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

berri

I seldom find black interiors all that attractive or practical. They seem to be very popular with Japanese brands for some reason. I agree that the beige or stone interiors generally look nicest, but if you've got youngin's then you probably should go with grey.

Interesting comment on Ford interiors. I agree that often the instrument panel and some other components look cheap. A lot of times they seem less friendly for six footers as well. I think they are improving though, even if I'm not a big fan of all the gizmo's and small buttons. They use toggle switches and rotary knobs in cockpits for a reason and geez Mullaly, you're from Boeing...

fintail

A few varied oddities on the road today - first, a pristine looking smoke silver 560SEL, so handsome. Then a nice ~65 Falcon convertible. Then a ~70 Chevellle and El Camino in different areas. Then, to finish it off, a big mid 30s Bentley cabrio, somewhat like this, but larger and with rear quarter windows (like a Mercedes Cabriolet

andre1969

My sole exposure to Pontiac was my '77 LeMans, a decent car. But I never went back either.

Here's something I just thought of...my Mom's only two Pontiacs were a '66 Catalina convertible and a '75 LeMans coupe. I have a '67 Catalina convertible and a '76 LeMans coupe, both one year newer than what Mom had. I wonder if Freud would've had something to say about that?

Oh, and the in-between car? Mom had a '68 Impala 4-door hardtop. I had a '69 Bonneville 4-door hardtop. Again, similar cars, and one year apart. I had bought the Bonneville before I had the Catalina though.

That Bonneville was a good-running car. Fast, responsive, and excellent-handling for such a big beast. At least, in that brief period of time between when it finally started successfully (a toss of the dice), and when it overheated, stalled out and refused to start back up, etc. Sometimes I'd actually get a good 25-30 minutes of running time out of it!

I had bought it from my cousin, and he said it had a 400 in it. But most sources I've read, including the brochure said the Bonneville came standard with a 360 hp 428! If so, no wonder the sucker was so much quicker (when it ran, that is) than my '67 Catalina, which just has a 400 with a 4-bbl. Originally it had a 290 hp 400-2bbl, but when it was rebuilt, before I bought the car, a 4-bbl was put on. So, I'd guess it should have 325 hp?

That Bonneville was sort of a turd, but I miss it. Sometimes I wish I still had it, but at the time, I was about to go through a bad divorce, running out of money fast, and had to cut expenses and losses where I could. If I'd had the money at the time to simply take it to the mechanic and get it sorted out, I'm sure it would've been fine.

kyfdx

'59 Chevy Kingswood wagon was the best.. In unrestored condition... Pretty cool..

'61 Econoline pickup.... turned into a dragstrip car... bored and stroked 351 Windsor with Nitrous... CRAZY! Turns out, it's owned by a former co-worker.. picked it up a couple of weeks ago from someone in dire financial straits....

Lots of GM muscle cars... almost all with automatic transmissions... I guess the stick-shifts are just getting too pricy...

fintail

Stopped by the local highline/special interest used dealer again today, as I was killing time. A few oddities: dark green NSX, 63 Galaxie with a 427 and piles of paperwork, 21 window microbus with no price, Dodge Sweptside, and saw a late series Porsche 924 and a Ferrari F355 on the road.

oregonboy

I don't know how you can keep the model numbers straight. I have several Ferraris (1:24th scale), and I can barely keep the names straight!

F355, courtesy of Google:

fintail

I am fairly good at differentiating Ferraris, but some can trip me up, especially recent models and the earliest models.

omarman

Was that 427 Galaxie a Q code? The R codes are great but that killer engine option comes with a matching asking price. Gotta love that car dealer's inventory mix though. "What kind of sports car are you looking for? A kill-for-me-red Ferrari or the 924S?" And then there's the Sweptside and VW! Hard to believe a collection like that lives at the same car lot. The big auction house era has definitely changed the landscape.

fintail

An R-code, white of course. The 355 and 924 were in traffic, but this lot does have some fairly mundane stuff along with the exotics. Prices are often a little steep and I imagine negotiable... Here's their site

omarman

Thanks for the link. Great looking Galaxie. While poking around their site I found this 1963 Pontiac Catalina Super Duty and found a link to some good pics. The ad states "not on premises." Not too surprising for a real museum piece - Pikes Peak racing history and all.

stickguy

usual assortment of odd balls parked. A very early Corvair in a driveway with the flattest tires I have ever seen. An actually appears to be running big bumper MGB.

and on the road, a really nice looking '68 Chevelle SS396. red. On the belt parkway of all places.

And in oceanside, a really nice looking burnt orange/bronzey looking Buick Convertible. The big one, probably a 70-72 (pre-bumper). Super clean looking. And big!

lemko

...two Ford Model As: a tan roadster and a black sedan.

fintail

They do consignments, that might explain it - and their showroom is much smaller than their inventory. Same place has the 300SL gullwing and roadster sitting side by side.

Related to the 924 I saw, yesterday I saw another odd one - maybe a 924 turbo. It was from some distance so I couldn't be completely sure if it was a 924 or a weird 944, but it had a strange hood and fender flares.

fintail

I saw a couple of oddities at noon today. First, a ~53 Ford two door sedan, late 50s custom style with lots of chrome knicknacks and 50s style spinner hubcaps. And then something more interesting - a Ferrari 250GT Spyder. I don't know if it was real, it was coming at me at 40 and I was going the same speed. License plate said something like "CALSPYDR". Could have been a fake or a rebody, looked and sounded pretty good anyway. It was not unlike this:

lemko

...very rough gray 1969 Buick LeSabre sedan at the Holiday Market.

ab348

On my way home from work tonight, I smelled it before I saw it... that rich aroma of unburned hydrocarbons and blow-by... then it appeared. A '67 Barracude fastback, black with older Ansen-style rims, looked like the kind of semi-ratty one you would have seen in the mid'70s, so it looked surprisingly good for today.

I was 11 years old when these came out and remember that i liked them then. Today they just look odd, kind of cheap and frumpy.

fintail

Today saw a Mazda 626 hardtop, ca. 1980-82. Hardly any of these left today. I actually saw it yesterday too, but remembered it when I saw it again, it stuck in my mind as it broke down in traffic. Didn't look to be in bad condition - maybe a stored car put back on the road and getting used to being driven again.

Also saw a nice dark red W126

Now here's a resto rod

ab348

Saw something parked at the curb that you can help identify as my M-B knowledge is rather thin: what appeared to be a late-70s midsize M-B coupe, with antique plates, looking very sharp I must say. Same overall bodystyle as the sedans, not a sports model, but with 2 doors instead of 4. I thought the badging on the trunk said "300CD" but I can't be certain. Would that have been a diesel?

Whatever it was I liked the design - not too big, not too small. And this one appeared to be in pristine condition.

omarman

Just curious, did that Mercedes look like this one for sale? That link shows a 1979 W123 series coupe with a non-turbo 3 liter diesel engine. And it looks just like a Ford Granada. Oh wait, it was the Granada which looked just like a W116 series 280 SE. That's it!

Sorry, even the president can't resist dragging up a Granada story when reflecting on the 70s.

texases

It seems like a lot of those 2-door w123 models have survived, about 50% of the w123s I see seem to be 2-doors.

Mr_Shiftright

Yes that would be a W123 coupe, diesel. It could be either turbo or non-turbo diesel. They don't have a lot of collectability value, so you may see survivors rather than restored cars. In turbo form, this would be a nice inexpensive car to own; in non-turbo form, not so great.

ab348

Yes, it did look much like that but it had alloy wheels (original style, I think) instead of hubcaps. It also looked to be in better condition, especially the paint. the color was a nice one: sort of a dark silver or light gray metallic, very shiny, probably not original paint.

What would the gasoline-engine version of these be called?

Mr_Shiftright

In that vintage, I think a 280CE, then in the early 80s, a 380SEC. Mid 70s to early 80s Benzes are not much loved by collectors, so there are deals to be had if you like these cars.

fintail

Yep a 280CE, only sold for a short time in NA. Europe also got a 230CE as well as non FI versions of the 4 and 6. The gas C123 cars were phased out for NA around maybe 1981. The 380SEC is the larger C126, first model year 1982 in NA. The diesels go to diesel nuts and the early C126 can be pigs, with buyers opting for a 560SEC, so they can be had for not a lot of money. I saw a very nice light blue 300CD last week, younger guys driving it too, which was nice to see - maybe the cars will live on.

Mr_Shiftright

well the nice survivors will live on, but it makes no sense to restore a 300CD, as the cost of restoration would be 10X the value of the car.

fintail

Maybe in Germany in 10 years - they were restoring fintails there 20 years ago.

Luckily for the 123 cars, they are very sturdy with gigantic build and materials quality, so cared for examples will survive for a long time yet.

fintail

Went to the Mercer Island car show today - just an informal little local show, not judged, pretty much anything is welcome. Saw these oddities:

Pristine original loaded Travelall, the best I have ever seen:



Insane Studebaker rod:



Neoclassics:



The last squarebird:



Brits:



Italians and a Brit:



Nice unusual German:



Big bruiser:



Gaggle of DeLoreans:



Funniest thing of the show - a W124 500E towing a Farmall Cub. Wacky lady in her 60s owns it - she's had it for some time, car has 22xxxx miles on it now. Says the engine has never been touched, but the transmission failed at 200K. Crazy:



And the car I drove in, E55 still looking good. Had a teenager fawning over it in a grocery store parking lot yesterday:

imidazol97

Enjoy the pictures of the car show.

I like this best of all:

jllcat

My dad told me a story about only 5 white cars made in 1977 for the executives to drive around to show what the new line was going to look like. Promotion cars, they were then going to be put away somewhere. The pic he has is a two door, two seats only. I know that the convertibles that came out in 1978 had 4 seats. Has anyone every here this story? Did they use to make cars just for promotion? My dad has a line on buying this car, but we can not check the story out. The VIN # did not match anything,
Thanks

ab348

Wow, that hot-rod Studie looks like a cartoon character from the '50s. Way cool, love it.

They probably made 5 or 6 International Travelalls, so it is surprising to see a nice one.

omarman

Maybe it's one of the 200 "final" 1976 Bicentennial Edition Cadillac Eldorado convertibles which GM touted as the last American convertible produced in the U.S.

omarman

Gotta love that Ace cycle car! Liberty Motors is a Seattle company right? With all that retro cool and a Harley twin cam engine it's probably a bit expensive. Still looks like a lot more fun than the neoclassic row! :shades:

edited to add: Was there a heart-stopping price tag on that Ace? Or just a happy/lucky owner who brought it to the show?

fintail

I know you prefer American iron, here are a few others I got:

Last year Fiero with a 350 wedged in the back:



Nice Aerosedan and an old Plymouth:



Very cool Power Wagon:



There were many others - played out muscle cars, common hot rods, 70s style Tri-Chevies etc, but those are all very boring to me...I like the unusual. To me the Travelall is more interesting than a fake Ford hiboy or yet another 57 Chevy with a 350 in it.

Here's some info about that Bird

The Bentley apparently has a history too

fintail

Yep that place is in Seattle. Not cheap I am sure - but no price that I recall. A few cars there had "for sale" signs - only one wearing a price that I recall, an unrestored early 50s Hudson sedan for something very high like 11K.

fintail

There were a few coachbuilders making Coupe DeVille (and I think Seville too) based cabrios at that time, maybe one of those. We'd need a pic to be certain. I know there were coupe conversions of the Seville, it could be one of those as it would be easy to make into a two seater.

jllcat

Thanks for the reply's, I never posted on a forum before, and really no nothing about cars. But I do not want my 80 yr dad being taken. I will try GM in the morning. If anyone else know anything, please post also.

texases

He needs to be very cautious abouth this, lots of fakes and mis-identified cars out there. Try and get us any other information you can, no money should change hands without being very sure.

fintail

If you can get a few pics it will help immensely. I wouldn't buy such a car without a second or even third or more opinions, anyway.

Mr_Shiftright

The story, as you tell it, seems implausible. First of all, if they were ground-up prototypes, I rather doubt they'd let executives "drive around in them", as prototypes are not road-ready cars. If they were customs built for executives, they'd have regular VIN numbers on them as required by law.

Unless the seller has loads of factory documentation, rather than a story about "secretly rescued from the wrecker and therefore no records exist", then run away.

fintail

Dropped the old car off at the shop while the modern car was being serviced this morning. They got to pose together. Both are fairly obscure:





Part of the waiting lot at the shop, a menagerie:

jljac

Maybe it's one of the 200 "final" 1976 Bicentennial Edition Cadillac Eldorado convertibles which GM touted as the last American convertible produced in the U.S.

I can relate to that story sooooo much because in 1975-1976, there was an Army officer who claimed that he had the last one of those land yachts and argued that he should not get a ticket for docking it in two parking spaces. I was not impressed at the time and still am not. I liked my smaller German car much better. link title

berri

Well, I prefer the looks of your MB. Its from when MB was a distinctive brand. Too many of the newer ones look generic really. The back end of that silver one in the last picture could be from most any rental car - yuck and cheapo looking man! Some of the latest MB are getting a bit better looking though.

fintail

Ha, that boring silver car is the same platform as my modern car (W210). Bear in mind this is a design that hit the streets in 1995 - so it will appear somewhat dated, although for the time it was pretty modern. These cars are from when MB was hitting bottom...they do seem to be getting their mojo back again.

Here's the boring butt of my car:

jwilliams2

Looks almost like one I still have (mine's a V8 but not an AMG). Is that Black Opal?

fintail

E430 sport?

My color is "tectite grey", very uncommon. Not a special order, but rarely seen I would easily estimate that for the 4 model years W210 E55 cars were sold in the US, under 100 cars were my color in total, maybe even closer to half that. The color was available on normal W210 cars too, and is also rare on those, as 90% of them seem to be silver, black, gold, or white. The car has the options of COMAND and ventilated seats (along with the tons of standard E55 gadgets), probably one of only a few sold in the exact color and option combo.

jwilliams2

Yes, probably 90% of the E55's sold in my area were silver or black. Any other color is rare. Mine is older, a E420. Gotta love those double overhead cam engines. It only has about 135k, and runs like new. Had the spring perches replaced at about 90k (warranty), but no other real problems. Great highway car, although the E55 would be a big step up. Later ones with the supercharger are beasts. Major fun to drive. :P

explorerx4

What's really funny to me is that the T'bird trunk looks just like the view I have out the windshield of my new Explorer. :surprise:

fintail

Is it a sport package car?

That's a W210 achilles heel - chassis rust. Spring perches on them seem to fail after many years, especially in harsh climates. As my car is a local west coast beast from new, it doesn't have those worries. I've had it since 2006, had a few teething issues after I bought it but all were warranty claims and it has been pretty solid.

I don't know if I trust the supercharged cars - discontinued after only 4 model years, makes me wonder. The new twin turbo cars are interesting. I could be tempted by an E63 wagon, otherwise I will probably hold on to mine for a long time.

fintail

This morning saw a DeLorean, a nice W126, and a Phaeton

lemko

...gold 1968 Mustang fastback in fair condition.