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

andre1969

My Dad had a '63 Impala SS409 with the 425 hp setup, and he did that same thing, putting the 6-cyl emblems on it. He also put an air scoop from a '62 Dodge on it!

berri

That stuff probably sounds kind of dorky today, but it was a simpler time back then and I'm not sure today's world isn't getting too serious and overcomplicated. I think we need to sit back and laugh a little more. Our parents and grandparents got through the depression and in a few years America will get through today's recession problems as well.

fintail

Now and then I think of de-badging my E55, removing the AMG badge, and replacing it with "E200CDi" and "DIESEL". :shades:

bretoneslopez

...in San Francisco over thnxgvng. BEAUTIFUL!! Had a colorado license plate. Thought they were not being sold in the US yet???

andre1969

I actually think it's pretty funny, putting a 6-cyl badge on a high-performance car, but at the same time putting a hood scoop on it! Plus, as was mentioned earlier, it's not like anyone paying attention couldn't tell what was under the hood! I guess that's what they call irony?

martian

I see on the internet, that there is a fair sized industry in CA-converting 914s to electric drive. the results are surprisingly good-with lead/acid batteries and an old aircraft generator, you get a car that has about a 50 mile range/charge. I'd like to do this, once i RETIRE AND HAVE THE TIME..ANYONE KNOW WHAT THE CONVERSION COSTS ARE?
Also, I understand that Chrysler lost a prototype car in the sinking of the Italian liner "Andrea Doria" in 1956-the car was called the "Norseman", and ot was built by Bertone or Gugiaro.
Anyway, was the Norseman ever considered for mass production? Or was it just a beautiful concept car, which would never have seen a showroom?

Mr_Shiftright

Why ruin a nice and potentially valuable 914 and turn it into a heavy, slow car with a range no better than a 1910 electric? Let them go mess up a Geo Metro, I say! :P

explorerx4

Mirada

explorerx4

crispy body?

ok until the middle of the first line

could be interesting

stickguy

I have always had a fondness for these. Looks nice enough, and if it is that clean without needs, certainly a reasonable price.

Just need a 4 speed in it to be perfect!

andre1969

That Mirada's pretty sweet. Way, way overpriced I'm sure, but I like it!

Mr_Shiftright

Shoot, I'd buy that Olds Vista Cruiser right now! I could use it to protect 3 or 4 parking spaces in front of my house. :P

jrosasmc

I found this on Ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1965-MG-1100-Sports-Sedan-/120655659164?pt=US_Car- s_Trucks&hash=item1c17a3409

Shifty, I have never seen one of these before, much less heard of them. Did MG really sell this car in America at one point? I thought they only sold Midgets and MGBs in the mid- to late-60s. I take it this particular model must be related to the Mini Cooper.

fintail

I think they were sold in NA, in limited numbers. Definitely sold in Canada. Related to the craptacular "Austin America" - I think they rusted and fell apart with a vengeance. I think they do have a lot of Mini and "landcrab" heritage. Matchbox made a toy of the sedan model.

ab348

It was actually not sold, to my knowledge, in Canada. I remember seeing ads for these -- I can't remember if it was in Motor Trend/R&T or in the Brit magazines my brother sometime bought -- and being surprised that MG had a sedan.

Examining the pictures, it appears virtually identical to a '68 Austin 1100 my folks bought new, except for the grille and some trim differences. The 1100 was an upsized Mini, with a bigger engine but still with the transverse/FWD configuration, the radiator in the drivers side of the engine compartment, hydrolastic suspension, etc. Ours had the AP 4-speed auto trans and was a real slug. I drove it around our country place when I was 12-13 years old and liked it a lot. It was a very comfy car with red leatherette seats inside and a beige paint job. It didn't have the wood trim on the dash that the MG has, but we got an Audiovox radio dealer-installed. It didn't have station preselect pushbuttons but did have pushbuttons for tone instead of a knob -- you could select "voice" or "music".

The America was an updated 1100, only available in a 2-door (our 1100 was a 4-door) and with a 1300cc engine. Both my brothers bought new ones, one BRG, one maroon, and liked them.

andys120

My buddy's Dad owned an MG 1100 ca. 1965. In some ways it was a pretty amazing vehicle featuring a tremendous amount of room in a footprint about that of the comparatively cramped VW Bug.

Speaking of bugs, the 1100, like any BMC car, had it's share of them but when it ran right the little front-driver was a blast to drive.

The 1100 was not directly related to the Austin/Morris Mini, being built on a somewhat larger platform (ADO 16) which became Britain's most popular car series in the '60s wearing badges from Austin, Morris, Woolsley and Riley as welll as MG.

The MG1100 and the Austin America were the only variants officially exported to the USA . IIRC the Austin America only came with an A/T in the US.

Wikipedia BMC ADO16

stickguy

drving about, a 65ish Impala. 4 door, paint looked original. A little tired, but not at all shot.

and outside a gas station, a pre-bumper Triumph spitfire. Looked very tired. could not see if it had plates or if it was for sale.

fintail

I stand corrected. Only place I've seen one in person was in Vancouver...but who knows how it got there. The Matchbox is worth maybe $30 MIB...car about similar I'd wager :shades:

My mother lives in a small town with an MG-Volvo shop. Well, the sign is still up, but I don't know if the kooky 90 year old who owns the place does much business anymore - I think he was a dealer back in the day too. Has, or had, a little junkyard behind the place with about half a dozen Americas and I think an 1100 or two as well.

Mr_Shiftright

Yeah they sold the MG 1100 in the US.

That looks like a Mk I, with the smaller 1098 "A" Series BMC engine.

Yes, same designer as the MINI, but with a weaker engine and a rather strange "hydrolastic" suspension system.

It's actually a nice little car, but for $1600, if it really needs a clutch, that's a bit of a bear and a considerable expense.

Basically if you take the market value of the car, and deduct the cost of a complete new clutch, the car is worth $350.

A Mk II with the 1275 cc engine and synchromesh in first gear would be the nicer car to have.

Most British cars without 1st gear synchro that you see in the USA have damaged transmissions. I wouldn't be surprised if this one sounds very bad in first.

andys120

According to Wikipedia, the Hydrolastic suspension was employed in some Minis from 1964-71 as well as in the ADO16 cars. It was based on the same principles as the pneumatic suspensions used in Citroens (ID/DS). Like most such systems it was high-maintenance.

Wikipedia: Hydrolastic

Mr_Shiftright

Scary, isn't it? But it didn't incorporate the entire Citroen system, thankfully.

stickguy

part at a strip mall in frigid NJ, a chrome bumper MGB. soe nasty body work on the front fender, but looked pretty rust free in the rockers. front end seemed to sit high (like when the engine is out). Weird.

also a very nice 70ish Buick GS on the road.

and the biggest oddball, a red 4 door Granada, that actually looked to be in good condition. And driving about!

texases

Within 5 minutes, a 73 ish Maverick coupe (in primer) followed by a 76 ish Camaro in the parking lot of my favorite Mexican restaurant.

jrosasmc

I found this little piece:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1972-FIAT-850-SPIDER-NO-RESERVE-BEST-/25074121004- 1?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item3a61573bb9

I had to ask myself - Why?

Mr_Shiftright

Well someone might want it to complete their poswar Fiat collection. Finding an 850 Spider that isn't in a wrecking yard is hard enough, but finding a mint one is quite unusual.

texases

The 850, near the top of the list on performance - when you start at the sloooow end.....

oregonboy

You may notice that none of the Fiat 850 pictures include anything that gives scale to the car... no people, no adjacent vehicles, not so much as a bicycle.

This is a TINY car. One could inspect the underside of the wheel-well openings of the vehicle next to you while stopped at a traffic light. A Miata is gargantuan by comparison. :surprise:

andre1969

I remember seeing one of those Fiat 850's a few years back, and not knowing what it was....although I was able to at least read "FIAT" on it. I think the guys here on Edmunds were able to identify it when I said, of all things, that it was sort of bug-eyed and had taillights reminiscent of a 1970-71 Ford Torino!

fintail

Oddities this morning - ~1952 Buick two door post, three porthole, parked at a Chrysler dealer, and an early-mid 80s little Subaru 2 door HT.

ab348

Hmmm... a time-consuming, link-filled post I made last week prior to the great Forums Reformation involved a number of interesting '70s cars for sale at a dealer in Michigan. That post has disappeared.

Was it removed for some unknown rules violation or was it a hapless victim of friendly fire by the tech wizards here?

Mr_Shiftright

Alas, a victim of computers I fear. We don't remove posts without telling people, unless they are obvious spam, and we don't edit posts either. On behalf of Edmunds, my apologies. Maybe it'll show up again

explorerx4

Shifty,
One of my good friends just bought an '08 Mini S.
I know there was something vulnerable underneath that you did something about, but I can't remember what it is.
Care to refresh my memory?

jrosasmc

I found this rather rare '89 Peugeot while searching Ebay earlier today:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Peugeot-505-SW8-WAGON-1989-505-SW8-WAGON-8-passen- ger-LOW-LOW-MILES-_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQhashZitem3cb34fdcb1QQitemZ260706393265QQptZ- USQ5fCarsQ5fTrucks

A friend of mine had a very similar '89 505 (this one was a sedan) in high school and I remember it being one of the biggest hunks of junk in the parking lot. The only question I have about this wagon is - was there really enough room in a 505 to fit a third-row seat?

I can't imagine having to drive this car around with a four-cylinder as powerful as a Volvo 240's.

Mr_Shiftright

Oh that was the fan for the power steering pump---given that this is a turbo, rather than supercharged, engine, in the 2008 model, I have no idea if the fan is still in the same place, and if it is still guarded by the factory "shield" made out of low-grade plastic. Certainly worth checking on, however. If that shield breaks and debris jams the fan, that fuse also works the engine cooling fan circuit.

Mr_Shiftright

That's a nice car to drive actually, but seems overpriced. I'd bid it to maybe $1800. I could have bought a pretty clean 1984 wagon for $1500 some months back.

Problem is that parts are drying up completely and nobody wants to work on them. Wonderfully comfortable car, though--rides like a Lexus.

jrosasmc

That's the way it goes for a lot of obscure, once-popular, and "orphaned" European cars, doesn't it? You own one for a number of years and then you have to get rid of it because you can't find parts anymore. I can just imagine trying to get parts for, say, a Merkur or a Sterling 10 years from now. And nobody will want to work on it.

Several years back (around 2002) I had a friend who owned an Alfa Milano sedan - I believe it was either an '88 or an '89. He actually tried to take it to the local Midas to have a brake job and other repairs done on it. They actually laughed at him, saying that they don't usually do repairs on Alfas.

andre1969

I remember back in the 1990's, I worked with a woman who had a t-shirt with a Peugeot 505 sedan on it, and some very salty printing below, although I can't remember what it said. She said she owned one, and it was the biggest piece of junk she ever had, hence the t-shirt. Must have made a really bad impression on her if, years later, she was still bitter enough to wear that t-shirt!

As for size, the wagon was considerably larger than the sedan. The wagon had a 114" wheelbase. For comparison, the 1979-91 Crown Vic wagon only had a 114.3" wheelbase, and the 1977-96 GM full-size cars weren't THAT much bigger, with a 116" wheelbase. The domestic wagons were a lot longer though, around 210-215" overall, compared to 193 for the Peugeot 505 wagon.

I pulled up some stats at www.fueleconomy.gov, and believe it or not, the 505 actually has more cargo volume than the Caprice or Crown Vic wagons! The EPA rates the 505 at 54 cubic feet of cargo space (behind the rear seat), versus 53 for the Crown Vic and 50 for the Caprice.

Peugeot must have sacrificed the back seat (middle row) though, compared to the sedan, because the EPA site shows the Peugeot sedan as having 90 cubic feet of passenger volume, versus only 80 for the wagon. So I wonder if they moved the back seat forward, or something, to make for more cargo room?

Mr_Shiftright

Peugeot is that type of car that suffers in America because a) parts are hard to get b) the people who own them bought them dirt cheap and can't afford to fix them c) the mechanics who consent to work on them often don't know what they are doing and dislike the cars because they are peculiar.

The 505 Turbo was problematic as was the V-6 engine. But a 505 with the 4 cylinder and serviced properly should be okay.

explorerx4

Thanks for the info. I will have him check it out just in case.

rare benz
something also caught my eye in the photo on the lower left.
it is the gray object on the right side of the picture, not the one on the left.

stickguy

is that rare object a Lincoln LSC?

Man, that Benz has money pit written all over it. And given what else the owner said he did t get it functional, he would have put the new fuel pump on it too (if it wasn't probably a bloody fortune!)

Mr_Shiftright

If you buy that Benz, you should also get one of the "Driver Carries No Cash" stickers for it. :P

texases

Isn't that grey object an '86-ish T Bird?

fintail

Huge money pit, that thing could suck down 5 figures without breathing hard.

Yep, there's a mid 80s T-Bird in the lower pics.

explorerx4

Yes, that's what I am thinking the gray car is.
Your picture even has the mustang 15 inch phone dial wheels.

fintail

Today's oddballs - Datsun 810 wagon I see now and then, a couple of 69-71 or so Dart/Valiant sedans, MB W116 (likely 300SD) with a wreath on the grille, old "classic" Range Rover

ab348

Here are a few nice but overpriced 70's Pontiacs from a dealer site:

Behind door #1: Bavarian Cream

Behind door #2: Cameo White

Behind door #3: Polaris Blue

I'll take door #3... no, door #1, Monty.

Mr_Shiftright

Yeah well good luck selling anything like that at those prices. Did he forget about the Price Cliff at 1974?

andys120

Did he forget about the Price Cliff at 1974?

Ha, I never heard the expression "Price Cliff" but if I were looking at 1970s collectibles I'd avoid anything built 1974-on which was the year that very strict emission regulations caused a steep drop in power and driveability that wasn't rectified fully until EFI was introduced in the mid-late 80s.

...then there were those battering ram 5mph bumpers.

andre1969

I like all three of 'em. No big surprise there, eh? :P I wonder why somebody would take something like a basic '76 Catalina, and preserve it like that? I could see somebody doing that with, say, a '75 Grand Ville convertible, '76 Eldorado, etc?

My favorite is the '76 LeMans, but I think the Bonneville would make the best driver. I've found the '73-77 A-body to be a bit tight on legroom unless it has power seats. With the power adjust, there's enough range of motion that the seat can actually go back TOO far for my needs! That LeMans caught my eye at first when the one header said "400 V-8", but then the ad copy said it was a 350. And looking at the VIN, it's just a 350-2bbl.

I know most people don't like those massive bumpers, but I think the look of the LeMans actually improved with the '76-77 style. I think it's the quad headlights and toned-down beak that I find attractive. And that generation of LeMans always did have a bulky bumper, even in '73. I remember I really didn't like my Mom's '75 LeMans as a kid. It had single headlights and sort of a garish eggcrate grille.

lemko

...brown 1975-77 Ford Granada two-door coupe with a tan top going west on Rhawn Street near Tabor Avenue in NE Philly. The car appeared to be in fairly nice condition.