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

Michaell

In Colorado, plates stay with the person, not the car.

Mr_Shiftright

Anybody know anything about this car? Is it what the guy claims, or did he make it all up?

He calls it a "1971 GMC Sprint".

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/cto/4780395952.html

jwilliams2

Not sure what you're asking, but GMC did make the Sprint in the early 70's. Basically the same thing as an El Camino. Didn't sell a whole lot of them. They even made the 454 available.

Mr_Shiftright

Oh, sorry. I was wondering if all GMC El Caminos were "sprints" or if this was a submodel.

robr2

According to wiki, it was the GMC Sprint from 71-77 and then renamed the Cabellero for 78-87.

bhill2

Mr_Shiftright said:

Oh, sorry. I was wondering if all GMC El Caminos were "sprints" or if this was a submodel.

I didn't know that there was a GMC El Camino. I just thought that the Chevy version was an El Camino and the GMC version was a Sprint.

andre1969

I don't think I've ever seen a '71-72 GMC Sprint in person, but I seem to recall seeing '73-75 era version. Back when I used to deliver pizzas in the late 90's, there was an '82-87 era Caballero that I'd spot in the neighborhood.

And yeah, they were all just rebadged El Caminos. I think someone did try to make a LeMans-based El Camino around 1978-80, but it never got past a couple of prototypes, IIRC.

There was some company that tried to convert Ford Fairmonts into Ranchero type vehicles, but I don't think they ever got past a few prototypes, as well. I've seen one show up every once in awhile at the car shows in Carlisle, PA.

kyfdx

It's weird that I have no memory of the "Sprint" model designation.. Especially, since I started driving in the '70s.... Caballero, I remember...

andre1969

Well, the Sprint (and Caballero) looked identical to the El Camino, and were sold in much lower quantities, so that might have been why it doesn't jog your memory. Normally, GMC would at least try to differentiate their trucks from their Chevy counterparts with a different grille. And in some years the GMC trucks had quad headlights while the Chevies had single. But for the Sprint, they didn't even bother to do that. They just stuck a "GMC" badge on the spot where a Chevy bow-tie would normally be.

Oh, and in reading Wikipedia, it looks like it was actually Pontiac, not an aftermarket company, that made one or two prototypes around 1978, using a Grand Am front clip and interior. Pontiac also did one or two prototypes a few years earlier, using a '73-75 Grand Am front clip, and interior.

ab348

andre1969 said:

There was some company that tried to convert Ford Fairmonts into Ranchero type vehicles, but I don't think they ever got past a few prototypes, as well. I've seen one show up every once in awhile at the car shows in Carlisle, PA.

That was the Ford Durango built in '81/'82 in small quantities. Probably could have sold more if Ford had gotten behind it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Durango

texases

Given the light-weight chassis on the Fairmont, I wouldn't want to use it as a truck...

Mr_Shiftright

I would like to see a Prius El Camino.

roadburner

A guy in my neighborhood has installed a Chrysler 300C front clip on to a Magnum. It looks pretty cool and Chrysler actually sold the same car in Europe- badged as a 300 Touring:

robr2

Mr_Shiftright said:

I would like to see a Prius El Camino.

Be careful what you wish for:

andre1969

I think that Fairmont Durango thingie would have looked better if they had stretched out the wheelbase, like how GM did with the El Camino. But judging from the proportions in that pic, it looks like they used the same relatively stubby 105.5" wb that the Fairmont/Zephyr used. At GM, the El Camino/Caballero were on a long-ish 117" wb, compared to 108.1 for the rest of the intermediates.

And yeah, considering how lightweight the Fairmont was, I think I'd question its ability as a truck conversion. I guess, when you figure that they made station wagons, and it served as the basis of the Mark VII and Continental sedan, cars weighing close to 4,000 pounds, the Fox platform was versatile, and capable of being beefed up. And, hopefully that Durango was beefed up. Looks like they used the basket-handle Futura coupe as the basis for it.

I wonder what kind of load capacity the '78-87 El Camino had? GM's downsized intermediates weren't the most substantial cars, themselves, but I'm sure they were more rugged than the Fox.

Mr_Shiftright

Ouch! I knew that was coming.

Okay, revised wish (does that count as 2?)

A WELL DONE Prius El Camino that wasn't built by Home Depot.

robr2 said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

I would like to see a Prius El Camino.

Be careful what you wish for:

andre1969

It's amazing the stuff you can find on the internet. I was thinking earlier that the '81 LeMans would have made for a nice El Camino conversion. Well, lo and behold...

ab348

andre1969 said:

I think that Fairmont Durango thingie would have looked better if they had stretched out the wheelbase, like how GM did with the El Camino. But judging from the proportions in that pic, it looks like they used the same relatively stubby 105.5" wb that the Fairmont/Zephyr used. At GM, the El Camino/Caballero were on a long-ish 117" wb, compared to 108.1 for the rest of the intermediates.

And yeah, considering how lightweight the Fairmont was, I think I'd question its ability as a truck conversion. I guess, when you figure that they made station wagons, and it served as the basis of the Mark VII and Continental sedan, cars weighing close to 4,000 pounds, the Fox platform was versatile, and capable of being beefed up. And, hopefully that Durango was beefed up. Looks like they used the basket-handle Futura coupe as the basis for it.,

According to that Wiki page all they did was cut up a Futura and graft in the pickup box pieces. Not sure what beefing up was done, but I suspect very little.

I wonder what kind of load capacity the '78-87 El Camino had? GM's downsized intermediates weren't the most substantial cars, themselves, but I'm sure they were more rugged than the Fox.

According to an '81 brochure I found online, the El Camino was rated at 1250 lbs gross payload, which included both cargo and passengers. So not totally useless. You'd think there would still be a market for something like that.

Mr_Shiftright

Not totally useless but a Mini Cooper can tow that.

andre1969

ab348 said:

According to an '81 brochure I found online, the El Camino was rated at 1250 lbs gross payload, which included both cargo and passengers. So not totally useless. You'd think there would still be a market for something like that.

Yeah, that sounds pretty decent, for that type of rig. For comparison, my '85 Silverado has about a 1400 lb gross payload, I'd guess. It has a GVWR of 5600 lb, according to the sticker in the door jamb, and according to the scale at the local dump at least, weighs about 4200 lb.

ab348

Mr_Shiftright said:

Not totally useless but a Mini Cooper can tow that.

Not the same as payload though?

Mr_Shiftright

No, true. All I can say about the Mini is that unless you are delivering gravel, you probably can't max out the payload, given the size of the vehicle.

The problem with the el camino type car/trucks (or with the old VW cargo vans for that matter) is that people would fill up all the available space. That is not a good idea.

texases

Like this?

andre1969

Mr_Shiftright said:

No, true. All I can say about the Mini is that unless you are delivering gravel, you probably can't max out the payload, given the size of the vehicle.

The problem with the el camino type car/trucks (or with the old VW cargo vans for that matter) is that people would fill up all the available space. That is not a good idea.

Per Edmunds, the payload capacity of a 2014 Mini is 680 lb. I'm about 205 lb. However, I don't drive in the buff, so figure 210. Put three people my size in the car, and one decent-sized suitcase, and you're at your limit.

I'm sure there's a little wiggle room in those weight capacities, though. For instance, the curb weight of said Mini, again per Edmund's, is 2605 lb. GVWR is 3455 lb. So that's an 850 lb spread.

I wonder if the weak link in payload capacity these days is low profile tires? Even bigger cars these days usually only have a payload capacity of around 1000 lb at best.

fintail

Spotted 94-95 and 96-97 Accord coupes parked side by side at work today, kind of amusing. Then saw a 94-95 Accord wagon, which are fairly rare anymore.

stickguy

I kind of like that FairmontMino. Though really should be a FairChero.

Mr_Shiftright

Collect them all!

fintail said:

Spotted 94-95 and 96-97 Accord coupes parked side by side at work today, kind of amusing. Then saw a 94-95 Accord wagon, which are fairly rare anymore.

stevedebi

ab348 said:

andre1969 said:

There was some company that tried to convert Ford Fairmonts into Ranchero type vehicles, but I don't think they ever got past a few prototypes, as well. I've seen one show up every once in awhile at the car shows in Carlisle, PA.

That was the Ford Durango built in '81/'82 in small quantities. Probably could have sold more if Ford had gotten behind it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Durango

I owned a Fairmont, and I would consider it too light weight to make a decent "ranchero".

stever

Maybe I could interest you in a Rampage then. Haven't seen one of those in years; roommate back in the early 80s had one.

explorerx4

@stever, Last year, someone brought a Rampage to a charity project. Prior to that I hadn't seen one in years, either. When was the last time you saw a Rabbit pickup?

stever

Yeah, those were even rare back in the day.

fintail

My sister had a Rampage in the late 90s. My dad bought it out of an estate in 1997 I think, and gave it to her. It was red, color matching canopy, had like 60K on it, he paid $1500 for it. She kept it for a couple years, it was relatively reliable, but I remember my dad working on it at least once. Around 1999 she traded it for a lease return Contour (maybe not the best decision), and she actually got the $1500 back in trade-in, someone at the dealership wanted it.

I see a VW pickup or two now and then, but this area is like that.

Odd MB day today - saw 2x C140s, a later run CL500, and maybe a 1995-6 S600, both looked to be in very nice condition. Also saw an early W124 300D, probably 1987, very clean, old man driving it.

stever

Our roommate's was red too, but she didn't have a canopy on it. Got it new and loved driving it. Don't remember ever seeing anything in the bed except perhaps a spare. Had boating friends way back then with a Rabbit pickup for a while until they upgraded to a manual transmission Caravan.

fintail

My sister loved her Rampage too, but not long after she got it, she moved to Seattle - I think she got tired of the stick in city traffic and hills, and it wasn't getting any younger. She still talks about it. Rare cars now, but not terribly valuable - could find another one with enough effott.

Mr_Shiftright

You could probably buy the best one in this solar system for around $5,000 bucks.

fintail said:

My sister loved her Rampage too, but not long after she got it, she moved to Seattle - I think she got tired of the stick in city traffic and hills, and it wasn't getting any younger. She still talks about it. Rare cars now, but not terribly valuable - could find another one with enough effott.

andre1969

The mechanic who's working on my DeSoto had a Rampage for awhile that he had listed for sale. I don't remember much about it, but it seemed like it was in good shape. Guess it found a home, as he doesn't have it anymore.

laurasdada

As I was heading north this morning on 128, saw a red Triumph TR7 convertible heading south. Probably a repaint, the red looked somewhat oddly bright. Actually had a thing for TR7/8s back in my wild eyed innocent youth. Hmm, something about British cars in my German-bred chromosomes...

Mr_Shiftright

Well thank heaven you got over that one! And to think they killed the MG to produce that....that....THING...

fintail

When I was a little kid, I liked the TR7/8 too - of course, I was about 5, so I have an excuse. I was really into cars even at that age, I remember what I liked most - MGs, RX7, Porsches, VWs - especially Beetles for the noise they made, and the Rabbit pickups, Ford Capri and Fiesta. I don't recall seeing a Ferrari or anything exotic until I was maybe 10. I liked vintage cars too. I didn't have a thing for MBs yet when I was a little kid either - I liked small cars, and sporty cars, maybe as they were so different from my mother's big T-Bird. I also liked conversion vans and motorhomes. By the time I was 10, I had bought into the MB heritage and workmanship story.

laurasdada

Mr_Shiftright said:

Well thank heaven you got over that one! And to think they killed the MG to produce that....that....THING...

So, I gather you bought one of each?

What's your opinion of the current Jag lineup?

isellhondas

fintail said:

My sister loved her Rampage too, but not long after she got it, she moved to Seattle - I think she got tired of the stick in city traffic and hills, and it wasn't getting any younger. She still talks about it. Rare cars now, but not terribly valuable - could find another one with enough effott.

Fintail, you won't believe this but about ten years ago, I bought a 1982 Rampage from my best friend's dad who is now 98. He bought it new. I remember walking around it thinking what a useless little truck it was.

But when I found out he was selling it I sent him a check and had it shipped up here.

22,000 original miles!

The silver paint was dull but the body was laser straight. Perfect interior. Original everything even the tires that were as hard as rocks.

Age had taken a toll. Shift bushings crumbled and were hard to find. It blew a rear wheel cylinder and ruined the brake lining. Two weeks later, it blew a rear axle seal and ruined the linings AGAIN!

I think I kept it a year. After getting a 3500.00 estimate to paint it, we parted company.

Not a bad little truck but nothing special either.

Oh, you should have heard the EXPLOSION one hot summer day when it blew the A/C high pressure hose! Scared the stuffing out of me!

Of course, it had to be converted to R-134 etc.

So much for low miles!

fintail

Sometimes low miles can be too low, especially if a car is stored outside. Poor storage does a lot. My sister's car had enough miles where things had been maintained. I seem to recall the repair issue maybe having something to do with a primitive engine computer - but my dad seemed to know what was the matter, maybe as he had a Horizon way back then, maybe it did something similar. I just remember the Rampage with the hood up, and it was snowing - and my dad had recently acquired his new T&C, so this was 1997 or 1998.

isellhondas said:

Oh, you should have heard the EXPLOSION one hot summer day when it blew the A/C high pressure hose! Scared the stuffing out of me!

Of course, it had to be converted to R-134 etc.

So much for low miles!

Mr_Shiftright

No opinion really. I don't have much personal experience with any Jaguar newer than turn of the century. I can only observe that they are no longer eccentric.

Oh yeah, owned LOTS of older British cars. Probably one of everything. I bought cars even the British wouldn't buy.

imidazol97

Mr_Shiftright said:

I bought cars even the British wouldn't buy.

LOL. Brave soul.

fintail

Speaking of British, saw a RR Silver Spur out in the rain.

uplanderguy

I know that in a perfect world, this belongs on the 'Postwar Studebakers' thread, but I just found this pic online that I took, before a local car show of my daughters 'drying off' our '63 Lark with Skytop sunroof and Avanti power. I love the pic. Those are even the correct Studebaker-accessory white mudflaps on the car.

They are 17 and 20 now.

http://www.studebakerskytop.com/jtskytop63V5224pic4.jpg

fintail

Funny thing, accessory mudflaps are also a very rare thing on fintails, I've only seen a couple. You were a brave and good man to allow them to wash it like that

uplanderguy

They were only 'drying'. Note my daughter on the right having one of those squeegee-type things I had to get excess water off. They used to like riding in the car until high school; then they were embarrassed to be seen in it.

The car looks especially tall in the photo I think. The way our property is, the right side of the car is lower than the left, plus the front wheels are on grass and the rears on pavement. Larks I think were taller than Big Three cars anyway, and looked it, in combination with their fairly-low beltline. One thing I liked, is I could take my elderly mother for a ride from her nursing home and she wouldn't drop a foot into the seat like in my Cavalier at the time, or have to be picked up to be placed in her seat like in my van. The Lark seats were chairlike-height and there was no ducking to get in without konking your head.

I think the '63 is the year with the most 'Mercedes bends' as the Eagles say, of any Lark...even the wheelcovers.

The accessory mudflaps--I had found two sets still in the Studebaker bags with part no., at a swap meet some years back. I eventually wore the one set out...they broke along the fender line--apparently brittle from age.

The badge on the front fender said "Avanti Powered", with some horizontal red used and "Avanti" in the same script as was used on Avanti cars. The car had a real nice 'rumble'.

The glass in this car was tinted in all windows. While there was no dark band across the top of the windshield, the glass had a light green hue not unlike old Coke bottles and I always liked that against the white paint.

fintail

They also look tall because of the vertical angles of the side windows, upright. Somewhat like a fintail. Another fun coincidence with Stude and MB, MBs of the period could also be optioned with green tinted glass - it is fairly rare. The seats in most fintails are somewhat big and squashy buckets - I don't know how they'd compare to a Stude, but they are comfortable.

Must be a girl thing to be embarrassed by an old car. I would have loved for my dad to have something like that - I remember I loved cruising in the 60 Ford, it was so unusual and attracted a little attention.

lemko

andre1969 said:

I think that Fairmont Durango thingie would have looked better if they had stretched out the wheelbase, like how GM did with the El Camino. But judging from the proportions in that pic, it looks like they used the same relatively stubby 105.5" wb that the Fairmont/Zephyr used. At GM, the El Camino/Caballero were on a long-ish 117" wb, compared to 108.1 for the rest of the intermediates.

And yeah, considering how lightweight the Fairmont was, I think I'd question its ability as a truck conversion. I guess, when you figure that they made station wagons, and it served as the basis of the Mark VII and Continental sedan, cars weighing close to 4,000 pounds, the Fox platform was versatile, and capable of being beefed up. And, hopefully that Durango was beefed up. Looks like they used the basket-handle Futura coupe as the basis for it.

I wonder what kind of load capacity the '78-87 El Camino had? GM's downsized intermediates weren't the most substantial cars, themselves, but I'm sure they were more rugged than the Fox.

Not like the old Falcon Rancheros that could carry the weight of a compressed Lincoln Continental in the bed! I read that the crushed Continental in "Goldfinger" was pretty much a shell making it a lot lighter than it otherwise would be.