite you up to the show.

Last year the show had like 9 gullwings, 3 or 4 540Ks and a couple older S/SS cars, a nice open Bugatti, a Chrysler Ghia show car, etc...it isn't hurting for good material.

fintail

Location must be key...probably only a few of those in that area.

I saw one in downtown Seattle a couple days ago...stuck in traffic.

Mr_Shiftright

As an appraiser, I'm born suspicious. You'd be amazed how many high end cars are parts of 3 different automobiles, one of which was supposedly destroyed and lost (aside from the VIN plate, apparently) another sold without an engine which now shows up in THIS car, and all bolted to a chassis "recreated" from a track wreck.