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

hpmctorque

It's hard to imagine a daily driver without A/C today (unless he lived in Hibbing, MN, or some such place), or a radio.

tjc78

Nope humid south Jersey. I won't be without air. My old 99 S10 has the A/C out and I certainly won't drive it to work on a hot humid day.

fintail

Maybe it was a pacific northwest car. I see many cars up through the 80s that don't have AC. You can manage OK without it here, as anything above 80F is considered hot.

stickguy

well, technically sourced from VW/Audi, but pretty sure it was the same basic unit also sourced for the 924. Or at least, I remember making the jokes back in the day!

as to AC, I don't like it all that much. Doesn't matter to me.

if you want ugly though, my sister out of college got a Nissan 310 (1981). Blue over blue vinyl. No AC, with a stick shift. Then she moved to northern VA and drove it for a few more years in that weather and traffic. Made the Saturn she eventually replaced it with seem luxurious in comparison.

kyfdx

I think the 310 was still a Datsun...

The Stanza and some other model that escapes me, right now...were the first Nissans....

At least the 310 was a Datsun when it first came out... ( in '79?)

stickguy

it was a datsun, but for a while they were badged "nissan by datsun"

hpmctorque

I think it was the first FWD Datsun that was sold in the U.S. Yes, the styling was weird, to be kind. Not a bad car, though.

hpmctorque

A Pacific Northwest original point of purchase could explain no A/C, but not the absence of a radio, which was even more popular than A/C in that Spirit's model year. Maybe the car's styling, performance and residual value compensated for not having frivolous options.

robr2

...looked nice - with a For Sale sign it. Asking $1650. Talk me out of it.....

kyfdx

I think it was the first FWD Datsun that was sold in the U.S.

I'm pretty sure it was preceded by the Datsun F-10..

The 310 was a decent car.... way better than the B-210, which was gutless..

kyfdx

$1650 for a Turbo? Seems awfully cheap..

texases

Wonder if the turbo works...

kyfdx

Maybe it's just the chrome "turbo" badge...

stickguy

as we all know, that is just the "down payment". Expect about the same monthly charge...

stickguy

the F-10 was an ungainly little toad.

The 310 was actually a pretty clean design (especially by the standards on Datsun in the 70s!)

One thing I do remember is that the gearbox whined like crazy. Sounded like some kind of square cut race box. But, it had character!

bhill2

way better than the B-210, which was gutless.

Oh man, did you trigger a memory. When I was looking for my first job after college I had an interview in LA. Being a broke student I rented a compact, which turned out to be a B-210. Being a rental car, it was an automatic. Trying to merge that onto the I-405 was a whole different experience.

kyfdx

The only one that I ever drove was a stick.... the engine revved so slowly, that you could shift with the accelerator pegged to the floor... :surprise:

hpmctorque

Ah, you're right. I confused the F-10 with the 310. Will have to drink one or two cold one to restore my self-esteem.

hpmctorque

What, for $1,650 (asking price) you expect the turbo to work?

texases

You're right..anyway, nothing that $10,000 won't fix...

robr2

So I'm getting mixed messages here. Should I run or run fast??

texases

Actually, I might look into it enough to see what's wrong with it. The turbo would be a neat car if it's mechanically sound, but $1,650 is just too good of a price. Know somebody that could give it the once-over (assuming it ran fine for you)?

hpmctorque

My advice is to pull out your wallet only on the off-chance that you've discovered a diamond in the rough. Otherwise, follow the adage,"when in doubt, stay out." Chances are high that this 944 is worth no more than the seller is asking, in which case I'd stay away from such a very high maintenance car. If, by some slim chance, the seller has underpriced this car, then go for it, since the downside isn't too great.

au1994

Put yourself through the same exercise I did a few weeks ago when considering an 83 380SL that was priced at 3995

I drove the car for my initial impressions then shopped what I thought was the parts list needed on the internet and called a local independent shop for shop rates and their take on the installation. Finally tally came to a conservative $2k just to get it road worthy (master cylinder, front suspension rebuild) before I did anything cosmetic.

Needless to say there is still an empty bay in my garage.

stickguy

near my house. A big parking lot, but pretty confined to maneuver around in.

Of all things, a '75ish Eldo convertible (last of the big ones!). Triple white. A shocking thing to see in that environment.

hpmctorque

Can't remember the last time I saw a Plymouth Prowler being driven.

Mr_Shiftright

Oh they're high dollar collectibles, didn't you hear? Just put it away for another 50 years. :P

dieselone

Saw a Reatta out and about yesterday afternoon. I wouldn't think there are many of those still around.

Mr_Shiftright

A friend of mine has one---last year he asked me to take a look at it, as to whether he should keep it or not--he told me, prior to my coming up there, that it was in good shape.

when I got there it didn't look too bad, aside from peeling paint and dents, but when I drove it for 10 minutes or so, I mentally calculated about...oh...maybe a dozen things that needed immediate attention, some of them feeling, or sounding, pretty serious. I heard pinging, wheel bearing noise, smelled oil burning somewhere, needed tires, brakes were spongy, noisy heater fan, crack in windshield.

It was tired and really, given current market value, not worth fixing up I thought. So I advised him to let it go.

kyfdx

isellhondas just sold his Reatta for $2800....

hpmctorque

Did your friend take your advice? That list of issues was quite extensive, although brakes and tires could be considered wear items. Still, added to those other repairs your advice was sound. That said, I think owning a Reatta, rare as it is now, would be neat. Oh, I know you can find one if you look seriously, but it's a rare sighting. What was the mileage on your friend's car?

Mr_Shiftright

No, of course he didn't take my advice. It's in the back yard rotting right now.

usedclassic1

I have been doing pre purchase inspections on classic cars for almost twenty years. Yesterday I had the pleasure of inspecting a 1974 Pantera. Absolutely stunning car. Car was being shipped out of the country. Seems that I am inspecting more and more for foreign buyers.

uplanderguy

Last year, I sold 1963 and 1964 Studebaker Daytonas to a buyer in Australia, for good prices. One was very nice; the other was a fixer-upper but good enough to make it worthwhile. The joke in our club is that that is where all the really nice Studebakers are ending up.

Mr_Shiftright

Lots of muscle cars go there as well. Aussies love american muscle cars.

berri

I believe so do the Brits and Scandinavians.

robr2

Plus with the cheap dollar, all these cars are 25% less than they were 3 years ago.

fintail

Heck, fintails have been going back to Europe for over a decade now, cars like Healeys and MGs and Karmann-Ghias have been going back for maybe 25 years.

stickguy

even wheeler dealers spent some time in CA shopping cars. I know he bought and shipped over an old Chevy PU (from the 50s), a Karmen Ghia, and a 70 Charger.

lemko

...bright yellow 1968 Fiat 850 Sport Spyder on Oxford Avenue near Loney in NE Philly yesterday. I thought Mother Nature claimed all of these about 35 years ago. The car was in amazing condition - a rare sight indeed!

stickguy

my older sister had one of those when she still lived at home, so it must have been about 1976. My BIL to be hated it, since he was the one that worked on it, and he was also about 6'3". He had a '73 Mustang Mach 1 fastback at the time (302/3 speed stick), so just a tad different.

I liked to sit in it in the garage and play around. Pretty sure I could reach out the side and touch the ground while sitting in the car. That baby was low.

Mr_Shiftright

Yeah but in Australia you have the room to drive one properly. :P

fintail

They also went to FL to buy that 57 Chevy that caught on fire. Most of Europe seems to age cars like Ohio or Michigan.

stickguy

I remember that one. Baby blue 4 door. Why anyone would want that in England is beyond me.

fintail

And they painted it yellow...and apparently had no problem selling it :confuse:

Much of Europe still has a fascination with old Americana. Strangest thing is 70s land yachts - cult following for those on the continent, especially Netherlands/Germany/CZR and Scandinavia. Seems some people there appreciate the gargantuan smooth comfortable luxury. The grass is always greener.

Mr_Shiftright

It's probably akin to the European craze for the American "wild west" back in the 20s and 30s.

fintail

I think a lot of that romance is still alive. Many Europeans would love to take a vacation involving renting a stereotypical big American SUV or Mustang/Camaro convertible, and driving around the southwest for a couple weeks. Just as I would love to get a nice competent car and drive around a few European areas for a couple weeks.

This morning, a woman was happy to have spotted my obscure car. I was out in the fintail driving around Yarrow Point (very affluent area), and a woman maybe in her 60s flagged me down and started raving about the car, how it brought back memories of one that was in her family 50 years ago, how they also had a ponton, etc. Pretty cool.

fintail

Had both cars out in the dry weather today. They are both aging well:





And I noticed something odd. An Avanti has parked beside my fintail for most of the past several years. But now something is different:



Either the owner bought another, or the once maroon-ish car now looks like this.

uplanderguy

I'm not an Avanti II fan, but I think only the intellectually dishonest among us wouldn't agree that its lifespan, if not its existence alone, was amazing, giving the circumstances of the original parent company.

When I first opened this thread, I thought, "I must have opened an old page as I remember fintail showing this photo before". Then I read about the color change. That is odd. I'd take maroon over silver any day!

Speaking of that...I sometimes see right through color, especially on old cars it seems. I can recall a year, make, and model when I might later be 'shaky' on the color, or not be able to remember it at all! Anybody else like that?

uplanderguy

BTW, putting a rubber bumper guard on that razor-thin chrome bumper is blasphemy IMO!