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

andys120

Are you sure it was a cabriolet and not a roadster? The cabs are somewhat rarer.

Yes, it looked like the Cab in your picture, you Roadster photo didn't come out but IIRC those had the fold down windshield with thin pillars (as opposed to the push-out with pronounced A Pillars).

dieselone

I have a friend that has a '29 Model A truck. Neat old car. Like Shifty mentioned, not much room in it, but certainly a relatively cheap toy.

Gotta love 60 degree weather in central Illinois in January. That mean cars being driven around that are normally in a deep winter slumber.

Saw a late 60's Camaro in real nice shape and sounded very healthy too. I didn't get a good enough look to determine exactly what year. A minute later a late model Viper passed me.

uplanderguy

A friend recently sent me this clip, knowing I grew up around Chevys. I think the car is beautiful, but the review isn't too great. I never knew they offered a two-barrel 396.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ljch2kCg4rM&feature=player_embedded

uplanderguy

I was also recently sent this review of the '69 Avanti II. I never liked the reduced-radius front wheel openings of the "II", but I do like Avantis with Magnum 500 wheels as this one has. Never knew they offered a blower on the Chevy engine, which unfortunately, unlike the Stude, couldn't fit under the hood without an unsightly bulge being made necessary. People always comment on the antiquity of the Stude chassis, but this one seems to corner well, as others who have owned same-era Studes and Big Three cars simultaneously have told me. I know my '63 Daytona went down the road with no pitching up and down, and remember a '62 Bel Air passing me once pitching and bobbing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g85RbmNkKqA

Mr_Shiftright

Probably by "bad-handling" they meant severe understeer, and of course, bias-ply tires. With lots of overhang and unsprung weight and compliant suspensions (which americans like), there are limits to what you can do with these cars. If you're a good driver and you don't do 'anything sudden' when the wheels aren't pointed dead straight, you'd be okay.

uplanderguy

That Chevy is a good-looking car. No doubt some of their complaints could have been remedied with an SS427.

Mr_Shiftright

Well you could have steered it with the gas pedal then, which can be FUN!

lemko

...dark blue metallic 1971 Buick Skylark convertible with tan top at a repair shop on Oxford Avenue and Rising Sun Avenue in NE Philly.

kyfdx

Dodge Dart... '73 or '74, I think... 4-door with vinyl roof... in very nice condition.... original, I think....

Not the car I would have preserved, but... :surprise:

martian

I saw one..in a book! I know that these are pretty rare-Jay Leno has one (mint condition). What are my chances of finding one? For a (relatively) early Japanese import, these cars were made with very high quality materials-the bodies didn't rust out as fast as other cars of the period.
i really like the look!

Mr_Shiftright

Oh you can find them, but they are a bit pricey for what they are. Get a free download of Craigslist Reader Pro (www.cnet.com) and you can search the entire country in one swell foop. A much cheaper and equally fun alternative would be an RX-3 coupe or wagon; also built with higher quality materials.

stickguy

on a run to Lowes this afternoon, spotted smoe new ones.

what I believe to be about a '51 Studebaker, very original looking, in a driveway. Another driveway had a '70ish Belvedere or GTX (just saw the tail), a slightly modded 70s vintage VW bug, a 72 roadrunner (all restored), and a '68 Camaro for sale that looked more like a drag car (huge rear tires, giant hood raise), though it did say on the sign "street legal"

imidazol97

We've had unusually warm days for December and January. I'm getting cruise in fever.

Several guys have had their classic cars out.

Best sighting was a gray Toronado--it had to be one of the first ones. Paint was dulled but good. It rode low on the front springs due to all the weight for all those years.

Mr_Shiftright

me like.

dieselone

Those old Toronados are very cool. Sharp car.

fintail

Is that the one you saw? That looks pretty awesome.

Warmish dry day here too, which in January is something to take advantage of. Had the old car out, but saw nothing. Literally, an 92-96 Camry wagon and a MB W123 was as odd as it got. Boring.

berri

I wonder how many of today's cars will still look this good almost 50 years from now???

imidazol97

>Is that the one you saw?

No. It's like it. This is a 66. The one I saw was gray and the paint was dulled but not rust.

uplanderguy

For the longest time, I didn't like the styling of those first Toronados, but they have really grown on me the last few years. And, I LOVE that dark turquoise color on the one in the photo...one of my very favorite GM colors of that era! I was so happy when shopping for a new '81 car that GM had a new color called 'Dark Jade' that was close (though not as deep and lustrous) as that color. I bought a new Monte Carlo in light jade over dark jade two-tone, with jade cloth interior. Stolen only 18 mos. later.

Back to the Toro...remember what those looked like when a wheelcover was lost? The wheels looked like bus wheels!

Mr_Shiftright

I like Toros because they were a very innovative car and a great performer, and had good styling. In other words, everything one could be proud of in an American car of the 60s.

uplanderguy

Doesn't it just look enormous though now?!

lemko

The 1966-67 Toronado was a MAN'S car! Take a look at it, it's very masculine! I understand Chuck Norris owns one.

uplanderguy

I love the totally flat floor and revolving speedometer inside, too.

Mr_Shiftright

That's the whole idea of the styling I think. It makes much more sense for a big car to look big and drive big, than say a Fiero, which looks small but drives like a truck.

Also I think the stylists were harkening back to the early days of FWD in America, when all the FWD cars wore big front ends and had lots of power---Christie, Auburn, Miller, Cord, etc. Nothing modest about any of those vehicles.

And the Toro isn't just about styling---the drivetrain was a technical tour de force, even by modern standards. This car "walked its talk" as we used to say in the last century.

The Toro strikes me as authentic, no BS--the real deal.

fintail

More proof that the zenith of GM if not the D3 as a whole was 1965-66. I don't think there was a bad choice in the lineup. Even the not so legendary cars like the 65 Chrysler my grandpa bought new or the 66 Galaxie that was my first car had presence and style by the ton. Foreign cars were cool those years too.

Today's odd sighting: I walk to the post office, and in the lot is a W124 and not one but two W126s. It was like I stepped back into 1989 for a second.

uplanderguy

I have always thought there was a big break between 1964 and 1965 in just about everything. Pop music pre-Beatles was like late '50's pop; the Big Three's standard-size cars changed dramatically (I think for the better) in '65, too. I can't imagine trying to sell a leftover '64 Impala when the '65's were out, for example. GM's had curved side glass for the first time and sleek lines all over. And I don't know if there's been a more handsome instrument panel than the '65 Pontiac Grand Prix since.

fintail

Really a golden age for the American car, for a few years anyway, before the real bloat started, which foreshadowed the 70s. The fuselage Chrysler which replaced my grandpa's 65, wasn't nearly as nice to look at nor as well made, according to my family anyway.

1954-55 was also another biggie with most cars being new - imagine trying to sell a leftover 54 Chevy in 1955. Huge jump in a year, and music kind of reflected it too. I can't even imagine such a change today, biggest styling development in my lifetime that I can remember was the adoption of flush headlights.

ab348

The big 3 full-size cars were each all-new in '65, but with varying degrees of success. GM designs were great that year, while Ford and Mercury went boxy and, to me, were not nearly as attractive. I liked the '65 Chrysler and Dodge, the Plymouth not so much.

I thought the 1967 refreshes of each were all more successful than the originals. '67 was an interesting year as well with the introduction of the Camaro, Firebird, and Cougar.

fintail

I don't like many 67s - seem too curvy and were gaining girth and mass at an alarming rate. By 69-70, everything was a size larger. But for medium cars, maybe not so bad yet.

Mr_Shiftright

I'd say GM descending by 1965, and Mopar and Ford ascending, and everyone falling off a cliff around 1972.

omarman

Funny metaphor considering the impact bumper regs (FMVSS 215) passed in 1972. Between the Detroit styling excesses and the Naderite safety clamor, everybody who fell off the cliff around 1972 didn't bounce back so easily.

Here's a link to a 1971 newspaper report of the Taylor father-son team who modified a 1971 AMC Hornet to withstand concrete barrier bashing and took their handiwork to DC for the hearings. Check out the pic of that franken-bumper!

I dunno if AMC adapted that prototype to build this 1976 Matador but it looks familiar - and not in a good way. Taylor Devices is still in business and has a long resume of creating shock isolation, liquid springs, and other dampers for everything including NASA and military use. Still, I'd hate to turn these guys loose on a classic E-Type Jaguar.

andre1969

GM designs were great that year, while Ford and Mercury went boxy and, to me, were not nearly as attractive. I liked the '65 Chrysler and Dodge, the Plymouth not so much.

I think the only big car from 1965 that really doesn't do it for me is the Mercury. The front-end is just too flat-faced and bit generic looking, and the car is a bit boxy, overall.

As for the '67 restyles, I'm sort of with Fintail on that one. They started getting a bit excessive and plump, IMO. I remember, years ago, when I was still married, I was at the repair shop with my wife. On the office wall was a calendar with classic cars, and that particular month happened to be showing off a really nice looking '65 Catalina convertible. The wife, who really didn't pay much attention to cars, turned to me and asked, "How come ours (my '67) looks so fat compared to that one?"

I always liked the big '67 Pontiacs because they have a sleek, unique, futuristic look to them. But admittedly, they do look a lot plumper than the '66 and earlier models.

But yeah, overall, 1967 was an interesting year, as well. Even though all the big cars, with the exception of the Imperial, were just facelifted '65-66 models, the changes were substantial enough that the cars certainly looked different.

martian

Ah..those 1970's AMC matadors! I loved them-they were cool..in an offbeat way. I especially liked the fact that they were such an odd mix of quasi-modern styling and old technology.
I do recall that the US armed forces bought a lot of them-and the Matadors were used as staff cars for generals and admirals.
Of course, as long as you were driving under 70 MPH, and on a smooth highway, they gave a perfectly acceptable ride..the ancient suspensions and RWD were actally as good as anything on the road (from GM/Ford/Chrysler).
Now barking and handling..that's a different story.

lemko

The 1965 Mercury was trying to ape the 1965 Lincoln Continental. I think they perfected the Pontiac Tempest/LeMans/GTO in 1967. I think the 1967 Chevrolet looks better than the starchy 1966 model, but it has uglier taillights.

I like the aggressive foreward rake of the 1967 Cadillac's front end versus the upright angle of the 1965-66. My DTS kind of reminds me of the 1965-68 Cadillacs with the stacked lights.

The 1967 Ford has an aggressive look compared to the 1965-66, but they threw it all away on the rather anonymous-looking 1968 models.

IMO, the midsize 1968 Mopars are much better looking than the 1967 models.

lemko

The LAPD and a lot of other police departments liked 'em!



I remember when the show Adam-12 switched from the Plymouth Belvedere/Satellite to Matadors. I remember one episode where Reed and Malloy are having a high-speed pursuit of a 1972 Javelin somebody stole right out of an AMC showroom.

texases

"Still, I'd hate to turn these guys loose on a classic E-Type Jaguar"

Too late!:

Mr_Shiftright

Ah, the porky V-12...no longer a sports car, more of a GT car.

uplanderguy

I gotta say, I like those Matador Coupes of '74 and later, as long as they're not pimped out with filled-in quarter windows, etc. In one year, the Matador went from being the tallest intermediate coupe on the market, to being the lowest!

Even then I hated those bumpers though (and yes, it's similar to the '50 and '51 Studebaker). The inside of the bumper was unfinished, and you could see that! Ick.

One area I thought AMC generally stunk at, was interiors. The armrests they used, and the 'cupcake' shaped instruments, were goofy IMHO, although with the Oleg Cassini trim, etc., they did have some nice seat trim.

robr2

Here's a link to a 1971 newspaper report of the Taylor father-son team who modified a 1971 AMC Hornet to withstand concrete barrier bashing and took their handiwork to DC for the hearings. Check out the pic of that franken-bumper!

But look at the article to the right of that story - Florida House of Representatives banned mini-skirts and hot pants from the building.

I wonder if there were too many "Franken-Bumpers" there as well?

robr2

I remember when the show Adam-12 switched from the Plymouth Belvedere/Satellite to Matadors. I remember one episode where Reed and Malloy are having a high-speed pursuit of a 1972 Javelin somebody stole right out of an AMC showroom.

I also remember an episode where Malloy showed up in his new car - was it a Matador Coupe?

I believe AMC got the credit for "Vehicles Provided By...." that year.

fintail

I've never cared for the 67 Chevy for example, compared to the 65-66 models, and cars like big Buicks really became boat-like. Ford also seems to have got an ever so slight case of bloat and an ever so slight Coke bottle curve to kind of mimic Chevy. The curves seem to exaggerate the size even more. Not horrible yet, just bigger, and kind of warning of things to come.

fintail

Ha, I noticed that too. I like the "interferes with efficiency" line.

Speaking of AMC, my uncle was in some branch of the service for about 20 years starting in the early 70s, and in the late 70s, he actually bought a military surplus Hornet sedan, it was a drab kind of grey green I think, I have seen a pic of it.

robr2

Ha, I noticed that too. I like the "interferes with efficiency" line.

Well they do have a point. We men are pigs and can't stop thinking about sex for - hold on I'll be back - more than 10 seconds. Imagine the distraction the hot pants and mini-skirts create?

berri

I'm thinking that the 67 bloat was almost inevitable. Mitchell and GM were by far the market leader in the 60's. The 65 GM coke bottle styling led to a bit of puffing up (although I personally liked that look) so by 67 Ford and Chrysler were following the trend. Actually, after the management debacle downsizing the 62 Mopars and the subsequent replacement of Virgil Exner with Elwood Engel by the mid 60's a lot of Chrysler products seemed to imitate Ford who after bland styling in the first part of the sixties seemed to be doing some GM aping in the second half (remember there was around a 4 to 5 year gap from initial design to actual model introduction back then).

fintail

That makes sense. I think at that time the idea of intentional obsolescence was also still popular, and with plenty of cash hanging around for retooling, changes were easy to get approved.

fintail

Saw a 61 or 62 Corvette, red and white, hardtop on, parked at the small office near my building this evening. Also a typical German taxi creme color W126 300SD.

uplanderguy

'62 Corvettes are my favorite...de-chromed and single-paint-color. I know they're still a C1 and have king pins up front, but I've always very-much liked the styling. And it has always seemed to me that they're a rare sight compared to '58-60 models, which I guess only makes sense. I'd steer clear of red, white, silver, or black, and would look for Fawn Beige or Honduras Maroon.

fintail

It was a duck tail model and had narrow whitewalls, so I am guessing a 61-62 anyway. I notice they are a lot less common than the other 4-light models too. And in those colors, even more so.

Mr_Shiftright

the '62s had a kind of blackout grill and ribbed side rocker moldings.

Best thing about a '62 is the new 327 engine, which was really the best combo with fuel injection in all the C1s.

'62 was also a great year for Corvette in SCCA racing and at Daytona.

fintail

Saw a silver Ferrari 308GTB today, and a red 80s 911.