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

fintail

Today saw an XK 150 dhc in downtown Hamburg, along with an old lady driving a MB R129 SL. Not so real many oldies still in regular service here, as inspections are tough, and I suspect this area sees salt in the winter.

ab348

A pair of RHD Adenauers found in a garage in Yorkshire, U.K. The Cabrio is very cool.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/classic/rare-mercedes-300-barn-finds-pictures/

stickguy

on the highway today, a 65/66 Mustang, followed shortly after by something old. I think a 40's/50's English something (an Austin maybe?) Wish I had a better look at it.

then parked later, a late VW Bug convertible (mid 70s) in that dark teal color that looks so nice on it. Seemed to be very clean.

fintail

Rainy morning in Hamburg, but saw a few oldies out today. MB W123 sedan wagon and coupe, 80s Dodge van-based motorhome, Saab 900, pristine looking Volvo 240, MB W201 190 with heavy patina and historic plates, pre-1994 MB W124 still in taxi service, odd 90s era Galant-based 5-door, couple of E30s including a wagon, Citroen XM yesterday.

PF_Flyer

explorerx4 said:

China Syndrome?

Yep. I almost thought that went without saying with Jane Fonda in the one shot

fintail

Spotted last night in a taxi stand up in Hamburg, a W123 still doing taxi service. Pretty remarkable for a car that is at least 33 years old, must be a labor of love:



Now in Prague, have seen a number of older (90s era) Skodas and some odd old trucks.

berri

That tree branch makes it look like it has a bashed in rear left side. Who is that lady walking the street. Wait, are you sure you are in that room overnight

fintail

RHD is the saving grace there, it might be the factor behind the sedan being saved at all. The cabrios can be worth decent money, but these cars cost a lot to restore.

ab348 said:

A pair of RHD Adenauers found in a garage in Yorkshire, U.K. The Cabrio is very cool.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/classic/rare-mercedes-300-barn-finds-pictures/

fintail

Hamburg main station is kind of an interesting area - not like the Reeperbahn, but but it has a rep not perfectly pure and clean

berri said:

That tree branch makes it look like it has a bashed in rear left side. Who is that lady walking the street. Wait, are you sure you are in that room overnight

texases

What’s the restored value ratio on those two Adenauer?  5:1 in favor of the cabrio?

Mr_Shiftright

Yes about 5X the value, but also 50 times as rare. You'd be crazy to restore a shabby sedan unless $100K down the drain means nothing to you.

PF_Flyer

From a Marlon Brando flick I don't think I've ever seen before.

Mr_Shiftright

Looks like a Jaguar XK150

PF_Flyer

You musta been a plane spotter during the war Shifty

That could be a fun game

stickguy

Caddy coupe. I stink at year, buy 61? Is that the "shortie" model (model 62?) or is that just short deck? I am all confused.

explorerx4

A couple of summers ago, we were in Hamburg and they seem to like their cars in northern Germany.
Saw a couple of Ram pickups and thought it might be fun to bring my truck over.
Had second thoughts after realizing what the paint and trim kind of looked like.

Might attract the wrong crowd.

xwesx

I.... just don't get it.

PF_Flyer

Not a very car-centric flick, but hey, if you get to post a picture of Frank with a car in the background... LOL

stickguy

Appropriate too being a Cadillac.

Michaell

"If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere"

PF_Flyer

stickguy said:

Appropriate too being a Cadillac.

Yea, can't tell if it's some odd two-tone or a vinyl top.

ab348

That looks like a 1959 Series 75 limo with a vinyl or canvas roof.

PF_Flyer

Good eye... '59 Fleetwood

fintail

Schwarz Weiss and Rot have a connection to a particularly evil part of history, but also predate it by some time. I doubt it would draw any ire without some kind of trigger - I bet even a Chevy "Super Sport" wouldn't be irksome these days.

Saw a few oddities today in Prague, a MB 123 coupe, BMW E38, Nissan NX, 90s Peugeot cabrio, Fiat 600 apparently as a restaurant display, 62 Coupe deVille and a ~54 Dodge also apparent restaurant displays.

I also saw a pristine W140 - SWB, silver, monoblocks, not a diesel or 6cyl, it had a rumble. I saw it in traffic, and then about 30 minutes later, it moved past where I was standing, I was barely able to get a pic (a little blurred as the car was moving). Someone is taking care of this 90s machine:

ab348

Saw a remarkably solid and unscathed Volvo 245 wagon tooling along locally, with local plates, occupied by a young couple. A car like that here means that it must have come from somewhere else because even Volvos rust out here once they reach that vintage. Sure enough, it had several decals like the one below in the windows. Seems appropriate in more ways than one.

stickguy

skidmore is still snow and salt territory

xwesx

fintail said:

I also saw a pristine W140 - SWB, silver, monoblocks, not a diesel or 6cyl, it had a rumble. I saw it in traffic, and then about 30 minutes later, it moved past where I was standing, I was barely able to get a pic (a little blurred as the car was moving). Someone is taking care of this 90s machine:

I'm not a big fan of the monoblock wheels, though I have to admit that they look great on that car!

fintail

Monoblocks look amazing on W126 and W140, hard to beat for those cars. A W140 like the silver one still catches my eye as much as it did when I was in high school, timeless design.

I saw this mildly neglected but still apparently on the road old warrior parked on the street today:

fintail

It's the fintail's Czech cousin:



Also went through the countryside, saw a Wartburg, a decrepit likely non-running Lada wagon, a later model Lada sedan, I think an 80s Skoda, and in Prague an oddity. It was from a distance, but I swear it was a 58 Olds or Buick 4 door HT. However, it definitely had received a powertrain swap, it sounded like a clattery 4 cyl, maybe a diesel.

uplanderguy

I have liked these cars since day one, and I have not seen one so original in probably 35...or more...years.

I'd be seriously contemplating this car if I hadn't bought the Studebaker last year, LOL.

The optional wheel opening moldings added so much to these cars; I'd probably add it to this car if I owned it.

I actually prefer the Malibu to the Laguna that year as I didn't like the Laguna's body-colored rear bumper.

Malibu interiors that year generally didn't hold up, but I still like the car. I wonder if anybody reproduces that plasti-chrome trim around the quarter windows, as with even 15K miles this car's are warped, like every other one.

I never liked how in '74 and later they put opera windows in that fastback roofline.

With the Laguna at the top of the line, the Malibu was decontented some for '73. I lobbied Dad hard for one, but he didn't like the drastic restyle at all and instead bought a new '73 Nova coupe on Oct. 6, 1972 in the same color as this Malibu:

http://barnfinds.com/not-shabby-1973-chevrolet-chevelle-malibu/

They really did ride and steer better than their predecessors and in my memory, even did better in those areas than the full-size cars at the same time, which had been introduced in '71.

stickguy

Very clean. Bigger than I like though. I would only look at a laguna S3 though. With the swivel buckets. Actually, I really prefer the Pontiac versions of this platform (grand am, can am)

ab348

I'm afraid I'm in the same camp as your dad was on those Chevelles, Bill. The styling of those was to me a failure (not just for the Chevy but for all of the '73 GM intermediates). The heavy bumpers really detracted from the looks. I never could figure out how Olds managed to get away with reasonably good-looking thinner bumpers while the other divisions had the ugly ones. But the overall styling theme on all of those cars never appealed to me much, and the single-headlight look was a mistake. The Chevelles like this did OK with the rear-end styling for '73 at least. They did handle and ride well, much better than the ones that came before them, which was probably their best feature. But their space efficiency was terrible for their bulk. On Chevelles like that one, as you noted the interior quality was pretty poor as well. Still, most competing cars of the time had problems too so in that respect they were not all that much different. I wonder what the story was on this one.

uplanderguy

I did like how only the Chevelles had the wide rocker trim at the bottom. The other divisions had a thin molding there.

I can plainly remember the first '73 Malibu coupe our hometown dealer got in. They had it parked way out back when they got it. It was maroon, black vinyl top, and black interior with black-and-white herringbone cloth inserts. My Dad said, "The back windows don't go down?", LOL.

PF_Flyer

This morning at my buddy's shop

uplanderguy

I remember a lot of '66 Thunderbirds in that color. To me, those wheels detract. Those cars had wonderful interiors, but I've never understood how they never put a console shifter in them. They had bucket seats and console already.

uplanderguy

RE.: '73 GM intermediates--the Cutlass definitely had the best front bumpers of the entire lineup. I remember the grilles used to push in too. I also liked how on the "S" models they advertised "wet look" vinyl interiors.

The only negative I can remember about them in the field, where we lived, is the way they put those contours low on the fenders, doors, and quarters, the cars promptly got stone chips there.

iluvmysephia1

There's something about that front end - is it the angle, that when I looked at that car on my Motorola moto g4 earlier this morning, I honestly could not tell that was a T-Bird. Now I can see it, but there's still something about 20% odd about the headlight design. It's possible that I'm not enough of a T-Bird man to know their designs well, but I've seen them in Washington state for the first 40+ years of my life, then for the next 15 years being away from Washington I'd see them now and then. I would think for sure someone rich around here in Chelan would have one as a pet, but not. Those old T-Bird's are really getting rare.

I think it's the light on the car from the front - kind of dark. It's a T-Bird.

uplanderguy

Is that Thunderbird a very deep green? That's what I immediately thought as it seems like every one I ever saw was that color or a rust or russet color.

Now that I look again, the car might be black.

iluvmysephia1

uplander - yeah, it's dirty too. That skews certain color prisms, as well as light. I do like T-Bird's and am still a Ford man. My last American new car (my only new American car) was a '94 Ford Escort station wagon. My buddy from work and I agreed (he's also a Ford man) that Ford's biggest annoyance is their lack of grip on electrical work.

For me, it's my '65 Mustang's taillights burning out every 5,000 miles or so.

ab348

I think it's a combo of the angle and the lighting that makes it look odd.

iluvmysephia1

That's more like it, man!

iluvmysephia1

ab348 - were/are you a Tragically Hip fan? So hard to hear of Gordon Downie's passing. They are my 3rd favorite (favourite) rock band of all time. Gordie was a musical genius, full of love for Canada and full of life and intelligence. I respect his talent immensely and mourn his passing immensely. Dang cancer - I guess drinking water with baking soda sprinkled in helps fight cancer - according to several docs. Reason being is that it fights inflammation.

RIP Gordon Downie

PF_Flyer

The T bird was a dark brown and pretty dirty. Cloudy day so not much natural light either

iluvmysephia1

The T bird was a dark brown and pretty dirty. Cloudy day so not much natural light either

So all of those reasons just added to the intrigue. Eh?

fintail

I like Biff's 46 Ford convertible in the background there.

For a HT version of those T-Birds, you don't have to be rich. 10K should still buy a very nice one. Maybe not the most fun to drive, but they are loaded with style.

Mr_Shiftright

iluvmysephia1 said:

The T bird was a dark brown and pretty dirty. Cloudy day so not much natural light either

So all of those reasons just added to the intrigue. Eh?

Takes a real man to love a dark brown car.

uplanderguy

Agreed, they seem to be less than Rivieras, and even those aren't bad unless you're talking a '65 Gran Sport. My friend bought a '63 as his first 'classic' car at the age of 66 last year and has jumped in with both feet. He's retired but is redoing about everything that isn't 'excellent' on the car--and it was quite nice when he picked it up. I salute him! Envious of being able to do that, actually! He's learned a lot of stuff "OTJ" as they say.

PF_Flyer

Mr_Shiftright said:

iluvmysephia1 said:

The T bird was a dark brown and pretty dirty. Cloudy day so not much natural light either

So all of those reasons just added to the intrigue. Eh?

Takes a real man to love a dark brown car.

Hmm... so that makes me wonder... is there a "right" color for certain classic/obscure cars? If you're gonna have an MG or a TR1, is there a best color? My brother had a British racing green TR1, so I always think of it in that colour (lol) first

ab348

I'm almost always disappointed by British Racing Green because it often looks drab and I always think it needs metallic in it, which it doesn't have.

For cars like MGAs and MGBs, Healeys, Sprites, etc of the late '50s and early '60s, I always liked Iris Blue, which is sort of a robins-egg blue similar to what a lot of Fords came with in the 1960s. I also like those old British cars in Old English White, which is really more of a cream shade, with a red leather interior.

uplanderguy

I love a dark metallic brown on 1964 Studebakers called "Bermuda Brown". It seems like Ermine White was half their production those last few years. I generally get so sick of white, black, and red on old cars.