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

Michaell

berri said:

The Deuce was Henry Ford II's nickname

That, too.

PF_Flyer

See? We danced away from cars just a bit, but swung right back

PF_Flyer

Halloween in a couple of weeks. When I was in Savannah this summer...

ab348

Here's The Deuce at the height of his powers:

https://youtu.be/GTCd7U7VHuA

That clip is from this documentary which is quite interesting:

https://youtu.be/cDbJd2-FqkM

uplanderguy

When I have more time, I'll watch that last segment you posted. Thanks for posting.

This all reminds me of the excellent (IMO) miniseries "Ford: The Man and the Machine" (based on "Ford: The Men and the Machine" book) with Cliff Robertson and Hope Lange as Henry ad Clara. It doesn't gloss over anything. It was made in the late eighties. Matter of fact, I recently watched it again on YouTube.

Mr_Shiftright

Well you know, you have the judge the man in his Time, not our Time.

explorerx4

@uplanderguy,
You just need to watch and listen to the first 30 seconds. That will be worth it.
I'll watch the rest at some other time.

fintail

In traffic this evening, saw a resto mod looking early 60s Ford pickup, and a JDM faux hardtop sedan, ~1990, maybe a Skyline, far from stock and maybe not cared for.

PF_Flyer

Our local morning radio runs the Bobby Likis car clinic minute or something each morning, and this morning his "news" was about "drive by wire" and how we're moving toward having a Playstation type controller with joysticks and how that will allow more control... uh huh... but like a lot of stuff I hear or see, it set me off on a web wandering where I ran across this concept

Mr_Shiftright

Must be fun to drive in Phoenix.

ab348

Maybe we will see a revival of Ford's Wrist-Twist steering from the 1960s too.

uplanderguy

Henry the first was an amazing talent; I think it's a shame how he treated Edsel and how much power he gave that goon Harry Bennett though. Even fifteen years after Edsel was gone, the car named after him didn't get any more respect than he did.

PF_Flyer

ab348 said:

Maybe we will see a revival of Ford's Wrist-Twist steering from the 1960s too.

You'd really need a steering column that would collapse in a front impact with that

PF_Flyer

Coming back from the store I was passed by an AMC Eagle, complete with fake wood siding that had seen better days
Couldn't get the camera in play fast enough, but it was a bit rougher than this example

xwesx

PF_Flyer said:

Coming back from the store I was passed by an AMC Eagle

Shameful!

PF_Flyer

Well the red light JUST turned green ...heh

texases

Was this the guy?

PF_Flyer

So... *I* shoulda passed an AMC Eagle is what the drift of this is...LOL

Mr_Shiftright

xwesx said:

PF_Flyer said:

Coming back from the store I was passed by an AMC Eagle

Shameful!

He must have been stopped.

kyfdx

xwesx said:

PF_Flyer said:

Coming back from the store I was passed by an AMC Eagle

Shameful!

Well... he does drive a Versa.

PF_Flyer

And it was a red light, and I have a manual tranny, and the dog ate my homework...

texases

A clean, could be (but probably not) original, unmolested RX-7 on the way to work. And it must have had a stock working exhaust system, no loud noises.

Michaell

texases said:

A clean, could be (but probably not) original, unmolested RX-7 on the way to work. And it must have had a stock working exhaust system, no loud noises.

First generation?

xwesx

*offers @PF_Flyer a virtual hug*

texases

Michaell said:

texases said:

A clean, could be (but probably not) original, unmolested RX-7 on the way to work. And it must have had a stock working exhaust system, no loud noises.

First generation?

Oops - yes, first gen, meant to include that. Paint was faded, but seemed to match.

Michaell

texases said:

Michaell said:

texases said:

A clean, could be (but probably not) original, unmolested RX-7 on the way to work. And it must have had a stock working exhaust system, no loud noises.

First generation?

Oops - yes, first gen, meant to include that. Paint was faded, but seemed to match.

I imagine these are becoming scarce.

My sister owned an '85 RX-7 - she bought it used in 1987 for something like $12,000 (I remember her payments were $262/mo, and she worked her behind off waiting tables to make every payment).

I was fortunate enough to drive that car occasionally - it was a blast for something with only 100HP.

She cried the day she sold it - she was having her first child and a 2-seater wasn't really family friendly.

fintail

On the road today: the same Volvo Amazon/122 wagon I see all the time, late run Saab 9000, Pontiac Aztek

fintail

Out early this morning, in a parking garage, I saw the most pristine Alero I can imagine, it had some kind of cheerful personalized plate (I forget what it said).

stickguy

a real weird one. Early 1st generation dustbuster pontiac minivan. What an odd looking beast these days.

ab348

fintail said:

Nice car! I know it isn't everyone's taste, but I think white over grey works perfect for MBs of this era, and aside from two tone blue, this is the ideal color. Where it has lived would make me want to see it in person (I prefer PNW cars), but it looks good. I'll guess low teens, these are undervalued cars.

ab348 said:

I can see @fintail in this:

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1994-mercedes-benz-e320-cabriolet-5/

Good estimate, sold for $15,250.

Mr_Shiftright

Well not really undervalued. They are nice used cars, not collectibles, so the market is pretty well established. I was going to say about $13.5K for it. Fairly bought, fairly sold.

fintail

In terms of production numbers, build quality, and timeless styling even relative to other cars of the era, they are pretty special. I think their stodginess does a lot to keep values low.

ab348

If anyone was thinking about buying a nice boat, here's one:

https://losangeles.craigslist.org/lgb/cto/d/1970-oldsmobile-98-holiday/6357348917.html




Price is a bit ambitious but seems very nice.

fintail

That's a body style seldom-seen these days. I like the PW and AC.

fintail

Saw an early DSM Eagle Talon Turbo in surprisingly excellent condition - 100% stock looking.

roadburner

I could see owning a Holiday 88; I like the idea of bucket seats and a floor shift in a big luxocruiser- I've always equated bench seats with the white shoes/belt, AARP Early Bird Buffet crowd.

Mr_Shiftright

ab348 said:

If anyone was thinking about buying a nice boat, here's one:

https://losangeles.craigslist.org/lgb/cto/d/1970-oldsmobile-98-holiday/6357348917.html




Price is a bit ambitious but seems very nice.

I would say a good buy at that price but not much chance of any foreseeable appreciation in value---but easily sold for what you paid.

ab348

roadburner said:

I could see owning a Holiday 88; I like the idea of bucket seats and a floor shift in a big luxocruiser- I've always equated bench seats with the white shoes/belt, AARP Early Bird Buffet crowd.

The Holiday 88 used the bucket seats and console from the Cutlass. I've never seen one but always wondered if there was a lot of unused space between the seats and console or doors since the 88 platform was wider.

berri

88's were big sellers in those days, but I think move up buyers tended more toward the Buick Electra over the 98.

tjc78

I love the line about the GM sources engines from various divisions.  That stuff would never fly today. 

texases

They had to state that because of the GM engine swapping fiasco.  I had no problem with it. 

sda

ab348 said:

roadburner said:

I could see owning a Holiday 88; I like the idea of bucket seats and a floor shift in a big luxocruiser- I've always equated bench seats with the white shoes/belt, AARP Early Bird Buffet crowd.

The Holiday 88 used the bucket seats and console from the Cutlass. I've never seen one but always wondered if there was a lot of unused space between the seats and console or doors since the 88 platform was wider.

I can't imagine one with the the 260 V8, it was smooth but anemic. The 350 or 403 Olds engine please, though the 350 Chevy engine was used as well.

fintail

Nice trio spotted today, I suspect belonging to Craig/Bruce McCaw (local zillionaires born into money and built it into much more). First car was I think a Hispano-Suiza sedanca deville style car, then a LeMans style Bentley, then another period car I couldn't see the front of, but no doubt another exotic. All in line out on the streets of downtown Bellevue during rush hour.

berri

Fin, more than a few articles out there about Amazon 2.- The common theme - careful what you wish for

fintail

Definitely a mixed blessing being one of the hotspots of the new economy. Still, I'll take it over the alternative .

berri

Yep, there is seldom a free lunch!

fintail

Out jogging today, spotted a very clean BMW E34 in white with factory chrome wheels. I was thinking to myself that these are much less common than W124s, and must be harder to live with. Very soon after, a W124 diesel purred down the street.

roadburner

The E34 six cylinders are simple to keep running; the V8s are considerably more involved.

fintail

I suspect they also can have electrical issues, and maybe even cooling system issues like later models. I know for early-mid 90s era MBs, the engine isn't the problem, it's the electrical things linked to it,

fintail

I thought this was a cool pic. MB and MB Museum are active on facebook, and share old pics now and then. A few days ago there was a cool S-class evolution video which showed a fintail. Today is an assembly line pic, this one showing W114/15 sharing the line with W113 SLs. I suspect this is from initial W114 production in January 1968 (I see a final run W110 fintail further down the line):