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

bhill2

That's a fine looking fintail, Fintail. Thanks for sharing. The one I knew was, as I remember, dark gray with a red interior. Purely and simply blew me away.

fintail

I've never even seen a Muira in the flesh. Wow. Was it driving?

Fintails are pretty cool, FI models especially. They are built like tanks, are interestingly styled, and have very competent performance. A very practical classic/special interest car.

wimsey1

Miura, total lust drool slobber gimme please where are the keys to lenos garage when i needum and lotus sevens oh yummy me need bad!

OK, where IS my medicine! Sorry guys just hit some joy center nerves.

Jaser-geez yellow with blue top is just about my favorite combo on any sports car. Taste varies huh! ;-)

Ain't seen nuttin' but an AMC Alliance today and that may be worse than nuttin'. And then some guy goes and sees a Miura. Stuck in dullsville.

scott1256

I agree - colors other than black, white and tan on conv. tops stand out.
I have seen some Audis lately with red convertible tops. Looks great with silver.
I also miss the wide availability of red interiors! My first convertible was a 1962 Corvair Spyder (remember those? Turbo 150 HP flat 6) and it had a red interior.

Cheers, Scott.

scott1256

Speaking of interior colors - it used to be the whole interior was the stated color. Now most so called 'color choices' involve only the seat skins and maybe a few accent points. The dash, headliner, door panels and carpets almost always stay black or gray.
I am sure this saves money but the visual impact is not the same.

Scott (being a bit curmudgeonly today!)

andre1969

I don't think I've seen a red interior in ages! My '57 DeSoto is a combination of red, grayish-brown, a black-and-silver weave on the seats, white, and of course, chrome!

I think red pretty much got replaced by burgundy in the 70's, which itself got phased out for generic colors that could pass with a variety of exterior colors, like gray, putty, beige, tan, etc. Those colors, more or less, go with anything, but there's not too much that goes with red or burgundy!

I could see red and silver being a nice combination.

andys120

Make mine a '62 300SL, silver with bright red leather!

wimsey1

fortunately your desires are modest. ;-)

jaserb

I'm not a big fan of yellow on anything not wearing a prancing horse, but it really looks silly on a Z3 IMO. That M roadster isn't the prettiest car around but it definitely has a cool, sinister look to it in black or even silver. In yellow it looks like a mobster wearing a sundress. And the only blue top I've really liked is on a Suzuka Blue S2000.

But who cares what color the top is - on a convertible it's supposed to be down! I agree on the red interior though. My silver Alfa had a red interior and it looked sharp.

-Jason

scott1256

There are still a few cars that have red as an interior option. BMW '3' series, the Corvette, Thunderbird, S2000 come to mind. Are there others?

Andre and Andys...first Rolls Royce convertible I ever saw as a boy in Montreal was silver with a red interior.

Cheers, Scott.

lemko

...that a red interior looks sharp with a black exterior. Andre, my Fifth Avenue was dark red non-metallic with a silver metallic hood and roof with red quarter vinyl top. The interior was dark red leather.

andys120

in the second of my Saab 9000Ts. It was beautifuil and the leather smelled really good.

jrosasmc

Hey Jason- How's that '87 Alfa Spider running these days?

wale_bate1

My '65 Olds 98 'vert had an all red, diamond tuck and roll interior. Pretty tasty stuff.

Yellow works just fine for me. Never had the cojones to actually buy one, but I like 'em just fine.

Current color that really grabs me is "Blazing Copper" from Mazda. Nissan has one of the coppers too. Positively yummy! Also, Audi's "Crystal Blue", really silver with a tint, for some reason grabs me with a tan interior.

fintail

My obscure car for the day was a Cimmarron. Woo hoo lucky me

andys120

it's kinda hard to tell the exact year. It's a yello 2-dr HT w a black top, looking reasonably clean and straight.

uga91

I posted this on another board yesterday--I think I should have put it here instead:

I saw a Cheval Zafira in the driver's license bureau in Columbus, GA this morning. It had Chevrolet badging and a Mexican license plate. I think the car is sold in Europe as well as an Opel Zafira. It looked like a shrunken version of the old Mazda MPV (with the 4 real doors, not sliding doors) and it had a rear end similar to the Mazda Tribute. It had alloy wheels and a roof rack and was not a bad looking car.

seminole_kev

yeah, it is sold under both the Vauxhall and Opel nameplates in Europe as a Zafira.

nolid5

spotted '64 Facel Vega & '58 Corvette both with tops down on the highway and a Checker.
Gotta love how the warm weather brings out cars in hiding.

jaserb

when I started spending more time working underneath it than driving it. I went from driving less than 5k per year to more than 20k, and the Spider just didn't like being a high mileage commuter very much. I replaced it with a '93 Sentra SE-R that's been a good little ride.

I do miss the darn thing, though.

-Jason

danf5

Yellow, parked in what's mainly a Jaguar/Saab shop pm 202 just north of Basking Ridge, NJ.

Had seen a Jalpa the day before on the NJ T'pike. Dealer's plates, being driven sedately. To tell the truth, it looked cheap.

wimsey1

I guess tastes do vary, I much prefer the S2000 in Yellow. Silver looks OK but is rather "yawn" to me.
In fact it is hard for me to think of a sports car that I don't prefer in yellow. I guess I'm just an aesthetic Philistine! :-D
Apparently you are too Wale. CHuckle.
Best regards.

wale_bate1

Obviously. Just look at what I drive!


Not really obscure enough, but Saturday I did drive a mile or two behind a newish T-Bird in that sorta lemon-cream yellow they have. It suits the car. Kinda "chick"-ish. It turned and coming the other way, for contrast of course, came a yellow X-Terra. Now that's a yellow, by gum.

Going back up a few posts, I'm a fan of the Keds hightop Z3. Funky is as funky does, but I like that one. Put that right up there with MGB GTs, GT6's, etc.

andys120

my Fiat Spider was Positano Yellow (Mustard) which I loved. I think a Yellow S2k is bitchin', ditto Yelow MINIs.

andre1969

is what I call, for lack of a better word, "School Bus Yellow". Otherwise, I've never had a problem with yellow, on the right car. My '67 Catalina is kind of a pale, creamy yellow, and looks nice with its black vinyl interior and black top.

Actually, I think cremes and yellows are one of the few colors that actually don't look TOO bad with a black vinyl top, although I still prefer cars without vinyl roofs (even if I DO like 70's cars!) My '69 Dart GT was a creme/beige color with a black vinyl roof, and a black aluminum strip running down the beltline. I thought it looked really sharp, although when I repainted it, I just yanked the vinyl top off.

mitzij

a 1962 Ford Fairlane, powder blue, looks like it just came off a showroom floor.
For some reason, they bought a new cavalier.
Must be downsizing.

andre1969

I'm surprised that a dealer would take something like that in trade! I think the '62 Fairlane only came in 2- or 4-door sedan, mainly dowdy, workaday styles, with something like a 260 CID V-8, so I doubt that any of them would be worth a whole bunch. Still, they're neat little cars, and something you certainly don't see every day!

I always liked the '62-63 Mercury Meteor, but it was always a poor seller. I think people thought it was too close to the Comet in those years. They looked very similar and overall size was pretty close, even though the Meteor was technically an intermediate, and the Comet was a compact.

mitzij

The boss has a weakness for old cars, his '55 Belair is taking up space in the showroom right now (and not for sale). I told one salesman they should put the Fairlane up there beside it, but he turned green. 'NOT in a Chevrolet Dealership!'

There are a lot of older car enthusiasts in this county, we have car shows now and then where the city blocks off 5 blocks of Broadway (one of the main drags) and old cars are packed along the street like sardines. The local ZR1 Corvette club reserves a side street and parks up about a block's worth of spaces (perpendicular).

andre1969

sounds like that Fairlane might end up in a good home then, with someone that appreciates it. I was just getting this horrible mental image of the thing getting wholesaled off and scrapped, or something! So what engine/body style is it?

There used to be an Oldsmobile dealer near me that had a beautiful '55 or '56 88 convertible in its showroom. It also had a 70 or so Cutlass convertible. Did a Cutlass around that timeframe pace the Indy 500? For some reason, I'm thinking this one was a pace car.

bhill2

I assume the dealer didn't pay much for it. If it's as primo as you say it is, and especially if it is a V8, the dealer just has to price it right and someone will pick it up out of nostalgia. Hell, if the price were right I'd be tempted.

mitzij

I went out to look and it's got a 'sold' tag on the wiper already! Salesmanager says it has a 221 cubic inch V8 with 248 HP. 2 doors, 4 tires,
that's about all I know. It does have funky little metal wings at the leading edges of the driver's and passenger's windows, they seem to be little air deflectors.

wale_bate1

That hp number sounds kinda high to me.

Cool!

bhill2

It should, I think, be 148. The 260 cid engine turned out 164, so that would be about right.

ghulet

According to my sourcebook, the 221 V8 made 145 bhp in '62. Still, it's better than a straight six, I guess.

mitzij

Yeah, I typo'd on the HP, it's 148.

Mr_Shiftright

I saw an Apollo GT today. Anyone remember those?

andys120

They looked like contemporary Ferraris (early-mid 60s) and featured Buick power, of all things.

I don't think they were kit cars but I don't remember who made or sold them or who designed that beautiful bodywork.

IIRC they were American made.

boyce

I saw this square narrow little car on my way to San Antonio. The only insignia I could read on it was Atos. Anybody ever hear of this make and know who makes it? Looked like it came from the streets of Tokyo.

seminole_kev

is it just me, or does the hood scoupe and grill opening not line up with each other? Maybe it's just the angle but the car looks askew.

tarik

...encounter with a Buick Rainier, talk about obscure...

Standing next to it at a redlight, it almost seems like some sort of Pontiac, with body cladding and such. The front at least holds up the new Buick theme (not that I like it on iota more because of that), and the rear mimics the Blazer S10.

Dunno how this thing could pass the board. I really don't.

fintail

Atos is a Hyundai....if you near San Antonio I bet it was a Mexican car, I think they sell them there

wale_bate1

Eewwww.

I mean, I like hatches and all, but, eewwww!

kyfdx

I think its the whole picture, not the scoop and grill... The left of the picture is shrunken compared to the right...

andys120

Alfa Duetto Spider looking very clean and nice in red with the top down, a Dart GT convertible also top down and a Dart Swinger HT with a pair of big hood scoops. Also a Black 1970 ElCamino SS, looking like new it's a big day for fun cars.

wimsey1

Obscure -o-rama.
Always thought those were neat cars. I wonder if they are worth much or are so obscure that people have little interest in them. Bargain fun car?
looked up a bit on them, one source says only 88 made. Also made under the name Vetta Ventura. Cool.
That's so odd I'm embarassed to mention anything I've seen lately, but then you're in Sausalito aren't you shifty? The only time I was there every fifth car seemed to be noteworthy. Oh well, the cost of living here is on a different scale too.

Mr_Shiftright

Apollos are very collectible and well-respected cars.

Here's a blurb on the car.

http://www.fyilondon.com/perl-bin/niveau2.cgi?s=wheels&p=8353- - - 8.html&a=1

I've actually met Milt Brown over at fantasy junction in Emeryville, Calif. His personal Apollo GT is now for sale over there.

http://www.fantasyjunction.com/search.php?sr=1&tx=&next=N- - ext&os=10&client_id=11&sr=1

check out their inventory but please don't drool on your keyboard!

fintail

Lovely day here...saw a few oddballs, but not much really. Saw a very early Karmann Ghia, the kind with the smaller vent holes in the front....saw a neat and clean early VW squareback with a large sunroof. Also a nice looking 69-70 Mercury convertible, and a really clean Olds Firenza wagon, which should be one of the lesser seen versions of that platform. That's about all I remember.

fintail

Also saw a Ford Econoline cabover pickup

Ebay time again

This is a nice unusual car...I could see my dad with something like that, if it was cheaper

Restored and neglected, shame

"Runs and Drives, Sort of...." might be bad news

Worthy project

Another Multipla

Last thing I'd expect to see in England, '60 Ford

Another RHD Mercury Monarch...must have been some demand

The Figaro was a good 10 years ahead of its time

Highline 5 speed Citroen DS from the last year of production

It's not just a Fiat 2300 wagon...it's a Steyr-Fiat

Exceptionally rare fintail variant...I've never seen one of these. It will bring a pretty penny over there

I've never seen this make before.

As far as I know, this is the rarest gas 126

stickguy

A goofy 1970's Lancia that has been off the road for 19 years? Gives me the willys just ot think about it.

But, who wouldn't want a car that was loved so much they used the hood for a workbench?

Even with that, doesn't look too bad from the pictures.

tarik

Did you notice the 6-door fintail's dual sunroofs? The six-door variant I had read about before, but the twin sliders are something totally new.

Regarding the 560, the only thing scarce about this car is the fact that it's the SWB version, of which not many were equipped with the 5.6l engine. Other than that, I am pretty certain that the 560s outsold the 380s and the 2.8l types (can you imagine?) versions every year.