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I spotted an (insert obscure car name here) classic car today! (Archived)
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I think the '57 DeSoto had a pushbutton setup. Apparently with no 'Park' button. The Ramblers of the late '50s were the same way.
2009 BMW 335i, 2003 Corvette cnv. (RIP 2001 Jaguar XK8 cnv and 1985 MB 380SE [the best of the lot])
I believe some '64 Pontiacs and Buicks still had a "PNDLR" quadrant, as did Studebakers through '66 ('63 and '64 Studes could be had with "PRND21" quadrant--discontinued for '65).
Probably sacrilege here, but to me putting a tachometer on the hood wasn't very smart and a small bulge there doesn't add to styling IMHO. I know that's considered a desirable option today on that era Pontiac today, and I'm very pro-big Pontiacs through '68 otherwise.
Speaking of Tempests earlier...I'd just love to own a maroon '62 Tempest LeMans coupe with the 215 V8. I read online that that was only used in 1-2% of production. I know, I could just get a Buick or Olds but I like the Pontiac's styling details a bit better and well, I think Pontiac then was just cooler!. I used to like the '63 revision of the Tempest better, but I don't anymore. A friend of mine says I'd have to be a masochist to want a 'rope drive' Tempest though!
Sometimes I get "splinters in the windmills of [my] mind!" Somehow I was picturing Desoto automatics with that "PNDLR" column shift instead of the pushbuttons Andre was posting about.
Those early Tempests were pretty cool...lots of innovation going on. I wonder if the GTO package would have ever been built on the second gen Tempest if not for all the investment Pontiac put into the first gen. Pontiac was building its "Tiger" image for the Tempest even before the GTO.
I think that the 'S' stood for 'Second'. This transmission was a 3-speed. What I don't know is if selecting 'S' started out in first and then shifted to second but not third, or if it locked the transmission in second.
2009 BMW 335i, 2003 Corvette cnv. (RIP 2001 Jaguar XK8 cnv and 1985 MB 380SE [the best of the lot])
Otherwise, that's a sharp panel I always thought.
Yeah Eunice, you ain't playin with a full deck!
The 1955 Desoto automatics had a lever on the dash; here's an example. Again, it's just "RNDL", no Park.
For 1956, they went to pushbuttons. here's a close-up.
From 1955-61, Desoto still offered a 3-on-the-tree manual shift, but it was very rare. I've heard that by '55-56, something like 99.6% of all DeSotos were automatic. I've seen a 3-on-the-tree '57 Desoto from time to time, but it's always been a low-line Firesweep, the Dodge-based model. The 3- was technically standard on the mid-range Firedome, which is what I have, with a 2-speed Powerflite being optional, and a 3-speed Torqueflite optional above that. I've never seen one, though. I've often wondered if the 3-on-the-tree or even 2-speed Powerflite was one of those mythical options on the '57 Firedome, like getting a cloth interior in a Lexus. Where it's "offered", but the when the dealers order their cars they bypass it for pricier options, and even if you tried to order one, the factory would reject it?
Pontiac tended to also use "S" for "Second". At least, that's how my '67 Catalina and '76 LeMans are. PRNDSL. My '69 Bonneville was most likely the same, but I can't remember now.
As for the position of the "R", wasn't it the old 4-speed HydraMatic that had the R all the way at the end of the quadrant, while the Slim-Jim had the more normal PRND21?
http://www.lowridermagazine.com/features/1205_lrmp_1963_buick_riviera/photo_14.h- tml
And why was there a Dodge Coronet 440, when they offered a 440 engine but that had nothing to do with the name "Coronet 440"? (I know Dodge used the '440' moniker before there was a 440 engine, but still....)
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
I think Studebaker and AMC were similar in the early and mid-sixties only in that their standard-sized car was an intermediate by Big Three standards, but I think Studebaker did so much more with what they had than Rambler, and they were a smaller company by then as well. Just MHO though of course.
Even though a Wildcat would've been below a Riviera in catchet, perhaps people recognized that "Wildcat" meant performance, so when they'd open the hood of their luxury car Riviera and see that "Wildcat" under the hood, they'd feel proud that their luxury car had a musclecar engine in it?
My old '69 Dart GT, which just had a 225 slant six, had a sticker on it that said "Charger 225". Which I thought was kinda lame, because it was just the generic 145 hp (110 net) 225 slant six that they used in everything back then. And no "real" Charger would have a slant six, anyway!
Over the years, hanging out at Chevy dealers in my 'yout', I can remember seeing these things:
1) '77 Impala with Caprice Classic rear seat (same color and vinyl, but didn't match the front seat).
2) '77 Caprice Classic cloth interior with three cloth-insert interior door panels and one vinyl-insert door panel.
3) Nova Concours with thin side molding on one side and optional wide molding down the other.
4) Early nineties Lumina with standard trim down one side and red "Euro" trim down the other.
A friend told me about "Plodge Homnis" (Omnis with Horizon nameplates or vice-versa) would show up at their dealership. But that's not an entire front clip that was wrong or anything.
I grew up GM, big-time, but a Mopar product I think was just lovely when new and still is, is a 1968 Plymouth Satellite two-door hardtop.
Graceful proportions, and I even like that very light metallic moss green seen so often on them.
I literally wouldn't change a thing on them. I even like the looks, size, and location of the ornamentation on them.
To me, it's as perfect as-is as the '65 Chevrolet Impala Sport Coupe. I don't think there's a bad line on it.
The Champ was introduced with the old double-walled Studebaker bed with 'external' rear fenders, but I've read that marketing showed people wanted something they could put a 4' by 8' sheet, flat, in the back of.
I met the guy who engineered the Champ a couple times. A big guy who had a bigger-than-life personality, named Otis Romine. He reminded me of Willard Scott in size and personality. He said he approached Dodge about buying that bed as Studebaker did not want the expense of tooling a new bed, considering the size of their truck business at that time. Part of the deal was that Studebaker would build Dodge's replacement beds going forward.
I will say that the crease down the side of the bed, and the shape of the rear wheel openings, actually (to my eyes) match the styling of the Studebaker cab better than that of the earlier Dodge cab. Studebaker did fabricate a new front panel and of course, a tailgate with "Studebaker" across it.
But, I even know Studebaker guys that won't touch one because of its bed width. The short, wide bed is the worst offender IMHO. I'd still enjoy a long, wide bed version with Deluxe trim and whitewall tires. The old-style Stude bed was available through '62, but only the wide Dodge bed was available for '63 and '64.
I've seen year change mixed up cars too. My family had a 1985 Tempo built 9/85, must have been built on the last day of 1985 MY production. It had a factory CHMSL and a 1986 model steering wheel
My aunt and uncle were AMC people (and as a teen I ribbed Uncle Bob about that quite a bit!). They ordered a '74 four-door Matador, I think a Brougham. Dark maroon with black vinyl top, black knit cloth interior, and intermittent wipers--I will say it was the first car I was aware of having those. It came into the dealer in August and I can remember Uncle Bob saying the dealer said that interior material was 'new for '75'--similar to the kind of thing you remember with your folks' Tempo.
Little details like that get lost over time. My fintail has a fully round horn ring - usually found through 1963 (my car is a May 1964 build), but I suspect it was simply a leftover piece, and Euros didn't really go for model year changes back then anyway.
AMCs are odd ducks. I really disliked those Matadors when I was young, so clunky looking - but now I don't think they are bad, and the wagons are fairly decent looking. The coupes are still bizarre though.
It gets better than that. In '63 the 427 ci engines were called 'Thunderbird High-Performance V-8'. They weren't available in the Thunderbird.
2009 BMW 335i, 2003 Corvette cnv. (RIP 2001 Jaguar XK8 cnv and 1985 MB 380SE [the best of the lot])
I always thought it must have been hard to sell a Fairlane/Torino, or Comet/Montego in that era, because they just seemed kind of generic and wallflower-ish, and even a bit petite, compared to the stylish, muscular Mopar and GM intermediates.
The Fords did bulk up a bit for '70-71 though, and I thought they looked pretty good, considering they weren't an all-new design.
And, I agree...I think a '65 Impala is just about perfect from any angle. Even the 4-doors looked good.
Never let the facts get in the way of a good story.
I actually saw it during freshman orientation at the University of MD. I was with a group of students, out in front of one of the buildings, when it drove by. I got the guy who was orient-ing us a bit miffed when it caught my attention and I spoke up about how odd it was to see an '81 roofline with an '80 grille. Apparently, he didn't think it was quite as newsworthy as I did. :P
I think the 65 Impala was one of the better looking ones in all of its forms. The only ding I'd give it is the station wagon. Don't get me wrong, it was a decent looker too, just I think the Ford and Plymouth wagons looked better that year. A school buddy of mine unfortunately wrapped a white 65 Impala around a pole. Neither he, nor the car fared too well from that event, but he did live to talk about it later! To this day I bet he still misses that coupe, even if he still has an occasional sore rib.
1970: ~65,000 sold (Belvedere/Satellite/Sport Satellite/Roadrunner/GTX), plus 1525 convertibles.
1971: ~80,000 sold (Satellite/Sebring/Roadrunner)
1972: ~74,000
1973: ~128,000
1974: ~73,000
1975 "Small Fury" coupe ~54,000
1976: ~45,000 (by this time the Volare was probably stealing some sales)
1977: ~46,000
1978: ~26,000
And yeah, the '71-79 intermediates are all pretty much the same platform. I think the biggest change was that for 1974 they started isolating the front sub-frame from the body with giant rubber bushings, that supposedly improved the ride, but were a real b!tch when those things would start to deteriorate. 1978 was the last year for the "New Small Fury" and the Dodge Monaco (nee Coronet), but the Cordoba and Magnum lasted through 1979. And the 1979-81 R-body New Yorker/Newport, St. Regis, and '80-81 Gran Fury were heavily modified versions of that old midsized platform, known as the B-.
By the time Mopar started going for that more upscale style, I think it was too late. The Cordoba was actually pretty successful for a few years, though. However, the Coronet/Monaco and "New, Small Fury" were popular (and pretty good) as police cars and taxis. But unfortunately, the coupes bore a strong resemblance to the sedans, and perhaps those plebian police/taxi duties took their toll on the civilian market?
Looking at those cars though modern eyes, I guess they can all look pretty tacky. But, trying to put myself in a 70's mindset, I can totally see someone picking a '75-76 Malibu or Torino over a Fury (or Monaco). They just had a more upscale, more with-it look about them. Not that the Torino itself was a popularity champ by then.
Oddly, when looking back through modern eyes, I can appreciate the style of the '75-78 Fury/Coronet/Monaco coupes. They have a clean, uncluttered look about them. But, back in those days, ostentation is what sold.
Oh yeah - crushed velour interiors, an assortment of vinyl roof alternatives and fake wire wheel covers! To me, the mid 70's Ford's had nice looking seats, but all the rest of it looked kind of cheap. The Cordoba was a nice looking car with a great ad campaign. The GM intermediates were very nice looking to me and the 350 was a smooth drive train. The materiel quality seemed a step up too from the competition.
They did. Back in college, I test drove a '66 (I think) Sixty Special (or was it just "Fleetwood" by then?) that was for sale at, of all places, a used car lot that specialized in imports! They only wanted $2500 for it, and it was really nice. It was really, wild, seeing the power window setup with EIGHT switches! Another thing I thought was cool was how they had these little tray tables built into the back of the seat that would fold out of the way.