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

kyfdx

stickguy said:

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

Every Z or ZX 2+2 was butt ugly. Just terrible proportions

fintail

Those 79-83 Zs make me think of "Fast Times at Ridgemont High". I also remember a girl in my class in grade school, maybe around 1985-86, had one in her family fleet, strange the things that stick in your mind.

berri

I recall those Camry wagons ran as taxicabs out of Washington National (Reagan) for many, many years A stoutly built car.

Mr_Shiftright

kyfdx said:

stickguy said:

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

Every Z or ZX 2+2 was butt ugly. Just terrible proportions

Everyone is somebody's baby.

fintail

You did that on purpose for the "Fast Times" reference, right?

Mr_Shiftright said:

Everyone is somebody's baby.

fintail

Spotted a 70s Jeep pickup in traffic today, and a two tone black and silver early 90s DSM of unknown model.

fintail

Interesting new-to-me pic from AMG - an early testing car from the beginning of the firm:



I wonder what that exhaust is attached to (the fintail also has a modified rear bumper setup) and who converted the wagon. It resembles a Universal but the air vent behind the C-pillar is something I have never seen on one.

berri

That rear end could be in a James Bond movie

roadburner

I remember Car and Driver calling the ZX a Japanese Thunderbird; that pretty much sums it up.

fintail

It was a bad guy car in an often overlooked but enjoyable Bond film:



It meets an unfortunate end:

(note to self: don't roll the fintail)

berri said:

That rear end could be in a James Bond movie

roadburner

OHMSS...

fintail

Yep. It's a fun one. Telly Savalas is great and the cars are cast perfectly. Sad ending though, unusual for a Bond movie.

explorerx4

Are they trying to fit a giant bagel through the roof on the one with the unusual exhaust?

Mr_Shiftright

I thought it was a Muppet.

fintail

I was thinking the donut in the sunroof (a sunroof 220SE would be a desirable car in fintail land) was a wreath, like from a racing victory. A 220SE is a gas car, I suspect with a hopped up engine or a V8 in that unit.

sda

Within 20 minutes 3 Saturn Ion 4 doors. One in vey nice condition, the other two rode hard.

fintail

Another rainy afternoon, saw an early 80s Subaru wagon, a Porsche 944, and that W123 with front end damage out on pizza delivery.

kyfdx

fintail said:

Another rainy afternoon, saw an early 80s Subaru wagon, a Porsche 944, and that W123 with front end damage out on pizza delivery.

Spotted a really nice 944 on Thursday, in Lexington, KY.

fintail

A stock white 2nd gen Prelude just drove by my window, welcome to the PNW.

stickguy

around local today, an early 80s (pre-3rd brakelight) Malibu 4 door.

tjc78

Boat tail Rivieria in period orange/bronze 

Michaell

This was at the Fiat / Alfa / Maserati dealer. 29,000 miles:

fintail

Maserati Bora, cooler than new Maseratis, which always have an air of spoiled rich international student, at least in my area. Either an early car, grey market, or conversion, as it doesn't appear to have US-spec railroad tie bumpers.

Michaell

fintail said:

Maserati Bora, cooler than new Maseratis, which always have an air of spoiled rich international student, at least in my area. Either an early car, grey market, or conversion, as it doesn't appear to have US-spec railroad tie bumpers.

Don't know about the provenance. The dealer sold is for $200k, which was probably too low, according to the SM.

ab348

The Bora was such a great-looking design. But I cannot imagine the nightmare of actually trying to keep one in good running order. Especially these days.

fintail

70s exotics can be pretty cool designs, and are now appreciated. 20 years ago you couldn't give stuff like that away. And no doubt maintenance-intensive, to say the least.

fintail

This is interesting, VW Autostadt calls the fintail a "milestone" car

The car shown here is a final run 220SE, distinguished by the "Automatic" badge and flat top horn ring.

Mr_Shiftright

Michaell said:

fintail said:

Maserati Bora, cooler than new Maseratis, which always have an air of spoiled rich international student, at least in my area. Either an early car, grey market, or conversion, as it doesn't appear to have US-spec railroad tie bumpers.

Don't know about the provenance. The dealer sold is for $200k, which was probably too low, according to the SM.

That's about the right price.

Mr_Shiftright

Interesting little story for you Audi & Benz lovers:

http://www.motor1.com/news/78190/mercedes-made-audi-into-what-it-is-today/

fintail

Cool stuff. That's not a bad looking car, really resembles a pagoda sedan, and make a fintail firmly look like something from the 50s.

sda

I always thought that the late 60s and 70s Audis had a MB influence. I didn't know the history that MB sold Auto Union to VW. Mom had a '71 Audi 100 LS automatic when we lived in France. I liked that car, seemed very tight and solid. It was not the most reliable and it had in board mounted front disc brakes that ate brake pads at alarming rate of a set every 5k mi. It had frequent carb issues as well and wouldn't start or would run poorly and like it was running on 3 cylinders. The local shop got to know the car well. These aren't great pictures, but date from '76.

fintail

Some of those were sold stateside as well. They really have a MB design theme from the side profile. I bet it was a real headache getting parts for them on this side of the pond. Very rare today.

ab348

They were seen reasonably often up here back in the mid-1970s. Had a reputation for being troublesome. Fairly popular among university profs and the like.

laurasdada

Visiting Portland, OR (who knew that there was another Portland, in addition to the real one in Maine?! ). Saw a silver Caddy ELR, still a handsome design, Acura RLX, not. At the MB dealer, red Ford GT, second gen. And a red Porsche 944, not bad condition.

Not a lot of interesting cars in the 4 days we've been here. But, a lot of rain. "If you can't see Mt. Hood, it's raining. If you can see Mt. Hood, it's about to rain."

fintail

Look what parked beside me at work today:



Very clean car. This would be model years 1979-80 only. Someone was definitely taking care of it - I have never seen it before. I wonder if they parked alongside me on purpose.

On the road also saw a 300CD, a 300TD, R129 with rare pano roof option, nice first gen RX-7.

xwesx

Given the space available in that garage, I would surmise was surely intentional. I mean, opportunity knocked, and also was a good way to ensure a ding-free day.

fintail

Yep, that classy old beast is not going to get a ding from me. I notice it was also parked near the pillar, which is a strategy I also use. The garage is actually decent compared to many, but watching some people park can still be a little cringy.

berri

I like your shade of blue better. Don't get to say that much these days unfortunately.

texases

An Opel GT passed in front of me tonight, loud exhaust but keeping up with traffic just fine. Can't remember the last time I saw one. 

berri

Years back I had a friend who owned on of those. IIRC they had kind of a backwards suspension, but it was a fun car and a decent looker for the day as well.

fintail

I like my blue in dry weather, but it is a pain to keep clean in wet weather. We've had one of the more extreme rainy seasons on record here, the car is going to get a good detail once the seasons change in a few months.

berri

Yeah, you guys seem to be the target for the jet stream this year. makes things better in the Midwest though

fintail

On the road today - somewhat dirty but healthy sounding Alfa GTV, Volvo 240 wagon, one of the billions of BMW E30 still on the road here, Mitsu 3000GT, hipster-ish Dart/Valiant that I see now and then.

xwesx

An old 1980-era VW Rabbit (manual transmission diesel). A friend of mine had one that we drove to death in high school. That was one tough car!

iluvmysephia1

Early 80's VW Rabbit - manual transmission diesel - good car. One of our best friends ever had one, did all the maintenance himself, loved the car immensely.

berri

What's that white stuff

xwesx

White? I dunno - it all looks grey to me!

Forecast is calling for above-freezing temperatures in the next couple of days, which will be a first since early October, so I'm looking forward to that! We topped out at 25 again today.

fintail

I'm in BC for a long weekend. Not too much old on the road, as it has been a long hard winter. But I notice there's more and more JDM stuff here each year. The "in" thing now seems to be the Hilux Surf - aka early 90s 4 Runner. JDM little vans are a thing too, esp 4x4 models. Also saw a MB S450, which was a short run model.

berri

I wish I could remember the name of the guy and place that I read about recently in Victoria who specializes in restoring big exotic stuff like Bentley's

stickguy

I was in Bermuda a year ago, and there are all kind of little Asian micro and mini vans running around there. Some real neat stuff (and some true oddballs).