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

fintail

Might have been a time warp covering just a couple blocks. That would explain it.

I like the Citroen wagon too - weird, but funky cool tech. There was a much nicer older Citroen wagon in the same town, probably the same owner. Here it is at a car show there about a decade ago:

fintail

Carolinas might be good, less rust and none of that GA/FL sun to destroy things.

Rust takes a long time here - still plenty of late 80s Hondas and Toyotas on the road around Seattle, many in nice condition for their age.

lemko

New England would be even worse!

explorerx4

not a car and as it turns out not old.
Has a nice vintage vibe to it though.
Royal Enfield Motorcycle

fintail

Without German influence, British products tend to be a little "traditional", to put it nicely :shades:

texases

The Enfield's now made in India, but greatly upgraded for the US market. Kinda like the Ural. Fun if you want retro and you're not in a hurry. Me, I'd get a modern Triumph Bonneville, 100% modern with classic layout.

fintail

India...hmmm... don't know if that would be a huge quality jump over a Chang Jiang. Sounds risky. I think I'd take an Ural and maybe drop a BMW engine in it, as the real thing is so expensive.

I don't know what bike I would choose if I was shopping...I like sportbikes, but I think I am getting too old for that. Some more upright naked bikes seem cool. Not into cruisers or anything similar.

Mr_Shiftright

Word is it's a pretty crappy bike.

lemko

...beige 1977 Pontiac Catalina two-door at a repair shop on Oxford Avenue and Martins Mill Road in NE Philly.

andre1969

This might be a bit too picky, but I'd LOVE a '77 Catalina coupe, minus the vinyl roof and opera windows that some of them had, in a tasteful light blue or forest green, with a 400 V-8, and well-optioned with power windows, locks, etc...

Oh, hell, I'd even tolerate one with a 350! :P

stickguy

an original condition ( a bit rough, but no obvious rust) 84-85 Toyota Supra. The Celica based one with pop up headlights. I always wanted one of them. Still wouldn't mind!

then an early 50s Gm Convertible. Looked freshly restored, or at least super clean. I would guess somewhere around a '52 Chevy, but those are not my area (not even close). Toddling around town with the top down.

jwilliams2

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jul/03/sergio-pininfarina?newsfeed=true

andys120

The Enfield's now made in India, but greatly upgraded for the US market

A buddy of mine bought one and found it was a piece of crap but it sure looked cool in Army livery.

He also bought a Bonneville replica to go with the original 650 Bonneville he has.

texases

I said 'upgraded', not 'good' :P 1930s technology is just that, neat paint and trim or not.

andre1969

I'm about to head out to the Mopar show in Carlisle, PA. Wish me luck...supposed to get up to 99 degrees today, and 103 tomorrow! Hopefully the old beast makes it!

ab348

Thar she blows!!!

tjc78

Have a good trip. Hope the a/c is working in that car!

berri

Something tells me that after triple digit heat and super humidity the old beast this weekend will be you!

kyfdx

In the parking lot at church, today... Automatic...

stickguy

they were all automatics.

I drove one when they were newly out. My neighbor worked for Subaru and had one to try. Man, that was quick (this was early 90s, so relatively speaking. Very futuristic for the time, certainly compared to the Mazda I was driving.

explorerx4

Russian mafia S500. I only heard someone mentioning the bullet proof glass as I was leaving.
No doubt, I'll get to see it again and will take a closer look.

fintail

Every idiot with a W140 thinks the double glazing is "bulletproof". Unless they have some paperwork detailing an armored conversion, it's just the stock glass.

Looks like I hit the wrong thread earlier: Convertible today here in the sun and warmth - today noticed a 68 Cutlass convertible, similar vintage big Buick convertible, 60s VW convertible, ~65 Corvette convertible, late 80s RX7 convertible, couple of 65-66 Mustang coupes.

explorerx4

You're probably right. The funny thing is, the owner used to work driving an 'Armored Car'.
I'll check it out and keep my observations to myself next time I see it.

fintail

Oh, you should ask him about it and tell us what happens. Say you'd be interested in buying it, but only if you can test the glass. If it breaks with a bullet, no sale. I've wanted to do that with craigslist ads where the "bulletproof" claim is made.

Nice W140s are getting harder to find, too.

andre1969

and, as good of a time as I had, between the heat, the blazing sun, no a/c, flaky windshield wipers when it finally rained, etc, I can safely say that I don't want to see another R-body Mopar for a long, long time! :sick:

On the plus side, it ran well and never overheated. Actually seemed to run a bit cool. Temp gauge always stayed slightly below the middle. I took a slightly different way to Carlisle, that cuts out about 18-20 miles, but involves more back roads and less highway. Actually seemed to take about the same amount of time, even though there were more traffic lights and such. Fuel economy on the trip up was about 18 mpg. Not bad, IMO, for the age/size/displacement of the car, and the fact that the trip up wasn't all highway this time. My car seems happiest when it's running around 65-70 mph. Around 45-55, sometimes it'll start sounding like it's missing a little, and on light acceleration will shudder a bit.

lemko

To what extent is a car bulletproof? It may ward off handgun fire, but a rifle may easily pierce it.

lemko

Well, that ONE R-body we saw was spectacular!

fintail

I don't know...I think some of the armored variants are pretty strong though, they sure weigh enough. Tinpot dictators and corporate criminals love armored normal sedans, and they have reason to need protection.

andre1969

Yeah, that '81 5th Ave with the stainless steel roof was gorgeous! And the Nightwatch '79 base model that came from Ontario was really sweet, as well.

Mr_Shiftright

If you have an RPG in your "eliminate brutal dictator" toolbox, you're good to go against any armored passenger car.

tjc78

All you BMW guys would have loved the mid 80s 325 Coupe (E30 right?) I saw this morning. It looked mint, nice period wheels, spoiler and fog lights. Silver over black.

Saw a nice 65 Mustang yesterday in red.

The oddball was an Audi 5000 (the one Ferris Bueller's father drove) in a burnt orange color. That couldn't have been stock.

lemko

...white 1967 Cadillac Coupe DeVille with blue vinyl top near Verree Road and Napfle in NE Philly.

ab348

If it showed it was running a little cool this weekend, that probably means you need to fix the temperature gauge too.

tjc78

or the thermostat is stuck open. :P

Speaking of that. Do modern cars even a problem with overheating anymore (aside from a blown hose, etc)? It was 100 on Saturday. I cruised down the expressway at 80-85 with the A/C blasting and the temp gauge never moved. I then got stuck in some stop-n-go city traffic and again the gauge never moved.

I remember on older cars you could see the temp creep up a little if stuck in traffic on a super hot day, A/C running.

texases

"I then got stuck in some stop-n-go city traffic and again the gauge never moved. "

As I understand it, some of the modern "gauges" are more like idiot lights - they have 3 positions: cold, OK and hot, so they don't move up and down with changes in temperature, as long as it's "OK".

berri

If your handle reflects your residence or upbringing, this weather is just business as usual, right?

stickguy

That's my understanding. almost like they took that whole middle section on the guage (everything between cold, and oh crap) and just made it always point to the middle.

michaellno

We had over 2 weeks of 90+ degree weather in Colorado recently. A majority of the driving I do in the ION is stop-n-go (pizza delivery). Temp gauge in the ION doesn't move at all.

The only thing that is different is that my MPG dropped from 25-26 to 22-23 due to the AC running all the time.

texases

"If your handle reflects your residence"

Yep, in Dallas. It's actually been a little cooler than normal this week, low 90s. We haven't had the extreme heat of the NE, just 'normal' heat (98-101).

I agree that cars are better, very rare to see one overheated by the side of the highway, even in July/August.

tjc78

As I understand it, some of the modern "gauges" are more like idiot lights

Makes sense. At the very least, they may be buffered so that minor variences don't cause them to move.

ab348

I know that on my 2011 Regal Turbo, the gauge works normally when the car is warming up - it does not go suddenly from cold to normal, but inches up. I have never seen it go beyond the normal level though.

In '04 I had a rental Impala that I drove from Seattle to Richland, WA, through the mountains and across the desert on a pretty spectacular Interstate highway. Some of the hills were very steep and in fact had signs stating to turn off your A/C and watch your temperature gauge. On those hills, the Impala's temp gauge would definitely move back and forth beyond the normal range going uphill and then return to normal going down. I had the impression it was giving a good measure of what the coolant temp was.

berri

I refer to Dallas as the Midwest of the Southwest. Land at DFW one night at 76, get up the next morning to an ice storm. Places like Austin and Houston don't seem to have the same variability. Great area though!

imidazol97

On my 03 leSabre, the gauge is more or less linear. I have a digit readout along with the gauge. When the thermostat was running a few degrees lower than I lliked, that showed on the gauge as well. Same for when the gauge moved up a few degrees stopped in traffic with AC on in summer.

fintail

Did you take White Pass?

Fintail is going in for its yearly garage visit next week - it has a temperature problem too, I have described it before. It's fine when loafing along under 60mph or so, but when you go faster, it gets hot, and speeds above 70 will peg the needle. I am hoping for a simple bad thermostat/water pump/obstructed radiator rather than some head issue nightmare.

Oh yeah, saw a good rarity today: Porsche 928 GTS

Mr_Shiftright

Sounds like a clogged radiator---how old is that rad? It's definitely a coolant circulation problem... the only "head" issue I can think of is lots of corrosion in the water galleys---which is not unheard of on older Benz engines (the 280SLs loved to do this).

fintail

It was reconditioned in 1997...I think the coolant has been changed a couple times since. I hope it is something that simple, and not a major issue.

ab348

> Did you take White Pass?

No, I don't believe so. It was a combo of I-90 and I-82. Some of the engineering that went into building those roads must have been incredible.

fintail

Oh yeah, I think those funny signs might be on 82, sounds familiar. Big trucks sometimes have problems with that one. I like that drive through the barren scenery, with smooth usually sparsely populated roads.

tjc78

It could also be as simple as a bad fan clutch as well.

andre1969

Fuel economy on the trip up was about 18 mpg. Not bad, IMO, for the age/size/displacement of the car, and the fact that the trip up wasn't all highway this time.

Update...drove the 5th Ave to work today, and filled up on the way. On that leg of the trip going up to Carlisle, I averaged 18.1 mpg. The rest of the trip, which included a lot of local running around, the drive back home, and the 2.5 miles to the gas station this morning, averaged 15.7 mpg.

Oh, and this morning, the car seemed to learn a new trick to annoy me. When I took the key out at the gas station, it kept chiming, as if the key was still in the ignition. It stopped when I closed the door, at least. Did it again when I got to work. I tried jiggling the ignition to stop it, to no avail. Oh well, at least it stops when I close the door, so it shouldn't run the battery down.