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

fintail

Today I saw in traffic what I think might have been a 1966 442, and a 61-62 Corvette, blackwall tires, kind of muted red color - not oxidized, but not the bright red one sees in over-restored cars. Hardtop was on.

berri

The Maverick and its sister Comet just seemed to very cheap inside. Not even a glove box, just a small open shelf space on the dash. Most Ford products of that era also had those plain, chintzy looking steering wheels, no matter the price point. But on the outside, these Lincoln Mark's were mostly lookers to me.

ab348

berri said:

The Maverick and its sister Comet just seemed to very cheap inside. Not even a glove box, just a small open shelf space on the dash. Most Ford products of that era also had those plain, chintzy looking steering wheels, no matter the price point. But on the outside, these Lincoln Mark's were mostly lookers to me.

Our '74 Maverick Luxury Decor Option was about as nice as one of those got. It was still cheap inside even with that. The seats and carpet were the 2 main upgrades inside. By then it had done away with the parcel tray under the dash and you got a proper glove box (I think that started in '73). But the perimeter of the doors was still painted textured metal. The door lock buttons used a clear plastic ferrule that usually broke fairly early, resulting in rattles. The steering wheel that came with the LDO was Ford's "upscale" version with the typical thin rim but at least it had a center bar with some style. And they gave you a swath of fake wood on the dash. Outside they layered on all the Ford styling cliches of that era and for the times it looked OK. Overall though it was a cheap, poorly-made car.

uplanderguy

Today I saw in traffic what I think might have been a 1966 442, and a 61-62 Corvette, blackwall tires, kind of muted red color - not oxidized, but not the bright red one sees in over-restored cars. Hardtop was on.

Wonder if it might've been Honduras Maroon, like this one:

http://topclassiccarsforsale.com/uploads/photoalbum/1962-corvette-numbers-matching-honduras-maroon-300hp-powerglide-1-of-465-1.JPG

That's my favorite year 'Vette, in one of my two favorite colors that year (the other, Fawn Beige).

Avanti Red on Avantis is similar to that color. I used to think it looked 'washed out', but when I remembered there were Corvettes and also '64 Eldorados that color, I reconsidered.

fintail

It was more red than that, and non-metallic (that one kind of looks metallic). One could call it "washed out", it seemed more mellow or almost pastel compared the candy apple stereotype.

roadburner

ab348 said:

Our '74 Maverick Luxury Decor Option was about as nice as one of those got. It was still cheap inside even with that. The seats and carpet were the 2 main upgrades inside. By then it had done away with the parcel tray under the dash and you got a proper glove box (I think that started in '73). But the perimeter of the doors was still painted textured metal. The door lock buttons used a clear plastic ferrule that usually broke fairly early, resulting in rattles. The steering wheel that came with the LDO was Ford's "upscale" version with the typical thin rim but at least it had a center bar with some style. And they gave you a swath of fake wood on the dash. Outside they layered on all the Ford styling cliches of that era and for the times it looked OK. Overall though it was a cheap, poorly-made car.

My parents had a 1974 LDO V8; I HATED it. It did have a glove box but IIRC it couldn't even hold the owners manual. The car was a complete dog's breakfast, as the Brits like to say...

ab348

roadburner said:

My parents had a 1974 LDO V8; I HATED it. It did have a glove box but IIRC it couldn't even hold the owners manual. The car was a complete dog's breakfast, as the Brits like to say...

Same here. Ours had the "big" 250-c.i. six which could barely get out of its own way. It would not crank, much less start, in cold weather. New batteries did not seem to change that very much. Engine always seemed too tight.
The body leaked water and air like a basket. Rusted out faster than any car I had ever seen before or since. My favorite part was a really annoying wind whistle somewhere around the windshield - it seemed to move around some. Finally even though I was a kid who liked cars but knew nothing at all about how to fix/repair them, I couldn't take it any more and decided to track it down. I somehow got the bright trim off the windshield to access the gasket these used. A tube of silicone was pressed into service and I quickly discovered that the windshield gasket was not sealed at all at the right side A-post. A squirt of silicone quickly began oozing out inside on the inner windshield pillar. Cleaned that up and the whistle/leak was gone.

If only the squirrelly handling at any speed over 50mph and the sudden pull to the left upon applying the brakes was as easy a fix... that never went away and with the ferocious rusting we finally dumped it after 3 years.

Mr_Shiftright

fintail said:

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.

You can get a pretty darn good price for a clean, unmolested Honda S2000 in California. Easy $12K--$15K.

PF_Flyer

explorerx4 said:

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

Ah... the movie was "10"

explorerx4

Not sure why, but the cars didn't register with me while watching '10'.

Michaell

explorerx4 said:

Not sure why, but the cars didn't register with me while watching '10'.

I'm sure you weren't the only one.

PF_Flyer

explorerx4 said:

Not sure why, but the cars didn't register with me while watching '10'.

There was lots of "stuff" in that movie. The phone that's in my office is the same one that was in Dudley Moore's house in the movie. A push-button, white AT&T desk phone with a selector switch for tone or pulse dialing

omarman

PF_Flyer said:

explorerx4 said:

Not sure why, but the cars didn't register with me while watching '10'.

There was lots of "stuff" in that movie. The phone that's in my office is the same one that was in Dudley Moore's house in the movie. A push-button, white AT&T desk phone with a selector switch for tone or pulse dialing

There were cars in that movie?
There were phones in that movie?
Was Dudley Moore in that movie?
The Top Ten Things To Remember About The Movie "10" all look like this ...

fintail

Out for a walk today and saw this pretty thing parked on the street:



Obviously restored, 912. Had a sticker on a side window, looked like a repro item from some event in 1967 - maybe this is a 1967 car.

While out in the fintail saw a custom 49-51 Mercury, 65-66 Mustang, young guy in a very clean stock looking ~70 Beetle, red R129 SL600.

hpmctorque

Speaking of movies, Florence Jenkins, with Merrill Streep and Hugh Grant , is an excellent movie, in my opinion, with terrific acting by the main and supporting actors. Lots and lots of old cars as a bonus. The story took place in 1944, but some of the cars were 1946-1948 models. Since these pre-1949s were warmed over pre-war cars I'm sure few viewers noticed.

If you haven't already seen this movie, you'll be entertained.

sda

ab348 said:

roadburner said:

My parents had a 1974 LDO V8; I HATED it. It did have a glove box but IIRC it couldn't even hold the owners manual. The car was a complete dog's breakfast, as the Brits like to say...

Same here. Ours had the "big" 250-c.i. six which could barely get out of its own way. It would not crank, much less start, in cold weather. New batteries did not seem to change that very much. Engine always seemed too tight.
The body leaked water and air like a basket. Rusted out faster than any car I had ever seen before or since. My favorite part was a really annoying wind whistle somewhere around the windshield - it seemed to move around some. Finally even though I was a kid who liked cars but knew nothing at all about how to fix/repair them, I couldn't take it any more and decided to track it down. I somehow got the bright trim off the windshield to access the gasket these used. A tube of silicone was pressed into service and I quickly discovered that the windshield gasket was not sealed at all at the right side A-post. A squirt of silicone quickly began oozing out inside on the inner windshield pillar. Cleaned that up and the whistle/leak was gone.

If only the squirrelly handling at any speed over 50mph and the sudden pull to the left upon applying the brakes was as easy a fix... that never went away and with the ferocious rusting we finally dumped it after 3 years.

A friend of mine in high school drove his mom's '76 Granada with the 250 six. What a slug! This was in '77-78. It seemed like a nice enough car, reclining buckets, quiet, decent ride. I drove it a couple of times. It took an effort just to keep it going straight on a straight road. His dad had a '77 Granada, same 250 six, not as deluxe, yet it seemed to drive better. A little quicker (or so it felt). I love today's cars...they drive so nicely.

uplanderguy

BTW, the gal in '10' turns sixty this year!

kyfdx

GF had the 250 in a Monarch. Turned off the A/C to go up hills.

Michaell

uplanderguy said:

BTW, the gal in '10' turns sixty this year!

http://cdn.net-worths.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Bo-Derek-Net-Worth-660x330.jpg

stickguy

Back in the early 80s, my friends family had a 4 door Fairmont, with the 4 cyl. Salesman told them it was a 6. I think I was the one that figured it out. That car, I assume was slow, but got us around just fine.

Quite a change from the 1974 caprice (the mighty caprice we called it) that it replaced.

uplanderguy

Re.: The movie 'Florence Foster Jenkins' mentioned above--

We saw it. It took me about half the movie to get into it. But by the end I did like it and was glad we saw it. Seems to me it would translate well into a Broadway or off-Broadway play. Amazing that that woman was a real person! Google it and there is a later interview with Cosme McMoon, her accompanist (is that a word? LOL) and he goes out of his way to be a gentleman, but it borders on being hilarious in places.

The scenery reminded us of Woody Allen movies; e.g., 1940's NYC. I did see a bathtub Packard in it and thought, 'no, no, no'! LOL

uplanderguy

My wife and daughter went to see Adele in Philly over the weekend, so yesterday I drove the 65 or so miles to my old hometown and went to a really nice car show thrown by St. Paul's, a senior-living center with every level of care, even will sell you a home on the property if you want. It's way up on a hill overlooking the valley that our town was built in, so setting was very scenic and high temp was 72--perfect.

My favorite car there was one I would not have guessed otherwise. It just grabbed me, it was so 'showroom fresh', which is what I call a car that is bone-stock with attention paid to emblem placement, wheel covers, tire size, whitewall width, interior trim, etc.

It was a dark turquoise metallic '67 Camaro Sport Coupe, 275-hp 327, Powerglide, black interior. A fresh restoration.

It had the optional fold-down rear seat. I never really 'got' that, as it's not like you had access into the trunk from there. I guess you could put dirty stuff there and it wouldn't get on the upholstery, LOL.

Mr_Shiftright

fintail said:

Out for a walk today and saw this pretty thing parked on the street:



Obviously restored, 912. Had a sticker on a side window, looked like a repro item from some event in 1967 - maybe this is a 1967 car.

While out in the fintail saw a custom 49-51 Mercury, 65-66 Mustang, young guy in a very clean stock looking ~70 Beetle, red R129 SL600.

Yes the 912 is pre-1969 because it doesn't have the rear fender flares and longer wheelbase. Europeans note the difference and prefer the earlier ones, Americans dont' seem to care.

stever

Spotted an orange Beetle this morning that brought back memories of my orange SuperBeetle I drove for a year in 1980.

Mr_Shiftright

Well at least you had that time together....

stever

Mr_Shiftright said:

Well at least you had that time together....

Dumped the car, kept the woman (who hated it). Still miss my old Bugs - saw a nice white chopped dune buggy one the other day. Hit a piglet in one and it'd shoat'nuff ruin your day though.

kyfdx

uplanderguy said:

My wife and daughter went to see Adele in Philly over the weekend, so yesterday I drove the 65 or so miles to my old hometown and went to a really nice car show thrown by St. Paul's, a senior-living center with every level of care, even will sell you a home on the property if you want. It's way up on a hill overlooking the valley that our town was built in, so setting was very scenic and high temp was 72--perfect.

My favorite car there was one I would not have guessed otherwise. It just grabbed me, it was so 'showroom fresh', which is what I call a car that is bone-stock with attention paid to emblem placement, wheel covers, tire size, whitewall width, interior trim, etc.

It was a dark turquoise metallic '67 Camaro Sport Coupe, 275-hp 327, Powerglide, black interior. A fresh restoration.

It had the optional fold-down rear seat. I never really 'got' that, as it's not like you had access into the trunk from there. I guess you could put dirty stuff there and it wouldn't get on the upholstery, LOL.

So.. is Adele as amazing in person, as her recordings?

uplanderguy

My wife and daughter thought she was terrific. I know a few of her songs because they were everywhere. I didn't want to go because I'm not really a fan and that is something like seven hours away from us! Humongous arena. My wife said they blew confetti out of a cannon-like thing at the audience, and in one song, it actually rained on stage.

Now I might've made that trip to see the 26-year old Carly Simon in her day! But then she never really toured.

stickguy

it was an interesting day. Bruce was playing across the street (at the Phillies ballpark)

Michaell

stickguy said:

it was an interesting day. Bruce was playing across the street (at the Phillies ballpark)

Bruce Hornsby?

hpmctorque

uplanderguy said:

Re.: The movie 'Florence Foster Jenkins' mentioned above--

We saw it. It took me about half the movie to get into it. But by the end I did like it and was glad we saw it. Seems to me it would translate well into a Broadway or off-Broadway play. Amazing that that woman was a real person! Google it and there is a later interview with Cosme McMoon, her accompanist (is that a word? LOL) and he goes out of his way to be a gentleman, but it borders on being hilarious in places.

The scenery reminded us of Woody Allen movies; e.g., 1940's NYC. I did see a bathtub Packard in it and thought, 'no, no, no'! LOL

Glad you enjoyed the movie, uplander. I thought the blond woman also played her role very well.

berri

Don't knock him - he put out some good music too

kyfdx

berri said:

Don't knock him - he put out some good music too

And, his son was a star for the LSU basketball team, this past season (is it trivia night?)

berri

Not an LSU fan, but definitely interesting!

tifighter

Sighted not one but two Passat W8 wagons on the commute in this morning, about 10 minutes apart. One white on oversized silver rims, one black on black rims. Impressed to see them running under their own power.

fintail

Saw a medium-big Buick convertible in traffic today, I want to say 1966 or maybe 67, it was hard to tell. Looked like a project car.

Mr_Shiftright

That'd be a nice car to fix up but not really worth restoring unless it were a GS400 or maybe a Skylark.

fintail

Today in the space of about 30 mins I saw 3 MB C-Class hatches, the C230 Kompressor that made people howl with disapproval about 15 years ago. Doesn't seemed to have harmed MB.

kyfdx

fintail said:

Today in the space of about 30 mins I saw 3 MB C-Class hatches, the C230 Kompressor that made people howl with disapproval about 15 years ago. Doesn't seemed to have harmed MB.

There is one that lives around the corner from me. Parked on the street.

sda

I saw a very nice '81-83(?) burgundy Monte Carlo. All stock, wire wheel covers, whitewalls, looked freshly washed. Then about 4 cars back, a very dirty. beat up, dented '98 Mitsubishi Galant. Surprisingly it looked like the a/c was still working as the windows were closed and we were having a typical humid 90 degree summer day.

sda

I've always like these. Our neighbors in St Pete had a red on red, fully loaded with a/c, pw, etc. '66 XL that they bought new. I don't recall what engine it had. I don't know if it is just me but it always bothers me when a car is restored and the windshield wipers are not in the correct park position or the windshield wiper arms are installed incorrectly where the left arm is installed on the passenger side and vice versa. I see the later on a lot of '61-67 Chevys.



http://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BBwaqGD.img?h=486&w=728&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=735&y=500

fintail

I see that a lot with old MBs, wipers that don't park properly. The ones on that Galaxie look to be about 3" too high.

ab348

The '66 Galaxie 500 7-Litre that I had seen at a show a few weeks ago showed up at the cruise-in I attended on Tuesday. It is a beautiful car, painted red, with the only letdown (slightly) being the black interior. It was pristine inside but IMO would have looked even better with a different interior color. Ah well.

Despite how nice it was, this car just confirmed how Ford trailed GM in the '60s in terms of interior design and finishes. The mylar on the door panels had not aged well, being wavy and cheap-looking, but the thing that jumped out at us was this. Look closely at this photo:



At first we thought the passenger seat had been changed since it was different in pattern from the drivers and rear seats. But no, this is how they came, with the passenger seat having a different upholstery sewing pattern if the reclining option was ordered. So the drivers seat and both rear seat positions got an ornament sewn into the backrest upholstery, but not the passenger seat. Just strange how Ford would have let that happen.

uplanderguy

That seat trim looks nice, but I know what you mean. I think that passenger seat also has an integrated headrest that can be pulled straight up. A lot of it is what you were used to, but I always thought GM had it all over Ford and Chrysler in interiors in that period. Instrument panels, and door panel trim especially. Big GM's had crank vent windows, which I thought seemed like a slightly upscale touch, and typically (IMHO) had better-integrated armrests and such. GM's got away from the automatic transmission shift quadrant being tacked onto the steering column; that type of thing.

The other day I was reading about a '67 Plymouth GTX. I like the styling, but the instrument panels in those cars to me look like they could be in a pickup truck of the time.

The '68 Plymouth Satellite was always an attractive car to me--I think it's the ''65 Impala' of Mopars. Just perfect proportions and looks, everywhere. I even like the placement and looks of the 'Satellite' nameplates. I'd even take one in that very pale metallic light green that was so popular!

ab348

uplanderguy said:

The other day I was reading about a '67 Plymouth GTX. I like the styling, but the instrument panels in those cars to me look like they could be in a pickup truck of the time.

The '68 Plymouth Satellite was always an attractive car to me--I think it's the ''65 Impala' of Mopars. Just perfect proportions and looks, everywhere. I even like the placement and looks of the 'Satellite' nameplates. I'd even take one in that very pale metallic light green that was so popular!

Yes, I never cared for the '66/'67 Satellite dash, although I quite like the exterior styling of the GTX.

I liked all of the '68 Chrysler intermediates at the time they were new, though I probably preferred the Coronet to the Satellite that year. Again, I found the dashboard design of those pretty uninspired. The padding looked like an afterthought. In retrospect all of those '68-'70 Mopar intermediates are really huge cars, especially when you look at them in the rear quarter areas. If I can't have a Charger, give me a '70 Coronet 2-door hardtop or Super Bee.

uplanderguy

I saw a very nice '81-83(?) burgundy Monte Carlo.

I have a soft spot for those cars. By that time the Monte was overshadowed by the Cutlass Supreme and maybe even the Regal, but my first new car was an '81 Monte Carlo, in lovely (MHO) Light Jade hood and roof over Dark Jade everything else, and Jade interior. I swallowed hard on the '78-80 Monte, but I think the '81 was a pretty masterful facelift. My '81 was stolen, and I bought our dealer owner's '82 Monte demo then. My parents traded in their '80 Monte for an '84 with 305 4-barrel, probably my favorite of all four of those cars.

I liked how the taillights mimicked the '74 and '76 Montes, and I also liked how they never changed the nameplate script from the '70 all the way through the '88--non-SS's, anyway.

I always loved those checkerboard aluminum wheels you could get, although neither of mine nor my Dad's had them.

tifighter

uplanderguy said:

I saw a very nice '81-83(?) burgundy Monte Carlo.

I have a soft spot for those cars. By that time the Monte was overshadowed by the Cutlass Supreme and maybe even the Regal, but my first new car was an '81 Monte Carlo, in lovely (MHO) Light Jade hood and roof over Dark Jade everything else, and Jade interior. I swallowed hard on the '78-80 Monte, but I think the '81 was a pretty masterful facelift. My '81 was stolen, and I bought our dealer owner's '82 Monte demo then. My parents traded in their '80 Monte for an '84 with 305 4-barrel, probably my favorite of all four of those cars.

I was a kid when these came out. I grew up in more rural eastern WA state. The neighborhood 'car guy' had a I'm guessing 74 Cutlass Supreme coupe, burgundy color with burgundy interior. Single round headlights. It was the family car; they'd flop the seats forward and pile the kids in the back. But the big upgrade came in 85 with a new Monte Carlo, in grey if I recall right. It even had the T-tops. His kids and I were the same age (10), and they would go on non-stop about how cool that car was. The only thing cooler to them was the SS. My family always had smaller Japanese stuff, so I remember being pretty shocked with how big it seemed. He still had the Olds, and repainted it in grey to match. And the whole time, he had a 67 El Camino in his garage that was his weekend restoration project. Black. Said he was going to make it into a SS. I wonder if he ever finished it. Funny times.

fintail

A friend of mine bought a grey on grey 83 Monte CL when he was about 18, around 1996. 305, TH200 I think, (it failed around 2001 when the car had maybe 120K on it), velour, nice smooth car. I remember he just had to install small wheels with low profile tires, then replaced those with wheels from an early 80s Z28. He eventually got married, was roped into driving something more modern, and parked the car at his dad's small farm, and there it sat for some time. He just sold it a couple years ago, to a guy who customized it heavily. Beats going to a junkyard.

He also has an 85 SS he bought around 1999, when it had ~50K miles on it. I think he paid 6K for it. It was pretty immaculate, his childhood dream car, black on red, t-tops. I drove it once. Nice sound, but the brakes were very vague to me. He still has it, but it was stored in a barn or outside for some time, and decayed a bit. Around 2002-3, it was hit by a teenage girl who ran a stop sign, and the car received a $5000 paint job. I think he was working on getting it back on the road (I don't think his wife enjoys old cars as much).

uplanderguy

When the Monte SS's came out, I liked them--and in fact I even put a deposit on a new '85 Monte SS but changed my mind and ordered a Celebrity Eurosport instead--but in hindsight, I think the graphics are kinda 'boy racer' and not in keeping with the styling of the car...in or out. I did like the added horsepower of the HO V8 you got with the SS.

My college friend with the '08 Benz I mentioned a week or so ago, had an '87 white Monte SS Aerocoupe. He doesn't like them now, says the build quality is poor, but I remind him they weren't expensive cars and they were frameless door glass. When he had it, we both liked it, LOL.

tifighter

That Aerocoupe is the holy grail for some. They only made a few hundred, yes?