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

andre1969

but I love it! I like big cars anyway, but usually preferred 2-doors to 4-doors because I liked the styling better. One exception to that though, was in the mid 70's, when cars like the Buick Electra, Olds 98, Caddy DeVille, and Chrysler New Yorker could still be had as a 4-door hardtop, but the 2-door models had fixed rear opera windows and padded landau roofs, in the personal luxury coupe idiom.

I always thought 2-door cars were easier to get into and out of than 4-door cars, unless, of course, you're in a really tight parking space. Then you're screwed! And visibility is better too, at least IMO. The only 4-door car I can think of (with the exception of a hardtop sedan) where I can look to the side and not be staring at the B-pillar, is the '79-81 Chrysler R-body. Anything else, and the B-pillar is right there, in the way.

PF_Flyer

Saw one of these Volvo 262C's (might have been a '78) parked right next to a Mazda 626...LOL

PF Flyer
Host
Pickups & News & Views Message Boards

fintail

A 328 is a somehow tempting toy, but if I was ever actually get a Ferrari, I'd want to have enough money to get one I really like, such as a Berlinetta Lusso

I swear, every one of those Volvo coupes survived

jrosasmc

How and why those nasty Volvo coupes survived is beyond me.

Mr_Shiftright

It's amazing the trouble Volvo went through merely to give drivers a pain in their necks by lowering the roof and doing absolutely nothing else to the car.

someone tried to sell me a very nice looking Porsche 928 cheap ($4,500) and it actually drove very well but you know, I'm going to heed my own advice this time.

andyman73

A coworker has a 65 Buick LeSabre, 4door hardtop,dark green/black interior. Has 310 V8(must be economy option, tho I don't think it would be able to get out of it's own way.) Original one owner 85k+, garage kept miles. Runs and drives nice. No rust, a few door dings, only 3G. If I had that laying around, I'd buy it and put a nice Big block with at least one quad, preferably a dual quad set up. And a nice header on down exhuast package.

Pass by every day two 1st gen. Supras for sale. One is decent, the other needs paint for sure. And as stated over on the Chronic Car buyers forum, on of my friends is driving a red Evo VIII. There is a blue Evo VIII here in town, pushing over 450 horses. See a BMW Z8 everynow and then also.

Andrew

mbukukanyau

PF_Flyer

PLEASE remember to restrict the size of images you add to posts to about 640 pixels or less in width. Larger images can be slow loading for those using dialup and will stretch the Town Hall margins forcing the use of scroll bars to read the text in posts.

PF Flyer
Host
Pickups & News & Views Message Boards

andre1969

my '79 NYer feels like that when I'm going around a sharp turn too fast...feels like the left front tire is leaving the ground! For some reason, it never seems to do it on hard right turns, though.

One of my friends had an '02 Pontiac Grand Prix coupe for a rental a few years back, and she let me drive it. I swore I felt the same thing!

That 610 looks like the rear left wheel is leaving the ground, too!

jrosasmc

Andre- Can that '79 NYer still smoke the rear tires?

andre1969

if I pour lighter fluid on it and strike a match! ;-)

fintail

I'd like to see a 610 done up like that

I went to the store late last night and saw a 57 Corvette in the parking lot. It was a pretty car, kind of a light gold with off-white coves. It had the hardtop on, and had medium width whitewalls instead of the ultra-wide ones you often see. They fit the car well. It must have been a work in progress...I noticed the lock cylinder for the trunk was completely absent, and there was just a hole where it should be.

kyfdx

I'm not sure how old you are, but I graduated high school in '75, and it was very simple... Two doors are cool... four doors are not.

How else would you explain Eldorados, Grand Prixs, Mark IVs, etc? A lot of those are on the same frame as the big sedans.

Anyway, if you were driving in the '70s, only Grandpa had a four-door LOL.

regards,
kyfdx

andys120

I graduated college ten years before you left high school and I thought 2 door Caddys and Lincolns were dumb then (convertibles excepted-'tho Lincoln's ragtop was a 4 dr!).

Next you'll tell me a Mk VII is cooler than an M5. <:^P

kyfdx

Hmmm.... you must have missed the "grandpa" reference then.

Just kidding... seriously, not that we are from different generations, but that was what we considered cool in the '70s. You know.. along with polyester leisure suits, double knit pants, etc..

Of course, that was then, this is now.. No more Marks made.. but, you can send that M5 giftwrapped. ;-)

regards,
kyfdx

andre1969

Next you'll tell me a Mk VII is cooler than an M5. <:^P

Why yes; yes it is ;-)

jrosasmc

I always thought the '70s Imperials were pimpy myself, in a cool way that is! (Ha)

lemko

...who ran a successful travel agency who bought a new Chrysler New Yorker or Imperial every two years. Those cars were truly awesome and represent to me what a Chrysler once was and should be today. He started buying Cadillacs when Chrysler started building teeny pimped-out FWD K-Cars and calling them New Yorkers. I'm starting to see a bit of that again with the new 300.

andre1969

I think just about anything with those thickly padded seats that had the little buttons in them, making them look like a Lazy-Boy sofa is pimpy. That's one thing I like about my '79 5th Ave, is that it had an optional interior that, while it still had little buttons in it, just had a cleaner, less pimpy look to it. IMO, at least.

By today's standards, most people would just judge them both as pimpy, but here's a regular NYer leather interior: http://www.tocmp.com/brochures/Chrysler/1979/NewYorker/1979Chrysl- erNewYorker/10_JPG.html

And here's a 5th Ave: http://www.tocmp.com/brochures/Chrysler/1979/NewYorker/1979Chrysl- erNewYorker/07_JPG.html

Oddly enough, a lot of 5th Ave buyers actually preferred the pimpier interior, so in '80 or '81, they swapped them, making the pimpier interior standard on the 5th Ave.

andys120

My folks had one of those "pimped out K-Cars", a late 80s New Yorker
(appropriate considering that before FL, they were New Yorkers). It was all I could do to keep from blurting out "Ma, it's a Compact masquerading as a Limo!"

You'll be pleased to hear they wised up and got the real thing, Lemko, a Sedan DeVille.

andre1969

my ex-wife, who knows absolutely nothing about cars, ragging on one of those early 90's Imperials, calling it a wanna-be Caddy!

jrosasmc

I see absolutely nothing wrong with the early '90s K-based Imperials. I personally believe they represent the last bastion of the "old Chrysler."

lemko

...was the last car that could carry that look gracefully. The K-Cars were just too tiny. It was like pimping out a Corolla. Anybody remember the K-based limousine and Executive Sedan? I guess these were used by washed-up celebrities and business executives tottering on the edge of bankruptcy.

andre1969

if we're going to see pimped-out versions of the new 300? It's blocky enough that it actually might be able to pull off a landau roof that covers part of the rear doors, as Chrysler was so fond of doing with just about everything from the 1979 NYer on up to the '92 (or was it '93?) Imperial/NYer/5th Ave.

One thing that those old K-based Imperials and 5th Avenues had going for them was that they were incredibly roomy cars inside, at least legroom-wise. The Imperial/5th Ave was a 5 inch stretch of the 104.3" wb Dynasty/New Yorker. All 5 of those inches went into the back seat, making it almost limousine-like! It created an awkward look though, making the greenhouse appear too long, especially in the back part, kind of like those BMW 7-series and Jag XJ sedan stretches that gave you a bigger back seat. It just threw off the proportions of the car.

I don't think something like a Dynasty or NYer is a bad looking car, though. Very formal and archaic looking compared to something like a Taurus or Sable of the time period, but not bad compared to those shrunken, squared-off FWD LeSabres, Electras, 98s, and 88's.

Lemko, there's a junkyard near me that specializes in Mopars. Back when I first started going there, back in 1989 (my Granddad took me there to look for a new front-end clip when I wrecked my 1980 Malibu), they must've had about 10 or 15 of those old K-car limos! I'm sure they're all long gone, now. It's been awhile since I've been to that junkyard now. Partly because my Intrepid doesn't break down nearly as often as my older Mopars did. But also partly because they don't get much cool RWD stuff in anymore. Used to be able to go in there and see all sorts of stuff from the 60's, 70's, and an occasional 50's or 40's car. They had enough '67-69 Darts that I could've probably used the pieces to build a complete one! And M-bodies up the wazoo. Last time I was there though, it's been increasingly FWD, although I think they still had a '55 Plymouth and a '56 Dodge. I remember they also had a '58 Olds (I think it was a 98 4-door hardtop) and a '55 or '56 Buick Special 2-door hardtop. They also got an occasional car that I felt like rescuing, but then common sense would take hold. Once they got in a '67 Bonneville 'vert. I was married at the time, and thought it would be cool to buy it for the wife, so we would have his & her's '67's!

They also got in a nice '65 Newport 2-door hardtop one year that only needed a rebuilt tranny to be running. I would've bought it, but had just bought an '82 Cutlass Supreme like a month before.

I did buy my '79 Newport from them. In retrospect, I probably shouldn't have, as it only cost $250, but cost about $900 to get through inspection. And then the tranny died ($650). Then it started having a failure here and there, about once a month or so (parking brake cable, starter, steering column broke, power steering pump needed to be re-sealed, etc. When the water pump finally went out, that was the last straw. It was summertime, and the a/c didn't work, so I used that as an excuse to get something newer.

jrosasmc

Andre- I have something you'd like: '68 Coronet Deluxe coupe, 225 slant-6, 3-on-the-tree, guy wants $175 for it. It's in my hometown in VT.

Speaking of which- for those of you who have never been to the Green Mountain state, now's the time to go!

andys120

I agree Jros, this might be the best summer weather we've ever had in Northern New England.

kyfdx

I think the new 300 looks kind of pimped out already.. It reminds me of a cartoon car, or a hot rod that has had the top chopped.

jrosasmc

Lately I've noticed a phenomenon of many New Englanders owning second homes/getaways, or "camps" as we call them. Example: My neighbor owns a camp (one-bedroom ranch in the woods) one town south of mine, a mere 8 miles away, where he lives for the entire summer. Ever notice that?

andys120

Sure have. We knew a family in Salem that owned a camp on Island Pond in Derry, the next town.

mbukukanyau

think the new 300 looks kind of pimped out already.. It reminds me of a cartoon car, or a hot rod that has had the top chopped.

I agree, I think once those who must have it buy it, sales are going to fall like clintons new book sales have dropped. DC has a design problem where their cars are a hit with a certian crowd who want attention grabing cars, and they do not appeal to the ordinary car buyer

fintail

People still buy the PT, and it's been out for 4 years.

There's a woman down the street from me who is 80 if she's a day old...and she has a new 300, non chrome wheels, in a gray-green. I can't imagine her being anything but an ordinary car buyer. The 300 has just as good a chance of being a long term success as it does being a fad.

m4d_cow

does anyone here know if the new zephyr is gonna be produced or not? cos i could swear i spotted one down the road few days ago
hell i thought its just a concept car ???

american brands (e.g caddi and lincolns) are starting to make some great looking cars, and somehow for the 1st time theyre growing on me
i cant say anything about the older models, particularly in the 60's and 70s since i probably wasnt even borned yet lol

kyfdx

Are you lurking here? I might be going to look at a '90 Carrera sunroof coupe. The ad says 65K miles, never driven in winter, slate gray. And...... $18K.

I haven't called yet.. A couple of things have my radar up.

1) The phone number in the ad is a cell phone.
2) The rest of the ad mentions 2 wheel drive and six cylinder. Would that be what you would put in an ad for a Porsche? Ads like that make me think it might not be the advertiser's personal car.

Anyway.. anything I should be looking for? The only Porsche I've owned was the previous generation ('84 Targa), and that has been awhile. I've always heard that the '90,'91 models were problematic.

Thanks in advance for any advice,
kyfdx

Mr_Shiftright

Risky business a 1990 model. There are known issues and also the car was about 90% totally new engineering vis a vis an '89 car. Many Porschephiles feel the car was released before its time.

First of all, we have the dual mass flywheel issue. If the car's clutch doesn't feel beautifully light and smooth, add $2,000 to your repair budget.

Now for the serious stuff. All C2s built before June 1991 *might* develop (some do, some don't) oil leaks between the cylinder and block joining surface4. If "your" car has these leaks,(pretty easy to spot on a lift) you can add an engine disassembly to your list (and might as well do the clutch). So figure $8,000 to correct the head defect and $2,000 for a new clutch. Now that's not a rebuilt engine, just new pistons jugs and gaskets.

Okay--so what does all this mean? That all 964s are crappy cars? No. What it means is that if you cannot verify "your" 1990s history, and if the seller cannot demonstrate that these issues have been corrected in the car's 14 year lifespan, then you'd best pass on the car or at least, if you are hot for it, take it to a Porsche dealer for scrutiny and advice. Eventually SOMEONE with a 1990 car has been or will be left standing when the music stops.

Last RED FLAG--price is $10K below retail for a very nice one. Why is that? Is the seller a known philanthropist or ???

andys120

seen amid the race bound traffic in Loudon NH this AM. This black car appeared to be in nearly perfect original shape, a pretty good ride for going to the NASCAR races.

I also spotted a MC of mid-'80s vintage and a number of the current fwd versions. These last might qualify as obscure cars considering how seldom they're normally seen.

fintail

Yesterday's obscure sighting for me was limited to a pretty clean example of the last series AMX, the Spirit hatchback type. Today should be better, Sunday, sunny, I think there's a show and shine somewhere around here, etc.

Ebay time:

You could do worse for $1500

Not many of these left on the road

This would be cool of one had a MB dealer or shop

Early Iso

The Custom Cloud still makes me chuckle

Pretty Peugeot

Beautiful DeSoto

At about 1/6th the asking price, it might be good for Andre

Only in Germany could one ask so much for a fintail in this state

And my pick of the day, an early MB 600/M100. This is a very interesting car. Rare in SWB with divider, and it is also a Euro model with the VERY rare velour interior, which looks to be in very nice condition, and first series headrests. Serial # points to it being the 41st 600 built. I dunno about the 2 tone paint, it is sitting funny, and a line like "BRAKES ARE NOT WORKING, AND NEED TO BE GONE THROUGH, HYDRAULICS, AND ELECTRICS, ALSO NEED ATTENTION" means the car will swallow $25K to be roadworthy...but I still somehow like it. So much less ostentatious than later 600s. I hope a crazy millionaire saves it.

andys120

My buddy's Dad had the MG-badged version of that Austin 1100, an unusual and interesting car for it's time, when transverse motor fwd cars were unheard of. The MG 1100 was astonishingly roomy, cornered like crazy and had typical British build quality, my buddy slammed the door with his gf in the car and the side window shattered.

The Iso Rivolta with it's combination of Italian body and one of the great variants of the Chevy small block (the 327) would be a cool car to have but that particular example needs a frame-up resto.

I agree that that's a beautiful DeSoto. The MoPars of '55 and '56 with their Italianesque lines really appeal to me.

As for the M-B 600 SWB--WOW! I really like those, not that I'd attempt to take one on, tho' it'd be on my list if I won the Megabucks.

The two-tone on it looks quite correct for the period.

kyfdx

Thanks for the advice... Yeah, the price was a big red flag also, but it also intrigued me. And only 64K miles on a '90 hardtop. I'm still waiting to hear back from the guy. You make it sound pretty scary, though.. I bought my '84 Targa in '90 with 53K miles for $20K. Drove it for four years and sold it for $16.5K with 70K miles. Not too bad, but I did put in a clutch, re-did the Targa top with new seals also and a set of tires. I figured it cost me about $100/mo in maintenance/repairs with the only mechanical fix being the clutch.

Looking at the price of a set of pistons in the aftermarket parts catalogs almost gave me a heart attack. I figured if I had to have an engine rebuild, I was looking at $6K just for the parts. After I bought the car, I got married, and when my son was born, the car just had to go... I couldn't risk a $10K repair bill.

Another question: I see an '01 Boxster with just 12K advertised by a private seller locally for $26K. What do you think would have the most expensive future repair issues: That Boxster or a nice under 100K mile Carrera from the '86-'89 range? Of course the Carrera would probably be $5K-$10K cheaper, and the Boxster might have a year of warranty left.

regards,
kyfdx

PF_Flyer

Was behind an AWD Ford Festiva hatchback today. Looked sort of like a Stanza "wagon" I had at one point. The AWD badge is what made me notice the sucker...

fintail

I don't remember an AWD Festiva at all. That has to be rare.

That MB 600 is tempting to me too...if only I was rich. The two toning seems odd in that the MB two toning I am familiar with is always roof/body, not a side split. Not the best colors either, but they look original (colors, not paint). I don't know much about 600 specs though. I do know the car would look excellent on medium width wide whites

fintail

I went to the car show today. It was a pretty small event and there wasn't a ton of selection, but a few oddballs caught my eye:

Customized c.54 Vette. I am not a fan of doing this to a rarer car, but it turned out pretty OK

I prefer it done this way, though. This is a 55, with a first year V8

1960 Impala in a gorgeous color combo, perfect for the car

Surprisingly enough, it's only a 6

57 Buick 4 door hardtop

View showing 3 piece rear windshield and continental kit

The fintail alongside a 59 Caddy. Kind of shows two different styling ideals from roughly the same time. My car wasn't in the show...but I've learned you can get good parking at a show if you drive up in an old car

What not to do - 63 Galaxie convert with a continental kit. No no no. Pontiac next to it was very pretty

Porsche 356 Super 90

Porsche Speedster. I think it was a real one, but I didn't ask. It was not perfect...chrome, paint etc showed age

68 Mustang GT with a 428 Super Cobra Jet engine option, very loaded car. Owner had documents claiming it was 1 of 1

Old Toyota Corona with modern Toyota FI engine

Unrestored 1929 Harley

Both ends of the 1930 car market

Packard was very impressive, and the owner actually drives it, which is awesome. It even had dirt under the fenders

A real trunk

50 K mile original 42 Ford. Original paint, interior, etc. Needed some cleaning...owner wanted like 12 grand for it

This is for lemko I guess....big 88 Caddy sedan with 27 K on it. Car was in time-warp new condition. It might as well have been 2K.

It even smelled new inside

kyfdx

1) '54 Vette... There is a local restaurant chain having their 50th anniversary in business giving one of these away. I kept thinking it was a shame that they weren't having somewhere between their 37th and 47th anniversary.

2) Four of us rented one of those '88 DeVilles from Avis to take a trip to Naples one time. About 2000 miles round trip. It was a pretty nice ride, and the rear seat room is incredible, with a trunk to match.

lemko

That Brougham is the d'Elegance package. Mine is the "regular" Brougham with a "tuck and roll" leather interior versus button tufted. The biggest difference between the '88 and '89 is the grille. The '88 has an eggcrate pattern and the '89 has a vertical bar grille. Other than that the cars are identical. A friend of mine has an '88 with over 250K miles on it. He recently had it repainted and it doesn't look too bad.

Mr_Shiftright

RE: Mercedes 600....

Seriously scary cars. They are so complex they border on mind-boggling. You just don't bring them to your local Benz shop. They'll chase you out with pitchforks and torches.

The hydraulic system for instance works many things, like windows and the rear seat adjustments(!) When I worked for Benz, we used to have fun chopping pencils in half with the windows. The hydraulic pressure is something like 2500 psi. It was considered DANGEROUS to work on them, and we were warned that a burst line could cut right through upholstery, to say nothing of a finger.

Given that a water pump in the box costs $1,500, I would say that $25,000 wouldn't be enough to shape this car up. Basically, when they need this much work, they are parts cars. Much like say an old Ferrari 308 would be. But people never learn. Somebody'll buy it and walk the trail of tears I'm afraid.

The 600 was Mercedes answer to the Rolls Royce, but it never panned out. The cars were notoriously unreliable, as evidenced by the famous newsreel that shows a 600 being pushed off the runway at Berlin airport during John Kennedy's famous visit to that city, when he declared in German that he, too was a sandwich.

Anyway, these cars in top shape with a good paint job instead of that broom-work (two-tone? I don't THINK so!) and with the luxurious leather interior might be worth $45K. So at the $15K bid the buyer is already a loser, bottoms-up.

jrosasmc

Ew, a 600 that has a $15k bid? I agree with Shifty, I've heard many horror stories about that car's reliability.

On the other hand, a Benz mechanic once told me during a conversation that a Chrysler Imperial of the same vintage was much more simpler to maintain and would make a 600 look like the Apollo spacecraft!

Mr_Shiftright

Well sure that's a no-brainer. The Imperial was tried and true old tech and the Benz was typical German over-engineering and cultural pride working overtime. True, Mercedes got to build a limousine that could accelerate and handle like a sports car, but the question is....why? To me it makes no more sense than the opposite....building a stretch Mini Cooper with a wine bar in the back.

andre1969

that Fintail posted. Nice looking car, but how much would it hurt its value, having a transplanted Chrysler engine in there? At least, that's what the description says, that it's a 331 Hemi. A DeSoto should have a 291 DeSoto Hemi. Now the spark plug cover does say "DeSoto" on it, but those aren't hard to swap.

If nothing else though, I'm sure it'd be pretty quick with a 331 Hemi! They had 250 hp that year (300 with the Chrysler C-300), but the DeSoto 291-4bbl only had 200.

jlawrence01

One of the highpoints of every weekend are all of your links ...

andre1969

always something for everyone in those lists!

fintail

I thought that 600 paint seemed wrong. I do like the velour though, that exact same pattern was used by MB for over 30 years.

Here's an interesting period 600 article

I think you would have liked that Caddy, lemko. It was in a perfect color combination and really looked like it rolled off the showroom floor. When I was younger I never cared for those things, but I can appreciate a maintained one.

I am glad the links are appreciated. I try for some variety while keeping it at least semi-weird.