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

Mr_Shiftright

A draw through system really is bad engineering, isn't it?

texases

Just one more reason that fuel injection saved the IC engine - think of all the options EFI created for increasing engine efficiency, power, and pollution control, all at the same time.

Mr_Shiftright

Yep, and speaking of FI, a tip o' the hat to the 1968 VW, the pioneer in electronic fuel injection for mass produced cars.

andys120

...appeared throughout their 1960 compact lines, not just the Corvair. The F-85/Cutlass had a Turbocharger too, 15 years before Porsche came out with theirs. The Buick Special/Skylark featured the aluminum block V8 that went on to power a generation of Rovers, Morgans and various other British cars. The Pontiac Tempest featured a transaxle, driven by the (in)famous "rope drive".

Of course buyers of small compact cars were just looking for cheap reliable transportation which is why the 60-63 GM compacts didn't generally sell as well as their old tech competitors from Ford and Chrysler. Ironically GM fixed the problem by upsizing their compacts and making them both fancier and much more conventional.

jljac

It's a shame the Corvair was left to wither and die, but I'm sure GM never made much money on it.

I think GM dropped the Corvair because it would have been too expensive to develop emission controls for that air cooled engine. VW quit making air cooled engines for that reason after telling the public for many years that a rear mounted, air cooled engine was the best way to go. Porsche kept making air cooled engines, but they were not too concerned about the price. I believe that is why they went to an expensive fuel injection system before the other car makers.

imidazol97

Nobody has mention Ralph nader's influence on the Corvair with his attacks through his book. Didn't that have a big part in discontinuing the Corvair?

andre1969

Nobody has mention Ralph nader's influence on the Corvair with his attacks through his book. Didn't that have a big part in discontinuing the Corvair?

I'm not sure, but I think the decision to phase out the Corvair was made before Nader's book came out. However, in 1966, Corvair sales did drop by half from the year before.

andys120

Ralph Nader certainly played a part but so did Chevrolet's competition. The sporty versions of the Corvair appealed to younger buyers but that went away pretty quickly when the Mustang (basically a sporty Falcon) arrived.

GM was forced to build their own Mustang which arrived in '67 by which time they weren't selling many 'Vairs.

Mr_Shiftright

Well it was GM tech that didn't WORK very well, but they did get there first on a number of things, that's true.

The aluminum V8 was a dog that Rover eventually made into a mediocre engine that was a workhorse for many years--but it took a lot of modification.

The F/85 turbocharging was really interesting---GM didn't even TELL buyers the car was turbocharged. Buyers had no idea when they bought the car!!

As for "rope drive"...again, not a bad idea to have the transaxle in the back and the engine in front....but....it was noisy, and the engine was a very rough piece of work.

It's always the same story with GM---good ideas badly applied and then abandoned while still needing further development.

How many more examples of this? Corvair? Fiero? Allante? Cadillac diesel? Fuel injected Corvettes? Air suspension? ----all left to die on the vine.

Turbocharging of course goes way back in America, to WW II aero engines. it's not like we didn't know HOW to do it right.

SAAB of course did market turbos effectively and is generally credited with the first turbocharged mass produced sedans.

ANY of those components you mentioned could have been refined and marketed effectively, and none were.

uplanderguy

I think those '67 and '68 full-size Olds cars are almost cartoonish today, but I have to admit, I still like the severe fastback better than the formal roofs of the Ninety-Eights. A couple years ago on eBay was a light aqua '67 Delta 88 Custom 2-door hardtop with matching cloth interior, and I liked it! Back then you could get a sporty-exterior (fastback) big GM car that still had a luxury interior. By the '70's, GM started marketing 'luxurious' only with 'formal roof'. The fastback models generally became the ones with the cheapest interiors.

andre1969

I think the big '68 Oldsmobiles are handsome looking cars, but I just don't care for the front-end on that '67 at all. My biggest issue is the widely spaced headlights, which I always associate with the '67 Olds, but I think it was only the Cutlass and Delta 88 that used them that year. IIRC, the Delmont 88 and 98 had more normal quads, but still didn't make for a very attractive car.

I like the '67 from the side though...sleek and clean, with large rear wheel openings. And it looks good from the back, a bit like how the Pontiacs would look for '69.

BTW, I think that butternut (or more appropriately "Saffron", since it's on an Olds!) '67 is still for sale! I took that pic back in June 2009, at the GM show in Carlisle. It was at a small used car lot just outside the fairgrounds. But this past summer, I saw it again, in another lot near the fairgrounds, just north of the PA turnpike. I guess they either want too much for it, or nobody likes that color! As I recall, it looked like it was in fairly good shape. I thought the white top looked a bit clashy with the yellow paint though, although I bet that helped keep the interior, which was black, a bit cooler. I know my Catalina, with a black top and black interior, can get pretty brutal on hot days, even though the body is a light color.

ab348

On the '67 Cutlass, you not only could get Saffron paint, but also a saffron interior! I saw one a few years ago and it was quite the sight - yellow vinyl upholstery, door panels, etc, with dark (I assume black, but it may have been dark brown) trim.

Sure beats today's gray or black choices.

kyfdx

I'm just wild about Saffron...

andre1969

Well, they do call it mellow yellow...
(quite right, slick)

kyfdx

lemko

...yellow-beige 1970 Ford Custom 500 sedan in a driveway on Longshore Avenue between Rising Sun Avenue and Bingham Street in NE Philly. I've spotted a lot of old cars on this particular block in the past including a blue 1965 Lincoln Continetal that was for sale.

fintail

I saw that same Stingray again today - this time going about 25mph but it sounded like it was at 3000rpm.

lemko

...red and white 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air two-door hardtop traveling west on Levick Street near Montour in NE Philly.

explorerx4

a pewter JDM Nissan Skyline. If I had seen it on the road, I probably would have crashed.

Mr_Shiftright

Dodge Dart convertible, parked under a tree with a "for sale" sign---looked like about a '64...it was a little rough, not too bad really, and top was decent, so I'd estimate $3000--$3500.

jwm40517

A 63? Falcon looked like stock original from the side. Rear view showed Pro Street type tires. 15" or more wide that smoked when he hit the gas after rolling out of a bank lot. A real subtle sleeper look.

masterautotech

The Axxess is powered by a 138 hp 12 valve 2.4 litre Naps-Z engine. 145 lbs-ft torque @ 4200.
At a listed dry weight of less than 2900 lbs for the SE version- The car does 0-60 in less than 11 secs and is very quick around town and literally flies up the big hills.

I have a 95 SE- the last year sold in Canada with 242,000 kms on the clock and I prefer driving it over my Explorer, Grand Am or Nissan Quest.
They are truly a super small wagon- I would buy another one in a heartbeat!!

kyfdx

That must be a bear to keep running...

fintail

Saw an International Scout today, 70s model with period graphics, sounded like it was running like new.

Cool Youtube videos found recently:

W111 fintails being born

W210 E55s being born

andys120

Parked nearby I spotted a '67 Chevy Malibu SS/396 Hardtop, in nice restored but not over-done condition. The black paint was nice and shiny but lacked the depth you see on cars nowadays, chrome and detailing was good except for slight misalignments in the grille, no worse than what you'd see on many cars of that vintage when they were brand new.

The only off-note was a set of 18 or 19" chrome 5-spokers. A set of period-correct Tor-q Thrusts or Cragars would have been much nicer.

explorerx4

I'm still amazed about the level of automated manufacturing Mercedes had back then.

explorerx4

If you can put up with the street cars driving 'in', some unbelievable classic race cars pass in the opposite direction after a couple of minutes.
Goodwood 2011

fintail

One good thing about being bombed, you get to buy a lot of new stuff :shades:

Oh yeah, you have a 7-Up Mustang, right? There's a little article on those in the latest Hagerty magazine.

fintail

Amusing seeing some of the cliched nouveau riche stuff mixing with those landmark racers. A few weirdo new cars going the other way too, fun video.

boomchek

Cool video, not sure about some of the newer cars in there like a Honda CRZ or a BMW 3 series cabrio. The classic race cars are really cool though.

boomchek

Speaking of older and a bit obscure, there's a 97 F1 car sitting at the local Ferrari dealer right now on display. It was driven by Schuey in a few races in the 97 season. Complete with running powertrain and original wheels and tires. Pretty neat.

stickguy

stopped at a local used car lot to browse the other day. In the showroom (it used to be a plymouth dealer) they had some classics. 1 was a Ferrari Mondial convertible (not sure of the year), with a sales tag for $59,900 or $69,900 (can't recall which). Red

They also had a white Avanti II. AT, with a summit racing small block of some kind Looked clean. If that one was for sale, I did not see the sign.

and a bonus, 1970 Camaro drag race car (not sure how street legal it still was, but looked fast!)

fintail

Wow, that's something you don't see every day. Who owns it, how did they get it? Is it on tour from the factory?

Today's solitary odd sighting: 86-90 Legend sedan, 5-speed - I could tell because the driver stalled it at a stop sign. Oh, and a MB W123, which doesn't seem to count as a zillion of them are still on the road.

Mr_Shiftright

Not much you can do with an old F1 car of 90s vintage. Too new for vintage racing, too old to race competitively, and enormously expensive to keep running.

Ferrari, so brilliant in all its other marketing, embarked upon selling its no-longer-competitive (or eligible) F1 cars, along with driving lessons, factory tour, glitzy provenance materials, etc. It's a great way for the racing arm to replenish some of the racing budget.

boomchek

It's a complicated story why it's visiting, and I believe it's Ferrari owned. I saw it listed for sale by RM Auctions a few years ago and it sold for about $640k pounds if I'm correct.

It does attract a lot of showroom traffic though as it's not something you see everyday.

fintail

I am sure the dealer there does enough business to get gifts like that from the factory now and then.

Not much odd on the roads lately - but did see a Peugeot 505 wagon, MB W126 380SE, Daewoo Lanos, Reatta coupe

lemko

For a really unusual racecar, check out the Tyrell P34 Formula-1 car from the 1970s:

fintail

Saw a debadged Euro W123 diesel, 5 door Camry, and a 65 Mustang today

stickguy

running some errands.

A '65ish Falcon 2 door, hot rodded (jacked up with drag looking tires on back) in a driveway.

and moving under it's own power, a 4 door Dodge Aspen. Looked all original, but just worn (not ratty). Odd sight.

Mr_Shiftright

since I've seen a '57 Ford 2-door post sedan on the road. This one looked pretty good but was jacked up a might too high.

jrosasmc

I found this little gem on Ebay not too long ago:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160699945989+&view- item=

It's been a very long time - many years - since I saw an early '80s 900 on the road, let alone in immaculate condition such as that example.

Would that car be something you would buy?

fintail

Wow, preservation class worthy, at least. Sadly, if you drove it much, I bet it would show wear fast, so you would just have to take it to local enthusiast meets.

fintail

Today, lovely Euro W126 with both headlight wipers and plastic wheel covers, first Lexus GS, 2x first Lexus SC, 79-85 Eldo with a Rolls grille, fake wire wheels, and a padded top, ~90 Century with a faux cabrio top, old Valiant kinda thing like in "Duel".

wevk

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2005241/Rolls-Royce-Phantom--170k-multi-- coloured-Roller-hit-paint-pots.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2075064/How-vulgar--1-million-24-carat-g- old-Rolls-Royce-unveiled.html

fintail

The vulgarity of the uber-rich, indeed.

Today's oddities - TR-6, 87-88 Cougar, early 90s Tempo, and best of all a mid 80s Chrysler Laser turbo in a store parking lot with an open beer in the console.

lemko

...goldish tan 1963 Dodge Polara two-door hardtop in a repair shop parking lot near Glenside, PA.

lemko

Yecch!!! That multi-color Rolls looks like a carnival ride and that gold-plated Rolls looks like it belongs in a gangsta rap video.

texases

Seems to be more common with Rolls - I don't see much in the way of "classy" any more, even when stock I think Bentley's better-presented these days.

Mr_Shiftright

Unfortunately, I wouldn't buy it with the automatic transmission, which is doomed to early failure. The 900S would be a lot more reliable than the 900 turbo however.

The best Saab would be the 5-door hatch with the later 16 valve turbo engine--that's the best of all possible worlds in a Saab 900 and the one you'd want.

fintail

A couple of newer oddities on the street today - a Saab 93 Viggen convertible, and a W210 wagon with AMG bodykit - never sold that way in NA, I am pretty certain.

And I found this odd custom fintail coupe on youtube...other than the dumb fender trim, it works. Reminds me of a ~56 Mopar hardtop in a way