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

magnette

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.


We get loads of Nissan Figaros here - it was never imported new but with stringent Japanese car testing it is common for them to be imported - Grey Imports - into the UK - it helps that we are RHD and that the mechanical bits from Nissan Micras (March in the JDM) fit.

fintail

Spotted the Amazon wagon I always see, and that first gen 626 coupe I see now and then, sadly it appears to have suffered a little rear end damage.

berri

First gen Valiant (60-62) red 2 door hardtop drove right past me yesterday. That has to be a somewhat unusual car. Really, don't see many early Valiant's on the road in general, let alone a hardtop.

Michaell

First generation F-150 Lightning. 

stickguy

I saw that version of lightning last weekend too. A black one.

Michaell

stickguy said:

I saw that version of lightning last weekend too. A black one.

The one I saw was silver. Kinda ratty looking, but quite the loud exhaust.

andre1969

berri said:

First gen Valiant (60-62) red 2 door hardtop drove right past me yesterday. That has to be a somewhat unusual car. Really, don't see many early Valiant's on the road in general, let alone a hardtop.

I could be wrong, but I don't think the 2-door hardtop was introduced until 1961 and yeah, it would be pretty rare I'd think. Even at the Carlisle PA Mopar Nationals, which is probably one of the biggest all-Mopar shows around, '60-62 Valiants (and '61-62 Lancers) are rare sights.

texases

I'll never forget those taillights, nor the odd trunklid:

sda

fintail said:

Spotted the Amazon wagon I always see, and that first gen 626 coupe I see now and then, sadly it appears to have suffered a little rear end damage.

Back in 83 I had a first generation 626 coupe. It was an 80 model, light silver blue with matching silver blue cloth interior. 5 speed, a/c. It was the base model, no elec windows, steel wheels with trim rings. It was a 2 door hard top. Rear windows rolled down, pillarless, for that wide open look. Hard tops were getting really far and few between by then. It was a good car, not very fast--0-60 in 14 sec(?) yet it was already rusting in the rear quarters at 3 years old! This was in east TN, where cars don't rust!

andre1969

sda said:

Back in 83 I had a first generation 626 coupe. It was an 80 model, light silver blue with matching silver blue cloth interior. 5 speed, a/c. It was the base model, no elec windows, steel wheels with trim rings. It was a 2 door hard top. Rear windows rolled down, pillarless, for that wide open look. Hard tops were getting really far and few between by then. It was a good car, not very fast--0-60 in 14 sec(?) yet it was already rusting in the rear quarters at 3 years old! This was in east TN, where cars don't rust!

I always liked those. I thought they were nice, cleanly styled cars, and loved the fact that they still offered a true hardtop. By that era, the domestics had abandoned hardtops completely. I think the last true domestic hardtop, with roll-down rear windows, was the 1978 Newport/New Yorker. There were a few styles that lacked B-pillars for the hardtop look, such as the 1980-83 Mirada/Cordoba and '79-85 Eldo/Riv/Toro, but they didn't have roll-down windows.

Interestingly, the Japanese still had some variety when it came to hardtops: Toyota Corolla (coupe and that part wagon/part hatchback style), Mitsubishi (marketed as the Dodge Challenger/Plymouth Sapporo), Datsun 200SX coupe, your Mazda 626. Wonder if I'm missing any?

How roomy was that '80 626 inside? It's been ages since I've seen one, but in my mind, I'm picturing them as a bit bigger than your "typical" Japanese car of the era...bigger than an Accord, Corolla, etc.

berri

I know they are perhaps a bit peculiar, but I like those first gen Valiant's, even the multi windowed wagons.

I recall that Mazda went through a somewhat popular phase in the 80's, but then seemed to peter out (was it the 90's when Ford got all involved with Mazda?).

sda

https://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.M41dfcc9fad87fff888ed4240f8c667abo0&w=156&h=105&c=7&rs=1&qlt=90&pid=3.1&rm=2

Here is a picture of one, very similar to what I had. Surprisingly it was about the same size as the 76 Sunbird that I traded for it. About 172 inches in length and 65 inches wide. It was rear wheel drive. The interior layout was roomier than the Sunbird both front and back, and you could squeeze 3 in the back seat if necessary.

stever

sda said:

This was in east TN, where cars don't rust!

Yeah, they just disappear under miles of kudzu.

We had a push button Valiant when I was a kid but I remember the '53 Buick Special better.

fintail

Funny, the one I see now and then is that same color. Those cars hold an unusual memory for me. When I was maybe 5, a nice young woman a couple doors down had a yellow Fox body Mustang fastback (this was around 1982). I remember I liked the car, probably due to the color and racy lines. I remember one day it was gone, and a 626 coupe was in its place - I recall walking over with my dad to look at it with her. The things that stick in your mind. Probably no rust on the local one, it looked solid aside from the damage.

sda said:

Back in 83 I had a first generation 626 coupe. It was an 80 model, light silver blue with matching silver blue cloth interior. 5 speed, a/c. It was the base model, no elec windows, steel wheels with trim rings. It was a 2 door hard top. Rear windows rolled down, pillarless, for that wide open look. Hard tops were getting really far and few between by then. It was a good car, not very fast--0-60 in 14 sec(?) yet it was already rusting in the rear quarters at 3 years old! This was in east TN, where cars don't rust!

ab348

I think about half of the 1st-gen 626 coupes were that silver-blue color. They were rather oddly styled IMO.

uplanderguy

It's funny, that old pic of the Valiant hardtop shows that all the emblems and nameplates have been removed; otherwise, the car looks stock.

That'd be a '61, as the '62 had one round taillight on each side.

I'm pretty sure Valiants didn't get a V8 until '64, but I remember hearing there was a performance upgrade on the six available from the factory.

andre1969

That's right, the A-body Valiant/Dart didnt' get a V-8 until the 273 of 1964. Technically, I think it was called a 273.5 initially. I heard that they had to modify the firewall for 1964-66 to accommodate the V-8, whereas the 1963 firewall was one year only. But, something just dawned on me...the smallblock V-8 would be shorter than the slant six, so why would they need to modify the firewall? Only thing I can think of, is that the distributor was on the back of the V-8, while it was on passenger side of the slant six, so maybe they had to hollow out part of the firewall to account for that? I remember my '89 Gran Fury had a slightly hollowed-out area in its firewall to account for the distributor. It was a pain to get to, in relation to the '68 Dart I had, and especially the three '79 R-bodies I've had (Newport and two New Yorkers).

As for that performance upgrade on the slant six, it was called "Hyper-Pak". It was a hot 4-bbl carb with long intake runners and other mods, that boosted the tiny 170 CID unit from 101 hp to 148. With the larger 225 slant six, I think it bumped it from 145 to 195.

There was also a 2-bbl version of the 225 slant six for Canadian cars in the 1960s, that bumped hp from 145 to 160. Kind of a shame it wasn't offered in the United States, as it would've been a nice alternative to the smaller V-8's of the era. There was a 2-bbl called the "Super Six" offered from 1977-79...by then the 1-bbl had 100 hp net, and the 2-bbl bumped it to 110.

hpmctorque

kyfdx said:

andre1969 said:

uplanderguy said:

First year for "Computer Command Control", although I'd think all the issues would have been corrected by now.

Or, maybe that "Computer Command Control" is the reason it only has 16K miles on it! That was also a weak spot on my grandparents' '82 Malibu Classic Estate wagon. It failed once, fresh out of warranty (12mo/12k in those days, although powertrain might have been longer), and cost $450 to fix. Then it failed again, around the 2 1/2 year mark, and that's when they traded it, without fixing it, on an '85 LeSabre.

I think about the only cars from 1981 that would really interest me are the full-sized models, or maybe a Dodge Mirada/Chrysler Cordoba. Unfortunately, with GM's midsized cars, the biggest engine you could get that year was something in the 260/265/267 range, unless you went with a wagon, which still offered the 301/305/307.

Now that I think about it though, there are some Japanese models from that timeframe I like...the small hardtop coupes like the Datsun 200SX, Mazda 626, Toyota Corolla, etc.

Oh.. I'd take a VW Scirocco or a Porsche 911.

'81 Sciroccos were very problematic, but a Porsche 911 would be a nice collector car to own.

uplanderguy

A coworker of mine, two years older than me but much younger than me in spirit and in his mind (LOL), bought a new '81 Scirocco about the time I bought a new '81 V8 Monte Carlo. Both were nearly exactly the same price. He hated mine and I hated climbing into the back seat of his....LOL. I used to notice that the dash on his car would 'wave' at you when he let the clutch out.

fintail

Visited the garage where the fintail sleeps - there's a new resident. BMW 635 CSi, red, very nice condition.

tjc78

Saw some nice old iron today.  Couple GTOs, late 60s Continental Vert in a really nice silvery green, 2 80s Trans Ams, 56 Chevy, Delorean, Few mid 70s Chevy pickups.  This was at a miny car show at a local farm where they do hay rides for the kids, etc.  It was a nice day for it. 

explorerx4

An orange large early 70's Cougar, dark blue Mustang II coupe.

stickguy

Neighborhood guy was playing with his Camaro. 2 ton tan Rallye sport. I think it is a 1975. Actually looks pretty good.

at a different house, a pair of pretty ratty looking Stude hawks. From googling pics, I think they might be 1960s. Both black.

stevedebi

Jellybean Toyota Van, circa 1995 vintage. I'm surprised the supercharger still works (or I assume it still works).

stickguy

Pretty sure that the Previa also came as NA model. Must have been a real dog!

Mr_Shiftright

Superchargers can last a long time.

stickguy

out driving around an original series BMW 635. steel blue. Looked pretty nice.

sda

After reading nyccarguy's post and picture about celebrating 14 years of Prelude ownership, I see a red one just like his driving on the street in front of our neighborhood. I haven't seen one in years. Yet...late this afternoon I see another one of the same body style parked at a restaurant that is pearl white. Two in one day!

ab348

I saw a very nice previous generation Prelude - the one with the wide "Chevy dash" as I called them - out and about today. Obviously a summer car now given the fine condition.

fintail

I remember those wide dashboards, the 92-96 gen. Pretty nice design for the time.

Today in traffic I saw an early 70s Beetle with front end damage, a first gen RX-7 - maybe an early model as it didn't have much trim, and a nice 67 Camaro RS.

berri

I always have a problem with early 70's Beetles distinguishing Beetle's from Super Beetles.

stickguy

didn't the super beetle have the pumped up pod on the dashboard?

Mr_Shiftright

Spotted an Avanti II today. Kinda homely in real life, IMO, at least the front end. It's not a design that ages well. From the windshield back, not bad at all.

berri

Don't really know Stick, but I like the picture of your dog. Looks like a friendly little buddy!

stickguy

He is a sweetie. thanks for noticing!

PF_Flyer

Ran across a photo of an interesting repair setup in Belarus. Add another use for the spare to the list!

uplanderguy

Two things about the Avanti II that I never liked--it lost the forward-rake of the Studebaker and the front wheel openings were shrunk somewhat, both of which had to do with getting the Chevy engine to fit under the hood. That, and as the years went by and they had to incorporate safety regulation stuff, some of the interior pieces started looking cheap to my eyes.

Like most things Studebaker, the Avanti is a love-it or hate-it design, but I think the curved side glass, bodyside tuck-under, lack of superfluous decoration and honest-to-God bucket seats make it seem less dated than other cars you could buy in summer '62. And this from a guy who loves '62 Corvettes.

I vascillate about liking round or square-headlight Avantis better, but I'll take a turquoise one with blower and Powershift automatic (PRND21).

A Facebook friend of mine, whom I've not met, posted a pic yesterday of him talking with Jerry Seinfeld. Apparently Jerry will be driving the guy's original, low-mileage Studebaker Avanti on the show "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee".

A good friend of mine, not really a car guy per se but is retired and can afford it, has been looking at earnest at '63 and '64 Rivieras and sending me links to every one he's interested in. I like the '65 better (some unnecessary trim removed and those inboard headlights moved behind the clamshells), but I think he's concerned about clamshells so hasn't been looking at '65's. As I've noted before, one can buy a very nice early Riv for probably $20K...I mean, a really nice one. He's on the cusp of getting a red-on-red '63. I'm excited for him--easy to do when it's somebody else's money! LOL

hpmctorque

uplanderguy said:

Two things about the Avanti II that I never liked--it lost the forward-rake of the Studebaker and the front wheel openings were shrunk somewhat, both of which had to do with getting the Chevy engine to fit under the hood. That, and as the years went by and they had to incorporate safety regulation stuff, some of the interior pieces started looking cheap to my eyes.

Like most things Studebaker, the Avanti is a love-it or hate-it design, but I think the curved side glass, bodyside tuck-under, lack of superfluous decoration and honest-to-God bucket seats make it seem less dated than other cars you could buy in summer '62. And this from a guy who loves '62 Corvettes.

I vascillate about liking round or square-headlight Avantis better, but I'll take a turquoise one with blower and Powershift automatic (PRND21).

A Facebook friend of mine, whom I've not met, posted a pic yesterday of him talking with Jerry Seinfeld. Apparently Jerry will be driving the guy's original, low-mileage Studebaker Avanti on the show "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee".

A good friend of mine, not really a car guy per se but is retired and can afford it, has been looking at earnest at '63 and '64 Rivieras and sending me links to every one he's interested in. I like the '65 better (some unnecessary trim removed and those inboard headlights moved behind the clamshells), but I think he's concerned about clamshells so hasn't been looking at '65's. As I've noted before, one can buy a very nice early Riv for probably $20K...I mean, a really nice one. He's on the cusp of getting a red-on-red '63. I'm excited for him--easy to do when it's somebody else's money! LOL

As a relatively small independent, Studebaker had to take chances to positively differentiate itself in the marketplace. Nash had unique styling, good fuel economy, beds and compact cars. Hudson featured its unique step-down design, which gave it a competitive edge in road holding. Packard offered prestige, quality and comfort. Willys had the Jeep. I'm not sure what Kaiser-Frazer offered that was special, although the new- for-'52 Kaiser was a looker in its day. Studebaker differentiated itself with unique, ahead-of-its time styling, plus class leading fuel economy. I liked the styling of all the Studebakers, including the original Avanti (not the II). There wasn't even one post WWII model I didn't like.

ab348

uplanderguy said:

A good friend of mine, not really a car guy per se but is retired and can afford it, has been looking at earnest at '63 and '64 Rivieras and sending me links to every one he's interested in. I like the '65 better (some unnecessary trim removed and those inboard headlights moved behind the clamshells), but I think he's concerned about clamshells so hasn't been looking at '65's. As I've noted before, one can buy a very nice early Riv for probably $20K...I mean, a really nice one. He's on the cusp of getting a red-on-red '63. I'm excited for him--easy to do when it's somebody else's money! LOL

If I were going for a Riviera I would look at '64 or '65 models first - a better transmission (TH400). I prefer the looks of the '65.

Mr_Shiftright

A really nice Riviera, say '64 is more like $30K, and for show cars, $40K ++ .

An Avanti II would bring less than half the money of a "real" Avanti, and for good reason. In real life, as similar as they may seem to an original Avanti, they just don't look right, I agree. I like the "rake" of the original cars.

uplanderguy

My friend has been looking at '63 and '64's that are condition 3 or 3+. Most have been offered (dealer asking price) in the low 20's. He's had two such cars professionally inspected, too.

It's funny--he asked me what I knew about the cars, and I said I did know that those first three years had three different transmissions. I posted on a Riviera owners' page if one trans was better than another--'63 vs. '64--and a few said they preferred the '64, but those with '63's said they didn't have problems with them. That's the first thing my friend is concerned with. Given a choice, I'd rather have "R" between "P" and "N" ('64), but that's a personal choice I guess. The '65 has Turbo Hydramatic, the best choice for repairability for sure.

Mr_Shiftright

I always think of "nice" as #2 cars, and #3s as "drivers".

uplanderguy

Man, he has sent me pics for about six weeks straight! LOL He originally wanted a '63 or '64 Impala SS hardtop, but came to his own conclusion, and from what I saw this looked accurate, he realized he could get an early Riv for less than the Chevy, condition-for-condition. And we're talking 327 Chevys, not 409's or anything. He was looking at four-speed Impala SS's. I'd prefer a Riv too.

fintail

2 early Neons - 1 a coupe, and a very clean 1st gen Taurus. All of these were once everywhere and are now dwindling even here, probably via mechanical issues.

Also, in the past 2 days I have seen 3 (!) Daewoo Nubira wagons. One this morning was going well under the limit, no signals, fog lights on when there's no fog within 200 miles of here.

ab348

fintail said:

Also, in the past 2 days I have seen 3 (!) Daewoo Nubira wagons. One this morning was going well under the limit, no signals, fog lights on when there's no fog within 200 miles of here.

I didn't know Daewoo actually sold 3 Nubira wagons in America.

What a name. Always felt it was slightly gynaecological.

uplanderguy

One last Avanti comment from me--here's one I'd like to see, yet alone own--an R3 that was the personal car of Sherwood H. Egbert, the youngish president of Studebaker from 1961-63. It sold for $75K at auction several years back. Another R3, white, dark/pitted Halibrand wheels, sold for $96,250 the next year at auction but I much-preferred the Egbert car, not even taking into account the provenance.

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s300/Michaelkfl/Sherwood Egberts 1963 Avanti/StudeGarage442.jpg

The 'gunsight' on the hood lines up perfectly, width-wise, with the top plane of the instrument panel inside.

roadburner

My favorite Rivieras were the 1967 GS and the 1971 GS.
The 1966-1967 Rivieras were just flat-out gorgeous(I had a 1967 that I drove around for one summer(after purchasing it for $5). A level of engineering and quality of materials no longer seen.
On the other hand, the 1971 was the last hurrah for GM's truly eye-catching and outrageous styling. Too cool by half. Everything after that makes me go "Meh."

uplanderguy

"Nubira"--as if the name "Daewoo" wasn't offbeat enough. "Nubira" always reminded me of the word "nubile" (insert Johnny Carson "Art Fern" sound here).

uplanderguy

The '66 and '67 Rivs are beautiful to my eyes, too. However, in an effort to lower the price I think, they started offering a bench seat with no center armrest that was about LeSabre-level. The instrument panels were very neat though, and the upper trim levels with strato-bench or bucket seats were plush inside. The '65 had more of an 'old school GM' luxury look inside, which I liked better. I can't really describe what I mean by that, any better than that.

That dark plum color (whatever they called it) that I started seeing on Rivs of the '66-67 era was always really beautiful to my eyes.

At the time, I thought the boattail Riv was too big for the styling. I like it now though. Then and now, I like the '74-76 Rivs, rarely seen today. The last big GM car that could be had with buckets, console, and floor shift.

Mr_Shiftright

I drove a boat tail Riv last year, and the owner had done extensive suspension work on the car, lowered it just a touch and put some serious tires on it, and damn, that car handled well for a land yacht I have to say.