In terms of timeless elegance and eventual value, the coupe - but for fintail bragging rights, only a W112 300SE or a Universal will do. Those sedans have an engine related to that in the 300SL gullwing, and were finished to a standard as high as the coupes (they also cost as much as the coupes, very expensive, maybe 8-10K back then). Unfortunately, the suspensions are not fun to deal with, and they rusted like any other fintail, so they are very rare today. I've only personally seen a few in the 20 years I have been following the cars.
Speaking of Caprice taxis, I saw this in Zurich in 2009:
If I were going to use the car regularly, I'd pick the 190---cheapest to fix, most fun to drive, economical and enough power to get by in most situations, no problem. I was never fond of large, heavy coupes of any make or model, and the 300 is a maintenance headache.
I like to think my 220SE is a good one in the fintail world - I get the FI and a little added chrome, but no air suspension, and a less complex engine. The 190 would have to be a gas.
Speaking of obscure, I saw this today, and it speaks to the speculation going on in the world of "modern classics", probably because of the insane appreciation being had by 70s-90s era Ferraris and Porsche. This is an E60 AMG, the final run of W124 AMG, and the most evolved 124 AMG. This is much rarer than any 500E and I am pretty sure it is less common than a "Hammer". This is at the MB Classic Center/Youngtimer display at the MB Museum, where you can buy cars. All cars are low mileage and pristine:
< With GM though, it seemed like a lot of a car's identity was tied up in the engine.
I agree with your summary and had GM gone with a more corporate engine model like Chrysler and Ford, it is possible those engines would have been better as a result of more concentrated engineering dollars to design them. There were a lot of weak engines durability and horse power wise out of the different car lines. Some that come to mind are the Duke 151, Chevy 229 V6, Buick 231 (105 hp in 76), Olds 260 (110hp) and Pontiac 301. The Olds 260 diesel was a joke, and the Olds 350 diesel ran out pretty good but suffered all kinds of head gasket and fuel system issues.
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I like to think my 220SE is a good one in the fintail world - I get the FI and a little added chrome, but no air suspension, and a less complex engine. The 190 would have to be a gas.
Speaking of obscure, I saw this today, and it speaks to the speculation going on in the world of "modern classics", probably because of the insane appreciation being had by 70s-90s era Ferraris and Porsche. This is an E60 AMG, the final run of W124 AMG, and the most evolved 124 AMG. This is much rarer than any 500E and I am pretty sure it is less common than a "Hammer". This is at the MB Classic Center/Youngtimer display at the MB Museum, where you can buy cars. All cars are low mileage and pristine:
I agree with your summary and had GM gone with a more corporate engine model like Chrysler and Ford, it is possible those engines would have been better as a result of more concentrated engineering dollars to design them. There were a lot of weak engines durability and horse power wise out of the different car lines. Some that come to mind are the Duke 151, Chevy 229 V6, Buick 231 (105 hp in 76), Olds 260 (110hp) and Pontiac 301. The Olds 260 diesel was a joke, and the Olds 350 diesel ran out pretty good but suffered all kinds of head gasket and fuel system issues.
Really, most of the SBC variants being built in that era were pretty crummy engines.
Mine have been lousy lately. Maybe it's because stuff always seems to taste better when someone else makes it but it's probably really the extra bit of altitude here (~4,000+ feet) that's messing up my dough.
Okay, @fintail, what do you have for us today? And I don't mean Pizza Hütte (actually ate at one of those back in the 70s).
Dominos Brooklyn Style is good. Papa Murphys thin crust is also good.
Shameful admission - I love hitting up a Pizza Hut at least a couple times when I am in Germany. It's really different here. It tastes good, the prices are reasonable, and it is insanely popular - there will often be no open tables, often people waiting to be seated, and reservations are recommended. At a Pizza Hut. It's like a parallel universe.
For obscure cars? Not many oldies on the road here compared to the PNW, as inspection standards cull out the herd. Most old (say pre-1990) cars are MB, with a BMW here and there. Very little else, unless it is a vintage car with historic plates. I did see a Smart roadster, those seem kind of cool.
Interesting, my rice milk drinking spouse didn't know that about cheddar. She can't handle soy either. Guess I'll switch around my pizza recipe a bit more.
Speaking of cheap pizzas, I made a lot of boxed Boy-Ar-Dee pies camping. Cooked them over a fire or a stove in a big skillet. Darn tasty, but most food tastes a lot better when you're out camping. Now I'm sort of getting a hankering for some fried spam .
Drove 20 miles around town today, saw nothing interesting on the road.
Headed west toward Worthington (and into some force 7 wind on the Beaufort scale!) spotted a well-kept, '72 Buick Riv loaded on a Shamrock rollback tow truck. Nice 70's earth tone beige called Sandalwood for Buick and something else for the rest of GM I think.
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Pizza is something I've never experienced - i have an allergy to cheese...
No cheese? I always thought that would be the one food I couldn't give up.
I had to give up cheese...or at least cut back. Last time I had blood work done, my cholesterol came back too high. But not so bad that he put me on medication...he's trying to get me to eat healthier, first. It's a losing battle though, I'm afraid. I thought I was doing well but last night I had a hot dog and it tasted SOOOOO good!
One of my friends has lactose issues, so he stays off the cheese as much as possible. Although, we usually have a tv/pizza night at my house on Friday nights, and he'll indulge a bit.
I tend to like thin pizza. Among chains, I like Donato's, although it seems like they came up our way and fizzled for the most part. There's one maybe six or seven miles from us.
Best pizza I ever ate--Joe's in Santa Monica, CA. My daughter and I ate there even in the morning, it was so good. New York-style pizza, big floppy slices. Got talking to a guy in there who said he drives fifteen miles each way for a slice of their cheese pizza!
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I tend to like thin pizza. Among chains, I like Donato's, although it seems like they came up our way and fizzled for the most part. There's one maybe six or seven miles from us.
Best pizza I ever ate--Joe's in Santa Monica, CA. My daughter and I ate there even in the morning, it was so good. New York-style pizza, big floppy slices. Got talking to a guy in there who said he drives fifteen miles each way for a slice of their cheese pizza!
I like Pizza Hut thin crust. It really tastes good.
Saw a very clean early 80s VW Passat and a nice brown MB W116 on an Autobahn south of Ulm this morning. Now I am in Austria, cars seem older than Germany, but nothing rare yet.
Today in traffic, I was behind a mid-80s Nissan Micra 5-door, faded red, some rust, and couldn't get out of its own way. It might have been stuck in second gear because it was really slow moving from a stop. I don't think these were sold in the US but Nissan Canada sold a bunch here into the "cheapest car possible" segment that Canadians always seem to like. These were considered crappy up here even when new. Haven't seen one in years.
Today in traffic, I was behind a mid-80s Nissan Micra 5-door, faded red, some rust, and couldn't get out of its own way. It might have been stuck in second gear because it was really slow moving from a stop. I don't think these were sold in the US but Nissan Canada sold a bunch here into the "cheapest car possible" segment that Canadians always seem to like. These were considered crappy up here even when new. Haven't seen one in years.
Hey ab348, do you ever see any original Hyundai Pony around, or Hyundai Stellar? Back east, I am sure they all rotted away 15-20 years ago, along with all the Ladas. I remember when they were all over western BC.
I have not seen a Stellar in many, many years. They were not a very good car. The same would have been true for the Pony but I saw an absolutely mint-condition one in traffic about a year ago. Couldn't believe my eyes, it looked original but like it just came out someone's garage in 1985. Most of them disappeared 20 years ago.
Interesting. Maybe 15 years ago, around Vancouver anyway, they all disappeared. The late 90s were a good time for oddball cars there, if you liked crapcans - early Hyundais galore, and Ladas were not unknown. Sometimes I think about 2/3 of K-Car production also made it to Canada.
I have not seen a Stellar in many, many years. They were not a very good car. The same would have been true for the Pony but I saw an absolutely mint-condition one in traffic about a year ago. Couldn't believe my eyes, it looked original but like it just came out someone's garage in 1985. Most of them disappeared 20 years ago.
Today I was driving behind a Fiat Freemont, which is a rebadged Dodge Journey. I don't think it is really obscure, but it made me think that "Fremont" was the name of Mr. Wilson's (Joseph Kearns) dog on "Dennis the Menace" and then I realized I have too much wacko trivia in my head (I think it was an Airedale). I also saw a new style Chrysler 300 badged as a Lancia Thema, and a stylish looking young woman in an early 450SL.
Freemont was a little dog, some kind of Scottish terrier I think. Not a little pocket dog, like what Lisa Douglas would carry around on the farm, but still small-ish. I think the dog that played Smiley on Hazel, and Tramp on My Three Sons might have been an Airedale, or at least a mix. I used to have a dog that we thought was some kind of Airedale Terrier mix, although he got up to around 110 lb, and we never groomed him to look like they do in the pics. I think a real Airedale is supposed to only get to around 60 lb or so.
On the obscure car front, as I was taking out some trash today, I saw a late 70s/early 80's Corvette rumble past at a low speed. It was red, and kind of faded looking.
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Speaking of Caprice taxis, I saw this in Zurich in 2009:
Speaking of obscure, I saw this today, and it speaks to the speculation going on in the world of "modern classics", probably because of the insane appreciation being had by 70s-90s era Ferraris and Porsche. This is an E60 AMG, the final run of W124 AMG, and the most evolved 124 AMG. This is much rarer than any 500E and I am pretty sure it is less common than a "Hammer". This is at the MB Classic Center/Youngtimer display at the MB Museum, where you can buy cars. All cars are low mileage and pristine:
Look at the price, wow.
I agree with your summary and had GM gone with a more corporate engine model like Chrysler and Ford, it is possible those engines would have been better as a result of more concentrated engineering dollars to design them. There were a lot of weak engines durability and horse power wise out of the different car lines. Some that come to mind are the Duke 151, Chevy 229 V6, Buick 231 (105 hp in 76), Olds 260 (110hp) and Pontiac 301. The Olds 260 diesel was a joke, and the Olds 350 diesel ran out pretty good but suffered all kinds of head gasket and fuel system issues.
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If I had another space in the garage and a spare $15K-$20K, I would want one of those..
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Really, most of the SBC variants being built in that era were pretty crummy engines.
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Here's another car for sale at the same location:
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Now about that 190. I know it's not for sale but offer the $3K. I'm sure they'll bite at that.
I'm a fat guy and even I don't eat Pizza Hut...LOL.
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Okay, @fintail, what do you have for us today? And I don't mean Pizza Hütte (actually ate at one of those back in the 70s).
I too have a dozen or so pizza shops within a 15 minute drive. My favorite is a Greek style pizza shop that is owned by an Indian family.
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Shameful admission - I love hitting up a Pizza Hut at least a couple times when I am in Germany. It's really different here. It tastes good, the prices are reasonable, and it is insanely popular - there will often be no open tables, often people waiting to be seated, and reservations are recommended. At a Pizza Hut. It's like a parallel universe.
For obscure cars? Not many oldies on the road here compared to the PNW, as inspection standards cull out the herd. Most old (say pre-1990) cars are MB, with a BMW here and there. Very little else, unless it is a vintage car with historic plates. I did see a Smart roadster, those seem kind of cool.
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Speaking of cheap pizzas, I made a lot of boxed Boy-Ar-Dee pies camping. Cooked them over a fire or a stove in a big skillet. Darn tasty, but most food tastes a lot better when you're out camping. Now I'm sort of getting a hankering for some fried spam .
Drove 20 miles around town today, saw nothing interesting on the road.
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2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I used to love doctoring those up back in my youth
One of my friends has lactose issues, so he stays off the cheese as much as possible. Although, we usually have a tv/pizza night at my house on Friday nights, and he'll indulge a bit.
Best pizza I ever ate--Joe's in Santa Monica, CA. My daughter and I ate there even in the morning, it was so good. New York-style pizza, big floppy slices. Got talking to a guy in there who said he drives fifteen miles each way for a slice of their cheese pizza!
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On the obscure car front, as I was taking out some trash today, I saw a late 70s/early 80's Corvette rumble past at a low speed. It was red, and kind of faded looking.