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

andre1969

Here's a question - why obscure the plates? I know it's done all the time, but what is the purpose? 'Bad guys' can see all the plates they want, just by driving around.

I dunno...probably serves no real purpose, other than to give me the warm fuzzies. And, I haven't done it consistently, so whatever warm fuzzies I might have truly are delusional.

Plus, pics of my cars taken by others come up from time to time, such as this one, that someone snapped of my '76 LeMans at a car show back in 2006.

andre1969

that old pic that someone else took of my Lemans jogged my memory. I had totally forgotten that I posted the pics from that Rockville MD car show in 2010, and had forgotten about sharing the link. Here they are, if anyone wants to check 'em out!

tjc78

Is this picture is that your friend's Mark? I really love those.

fintail

Wow, some unusual exotics there, the Ferraris and Miura, impressive. Not what I expect to see alongside 70s domestics.

andre1969

Yep, that's it! I love it too...perfect color, sunroof, and I love the felt interior. It doesn't look like it would hold up very well with wear and tear, but it's nice and comfy.

I forget how many miles he has on the car now. Probably under 20K. I think it only had 11K when he bought it! He takes really good care of it, although I remember at the Carlisle Ford show a couple years back, he sat a soda can down on his car, and it made Lemko cringe!

andre1969

Wow, some unusual exotics there, the Ferraris and Miura, impressive. Not what I expect to see alongside 70s domestics.

Yeah, that show does have a nice mix of cars. Always has, and sometimes it makes me wonder why they let my old heap in among them! I swear you can almost smell the money on the people at that show! I tend to take enough pics of the domestic hulks, so I figured I'd go for a bit more variety this time.

tjc78

It doesn't look like it would hold up very well

I've seen some pretty high mileage DJEs and surprisingly they held up nice. A few years back I had a chance to buy a 79 Collector's series (same interior as a DJE just a different color) and it had right around 100K . The interior was in really nice shape, except the leather on the console was stretching.

andre1969

so it's time to go topless!

fintail

Now that's the look, top down. Those wheels really help, too - great move finding those.

uplanderguy

Andre, the Catalina looks great! From what I can see, it looks like at least the rear seat is in excellent original condition, as far as the interior is concerned.

Am I right in that I don't recall those factory wheels until '68, although they sure dress up the car so nicely! I can't recall for sure seeing them on big Pontiacs before '68.

andre1969

Am I right in that I don't recall those factory wheels until '68, although they sure dress up the car so nicely! I can't recall for sure seeing them on big Pontiacs before '68.

Y'know, I'm trying to recall if they were even offered on the big Pontiacs in '68? I'm pretty sure they were offered on the Firebird and Tempest, but it might have been as late as 1969 that they finally started offering them on full-sized Pontiacs, which used the slightly larger 5" bolt pattern.

And that's something I never understood. I can see a smaller car having a smaller bolt pattern. But if you're talking 4.75" versus 5", is that really enough to make a difference? :confuse:

I know it kills the car's originality, but I think it looks SOOO much better with those Rally 2's. Pontiac may not have offered them, but hell, they should've come out with them a couple years sooner! Plus, I got tired of chasing down the old hubcaps that the car tended to fling. I remember one nice spring day years ago, one of them came off, hopped a ditch, and landed right in a poison ivy patch. And I'm highly allergic! But I managed to fish it out with out getting a rash!

lemko

Of course there's the ne plus ultra of Pontiac wheels - the Eight Lug Wheels! Was there a proper name Pontiac gave these wheels?

andre1969

I'm not sure if those had a proper name or not. I've just always heard them referred to as "8 lug wheels". I think they're cool, but always worried about durability. The inner part of that wheel doubles as your brake drum, so I'd worry about them getting gouged out, or simply wearing out. Although I probably don't drive the car enough to worry about wearing out a set anytime soon, presuming they had enough meat on them. I've had that car almost 17 years now, and I think I've put around 14,000 miles on it.

I think they were dropped completely after 1968, as front disc brakes became more common.

lemko

I see they are actually two pieces:




Well, three if you count the stainless trim ring.

imidazol97

That is a perfect picture of that car. It doesn't distort the nearer headlight cluster making it look larger than it is compared to the rest of the car!

I love that buttery cream color.

ab348

Am I correct is believing that the '73 airbag Chevy shown in the photos had the Olds dashboard and unique steering wheel shown in the following picture? If so, I never knew that was how GM did it.

fintail

In "Seinfeld", Kramer actually had an airbag Chevy

kyfdx

Saw this one, pulling into McDonalds, today....

I've never seen one in the wild, before.... gorgeous car..

Twin-turbo V-8, 450 hp.. '03 was the only year they were imported, I think..

andre1969

Yup, that Chevy had an Olds dashboard in it! I guess it was too expensive for GM to design the dashboards in all five divisions to accept airbags, so for the few Chevies equipped with them, it was just easier to fit an Olds dashboard.

I wonder what Pontiac did? Or did Pontiac ever offer airbags? Looking around online, I found this pic, of a 1975 Electra dashboard with airbags. So for '75-76 at least, the Buicks actually used a Buick dash. I wonder if the '73-74's used a Buick dash or an Olds?

uplanderguy

I absolutely love those eight-lug wheels. I probably would have passed on disc brakes if I were buying a full-size Pontiac in '67 or '68, just to be able to order those wheels!

Serve mine up on an Iris Mist '65 Bonneville Sport Coupe, plum-colored vinyl interior with bucket seats and console, please.

texases

Neat lookng, but how does a tire shop handle them?

uplanderguy

I was thinking the '73's with airbags were sort-of prototypes and/or used for government vehicles, and that '74 was the first year they could be bought by the public. I know in '74, Buick, Olds, and Caddy got straight-across instrument panels, while the Chevy and Pontiac panels remained much the same as before.

Now that I think about it, the '74 Buick dash had the driver's pod of the earlier ones but a redesigned area on the right half. But in '75, it got the straight-across panel shown in Andre's photo.

Now I'm thinking that Caddy got airbags first in '74, and Olds and Buick in '75. Chevy and Pontiac never got them for public sale.

explorerx4

I heard Long Time by Boston on the radio today, so spring must be on the way!

bumpy

Unless I'm missing something, the same as any other wheel. Undo the 8 lugnuts and pull the rim off the studs. The only oddness here is that the bolt circle is out by the wheel rim (I've seen trailer wheels that were similar), and the drum and hub are one piece.

texases

I'v talking about taking a tire off the wheel. I don't think the tire machine I used at the gas station would those Pontiac wheels, but maybe it would.

Mr_Shiftright

Love 'em or hate 'em, here's an interesting story by my friend Rick Feibusch with some great photos of cars that originally came with Continental kits, and cars that obviously never should have had them added:

HISTORY OF THE CONTINENTAL KIT

jwilliams2

Cool pictures in that story. A few are somewhat tasteful, but many remind me of a swim platform on a boat. Thanks for the article.

fintail

That K car woody is just lovely :P

ab348

The ones with the full-width "shelf" extension all look awful. I've never understood why restorers add that junk to otherwise nicely-restored 50's cars.

ab348

This one seems pretty reasonable right now and looks like it would make an excellent hauler:

'71 T&C

I had a friend who owned a '71 New Yorker a few years ago that had what sounds like the same climate control failure. That can't be that hard to fix if you had some tech tips I presume.

andre1969

The ones with the full-width "shelf" extension all look awful. I've never understood why restorers add that junk to otherwise nicely-restored 50's cars.

There's a '58 Olds hardtop coupe I see locally every once in awhile that has one of those full-width extensions. Not that the car's a beauty queen to begin with, but that continental kit just made it worse. Oh, it has those chrome lids on the headlights too, which I also think are horrible.

Mr_Shiftright

rust-bucket, looks like. I suppose it might be worth $2000 bucks if you just buy it and beat the hell out of it, but I think in one or two more winters it's going to look pretty bad.

ab348

Around these parts, that car in that condition is advertised as "no rust".

kyfdx

.. a story about Adrian Smith... NBA all-star game MVP in 1966. The prize was a '66 Galaxie 500 convertible with a 428. In homage to his alma mater, he ordered it in silver-blue with navy blue top.

He used it as a daily driver until he retired in 1972. Just as a Sunday driver, since then.. Still has the car with 56K original miles. The picture of it in the paper shows it in mint condition (him, too, for 74 yrs old).

Pretty cool that he would keep the car for 45 years....

Also, pretty amazing that the NBA All-Star MVP was somebody most people have never heard of, considering the stars of that day (Oscar Robertson and Jerry Lucas, just off his own team).

oregonboy

Here's the pic:



Note the shadow that he is posed in... too cool ! :shades:

oregonboy

While walking through a residential area of the town where I live, (Winston, OR, population 6,000), I spotted this parked in a side-yard.

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I'm not a big Caddy fan, so I don't even know the year or model, but it looks pretty sweet.

berri

Tha 66 is a nice looking convertible. I also like that color, I think they had something similar on that vintage Mustang.

kyfdx

Thanks for finding that picture... you are a better member than I am.. lol.

And, if you don't know... he also starred on Kentucky's 1958 NCAA Championship team!

I would say that I hope to look that good at 74, but I'm not sure I look that good, now..

fintail

That's a "7 Litre" car, nice color too.

Today's odd sightings here - 75-78 or so Eldo, white on white, ridiculous looking. And a sad looking W126, 280SE Euro with all Euro bits present (lights, lenses, bumpers, even had the Euro license plate holder still intact)....but...it was filthy and neglected looking.

uplanderguy

Nice Ford! Those had really nice interiors too.

Mr_Shiftright

I saw this vehicle today in person and while the price was astronomical, I have to say it is an absolutely stunning vehicle. The entire showroom dims next to it. Otherwise "nice" cars suddenly appear shabby if parked too closely to its orbit.

It strikes me as a former show queen that is just.....just....starting to show a few little blemishes from the real world.

Can they be worth this much? :surprise: Yeah, they can. I'd offhandedly hit this one at about $195K, but I'd have to look it over a lot more to say for sure.

http://www.myhotcars.com/inventory/?vin=59E010595XXXXXXXX

ab348

I didn't realize that those cars could be had with individual (I hesitate to call them "bucket") seats.

explorerx4

Even the shuttle driver who has been at the dealership for a bunch of years said it was the first one he ever saw.
The condition was actually pretty good.
They seem so small compared to just about anything made today.

stickguy

speaking of size, new cars are gigantic now it seems. Especially height wise, and even more so in the rear.

the other day I was stopped at a light, with a new Taurus ahead and to my left, and a 2000 vintage sable right ahead of me. The new model dwarfed the old one. The trunk lid must have sat 2 feet higher off the ground. at least.

remember when sedans had excellent visability, even to the rear? No more.

explorerx4

I have a Fusion, which has a high trunk. It is a pain to back up.

stickguy

my accord (2005) was the first generation of that car with a taller trunk. Not as easy to see out the back as the prior model, but not too bad. the current style, no surprise, is worse. But still not as bad as some cars.

the Fusion does have a bit of a bustle there.

fintail

That's why rear view cameras will soon be mandated - impossible to see out of these tanks.

derrado1

Want to talk continental kits? Today I saw a white 1979-ish Toyota Corona sedan, with chrome bodyside mouldings, fender skirts and a bizarre, makeshift continental kit with the spare tyre mounted on back.

I laughed. I wish I could've taken a photo of it. I also saw a 1959 Ford Galaxie with a continental kit today. If a '59 Galaxie could barely look good with such a modification, a 79 Corona has no chance. . :P

texases

Yes, Taurus is big and looks it. But it's 1/2 size up on the old Taurus/Sable. It's a closer match between the Sable and the current Fusion, the real replacement for the old Taurus.

But rear visibility is bad with them, too :mad:

Mr_Shiftright

Maybe on a Corona that would be an Inter-continental kit? If there's not a law against this in your city, I suggest you bring it up at the next city council meeting. We've got to do something before they kill again.