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

kyfdx

sda said:

kyfdx said:

If you put it lower right on a 5-speed, it keeps it to three slots, left to right.. That's why RB noted that picture.. 4 slots, when you could do it in three.

On a 4-speed, doesn't really matter... you are going to end up with 3 slots, no matter where you put it.

Having reverse up and to the left probably started with 3-speeds (on the tree, too), with 1st gear down, below reverse, which kept it to 2-slots.

My 76 Sunbird had a Borg-Warner 5 speed transmission. The shift pattern was not your typical H as Reverse was as at the top left of the H (with no lock out), 1st gear at bottom left of H. 2nd you had to pass thru the neutral gate and shift up to the top right of the H, 3rd shift down, 4th again thru the neutral gate and to the right, 5th directly below 4th. It was an awkward set up and the gates were very narrow so it was easy to shift to 4th when 2nd was what was desired, or grind gears with a horrible metallic sound. I think Datsun had a similar shift pattern on their 310. Though I never selected Reverse in error, it would have been an easy mistake to make. It was a balky and noisy transmission as well. GM used it in some other vehicles. I know you could get the 260 V8 with the same 5 speed in the Olds Omega and Cutlass, and Olds Cutlass 260 V8 Diesel, though I don't think it had many takers.

That's a dog-leg transmission. Just like a 3-speed, with 4th and 5th added to the right.

I think Datsun had that shift pattern in the late '70s on some cars..

Shifter mechanisms are a lot better now.. I have a 6-speed with 4 gates, and they aren't hard to hit, but I'd rather just stick with a 5-speed and 3 slots..

Michaell

Didn't the Top Gear guys have a heck of a time with a dog-leg transmission in the MB 190 2.3-16?

EDIT - BTW, I spotted a 50's Buick wagon last week. Looks like it had been restored, and was in great shape.

fintail

Saw an 86-89 Celica convertible today, I will call it "survivor" condition.

roadburner

Saw a 1979 Riviera at a local used car lot. White, white vinyl top, red leather interior. Looked very clean

sda

kyfdx said:

sda said:

kyfdx said:

If you put it lower right on a 5-speed, it keeps it to three slots, left to right.. That's why RB noted that picture.. 4 slots, when you could do it in three.

On a 4-speed, doesn't really matter... you are going to end up with 3 slots, no matter where you put it.

Having reverse up and to the left probably started with 3-speeds (on the tree, too), with 1st gear down, below reverse, which kept it to 2-slots.

My 76 Sunbird had a Borg-Warner 5 speed transmission. The shift pattern was not your typical H as Reverse was as at the top left of the H (with no lock out), 1st gear at bottom left of H. 2nd you had to pass thru the neutral gate and shift up to the top right of the H, 3rd shift down, 4th again thru the neutral gate and to the right, 5th directly below 4th. It was an awkward set up and the gates were very narrow so it was easy to shift to 4th when 2nd was what was desired, or grind gears with a horrible metallic sound. I think Datsun had a similar shift pattern on their 310. Though I never selected Reverse in error, it would have been an easy mistake to make. It was a balky and noisy transmission as well. GM used it in some other vehicles. I know you could get the 260 V8 with the same 5 speed in the Olds Omega and Cutlass, and Olds Cutlass 260 V8 Diesel, though I don't think it had many takers.

That's a dog-leg transmission. Just like a 3-speed, with 4th and 5th added to the right.

I think Datsun had that shift pattern in the late '70s on some cars..

Shifter mechanisms are a lot better now.. I have a 6-speed with 4 gates, and they aren't hard to hit, but I'd rather just stick with a 5-speed and 3 slots..

Dog leg is a good description of the shift pattern, wish I thought of that. My first car that I bought for $100, 62 Galaxie 2dr had a three on the tree, with non-syncro first. If the car wasn't at a full stop and I needed 1st gear, I learned how to double clutch to shift into first.

sda

63 Buick LeSabre 2 door hard top. Medium metallic blue with white top. Very clean and straight. Handsome car.

Mr_Shiftright

Very clean Chevy LUV pickup----late 70s?

roadburner

Several of the European market M cars and other quick Bimmers had dogleg Getrag five speeds.

andre1969

sda said:

I know you could get the 260 V8 with the same 5 speed in the Olds Omega and Cutlass, and Olds Cutlass 260 V8 Diesel, though I don't think it had many takers.

Pontiac offered the 260/5-speed in the 1976 LeMans. I think that was the only year it was offered, in the LeMans at least. I can't imagine a car like that being much fun, although with a stick shift, maybe it would jerk you around a bit more so you at least felt like you were going fast?

sda

andre1969 said:

sda said:

I know you could get the 260 V8 with the same 5 speed in the Olds Omega and Cutlass, and Olds Cutlass 260 V8 Diesel, though I don't think it had many takers.

Pontiac offered the 260/5-speed in the 1976 LeMans. I think that was the only year it was offered, in the LeMans at least. I can't imagine a car like that being much fun, although with a stick shift, maybe it would jerk you around a bit more so you at least felt like you were going fast?

That 260 V8, though a good engine, was only 110 hp. The 5 speed set up was probably better in the Omega than in the LeMans/Cutlass. The LeMans/Cutlass really needed the 350 V8 to give it any pep at all.

fintail

Saw an immaculate black 78-79 Coupe deVille silently moving through traffic.

sda

fintail said:

Saw an immaculate black 78-79 Coupe deVille silently moving through traffic.

That is how a standard Cadillac should sound, quiet. No loud dual exhausts, that isn't in keeping with what a Cadillac should be---unless it is a late model V.

fintail

Spotted in a grocery store parking lot today:



Fairly immaculate. As I was leaving, I happened to run into the owner. He was maybe in his 70s, pretty sure he had a German accent. He pretty much said "I love this car".

uplanderguy

'77. Those had pretty nice interiors IMHO.

ab348

That looks like an Andre special

explorerx4

A pea soup green VW Westfalia A last gen Gray rwd Cutlass.

stickguy

an early K car convertible. The real square ones. Did not look too bad.

and an earlier run Fiero. A Formula. Actually driving around. Looked in pretty good shape.

jwm40517

A fairly nice Fiero with a decal on rear bumper. NFS

toomanyfumes

In the mid eighties, I worked at a grocery store, the manager had a Malibu wagon just like that, but more of a lighter beige. I would drive it occasionally, shuttling items from store to store. I remember it driving pretty nice, though the gas gauge dropped pretty quickly.

Spotted a nice Porsche 944, a higher trim level 2-door Ford Fairmont, and the same sharp red Triumph TR6 in the morning and again later in the afternoon, so it must have ran well all day.

PF_Flyer

Ran across this photo this morning. Seemed like the "birders" here are the group to identify

explorerx4

Yesterday, An orange Triumph Spitfire and 2 Gen Olds Aurora's.

ab348

toomanyfumes said:

Spotted a nice Porsche 944, a higher trim level 2-door Ford Fairmont, and the same sharp red Triumph TR6 in the morning and again later in the afternoon, so it must have ran well all day.

Maybe you saw the Triumph on its way to the shop in the morning and then coming back home in the afternoon after repairs were completed.

kyfdx

Interesting stuff at the local "Cars and Coffee", yesterday.

Dodge Charger with the "Superbird" aero package.
Ferrari Dino
Mid -70s Corolla with a 5-speed.
Sunbeam Tiger (beautiful car, with a 289 swap).
Triumph TR-4
Early '70s Dodge Dart with 340/4bbl
Dodge Challenger Hellcat (wow.. do those rear tires break loose easily)
Ferrari 458
Lexus LFA
Porsche 911s of every vintage and variety.. they were really out, yesterday.

roadburner

1st Gen Mister Two yesterday...

ab348

roadburner said:

1st Gen Mister Two yesterday...

Bought one of them new, a 1985. Just a gas to drive. You could get one golf bag in the rear trunk it it wasn't a big one. A soft carry-on bag would fit in the front trunk and a suit bag behind the seat. Mine was surprisingly troublesome over the 4 years I owned it. Lots of problems I didn't expect in a Toyota.

explorerx4

A black Hummer H2 SUT.

magnette

Saw a few nice cars this weekend while out in the Magnette..

Circa 1964 Ford Galaxie convertible
Austin A30
Rolls Royce 25/30 (I think) - mid 30's and bedecked in ribbons for a wedding
MGBGT 1967
Triumph Stag
Bedford CF van (1972 and preserved by the look of it)
Riley 4/72

We have an event next Sunday 24th April)called "Drive It Day" which is supported by pretty much every car / bike / whatever club and basically is supposed to encourage everyone to go out on the road in their old car - loads of clubs organise runs or shows and I have n the past just gone along and found a group of old cars and motorbikes outside a country pub or somewhere - its very informal.

This year there is a run from somewhere out in Essex to a Stately Home about 50 miles from here called Audley End and I plan to take the MG there (not the run as that involves an early start but we are near the finish - we'll have a picnic in the grounds anyway, as there are grades etc if it isn't raining - and on the way I am also going to try to pass through a village near Stanstead Airport where the abandoned railway station is some sort of heritage centre and and the (pre-war) Austin Seven club are apparently having a run to somewhere else starting from there, so we should see them too.

There is also a Ford rally in North London with people coming from half of East Anglia and my route to Audley End via the Austin event probably crosses the route of a lot of those Fords too - most people se the old lanes and by-roads for these runs - so hopefully a good day out seeing loads of different cars..

Even gave the Magnette a wash and polish this weekend...




The bonnet shut line is bad, but not that bad - it was slightly open when I took that..

tjc78

Saw a burnt orange Pantera cruising around.  I'm not sure I've ever seen one in the flesh. 

kyfdx

@magnette Great looking car!

explorerx4

@magnette,
Your car looks fantastic! It's not often we get to see a 4 door MG, even in pictures.

magnette

It looks better than it did a few years ago...

The interior is still a work in progress as are a few of the features of the engine bay, but it was effectively off the road for about thirty years in total so it needed a bit of TLC.

fintail

The Magnette really does look nice in the new pic, great color. Something just never seen here. I'd like to have a national "old car day" like you mention.

Lovely weekend here, but not a lot out. I did see a min looking bathtub Packard sedan, a couple old Porsches, a couple nice condition El Caminos in the same driveway, and an early dustbuster Silhouette van.

magnette said:

Saw a few nice cars this weekend while out in the Magnette..

roadburner

magnette said:

Saw a few nice cars this weekend while out in the Magnette..

Circa 1964 Ford Galaxie convertible
Austin A30
Rolls Royce 25/30 (I think) - mid 30's and bedecked in ribbons for a wedding
MGBGT 1967
Triumph Stag
Bedford CF van (1972 and preserved by the look of it)
Riley 4/72

We have an event next Sunday 24th April)called "Drive It Day" which is supported by pretty much every car / bike / whatever club and basically is supposed to encourage everyone to go out on the road in their old car - loads of clubs organise runs or shows and I have n the past just gone along and found a group of old cars and motorbikes outside a country pub or somewhere - its very informal.

This year there is a run from somewhere out in Essex to a Stately Home about 50 miles from here called Audley End and I plan to take the MG there (not the run as that involves an early start but we are near the finish - we'll have a picnic in the grounds anyway, as there are grades etc if it isn't raining - and on the way I am also going to try to pass through a village near Stanstead Airport where the abandoned railway station is some sort of heritage centre and and the (pre-war) Austin Seven club are apparently having a run to somewhere else starting from there, so we should see them too.

There is also a Ford rally in North London with people coming from half of East Anglia and my route to Audley End via the Austin event probably crosses the route of a lot of those Fords too - most people se the old lanes and by-roads for these runs - so hopefully a good day out seeing loads of different cars..

Even gave the Magnette a wash and polish this weekend...




The bonnet shut line is bad, but not that bad - it was slightly open when I took that..

You almost certainly already know this, but your Magnette''s twin has a bit part in the series Call the Midwife; it's driven by the character Dr. Turner:

iluvmysephia1

Sunbeam Tiger (beautiful car, with a 289 swap).
Triumph TR-4

These are both sweet rigs!

magnette

You almost certainly already know this, but your Magnette''s twin has a bit part in the series Call the Midwife; it's driven by the character Dr. Turner:







Yes - several times people have asked me if my car is that one. He has non-original indicators though and missing trim for the front wings.

I've never actually watched the programme, funnily enough.

andre1969

explorerx4 said:

@magnette,
Your car looks fantastic! It's not often we get to see a 4 door MG, even in pictures.

Agreed, that's a beautiful car...I LOVE the color. I've always been a sucker for a nice shade of green.

iluvmysephia1

I'd go for a 1964 Triumph TR-4. Did Triumph even offer an automatic tranny in the 60's?

stever

Older Isuzu pickup (P'up?) of the Luv generation.

ab348

Uncovered the '68 Cutlass today, reconnected the battery, and started it up for the first time this year. Just as in every other springtime first firing in the 22 years I've owned it, after a few cranks to get some fuel into the carb and build a little oil pressure, I set the choke one time, cranked it again, and away it went! Great old car. Only issue, as always, is that the Jetaway transmission leaked out some fluid during storage. I took this pic at this time last year when I did the same thing.

Mr_Shiftright

iluvmysephia1 said:

I'd go for a 1964 Triumph TR-4. Did Triumph even offer an automatic tranny in the 60's?

I don't think so, but the MGC did.

explorerx4

@ab348,
Your car is my all tine favorite GM design. I like even better than the 63-64 Riviera.

Saw a beautiful red C2 Corvette. Pretty stock ,except maybe lowered a bit. Looked great going down the road.

Michaell

stever said:

Older Isuzu pickup (P'up?) of the Luv generation.

My first wife had an '85 P'up. 5-speed stick. No AC. I commuted to LA one summer in it. Ugh. 

ab348

Thanks, @explorerx4 . I always thought so too. Story apparently was that Olds designers went on a theme of being inspired by the '66 Toronado, hence the full arch wheel openings with the flares and the horizontal taillights. I love the greenhouse side view. The designers diverged on some of those things for later years and I never thought they looked as good.

fintail

Sharp Olds, the more pure design before all the clutter.

uplanderguy

Beautiful Olds. As mentioned to you previously, next month I'm going to a memorial service for a late friend of mine and I and another friend were asked to climb around his wife's '68 4-4-2 which she has owned since the late '70's, to see if we think it's logical to restore. She drove it in NW PA for about five years as her daily car and it has been sitting inside, but on a bare-ground floor, for thirty years. I'm not optimistic, but she said she knows she will be several multiples of five figures in if she decides to go ahead.

Hers is a dark maroon, black vinyl top, full wheelcovers, red buckets, factory air, and floorshift automatic. It almost looks like a Cutlass Supreme when you walk up to it, but it does have the 442 nameplates in the right place, and the dual-exhaust-cutout rear bumper. She's never doubted this, but is there a way to determine 442 from the serial no.?

Thanks.

stever

Free WSJ link at time of posting:

How a Nissan Figaro Became an Instant Classic in the U.S.

ab348

uplanderguy said:

Beautiful Olds. As mentioned to you previously, next month I'm going to a memorial service for a late friend of mine and I and another friend were asked to climb around his wife's '68 4-4-2 which she has owned since the late '70's, to see if we think it's logical to restore. She drove it in NW PA for about five years as her daily car and it has been sitting inside, but on a bare-ground floor, for thirty years. I'm not optimistic, but she said she knows she will be several multiples of five figures in if she decides to go ahead.

Hers is a dark maroon, black vinyl top, full wheelcovers, red buckets, factory air, and floorshift automatic. It almost looks like a Cutlass Supreme when you walk up to it, but it does have the 442 nameplates in the right place, and the dual-exhaust-cutout rear bumper. She's never doubted this, but is there a way to determine 442 from the serial no.?

Thanks.

Take a look here:

http://www.442.com/oldsfaq/of442.htm

A '68 4-4-2 should have a VIN starting with 34467, 34477, or 34487.

ab348

stever said:

Free WSJ link at time of posting:

How a Nissan Figaro Became an Instant Classic in the U.S.

There's one of those here locally, in those exact colors. It was on my street visiting someone a few years ago. I just about fell over when I saw it.

uplanderguy

Thanks for that info, ab. I'll print out the page from that site, and take it with me.

I guess 35 years of auditing/accounting makes me a skeptic right out of the box!

magnette

andre1969 said:

explorerx4 said:

@magnette,
Your car looks fantastic! It's not often we get to see a 4 door MG, even in pictures.

Agreed, that's a beautiful car...I LOVE the color. I've always been a sucker for a nice shade of green.

Thanks Andre - the colour is nice too Heh Heh Heh