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

PF_Flyer

Afternoon matinee

fintail

If those are supposed to be Russian plates, they aren't very convincing.

Spotted today in traffic - Volvo 7 series Turbo and I think a K-Car LeBaron.

stickguy

on my regular dog walk route, there is a house with 2 Volvos in the driveway. Just decaying at this point I guess, with no plates on them. One is a 7 series old school box. The other is more interesting, an 850R. no clue is AT or stick though.

most interesting feature is that both have a 3 decal in the back window (Dale jr.). Seems odd on a Volvo.

kyfdx

Can't you walk up there and look in the window of the 850R and see if it's a stick? We really need to know.

stickguy

well, it is on the driveway, but it is the one closest to the road... maybe if it looks like no one is home. I can always blame the dog I guess.

I think it has tinted windows (I hate those) so it will be harder to tell from the rear.

berri

Hey Stick, you're Jersey so no big deal (unless the owner is a Philadelphian)

stickguy

well, sometimes there is a car with PA plates parked in the road out front. and lots of the people around here migrated out of Philly. so who knows?

I assume if I got caught and explained why they would not be too upset. Though my dog would be barking like a madman at him, so that would probably give me some space! or the cops. one of those.

sda

Stick, do you have a new dog that joined your family?

stickguy

same foster we have had since early January. He got placed but it did not work out, so he came back. Been matched with a new family, and if all goes well, we will move him out again in 2 weeks.

berri

Fostering is an admirable thing. Saves many dogs.

ab348

PF_Flyer said:

Afternoon matinee

One of the Bourne movies?

fintail

Out for a bit this morning, saw an E-Type, TR3 (within a couple minutes of each other, have to be connected) and a 67 Galaxie.

bhill2

berri said:

Fostering is an admirable thing. Saves many dogs.

We agreed to foster a 3-month old kitten once, because she was still so young and she was used to having other cats around and we had mature cats (Persians, which are basically self-propelled pillows). She's twelve now.

berri

Sometimes failed fosters work out well

laurasdada

Spotted silver Caddy XLR and a black current gen Jag XJ this morning. Not sure which is more rare.

Mr_Shiftright

Dodge Magnum--stuffed into someone's side yard, between house and fence, rear wheels on ramps, covered in leaves and dirt. Body and paint seem quite decent.

PF_Flyer

ab348 said:

PF_Flyer said:

Afternoon matinee

One of the Bourne movies?

Before Bourne. Two principal actors in the film are in the car...IF you could ID them

And Lee Marvin is NOT in the car, but is in the flick

explorerx4

I was thinking Gorky Park. Inspector Renko, one of my favorites. although in the books he is nothing like William Hurt.

PF_Flyer

Da... Gorky

fintail

Saw a Merkur XR4Ti and a square headlight Rabbit this afternoon.

fintail

On the road in the rain today - another 7 series Volvo - maybe a turbo as it had period looking 5 spoke wheels, very clean; and a MB W123 with front end damage doing pizza delivery - it sounded healthy anyway.

tifighter

fintail said:

Saw a Merkur XR4Ti and a square headlight Rabbit this afternoon.

Speaking of square headlight Rabbits!

Mr_Shiftright

Honda Crosstour....oof, that rear end styling takes one's breath away.

Michaell

Mr_Shiftright said:

Honda Crosstour....oof, that rear end styling takes one's breath away.

Kind of like a mullet - business up front, party in the back.

I suspect the designers assigned to the Crosstour got put on the Civic project - there are enough similarities.

ab348

Michaell said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

Honda Crosstour....oof, that rear end styling takes one's breath away.

Kind of like a mullet - business up front, party in the back.

I suspect the designers assigned to the Crosstour got put on the Civic project - there are enough similarities.

"Son of Crosstour" = Civic hatch.

fintail

Nice, something my fintail could dust.

Crosstour isn't the obscure one, that's the ZDX. I think I saw one last week.

tifighter said:

fintail said:

Saw a Merkur XR4Ti and a square headlight Rabbit this afternoon.

Speaking of square headlight Rabbits!

Michaell

fintail said:

Nice, something my fintail could dust.

Crosstour isn't the obscure one, that's the ZDX. I think I saw one last week.

tifighter said:

fintail said:

Saw a Merkur XR4Ti and a square headlight Rabbit this afternoon.

Speaking of square headlight Rabbits!

I've actually encountered a few ZDX on the roads here. Certainly, um, unique.

texases

I was going to post this on the 'new car' thread, but since we're talking Crosstours and ZDXs, I saw their German cousin at lunch, a 328i GT. Hardly see any of them around. At least it's better looking than the 5er GT...

Michaell

texases said:

I was going to post this on the 'new car' thread, but since we're talking Crosstours and ZDXs, I saw their German cousin at lunch, a 328i GT. Hardly see any of them around. At least it's better looking than the 5er GT...

Better looking in the way that Phyllis Diller is "better looking" than Rosanne Barr?

fintail

Living in premium car land, I see the 3er and 5er GT now and then. 3er reminds me of a Crosstour.

sda

Michaell said:

fintail said:

Nice, something my fintail could dust.

Crosstour isn't the obscure one, that's the ZDX. I think I saw one last week.

tifighter said:

fintail said:

Saw a Merkur XR4Ti and a square headlight Rabbit this afternoon.

Speaking of square headlight Rabbits!

I've actually encountered a few ZDX on the roads here. Certainly, um, unique.

I saw a BMW X6 (?) very similar styling to the Crosstour and ZDX, quite awkward. The rear end sits high which gives it a jacked up look.

sda

A very nice light silver blue with darker blue lower cladding late 80s Mercedes 300 2.5 Turbo diesel. It was keeping up with 50-60 mph traffic with little black smoke coming from the exhaust. I followed it for several miles.

fintail

Today I saw a W123 diesel with a weird dent low on the passenger door, but running smoothly with no smoke. A short time later saw the old couple I see at least weekly, out in their W126 300SD, which purrs quietly enough, probably does less harm than modified pickups 30 years newer. Goofy sighting was a 90s era Discovery with all kinds of "adventure" bric a brac - spare on roof, shovel, etc.

jpp75

I'm in Portland, OR for work and saw a Pontiac Ventura in a light green color.

texases

Couple of unusual Porsches on the way home: A clean 928 and an assumed fake 356 Speedster.

explorerx4

Not that old, but a Brown BMW xDrive 328d wagon. Didn't get close enough to see if it had a manual trans.

fintail

Saw the early 80s Mazda 626 coupe I see now and then, I remember the car as they are rare, and this one is a nice light blue, and has minor rear end damage that sticks in my head. Also saw a 626 sedan, I think 1986-87, and a W123 from a distance, probably an early car (hubcaps, period colors).

sda

I saw a ridiculous looking 99 Honda Accord coupe. It was jacked up at the rear with large tires that stuck out of the wheel wells, a huge rear spoiler and blatty exhaust. Truly awful.

sda

fintail said:

Saw the early 80s Mazda 626 coupe I see now and then, I remember the car as they are rare, and this one is a nice light blue, and has minor rear end damage that sticks in my head. Also saw a 626 sedan, I think 1986-87, and a W123 from a distance, probably an early car (hubcaps, period colors).

That sounds very much like the '80 626 coupe that I had. It was a light silver blue with matching silver blue cloth interior. I think the only option that it had was a/c. Manual steering, windows, locks, no cruise. One thing I liked it was a true pillar less hard top. The rear windows rolled completely down giving that full open look. It was a good car. The blue 626 was mine parked next to the Pontiac that I traded for it.

https://tse2.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.Qd_Mn62H__iI7UJA-MZnqwEsDg&w=264&h=197&c=7&qlt=90&o=4&dpr=1.5&pid=1.7

berri

I think that is a Mazda GLC on the other side of the Pontiac Sunbird

sda

berri said:

I think that is a Mazda GLC on the other side of the Pontiac Sunbird

It is, with the 626 on the near side of the picture. It was a Mazda dealer located in downtown Knoxville, TN. before they moved to west Knoxville.

Mr_Shiftright

@sda -- so when exactly did your automatic transmission fail? Or were you lucky enough to have a manual trans on the 626?

fintail

That's the one. The car I saw was maybe half a shade darker, but I know old photos can be washed out. I think those are nice looking cars, as you mention, a true hardtop - which was a fading trend by then (and has been kept alive by MB).

When I was a little kid, I remember an woman neighbor traded her yellow Fox Mustang for a then-new 626 coupe. This would have been 1981-82, I think. I remember it had a "Luxus" badge. I was interested in the Mustang, not as much in the Mazda, I guess it was a more mature choice

sda said:

That sounds very much like the '80 626 coupe that I had. It was a light silver blue with matching silver blue cloth interior. I think the only option that it had was a/c. Manual steering, windows, locks, no cruise. One thing I liked it was a true pillar less hard top. The rear windows rolled completely down giving that full open look. It was a good car. The blue 626 was mine parked next to the Pontiac that I traded for it.

fintail

Throwback - popup lights Accord with a bra. Don't see many cars with a bra anymore. I remember we had one for the Tempo, and it seemed very complicated to install, at least to my young eyes. I remember it being on the car for barely any time at all.

sda

Mr_Shiftright said:

@sda -- so when exactly did your automatic transmission fail? Or were you lucky enough to have a manual trans on the 626?

It was a 5 speed and even with the manual the car was not very quick.

berri

We had an 81 Mazda GLC. Passed it on to a relative, who down the road passed in on to another relative. It finally rusted through the floorboard (Chicago) in the high 100's. No real mechanical issues, although it had flimsy metal and plastic. I thought it was a bit more fun driving around in town than a Civic when I chose. A bit roomier for my six foot frame behind the wheel as well.

sda

berri said:

We had an 81 Mazda GLC. Passed it on to a relative, who down the road passed in on to another relative. It finally rusted through the floorboard (Chicago) in the high 100's. No real mechanical issues, although it had flimsy metal and plastic. I thought it was a bit more fun driving around in town than a Civic when I chose. A bit roomier for my six foot frame behind the wheel as well.

I liked the GLCs. The '80 626 that I bought in '83 seemed a bit tinny and some interior parts flimsy. It was starting to show rust in the rear quarter panel, though very minor, in only 3 years. This was in east TN where cars don't rust until they are much older. IIRC it had 55k on it when I bought it and traded it with 94k. It never gave any trouble.

fintail

Saw a completely stock 2nd gen MR2, and even more amazing, a completely stock ~1990 240SX.

Michaell

Saw a 911 SC at the library today. Ok condition.

Mr_Shiftright

One of Porsche's sturdiest designs, the SC. ('78-'83 I think).