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

fintail

Saw an XJ40 style Jag in traffic today. The brake lights were always on, but the CHMSL wasn't working. I wasn't too shocked.

Also saw a Vanagon Syncro and a green 70s Westfalia.

Mr_Shiftright

Talk about crazy money---those Vanagon Syncros get it.

fintail

This one was interesting too - it had a bit of snow on it - no real snow around here for at least 50 miles or so. Someone is using it, rather than it sitting wasting away in some rich dork's garage.

stickguy

my goal in life is to be a rich dork with a big garage.

sadly, I am grossly failing at the rich and big garage (or anything interesting in the one I have) aspects of this.

kyfdx

stickguy said:

my goal in life is to be a rich dork with a big garage.

sadly, I am grossly failing at the rich and big garage (or anything interesting in the one I have) aspects of this.

One out of three isn't bad. I'm right there with you.

Mr_Shiftright

Alternatively, you could have a big yard full of cars not worth putting in a garage

laurasdada

I have a big garage. Unfortunately, I have to share it with 104 other condo units. And, I only have one deeded space.

But, dork: check.

fintail

Today spotted a green Vanagon, kind of a cross between the VWs seen yesterday.

If one is to be a rich dork with a big garage, please drive your cars now and then

uplanderguy

I believe the interior door "handle" is actually a button.

That was most likely what really happened--she just couldn't figure out how to get out. It was funny to watch and I'm sure was a staple of every tour there. The tour guide had to open the door from the outside for her.

andre1969

Spotted a '59 Plymouth wagon the other day. Alas, it was on tv...

PF_Flyer

Not sure I ever saw one of these "in the wild", but it drove across my TV this morning


1968 Subaru 360

fintail

Nice spot. Man, the PC/thought police would be all over that today. I wonder what nice Mopar convertible Miss Hathaway was driving in that episode.

DeSoto back on the road yet?

andre1969 said:

Spotted a '59 Plymouth wagon the other day. Alas, it was on tv...

ab348

Welcome back @andre1969 ! Please come back and visit more often! We miss you here.

ab348

Last night I watched the Wheeler Dealers episode where they did over an AMC Pacer. I thought it was a bit odd because they really didn't seem to have any idea what to do with it and while their end result was interesting - for a Pacer - they spent way too much and ended up with something that had virtually no market. I felt bad for Edd in the end when they couldn't sell it. I think that was the first car I've seen them do that had a no-sale result.

andre1969

fintail said:

Nice spot. Man, the PC/thought police would be all over that today. I wonder what nice Mopar convertible Miss Hathaway was driving in that episode.

DeSoto back on the road yet?

By that time, Miss Hathaway was driving a red Challenger convertible, although they did show her in a dune buggy for an episode or two.

And no, the DeSoto's still in the shop. Although that's not a bad thing, as we've had just enough ice and snow that the roads are a bit salty now, so I'm hoping I don't have to bring it back home and expose it to the outdoors until the spring time.

texases

Anyone know the make of their truck?
edit - never mind, IMCDB says it's a 1921 Oldsmobile.

fintail

I cringed at that one. The effort and resources they used could have easily performed a decent enough restoration, but they had to do a goofy custom. The restored one would have found a buyer somewhere, but the custom was just odd.

ab348 said:

Last night I watched the Wheeler Dealers episode where they did over an AMC Pacer. I I felt bad for Edd in the end when they couldn't sell it. I think that was the first car I've seen them do that had a no-sale result.

fintail

I assume the shop owner would store the car for you until roads were clear? I know that era of Mopar aren't known for their rust-resistance

Buick still on the road? I am sure the Chryslers are still around.

andre1969 said:

By that time, Miss Hathaway was driving a red Challenger convertible, although they did show her in a dune buggy for an episode or two.

And no, the DeSoto's still in the shop. Although that's not a bad thing, as we've had just enough ice and snow that the roads are a bit salty now, so I'm hoping I don't have to bring it back home and expose it to the outdoors until the spring time.

sda

A very stock '55 Bel Air 4dr sedan. Two tone, white upper, medium metallic blue lower. Full wheel covers, whitewalls, factory tinted glass. Looked like a nice driver.

fintail

Today saw a brown Rabbit 4 door, round headlights, so an earlier example I guess, and a Volvo 240 wagon.

berri

Spotted a '59 Plymouth wagon the other day. Alas, it was on tv...

Well doggies

fintail

Saw a K-car LeBaron coupe today.

fintail

A few oldies on the road today: Chrome bumper MGB, ~65 Chevelle 2 door HT, ~68 Impala 4 door HT, 70s style hot rod 56 BelAir 2 door HT, very clean Chevy Luv (driver admired the fintail), 60s era Beetle convertible, a couple of older W126s.

andre1969

Here's a couple I spotted in DC over the weekend. One obscure, one not so much.




I took a pic of the Park Ave, mainly because I thought it was interesting how it just sort of blended in with the cars around it. This was Buick's flagship at the time (albeit a basic trim level), but it just doesn't seem to have much "presence" to it, and from this angle doesn't appear to be much bigger than most of the other cars around it.

And the second one, the '82-86 Supra, I just thought was pretty cool. I haven't seen one of those in awhile.

texases

A coincidence - we were just talking about that gen Supra. I liked it with the fender flares, others didn't.

PF_Flyer

andre1969 said:

Here's a couple I spotted in DC over the weekend. One obscure, one not so much.




I took a pic of the Park Ave, mainly because I thought it was interesting how it just sort of blended in with the cars around it. This was Buick's flagship at the time (albeit a basic trim level), but it just doesn't seem to have much "presence" to it, and from this angle doesn't appear to be much bigger than most of the other cars around it.

And the second one, the '82-86 Supra, I just thought was pretty cool. I haven't seen one of those in awhile.

I love the "in the wild" pics

berri

You know Andre, sometimes a car without much presence is just that, but sometimes it means the car will still look good years down the road.

uplanderguy

Agreed, berri. At the time, I thought '73 Monte Carlos were far-more daring than the '72, but they haven't aged nearly as well I don't think.

When that era Park Avenue came out, I remember they were seen as somewhat tall. There was a color that was like spring grass green that I always liked, but I never saw many of them.

andre1969

I just looked up the specs...the '97-05 Park Ave is 57.4" tall, 74.7" wide, 206.8" long, on a 113.8" wheelbase. That was pretty tall for the time. I think my old 2000 Intrepid was 55.9" tall. I want to say my Grandmother's old '85 LeSabre was 56.7" tall, and my '79 New Yorkers are a fairly low-slung 54.5", and my '76 LeMans is only something like 52.9". Headroom in the Park Ave is cavernous, even with the sunroof.

I've seen a few Park Avenues in that spring grass color, pretty nice. There was a darker green, sort of a forest/emerald green, that I've seen from time to time as well, that was pretty nice.

PF_Flyer

Was watching Barrett-Jackson a little earlier and this little beauty came up for bid

andre1969

Spotted this circa '74-76 Cougar this morning, at the local BP. Looked like it was in really good shape. I actually took a video of it, but I don't think you can post videos to Edmunds, so I took a couple screen captures from it. Definitely something you don't see every day, and I don't think I've seen this car locally before.

fintail

Ah the Gran Torino Elite Cougar. Out in the rain too. Even out here, those are never seen. Probably a regular customer at the local gas station

uplanderguy

Geez, that looks pretty original/authentic to me, from those pics. I was never a fan, but you gotta admire an oldie in good shape, period! I wouldn't take it out in that weather, though!

sda

https://youtu.be/QPK8vy8n9PM

Here's a fun blast from the past. It is embarrassing how poorly the Cougar performed.

andre1969

I never was a big fan of these Cougars, either. I love the shade of green on this one, though, and it seemed to be in very nice shape. I thought Mercury did a good job back in that era of making their full-sized cars look upscale compared to the Fords, but when it came to the midsize models, I don't think they worked as well. I thought the Torino was a really good looking car, but the Montego/Cougar just seemed a bit over-styled, heavy-handed, and awkward. Come to think of it, I wasn't so crazy about the Elite, either. I didn't care for the narrow grille and the single, inset headlights. I much preferred the Torino with its quad headlights and wider, less fussy grille.

Now in 77, when the midsized cars were re-skinned, I thought the Cougar was pretty nice, in all trim levels, whereas I wasn't so crazy about the LTD-II with its stacked headlights.

And yeah, the roads are a bit messy around here now. They've salted them a couple of times. I have no intention of bringing my old cars out of the yard until probably mid-March.

ab348

Those mid-70s Cougars were really popular around here. I'd say they were just behind the Monte Carlo in terms of local popularity. Saw far more of them than the Grand Prix or Elite. Cordoba did well here too, I'd say they were in the #3 slot.

fintail

I think the stacked lights of the LTD II and fussy front end of the Elite are a bit pretentious. I think Ford was in full-on wannabe-MB mode for several years starting around the introduction of the Granada.

roadburner

I never liked the Cougars or Elites- they were neither sporty or luxurious- and the styling was forgettable at best.. I thought the Grand Prix in SJ trim was the sweet spot for the personal luxury coupes of the 1973-1977 era.

xwesx

fintail said:

I think the stacked lights of the LTD II and fussy front end of the Elite are a bit pretentious. I think Ford was in full-on wannabe-MB mode for several years starting around the introduction of the Granada.

Man, I hope not! If they were, I think they must have failed at that attempt. LOL

fintail

Oh, they tried:



And there were many more like this.

xwesx said:

Man, I hope not! If they were, I think they must have failed at that attempt. LOL

sda

fintail said:

Oh, they tried:



And there were many more like this.

xwesx said:

Man, I hope not! If they were, I think they must have failed at that attempt. LOL

And they drove horribly. A friend had a '76 Granada Ghia with the 250 six. Talk about slow. And you had to constantly correct the steering to keep it going straight, forget any fun in corners, it just rolled and plowed.

ab348

They were basically a Maverick chassis, which was basically a 1960 Falcon chassis. I know our Maverick was only good up to about 50mph, then got very squirrelly. And we had the 250 "big six" in ours, which was very underwhelming.

PF_Flyer

fintail said:

Oh, they tried:



And there were many more like this.

xwesx said:

Man, I hope not! If they were, I think they must have failed at that attempt. LOL

I think I sorta kinda CAN tell the difference

uplanderguy

Yeah, really--painting it the same color and taking photos of both at the same angle doesn't really do it.

I know, GM bias, but I always realllly liked the '75 Nova LN, a one-year trim level, but this was one example where Chevy added a trim level but Ford came out with distinct styling for a line. It usually was the other way around (example: Monte Carlo versus Elite).

sda

uplanderguy said:

Yeah, really--painting it the same color and taking photos of both at the same angle doesn't really do it.

I know, GM bias, but I always realllly liked the '75 Nova LN, a one-year trim level, but this was one example where Chevy added a trim level but Ford came out with distinct styling for a line. It usually was the other way around (example: Monte Carlo versus Elite).

The LN was sharp, especially with the revised roof line for the '75 sedans. I thought Olds did a nice job with the Omega Salon version. I came close to buying a '75 Omega hatchback in '77, just before I bought my Sunbird. The Omega was metallic brown with brown interior, 260 V8, no a/c. I was disappointed how weak the V8 felt, didn't feel much different than the '71 Vega GT that I was then driving. I also wanted a/c, so I decided against that purchase.

explorerx4

How did you guys do on the quiz in the ad?

Mr_Shiftright

Yes I can tell

imidazol97

ab348 said:

They were basically a Maverick chassis, which was basically a 1960 Falcon chassis. I know our Maverick was only good up to about 50mph, then got very squirrelly. And we had the 250 "big six" in ours, which was very underwhelming.

The difference was the front suspension design. I had a Torino 1973 and it was really sensitive to wheel balance because of the lack of a two-point contol arm on the lower suspension. Instead it used a link back to the frame or something like that. In the Mercury version of those cars the suspension was beefed up and the whole front end made the car feel more stable.

fintail

I hope everyone at least got #7 right

explorerx4 said:

How did you guys do on the quiz in the ad?

ab348

Wednesday nights at Barrett-Jackson seem to be for a lot of really bad ideas and projects that should have gone in a different direction. The odd nice restoration sprinkled in amidst a bunch of clones, tribute cars, and abominations.