There was a "300SC" cabrio around 1957, but it is a big old fashioned looking fendered car, not the modern 60s style like the pic I posted. The style I posted is fairly identical to the only "300SE" badged cabrio. A 300SE cabrio is rare but not particularly exotic...a 300SC is very rare and would be welcome at any high end event.
The SC sports the 300SL Gullwing engine, so it has some spurt.
No, the 280SE 3.5 convertibles have not been hurt by the recession---most rare and highly usable collector cars haven't been. They only made 1232 of these convertibles. You can use them everyday, in comfort, and the trend is definitely towards collector cars you can drive and enjoy with stress or hassle.
This is probably even affecting the bump in value for 4-door sedans---you can take the whole family.
A few oldies today - black 67-69 Camaro convertible with hidden headlights, nice MB W123, red 65-66 Caddy convertible, early 90s Alfa Spider, early 00s Maserati coupe, W220 S65 AMG
Spotted this old 70s Detroit iron on craigslist from Z'ville. Check out the front end and the formal roof combined with the rest of the coke bottle style body. One of those odd changeover production cars which likely never showed up in a car brochure or advertisement.
A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing.
I kinda like it. The front-end looks like a bit of carryover from the '70-71 Torino. I like the full-width grille better than that puckered-up look that the '72 Gran Torino had. And I always thought the hardtop style with the fastback roofline looked too chunky.
Andre, I do believe that is a base-level '72 Ford Torino (not "Gran")...along the lines of a base '72 Chevelle (not "Malibu"). Pretty rare sight, isn't it?
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Yeah, I might have worded that post a bit awkwardly, but I knew it was a base Torino, and not a Gran.
I'm probably in the minority here, but I actually prefer the later Torino/Gran Torino, with the bulky bumpers and more pretentious front-end. But, if possible, without the opera windows in the C-pillar.
The rear windows in these cars retracted into the C-pillar, rather than roll down, so if you got the more expensive models with that opera window, you were stuck with stationary windows. I know, in that era of "who cares if they roll down...it has AIR CONDITIONING!!", it really didn't matter. But, I prefer a car with a roll-down window in back.
In later years, I think even without the opera window, they made the rear windows stationary. Maybe roll-down was an extra cost option?
I always thought that dashboard was pretty nice, too. Only problem is, it persisted on EVERY Ford intermediate, right up through the 1979 LTD-II/T-Bird/Cougar. I guess Ford didn't have the deep pockets like GM, to give all their midsized cars a different dash.
At least the bloated T-Bird like my mom drove back then had roll down small rear windows...I seem to remember they tilted back when they went down. But I could be wrong, it's been a long time.
A longtime friend of mine had a 76 Elite in his family, bought new the year before he was born and kept til 1987 when it was replaced with a Celebrity. The Elite was brown, and my friend was scarred for life by it - it didn't age well and became embarrassing, but his dad was attached to it.
Wow! That is a rare find. That base Torino looks pretty good with the wide grille. I don't remember seeing many of those even back in the day. They're definitely different than the 70 and 71 models.
When I was in 4th grade (1979-80) we lived down in Southern MD for a year. One of my friend's parents had a brown Elite, either a '75 or '76. They also had a little red Rabbit...talk about a contrast!
I remember another neighbor had a Gran Torino, maybe a '75 or so. Had the quad headlights, the wide grille with the turn signals built into it, and the formal roof with the opera windows. Even though the Elite was supposed to be a step above the Gran Torino, essentially a test to see if a Monte Carlo sized T-bird would sell, I thought the Gran Torino was the nicer car, because it had four headlights instead of two!
I remember the neighbors replaced that Gran Torino with, of all things, a '71 or so Coupe DeVille! Seems like an odd move to make with the way the economy and gas prices were heading, but at the same time, I imagine those conditions made those big mastodons a real bargain on the used car market. I think the Gran Torino was white and the Caddy was a light champagne color. I also remember the neighbor's attitude seemed to change when she got the Caddy. Suddenly, she seemed to get nasty and uppity.
spotted yesterday afternoon, in traffic. It was sort of a deep red/wine color, looked like it was in pretty nice shape. It's interesting how when you see a car like this, by itself, or in a picture, it looks fairly decent-sized. But in traffic, even surrounded by modern mid-sized cars like the Accord, Camry, etc, it actually looks a bit diminutive.
An '80 Malibu is around 193" long on a 108.1" wheelbase, which is in range with most midsized cars today. But just about every modern equivalent is probably about 4-5" taller, with a much higher decklid, and probably a bit wider as well.
As you've noted before Andre, those Malibus are very space-efficient inside for the exterior size. I don't like the four-door roofline from '78-80 though. At the time, I wanted so bad to get a black, new '78 Malibu Classic coupe, no vinyl top, silver plastic 'honeycomb' scooped-out wheel covers, F41 suspension, whitewalls, gold cloth 50/50 front seat, Monte Carlo-style round gauge cluster, 305 V8. One problem: I was still in college in '78!
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Elite or the pinnacle of malaise Bird...I think I would actually choose the Elite. At least the 70s style is amusing, and it might have a 351 (I think my friend's car did - he says they towed a camper with it).
My friend has a good story about the Elite getting rusty (this was in western WA, not a rust area) at the wheelarches, and his dad covering the holes with duct tape, and then spraying it brown to hide it. I think that was the last straw for his mother, and the "luxury car" he was so proud of in the disco days had to go. From what my friend remembers, the Elite was more reliable than the Celebrity though.
The Elite looked kind of odd with the big single lights, and gigantic bumpers that seem out of proportion. I guess it was pretentious in a period way.
I remember when I was in 7th grade or so (maybe 1989), the neighbors behind us had a Torino with no opera windows, but no vinyl top - kind of a Starsky and Hutch car, same color. Their son was into building hot rods and drag racers, and took the powertrain out of the Torino. They wanted $75 for the rest of it, it was in nice condition and for some reason I kind of wanted to buy it.
I know I grew up a Chevy guy, and the Monte Carlo of that era was 'baroque', but I thought the Elite was a factory pimpmobile. At least the Monte had only one opera window on each side, didn't have wide wheel opening trim and wide vinyl side trim in front of and behind the rear wheel openings, and wall-to-wall taillights with a bunch of bright trim on them. Ick.
The Grand Prix of that era had the best instrument panel of the GM luxury coupes, though, IMHO. It recalled the wonderful Pontiac panels of the mid'60's.
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The Grand Prix of that era had the best instrument panel of the GM luxury coupes, though, IMHO. It recalled the wonderful Pontiac panels of the mid'60's.
I thought the '73-77 Grand Prix in general, was a class act. The only thing I really didn't care for was the '77 style, where they stuck the turn signal between the headlights. That's just a look I don't care for, regardless of who did it.
A Hydrogen powered Toyota Highlander. It was the previous generation, so I figured it was ok to post. Maybe the same orange 914-6 I saw last weekend, although 70 miles away. Also, an all red Corvair convertible. It was a manual trans and in pretty good shape, but puffed a bit of blue smoke when letting of the gas.
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Wasn't there a thread long ago where everyone posted their driver's ed car? Mine was a brown 1975 Elite with the base 351 V8 and automatic. Only options I recall were the A/C and a decent AM/FM stereo - but no 8 track. It was cool in a Parliament/Funkadelic way that could have only happened then. I have no idea what eventually happened to the Elite or Robin my driver's ed partner but she and the car were both fleeting companions. Don't be too judgmental over your friend's dad and probably best not to ask why he kept hanging on either. There is was a whole lot of rhythm going down.
A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing.
There was definitely some kind of sentimental thing. And my friend's dad's dad had a similar attachment to a light blue 69 LeSabre 4 door HT, keeping it til the early 00s when old age finally stopped him from being able to use it. Sold it to a neighbor who he thought would care for it, car hasn't moved since.
My driver's ed car was a medium blue Plymouth Acclaim, I guess a 1992 or 93, it was pretty new.
Wow, I can barely remember the car. I beleive it was a champagne-colored 1981 Chevrolet Malibu Classic. I have infinitely more graphic memories of Dad taking me out in his red 1978 Ford Granada coupe a punching me in the arm every time I screwed up. Dad's course was a lot harder than the high school driver's ed course. He made me do a slalom in reverse. Well, I DID pass my driver's license test the first time and the cop I got to administer was perhaps the oldest, toughest, meanest one they had on duty at the time.
My Dad and my uncle both had brand spanking new hi-line cars and they weren't about to teach me. Also we lived in New York City, where it was basically kill or be killed. There was a local driving school but the instructor was so incredibly creepy that we referred to him as Dracula, and to this day I do wonder.....
Anyway, finally a neighbor who had a 1941 oldsmobile he rarely drove anymore, strored in a large parking garage, offered to teach me. I had already been driving illegally, and had all kinds of bad habits. He was a great old guy. I remember him saying "now you be careful when you press on the gas--this baby will take off like a rocket!" LOL! And here I had been laying down blocks of rubber in my friend's Impala.
I mean --how could you NOT pass the driver's test when you show up with an 80 year old man and a 1941 Oldsmobile? Even more remarkable, the car was an automatic!
Years later I wanted to buy that car and rod it (it was in fantastic shape) but his weasel son got it.
Anyway, I'm pretty sure it was a gray market car.... as I think we only got the 380... and, it appeared to have euro bumpers.... and on the right side of the trunk, it just said "turbo".
Plus, it seemed to be very quick off the line, going through town, this AM...
Saw a few oddities in the endless rain this morning. NSX with "Crisis" license plate, woman driver, sounded like an automatic. Pristine looking 75-79 Corolla wagon and a mint looking W123 diesel with blue California plates, saw it quietly purring at a light, running like new. Also a W126 300SE in typical ca. 1990 white and grey two tone, late 70s 280Z, and I recently saw a 240SX convertible.
My dad usually took me out to practice in the 60 Ford Country Sedan - his logic being that if I could handle something that big, I could handle anything. I remember he'd have me do weird parking maneuvers in it, ones never repeated in real life. I wish he hadn't sold that car. I easily passed my test on the first try too, but it was pretty simple...I don't remember the instructor, but I remember borrowing a family friend's Pontiac Sunbird to take it - being the smallest car I could get at the time.
That is such a common theme, to take a small car to the test. My first car was an 89 Grand Marquis, so I took the test in my Stepdad's 95 Neon instead.
I remember my cousin taking the test in that too. His choices were either his Dad's F150 or his Mom's Lumina (you know the Dustbuster type) minivan.
I learned to drive in my dad's mid 80's Caddy and my mom's Cutlass Ciera of the same vintage. Took my test in the Olds since parallel parking was part of the test.
From those 2 to a 66 Mustang with a 289 as my 1st car. BIG difference in acceleration (to the good) and braking (to the bad). Handling was about a tie with the Caddy. But the top came down on the Mustang!
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Our school had a late 70's Datsun B210 (lucky for us the speed limits were still 55 mph).
Practiced on our 1970 Chevy Kingwood Wagon and my sister's 1976 Ford Mustang II and took the test in my Mom's 1978 Olds Cutlass.
I know some folks were mortified by the "family" cars they were allowed to drive, but I was happy to have anything to drive at that point. Especially when the alternative was walking...LOL
No he used our Neon. I drove that van once, judging the front was not easy. My mother's similar vintage Caravan was much easier to drive (except that is was a 4cyl and you could run faster).
Fin, I got my license first try in a stripped 60 Ford. The Chicago area usually made most teenage guys test at least twice before getting their license. But I don't think it was due to any superior driving skills, rather the guy just rewarded me for not stalling out the stick shift or making a wide, non power assisted turn into something...
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This is a 1952.. Can't remember exactly, but the one I saw had those big bars on the top...
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The 2 door models of similar design, like this, also had landau bars:
A 300Sc like this would be worth a few hundred grand I bet. A 300S cabrio, virtually identical, a bit less but more than the 4 door.
I should pay more attention...
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No, the 280SE 3.5 convertibles have not been hurt by the recession---most rare and highly usable collector cars haven't been. They only made 1232 of these convertibles. You can use them everyday, in comfort, and the trend is definitely towards collector cars you can drive and enjoy with stress or hassle.
This is probably even affecting the bump in value for 4-door sedans---you can take the whole family.
Most 4 doors were worth little to begin with, so not much to fall. Not a bad thing. Speculation ruins everything, from housing to artwork to cars.
Regards;
Oldbearcat
The "GT" nameplates were apparently stuck on by an owner somewhere along the line.
I'm probably in the minority here, but I actually prefer the later Torino/Gran Torino, with the bulky bumpers and more pretentious front-end. But, if possible, without the opera windows in the C-pillar.
The rear windows in these cars retracted into the C-pillar, rather than roll down, so if you got the more expensive models with that opera window, you were stuck with stationary windows. I know, in that era of "who cares if they roll down...it has AIR CONDITIONING!!", it really didn't matter. But, I prefer a car with a roll-down window in back.
In later years, I think even without the opera window, they made the rear windows stationary. Maybe roll-down was an extra cost option?
I always thought that dashboard was pretty nice, too. Only problem is, it persisted on EVERY Ford intermediate, right up through the 1979 LTD-II/T-Bird/Cougar. I guess Ford didn't have the deep pockets like GM, to give all their midsized cars a different dash.
A longtime friend of mine had a 76 Elite in his family, bought new the year before he was born and kept til 1987 when it was replaced with a Celebrity. The Elite was brown, and my friend was scarred for life by it - it didn't age well and became embarrassing, but his dad was attached to it.
I remember another neighbor had a Gran Torino, maybe a '75 or so. Had the quad headlights, the wide grille with the turn signals built into it, and the formal roof with the opera windows. Even though the Elite was supposed to be a step above the Gran Torino, essentially a test to see if a Monte Carlo sized T-bird would sell, I thought the Gran Torino was the nicer car, because it had four headlights instead of two!
I remember the neighbors replaced that Gran Torino with, of all things, a '71 or so Coupe DeVille! Seems like an odd move to make with the way the economy and gas prices were heading, but at the same time, I imagine those conditions made those big mastodons a real bargain on the used car market. I think the Gran Torino was white and the Caddy was a light champagne color. I also remember the neighbor's attitude seemed to change when she got the Caddy. Suddenly, she seemed to get nasty and uppity.
As per car spotting, saw a blue and white 1960 Oldsmobile two-door sedan near Glenside, PA.
Yecch! Sounds like my Dad and his awful 1981 Thunderbird!
An '80 Malibu is around 193" long on a 108.1" wheelbase, which is in range with most midsized cars today. But just about every modern equivalent is probably about 4-5" taller, with a much higher decklid, and probably a bit wider as well.
My friend has a good story about the Elite getting rusty (this was in western WA, not a rust area) at the wheelarches, and his dad covering the holes with duct tape, and then spraying it brown to hide it. I think that was the last straw for his mother, and the "luxury car" he was so proud of in the disco days had to go. From what my friend remembers, the Elite was more reliable than the Celebrity though.
I remember when I was in 7th grade or so (maybe 1989), the neighbors behind us had a Torino with no opera windows, but no vinyl top - kind of a Starsky and Hutch car, same color. Their son was into building hot rods and drag racers, and took the powertrain out of the Torino. They wanted $75 for the rest of it, it was in nice condition and for some reason I kind of wanted to buy it.
The Grand Prix of that era had the best instrument panel of the GM luxury coupes, though, IMHO. It recalled the wonderful Pontiac panels of the mid'60's.
I thought the '73-77 Grand Prix in general, was a class act. The only thing I really didn't care for was the '77 style, where they stuck the turn signal between the headlights. That's just a look I don't care for, regardless of who did it.
Maybe the same orange 914-6 I saw last weekend, although 70 miles away.
Also, an all red Corvair convertible. It was a manual trans and in pretty good shape, but puffed a bit of blue smoke when letting of the gas.
iswas a whole lot of rhythm going down.My driver's ed car was a medium blue Plymouth Acclaim, I guess a 1992 or 93, it was pretty new.
They eventually "upgraded" to Chevy Corsica's.
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Plymouth Horizon. It had to be one of the last ones ever, since I remember it having an airbag.
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Anyway, finally a neighbor who had a 1941 oldsmobile he rarely drove anymore, strored in a large parking garage, offered to teach me. I had already been driving illegally, and had all kinds of bad habits. He was a great old guy. I remember him saying "now you be careful when you press on the gas--this baby will take off like a rocket!" LOL! And here I had been laying down blocks of rubber in my friend's Impala.
I mean --how could you NOT pass the driver's test when you show up with an 80 year old man and a 1941 Oldsmobile? Even more remarkable, the car was an automatic!
Years later I wanted to buy that car and rod it (it was in fantastic shape) but his weasel son got it.
Anyway, I'm pretty sure it was a gray market car.... as I think we only got the 380... and, it appeared to have euro bumpers.... and on the right side of the trunk, it just said "turbo".
Plus, it seemed to be very quick off the line, going through town, this AM...
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We did get a 380SEL in 1981-83 (I think), 380SE in 84-85 (I think).
That is such a common theme, to take a small car to the test. My first car was an 89 Grand Marquis, so I took the test in my Stepdad's 95 Neon instead.
I remember my cousin taking the test in that too. His choices were either his Dad's F150 or his Mom's Lumina (you know the Dustbuster type) minivan.
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From those 2 to a 66 Mustang with a 289 as my 1st car. BIG difference in acceleration (to the good) and braking (to the bad). Handling was about a tie with the Caddy. But the top came down on the Mustang!
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Practiced on our 1970 Chevy Kingwood Wagon and my sister's 1976 Ford Mustang II and took the test in my Mom's 1978 Olds Cutlass.
I know some folks were mortified by the "family" cars they were allowed to drive, but I was happy to have anything to drive at that point. Especially when the alternative was walking...LOL
I remember my paternal grandfather had a Lumina van...he was about 80 then (early 90s) and he liked it a lot, saw it as very futuristic.
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