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I spotted an (insert obscure car name here) classic car today! (Archived)
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I remember when I was about 15, seeing a 63 Falcon Sprint that had a 260. Red on red, very good survivor car, I really wanted that thing. I think the 289 was a 1964 addition.
Yeah, some '64 Fords had 260's, even the earliest Mustangs.
Speaking of Fords and engines, I recall looking at a 62 Fairlane "sports coupe" with my dad when I was a kid - I think it had a 260. The style was kind of a fake hardtop, probably relatively uncommon now.
My dad once had a 68 Fairlane with a 289. 3 on the tree, dog dish hubcaps, no options other than radio (I think heater was standard by then). He picked it up around 1992 or so, it had 50-60K miles on it, and was a very nice original car. I remember taking a few road trips in it - my dad never really warmed up to most modern cars, and for much of my life had a cheap and cheerful old car to play with. I think the 289 was phased out in 68, as I remember there was a little old lady in town who had a 68 Torino with a 302.
Yeah, the 302 came out for the '68 model year, I do know that. For a long time I thought the 289 went out in '67, but my longtime coworker, a veritable "Mr. Ford", corrected me on that.
He had bought a new '68 Torino, formal roof, 302 with 3-speed.
Supposedly, the local cars when I was in high school were Plymouth 440s.. ('71-'74 time frame). It was a fairly small town, but the Interstate came through it.. The one time I got to ride in one, it sure seemed fast...
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That's right. Last year for the Ford 289 was 1968. One of the all-time great engines. I'm told you can build one up to 400 HP but I'd wonder about reliability . I think Shelby built the Cobra 289 to somewhat less than that for the track--about 370 HP --and they hung together lap after lap. Pretty impressive.
Yes, that Falcon brochure is an early one. You can get the info on the Falcon V-8 from the second Ford brochure under the '63 Fords.
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Thanks for that, bhill2. That second brochure does specifically say the V8 was optional on all Falcons except the vans, and that apparently happened sometime mid-year. I have and enjoy an old Consumer Guide book on "Collectible Cars 1940-80" but I've found it's wrong almost as often as it's right. The brochures are the way to go for the hard facts.
I generally am not crazy about '63-64 Cadillacs, as it seemed that I'd see ten of them for every '62 or '65 over the years. Lately I was thinking how I liked the '64 Eldorado though, as it had a one-year, non-skirted rear wheel opening. Here's a pretty one in a nice color (IMHO) on eBay. There's three hours left on the auction, but I'm surprised it hasn't brought more. Maybe due to the original interior 'patina'? I'll take that over a new, non-original design interior.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cadillac-Eldorado-CONVERTIBLE-54K-MILES-DESIRABLE-RUST-FREE-SURVIVOR-1964-Cadillac-Eldorado-/360850978790?forcerrptr=true&hash=item540464f7e6&item=360850978790&pt=US_Cars_Trucks
Nice car, not my favorite color choice. I like the 61 lurking in the background of a few pics too.
What's the wheel control thing on the dash top near the driver's side A-pillar? Cruise control?
I'd say that probably is indeed cruise-control.
I like the light turquoise they offered that year, as a college friend had his parents' old '64 Coupe deVille in that color up at school (late '70's). I always associate that color with '64 Cadillacs.
Is that really a two-speed automatic ("PRNDL")? I'm a bit surprised at that, although I'm definitely no expert on Cadillacs.
Car should be worth about $32K-$35K tops, so we'll see.
Geez, I thought any pre-'65 Eldo convert would bring more than that.
Nice car.
I was thinking it should spell out "ELDORADO" in block letters on the decklid, but a look at the original '64 Cadillac brochure online shows no such thing on Eldos.
That's a really nice car. That Lakeland dealer has a questionable reputation though.
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Shifty called it, at the low end of his estimate. Still, I thought those cars brought more than that.
Lemko, could you get a hard convertible 'boot' for those cars? That would really add to it I think.
I loved all the wood inside Fleetwood models (including Eldorado) of that general time period!
I thought that '64 Caddies still used the old 4-speed Hydra-Matic, but I think they started phasing in the 3-speed THM400 at some point later in the model year. The old 4-speed would have Reverse all the way to the right, though, correct? And the infamous Two R's (Reverse and Retard)?
I wonder if, perhaps, Caddies, just had a first gear lockout? Where even though it had three forward gears, you couldn't manually select all three? The 4-speed Hydra-Matics were sort of like that, where even though they had four forward gears, the selector didn't have a position for all four.
The bid seems market correct. The seller should have dropped his reserve and taken the bid. It's about as good as it's going to get for that color and condition, IMO.
A friend of mine had a C2 Vette, 427/390 HP.. sold it last year, and now has the chance to buy a 427/435 HP...
I just wondered what sort of price range he is in? (just because I'm nosy)
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If it's a 427/435 Coupe, L72, and everything matches up, and it's super nice, figure $80K--$90K. A convertible version could hit $115K. Non-matching numbers are a pretty big hit.
These cars used to be worth more, then slumped, and are now back on the rise, though not to previous levels.
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Here's a pretty one in a nice color (IMHO) on eBay. There's three hours left on the auction, but I'm surprised it hasn't brought more. Maybe due to the original interior 'patina'? I'll take that over a new, non-original design interior.
I was browsing the seller's other offerings. He has this one at $45.1 without reserve's having been met.
I'm curious what it's worth in everyone's opinion. I'm not sure I think the red leather was with that blue exterior when new. Is there any way to check original color? AND I noticed that the guy is a good puffer in his verbage, but this time he did not say two-state "FACTORY" original paint color. Actually I give him a "C" on his correct use of grammar for someone who is putting on airs.
Link to this blue beauty's listing:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cadillac-Other-CONVERTIBLE-NUT-BOLT-800-MILES-INCREDIBLE-FRAME-OFF-RESTORATI-ON-1950-Cadillac-Series-/191065915913?forcerrptr=true&hash=item2c7c6a8209&item=191065915913&pt=US_Cars_Trucks
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andre, about the '64 Eldo's shift quadrant...I wonder if there are two 'notches' under 'D', maybe, just not that both are identified by a letter. It does seem to me that the space between "D" and "L" is a little bit more than the space between the other quadrants, but maybe not.
Good question, imidazo. I'm not sure if interior and exterior colors can be identified by a trim tag somewhere on the car, or not. I believe '55 and '56 Packards can be. And I'm not aware of paperwork build documentation available except on Pontiacs and Studebakers (and '56 Packards through the Studebaker Museum). If you're lucky with a '70's Chevy, you might find a 'broadcast sheet' on top of the gas tank, from what I've heard. I do believe that a fellow named Galen Govier can identify specifics of your Mopar, and there's a Ford guy who can do the same for sixties Fords. I am not aware of anything like that for '50's Cadillacs, but I'm no expert on them.
I'm pretty sure it's a convertible. I'll see him this week, and maybe get some details. He did say it was a'67.
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Does it have the hardtop too?
So, that's where the Crossroads of America is located? Funny, been that way hundreds of times, and never realized it. ;-)
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Specifically, the Crossroads was named as that in Vandalia where US Route 40 and US Route 25 crossed, the National Road and the Dixie Highway for many northerners traveling to FL before I-75 and I-70 were built to replace those two routes. I-70 and I-75 cross about 2 miles from that point now. The name Dixie Highway continues in your area as well.
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When I lived in the South, I always thought of Hwy 41 as the Dixie Hwy. But I looked it up and it's kind of interesting. Up north there were actually two Dixie Highways, Hwy 41 from the Michigan UP through Chicago and the one from lower Michigan and through Ohio that you mentioned. Didn't know that. These days. I-65 or I-75; they are both semi truck parking lots at times
How odd is that? A '63 Falcon, six cylinder, not black and white and a two door to boot!
I'm almost sure that 1964 was the first year for the Turbo 400 transmission but only in Cadillacs.
The following year the other GM lines picked it up. I'm not sure when Chevy finally phased out the Powerglides.
1964 was also the first year for Auto Climate Control in Cadillacs.
Wiki says Buick, too, in 1964. I think 1973 was the last Powerglide.
I think I would challenge Wiki on that one. I know 63-65 Rivieras all used a different transmission, the 65's had the Turbo 400.
Maybe we could ask that guy who got so mad at us ten years ago when we both told him that 1964 Rivs didn't come with a 401 engine.
On the subject of Powerglides, didn't Pontiac, in 1970, start offering the Powerglide with a Pontiac 350 in the Catalina, in an attempt to keep prices low? I'd imagine that didn't last long. I think by 1971, the only automatic you could get in a big GM car was the turbo Hydramatic, either a 350 or 400 depending on the size of your engine. Guess the Powerglide might have held on in the midsized cars through '72? And by '73, the only car offering it was the Nova, perhaps?
What did the early Vegas use? Did they have some form of Powerglide? I imagine a transmission designed for a bigger car would sap a lot of power out of a small 4-cyl engine.
I saw a 1971 Pontiac Catalina 350, assembled in Canada (the guy had the window sticker) but sold in the U.S., that had a Powerglide. It was actually a delete option on the window sticker! Midway through '71 GM made the THM standard on big Chevy V8's and I assume the same with B-O-P. I can only imagine there was a shortage of THM's for some reason. Had I not seen the quadrant, and the window sticker, myself, I'd have said 'no way'.
THM didn't show up on Vegas 'til '73 I'm pretty sure (haven't checked the brochures though). They had Powerglide or "Torque Drive" (semi-automatic) as options the first year or two.
Look at that quadrant in that '64 Eldo, though, guys...not the PRND21 used in THM's as I've been accustomed to seeing them.
Hey, that's supposed to be PRNDSL!! Yeah, you can tell I'm a Pontiac guy...
Yes, you're right, andre!
Actually, Chevys were always PRNDL2L1.
The Mopars I've had with 3-speeds (not counting the DeSoto, obviously) did it as PRND21. I think my Grandmother's '85 LeSabre, and Mom's '86 Monte, which had 4-speed overdrives, were PRNDDL2L1, with the first D being in a circle, signifying overdrive.
My Ram has a 6-speed, but it's just PRND, with a little plus and minus button on the gear shift lever to shift through the 6 speeds. It got the better of me one day though, when coming home, I shifted down to 4th so I wouldn't have to brake as much. The next day when I went to work it acted really funny, driving into work, and I figured out pretty quickly, that it somehow got stuck in 4th gear. Even a 380 hp Hemi has no guts when it's trying to accelerate from a dead stop in 4th! Luckily, just turning the truck off and on reset it, although it did do it once again. But, that was about 5-6 months ago I think, so hopefully just a 1-time thing. Well, okay, a 2-time thing!
I am wondering about the color combo as well. The red and the light blue do not look like they would have gone together originally, especially with the tan boot and (I presume) top. But who knows for sure how things were done in 1950.
I find myself wondering about a few things. The red interior is clearly older than the 850 miles since restoration. The drivers seat in particular is showing signs of wear well beyond that. There is one picture of the front of the door jamb where the dash end meets the door that is very strange - I cannot tell if paint is worn off the dash or if there is something else going on there.
It seems a nice car, but I have a sense there is more to this story.
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Speaking of Desotos, saw one today. A 1960 2-door fireflite. This was at the philly auto show. they had a couple of classic areas. One was a Ford vs. Mopar "muscle" display. Man, there were some muscle cars I wanted there (also the Desoto). elsewhere was the usual GTO/Chevelle types, and my favorites, a 1975 Volvo 165, and a 1964 Cobra Daytona coupe. Man, that car looked cool (and in completely original condition).
proving how much cars changed in a short period, the '60 Desoto was parked next to a 1971 Charger, and it looked more like 40 years apart instead of 11. Even the '75 Duster next to it looked like a modern car relative to the Desoto.
Oh, they also had a '67 GTX convertible Hemi. super rare, but even cooler, the sign said that it was originally used to tow some well-known drag race car!
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I can't decide if the Cadillac TH400 is the same as the Buick Super Turbine 400 transmission.
I'm thinking a Turbo-Hydramatic is different than a "Super Turbine" but don't know for certain. Did the other divisions (besides Chevrolet) call it a "Turbo Hydramatic"? I'm thinking the other divisions just called it "automatic", but since Chevy used two automatics for a number of years, perhaps that's why the specific name was used.
Yeah, you can find Dixie Highways all over. As @Imadazol97 noted, I live near the same one that he does, only 70 miles south (US 25), but there is also another one just south of Louisville (Hwy 31 S?), and I'm sure.. many others.
Actually the US40/US25 thing makes a lot of sense (as the Crossroads of America). As long as you don't equate Crossroads to the center of anything.. ;-)
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Yeah, just think of what an 11 year old car looks like today...not really all that different, and in some cases, I think they might even look more modern! For instance, I don't think the latest Buicks really look any more modern than my 2000 Park Avenue. Sure, they're put together better and use nicer materials. But their high beltlines, small windows, and thick pillars make them look a bit throwback to me. Those are all old-fashioned styling cues IMO, not modern ones.
And over at Chrysler, well, 11 years ago we still had the Intrepid, Concorde, and 300. But then Chrysler went retro with their replacements, and the RWD 300 almost looked like it could have been a direct replacement for the old 1989 M-body 5th Avenue.
Back in 1975, I thought when the "European" Nova came out, it pretty much made the competition look old. Now to be fair, the Dart/Valiant dated back to 1967. But, that version of the Nova dated to 1968, so the '75 shows how significant a facelift really can be.
I thought the proper shift array is
N (top row)
RD (middle row)
L (bottom row)? :P
Lincoln has brought back the pushbutton shifter in its new MKZ:
Good thing it isn't touch screen!
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We had a Valiant back in the day that had the pushbutton shifter, vaguely reminiscent of the one in that Lincoln pic. Here's the stalk shifter on the 2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA250.
Many MBs use the column shifter now - my car has it too. I am not sure why it was brought back after so many years (the last MB to have a column shifter was made no later than 1970 or so), definitely has a retro feel.