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

fintail

Out on the road this morning saw a little old lady driving a 220D, and a RHD Land Rover Defender.

berri

Many, many years ago I remember getting a Corolla rental car and it was actually my first time into Seattle. I was a little suspect, but the car was put together very tightly compared to Detroit. But yes, Detroit had a better handle on tin worm at the time.

Michaell

fintail said:

Out on the road this morning saw a little old lady driving a 220D, and a RHD Land Rover Defender.

I loved the 220D my folks owned in the early 80's. My mother hated it.

uplanderguy

I remember when I used to get the occasional Corolla rental car in the '80's...maybe Tercels, too. I'm old-skool, but I used to think, "What is everybody raving about?". They would seem peppy, but so darn 'buzzy', and I detested that the doors seemed one inch thick and that the standard look was that hubcaps had fallen off, so as usual, I didn't "get" what the masses did, LOL!

I seem to remember foul-smelling vinyl interiors too...although some of that might be just rental car syndrome.

fintail

You'd need to be patient and not mind clattering noise. This one was in good shape, but far from mint. I suspect an original owner, or at the least, someone who has had it as long as I've been alive.

Something else I saw but forgot to mention - VW Fox.

Michaell said:

I loved the 220D my folks owned in the early 80's. My mother hated it.

fintail

80s rental fleets were more diverse than today - there were even Corolla coupes in the fleet ("Planes, Trains, and Automobiles has a great look at a rental car lot ca. 1987, nice historical document now). The door thickness is a thing, especially at the top of the door. Around 2004 my dad bought a Datsun 610 out of an estate, and the metal thickness on that thing was scary - don't crash! My grandpa had a Nummi Nova (Corolla) that I think was a company car, and he bought it out. Thin doors on that too, but it was flawlessly reliable.

I've heard more than one person say Korean car interiors have an odd smell, too. I think some cars have smells. MBs have a smell.

uplanderguy said:

I remember when I used to get the occasional Corolla rental car in the '80's...maybe Tercels, too. I'm old-skool, but I used to think, "What is everybody raving about?". They would seem peppy, but so darn 'buzzy', and I detested that the doors seemed one inch thick and that the standard look was that hubcaps had fallen off, so as usual, I didn't "get" what the masses did, LOL!

I seem to remember foul-smelling vinyl interiors too...although some of that might be just rental car syndrome.

andre1969

iluvmysephia1 said:

Has anyone seen one of those old Toyota Celica's from the 70's around lately? They must be rusted out and crushed nationwide now. Actually they have that small, sporty econo-scooter look to them. Model years would be around 1973-77 or so. Anyone seen one lately. I haven't seen one in a few decades...they were out like knats and mosquitos in the hot Missouri summer in the Seattle area where I grew up in the 70's.

I don't think I've seen one since the last time I saw the pilot episode of "The Incredible Hulk"

Mr_Shiftright

Michaell said:

fintail said:

Out on the road this morning saw a little old lady driving a 220D, and a RHD Land Rover Defender.

I loved the 220D my folks owned in the early 80's. My mother hated it.

It's not a car that's easy to love. Perhaps it was more suitable in a slower, calmer world.

I will say one thing in defense of old, slow,, noisy diesels. If you ever had a problem with aggressive driving, this will cure it. You'll become a regular buddha behind the wheel.

ab348

fintail said:

80s rental fleets were more diverse than today - there were even Corolla coupes in the fleet ("Planes, Trains, and Automobiles has a great look at a rental car lot ca. 1987, nice historical document now). The door thickness is a thing, especially at the top of the door.

I recall that in 1981 my best friend from school who had gotten married and moved to a town about 5 hours away decided he, a buddy of his in that town and I should all go away for a weekend in Boston to see the Red Sox. Boston would have been about a 400 mile drive, but no worries, he said, as his buddy had just bought a brand new car and we would go in that.

The car was a 1981 Datsun 210 wagon. What a treat. I remember that at 65mph on I95 south through Maine en route to Boston, the door tops would be pulled away from the body by the airflow and the wind would whistle in. These were sedan-style metal-framed door windows to boot. They must have been made from old tin cans.

fintail

Sounds right. The metal around the windows in malaise economy cars can be pretty frightening if one examines it and thinks about how it will crash. Deathtraps. The doors themselves appear to be too thin, and that can make one wonder about the car in general. I wouldb't be surprised if in that region, that thing had rust perforation within 5 years, too.

ab348 said:

The car was a 1981 Datsun 210 wagon. What a treat. I remember that at 65mph on I95 south through Maine en route to Boston, the door tops would be pulled away from the body by the airflow and the wind would whistle in. These were sedan-style metal-framed door windows to boot. They must have been made from old tin cans.

andre1969

Here's something you don't see everyday...


I had driven down this road on Saturday, and one of my friends spotted an old car in someone's yard. He meant to ask me what it was, but we had passed by it too fast. I got on Google Maps to see if I could spot it, and stumbled across this! I think it's a '66? Gotta imagine these Ambassador convertibles were pretty rare, even when new?

uplanderguy

I believe that is a '66. I think that the '65 had horizontal dual headlights, but I'm not really sure.

That pic shows how slab-sided and blunt-rear-ended those cars were. Still, I appreciate them more now than I did. Unusual for sure.

The owner was apparently scared of plating costs.

andre1969

Oh, and as far as old cars in that area goes, my friend said it was blue. The only thing I could find that came up on the Google street view in this area that vaguely fit the description of "old" and "blue" was a post-82 Cutlass Supreme sedan...



I don't know if that's what caught his eye or not. It's something that I'd notice, but I imagine it wouldn't even register with most people. Anyway, this one's been around awhile. Here's an older Google Street view pic, with some of its stable-mates...



This is near the shop that has my '57 DeSoto, so I've seen these "beauties" on a regular basis.

berri

Hey, aren't originals the in thing these days

fintail

Someone likes Tempos.

stickguy

I'll take the hornet. I gad one that vintage. And yes, it was green! My gremlin though was yellow.

ab348

andre1969 said:

Oh, and as far as old cars in that area goes, my friend said it was blue. The only thing I could find that came up on the Google street view in this area that vaguely fit the description of "old" and "blue" was a post-82 Cutlass Supreme sedan...

Is that a Teletubby in the background?

andre1969

I dunno what that thing is...maybe some kind of scarecrow? I didn't notice it when we drove by on Saturday, but then that Google pic is from 2012. Whoever owns this place does have an interesting sort of humor. One of the signs on the property says something along the lines of "No Trespassing. I own a shotgun and a backhoe!"

bhill2

ab348 said:

fintail said:

80s rental fleets were more diverse than today - there were even Corolla coupes in the fleet ("Planes, Trains, and Automobiles has a great look at a rental car lot ca. 1987, nice historical document now). The door thickness is a thing, especially at the top of the door.

I recall that in 1981 my best friend from school who had gotten married and moved to a town about 5 hours away decided he, a buddy of his in that town and I should all go away for a weekend in Boston to see the Red Sox. Boston would have been about a 400 mile drive, but no worries, he said, as his buddy had just bought a brand new car and we would go in that.

The car was a 1981 Datsun 210 wagon. What a treat. I remember that at 65mph on I95 south through Maine en route to Boston, the door tops would be pulled away from the body by the airflow and the wind would whistle in. These were sedan-style metal-framed door windows to boot. They must have been made from old tin cans.

That brings back a memory. In late 79 I flew down to LA for a job interview. I ended up in a rental 210 automatic. Try merging one of those onto the 405.

Michaell

bhill2 said:

ab348 said:

fintail said:

80s rental fleets were more diverse than today - there were even Corolla coupes in the fleet ("Planes, Trains, and Automobiles has a great look at a rental car lot ca. 1987, nice historical document now). The door thickness is a thing, especially at the top of the door.

I recall that in 1981 my best friend from school who had gotten married and moved to a town about 5 hours away decided he, a buddy of his in that town and I should all go away for a weekend in Boston to see the Red Sox. Boston would have been about a 400 mile drive, but no worries, he said, as his buddy had just bought a brand new car and we would go in that.

The car was a 1981 Datsun 210 wagon. What a treat. I remember that at 65mph on I95 south through Maine en route to Boston, the door tops would be pulled away from the body by the airflow and the wind would whistle in. These were sedan-style metal-framed door windows to boot. They must have been made from old tin cans.

That brings back a memory. In late 79 I flew down to LA for a job interview. I ended up in a rental 210 automatic. Try merging one of those onto the 405.

I might have you beat. In 1981, my dad and I flew to Seattle to check out a college. We ended up with a Toyota Tercel as our rental.

stever

The 5 speeds were peppy.

Mr_Shiftright

Yep, 0 to 25 was exciting

stever

I used to go over Turnagain Pass in 5th with 3 people and skis in the Tercel.

It's not the Grapevine, but I remember one passenger favorably commenting on it. Miss that classic.

texases

Ah, Turnagain Pass, where motorhomes go to block traffic during the summer...

Mr_Shiftright

stever said:

I used to go over Turnagain Pass in 5th with 3 people and skis in the Tercel.

It's not the Grapevine, but I remember one passenger favorably commenting on it. Miss that classic.

You don't happen to have a video supporting that assertion, do you? Or was it the downhill side of the pass?

stever

No, but the witness is now a judge. If money becomes involved I think I could track him down.

Now that I think about it, he drove an old Volvo, so he was probably impressed by any car that could get up Turnagain in either lane. Remember leaving a winter holiday party above Potter March and watching him do a 360 in his Volvo in my rear view mirror coming down those glaciated roads. Fun times.

texases

You had the Tercel wagon, right?

Mr_Shiftright

You talkin' to him or to me? I had a Tercel wagon, so I'm speaking with some authority here

stever

Mine was the 4 door sedan. 1982.

I always knew you had good taste in cars Shifty.

Mr_Shiftright

62 HP, 1.5L

texases

Yikes, two Tercelistas! I was talking to Steve. Friend had an '83 or so wagon in AK, it wasn't terrible on power for its time. The sedan had the same engine? Must have been a rocket!

sda

I saw a silver Subaru Baja in traffic today. I don't recall seeing those when they were new. Odd looking beast.

Michaell

sda said:

I saw a silver Subaru Baja in traffic today. I don't recall seeing those when they were new. Odd looking beast.

Those are pretty rare ... and, pretty valuable here in Colorado.

I think 98% of these were either silver or yellow.

xwesx

texases said:

Ah, Turnagain Pass, where motorhomes go to block traffic during the summer...

Not any more!

Mr_Shiftright

texases said:

Yikes, two Tercelistas! I was talking to Steve. Friend had an '83 or so wagon in AK, it wasn't terrible on power for its time. The sedan had the same engine? Must have been a rocket!

I shipped mine to the island of Molokai, where I presume it still resides (or rusts). It was a great beach car with that low gear in 4WD. It was delivered by ferry. Very exciting.

sda

andre1969 said:

Here's something you don't see everyday...


I had driven down this road on Saturday, and one of my friends spotted an old car in someone's yard. He meant to ask me what it was, but we had passed by it too fast. I got on Google Maps to see if I could spot it, and stumbled across this! I think it's a '66? Gotta imagine these Ambassador convertibles were pretty rare, even when new?

A friend in high school drove a 4 door version of the Ambassador. It was a 232 six with a three on the tree, pretty plain jane in a solid mint green with darker green interior. He stopped driving it when the column shifter would hang up in between gears. A search for a used column mechanism was not successful so it got parked. This was in '77 or '78, the car really wasn't that old. It gave him an excuse to convince his dad the he was responsible enough ( he didn't wreck it, no speeding tickets, ha) to buy a used '70 2 dr Malibu.

fintail

I think 90% of Subaru Baja were sold in WA and CO.

kyfdx

I see them now and then.. It's the elusive turbo model that you want.

Mr_Shiftright

kyfdx said:

I see them now and then.. It's the elusive turbo model that you want.

That uses the WRX block doesn't it?

kyfdx

Mr_Shiftright said:

kyfdx said:

I see them now and then.. It's the elusive turbo model that you want.

That uses the WRX block doesn't it?

I'm pretty sure it's the 2.5 turbo from the Outback, not the smaller 2.0 turbo.

Mr_Shiftright

Oh gee I hope not. That motor is bad enough without the stress of a turbo. I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that it uses the stronger WRX block, otherwise these cars would be littered across America. The 2.0 (or is it 2.2?) would be preferable to the 2.5 in that case

xwesx

kyfdx said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

kyfdx said:

I see them now and then.. It's the elusive turbo model that you want.

That uses the WRX block doesn't it?

I'm pretty sure it's the 2.5 turbo from the Outback, not the smaller 2.0 turbo.

The WRX and the other turbo models all used the sand-casted 2.5 for a time. The block was the same, just detuned in the non-WRX models. WRX went to the 2.0T in 2015 MY, but Forester was the first to get it.

fintail

Oddity in the workplace garage, related to something mentioned recently: Mitsu MightyMax pickup, later version from maybe the late 80s to around 1990. And it's a 4x4, Can't be many of those around.

Mr_Shiftright

xwesx said:

kyfdx said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

kyfdx said:

I see them now and then.. It's the elusive turbo model that you want.

That uses the WRX block doesn't it?

I'm pretty sure it's the 2.5 turbo from the Outback, not the smaller 2.0 turbo.

The WRX and the other turbo models all used the sand-casted 2.5 for a time. The block was the same, just detuned in the non-WRX models. WRX went to the 2.0T in 2015 MY, but Forester was the first to get it.

Isn't there an "open deck" and"closed deck" version of this engine. The turbo motor must have stronger internals.

ab348

A '68 Camaro resto-mod sounds like a lot of fun. Until you hit a pole or a tree that is. I can't believe this is actually for sale, with blood on the inside doors and biohazard signs on the car. Yikes.

https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/cars-for-sale/chevrolet/camaro/1893990.html

stickguy

And it isn't even attractive.

tjc78

Very common to see the blood stained interior in a Junkyard but on a car for sale? Ugh.

+1, not my cup of tea

Mr_Shiftright

Not much there except a rear clip, if that's not all full of putty. I would have just cut the back half of the car off and offered that for sale. Buyer's could trim it as they wished. Perhaps someone is buying a VIN plate?

xwesx

Mr_Shiftright said:

Isn't there an "open deck" and"closed deck" version of this engine. The turbo motor must have stronger internals.

Yes, the turbo block was a closed deck design, making it much more stable than the open deck in terms of cylinder wall vibration. It was also more expensive because it required a "sand" casting that was unique to each individual block, while the open deck design could use a more economical reusable cast.

I believe the 2.5L block designator for the non-turbo was EJ25 up to EJ254, while the closed deck turbo block was EJ255.


-----

Ah! More information on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subaru_EJ_engine

PF_Flyer

Morning background movie car time. It's a 1941 Packard One Twenty, but I'll be really impressed if anyone comes up with the movie