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

omarman

stickguy said:

Plenty of time. Auction listed as going to 2038.

Maybe theft recovery? Interesting tied up trunk lid.

Actually reminds me, especially interior, of my 67 Camaro.

That engine, looks newer. Is it some sort of LS1?

It does look like 4th gen trans am LS1 under the hood.

ab348

berri said:

I like the Cutlass models like yours and red certainly enhances the look. One odd thing for me, and it may just be a factor of coincidence, is that you see a lot of that era Cutlass at old car shows, but I seldom see a '69 model???

Actually I find it the reverse up here. My '68 is a model that is very rare in these parts, but for some reason the '69 model is much more common, and '70-'72 more common than either of those.

uplanderguy

Just brought the mail in, and a beige low-line '63 Falcon two-door sedan, baby moons and trim rings, rear end jacked up some, obviously a six-cylinder with either a slight exhaust leak or non-factory muffler, went past my house. I'd never seen it before. I'm too used to looking at Larks I guess--that thing looked extremely nerdy to me, and again, I know, I like Larks! That said, I'm happy to see any old iron still on the road.

berri

A souped up Falcon, kind of an oxymoron

xwesx

ab348 said:

berri said:

I like the Cutlass models like yours and red certainly enhances the look. One odd thing for me, and it may just be a factor of coincidence, is that you see a lot of that era Cutlass at old car shows, but I seldom see a '69 model???

Actually I find it the reverse up here. My '68 is a model that is very rare in these parts, but for some reason the '69 model is much more common, and '70-'72 more common than either of those.

It's because they're so much newer.

roadburner

ab348 said:

sda said:

Your '68 Cutlass is one of the sharpest looking that I've seen in a long time. I always enjoy when you and fintail post pictures of your treasured rides.

That is very kind, thank you. I am re-energized now in terms of care and maintenance for it. Might get the TH-350 that has been sitting here for years rebuilt and installed soon to replace the Jetaway 2-speed.

I had a friend with a 1969 442 in the same color scheme. Great car.

PF_Flyer

PF_Flyer said:

Pretty sure this belongs to one of the employees at our grocery store. I've always liked the 240SX, and this one looks to be in great shape inside and out.

Got to peek inside this one today. It's in really great shape, but unfortunately, an automatic

fintail

Today spotted a 90s era Land Rover Defender and a 60s era Land Rover.

magnette

On Friday in rural Surrey / Sussex borders I saw a prewar Riley Kestrel - about 1935/37 I imagine and in lovely condition. Also a Rover P5 coupe being driven very slowly by its elderly owner...

uplanderguy

fintail, not an old car, but I rode in my college friend's '08 S550 today--black, 68K miles. He loves it. I went with him to look at new M-B's yesterday, a new thing for me. I saw one new one that was built in Hungary; that surprised me.

fintail

W221 S550 is a good car, not nearly as troublesome as the model that came before, I am not aware of any real Achilles heels - unlike some older models. They can be a lot of car for the money in the used market - one that age, even if pristine, will be in the mid-upper 20s.

CLA is built in Hungary, yes, which is odd to me as the GLA is built in Germany. Maybe makes sense, cut a few production costs for the entry model. Heck, most C-class in this market, along with all GLE and GL sold here are built in Alabama.

hpmctorque

sda said:

I like the '67-68 Mustang, but I wouldn't mind having a '67-70 Cougar XR-7 either. I really liked the sequential tail lights, hidden head lamps and upscale interior. Convertible would rock, but with a/c. A Cougar with the rare sliding sunroof would be nice, too.

I agree with you. The '67-'68 are the best looking Mustangs ever, in my eyes, and I also love the '67-'68 Cougar.

bhill2

Make mine an XR-7.

berri

The Cougars were very nice looking, but go forward a year and take a 69 Mustang I think.

hpmctorque

berri said:

The Cougars were very nice looking, but go forward a year and take a 69 Mustang I think.

Nah, not bad, and better than what came after, but too big, and less sleek than the ''67-'68.

Mr_Shiftright

ab348 said:

fintail said:

I'd definitely want a good PPI on that one - anything being welded worries me, and the language used in the ad doesn't help. What was that, a 20K car in 1996? If that?

What are those "factory fender welds" this example does not seem to have? Looks like a nice enough car.

Oh that refers to how the fender is attached to the inner fender. You feel along the edge of the inner fender and if it is not a smooth run of spot welds, then that means a new fender has been attached.

bhill2

berri said:

The Cougars were very nice looking, but go forward a year and take a 69 Mustang I think.

Back in the olden days when 69 Mustangs were new and I was a Math student, I spent a rally season in one as a navigator (SOP class; no calculation tools, not even a slide rule [anyone remember those?]). The driver was a skinny guy with somewhat unruly hair and glasses. Looked like a high-school librarian. Best driver I ever rode with. Good memories, including the standard post-rally cure for overused brain cells (lots and lots of beer.) Advantage of being the navigator instead of the driver.

roadburner

bhill2 said:

berri said:

The Cougars were very nice looking, but go forward a year and take a 69 Mustang I think.

Back in the olden days when 69 Mustangs were new and I was a Math student, I spent a rally season in one as a navigator (SOP class; no calculation tools, not even a slide rule [anyone remember those?]). The driver was a skinny guy with somewhat unruly hair and glasses. Looked like a high-school librarian. Best driver I ever rode with. Good memories, including the standard post-rally cure for overused brain cells (lots and lots of beer.) Advantage of being the navigator instead of the driver.

I used to run rallies quite a bit. Wound up as a navigator a couple of times attempting to operate a Timewise 798A TSD Rally Computer. My head hurts just thinking about it.

texases

Interesting they deal in used Curta calculators, I always thought those 'pepper grinders' were neat!

roadburner

My favorite Mustangs were the 1966 and 1968 GT fastbacks as well as the 1970 Mach 1 and Boss 302. I suppose the 1970 is my favorite; I like the shaker hood, rear spoiler, and lower side moldings(on the Mach 1):

ab348

^^^ There is a '69 Mach 1 locally in a medium metallic blue-green with gold stripes/graphics that is absolutely stunning. Looks like this:

texases

Saw a '66 Impala convertible this weekend, top down, looked in good shape. And a Karmann Ghia a few days before, green.

bhill2

ab348 said:

^^^ There is a '69 Mach 1 locally in a medium metallic blue-green with gold stripes/graphics that is absolutely stunning. Looks like this:

Wow! If you changed that Mustang's body color to dark blue you would have the car I did my navigating in.

fintail

Recently saw a 1st gen Accord 4 door, I think those were MY 1980-81 only. Also a Contour SVT.

Mr_Shiftright

1968 Mustang "California Special". Interesting car, and somewhat rare with those Shelby bits, but oddly enough unless you ordered the big block engine option, the car isn't worth any more than a run of the mill /289 or 302 Mustang GT. This one was a kind of Lime color--I think Ford called it "Lime Gold". Engine looked like a 289 or 302 (hard to tell the difference without poking inside somewhat intrusively).

bhill2

Mr_Shiftright said:

1968 Mustang "California Special". Interesting car, and somewhat rare with those Shelby bits, but oddly enough unless you ordered the big block engine option, the car isn't worth any more than a run of the mill /289 or 302 Mustang GT. This one was a kind of Lime color--I think Ford called it "Lime Gold". Engine looked like a 289 or 302 (hard to tell the difference without poking inside somewhat intrusively).

In all fairness, there wasn't a thing in the California Special package that made the car accelerate, stop, or handle better. The package was all cosmetics and gee-whiz (OK, I thought at the time that the sequential turn signal lights were cool, and I still kind of like them). There isn't any reason for them to be anything more than nominally more valuable.

imidazol97

Continental Mark III. All white. Wire wheel covers that looked perfect for the car with wide whitewalls.
Turned into a body shop a mile up the road. I suspected it was being worked on there although it looked perfect to me. Being test driven. Wheels were like the ones in this link to a Wiki picture. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/69MarkIIIa.jpg

uplanderguy

If I remember correctly, the Mark III outsold the Eldorado, certainly a shock to the pride of Cadillac at the time! I often remember Mark III's being maroon with a black top, or a medium-to-dark green. I never liked any Mark after that as well.

fintail

Didn't those Mark IIIs have some quality control issues? Either way, they definitely set the stage for the successful Marks of the 70s.

sda

On my drive to an interview this morning I saw a very nice '68 Dodge Super Bee convertible. It was red with the white stripe on the back, white dual hood scoops, 440 badge on the front fender. White interior, I think it was a bench seat as I could see the column shifter, and could see the horizontal speedometer with factory tach to the right. I can't remember the last time I've seen on of these. It was a beautiful 70 degree morning, driver enjoying the top down.
http://www.amcarguide.com/wp-content/gallery/super-bee/1968-dodge-coronet-super-bee-convertible.jpg

kyfdx

uplanderguy said:

If I remember correctly, the Mark III outsold the Eldorado, certainly a shock to the pride of Cadillac at the time! I often remember Mark III's being maroon with a black top, or a medium-to-dark green. I never liked any Mark after that as well.

I think the FWD thing really hurt the Eldorado, at that time.

Mr_Shiftright

uplanderguy said:

If I remember correctly, the Mark III outsold the Eldorado, certainly a shock to the pride of Cadillac at the time! I often remember Mark III's being maroon with a black top, or a medium-to-dark green. I never liked any Mark after that as well.

They did but only in 1971, not earlier. Outpaced Cadillac that year by some 7000 units.

sda

Didn't those Mark IIIs have some quality control issues? Either way, they definitely set the stage for the successful Marks of the 70s.

Sorry, meant to reply to fintail, clicked on the wrong entry..

IIRC Mark IIIs and Thunderbirds were plagued with electrical gremlins. I remember dad test driving a '67 T-bird 4dr around 1970. It was navy blue with a black vinyl top and black vinyl interior. It didn't have many miles on it, and yet none of the windows or door locks worked and the a/c only on high. I was bummed because I loved the suicide doors and rounded back seat and other neat features of the car. Dad bought a '69 Olds 98 instead.

uplanderguy

I looked at a couple (suspect) sources online about production numbers. One had '69 Mark III production slightly ahead of Eldorado; another, just the opposite. But even if the latter is true, to be within 500 or so units out of 23K-some, Lincoln had to be happy and Caddy, sad.

In '71, there were two Eldorado bodystyles as opposed to one for Mark III, and the Eldo was all-new that year. That the Mark III outsold the Eldo had to smart. I'm a GM guy, particularly in that era too, but as much as I like the '67-70 Eldo, I do think the interior disappoints a little. And, I'd especially say that for the new '71.

I can remember seeing the first new '71 Eldo coupe at our local dealer (who was also the Chevy dealer). I liked the 'coach' window idea, but it blew my mind at the time that it didn't go down.

uplanderguy

I remember that GM took a big strike in the fall of '70, right at introduction time of the '71's. I've heard that used as a reason that '71 sales weren't up to expectations. Don't know if that could be said of the Eldorado or not that model year.

ab348

uplanderguy said:

I remember that GM took a big strike in the fall of '70, right at introduction time of the '71's. I've heard that used as a reason that '71 sales weren't up to expectations. Don't know if that could be said of the Eldorado or not that model year.

I know it certainly cost them at least one sale, to my parents. They were in the market for a new full-size car at the time and had a '69 Impala Sport Coupe to trade. They had been GM buyers for their last 6 cars at that point. But the dealer had next to nothing in inventory to show them - I seem to remember a dark green Caprice 4-door hardtop with black vinyl roof and green interior, which they were not thrilled with for some reason, being the only thing close to what they were looking for that they could find locally. They looked at Ford LTDs at length but Mom didn't like them for whatever reason. So they ended up ordering a Dodge Monaco 4-door hardtop. I loved that car but I know they would have probably bought GM if they could have ordered what they wanted.

ab348

Forgot to mention that on the weekend I took a drive to various communities in about a 60-mile radius of where I live just to see some late-summer sights. In an area about 40 miles west of here it seemed all the summer cars were out and about - 3 new Corvettes, some restored Willys Jeeps, various and sundry muscle/pony cars, and one like this in these colors, which I did not recognize.



It was parked at the curb in a small town's business district, and I assume the driver was probably eating at an adjacent restaurant that had a crowded patio. I had no idea what it was so I drove around the block and returned for a closer look, which let me make out the badging. My first thought was maybe it was one of those mid-90s Aussie Mercury Capri convertibles, which I had not seen in years, but I was wrong.

Turned out to be a Mk 3 Toyota MR2 convertible, probably from 10-12 years ago, which was not sold here. What a huge step backwards in the styling dept. It did not really look like a sports car as much as a boulevard cruiser. Interesting place to find it.

uplanderguy

If I had to buy a Mustang, I'd take the first 2+2 models.

Mr_Shiftright

ab348 said:

Forgot to mention that on the weekend I took a drive to various communities in about a 60-mile radius of where I live just to see some late-summer sights. In an area about 40 miles west of here it seemed all the summer cars were out and about - 3 new Corvettes, some restored Willys Jeeps, various and sundry muscle/pony cars, and one like this in these colors, which I did not recognize.



It was parked at the curb in a small town's business district, and I assume the driver was probably eating at an adjacent restaurant that had a crowded patio. I had no idea what it was so I drove around the block and returned for a closer look, which let me make out the badging. My first thought was maybe it was one of those mid-90s Aussie Mercury Capri convertibles, which I had not seen in years, but I was wrong.

Turned out to be a Mk 3 Toyota MR2 convertible, probably from 10-12 years ago, which was not sold here. What a huge step backwards in the styling dept. It did not really look like a sports car as much as a boulevard cruiser. Interesting place to find it.

Extremely tight cockpit as well. Definitely for the smaller of stature, maybe nice car for a college coed.

fintail

I didn't know they didn't sell those in Canadia. Plenty of them here on the west coast. S2000 seems to have much better resale.

sda

kyfdx said:

uplanderguy said:

If I remember correctly, the Mark III outsold the Eldorado, certainly a shock to the pride of Cadillac at the time! I often remember Mark III's being maroon with a black top, or a medium-to-dark green. I never liked any Mark after that as well.

I think the FWD thing really hurt the Eldorado, at that time.

At least there was a Eldo convertible. I remember my first visit to the orthodontist in '71. In the Dr's parking spot was a brand new (sticker still in window) dark blue with white top and interior Eldo convert. I remember being amazed that it cost over $10k. Two years later he was driving a Rolls Corniche.

PF_Flyer

Another from a movie that I happened across today. Dudley Moore was driving this beauty

ab348

fintail said:

I didn't know they didn't sell those in Canadia. Plenty of them here on the west coast.

Really? I never saw an article or a mention of them in the N.A. market, and I never saw one previously. Having owned a 1st-gen MR2 I paid a lot of attention to the updates and model changes but was unaware this even existed.

fintail

I see them all the time here, and as you say, they seem to be more of a boulevard cruiser. The sportier choice was the S2000. The MR2 sold to more "mature" buyers, I think.

ab348 said:

Really? I never saw an article or a mention of them in the N.A. market, and I never saw one previously. Having owned a 1st-gen MR2 I paid a lot of attention to the updates and model changes but was unaware this even existed.

stickguy

the S2000 was a real sports car, like a Miata. The toyota was a cute sporty convertible.

I test drove one when they first came out, and it was fun. But it really had no storage, at all. I don't think 2 people could go away for a weekend with it, unless they slept in their driving clothes.

Mr_Shiftright

sda said:

kyfdx said:

uplanderguy said:

If I remember correctly, the Mark III outsold the Eldorado, certainly a shock to the pride of Cadillac at the time! I often remember Mark III's being maroon with a black top, or a medium-to-dark green. I never liked any Mark after that as well.

I think the FWD thing really hurt the Eldorado, at that time.

At least there was a Eldo convertible. I remember my first visit to the orthodontist in '71. In the Dr's parking spot was a brand new (sticker still in window) dark blue with white top and interior Eldo convert. I remember being amazed that it cost over $10k. Two years later he was driving a Rolls Corniche.

Well that should have taught him a painful lesson in abandoning GM.

hpmctorque

imidazol97 said:

Continental Mark III. All white. Wire wheel covers that looked perfect for the car with wide whitewalls.
Turned into a body shop a mile up the road. I suspected it was being worked on there although it looked perfect to me. Being test driven. Wheels were like the ones in this link to a Wiki picture. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/69MarkIIIa.jpg

Ah, the ultimate in 1970s personal luxury. Nice car!

uplanderguy

Another from a movie that I happened across today. Dudley Moore was driving this beauty

It's not that Novas or Valiants were beautiful cars, but I always just detested Mavericks! I think even Hornets were nicer-looking. Your results may vary.

explorerx4

Still don't know what movie the Maverick was in.

Michaell

explorerx4 said:

Still don't know what movie the Maverick was in.

Arthur? 10?