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

uplanderguy

I'd seen that '66 Chevy promotional film for dealers and salesmen before--pretty funny.

Funny back then, the divisions were so autonomous that they tell you why a Chevy is better than a Pontiac, etc.!

Mr_Shiftright

I want this car so bad I could scream...

I wouldn't touch a thing except put it in good running condition.

I've actually seen these with Ford Flathead V-8 conversions.

fintail

Oh yeah, Citroen is selling off a bunch of cars now deemed surplus.

Traction Avants aren't unknown on this side of the pond, you could find one - I know there's at least a couple in my area.

Mr_Shiftright

They are unfortunately owned by Citroen fanatics, who seem to have some silly ideas as to what their cars are worth.

fintail

Then just do a private import, definitely not as rare in Europe. But by the time all is said and done, maybe easier to find a local car.

uplanderguy

A couple weeks back, we talked briefly here about a '69 Impala for sale. Here's another one today, reminding me that you could still get buckets and console in a '69 Chevy full-size.

https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2017/12/05/hemmings-find-of-the-day-1969-chevrolet-impala-2/?sf81920529=1#&gid=1&pid=2

After the big Pontiacs I loved, '64-68, I always thought the '69's were disappointing other than Wide-Track. You could get bucket seats in a Catalina with Ventura option, or Bonneville...but no console or floor shift. What's the use?

Maybe they thought the Grand Prix would fill that bill. And sales-wise it did, but it was not a full-size.

'69 was the last year for buckets, floor shift, and console in a full-size Chevy (well, until the Impala SS of '96). Buick still offered them in the Wildcat and Olds in the Delta 88 Royale, into 1970.

xwesx

I like it. Pretty car, for sure. Someone needs to cut a few holes in that filter housing, but it should be good to go after that.

berri

Wasn't the 64 Pontiac on the same chassis as the prior year 63? Big Pontiacs of the 60's - my favorites are the 61, 63 and 65/66, but I did like the 64 Grand Prix quite a bit. It's nice to be able to talk cars when the styling varied most years. I think it makes it interesting because people can have genuinely different opinions about each year.

berri

IIRC the GM brand that achieved good sales momentum in the latter half of the 60's was Buick. Olds picked it up around the mid 70's, albeit mostly because of Cutlass.

ab348

As I've posted before, I am not a fan of the '69 full-size Chevy for a bunch of reasons. Having said that, the one noted does at least have buckets and console to increase its appeal. It is saddled with the 396-2bbl engine though which was a big disappointment and was not made by GM for very long. I can only guess it was intended to compete with Chrysler's popular 383-2bbl engine which at the time the car mags noted was the engine of choice among many Chrysler engineers for their personal cars. I remember seeing a Bud Lindeman test of the '69 Chevy with that engine in which he panned it.

https://youtu.be/Ljch2kCg4rM

While GM may not have offered buckets and console in their full-size cars for a while, they did make a comeback in the late 1970s with the Olds Holiday 88 on the B-body platform.

fintail

The 65 and fuselage Chryslers my grandpa bought new were 383 cars, per my uncle. I don't recall any stories about the engines going wrong, but the fuselage car was apparently not trouble-free.

fintail

90s day on the road here: 92-97 Seville (maybe not a Northstar, still running), 95-97 Town Car, Corsica, 80s 911, and the 86-91 Seville has turned up at work again.

magnette

About ten days ago in London suburbs saw a Swallow Doretti emerging from a Petrol station - it was going the opposite direction to me but looked fully restored with new shiny wire wheels etc - probably more shiny than when new.

I can't recall ever seeing one on the road - only at car shows etc. They only built 99 ....

Didn't get a picture but here is a period advert. It was based on Triumph TR2 oily bits...

ab348

Nice to hear from you again @magnette ! I have heard of Swallow Coachbuilding but not the Doretti. At the time I suppose it was seen as a modern update of the TR2 but in retrospect the TR was much more distinctive-looking.

fintail

Oily bits - they were that way from new, right?

Mr_Shiftright

Yes, British cars were designed to lubricate the motorways to keep them from cracking during England's blistering summer heat.

imidazol97

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.

In the rear view mirror is the plant in Moraine where Fuyao Glass is making a lot of glass that goes into autos.

Picture is amazing to me taken with my LG Android. Surprised both were in focus and how well one of my pictures turned out. My wife was driving from the passenger seat while I tried to get a picture without dropping the camera.

uplanderguy

ab348, you mentioned the late '70's Holiday coupe. I always liked these cars, but I'd like this one even more if it didn't have the optional pinstriping and side moldings. Sort-of reminiscent of '60's Grand Prixs--full-size, buckets and console:

https://www.rkmotors.com/vehicles/1817/1979-pontiac-bonneville

roadburner

Man, I HATED those 85 mph speedometers that the Safety [non-permissible content removed] imposed on us in the late 70's and early 80's.

stickguy

Wow. Amazing car, breathtaking asking price.

https://www.rkmotors.com/vehicles/2765/1979-pontiac-firebird-trans-am-se

ab348

uplanderguy said:

ab348, you mentioned the late '70's Holiday coupe. I always liked these cars, but I'd like this one even more if it didn't have the optional pinstriping and side moldings. Sort-of reminiscent of '60's Grand Prixs--full-size, buckets and console:

https://www.rkmotors.com/vehicles/1817/1979-pontiac-bonneville

Yes, in the 2-door style, I preferred the '77-'79 Pontiac styling over the other divisions designs, even the Chevy. Interesting point: until quite late in the development cycle, the Olds Delta 88 shared the Pontiac's rear quarter window design. I have a poster with that shown on a Delta 88 coupe. Olds must have changed it at the last minute to be different, but it wasn't as good.

I had forgotten that you could get buckets/console in the Pontiac. That is a lovely car, I wonder what it sold for. Good to see it was owned by a POCI member. The only real flaw I see is that the sunvisors need to be redone. That looks like a Buick V8 under the hood.

uplanderguy

RE.: 85 mph speedometers...

The worst was when they replaced numbers on ribbon speedometers with 0-100 or 0-85, in the same space the previous model year had 0-120 numbers.

Example: 1975 and '76 full-size Chevy speedometers. There was an option that gave you two additional gauges in the ribbon area, which really compressed the 0-100 numbers in the middle, but sure looked better than the grade-school 0-100 with big wide spaces between them!

uplanderguy

I don't remember those Pontiacs with optional pinstriping having it in two places on the side of the car--up high (like you'd expect), and around the wheel openings and lower body like this one does. That said, I wasn't studying Pontiacs then. But at this car's low mileage, I'll assume it's factory.

Shame on Chevy for not putting buckets in the Caprice coupes of the same period. Chevy had no optional wheels, just wheelcovers. I actually like the plastic scooped pseudo-wires more than the actual wire wheelcovers they offered on those cars.

berri

I really liked the sportier 2 dr styling on that 78 Pontiac as well as on the equivalent Buick. They both had nice looking instrument panels as well. I think the Olds 88 sold well in that era primarily because they offered pretty good promotions on them.

ab348

uplanderguy said:

I don't remember those Pontiacs with optional pinstriping having it in two places on the side of the car--up high (like you'd expect), and around the wheel openings and lower body like this one does. That said, I wasn't studying Pontiacs then. But at this car's low mileage, I'll assume it's factory.

I just looked at the brochure for '78 and the Bonneville Brougham did indeed have pinstripes both near the top of the fender and just above the wheel openings. Add to that the large bright moldings on the bottom of the body and it was very heavily trimmed.

xwesx

stickguy said:

Wow. Amazing car, breathtaking asking price.

https://www.rkmotors.com/vehicles/2765/1979-pontiac-firebird-trans-am-se

Wowza! I always liked that look, though. My mom had one that was identical (in paint color/wheels/etc., though I was too young to know what engine it had), but they had to sell it due to financial constraints in/around 1986.

uplanderguy

At the post office this morning, saw an entry-level late '80's Caprice sedan in dark blue (not 'Caprice Classic'). Blackwall tires and all four metal factory wheelcovers. Had the wheel opening moldings which I believe were optional at that point. It looked nice--not super-nice, but in good shape. Sounded good when he pulled in, and sounded good when he drove off.

I did speak to the guy. I'd say he was my age or older (59 1/2). Said it had been his Dad's car, was an '89, and had 86K miles. I like the general shape of it. I think for the most part, that styling has stood the test of time

All six red lights looked nice pulling away, LOL. I had thought some of those were just a reflector, but I saw six lights pulling away.

kyfdx

uplanderguy said:

At the post office this morning, saw an entry-level late '80's Caprice sedan in dark blue (not 'Caprice Classic'). Blackwall tires and all four metal factory wheelcovers. Had the wheel opening moldings which I believe were optional at that point. It looked nice--not super-nice, but in good shape. Sounded good when he pulled in, and sounded good when he drove off.

I did speak to the guy. I'd say he was my age or older (59 1/2). Said it had been his Dad's car, was an '89, and had 86K miles. I like the general shape of it. I think for the most part, that styling has stood the test of time

All six red lights looked nice pulling away, LOL. I had thought some of those were just a reflector, but I saw six lights pulling away.

59 1/2!! Man, that's old..

I have 3 weeks until then.

ab348

I find it odd you don't see more of those square-rigger Chevys on the roads (at least around here) given how many they sold. I guess they succumbed to rust in these parts. There are really very few mid-late '80s cars of any sort seen here these days.

uplanderguy

Funny you say that, ab348. Ten years ago, I worked in Benton Harbor, MI with a guy who had a Volvo that he said had 400K miles (or something like that). He was on second engine and second or third trans. We had the age-old discussion that he started with about "imports last longer". He told me this while we were out in the employee parking lot. I said, "Hmmm, look around". There were probably a dozen '80-90 full-size Chevys in the lot--by far the highest number of iron that old in the lot. Yes, it was Michigan, but very far from Detroit, LOL.

fintail

Those cars are still relatively common on the west coast. I see 80s cars every day. Gentle climate is such a nice thing

stickguy

Driving around, on a cold day (and some roads already pretreated for snow), a mid 60s Buick convertible. Yellow with white roof. Looked nice. Clean, not pristine.

Mr_Shiftright

1969 Mercury Cougar convertible, XR-7 w/ 390 engine. Pretty rare car. This one was a "driver", a nice 10-footer.

tjc78

stickguy said:

Driving around, on a cold day (and some roads already pretreated for snow), a mid 60s Buick convertible. Yellow with white roof. Looked nice. Clean, not pristine.

Darn brine, and salt tomorrow.... ugh cars were clean.

roadburner

Not particularly obscure, but a bit rare- a newer GT-R; it sounded a bit louder than stock. He wanted to play, but I wouldn't bite.
A man's got to know his limitations.

fintail

Just get a late 80s Volvo, give it a tune up, and you'll be fine:

https://youtu.be/OUMYOUdS0oQ

ab348

That GTR got off the line really slowly.

stickguy

I don't think the rear tires on the Volvo are a stock size...

fintail

I'm pretty sure the exhaust port in the front fender of the Volvo isn't stock either

GTR is either over-nannied or money pretending to be skill - and in Sweden, I suspect the taxes on such a thing are onerous indeed.

roadburner

My wife had a 1991 740 Turbo; it was pretty fast for it's time, it had what we used to refer to as a high-stall torque converter and a turbo that started making serious hp just north of 2000 rpm. I surprised more than a few Mustang GTs and Z28s at the Stoplight Grand Prix.

fintail

Nice sunny day here, but not much on the roads. Oddest thing I saw was this pair, parked. Here we have an early W124 (pre-1990) with an early W210 (pre-2000) behind it - two cars of the same model, parked in order of generation:

stickguy

Driving past my house this morning, an older style Jag XJ. Probably from the 80s someplace. Looked fair. Even had snow on it still, so surprised it started.

PF_Flyer

From my Monday morning flick

stickguy

Mini Is easy. The flank shot on the right is a Renault LeCar

fintail

Car at right is a Renault 5 "Supercinq", which replaced the LeCar style 5 in 1984. I think I see a Twingo in the background, between a pole and a tree.

Michaell

"Bourne Identity" - great movie.

PF_Flyer

You guys are GOOD

ab348

Now, this is what I consider a proper Mercedes-Benz:

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1972-mercedes-benz-300sel-4-5/





Such a handsome machine.

fintail

Expensive to get one of those in good and correct condition - you definitely want to buy one like that, which has already been sorted. You can get into red ink fast. It'll be interesting to see the bids.

Mr_Shiftright

They are good-looking.

Definitely a high-risk purchase with no upside, eclipsed by the earlier 3.5 280s and formidable 300/6.3 sedan, and the later 450SEL 6.9 sedans. There is a pecking order here, with classic Mercedes V8 sedans,, and this car is at the bottom of it.

I'd say $15K-16K is all the money--after that it's just auction-fever.