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

roadburner

Calling Andre

explorerx4

A black VW Passat W8 wagon. It had quad tips out back. It was mildly trying get a WRX to let out a few horses.

fintail

Saw a fairly immaculate looking 80s Toyota van this afternoon - not extremely rare here, but rare in that condition. Also an old style Mini.

Even $3500 for that Bluebird is a lot more than in the past. Some Japanese cars are slowly gaining traction.

Mr_Shiftright

Lotsa luck finding trim pieces though.

toomanyfumes

Guy who just started working with me brought a two seat AMC AMX, dark green, very nice. Probably not as rare here as other areas, being near Kenosha where they were built.

explorerx4

Almost time to put the Mustang on the road.
Poulan has already been run this year.

andre1969

roadburner said:

Calling Andre

Pretty sweet looking ride. I always thought the '65-66 Chryslers were good looking cars.

ab348

andre1969 said:

roadburner said:

Calling Andre

Pretty sweet looking ride. I always thought the '65-66 Chryslers were good looking cars.

I cannot quite believe this, but I know that car - somewhat. It was for sale at a San Francisco M-B dealer in the fall of 2012. They must have had it for a while, as they priced it at $7800 but by October had it marked down to $5000. I was tempted to buy it, even thinking whether it would be possible to drive it back east, but reality set in. I love the white interior. $8500 sounds like a bit of a stretch because it appears the current owner had very little to do to it.

Michaell

explorerx4 said:

A black VW Passat W8 wagon. It had quad tips out back. It was mildly trying get a WRX to let out a few horses.

I saw a Passat W8 sedan a couple of days ago.

uplanderguy

I just got back yesterday from an annual Studebaker swap meet in South Bend and rode in this car, a Bordeaux Red R3 Daytona ('64 model year) that was used at Bonneville when Studebaker took a bunch of cars there and it is the exact car, also, that was written up in January '64's Hot Rod magazine--cover blurb, "Stude's 150 mph Lark". I didn't know the owner well so didn't want to ask for a ride, but a friend asked him for me. The meet hotel was near an entrance ramp and so help me God, I saw my life flash in front of me! When he punched it and went through the gears, I was stunned at how sucked-back-in-the-seat the feeling was. My ride was at about 9:30 p.m. and I actually had trouble sleeping after that! Exhilarating.

http://www.mcacn.com/512014.htm

The stripes were not a factory option but were on the car at Bonneville and in the Hot Rod article too.

imidazol97

uplanderguy said:

I just got back yesterday from an annual Studebaker swap meet in South Bend and rode in this car, a Bordeaux Red R3 Daytona ('64 model year) that was used at Bonneville when Studebaker took a bunch of cars there and it is the exact car, also, that was written up in January '64's Hot Rod magazine--cover blurb, "Stude's 150 mph Lark". I didn't know the owner well so didn't want to ask for a ride, but a friend asked him for me. The meet hotel was near an entrance ramp and so help me God, I saw my life flash in front of me! When he punched it and went through the gears, I was stunned at how sucked-back-in-the-seat the feeling was. My ride was at about 9:30 p.m. and I actually had trouble sleeping after that! Exhilarating

A once in a lifetime ride. Interesting to read the history.

uplanderguy

imidazol, thanks. He has a bunch of documentation on it and got the Granatellis' autographs some time back on pics of the car. The owner is a retired Ford engineer.

rwolffe

1928 Graham Page

fintail

Today I saw a dark red/maroon 67 Pontiac 2 door HT, looked restored and maybe a higher trim high power model. I am pretty sure it had wheels rather than hubcaps.. I swear I could see an engine badge that read "4" something. Didn't see any other old cars out, which is surprising given the weather.

berri

What is that green and white Studebaker wagon next to the sharp maroon coupe? It may be the camera angle, but it looks larger than a standard Studebaker station wagon.

andre1969

That green/white Stude looks like a '59 or so Lark wagon. Even though the Lark was marketed as a compact, it was based on the old standard-sized cars, just with a lot of wasted space removed. Also, looking in my old car book, the wagons were on a slightly longer wheelbase...113" for the wagons, versus 108.5 for the rest of the Larks.

For comparison, the '58 cars were 116.5" across the board (except for the Hawks on the 120.5" wb), so the wagons didn't shrink as much as the rest of the cars did.

From what I've read, back in the 50's the Studebakers would often come up a bit short compared to a Chevy, Ford, or Plymouth, because they weren't quite as big inside. I think the biggest shortcoming was in shoulder room. Even though the term hadn't been coined yet, I think the Studes may have really been the first intermediate cars. And, when they were massaged into the Lark for '59, I don't think they gave up any interior room at all, so even though they were marketed as compacts, they were probably closer in size to the likes of the '62 Fairlane/Meteor, the prematurely shrunken '62 Dodges and Plymouths, or the '64 Chevelle et al, than they were something like a Falcon, Valiant, Chevy II, etc.

BTW, whatever the year is, I really like that shade of green on that Studebaker. DeSoto had a similar color in '57 called "Tamarack" green, IIRC. I think Ford called it that as well, a year or two in there. And I'm sure everyone else had something similar.

berri

Thanks Andre. I didn't think Studebaker had a larger Carryall type vehicle, but I didn't follow them all that closely. Liked the Hawks and admired how the company fought with little bucks to stay in the game. Growing up it seemed like Studebaker's were mostly bought by either families that always owned them, or as used second cars in my area at least.

andre1969

Here's a side by side comparison of a '58 Studebaker wagon and a c'59...



It looks to me like the passenger cabins are virtually identical. I think most of the reduction in length comes from the overhang in front, in addition to the ~3.5" of wheelbase ahead of the cowl. Looks like it might be a bit less overhang in back too, although a lot of that could just be a visual trick, from losing the tail fin.

**Edit: at least I think that's a '58 Studebaker...that's what the website said. It was a Scotsman, which was the stripper model and still had single headlights. I guess the Scotsman didn't get the tacked on fins, either?

berri

I always thought the around '55 Studebaker Conestoga's were interesting looking station wagons. Now on to Mopars, I remember a lot of differing opinions on their new 57 wagon looks. Everyone seemed to like the roll down tailgate window, which I think started a year earlier on Rambler wagons, but there was a lot of different opinions on the look of the rear portion of those wagons and the rear facing 3rd row seats. Then it wouldn't be Virgil Exner without a little controversy, right? I thought they were very modern looking, but the 57 Ford wagon was a very nice looker and I think it was quite successful in sales.

uplanderguy

That two-tone green-and-white Lark wagon in the pic is a '60. That's not an original color scheme, as no Larks were two-toned from the factory.

I agree that Studes seemed like mid-size cars compared to others of the time. That was probably not a sales plus at the time, but I like it now. There are a fair amount of Studes I think aren't well-styled, but none because I thought they looked plump or fat as with a lot of other cars! LOL

For instance, although '63 and '64 Studes are my absolute favorites overall, I've always thought I really liked '57 Packard Clipper Country Sedans, which is what the wagon was called. Mid-size, sort-of, trim proportions, low beltline, supercharger, and make mine a 3-speed with O/D and a roof rack.

BTW, I have seen that light-yellow '59 Lark two-door wagon in person at South Bend, although not for a few years. It looks absolutely like a brand-new car, in and out, and is completely stock, the way I like them the best.

uplanderguy

Seen today twice in Camp Hill, PA, where I am with work for a few days--an extremely nice '63 Mercury Meteor Custom four-door sedan. It's white. Even up fairly close, it looks like a two-year-old car. Not often seen and I enjoyed seeing it.

fintail

Saw a 67 Shelby Mustang today, or a very good facsimile thereof, in downtown Bellevue traffic. Also a round headlight Rabbit and a Euro W123.

Here's a site/blog I recently happened upon, Obscure parked cars in Seattle

berri

Well you've got the hills, and now the old parked cars like San Francisco, albeit they are bit more ragged in these shots.

fintail

Over time, the constant light rain can leave a patina on cars left outside.

Today's sightings - early 70s Dart/Valiant, Karmann Ghia, MB 300CD I see a bit.

stever

Acid (rain) patina is highly desirable in some circles.

Just need a copper car now.

fintail

Rain here is pretty clean. But eventually the mold and moss can leave a mark.

imidazol97

On my drive to Columbus on I70, I was passed, yes passed by an Omni. It looked to be in pristine
condition but not a restored car. Just like a car a couple years old with no rust in a pretty blue color.



Which reminded me to post what I think is a beautiful Mustang in a similar blue. I would see one
like this owned by a manager of quick market chain stores in this area. It's a rare color and I like
the shape and size of the color. It doesn't have all the glitzy things some newer ones have, it's one
that would be welcome in my garage.

berri

Those are nice shades of blue. I don't know why nowadays most blue cars have to be either that often ugly dark ink blue or silver blue. To get a nice blue you almost have to be willing to move up to a luxury car. Personally, I'm not willing to lose the depreciation or cash flow from that move. I just haven't seen the 20K or more difference when I've landed a luxury rental and I don't need the perceived status.

stickguy

that Omni is exactly like the car my wife had when we got married. Same color, about the same year. Those wheels. She just had the Horizon version.

man, that was the best car I ever drove in the snow. unstoppable, even just on the all season tires of the mid-80s.

berri

I think fwd 4 bangers, especially if you have a stick, with their skinny tires tend to be the best in snow. Also, back then wheels had smaller diameters and tires were softer than today's low rolling resistance or sport tires. My sister had a dark blue Omni back in those days. Never really knew the truth whether VW was involved in it or it was just stolen VW style lines.

fintail

When I was a kid, my dad had a Horizon - he always swore up and down that it was the best snow car he ever had. I remember some big snows in eastern WA in the 80s, he never seemed to have a problem. I think early Omnirizons actually had a VW engine, or some derivative.

stever

My '82 FWD Tercel was good in the snow, but nothing held a candle to the '70-something SuperBeetle I had in AK for a year. Couldn't see out the windows without continually scraping the inside glass but it would go anywhere. Was especially good going up one friend's steep, glaciated driveway that others had trouble walking up.

stickguy

either the 1.6 or 1.7l in the early car I believe was based on the VW engine (with some mods). We had the later 2.2l. quite the little hot rod, by the standards of 1986.

besides the tires and weight distribution helping traction, the straight line 3 speed AT worked great for manual shifting. could easily shift up and down through all 3 gears without needing the breaks.

worked a whole heck of a lot better in snow than my Colt did, with the stick shift and gumball summer tires (Yokohama A008s, basically a showroom stock tire that looked like a golfball. That was like driving on 4 toboggans.

fintail

I remember my dad driving his pretty fast, too - he'd drive it pretty hard. For the time, one of those cars wasn't a terrible choice. I know he preferred it greatly over anything similar offered by Ford or GM (Japanese cars weren't considered yet).

kyfdx

My '82 Accord hatch... stick, no a/c.. was a beast in the snow.

My '84 911 was pretty good, as well.... I owned from '90-'94.. all-season tires and the weight over the rear wheels gave you pretty good traction. Back then the tire size was only 225/50-16, so not too bad..

ab348

imidazol97 said:

Which reminded me to post what I think is a beautiful Mustang in a similar blue. I would see one
like this owned by a manager of quick market chain stores in this area. It's a rare color and I like
the shape and size of the color. It doesn't have all the glitzy things some newer ones have, it's one
that would be welcome in my garage.

I believe that color was called Windveil Blue Metallic, and I remember being quite taken with it when it was offered. I think it was a another of the throwback '60s colors they originally offered on the retro Mustang, like "Legend Lime".

imidazol97

stickguy said:

that Omni is exactly like the car my wife had when we got married. Same color, about the same year. Those wheels. She just had the Horizon version.

man, that was the best car I ever drove in the snow. unstoppable, even just on the all season tires of the mid-80s.

The Omni passed me in the left lane. I was doing 75, 5 over, in the middle lane. I hadn't noticed it coming up in the mirrors, so I was really surprised considering its age and good condition to see it being driven aggressively--between 80 and 85. If I had seen it coming, I would have had my cell phone camera out. Considering the effectiveness of the state patrol in that area, I wondered if driver was doing a high speed run to blow out the carbon. LOL

stever

Karman Ghia at the post office, Texas plates. Idling (roughly) a long time. Long enough for me to walk out and get in the van and drive off anyway.

fintail

I'm in podunk for a few days - always lots of odd oldies here. So far have seen a Datsun Fairlady roadster, Datsun B210 (~1980 model, not the 70s honeycomb hubcap model), Chrysler Maserati TC, 2x 69 Impala/Caprice 2 door HTs, one of them very nice. MB SLC, a couple of old (hubcap) 107 SL roadsters, 80s XJ6, and the highlight, someone in the neighborhood has a nice looking 60 (I think) Mercury wagon, red and woody, have seen it drive by twice.

uplanderguy

I spotted a '70 Superbird in that bright blue with a black vinyl top on the road in Stow, Ohio, today. I really don't like them, but I can't remember when I last saw one! Also while in Stow having my tires rotated, I was thumbing through the June 'Automobile' magazine. They have an article about a fellow's clean, stock '68 Cougar XR-7, burgundy with black vinyl top and leather interior. I didn't know (or had forgotten) that they were built on a three-inch longer wheelbase than a Mustang. Those cars still strike me as very elegant and the styling has really stood the test of time I think. A Firebird is not significantly nicer than a same-year Camaro then, IMHO, but the Cougar is better differentiated and clearly upscale from a Mustang...this from a guy who grew up GM!

The same mag had results from a recent big car auction and I was pretty stunned to see a '57 Studebaker station wagon, with some apparent authenticity goofs, brought $26K. I about fell out of my chair.

ab348

I really like the '67 and '68 Cougar, '69 not so much but OK, and the rest not much at all. One of the few Ford products of that era I can see myself owning.

laurasdada

On my way to an early morning run a few towns over, in Medway, Ma at a used car dealer: a white Bricklin! On the way home, moved to parallel the road with its gullwing doors open to the sky. Why do I want this car?

My father actually put a deposit on a Bricklin back in '74. But, when the first car came into the dealership, the build quality was "questionable." Hence, deposit returned and invested in a '74 Datsun 260Z 2+2 (good family man, Dad).

uplanderguy

I think the best Cougars were those first two years.

I went to my first general cruise-in of the year this past Thursday. I saw a handsome car, a '75 Buick LeSabre Custom convertible, maroon, white top, maroon vinyl bench seat, Buick chrome road wheels. I must be accustomed to looking at Studebakers as I was struck by just how wide and long this Buick was! But, what a handsome car, 39K miles. It was a 350, and the only quickly-apparent options I noticed it didn't have were the 60/40 front seat and the 'custom deluxe' belts--it had the standard black belts and plastic buckles. That always cracked me up on our Impalas--color-keyed belts and metal buckles were optional!

It had round headlights. I had forgotten for a while that Buick never put square headlights on their big convertibles.

The owner told me he's had it about six years, and paid still in the single digits for it. Very nice buy even then IMHO. The dealer kept it in his showroom for three years; dealer passed away and it was sold and this fellow bought it from the second owner.

robr2

laurasdada said:

On my way to an early morning run a few towns over, in Medway, Ma at a used car dealer: a white Bricklin! On the way home, moved to parallel the road with its gullwing doors open to the sky. Why do I want this car?

My father actually put a deposit on a Bricklin back in '74. But, when the first car came into the dealership, the build quality was "questionable." Hence, deposit returned and invested in a '74 Datsun 260Z 2+2 (good family man, Dad).

Every time I hear Mendon all I can hear is that annoying Imperial Chrysler tagline - "In the little town of Mendon."

jwilliams2

ab348 said:

I really like the '67 and '68 Cougar, '69 not so much but OK, and the rest not much at all. One of the few Ford products of that era I can see myself owning.

Of all the cars I've ever owned, the one I'd most like to have today is the '67 Cougar XR7 GT I bought new back then. That sure was a sweet car. Also would like to have the '66 Cyclone GT I traded for it. Or maybe the '65 Cyclone. Heck, I'd love to have them all again!

roadburner

ab348 said:

I really like the '67 and '68 Cougar, '69 not so much but OK, and the rest not much at all. One of the few Ford products of that era I can see myself owning.

I had a chance to buy a 1967 XR7 with only 5000 miles. The thing was, I wanted to drive the thing and if I did I'd be throwing money out the window(after paying a hefty premium for the low miles).

robr2

Over the weekend I spotted a 1972 or so Buick Electra 225 Convertible - baby blue over white vinyl.

One could park a Smart on the hood with room to spare.

imidazol97

robr2 said:

Over the weekend I spotted a 1972 or so Buick Electra 225 Convertible - baby blue over white vinyl.

That sounds pretty. I'd love to see that in person!

There's a 225 that floats around my area. It's the creamy color and 4-door. I
don't know the year, but it's also big.

Cruise-ins are starting up this weekend heavily in our area. I'm looking forward
to getting my "fix."

andre1969

The last Electra convertible was in 1970; in 1971, when GM redesigned their big cars, Buick offered a LeSabre convertible on the low end and a Centurion convertible for the more upscale crowd. The Centurion came standard with a 455 and had a nicer interior, and was pretty quick for the time. By '71 though, the LeSabre/Centurion were so big they probably weren't that much smaller than an Electra, and they had a very strong family resemblance up front.

One of my favorite big cars from that era is the '75 LeSabre convertible, in baby blue, or powder blue or whatever you'd call it. Make mine a 455, with the magnum wheels, white interior/top, and power everything!

fintail

Spotted today: Same Dart/Valiant I see now and then, and a pre-73 soft top Blazer.