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

Mr_Shiftright

That refers to "biological"--the blood and sweat that goes into keeping them running.

texases

A nice looking salmon color '57ish T-Bird...in the Walmart parking lot. Very nice looking. 

explorerx4

A 67 Mustang convertible, kind of a dark Terracotta color.
Not sure if I liked the color, but the paint looked really nice.

stickguy

at Kohl's, a nice BRG MGB. Later (68+) chrome bumper car. Looked clean, not pristine. Sounded good when the older couple who owned it drove away, top down. I liked it.

also, for sale, a VW converted with the body kit to resemble a 1940ish Ford coupe.

and finally, on a trailer (one of those 3 car jobs towed by a dualie PU, which always seemed dicey to me), a very sharp looking bright ready early Colt (70's someplace). Had not seen one of those in years. Must have been restored. Why, is anyone's guess.

stickguy

a nice condition Allante, parked with top down. Light champagne over 2 tone champagne/red interior. Not bad looking. Owner looked just like I expected, right down to the big straw hat.

Mr_Shiftright

I like the looks except for the dashboard. I'd call it "period attractive".

tjc78

The guy who bought my 04 MGM pulled up in an Allante.  Said he loved it, but was expensive to keep on the road. 

fintail

Good one this afternoon - pastel sky blue (maybe a shade or two lighter than the fintail) big 63 Mercury convertible, top down, looked to be in excellent condition.

Mr_Shiftright

That's interesting. I just saw a '64 Mercury Marauder 2D HT. These are BIG cars...not worth much, but impressive to look at.

stickguy

there is a later 60s, possibly a 70, one of those near me. very large.

berri

I like those old Mercury Marauders. Their a bit unique roofline set them off back then. Really, most upper label cars were large back in those days. Didn't get the name land yacht for no reason

Mr_Shiftright

Compared to their sister ship, the Galaxie 500 XL, they seem to be a bargain right now.

fintail

And most 390 and smaller Galaxies are fairly cheap compared to their GM counterparts, too.

Goodie on the road this evening: white 61 Impala convertible, obviously restored, looked brand new, completely stock looking. I don't want to sound bad, but I was surprised, the driver and passenger were a couple of youngish Asian guys. American cool transcends cultures.

Mr_Shiftright said:

Compared to their sister ship, the Galaxie 500 XL, they seem to be a bargain right now.

berri

I think interest has shifted a bit toward the 61 Impala from the 63.

Mr_Shiftright

berri said:

I think interest has shifted a bit toward the 61 Impala from the 63.

Price guides think so.

ab348

berri said:

I think interest has shifted a bit toward the 61 Impala from the 63.

The '61 is a much better-looking car IMO. The '63 and especially '64 are too boxy for my liking. The '62 is sort of a transitional design between the swoopy '61 and boxy '63, so it would be #2 on my list of big Chevys from that era.

berri

Ref: Mercury Marauder Compared to their sister ship, the Galaxie 500 XL, they seem to be a bargain right now.

Your comment got me to thinking last might; I wonder if a 58 Pontiac Bonneville is cheaper than a 58 Impala or the 55-57 Pontiac Safari is cheaper than a similar Nomad? Personally, I liked the Pontiac's better, but it seems like the Chevy's have a better following.

Mr_Shiftright

The '58 Bonneville is worth more than the '58 Chevy Impala 348 by at least 20%. This would increase even more if the Bonny were a tri-power.

The '57 Nomad is worth more than the Safari by a considerable margin

berri

Thanks

tjc78

Mr_Shiftright said:

The '58 Bonneville is worth more than the '58 Chevy Impala 348 by at least 20%. This would increase even more if the Bonny were a tri-power. The '57 Nomad is worth more than the Safari by a considerable margin

Yes my Uncle has a 58 Bonnie and he said he was surprised it was more expensive to obtain than most similar condition Impalas. 

berri

58 Pontiac's and the Bonneville in particular, just seem like sharp cars for their one year run to me! Always liked the 61's too.

Mr_Shiftright

58 Bonnie Tri-Power convertible, is a REALLY big bucks car.

tjc78

Pretty sure my Uncles has the trips but it's a Coupe.   It's a stunner 

jpp75

tjc78 said:

The guy who bought my 04 MGM pulled up in an Allante.  Said he loved it, but was expensive to keep on the road. 

@Michaell and I saw a couple of these at the Mecum auction a couple of weeks ago. The interior on both definitely looked worse for the wear.

laurasdada

A silver Mazda RX-8.

Mr_Shiftright

Oh, I like those. I just wouldn't like to have to repair it. Apparently, the sweet spot for the RX-8 is 2011 on up, manual transmission only. Good luck finding one.

sda

Keeping up with 70mph traffic on I85, a clean '87 silver Olds Toronado Trofeo with FL Plates. A/C was working as windows were closed, 90 degrees out and I could see the tale tale water dripping underneath. It looked small surrounded by SUVs.

stickguy

On I295, a nice looking 67 Mustang convertible. Beautiful condition. bopping along with the top down, with a happy looking middle aged couple driving it.

tifighter

I have seen this car listed for awhile but don't know anything about them. Still, it seems like a pretty cool car.

stickguy

pretty neat. seems cheap enough.

ab348

That was posted in the "Project Cars" thread back in June. Unique, but not necessarily attractive.

fintail

Where's uplanderguy to chime in again about that Lark?

Spotted today, early Chevette 2 door, yellow, in a shopping mall parking lot. A little worse for wear, but apparently on the road, and a very nice maybe restored early 60s Ford pickup.

stickguy

running around upstate NY, a nice shiny red (probably recently painted) red MGB. From the ride height, a later bumper car, but with no bumpers on it at all.

Mr_Shiftright

stickguy said:

running around upstate NY, a nice shiny red (probably recently painted) red MGB. From the ride height, a later bumper car, but with no bumpers on it at all.

You can convert them to chrome bumper, but it's not as easy as it sounds.

stickguy

No bumpers at all looked bad, but easy to do!

Mr_Shiftright

Which was probably the case there.

kyfdx

Those Alfa coupes in rally trim, with no bumpers... is a great look

kyfdx

Mr_Shiftright

"Outlaw" Porsches look good, too:

stickguy

speaking of old porsches. All original, former race car barn find.

Mr_Shiftright

I like bathtubs when they are outlaws or all banged up. I would drive that one just as it is.

stickguy

I chatted with the owner. he has had it for a long time (30 years? Maybe 40). I think it is a 58. Anyway, he has been trying to research the history of the car. I forget what he had learned, but quite interesting. Been mechanically brought up to driving standards, and the body he clearcoated to preserve the patina. Incredibly cool to see it in person.

Mr_Shiftright

Looks like an old SCCA racer, probably just regional.

fintail

Topless afternoon here (don't get too excited) - older International Scout without a top, and a top down 80s 911 Cabrio, no CHMSL so pre-86 unless owner-removed. White on white, 80s chic.

explorerx4

A couple of 2 gen old Eclipse convertibles, one silver, the other gray.

Michaell

I saw these tonight at the grocery store, just three spaces from each other. 

ab348

I like the TR6 though the bolluxed front license plate mounting detracts.

The other one.. meh.

kyfdx

Too bad the E30 is a 4-door...

I always loved the TR-6. What's up with the wood stops atop the bumper, though?

uplanderguy

RE.: Mercury Marauders of the early-and-mid-sixties--wasn't this only a roofline? I mean, the model was still Monterey or Montclair or Parklane, right?

uplanderguy

This isn't really 'spotting' an old car, but I've been away from here for a bit until today. Long story short, we bought a second 2015 Cruze LS (non-turbo) for our daughter with the PT Cruiser. We traded our 2011 Malibu for the Cruze. We wanted her to have a car she wasn't concerned about driving far. So my wife offered to drive the PT with 114K miles! It drove fine the 150 miles home from our daughters' place. It rattles up front, no doubt needs struts and her old apartment complex had humongous speed bumps she'd always blow right over at speed. But it starts right up, doesn't sound bad and shifts right, and still looks decent (well, for a PT) and has ice-cold AC. My wife, whose back and one knee bother her, actually likes the PT's seating position.

We replaced our younger daughter's '09 Cobalt, which was totaled in an accident in late May, with another '15 Cruze LS a couple months back.

For used cars, I searched specifically for '15 Cruze LS's. Low-line model, no turbo (thinking this is better in the long term), two Chevy dealers near us, and lots of remaining new-car warranty on them (particularly powertrain--'15 was the last year for 100K mile powertrain warranty, another reason I looked specifically for '15's). A lot coming off of lease now. Reasonably priced as a late-model car IMHO. Downside: the LS only has a timing belt, which GM recommends changing at 97.5K miles. I never had a Chevy with one of those before. But I think the 1.8 is a Europe-sourced engine. But 97.5K is a lot of miles away on both cars.

So, by accident I guess, we own three Cruzes (a '17 and two '15's), a PT Cruiser, and a Studebaker Cruiser.