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

fintail

The Custom Cloud, I love that one. A Rolls Monte Carlo that resulted in the maker being sued, and rightfully so. The trunk was very much like that on a Silver Shadow, which looked weird on a Monte.

The Model A was called a Shay...when I was in grade school, my dad was thinking of buying one. Even at that age, I urged him to buy a real car instead, as a Shay was Pinto based (I think). At my mother's urging, he ended up buying nothing.

I saw the pimpiest Stutz at an auction, it had a clock in the steering wheel hub. I laughed and laughed.

How about the Brit Panther? Especially the DeVille from the late 70s-80s.

scscars

Andre: Thanks for filling in my knowledge gap on the '83-'86 Cougar. I'd forgotten about the 5 liter engine in those, although a friend of mine had an '87 Mark VII with the 302 that could really move out. I am familiar with the 3.8 "gasketbuster." I had a 3.8 in a '94 Cougar, that I got rid of at 95,000 miles, probably just days or hours before the head gasket went south, since the temp gauge was starting to push past normal. The Sable that I replaced it with had the same problem except that it had a Duratec V-6.

wimsey1

or real close replicas.
The name Timmon's or something like that comes to mind.

andys120

building Model A replicas that had Pinto motors and used a truck frame.

stickguy

Ford made a brand new one (or maybe that was a T), but you couldn't buy it.

wimsey1

I think you're right about that, Ford made a run of new T's.

fintail

This old MB is irksome. Hmmm where do I start....IMO it is not cosmetically "near mint" like the seller claims - not with the rust, although the wood is nice. The top fits poorly both up and down, which smacks of a conversion. And the real clincher is the engine. There is no such thing as a "220SC", nope, never. All of the W111 coupes and converts were fuel injected. This is simply a 220S fintail engine in a convert. Sellers who either don't know, or blatantly lie, are the worst

ghulet

If I had a nickel for every ad I've seen wherein a seller describes their flawed vehicle as 'mint' or 'near mint', I'd be fabulously wealthy. IMO, 'mint' should almost never be used, kind of like 'unique'. It has absolute meaning; attaching the words 'near(ly)' or 'except for (rattle off five to ninety flaws)' negate it altogether.

As for that particular car, yeah it's not right. I mean, it looks decent enough and I'd sure be happy with it as a driver for the right price. Still, you are correct, no carb engines were sold in the S-class coupes or convertibles of that era, the top does look just a bit strange (the fit around the rear side windows in particular just doesn't look right) and I don't remember chrome all the way around the top fittings. Incidentally, a friend of mine has a '64 220SE convertible, perhaps I'll take a look at it, I don't know these 'by memory'. My Mercedes book (Nitske) lists an automatic with floor shift as 'standard equipment' on these cars, which I really don't think is accurate. I've seen 4-speeds on the floor (my friend's) and automatic on the column, but I don't recall ever seeing a Mercedes (except an SL) before about '69 with a floor-shifted automatic.

Mr_Shiftright

Well it looks like a typical European rust-bucket sent over here with a transplanted 220Sb sedan engine in it.

This car has trouble written all over it.

fintail

Yeah, I don't think floor shift autos were around that early, although I am not certain. I have seen floor shift manuals, but not an auto from the 60s.

I have heard of coupes being chopped in to convertibles, which are usually worth like 3x more. The bad top on that car makes me think of a fake.

I would much rather have the FI unit too

fintail

Today's oddballs so far....another old Nissan Patrol, this one kind of Land-Rover-ish, 67 GTO convert in maroon, 58 Olds 4 door hardtop, big nice looking c.59 GMC pickup (I don't know how to differentiate these....it had 4 headlights and a wraparound windshield), and an old Honda Dream motorcycle

andys120

the mouse-motored rear-engined baby sister of the 124 Spider. This one was white with a matching HT
and a real bad skin rash (rust), didn't look like it had gone anywhere in about 20 years.

Mr_Shiftright

The world's first completely biodegradable automobile!

fintail

I didn't see a ton else today...saw a 48 Ford sedan, 59 Chevy sedan, a lowrider 70 Caddy sedan

The guy who owns the place where my fintail lives tends to accumulate weird cars that he either buys or repairs.

Today's special is a nice original 220SE ponton coupe

It was hard to get inside pics, but the inside is as nice as the outside. Freshened, not really restored, genuine

I don't know how it is mechanically

I had this old beast out for the day, she performed faultlessly as always (pic taken today)

fintail

Today's ebay junk

Sinatra's K car again...this time more reasonably priced

Now here's a car for Shifty

Really appealing little MG sedan. I like it. Price doesn't seem bad...but I don't know what one would do with it. It's LHD, so England would balk

Oddball Siata

Another nice looking DeSoto

Mr_Shiftright

I can't believe the reserves people are putting on these cars! Dont they READ the market newsletters and price guides? I mean, at least GET CLOSE to market value why dontcha'. If they can't let an MG Magnette go for $6,000 real US dollars, or a Siata coupe with damage for $5,000, or a rusted out Lloyd for $900, then they need a dose of common sense here. Geez, we are approaching early Porsche 911 with a couple dents type money here at $6K. And you can buy a very decent MGA roadster for $12K. Why pay $9K for grandma's wheezy old MG?

More and more I think Ebay is becoming the place for cars that just did not sell successfully any other way. Which is fine if you are in the middle of nowhere and cant' reach a big market, but suspicious if you are in a large metro area and couldn't unload the car by regular advertising. I think people get buried in these very unwise restorations and want the market to bail them out.

The Lloyd is cool, but unfortunately worth about $200 for parts.

jlawrence01

Most people have delusions of grandeur when it comes to their automotive assets. I have a guy at work with a 1993 Crown Vic with 125k who wants to sell me his rig for $4000. Sure, it is leather and is a nice car and well taken care of BUT there are hundreds of better deals out there.

After a few months, we asks me what I AM WILLING to offer. I offered $1500 which may not be enough BUT I am running out of parking space around my condo at this point.

wimsey1

Nice mid/late 60's fullsize Chevy convert. Sorry, I can't come closer with the year, I was such a eurosnob as a kid that a lot of domestics from that era are hazy to me.

Mr_Shiftright

The earlier the year in the 60s the more attractive it was, is a good starting point for IDs on GM full-size 'verts.

fintail

Pretty funny stuff there, with the prices.

I've never seen a Lloyd in person

I'm waiting for a 10K+ W111 fintail. I've seen them before there

bksward

One thing I remember from the P1800 that my father had when I was young was that the Speedometer died and I remember as a 6-year old him explaining to me how he could know how fast he was going based on the Tach and what gear he was in. The scary thing is that I understood his explanation!

I also remember him driving it to get repaired after the clutch cable broke...

lemko

...saw a very rare 1967 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight limousine on Roosevelt Blvd. in Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon and a new black Rolls-Royce Phantom near the Sports Complex that night.

ghulet

We had our first fairly warm, sunny weekend, so before I was even two blocks from home, I had already seen a black '56 Thunderbird (or maybe '55, whichever year did not have a continental kit) and a '69 Camaro RS/SS coupe in red.

andys120

and where the best looking early 'Birds for it IMO.

wimsey1

A dodge Meadowbrook (early 50's?), never heard of it before, chubby 4 door.
late 60's Nova, faded with big rear tires (like all of them)
Early IH Scout, din't look to rusty. The first one I've seen in a while that wasn't a Scout II.
Nice looking first year Mustang, orange with a 289 and a 3-sp floor shift.
Saw that black late 40's Ford coupe again driving around.
Surprising what you see when you walk around the neighborhood instead of driving.

nolid5

saw 1967 4 dr Impala
    1972 bright yellow Lemans
    1956 Cadillac convertible (bright pink)
    50's Studebaker President
    1966 Mustang (bright red)

I was very surprised how many I saw considering the weather.

fintail

Someone at work apparently inherited a car, and it is an oddball nowadays. It's a 1970 Volvo 144S (I think) , in a lovely period pukey green with a light avocado/brown interior that is almost as bad. It's a 70K mile original car, and it looks it...with a good detail, it would be really sharp. I don't yet know who owns it, but it had a for sale sign in the window. I was almost tempted because of the state of preservation.

grbeck

Spotted two for sale in a yard in York County today - a very rough green 1980s Camaro coupe for $500, and a bright blue, but still rough, 1970s VW Karmann-Ghia for $900. Both complete, but both needs lots of work.

ateixeira

Saw an oddball import yesterday, diplomatic tags. It was an Alfa Romeo 146. Tried to get a pic but missed it.

Definitely not as handsome as its big brother, the 156.

-juice

bhill2

I saw a '55 Plymouth Belvedere 4-door sedan yesterday. Not a rare car per se, but you don't see many of them anymore. Kind of a mint green color, and at 50 feet or so looked to be in pretty good shape. I have to say that it warms my nostalgic little heart to see a car like that in reasonably maintained condition.

wimsey1

Mustang SVO, Turbo 4 "biplane", apparently some still exist.

ateixeira

Those were rare when new, imagine now...

-juice

PF_Flyer

Driving home with my 11 year old from an afterschool thing and she says, "Wow... what's that car?"... 1984 (I think) Jaguar XJ-S, black. Looked very mint. Had a license plate holder from Palm Beach Motors even though it was a PA plate.

She was duly impressed with what V12 on the back meant as well...LOL

PF Flyer
Host
Pickups & News & Views Message Boards

fintail

I saw a really nice 68 Charger today. I know it was a 68 because it had the old style "1968" front license plate, in an old school italicized font like you would see in old brochures. It was dark green, and obviously restored.

grbeck

Saw two compact convertibles from the 1960s. The first was a white 1964 Rambler American convertible that looked good from the road. It was sitting on a used car lot, so I'll bet the seller wants some wildly inflated price for it.

The second was a red 1966 Dodge Dart convertible parked at a gas station. It's complete, but any buyer had better be prepared to put some time and elbow grease into it.

Mr_Shiftright

One thing I remember about Rambler American build quality was that the labels for the instruments were actually decals that you licked and stuck on.

andys120

and the more unusual cars are starting to come out. I usually go to a gas station that is old-fashioned, you know four pumps, postage stamp lot
two service bays where they actually fix cars(??),
No cigarette or beer sales.

They get some oddballs in there. Today they had
a very pretty Alfa Graduate Spider, nice inside and out, 70k (not concours). It's for sale!

They also had a Puegeot 505 that was ratty but apparently running with 177K indicated. An extension plug hanging off the front telegraphed that it's a "D".

Less obscure, but very nice looking was a Gen II
(90s) MR2 in Ferrari (Fly) Yellow.

wevk

http://homepage2.nifty.com/ztath/starthp/subpage11.html

WVK

ateixeira

Laugh now, but rappers are buying F650s for real!

-juice

wimsey1

PEP Boys & Freightliner build an Oriental shrine.
I guess the "global village" is still not totally integrated. ;-) Good place to own a chrome plating biz, though.

andre1969

I saw a few cool cars come out of hiding. The first was a medium blue '66 LeMans convertible with a white top. Looked decent, but still needed a bit of work. It was missing a bit of trim here and there...looked like a decent runner.

A little while later, I stopped off at a local repair shop, to see if I could bring my truck in next week. My mechanics finally retired about 2 years ago, and ever since then, I've been trying to find someone I'll trust. I've heard good things about this place, though, so I figured I'd give 'em a try.

Anyway, across the street, at another shop that this place also owned, was a gorgeous eggshell white '57 T-bird, with the hard top installed.

And parked in front of the barbershop next door, there was a light blue '65 or so Valiant 2-door hardtop. The owner worked there, and was standing out in front. I chatted with him a bit, as I'd seen him and his car around before, and he knows one of my cousins. It originally had a 273, but he replaced that with a mildly built-up 318 with a 4-bbl carb. It also had dual exhaust, and an 8.75 rear-end with 3.55:1 gears. As light as those early Valiants were, I'd imagine that car could be pretty fun!

The last one I saw as I was coming home, on the last street before turning off onto my own street. A light bathroom-green '58 Impala hardtop coupe. It was pretty faded, and not over-the-top restored like most of them are nowadays. I only caught it from behind, and since my turn was coming up, I wasn't able to get too close to it, so I dunno how solid the body was. From what little I could tell though, it wasn't bad. I just thought it was cool though, since the last time I've seen a '58 Impala was probably at a car show!

Well, there is a '58 that's been sitting upside-down near the Amtrak line near me since probably before I was born. But I think it's a 2-door sedan, so it wouldn't be an Impala. Oddly enough, the rear bumper is still straight and almost rust-free!

There's also a '58 Plymouth 4-door hardtop along the Amtrak line, a few miles away (don't ask me how I find these things) that has probably been there just as long. Believe it or not, there are still a few salvagable things on it, like door window glass, one of the headlight bezels, etc.

lancerfixer

How do you tell the Autobots from the Decepticons?

:-)

andre1969

or do they just all join together to form Voltron?

fintail

Nice fintail with wide whites...owner claims to have 15K in it though, so I bet the reserve is funny

Decent fintail. White interior is very rare

Astronomically priced rebodied Duesy

Charming characterful grand old Packard...I really like this

Another nice 59 Edsel wagon....great exterior color, not so awesome interior

Can't be many of these left...I can hear it rusting from here

Beautiful 59 DeSoto....lovely save for the seat coverings

Neato Citroen ID wagon

Hey Andre...it needs some work, but it's pimpy and the price is right

"has not been neglected"...suuuure...

I wonder how much of a nightmare it would be to get this into the states

andre1969

Yeah, I guess if I got that NYer, I'd have a set of matching bookends!

I like that '59 DeSoto, but you're right, those seats are horrible! I know a guy who has a '59 Firedome that's almost that color scheme, except that the roof is turqouise to match the stripe His seats are the same woven pattern that's on the door inserts.

Mr_Shiftright

Well that Lancia is up to $103, which is approached Blue Book high retail --LOL!

I especially like the "a definite future classic" part. That about made me spit coffee through my nose.

Lancias of the late 50s and early 60s are delightful and competent cars. This junk they shipped over here inthe 70s isn't worth $50, much less $103. Grief and horror await the new owner, an abyss from which none return. Think of it as a Maserati bi-turbo but with no parts available.

Could be nominated for the world's worst car--a definite contender.

FIAT 128 ---omigod, somebody paid $2,500 for it! Geez, I could have turned him on to a rallye-prepared Brava for just a bit more than that, and the car goes like stink, too!
Did you read the ad closely? The parts about "it should have a good going over" and "I don't have the repair bills right in front of me" and then the part about...gulp...."rust".

This is I believe, the same solid reliable platform upon which the Yugo is built.

jrosasmc

Don't forget two more candidates for the world's worst car: VW Dasher and the aforementioned Maserati Biturbo. How about the Renault Alliance too?

jlawrence01

The Fiats have their enthusiasts. I was at a party here in Chicago with about 15 Fiat 500s parked up front. Those are small!!

wimsey1

Saw a Lincoln Capri on wires today.
Fiat 128-An old girlfriend had one in the early '80's, it burnt on her. "no serious rust"-any rust on a Fiat is serious I would think.
Shifty-great commentary, I always enjoy fintails weekly ebay share-a-thon and seeing all of you tear into the offered feast.
I think my engineering heart has a soft spot for D-series Citroens. Was there ever another car that took as many engineering risks in one introduction as that baby. Wow!

wimsey1

Yesterday I saw a "53 Stude Starliner coupe up on stands in a guys garage. Looked like a good body waiting for paint (primered).
Mid '60's Galaxie hardtop, light blue/white top.