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

omarman

1974 Matador. I win. Unless I have to keep it.

I think the Maverick/Comet manual trans was only a 3-speed and I don't believe limited slip was ever available.

bhill2

Yes, I checked. In ‘71 you could only get a 3-speed or and auto. Same thing in the Maverick.

ab348

We had a '74 Maverick and the front bumper on it was bad, but the Comet was worse because of the protruding grille. Matador shown had the same problem.

The rear bumper was also a problem because Ford mounted the license plate bracketry too low, causing it and the plate to bottom out when entering a driveway with some slope. Ours was permanently bent. Pics not of our car but these illustrate what we had:

PF_Flyer

I have to say... Front Bumper Poker is a fun game

PF_Flyer

How about a bumper/car identification problem??

fintail

I think the Matador designer was envious of the Bunkie Beak.

jwm40517

A good old friend was a mechanic in Huntington,WV at a combo AMC and Fiat dealer in late 60s and 70s. To remove a Fiat engine he did not need a hoist, he just unhooked stuff, leaned over fender and lifted it out.. His weekend car was a 40 Willys with 427 Chevy and his daily driver was a 66 Chevelle with 396-375HP.

roadburner

1956 Ford?

PF_Flyer

Close on the year, right make

texases

But nothing beats a good Continental kit for bumper excess:

Mr_Shiftright

I'll see your '57 Chevy Continental kit and raise you this '58 Buick:

fintail

I'll raise you a turn of the century MB CLK:



Am I doing it wrong?

Mr_Shiftright

Well it's tasteless as all hell I must admit, but IMO not *bold* enough to trump the Buick.

imidazol97

It Actually looks fairlygood on the Buick.


Mr_Shiftright said:

I'll see your '57 Chevy Continental kit and raise you this '58 Buick:lo

Mr_Shiftright

It's kind of "more of the same" for that car, that's true. It's more complimentary to the excess rather than contrasting it.

texases

Looks like you could use that Buick to back into a store for a heist - quite the battering ram!

imidazol97

More on the 58 Buick... That was the era of glam glitz. I think there are a few spots they missed putting chrome on that model. It could have had narrow strips of chrome along the roof, like the '58 Ford had grooves in the roof. The Buick could have chrome vents below the rear window on the body part before the trunk.

fintail

I was going for the the most awful/Floridian one, CLK has to be up there.

For excess, this can work:







But for some of these, I wonder if they are period correct, or latter-day custom material.

omarman

This round of back bumper excess makes me think of vogon poetry.
"Ode to a Small Lump of Green Putty I Found in My Armpit One Midsummer Morning"

imidazol97

fintail said:

I was going for the the most awful/Floridian one, CLK has to be up there.

For excess, this can work:

But for some of these, I wonder if they are period correct, or latter-day custom material.

I don't think I ever saw any of these in real life when the cars were recent.

The classic car guys have a small group that tries to out do themselves adding on accessories from J C Whitley.
I've seen more cars ruined (my opinion) by extra add on items. That includes wheels that weren't typical when the vehicle was new as well.

berri

There may be a lot of eye sore here, but the MB takes the crown in my book. Just plain fugly and convoluted.

fintail

I suspect continental kits weren't a big thing back in the day, maybe outside of areas like possibly LA or Lawn Guyland.

Anachronistic wheels bug me, not a fan of inappropriate fender skirts either.

imidazol97 said:

I don't think I ever saw any of these in real life when the cars were recent.

The classic car guys have a small group that tries to out do themselves adding on accessories from J C Whitley.
I've seen more cars ruined (my opinion) by extra add on items. That includes wheels that weren't typical when the vehicle was new as well.

texases

Certainly not old, or a classic, but followed a VW Eurovan that was 'Westiefied', with a popup roof and window curtains. Can't remember the last Eurovan I've seen, much less with a popup roof. Looked like this, not the factory version with the blanked out drivers side rear window:

fintail

Saw a late 80s 323 wagon in traffic today, not many of those around anymore.

fintail

Today in the rain saw a 70s Nova 2 door - gigantic chrome railroad tie of a rear bumper, so I will guess 1974.

fintail

Saw a sliver of a classic car today - I found this at an estate sale:



Couldn't pass it up for a few bucks. I think it is from a 55-57. They also had a MB 190E grille and hood ornament for almost new replacement cost - gotta love antique dealers.

PF_Flyer

Thankfully I was alone and could take some quick snaps of this vintage auto advertising decorating the restroom of a local restaurant

ab348

That Ford camper special ad didn't mention this (skip ahead to 32:30 as the message board software won't recognize the time in my link):

https://youtu.be/AluAp2s2M-0?t=32m30s

The things they did back then at the peak of the Chevy vs Ford rivalry were crazy.

fintail

When one reads about 80-somethings involved in a crash, this isn't the car one expects

Mr_Shiftright

He didn't even hit the train!

Maybe he was an old redneck and he bought the car new. Let's see, he would have been born in 1937, so yeah, a fairly 40-ish man at the time that car was made. What is that, a late 70s Firebird?

fintail

I can't tell from the angle, but mid-late 70s no doubt. I notice it has side pipes and period correct wheels (Cragars?).

Funny how it is mentioned to be possibly weather related, too - unless the road was somehow undermined by rain, there was no weather in the area to create such a mess.

omarman

Looks like '76 firebird formula. Round headlights and twin hood scoops.

ab348

Old folks now, but might have bought it new or nearly so back then.

tjc78

Saw this guy today while at the produce store.  

stickguy

I have been to that produce junction many times. Worst parking lot and access I have ever seen. I wander around on that lot quite often. That Mustang must be new. I don't recall seeing it before.

iluvmysephia1

Is that Mustang painted beer bottle brown?

omarman

That '71/'72 Mustang hardtop doesn't look right. Round lamps mounted in the grill, non-stock grill emblem, chrome headlight bezels look odd.

In high school I used to have a '71 Mustang Sportsroof with the larger horse emblem and "corral" grill like this one.

You could also order a "unique" grill with a smaller horse emblem on a red/white/blue bar and no surround like this.

Far as I know the grill options for '71 and '72 were the same. 1973 Mustangs had vertical turn signal lamps mounted in the grill and some models had the chrome headlight bezels.

tjc78

stickguy said:

I have been to that produce junction many times. Worst parking lot and access I have ever seen. I wander around on that lot quite often. That Mustang must be new. I don't recall seeing it before.

I think it is.  Odd color for sure, pretty sure it isn’t a stock color.  

And yes.... awful awful access to that store.   It’s just the closest one to us, and also really close to Shop Rite.     

roadburner

omarman said:

That '71/'72 Mustang hardtop doesn't look right. Round lamps mounted in the grill, non-stock grill emblem, chrome headlight bezels look odd.

In high school I used to have a '71 Mustang Sportsroof with the larger horse emblem and "corral" grill like this one.

You could also order a "unique" grill with a smaller horse emblem on a red/white/blue bar and no surround like this.

Far as I know the grill options for '71 and '72 were the same. 1973 Mustangs had vertical turn signal lamps mounted in the grill and some models had the chrome headlight bezels.

In 1973 the body colored front bumper became standard on all Mustang models.

omarman

roadburner said:

omarman said:

That '71/'72 Mustang hardtop doesn't look right. Round lamps mounted in the grill, non-stock grill emblem, chrome headlight bezels look odd.

In high school I used to have a '71 Mustang Sportsroof with the larger horse emblem and "corral" grill like this one.

You could also order a "unique" grill with a smaller horse emblem on a red/white/blue bar and no surround like this.

Far as I know the grill options for '71 and '72 were the same. 1973 Mustangs had vertical turn signal lamps mounted in the grill and some models had the chrome headlight bezels.

In 1973 the body colored front bumper became standard on all Mustang models.

Yep, and the new 1973 Mustang had a bigger protruding bumper to meet 1973 fed bumper standards.

stickguy

I want that yellow one. If it is a 4 speed.

xwesx

ab348 said:

That Ford camper special ad didn't mention this (skip ahead to 32:30 as the message board software won't recognize the time in my link):

The things they did back then at the peak of the Chevy vs Ford rivalry were crazy.

Hilarious! (Crazy, too)

imidazol97

I saw this puppy, errrr---pony, out being exercised today probably before being put away for the winter. Everything looked perfect, including wheels which I assume are original.

roadburner

A special edition- I always preferred the yellow ones from 1993 IIRC...

uplanderguy

'59 Chevy Nomad wagon...

That sure looks like a Powerglide quadrant to me. I thought that a week ago when I looked at it online.

uplanderguy

That maroon '74 Matador sedan--

That looks EXACTLY like my aunt and uncle's, which they ordered. I remember them saying it came in so late in the year, it had the interior material of the '75 model. It was a Brougham.

First car I ever saw to have intermittent wipers.

And yes I goofed on my good-natured uncle about being an AMC guy. This was way before I'd owned a Studebaker.

explorerx4

Drove by a place that lease vehicles and saw a 70 or 71 Ranchero GT.
Grabber blue with hidden headlights and a black shaker sticking out if the hood.

fintail

Saw an immaculate 5-door Citation in traffic this evening.

tjc78

imidazol97 said:

I saw this puppy, errrr---pony, out being exercised today probably before being put away for the winter. Everything looked perfect, including wheels which I assume are original.

Nice car there.  Good colors, LX 5.0.  I wouldn’t throw that out of my driveway.  Wheels would have to be swapped for same vintage chrome Cobras. 

berri

Looks like a relatively new convertible top on it