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

fintail

Maybe find a LEO who will bend the rules, he probably wouldn't get in trouble anyway :shades:

It's funny, but I don't really have a desire to find my first car (the 66 Galaxie). I guess it would be cool to know it is still around (it got hit, sold it to a guy who had a few of them), but I don't have a huge emotional attachment.

kyfdx

I'd be interested in what happened to my Porsche, that I sold in 1994... not that I want it back, or anything... The buyer is still a local judge, so I'm sure I could start there, if I really, really wanted to know.

The only other car that would interest me was my '67 BMW, which I sold in 1990... But, already found that one this past Spring... it was sitting outside an independent German car shop... turns out the guy that owns the shop bought it... And, now.. he is working on our '87 BMW...

texases

"Any ideas on how to find an old VIN number like that? Car registration information in Indiana? Insurance company? FoMoCo? "

I would think privacy concerns would prevent you from looking it up. You could post questions in owners clubs, try to track it through any buyers, but I can't imagine agencies or companies doing a search for you. I wouldn't want some previous owner tracking me down :surprise:

uplanderguy

I wouldn't want some previous owner tracking me down.

That wouldn't bother me in the slightest. In fact, I'd probably get a kick out of it.

I had posted my Studebaker's "Drive Away Shipper" form, from the Studebaker National Museum, online and it had the retail purchaser's name on it because he picked it up at the plant instead of having it shipped to his dealer. He googled his name and came across it and we got together.

I'd love someone who owned one of my Dad's old cars to get a hold of me. But Chevys in NW PA probably didn't fare too well.

In fact, at the Studebaker Museum's archives, with a serial number, if your car was sold new between Sept. '63 'til 1966, they'll have a card with the purchaser's name, occupation, and what he traded in.

uplanderguy

It's funny, but I don't really have a desire to find my first car (the 66 Galaxie).

I'm thinking that was an old car by the time you had it, wasn't it? I think some of the emotional attachment comes from being the first owner, and hence memories that are not too far removed from the year of the car.

Mr_Shiftright

Sometimes, if the car is special in some way, you can visit the car's club registry, where owners list their car's VIN. But this may not work for mass-produced cars, which are often too common to have registries. For instance, they made a boatload of Mustangs....but maybe, if say you had a rare K code '66 Mustang convertible with 4-speed, it would show up in a registry somewhere in one of the Mustang clubs.

Some companies, like Rolls Royce, will tell you where the car was originally shipped, and sometimes, if you present evidence of ownership, the name of the first owner.

imidazol97

>attachment comes from being the first owner,

I'd love to see my 67 Mustang couple in that dark green with bronze color metal flake in the paint. 3 speed on the floor with 289. Optional 3.00 rear end with limited slip.

fintail

This was around 1993, so it was just an old car, it wasn't expensive, I only had it for about 7 months before it got hit, I have as many memories of it with the hood up as on the road. But for better or worse, it was my first car.

The first car I completely chose, bought, and insured on my own was the fintail, which I still own. I've never had a brand new car and I don't know if I will, as my tastes don't completely align with my willingness to open my wallet :shades:

hpmctorque

It seems like you've really bonded with your fintail. Can you envision ever parting with it?

uplanderguy

as my tastes don't completely align with my willingness to open my wallet

Boy, you'd fit right in with we Studebaker guys! (LOL)

uplanderguy

I had mentioned that for deliveries from Sept. '63 and later, the Studebaker National Museum has cards that show the purchaser name, address, occupation, salesman's name, and what the customer traded in. From the '60 model year on, they also have cards just showing the purchaser name and address. I think it's pretty cool this info has survived. Too bad they don't have it farther back.

While out there a few years back, I came across documentation on a '63 Super Lark Custom 2-door sedan, complete R2 (supercharged) High Performance Package including the suspension bits and 160 speedometer, Avanti floor-shift automatic (PRND21), black sunroof and black bucket seats, exterior color Super Red metallic. It went to a dealer in Hollidaysburg, PA and had the owner's name and address. It was delivered on 2/28/64. I got home and googled the owner's name and he still lived there. Dropped him a line and he replied in writing, in shaky senior-citizen handwriting, "I was a good friend of the dealer but have no recollection of owning that car". Hmmm, I wondered!

fintail

Probably not. It's not worth a lot, so no incentive to sell. Doesn't cost me a lot to keep, so no incentive to sell. And it's pretty reliable and it has sentimental value now, so there's incentive to keep. Maybe sometime circumstances will make me move on, but for now, the old beast is a keeper.

fintail

I have the original owner's info of my car thanks to the service book, but haven't been able to find more about him other than that he was a doctor, but the notes he put in the manual (usually critiques about the odd parts of the car) scream "kooky old man" to me.

And about the cheapness - Stude fans do have that rep, but their cars are actually cheapish to restore, unlike mine. Fintail could easily eat 30-40K in a restoration.

wevk

I find the the 1953 Corvette so much more (visually) appealing than the current models.
How about a retro corvette with modern mechanicals?

http://www.insideline.com/chevrolet/corvette/corvette-history-pictures.html

Mr_Shiftright

I appraised a '62 Corvette with an entire C5 frame and drivetrain---it was a tremendous amount of work. The people who did it were the same ones who build rides for Disney, so you might say "they have the skills".

wevk

I was thinking along the lines of a factory model, like the SSR pick-up truck thing. I bet it would appeal to the demographic that buys Corvettes, perhaps more so than does the current (IMO) stylized blob.

Mr_Shiftright

Making "retro" products is very risky, because how do you introduce new models? The PT Cruiser sort of got away with it, but it wasn't actually a reproduction of anything in particular.

Besides, a '53 Corvette couldn't look like a '53 Corvette if it had to meet current safety standards. You remember what the "new" T-Bird looked like compared to the original '55?

fintail

You just have to be careful it doesn't end up looking like this, which IMO doesn't really...work.



There's one of these in my area, and it's a lot weirder in person.

andre1969

Besides, a '53 Corvette couldn't look like a '53 Corvette if it had to meet current safety standards. You remember what the "new" T-Bird looked like compared to the original '55?

Actually, the "new" T-bird looks more like a '53 Vette than it does a '55 T-bird!

I think platform sharing and cost constraints might have had more to do with the way that final T-bird looked than just safety standards. It was based on the Lincoln LS/Jaguar S-type, and that probably hurt it a bit. If they could have put a few more inches up front, between the firewall and the front axle, and given the front-end more of a forward thrust, it would've looked more like a T-bird proper.

The whole safety angle might have come into play giving it a forward rake around the headlights, though. Not from the driver/passenger standpoint, but a pedestrian standpoint. They would probably have to make that area easily deformable, somehow.

As for the PT Cruiser, if they wanted to continue it, all they really would've had to do was take the Calibre/Compass/Patriot platform and round off the sheetmetal a bit. A Dodge Calibre is about the same size and proportion as a PT Cruiser, so it wouldn't be hard to do.

Mr_Shiftright

Sometimes I think "retro" is just an unconscious admission that the automaker has run out of ideas and vitality.

And, to be fair about it, given the constraints placed upon styling by regulation, and given that all designs are now done by computer, maybe going "retro" isn't as lazy as I once thought.

andre1969

last Saturday, I spotted a '56 DeSoto Firedome hardtop coupe in, of all places, Aruba! It was white with a purple top and spear, and looked likt it was in good shape, although it had some blingy 22's on it. I wonder how much of a pain it is to keep something that old running in a place that isolated? I guess, every time something breaks, you have to have parts shipped in.

There really weren't very many old cars on that island, but I also spotted a 1970 or so Camaro that looked a bit ratty, a '75-79 Nova sedan (only saw it from the rear, and it was parked under a carport), and probably the nicest 1981 Malibu Classic sedan left in existence. It was painted a beautiful deep aqua green/blue that made me think of the color of the sea out there. I don't think that was a factory color, but still looked nicely done.

And I'm sure it had been repainted, because the sun down there is brutal. Even my rental car, a light goldish minivan-looking thing called a Kia Carens, was faded and peeling, and the headlights were discoloring and deteriorating.

bhill2

I find the the 1953 Corvette so much more (visually) appealing than the current models.
How about a retro corvette with modern mechanicals?

If you want the look (OK, somewhat the look) badly enough, you can do this:

www.autoweek.com/article/20030710/FREE/307100709

OK, now someone tell me how I can make the above a hyperlink.

andre1969

Here's your link.

All you have to do is click the little box that says "URL" below (just to the left of the "close all" box.) Then, paste in your link and click the "URL" box one more time. Finally, where it says "link title", replace that text with whatever you want it to say.

andys120

I have to say that retro-version misses the mark badly, I saw the '53 at the GM Motorama when it was introduced and the salient feature was the wraparound windshield which graced only one other car that year (Caddy Eldorado).

I guess it would cost a fortune to recreate that windshield but if you can't do a replica right, you shouldn't do it at all.

There are replica '63 Sting rays built on C6 chassis and they don't look right either, the proportions are off.

explorerx4

a very nice original looking Vega Cosworth with CT classic plates on it!

magnette

Probably a replica but it looked good - saw it while we were out this afternoon.

andys120

I had no idea there was such a replica. If I were going to replicate a Lotus-Cortina, I'd make it look like a Mark I, which was the version raced by Jim Clark, Graham Hill and others from the Golden Age.

fintail

Cool video of a fintail going round the Ring...a little slower than a Viper or LF-A...I'd like to have my car restored and do this someday.

bhill2

Thanks, Andre. I should have seen that.

Mr_Shiftright

He's got a floor shifter in there?

bhill2

I have to say that retro-version misses the mark badly

You said a mouthful. That's why I remembered seeing it. It offended me, both as a fan of the '53 and as the owner of a C5.

fintail

Maybe out of a coupe, or a ZF conversion. I know floor shift could be had in fintails, but for sedans I have only seen it in later cars, not in a 220SE. But as it is a Euro, maybe it could be stock - I have seen a 62 220SE coupe with a floor shift 4 speed.

Mr_Shiftright

He's seems to be motoring around the track in a quite respectable manner. I would imagine his car is in good kit. I can't imagine doing this in the state my fintail was in--bias ply tires and old suspension. Still, it handled way better than my brother's domestic cars.

A floor shift would have been nice. Those column shifters were not...swell.

lemko

...burnt orange metallic 1982 Toyota Corolla coupe in fairly nice condition turning left onto Robbins Street from travelling north on Tabor Road. This is an extremely rare car for Philadelphia as most of them disappeared about 20 years ago. This one survived either by hibernating in an oil bath for the last 29 winters or is a transplant from a more hospitable climate.

fintail

Fintails did compete very well from 1960-65 or so, with a huge amount of victories especially in rallying, so they have some kind of potential - but those cars no doubt had a few mods yours and mine did not.

The 4 on the tree is a key reason I am glad my car is an automatic.

fintail

This morning saw an early 80s Isuzu pickup, a real grandpa rig with a canopy and whitewall tires. Then saw an 80s Datsun King Cab.

hpmctorque

Taken in the context of the time, 4 on the tree was the contemporary way to go for sedans. Floor shifters were old fashioned for sedans. As I mentioned a while back, I drove a fintail with this shifter, an Alfa Giulietta and a couple of Fiats. While I don't have a vivid recollection of the fintail, I don't recall the shifter being objectionable.

fintail

Yeah, the column shift was popular through the late 60s. I just don't care for them - maybe because of the less than fun to drive 60s domestics my dad picked up for fun, that 68 Fairlane being the worst due to its lack of luxuries. I guess it isn't so bad - I shift my fintail a lot myself even though it's a slushbox, as the shift points don't make sense to me. But to do it all the time, maybe I'd like it less.

Mr_Shiftright

Maybe when they were brand new they weren't so bad, but after a few years, the bushings get old and it becomes a real nuisance to shift into reverse gear. Also shifting is painfully slow.

hpmctorque

The linkages on the domestic column shifters, which were 3 speeds, without or with overdrive, were very sloppy, with lots of play, and, thus, clumsy and unsatisfying. The European ones were more precise.

hpmctorque

I'll take your word on the degradation, but didn't the bushings of the floor shifters also get worn with mileage?

texases

"didn't the bushings of the floor shifters also get worn with mileage? "

Yes, but there's just fewer of them, not so far to go...

Mr_Shiftright

They were just annoying in a different way. The domestic column shifters would jam up on you; the foreign ones had shorter throws and you couldn't be too rough with them--they were fairly delicate.

fintail

I don't know about bushings, but in my automatic car that I shift a lot myself, the linkage tends to get messed up every 5 years or so - last time resulting in a complete failure (thankfully in a forward gear).

hpmctorque

"They were just annoying in a different way."

That's how I'd describe the shifting experience of the domestic column shifters. They were all imprecise, with lots of play, but each had a unique feel to it. One thing you can say about the domestics, though, is that they could withstand all kinds of abuse.

"The domestic column shifters would jam up on you."

I never had that happen, nor did I observe it. My brother's '73 Vega's 4-on-the-floor jammed up frequently, however. He'd have to reach under the car to unstick the linkage. Not fun, especially when the ground was wet, or in winter. What a piece of junk! But, hey, it was a bright red 4-speed manual, with the optional 2-barrel carburetor.

explorerx4

I'd like to find my '91 Mustang.
Doh', it's still in my garage and it looks great.
I cherished it from day one. :shades:

fintail

Saw a first gen Camry this morning, the same shockingly clean early Chevette I saw several weeks ago, and a 1999 E55 AMG at a used car lot (one of those fakey "independent" lots actually owned by the Nissan dealer)

fezo

Ah, my old 54 Mercedes 300 Adenauer had a four on the tree. I loved that!

fintail

When that thing was new, a 4 on the tree was actually high tech!

hpmctorque

Contemporary, but I don't know about high tech. Maybe. The Fiat Millecento (1100) of the early '50s, a VW Beetle competitor, had 4 on the tree.