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

kyfdx

Mr_Shiftright said:

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

'83 was definitely the last year. I had an '84 Carrera

fintail

On the highway last night, spotted a Fiero. Today saw a 2nd gen CRX in fairly stock condition mingling with the drone hordes of Leafs and X3s around here, looked tiny.

Mr_Shiftright

Good day for spotting.

Saw a '56 Cadillac 2D Coupe, yellowish, not in the best of condition but seems to be running quite well.

Also an Allante, black on black with top down. I followed it for a while into the Safeway parking lot (where I was going anyways). I have to say, taking a good long look at it from all sides---it looks rather cheesy and cheaply made. It's no 560SL that's for sure. Reminds me of a Fiero from the back.

fintail

Saw that same square light Rabbit today, and a later 80s Golf too. Has to be a labor of love to keep these things going. Also saw that same 300SD, and a later W126 with moderate side damage. An E39 M5 rounded out the afternoon.

PF_Flyer

It was an image that tried to get me into some "clickbait", but was interesting enough to look for info about it. A 1918 modification of a Model T for winter, And you thought a coffee can exhaust was cool

Mr_Shiftright

People used Model Ts for lots of things---farm tractors, splitting logs, running a saw mill, as ski-mobiles, even powering river ferries.

Nothing changed America like the Model T. Not computers, not the internet, nothing.

Michaell

Mr_Shiftright said:

People used Model Ts for lots of things---farm tractors, splitting logs, running a saw mill, as ski-mobiles, even powering river ferries.

Nothing changed America like the Model T. Not computers, not the internet, nothing.

I might disagree - the invention and proliferation of common household appliance changed our culture pretty dramatically in the 20's and 30's. Gave women more free time, and many of them went into the work place.

omarman

Those work place jobs may have never opened up or even been created without the model T economy of scale. Same for the transport and delivery of household goods and services. River Rouge isn't just a historic landmark. It really changed America like nothing else. That model T pic reminds me of the North Pole Mail Truck from Santa Claus is Comin' to Town.

hpmctorque

uplanderguy said:

Do you like me, dread college-football season and going to a big gathering where that's all that is talked about? If so, you MUST be my brother-from-another-mother! LOL Very few of us out there!

Maybe not so few, as I share your interest in cars and disinterest in sports too.

Mr_Shiftright

In order to really enjoy sports, you have to care who wins.

berri

...but that leads to stress and upset

berri

Took a look at my May Hemming's Classic today. Several interesting profiles. There was a decent article about a 53 Kaiser Dragon. Early 50's Kaiser's are vehicles you don't see or hear about much, but were kind of modern and art deco for their time. Growing up we had a neighbor who had two of them he had bought used because they were comfortable and cheap used. New, I think they were mid priced like an Olds or Desoto. He gave me a lift a couple of times to school and remember the car was pretty comfortable and a bit like being inside a jukebox. I believe they were heavy for the 6 cylinder engine, but the neighbor told me the only real complaint he had was occasional vapor lock in very hot weather, which I think wasn't all that uncommon back then.

There was also an article on the 62 Ford Fairline. That was a mid sized car I seldom saw on the road, and it's Mercury Meteor sibling seemed almost rare. I always thought that Fairlane's design style was kind of a cross between the 61 and 62 full sized Galaxie, except I think the look came across better on the smaller Fairlane platform.

Mr_Shiftright

berri said:

...but that leads to stress and upset

Nah, just root for the SF 49ers...then you already know the outcome of the game before it starts.

fintail

In the rain today, MB 300CE, unable to tell the year as it was from a distance, the same 300SD I see all the time, late 90s R129 SL on monoblocks, and an 86 Camry.

omarman

Mr_Shiftright said:

Good day for spotting.

Saw a '56 Cadillac 2D Coupe, yellowish, not in the best of condition but seems to be running quite well.

Also an Allante, black on black with top down. I followed it for a while into the Safeway parking lot (where I was going anyways). I have to say, taking a good long look at it from all sides---it looks rather cheesy and cheaply made. It's no 560SL that's for sure. Reminds me of a Fiero from the back.

Autotrader find of the week: Brand-New 1993 Cadillac Allante.
Dealer Price $77,743

Mr_Shiftright

Hahahaha.....good luck with that...decimal in the wrong place? Obviously the car is not really for sale. He should put a $25,000 tag on it and go from there. If someone offers him anywhere near that, he should hug the person's ankles, weep profusely and thank them.

tjc78

The who bought my 04 Grand Marquis had an Allante. He said that it needs "frequent repair" but loved driving it.

Mr_Shiftright

I guess any open top car can bring you pleasure. Personally I'd be shy of that Northstar engine. When that engine gets ugly, it gets very ugly.

kyfdx

tjc78 said:

The who bought my 04 Grand Marquis had an Allante. He said that it needs "frequent repair" but loved driving it.

Said every MG owner, ever..

sda

A red Dodge Carroll Shelby Daytona being driven by a teenager. Needed a good polishing, nice overall.

fintail

Saw an earlier Saab 9000 out in the rain this morning.

Mr_Shiftright

Drove a '68 Karmann-Ghia with an automatic stick shift (vacuum operated dry clutch). The entire experience was somewhat horrifying, but the car was pretty.

sda

Mr_Shiftright said:

Drove a '68 Karmann-Ghia with an automatic stick shift (vacuum operated dry clutch). The entire experience was somewhat horrifying, but the car was pretty.

IIRC from a friend's '68 Beetle semi-automatic, you had to gently press the top of the shift knob as you changed the gears. There was a low gear to use for hills and max acceleration, but for normal driving you started out in 2nd and then shifted to high, 3rd. Hardly speedy.

Mr_Shiftright

Yes, you got it right. Many people trying to operate it for the first time keep forgetting that if you touch the gearshift after it is in gear it will pop into neutral---so no resting your hand on the gear lever.

It doesn't accelerate very well but it is long-legged, so you can roll on the freeway OK.

fintail

Today spotted 2x first gen MR2, a popup lights Accord, a smoky W126 300SD, a W123 of indeterminate model, and a 93-95 or so RX7.

texases

Not one, but two Lotuseses (Loti?) - a late-model Esprit, with the body add-ons, and an Elise, which I hear has a 'If you're taller than 5' 8" you need not apply' requirement...

uplanderguy

BTW, we had a '62 Fairlane four-door when I was a kid. Dad traded it on a '67 Chevelle, new, and the Fairlane was the car that turned him off of Ford forever. Unreasonable, I know.

I like Meteors and could enjoy owning one.

Question to those here who own 'old' cars--do you park on top of anything, like plastic, carpeting, etc., over your cement garage floor? I'm wondering if I should think about this soon. I never thought about it before; just made sure my garage floor was generally clean and salt-free before parking my old car there.

Mr_Shiftright

Not a good idea. The BEST thing to do, as odd as it sounds, is to run a little fan to circulate air under the car. Plastic will just collect moisture and send it right up into your undercarriage.

If mice are an issue (wooden garages) then set traps as well.

uplanderguy

I like the sound of that; easy! Thanks for the tip.

fintail

Remember those 90s era T-Birds with shoebox Ford front end conversions? How could you forget. It appears that in Russia, they have the same taste. Here's a Crosstour with a GAZ M20 "Pobeda" conversion:



And a Kia Amanti with a GAZ 21 Volga conversion:

ab348

The difference is that both of those look better than the original car they are based upon.

fintail

Yeah, it would be hard to hurt the looks of an Amanti

Here's a BMW 6er cabrio with a Volga conversion:



It's funny that this kind of thing isn't just limited to North Americans of a certain age and maybe lack of taste.

Of course, the Japanese have done it too, with a little more ostentation:





Speaking of the Volga, a number of years ago a Russian custom shop made a cool hardtop coupe with GAZ 21 styling themes. BMW V12 inside:

berri

Suddenly it is the early 1950's

ab348

Those Japanese ones are really just awful.

The Volga front end has some charm so I can see how it is popular for take-offs. I do quite like the look of that Russian custom coupe.

fintail

Things are becoming like the early 50s in a few ways lately, not good ways.

IIRC the original Volga sedan was reverse-engineered from a 53 or so Ford, and kind of resembles one. I think the coupe is pretty cool.

xwesx

Strictly from the angle of the first photo you posted, that isn't an offensive design. I've never seen something like this state-side that wasn't a face only a mother (builder) could love.

stickguy

The 6 series one is not hat bad. Actually looks cohesive, and well done. The green jag thing is an abomination.

Mr_Shiftright

They seem to range from "heinous" to "not quite right".

berri

Shifty - are you referring to some of our comments and opinions

Mr_Shiftright

No, just my opinion of the cars themselves. I'm a self-appointed pompous arbiter of automotive styling

berri

Oh, I was just kidding. Styling is art which makes it personal preferences that often can vary.

fintail

Today - blue 560SEC, red ~1990 Sedan Deville in decent shape, very clean 80s S-10 Blazer.

stickguy

I saw one of those blazers today too. Driving like an idiot. I was at a T intersection (coming up the stump of the T to make a left. There were some cars coming across to wait for. The cross road was a through street but some houses, so with a 25 MPH speed limit (that people tended to ignore).

where the S 10 comes into play, right in front of the side street I was on, some dude in one decides to pull out and pass 3 cars at once right in front of me, at well over the SL. And I saw him while he passed that he was holding a cell phone to his head yacking away. Just made me sad.

fintail

Phone yapping, every third car here. Those did often attract an idiotic element 20 years ago, can't imagine it is much better now.

Oh, have also seen 2 first gen Saturn SL in the past 2 days.

Mr_Shiftright

I checked out a '78 Datsun 280Z for someone today. You don't see too many around anymore, as they have all dissolved into ferrous oxide. This one was pretty solid in the body but had lots and lots of needs. I rather think the person who hired me will be disappointed. But of course, not as disappointed as he might have been had it bought it blind and it was dropped on his front lawn.

kyfdx

Mr_Shiftright said:

I checked out a '78 Datsun 280Z for someone today. You don't see too many around anymore, as they have all dissolved into ferrous oxide. This one was pretty solid in the body but had lots and lots of needs. I rather think the person who hired me will be disappointed. But of course, not as disappointed as he might have been had it bought it blind and it was dropped on his front lawn.

That was the last year before the ZX, right?

Those are really nice. Find me a perfect one for $10K?

Mr_Shiftright

kyfdx said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

I checked out a '78 Datsun 280Z for someone today. You don't see too many around anymore, as they have all dissolved into ferrous oxide. This one was pretty solid in the body but had lots and lots of needs. I rather think the person who hired me will be disappointed. But of course, not as disappointed as he might have been had it bought it blind and it was dropped on his front lawn.

That was the last year before the ZX, right?

Those are really nice. Find me a perfect one for $10K?

Yes, 1975-1978 for the Datsun 280Z. They built just over 100,000 of them, of which 99,950 have rusted away

I think for a "clean driver" you're looking at $11K--$12K. "Perfect" will be more but there are limits to value no matter how much you put into these. They are not a "hot" collectible and probably won't be. The only Japanese car in this era that was produced in large numbers and is a moderately "warm" collectible is the 510 coupe and sedan. They are coveted for vintage racing.

stickguy

I knew there was a Datsun near me. Sadly, a 1st year ZX. Would not be so bad, if it wasn't the awful 2+2

http://www.turnersvilleautomall.com/inventory.aspx?_used=true&_cpo=true&_makef=datsun

stickguy

on the highway today, a tired looking jelly bean Previa. Those are getting pretty long in the tooth at this point.

xwesx

stickguy said:

on the highway today, a tired looking jelly bean Previa. Those are getting pretty long in the tooth at this point.

I see a couple of those around here, too, along with many of the 4WD Corollas and Camrys (wagons). They are starting to look pretty tired. My father came very close to buying a Previa (1992 model, if I recall correctly), until the '92 Camry came out. He bought that instead.