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

uplanderguy

I never liked the Catera...dumb name (as dumb as 'Cadenza'!), boring styling, not a true Caddy. I remember at my local dealer, while I was getting a service order typed up by the writer, whom I knew well, a Catera came in on the back of a towtruck. I said, "The Caddy that zigs!". The service writer looked at a mechanic standing nearby and said, "Yeah, they zig all right", with a look of resignation. LOL

uplanderguy

No disrespect intended at all, but I could post on wiki that a "Barber of Seville" package was available and there it would stay until someone else took it down.

Went back to the '75 brochure and the all-steel roof is shown as available then:

http://www.oldcarbrochures.com/static/NA/Cadillac/1975_Cadillac/1975_Cadillac_Se- - ville_Folder/1975%20Cadillac%20Seville%20Folder-02.html

I don't know if I ever saw a Seville of that generation in person, without a vinyl top. I think I'd like it though.

texases

The Catera's styling seems similar to several other GM products, like the last GTO, the G8, and the new Chevy SS. Not bad, but bland in some way.

andre1969

Well, Cadillac did have that "Cruella De Ville" package for awhile. And then there was Mercury's "Marquis De Sade" edition....

lemko

The Catera looked too much like a Chevrolet Lumina to me and had a super-stupid advertising campaign. Did you see Porky Pig hawking Lexuses or Woody Woodpecker endorsing Mercedes? My wife wanted a Catera back in the day, but I steered her away from it telling her it was really an Opel Omega masquerading as a Caddy.

Cimmaron: STRIKE ONE!
Catera: STRIKE TWO!
CTS Gen 1: SINGLE
CTS Gen 2: HOME RUN!!!

uplanderguy

Was the Cruella deVille package, black with a white stripe?

fintail

I'll admit I laughed at that one.

I do see some other GM products in the Catera too. Same design team no doubt.

robr2

No disrespect intended at all, but I could post on wiki that a "Barber of Seville" package was available and there it would stay until someone else took it down.

No disrespect taken. I always note "according to wiki" because I know that wiki is dynamic. I often point that out when others use it as a source.

Went back to the '75 brochure and the all-steel roof is shown as available then:

http://www.oldcarbrochures.com/static/NA/Cadillac/1975_Cadillac/1975_Cadillac_Se- - - ville_Folder/1975%20Cadillac%20Seville%20Folder-02.html

No disrespect intended but I don't think that is the 1975 brochure - notice under the tagline "The Quest for Perfection" it says "when introduced" in the first paragraph and "Today" in the second paragraph. It think that's the 1977 brochure.

Go here and check out the 1975 and 1977 photos and equipment list:

http://www.cadillacdatabase.org/Dbas_txt/phot_ndx.htm

http://lars-ove.se/K_Seville_frameset.html

uplanderguy

You are right; that is a '77. It was included in the "Old Car Manual Project" site as from '75; Caddy I think considered those early Sevilles to be without model year or something, like an Avanti--hence, no model year written on the brochure. I remember for sure that they weren't called a "Cadillac Seville", they were called "Seville by Cadillac".

I thought that grille looked different than the eggcrate grille on the first Sevilles.

I've seen so much misinformation on wikipedia and even car fan websites, I always trust the brochure first and frequently go to the "Old Car Manual Project" site to look at the brochure itself. (Most have the model year printed on them though!)

I'm liking that cloth interior in the '77 Seville brochure.

I always liked the pretty-restrained interiors on those early Sevilles, and I also liked the instrument panel.

ab348

That first-gen Seville was one of the Bill Mitchell "sheer" designs that worked so well. The man knew how to design a good-looking car. He had good taste.

The thing that is so astounding looking at that brochure is the variety of interior colors available - 10 in each of cloth or leather, so 20 choices in all! Incredible in today's world. The colors too, including that gorgeous white leather shown in the brochure along with yellow and all sorts of other shades not seen today in cars.

uplanderguy

You're preaching to the choir with me, ab348! While plebian Chevys didn't have ten interior colors, they had a heck of a lot more than we have today (sigh).

I very-much miss the days of being able to custom-order so the chance of seeing another one exactly like yours was virtually non-existent.

omarman

In this era of automotive "race to sameness" in size, performance, and aero-swoop you'd think that car makers would promote more color and trim options so consumers could choose to be "different."

Instead, we're moving back to the style and color palette of Henry Ford and the Model T.

jljac

I very-much miss the days of being able to custom-order interior colors. . .

I agree with that. I went with a friend to buy a Ford Focus and the rule seemed to be any interior color available so long as it is black, which is my least favorite "color." We finally found one with a gray interior. That car sure shifts a lot. It seems to go through three or four gears before it gets to 20 miles per hour.

I believe that the greatest interior selection was when the Avanti II was in production. They had a big selection and even let the customers supply their own fabrics. I notice that Tesla has adopted the Avanti II approach of selling cars directly to customers without dealers being involved.

This site seems different. I cannot add italics, bold or links any more. Am I the only one having this problem?

uplanderguy

You're not alone, jl. Nobody can add any of that stuff anymore. Enhancements, you know.

Re.: Avanti II--I much prefer the Studebaker original (larger front wheel openings, factory forward rake), but I understand how the Altmans made a go of Avanti II for twenty years...give the customer what they want. I remember seeing an article that said that Nate Altman wasn't above building one in chartreuse with watermelon-colored interior...if that's what you wanted!

wevk

http://devour.com/video/vintage-race-car-crashes/

explorerx4

A 69 Camaro SS Convertible, then a butter colored 70 Galaxie sedan for sale, and after that a nice orange and white 2 tone early 70's Ford pickup.

Mr_Shiftright

Ah, when drivers were fat and tires were skinny!

texases

'66 GT350 resto-modded clone drove by this morning, super clean, looked like this except modern wheels:

andre1969

4-door hardtop, spotted in DC yesterday.



It was ratty...VERY ratty, much worse than what you can see in this pic. Still, I can't remember the last time I've seen a '68-72 A-body 4-door hardtop. Kinda cool to see it there, right around the corner from my friend's house.

uplanderguy

Is that your car behind it, andre?

As soon as I saw the pic, and before I read your comments, I thought, "Man, you never see those GM early '70's midsize four-door hardtops"!

How about a '72 Luxury LeMans four-door hardtop? I don't know if I ever saw one of those new!

Mr_Shiftright

The photo reveals a lot actually. We can tell it's a beater and a rust-bucket.

andre1969

Yeah, that's my Park Ave behind it. A few years back (and probably longer ago than I think), I do remember seeing a similar-vintage Cutlass Supreme 4-door hardtop for sale at Carlisle. It was in really good shape, nice, ritzy interior, and I think they wanted about $5K for it.

One of the administrators at my high school had a '71 or '72 Luxury LeMans, but I think it was a hardtop coupe.

This poor Cutlass that I spotted was horribly rusted. That little spacer panel between the trunk lid and rear window was just about gone, and even the lower edge of the trunk lid itself was full of holes. I guess you know a car is really shot, when rust starts showing through the hood and trunk! Even my old '68 Dart, as shot as it was, had a good trunk lid. And the hood looked good, although part of the bracing underneath was starting to rust.

On the subject of rare cars nobody wants, there used to be a '70 or '71 Torino 4-door hardtop around S or T street in Northwest DC. I always remembered it because it was always parked by a '79-80 Newport that was a nice shade of dark green that I liked. The cars actually showed up on Google's street view for awhile, and I took some screen captures, but I think the cars themselves are finally gone. I had first seen them around 1997, and one day a few years ago, driving through that area, was kinda shocked to still see them around!

Edit: Just looked around, and I found one of those screen captures...


As bad as I remember that Newport and Torino being, they almost look like #1 show cars compared to that Cutlass Supreme

ab348

There is one of those locally, a '71 Cutlass 4-door hardtop, that the owner inherited from his father and is now passing on to his own kids as his health is failing badly. He restored it a dozen or more years ago with NOS cloth seat fabric from SMS and did a good job. The main issue I have with it is the paint - he had it repainted nicely in the original shade and it is just kind of ugly, a lime-green metallic with a dark green vinyl roof. As seems to be the case with the pictured car, he also replaced the original wheels with a set of Olds SS wheels and they look dumb on a 4-door.

uplanderguy

I was never a fan of those '70-71 Torinos. There was something about the shape of the front fender, and front wheel opening, I just didn't care for. I thought the '72 was a big improvement, styling-wise anyway.

andre1969

I actually like them, but I think it's partly because my Dad had a 1971 for awhile. And, you know, when you're a kid just about everything about your Dad is cool! He had gotten it when Great-Granddad passed away. It was nothing special, just a sage green 4-door sedan with a 302. I remember him backing into a pole with it and denting the bumper and edge of the trunk. I also remember him leaving me in it during a rainstorm, to run into the store, with it turned on, and the windshield wipers running. It stopped raining, and I didn't know how to turn them off, so I asked this lady who was getting into her car next to me, how to turn them off!

I guess nowadays if someone did that, child protective services would get a phone call!

I never really liked the '66-69 Fairlanes and Torinos...IMO the 70 was an improvement. It lacked the beauty of the competing GM cars, and the muscularity of the Mopars, but I at least thought it was beefed up compared to the '66-69.

Oddly, with the '72+ Torinos, I liked them better once they got the heavier bumpers, and more formal styling.

stickguy

I saw one on the road today. About a '70. 2 door, painted bright yellow. Including the bumpers. it was not attractive, but looked clean enough.

and parked on a yard for sale, a 66-67ish Imperial. That was a big car.

robr2

The main issue I have with it is the paint - he had it repainted nicely in the original shade and it is just kind of ugly, a lime-green metallic with a dark green vinyl roof.

Is this the color:

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/1/116/4101/289550002_large.jpg

If so, it's Gulf Green Metallic. My 72 Cutlass S was that color.

berri

I wasn't a huge fan of Torino's, although I liked the limited run 72 fastback. I always thought they had kind of chintzy interiors. Also, IIRC they were prone to rear end problems. If I was going to buy a Ford during that era it would have probably been one of the big LTD's which I thought had rather nice seats, but then IIRC the 351's were prone to cracked engine blocks and head problems. On second thought, I guess I'd take the Chevy!

ab348

No, it is paint code 43, Lime Green Poly. Very retina-searing.

lemko

You'd have lived to regret it if you bought one of those LTDs! My Dad had a 1972 LTD and it was easily the worst car he had owned. His had the 400 cid V-8 and I recall the day it blew a freeze plug on the way to church. I can tell many horror stories about that car. My Grandpop had the big Chevrolets and they were infinitely better.

Mr_Shiftright

I'm going to look at a car for a guy later this week or weekend---a 1953 Willys Aero Eagle...anyone know anything about this model? I've never actually seen one before...I mean an Eagle version.

explorerx4

Did some quick research. 54's are more rare and Jay Leno doesn't have one.

Mr_Shiftright

both interesting tidbits, thanks.

texases

What makes it an "Eagle"?

Mr_Shiftright

I think that it's a 2D hardtop

andre1969

I just tried to decipher it on Wikipedia, and it looks like "Aero" was a whole lineup of cars, and not just a single model. And then the lineup consisted of names like "Ace", "Falcon", "Eagle", and "Lark".

So it was sort of like the 1960-62 Dart, maybe, where they were divided up into Seneca, Pioneer, and Phoenix models to go up against the likes of Biscayne/Bel Air/Impala, Savoy/Belvedere/Fury, etc?

The Wikipedia article is a bit vague to me, but I think the Eagle was a full line for 1952, but then hardtop-only for 1953.

I knew that production was moved to Brazil, but didn't realize they kept building the things as recently as 1971!

Mr_Shiftright

I never drove one, but I'm gonna...so I'll report back.

stickguy

saw this on "how stuff works"

The Aero-Eagle two-door hardtop was the costliest and most luxurious of the various models offered, which also included Wing, Lark, Ace, and Falcon two- and four-door sedans.

berri

I remember when I was a kid back in the late 50's a guy down the way also delivered newspapers. In decent weather he used a motorcycle with a sidecar for the papers. But he bought a used 53 or 54 Willy's (car) coupe to use when inclement. I recall him telling my dad that it was actually a good car that he got cheap and it was very economical. I wonder if it was a 4cylinder? I don't know much about them.

Mr_Shiftright

I think they had 4, 6 and big 6---and I'd imagine with the larger 6 that this little car performed very well by the standards of the time.

andre1969

A mass email go out at work, about a blue Buick out in the parking lot with its top down, as it's about to rain.

It just dawned on me though...when is the last time you could even get a Buick convertible?! The 1975 LeSabre was the last one that popped into my mind at first, but there was the Riviera convertible, which I think was offered from 1982-85. And didn't the Reatta offer a convertible for a couple years?

Regardless, whatever was out in the parking lot must be pretty obscure, I'm guessing...

bhill2

IIRC, you could get a convertible Reatta in the early '90s. That was kind of a Buick (the foregoing was an unpaid political opinion).

berri

Weren't the GM convertibles after 1975 all chop jobs by outside vendors like ASC?

explorerx4

It's good that someone cares enough to send it. Was it you?

bhill2

Weren't the GM convertibles after 1975 all chop jobs by outside vendors like ASC?

They appear to be a factory model. I didn't find any reference to their being shipped out to be chopped, although Buick may have done so.

explorerx4

red Ferrari's, a 430 and a 458. Both immaculate.

stickguy

a gorgeous plum crazy 70 (or 69?) Charger RT. looked brand new.

kyfdx

I also saw a really old Charger, yesterday. I think mine was a '66 or '67, though.. An older body style than those early '70s models.. White, in restored condition.

tjc78

Stunning 65ish Rolls Royce today in a creamy white color.

stickguy

guess that happens on a beautiful, dry fall day!

all driving around, and looking well restored:

a gen 1 Mustang, black/black convertible.
70 or 71 El Camino SS
a triple white '61 Caddy convertible
and my favorite (along with the Camino) a bright Orange with white stripes '69 Camaro. Gorgeous.