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

fintail

Yeah, the opposing wipers came back on those GM cars around 1988, and on many vans in the 90s. For the right windshield proportion, I guess they work more effectively. It did stick around on large GM cars through the late 60s, as uplander mentioned.

MB had a fixation on weird wipers for some time. The fintails introduced their opposing wipers, which some models used through the mid 70s. In the early 70s, other models had parallel wipers, but closely spaced. And then in the early 80s, the single wiper idea took hold, which lasted until the early 00s on some models. At the same time, the big W140 90s S-class had parallel wipers in the reverse direction from what one expects on LHD cars.

I also turn off the auto climate control a bit, and as I live in a place that isn't always hot, I turn off the AC too. I'm fine setting it all myself.

tjc78

Auto in both of our cars works pretty well.  I like it pretty cool so most of the time the only thing the system is doing with the AC is slowing down the fan a bit.  The Enclave has three different zones so it's easier most of the time to hit "sync" and set a temp.  The Merc is just a single zone and aside from sometimes not giving AC until I Really crank the temp down (like on a humid morning)  it does the job.

roadburner

The automatic CC works fine in my cars, no real issues with it. The manual systems in the ti and Jeep work fine too- no big deal either way.

kyfdx

Mr_Shiftright said:

Sometimes I miss certain aspects of being a kid---like being allowed to crawl up into the back shelf of the car, or getting a chemistry set that actually let you make gunpowder so you could blow up your plastic models.

On cold days, I used to crawl down in the floorboard where the heat came out.. Only till I was about 19 yrs old, though...

berri

...then you crawled around the back seat

explorerx4

Saw a nice Lincoln Mark IV and an equally nice Buick Grand National.

explorerx4

A couple of garage finds, black 69 Camaro with a trunk spoiler and a red 57 Tbird.

uplanderguy

I just got back from visiting the GM Lordstown plant, about forty miles away, for their old car show today. Sadly, it's been a steady rain but there were probably 50 or 60 cars. Three Cosworth Vegas, two absolutely new-looking and stock--one black, one saddle tan--and the Cosworth guys invited me under their tent, thankfully, where we had some good conversation. There were a few other, non-Cosworth Vegas there, but one was an original '76 with original dark green paint and factory Custom interior, and one was a '74 "Spirit of America" version in excellent shape. There were a bunch of '66 full-size Chevys there (the first cars built at Lordstown), and a '55 Studebaker Commander painted to look like a Speedster. I'd never seen the car before, and the owner was nowhere to be found. Nice '59 Corvette too.

Sen. Sherrod Brown spoke, high-school bands were there, the National Anthem was played, and I felt some old-skool American pride there, I'm not ashamed to admit.

It was their 50th anniversary and there were a couple times over the years where its future wasn't guaranteed. I'm so glad they are still there. I couldn't imagine the area without them. They still emply 4,500, not counting suppliers in the area.

There were tours of the plant yesterday, but I couldn't skip work. Two of my Studebaker buddies went. I read that they were expecting 5,000 people and it was estimated to be more like 10,000. Tours were scheduled throughout the day.

I hadn't been there in decades. You're driving in the country, little houses, then crest a hill and there it is, enormous. It looks like it goes on for miles. I actually had a hard time finding the car show and events once I pulled in there. Every security person I ran across and asked for help couldn't have been nicer or more helpful. It's probably the one time owning a Cobalt has worked to my benefit in someone's perception of me, LOL!

explorerx4

Hey uplanderguy,
Ever seen this Avanti?
http://hartford.craigslist.org/cto/5588454347.html

stickguy

man, that thing has a lot of gauges.

fintail

That's a pretty car. I like those mats, I have been meaning to get a set of "coco mats" for the fintail, and prevent any further harm done to the original rubber floor.

uplanderguy

I had seen that car online before, but not recently. I like Avanti Gold as a lot of early ad photos of the cars were that color. A couple non-authentic things bug me a bit on that car, but I'm admittedly prickly on original "looks"--at least outside and in the car (less so under the hood). Someone added that side molding, and the A/C vents appear to be from an Avanti II, which makes me think the A/C was added. The original A/C vents in the console were round.

That strikes me as a lot of cash for a non-supercharged Avanti with some authenticity issues, but it's still a nice car IMHO.

The seller is sure limiting his market by only wanting local sales, IMHO.

The Avanti had many running changes throughout its 18-month Studebaker lifespan. For this car to be a '63 with the woodgrained dash and console inserts, it's a late-in-the-run '63. The '64 model also had a woodgrained wheel.

Mr_Shiftright

I would think around $23K would be a fair offer...maybe $25K if it didn't leak oil and had a very tidy undercarriage.

Mr_Shiftright

No more than this Chevelle SS. You can't see the ammeter on the upper left. I think it's a 1970 big block dash. For some reason they didn't give you an oil pressure gauge.

stickguy said:

man, that thing has a lot of gauges.

uplanderguy

To me, an oil pressure gauge is one of the most useful gauges to have.

The Avanti has one other gauge the Chevelle SS does not, as there are eight instruments in the Avanti and only six in the Chevelle. I haven't looked yet to see what the other one is.

EDIT: Looks like a vacuum gauge, not very useful, but another gauge to fill up the panel.

uplanderguy

if it didn't leak oil

Good luck there! LOL

Mr_Shiftright

Well I meant not TOO much oil, so as to completely soil the undercarriage. It's not an "oil leak"--that 289 is just "sweating".

sda

fintail said:

That's a pretty car. I like those mats, I have been meaning to get a set of "coco mats" for the fintail, and prevent any further harm done to the original rubber floor.

I thought fintail would have the loop pile carpet that was so common in German cars in the 60s-70s.

fintail

It has loop carpet on the transmission tunnel and rear floors, but rubber mats in front. I think the fancier coupes and SLs had more carpet, but the 4 door cars were still very functional inside. Here's what the front floors look like in a fintail (not my car - this one is probably from 1965-66):

sda said:

I thought fintail would have the loop pile carpet that was so common in German cars in the 60s-70s.

sda

fintail said:

It has loop carpet on the transmission tunnel and rear floors, but rubber mats in front. I think the fancier coupes and SLs had more carpet, but the 4 door cars were still very functional inside. Here's what the front floors look like in a fintail (not my car - this one is probably from 1965-66):

sda said:

I thought fintail would have the loop pile carpet that was so common in German cars in the 60s-70s.

Ah, practicality, I understand. I like the color of the leather seats in the picture. The interior has a nice look to it.

explorerx4

a robin's egg blue/white top mid 60's Cadillac convertible in a driveway and a turquoise 60's Mercury Maurader parked on the street.

sda

A very sharp bright red resto-mod late 50's Ford F-100, step side. My daughter, who rarely takes an interest in cars, pointed it out. It was a beautiful Carolina day, 75 degrees and sunny.

sda

Mr_Shiftright said:

No more than this Chevelle SS. You can't see the ammeter on the upper left. I think it's a 1970 big block dash. For some reason they didn't give you an oil pressure gauge.

stickguy said:

man, that thing has a lot of gauges.

I like the fact it doesn't have an overly optimistic speedometer that reads to 140+ mph. I imagine if you revved the engine anywhere close to 6000 rpm the valves would be floating!

fintail

Those seats appear to be leather, which is less common than one might expect - I think most cars were Tex or cloth, leather was extra cost. My car has Tex seats, which have held up well, but some drivers seat seams are getting weak after more than 50 years.

I can't imagine a 454 at 6K rpm either.

sda said:

Ah, practicality, I understand. I like the color of the leather seats in the picture. The interior has a nice look to it.

fintail

Surprisingly little out on the road today, given that it was dry and partly sunny here. Saw a very clean 70s F-series driven by an old man, a Vanagon Syncro, and a BMW E21.

ab348

Expensive, but you'd have the only one on your (or any) block:

1985 Pontiac Trans-Am Kammback

stickguy

interesting. I remember reading about these.

oddest part, to me, is that they did it with a stick shift and not an auto.

ab348

The internet, of course, provides a more detailed history of these wagonbacks:

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2015/04/16/breadvan-bird-remembering-pontiacs-firebird-type-k/

Mr_Shiftright

Seems like a big "who cares?" on this one.

ab348

Well, clearly some folks do.

roadburner

1965 GTO Convertible

fintail

I think it looks kind of cool. The older one is cooler.

It might be cheaper just to find one of these (although not much easier):

ab348

^^^ I used to work with a guy who had one of those Pulsars. I forget how much extra the wagon back was. His car was a medium blue metallic and he always groused about the gray color of the back which was I think the only way they came.

All Pulsars seemed to just vanish from the face of the earth after not too many years.

stickguy

I wonder how few people actually bought an additional back piece, and bothered to swap them out?

Mr_Shiftright

Well fine, send him my best wishes!

fintail

I suspect the take rate for the wagon section was well under 5%, maybe under 1%. I have only seen a handful of them in my life, and I have been keeping an eye on them since new, as I kind of liked them, or at least the idea of the modular pieces. Those Pulsars were regular sights in high school and college parking lots here well into the 21st century, but have silently vanished over the past decade or so even here.

Searching local CL:

Here's a maybe nice one with a funny pic

Cool mileage claim, someone got their money's worth

Parts car

fintail

Today spotted an E34 wagon, clean early Infiniti J30 - so clean and small compared to new ones, 65-66 Chevy II 2 door post with black CA plates and a little visible rust.

stickguy

a tri-5 Chevy. Not a Bel Air. maybe a 210. In primer. sounded like a non-original engine. or at least exhaust!

Michaell

fintail said:

Today spotted an E34 wagon, clean early Infiniti J30 - so clean and small compared to new ones, 65-66 Chevy II 2 door post with black CA plates and a little visible rust.

The black CA plates were reintroduced a year or two ago - I saw a lot of them on my trip there in February.

fintail

Today spotted what I am pretty sure was a Ferrari 308. Pretty loud, not the best aftermarket wheels on it.

Re: the plates, I read about that too. The ones I saw appeared to be period correct (6 digit, Q or O letter, I think).

berri

Fin, what's with all the Ferrari's? Sure you aren't in SoCal or South Florida? I know you've got tech money out there, but given the Seattle grunge look, I'd expect big buck SUV's and pickups.

fintail

Grunge was a 90s thing (although the plaid-loving look-at-me bearded "lumbersexual" is alive and well). Much of this area now seems to be trying to become a northern version of the SF Bay area. I live in an affluent boomburb that seems to be embracing what many see as late stage capitalism for all its worth, the good and bad. I see Ferraris and Lambos virtually daily, and more plebian things like Astons or Maseratis or top end MBs and BMWs don't get as much attention. Plenty of Range Rovers and G-Wagens on the road, if that counts for big buck SUVs.

However, go to more distant areas, and the bro truck is alive and well.

tjc78

85 Town Car and a same vintage Buick Regal.  Walking the neighborhood the other night spotted a late 60s Mustang in a garage on jack stands.  

25or6to4

I saw a new looking white or cream colored 1968 Olds Vista Cruiser yesterday afternoon in N. Reading, MA. Also saw a Delorean on Thursday.

imidazol97

@fintail
You should be seeing several GTO's in your area soon. I see the international GTO association is meeting in Washington
http://www.gtoaa.org/nationals/

uplanderguy

I still like '64 GTO's best, as I did even when a kid.

I'll always remember the salmon-colored (I think Pontiac called it 'Sunfire Red') '64 GTO 2-door coupe (post) with mag-wheel-covers that a gal named Perrine drove in my old hometown of Greenville, PA. I'd love to find it now, but in NW PA, I fear I know its fate.

fintail

Cool, I will keep an eye out for sure. I remember about 10 years ago, a Buick organization had a meeting at a hotel just several blocks from where I live, that was pretty cool to see.

berri

Grunge was a 90s thing (although the plaid-loving look-at-me bearded "lumbersexual" is alive and well). Much of this area now seems to be trying to become a northern version of the SF Bay area. I live in an affluent boomburb that seems to be embracing what many see as late stage capitalism for all its worth, the good and bad. I see Ferraris and Lambos virtually daily, and more plebian things like Astons or Maseratis or top end MBs and BMWs don't get as much attention. Plenty of Range Rovers and G-Wagens on the road, if that counts for big buck SUVs.

However, go to more distant areas, and the bro truck is alive and well.

Sometimes you crack me up Fin. If Seattle has something like Chicago's Second City, maybe you ought to look into it I think you could make it in Chicago or New York, but you might be a bit too brutal for DC!

fintail

There was once a very popular comedy show here, all local humor - very big in the late 80s and 90s, called "Almost Live". They had a field day mocking the more visible demographics like local hicks, old hippies, yuppies, California transplants, Scandinavian people, tech workers, etc back in the day. There has been an attempt at re-making it, but with limited success - probably because people are more sensitive and easily offended now. I don't know how some groups would react to it today. There's plenty of material though, this has been "the place to be" for some time now.

Speaking of that Buick show, looks like I kept some pics. This was 9 years ago - lots of nice material was still hanging around the hotel parking lot when I happened upon it that evening:

imidazol97

Lots of great pictures and great cars! Thanks for posting those. I looked up the 2016 Buick national convention and it's in Allentown PA. A few miles too far for me to make a day visit.

From the car conventions in this area that I've browsed, I find that some of the other visitors drive interesting old cars to the grounds so they can look over the participants' cars.