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

Mr_Shiftright

I can't imagine how scary they are to drive...oh, wait, yes I can! A nice stiff wind, the camper shell rocking on that marshmellow supsension, the front end lifting off the pavement at highway speeds....

andre1969

Back in the 1950's, I think it made sense to use a Cadillac for a motorhome conversion. They had big, beefy frames and strong engines, and were probably more capable than many pickups of the era. Plus, pickups tended to be very bare-bones in those days, so using an upscale car probably helped lend a little class to the affair.

I'd be curious about that Chrysler that was converted to a motorhome, as those things were unit-bodied. I think a unit-bodied car can be every bit as capable as body-on-frame when it comes to payload capacity or trailering...after all, the big Mopars tended to match, or even out-do some of their Ford and GM rivals when it came to payload capacity and towing. But, once you start pulling that body apart to put a camper on the back, I'm sure it lost a lot of strength. Hopefully they beefed that sucker up in some fashion.

ab348

Speaking of scary, my brother was telling me about a near-accident he witnessed earlier this week. An older Dodge Ram pickup was hauling an 18-foot open-top trailer that was full of broken concrete - a lot of weight, obviously. Traffic was heavy and the line up front slowed. The Ram driver was moving at a good rate and didn't see the slowdown right away. When he did, he slammed on the brakes. The trailer brakes locked up, the weight shifted forward onto the tongue, and the front wheels of the Ram were lifted off the road as a result. He said the driver had twisted the steering wheel to the left to avoid the lineup in front and he could see them cocked to the left about 6 inches off the ground. Fortunately the lineup moved again before any contact was made with the vehicles in front. I imagine that Ram driver must have needed clean underwear when he got to his destination!

PF_Flyer

My lagoon agitator sighting in action
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdy1q4O4YsQ

xwesx

PF_Flyer said:

ab348 said:

PF_Flyer said:

Actually saw this last year, but I'll be seeing it again next week

SOMEONE will figure it out

No ground clearance on that thing, better not take it off the blacktop!

Oh, this thing definitely is an "off road" beast. heh

PF, that really looks to me like one of those aircraft carrier deck cleaners. I'm probably way off base there, but I have a good friend who's company pioneered that design and has a contract with the Navy for them. I haven't actually seen a production version of one, though - only the prototype. They are truly impressive machines.

xwesx

Hah! Different application, similar design elements. You always dredge up the craziest sh**!

stever

I know a guy in Anchorage who was in on a parking lot cleaner loosely based on a Zamboni. I heard that their gizmo worked but all the jobs were Outside and none of them wanted to relocate, so they mothballed it. Sounds a bit like your carrier deck gizmo. Maybe it is, one of the guys lived around Palmer, iirc.

fintail

Here's where that Chrysler motorhome was found

toomanyfumes

There's a motor home like that across from the parts store I go to with a '62 or '63 Chevrolet front end. Seems in decent shape though I don't think it's moved in years.

PF_Flyer

xwesx said:

Hah! Different application, similar design elements. You always dredge up the craziest sh**!

It's an impressive piece of equipment, despite the odd job it does. The big ag show is here next week and I'm hoping to test drive a combine this year. At the very least, I'll be getting some photos of a range of special purpose vehicles.

fintail

Saw a facelift/square headlight VW Rabbit sedan on the road today. Not much else of note, pretty hot here today and I think a lot of the old cars are staying in.

ab348

Despite the interested potential buyer for the Cutlass, moving forward with the planned maintenance/upgrades this season. Parts ordered for the front end rebuild/alignment arrived this week, and I will have that done over the next week or so. Also, a few weeks ago I was driving home from an outing and discovered I was very low on fuel, something that seldom occurs. Topped up, and about a week later the car stalled out on me, something it never did ever. Suspected perhaps some gunk in the tank might have got sucked into the fuel filter when the level was low, so decided to change it.

This car has the fuel filter in the inlet housing of the Quadrajet. Those are finicky and I have changed them before but always with some trepidation. But I have never changed this one myself. It still has the filter that the rebuilder installed in it. I discover to my dismay that the housing on 1971 and earlier Q-jets has a 1 1/16" hex - a rather bizarre size for which I had no wrench. Didn't want to risk messing it up with Channelocks. Could have sworn I had a crescent wrench but couldn't find it. Go to a store, must have been my lucky day. Found a 1 1/16" wrench on clearance for $5, the only one they had. Project for tomorrow.

roadburner

I always removed the internal filter and installed a big inline filter.

ab348

roadburner said:

I always removed the internal filter and installed a big inline filter.

Makes sense but you have to cut the steel fuel line from pump to carb and originality freak that I am, I don't want to do that.

roadburner

Got it.

imidazol97

ab348 said:

Go to a store, must have been my lucky day. Found a 1 1/16" wrench on clearance for $5, the only one they had. Project for tomorrow.

Time to buy a lottery ticket. That was good luck.

fintail

Went the MB Club gathering today, some odd cars were there. Several nice 107 SLs and SLCs, including one in the cool silver green offered in the early-mid 70s. The ponton Binz wagon there last year was out again, along with a 1951 220 - prewar looking car, a RHD 190SL, and I think 2 other 190SLs and maybe 6 W113 SLs of various models. There were two W111 high grille cabrios, both 280SE, one lovely car had been with its owner since 1985. There was one other fintail, a W110 230, and a Euro W108 that wasn't in the gathering. Also a C43 AMG with an E55 engine, a couple W124 500E, a CLK Black Series, SLS AMG, newer high option E63 wagon, SLK 55 with P3 performance package. I'll get some pics later

On the road spotted a 62 Caddy convertible, 77-79 Fleetwood, 1st gen Camaro, maybe 67 Buick GS (I think), mid 60s Chevy pickup.

berri

62 is one of my favorite Cadillac styles. Very clean for the times.

js06gv

berri said:

Now we're starting to get into those "redneck" funnies

JS - what year is the Bonneville in your garage. I remember that green was very popular on them back in the day.

I just now realized I mis-posted my pic here. No wonder it didn't show up where I had intended for it to.

I think this question was directed at me. That is a 2000 Trans Am, not a Bonneville. Probably hard to see the color, but it's a dark blue that almost looks black in a dark garage. But I know the green you are talking about.

sda

A very nice 1968 Ford LTD, maroon, black vinyl top, 4 door hardtop.

andre1969

berri said:

62 is one of my favorite Cadillac styles. Very clean for the times.

If I was to ever get another antique car, a '61-62 Caddy would be one of my top choices.

ab348

Got a voicemail from the potential Cutlass buyer today, he is still interested and will be in touch in another week, as I expected.

fintail

Today in traffic spotted a 79-81 Toyota 4x4, looked to be in pretty good shape, but had a homemade looking stake style bed. Also the same California black plated ~65 Nova 2 door sedan I haven seen now and then for awhile.

stickguy

actually saw a silver (or primer!) Cutlass like yours for sale in a driveway last week (did not stop, and not close by). I think it was the 1968 style.

PF_Flyer

Ran across this one on my 4 mile hike back from Ag Progress Days

Mr_Shiftright

Looks a little beat up!

ab348

Those "GR-RRR!" plates seem like they are standard equipment on GTOs of that vintage. I never quite got the connection.

stever

They stalled unless you put Esso in the tank?

(My brother wore a "Tony" outfit for grand openings back in the day).

PF_Flyer

Mr_Shiftright said:

Looks a little beat up!

Yea, I'm pretty sure it's a daily driver kind of deal and sits outside in central PA, so it's showing its age a bit

PF_Flyer

Lots of iron to check out at Ag Progress Days, like these guys checking things under the hood of this "Jag"

PF_Flyer

stever said:

They stalled unless you put Esso in the tank?

(My brother wore a "Tony" outfit for grand openings back in the day).

Reminds me of those tiger tails people would have hanging out from the gas cap under the rear license plate. Bet it would be fun to see how long some of the younger among us would take to find the gas cap on some vintage cars...heh

stever

Esso sold 2,500,000 of those tails. (And "Tony" didn't have a name at Esso, and there was a lot of overlap with Kellogg over the gr-rrreat stuff).

uplanderguy

It's surprising to me that that GTO looks as good as it does, for a 1968 car in Pennsylvania! I've sure seen a lot worse...and I'm from Pennsylvania!

Has all its exterior trim (at least the left side), the Endura bumper looks in good shape from what one can see in the pic, has all the pieces of the Rally Wheels, etc. Even still has the GTO decal on the rear quarter, which would most likely indicate the car is original paint.

It's so common to see cars like this with a missing wheel opening molding, big-time rustout in the lower front fenders or rear quarters, etc.

fintail

On the road today - MB C140 S600 coupe, unrestored looking 65-66 Mustang with a 289 badge, definitely unrestored ~68 Pontiac convertible.

Mr_Shiftright

A Bristol, of all things, parked at a motor scooter dealership. A bit shabby and forlorn.

Looks like this one: 402? 403?

fintail

That's an oddity, I am pretty sure never sold here when new. The BMW link is pretty interesting.

PF_Flyer

Mr_Shiftright said:

A Bristol, of all things, parked at a motor scooter dealership. A bit shabby and forlorn.

Looks like this one: 402? 403?

Ooo... I like that. Very stylish. How are they as far as mechanicals/upkeep go? I think I'm remembering how much time my brother spent not driving his TR-1

ab348

PF_Flyer said:

Ooo... I like that. Very stylish. How are they as far as mechanicals/upkeep go? I think I'm remembering how much time my brother spent not driving his TR-1

What a silly question. I wonder if they need Whitworth wrenches.

Mr_Shiftright

Probably. Nice cars but very limited production. 6 cylinder, 3 solex carbs. Very obscure company and history.

andre1969

Tigers were trendy in the 60's...with Esso advertising, Tony The Tiger debuting, etc. Pontiac tried tiger theming in the early 60's. I think it started with some engine called a "Two Tiger" V-8? And then they went into some kind of deal with Uniroyal, putting Tiger Paw tires on the GTO as standard, or something like that.

berri

I may be way off course, but I seem to recall an ad years back for a Pontiac coupe similar to a GTO, but not one, and with an ad that showed a tiger tail out of the trunk. I think it also may have had those urethane bumpers as well. But heck if I can recall the model name? It wasn't as tacky as those Heavy Chevy's back then though!

berri

Just thought, maybe it was the Judge? I did find some mid 60's ad's for GTO's that featured a tiger, but not a tiger tail out the rear, so maybe I'm confusing Pontiac ad's with gasoline ad's.

uplanderguy

I remember the tiger tie-ins to GTO ads. And, if you're talking about a GTO that reminds you of a "Heavy Chevy", it probably was "The Judge". The "Judge" was an option but they left the bright trim rings off the wheels, yuck! I'd take the 'regular' GTO anytime. A friend from the Studebaker club locally worked at his older cousin's Pontiac dealer in Geneva, OH back then. They got a deal on "Judges" in '70 I think he said it was. He said hard to believe now, but they languished on his lot.

uplanderguy

You know what, now that I think about it, there was a Pontiac car similar to the "Heavy Chevy"--e.g., cheap interior trim, low price, all tape stripes and zero performance items--called the "GT-37". I wonder if that might be what you're thinking about. For some reason, they started calling Tempests "T-37" in the early '70's and the "GT-37" was the striped version.

roadburner

I remember AMC, Dodge, and Plymouth also had some stripe packages as well- again to give a musclecar look with out the serious horsepower and the attendant increased insurance premiums.

andre1969

I think the Judge was essentially a budget GTO, designed to compete with low-priced musclecars like the Plymouth RoadRunner and Dodge Coronet SuperBee, models that were cheaper than the likes of the Plymouth GTX or Dodge Coronet R/T. However, the Judge was still a real musclecar.

In contrast, the "Heavy Chevy" was just a trim package for the Chevelle/Malibu. They took a few SS pieces and threw them on, gave it standard rally wheels, some blackout trim, and decals. But you still had to separately order the equipment to make it go fast (quicker axles, muscular engines, etc).

uplanderguy

The Heavy Chevy package wasn't even available on the Malibu; only the bargain-basement Chevelle. The GT-37 was the Pontiac version, sort-of.

fintail

Lexus LS600h L - one of the 16 sold each year.

roadburner

andre1969 said:

I think the Judge was essentially a budget GTO, designed to compete with low-priced musclecars like the Plymouth RoadRunner and Dodge Coronet SuperBee, models that were cheaper than the likes of the Plymouth GTX or Dodge Coronet R/T. However, the Judge was still a real musclecar.

In contrast, the "Heavy Chevy" was just a trim package for the Chevelle/Malibu. They took a few SS pieces and threw them on, gave it standard rally wheels, some blackout trim, and decals. But you still had to separately order the equipment to make it go fast (quicker axles, muscular engines, etc).

The original plan was for the Judge to be a Road Runner/Torino Cobra style budget musclecar- but IIRC it ended up being the premium version of the Goat.

andre1969

Oops...yeah, I got it backwards. I just looked it up on Wikipedia, and it looks like the Judge was a $332 option package on the GTO, and included a standard Ram-Air III engine.