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

PF_Flyer

You're just full of creative movie ideas

Who would you cast in The Euroland Express?

ab348

Since I have not been to a movie since 1998 I am probably not the best person to ask about such things. The only actor who comes to mind is Liam Neeson.

roadburner

PF_Flyer said:

The lesson from today's film... A Volvo truck beats a Citroën

I know, but I cheated...

PF_Flyer

Heh... well it is just a flashback scene from the movie.

P.S. That was a hint...

And so was that!

fintail

Spotted today: typical green 70s VW Transporter, 86-87 Civic wagovan, I assume a 93-94 or so Mustang Cobra (on SHO style wheels), coincidentally just after that a green 92-95 SHO, BMW E21.

texases

Followed a '70/'71 Torino GT for a while. Very nice body and paint, good sounding dual exhausts. Wonder what engine it had. 

roadburner

Dad had a bright yellow 1970 GT with Laser Stripes and the 351C 4V with the shaker hood.

texases

A few out today-1960 Pontiac Bonniville (?) in great shape, 1st gen RX-7 at the grocery store, and a nice small bumper MGB with chrome wire wheels, seemed a little overdone. 

Mr_Shiftright

Nothing worse than a tarted-up B.

sda

A very nice Triumph TR-7, yellow with white stripe. A lot of convertibles out today, and people running around with windows and sunroofs open including me on this very unFebruary Spring like day. It is sunny and almost 80 degrees! Winter will return, alas.

fintail

Saw a 59 Caddy 2 door HT today, a later MB W123, and nothing else comes to mind - surprising as it was a lovely day after a rough week.

Mr_Shiftright

Saw a Datsun Fairlady---real nice condition, too but an odd goldish-platinum color that didn't do the car justice IMO.

sda

A black two door Buick LeSabre T-type. Its been years since I've seen one. Very clean, looked very nice as it drove by.

roadburner

Mr_Shiftright said:

Saw a Datsun Fairlady---real nice condition, too but an odd goldish-platinum color that didn't do the car justice IMO.

I had an SPL-311(1.6 liter pushrod four) from 1976 to 1993. Fun car.

jwm40517

A Pontiac Fiero on the street today.

Mr_Shiftright

They are. I had, briefly last year, an early one, but it needed too much work to justify a restoration--at least not like I'd want to do it. So I told it for a quick flip, for rather decent money I thought. The car needed every single part to have a human hand upon it. You know how it goes. You do the paint and then the upholstery, once "decent" now looks like an old thrift store couch. So you do that, and then the carpeting looks dingy. Then of course, old chrome against new paint---awful! Then you open the shiny hood and see a cruddy engine bay and engine. So then you pull that out and you view rust and grease encrusted suspension.

It just never ends. Just write a check for $12K--$15K for a restored one and be done with it.

Mr_Shiftright

Somebody brought by a 1966 Coronet 440 convertible today---a deep Prussian blue with a white top. The poor Coronet always plays second fiddle to other more popular Mopars, such as the Chargers and Super Bees etc that came soon after.

The owner did a nice job of modding the car. It has an actual 440 (the model designation "440" didn't mean the engine size), with fuel injection from MSD, headers, Hotchkis suspension, Wilwood discs front and rear, vintage AC, Hedman headers, flowmasters, 17" Torque Thruster wheels, new top, glass, carpets, posi-traction.

It just looked and ran great! Drove like a modern car.

stickguy

see, that is what I would want to do with a car like that. Keep it classy and stock looking, and upgrade the underneath bits that make it function.

the biggest mistake (IMO of course) on many of them is the wheels. Too flashy and big, with too little sidewall. Just look wrong to me. those wheels or some sort of Crager tribute (or updated rallye type wheels) look a lot better. and 17" is plenty.

ab348

The #1 and #2 problems with a car like that Coronet are always the steering and the brakes. The brakes would be addressed with the Wilwood kit. The steering requires either swapping steering boxes or changing out the entire front end suspension for something else, which can get pricey.

Mr_Shiftright

Yeah, it has the Hotchkis kit which pretty much takes care of everything. It's called the TVS B-Body kit (Total Vehicle Suspension) and you're right, it is pricey at $3250. But Hotchkis sure knows what they are doing.

andre1969

The other day I was out running errands during my lunch break, and spotted this Camaro with oversized, blingy wheels...



Sorry, not the best picture quality in the world...

andre1969

Today on my lunch break, I spotted this '68 Chevelle in the parking lot at work. I've seen it around before, but this time had the phone camera at the ready, so I was able to snag it...

fintail

Chevelle looks like I would have imagined it in the 70s - top getting a little tatty, larger rear wheels. Nice color.

texases

I thought there was a tear in the top, it's the car behind...

imidazol97

That's a great color for the Chevelle and the white top sets it off. I wonder what color the interior is? Blue?

fintail

D'oh. Still has that vibe.

andre1969

wow, my eyesight must be getting bad. As soon as I looked at the pic I posted, my first thought was "damn, I didn't remember that rip in the top!" Didn't notice it wasn't a tear, until you pointed it out, texases...

ab348

Pretty sure that Chevelle is Grotto Blue Metallic. It was on a gazillion Chevys in '68. Could also be Island Teal though. Hard to tell.

PF_Flyer

Movie time! I especially like the Mercury with the Breezeway rear window.

texases

That Breezeway window has always stuck in my head - our neighbors had one when I was small, around 1960.

berri

IIRC the Mercury breezeway greenhouse was quite popular when it first came out for even the low line Monterey ('63 I think), but by 65 or so not so much. I think the first of that window came out around 57 for upper level like Turnpike Cruiser. I liked it. Don't know how functional it really was, but it was different.

andre1969

berri said:

IIRC the Mercury breezeway greenhouse was quite popular when it first came out for even the low line Monterey ('63 I think), but by 65 or so not so much. I think the first of that window came out around 57 for upper level like Turnpike Cruiser. I liked it. Don't know how functional it really was, but it was different.

The '63 Monterey my Grandparents owned had the "Breezeway" rear window. Granddad bought it, so that he could use it to haul lumber, a ladder, and other long items. It still might have been a bit awkward though, because I don't think that back window rolled all the way down.

berri

Come to think of it, I believe you may be right on that. The complaint I recall hearing was the lack of a parcel shelf behind the rear seat, but I don't know why that would have been an issue for most people.

texases

No parcel shelf?? Where would I put my 6"x9" Jensens???

kyfdx

Mount them on the rear deck, in front of the trunk. Then, leave that window rolled down.

PF_Flyer

Parcel shelf? Isn't that where kids would ride for fun back then? I know *I* did

berri

hahaha... the only thing I ever see on them is stuffed animals or sports team logo hats.

I remember the 58-60 Lincoln Continentals came with the breezeway window. They had one of those parked next to a 59 Cadillac at the Escondido, CA car museum and while both were big cars, the Lincoln was huge. They also had a 60 Ford, which I learned to drive in, next to a 59 Ford. The 60 while low, was noticeably wider and longer than the 59, or the 60 Chevy or Plymouth for that matter. Add that to three on a tree and power nothin' and maybe that's why the driver's license guy passed me on the first try

berri

Speaking of 60's Mercury's, I always liked the Maurader's of that decade. I believe they came out around 1963 and got gussied up in the latter half of the decade.

PF_Flyer

Today's movie wasn't a movie that had cars in it, it was definitely an automotive flick that this beauty appeared in. Never was a big Ford fan, but it would be cool to tool around in one of these

jwm40517

My father had a 63 Mercury S-55 , the bucket seat version when I started to drive. I believe the rear window went all the way down as I remember friends rode in the back with legs in the car, sitting on the deck with upper body above the roof line.

roadburner

@uplanderguy- The March 2017 issue of the British magazine Thoroughbred and Classic Cars has an article on a man who has several Packards and Studebakers in his collection. More here.

fintail

Porsche day - saw a 944, and in the rain, an earlier ~1970 911, driving slowly.

Mr_Shiftright

Heat and defrost weren't very good in those cars, nor the wipers. He's probably white-knuckling it.

fintail

By slow I mean like ~15 in a 30. Older driver, probably regretting his decision to take it out, I know the rust proofing on those cars wasn't exactly perfect.

uplanderguy

Our neighbors had a '63 Monterey Breezeway four-door sedan in a rose mist-sort-of color. I seem to remember the back window going the whole way down, and as a kid I thought that was quite cool.

I didn't know this at the time, but apparently through '67, even though they no longer used this funky roofline, you could still get a "Breezeway" but the window only went down an inch or something.

fintail

Back in the earlier 00s, there was a 66 Mercury with a Breezeway window for sale near where I lived, one like this:



It was extremely clean inside and out, and could have been had for no more than 3K or so, I think. Probably wasn't a bad deal.

uplanderguy

RE.: That '68 Chevelle--I'd started another thread about this, but it's weird--they actually made some Chevelle Concours coupes in '68; I remember one in my hometown and there are pics online. Think "Malibu Classic". They had either the Cutlass Supreme or Buick Skylark Custom notchback front bench seat and additional trim outside. I have never seen one piece of showroom material for them; only the Concours hardtop sedan and of course, Concours wagons which is just what Chevy called a Malibu wagon from '69 to '72.

uplanderguy

I always thought the full-size '65 and '66 Mercurys were sharp cars. The Lincoln influence was becoming apparent.

iluvmysephia1

That '66 Merc is cool, fin. Would be a good deal for $3,000 if the power train was decent. Wouldn't need to be perfect. Just decent.

PF_Flyer

jwm40517 said:

My father had a 63 Mercury S-55 , the bucket seat version when I started to drive. I believe the rear window went all the way down as I remember friends rode in the back with legs in the car, sitting on the deck with upper body above the roof line.

Heh...someone would probably call the cops on you now