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I spotted an (insert obscure car name here) classic car today! (Archived)
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Today's Germany sightings - it stopped raining, so some oldies were out. Jag XK150 coupe, MB W109, Volvo Amazon, 58 Olds 4 door HT, early 107, BMW Baur cabrio.
http://cnj.craigslist.org/cto/2060621140.html
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/beautiful-all-original-example-/280589759231?pt=U- S_Cars_Trucks&hash=item415473f2ff
I know nothing about the Fiat 1100 series so you may have to fill me in there. The Lancia - I have seen one example of before, but I have no interest in owning one for various reasons.
The Lancia might possibly be melted down to make teapots for tourists in Turkey---hopefully. It doesn't even deserve to bear the badge of a once-illustrious company.
Are 190s really that rare in Germany these days? I'd figure there would still be plenty of them running around, but maybe the German cash-for-clunker program culled them?
190s are still all over the place, but a 2.3-16 is pretty uncommon.
Looked like it had been parked outside for some time.
Oh yeah, yesterday I saw a 94-96 Impala SS.
Premium gas here would run around $7/gallon...so yeah, a little steep to drive it. Not to mention the terror of driving it on many streets that weren't designed for any kind of car, especially not one patterned after a WW2 tank :shades:
WW2 tanks did pretty well on the streets of Berlin so I think that Buick would do quite well. Your post implies that the streets of Germany's capital are quite bad, Im surprised to hear that :confuse: .
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
Let's see....$7 a gallon, and crawling around city streets in that thing might give you 10 mpg.....soooooo......yeah, .70cents a mile to drive anywhere.
I like the high roofline and boxy shape-makes for good headroom in the rear seats.
Which raises the question: the R-10 was a pretty simple car, and must have been easy to maintain-why didn't Renault do better with it? From my vantage, the R-10 ofered much of what the Japanese imports of the day offered-just a bit less refined.
Anyway, can you get parts for an R-10 today?
Haha! I'm not so sure about the easy to maintain part, but I've never owned one. It is a fair question to ask why didn't Renault do better with several opportunities in the States.
While based on the R8 the R10 didn't come along until after 1965 or so - way after VW had become the import leader here. That's no small thing to consider. Between parts, dealers, service, and the growing fraternity of VW owners turned back yard mechanics, the Bug was racking up sales+loyalty against better designed cars from everywhere.
What's not to like about the R10 really? Small and light but with 4 doors and more comfort than a VW. Water cooled rear engine for longevity and a real heater in winter. Good handling, 4 wheel disc brakes, etc. But it's French. Ut Oh...
It may rust, leak oil, short out electrical circuits, and require more maintenance than any domestic compact - or VW Bug either. And then there's the need for a competent dealer network, parts, etc. for a French car...in 1960s America.
I never liked the VW and only drove a Bug 1 time for about 10 minutes-and hated every minute of that. But they were cheap and appealing to many and even well built for the crude boxes they were designed to be.
The R10 was like a paper tiger when thrown against the VW. And over time the Renault attempts to crack the market here played like, "What's Up Tiger Lily?"
That car had the strangest automatic transmission that would cut the power between gears when it shifted, and the car decided when it wanted to shift. It was like a manual transmission where a ghost was assigned the duty of deciding when to shift. I think her father bought because VW did not offer an automatic transmission at the time and her mother did not like manual transmissions.
There was a short time when the Renault Dauphin seemed to be the first foreign non-sports car to crack the American market. It was advertised during the 1960 winter Olympics and seemed more common than the VW in the Chicago area market around that time. However, that may have been a local thing. Yugos seemed to be more popular there than any other place in America.
"In 1965, Renault offered an automatic transmission of unique design, developed and produced by Jaeger.
The clutch in the system was replaced by a powder ferromagnetic coupler, while the transmission itself was a three-speed mechanical unit similar to that of the Dauphine—but with synchromesh on all gears.
The system used a dash-mounted push button control panel where the driver could select forward or reverse and a governor that sensed vehicle speed and throttle position.
A "relay case" containing electromagnetic switches received signals from the governor and push bottons and then controlled a coupler, a decelerator to close the throttle during gear changes, and a solenoid to select operation of the reverse-first or second-third shift rail—and a reversible electric motor to engage the gears. The system was thus entirely electromechanical, without hydraulics, pneumatics or electronics."
http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/cto/2068664250.html
I've only seen one 128 before but from what I've been told they provided the basis for the Yugo. And from all accounts I've heard the 128 was not a great car either.
You'll see in the ad's pictures that there is an early '80s Saab 900 sitting next to the 128. If that 900 is an automatic it likely deserves to be there because we all know how they turned out. :P
There was a year or two around 1960 when the Dauphin outsold the Beetle but the VW which entered the US market in the mid 50s was "the first foreign non-sports car to crack the American market". Renault quickly faded and the Bug resumed it's dominance of the import market and held it until Japanese makes took over in the 1970s.
The Beetle/Bug had many faults but it was reliable and cheap to run. Most were bought as second cars or as first cars for young adults.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
The streets are in very good condition, especially as many are still cobbled. But some of them are a little narrow for ever-bloating modern cars.
Today I saw another Wartburg - this time a wagon. It was on an unlimited Autobahn stretch, behaving as a pylon. I also saw a W108 and several W126, along with a Ford Cougar and a Chevrolet Alero.
A piece of Soviet metal I spotted parked on a street near the Polish border the other day:
Very ingenious, you must admit.
2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee L Limited Velvet Red over Wicker Beige
2024 Audi Q5 Premium Plus Daytona Gray over Beige
2017 BMW X1 Jet Black over Mocha
Yes, but I heard that Renault had a really good recipe for egg salad.... :shades:
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
What color was it? When I was a kid I really didn't like them, because that front-end was just too weird for my tastes...plus I was in love with the quad headlight '76-77 models. But now, I find I like them more and more. Other than an occasional car show, I can't remember the last time I've seen one.
I'm sort of like you -- when I was a kid I thought they looked odd, although the Grand Am was better than the garden variety LeMans, but in my case I felt that it was because the rear end was swoopy while the front was kind of blocky. That only got worse with the'76-'77 front end of course, and I ended up owning one of those!
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
That was 1974. Actually, I don't think they're bad cars, and if they had been called anything other than GTO, I'm sure they would be much better remembered today. They had a 200 hp Pontiac 350-4bbl in a compact body, and offered either a stick shift or automatic. And that was pretty good power for a 70's compact...heck, it was pretty good power for a lot of big cars in those days!
I wonder if the 1974 GTO might have actually been a better car than the 1973? The '73 offered a 230 hp 400 or a 250 hp 455, but was also a bigger, heavier car. There was supposed to be a Super Duty 455 that put out 290-310 hp, but I think it only ended up in a handful of Trans Ams. Originally it was supposed to be offered in the GTO, Grand Am, and Grand Prix as well, but never made it past a couple of test cars, as far as I know.
The first ones were often seen in white, with blue and red accent pinstriping.
In my memory, these were the first four-door GM cars that came with buckets and console and floorshift. I don't know if I've ever seen a real four-door Grand Am...only in the brochures and magazines.
I am told the parts are readily available and engine is a proven 400,000+ miles performer, but have deep reservations about a 30 year old car.
I noticed in archives extensive discussions in 2002, and am wondering if anyone has nothing better to do today than read this post and provide me with the benefit of their experience. would be most appreciative.
Parts are available, but will tend to be pricey, shares lots of parts with 450S and SL. As for 'proven 400,000+ performer, that's nonsense. No engine I know of meets that level of reliability, but it's really not an issue if the miles can be documented. As for your reservations, you are right to be concerned. You'll want to check out every system on the car (A/C, electical options, etc.), and have a different mechanic check it out. I'd have the compression checked, too.
If you're expecting this to be a reliable daily driver, it won't be without a fair amount of periodic maintenance and repair.
As for the price, I couldn't find any SLC bid to over $5000 on ebay motors, except the rare 5.0L special edition. So it would seem $10k might be high.
It has a 292 V-8, and a manual shift on the floor. Came out of Michigan, but looks great...rust free, and great chrome, although it might have been re-chromed. I'm thinking it's been repainted as well, because the paintjob is so smooth that it makes what you see on a modern BMW or Benz look almost like Earl Sheib in comparison. A lot of those old cars had pretty smooth paintjobs though...I suspect that the fact that today's paintjobs are thicker, and have the clearcoat, that it might show off the orange peel better? I think he paid $25K for it.
Oh, and on the way up, I saw a white '65 Impala hardtop coupe in a farmer's field. Looked like it was all there, and from a distance didn't look bad, but I'm sure on closer inspection I would see the reason why it was there, out standing in its field. :P
I drove the Park Ave up, and it did pretty well. According to the trip computer, which tends to run slightly optimistic, I averaged 26.8 mpg going up, and 29.5 coming back. Part of the trip up involved hilly back roads, but I took a different way back that was mostly highway. And, they're at a higher elevation, so that probably helps make the trip back a bit more economical.
and first gen E class class coupe in red. Script on the read decklid '300 CE 24'.
Speaking of odd cars, my uncle claims there's a 1959-60 Datsun lingering around his neighborhood somewhere, couldn't tell me more about it than it's a "car". The 63 Impala that has been sitting in a driveway down the street from my grandmother for what must be at least 25-30 years is also still there. I wish my uncle could have surprised me with a nice vintage roadster rather than his 98 LeSabre :shades:
Lots of tailgating. Someone had a beautiful 30's Chevy fire truck. Red, gold lettering, chrome rims and diamond plate storage box. Also a kicking sound system and an octobong. Of course my kid in college noticed this.
Also, a mint mid 60's Chrysler Imperial. When I pointed it out, both my kids said at just about the same time, 'you can fit a lot of bodies in that trunk'.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
I know this is sad, but I can still remember the issue (same one?) where they tested alternate police cars, and the winner was a Volvo 164E. Man, have times changed.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
2009 BMW 335i, 2003 Corvette cnv. (RIP 2001 Jaguar XK8 cnv and 1985 MB 380SE [the best of the lot])