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

fintail

Ooh, Porsche 928 was new that year, too.

roadburner

280Z a porker? It only weighed 2875 pounds- not a flyweight, but only about 400 pounds more than a 240Z- and it had a five speed manual and A/C that worked. More a GT than a sports car, I'd agree.

texases

Mr_Shiftright said:

The Rabbit looked good on paper, but where I live, there were considered throwaway cars, despite the VW heritage which made people expect more.

I think it was the GTI version that got people's attention. That was a fun car!

Yeah, my ‘83 GTI gave me 12 fun years, mostly in Anchorage. No major problems. Of course my friend with a regular ‘82 was stranded repeatedly. In winter. In Anchorage. No fun. 

kyfdx

Yeah.. if you were rich, 280Z, 911 or 528i were options... shewwww...

Guessing most of us were in our early '20s then.. If you were going to be rich, you were still in school. So, unless your Daddy was buying it for you, those were pipe dreams.

I have no argument against the price/value ratio of those choices, however. Even the Z28 was a pretty good car for those times.

A friend had a '77 280Z.. awesome car. But, he had just got a union job at the Ford plant, making 3 times what I made.

fintail

I was 1

I know my dad still had his 70 Mustang then, later replaced by a Horizon - the 80s were a change.

Mr_Shiftright

roadburner said:

280Z a porker? It only weighed 2875 pounds- not a flyweight, but only about 400 pounds more than a 240Z- and it had a five speed manual and A/C that worked. More a GT than a sports car, I'd agree.

Fair enough. I was thinking more of the 280ZX which was a '79 model. This model was pushing 3,000 lbs and 0-60 in close to 10 seconds. Not bad for the times, I guess, but as you say, not as sporty as earlier versions.

kyfdx

I agree the '79 280ZX was a big step backwards from the previous model.

Mr_Shiftright

You could have bought a Pantera or a Lotus Esprit in 1978. There was a Fiat 2000 turbo spider available but that wasn't until 1981. Also a Maserati Bora in '78, or a Saab 99 Turbo. Triumph TR8 didn't come out until 1980.

fintail

MB 6.9 was around 40K then, I think. You could still find houses around here for that. I imagine the carbureted Ferraris of the time could be troublesome. Countach also existed, in the more pure no-cladding form.

Mr_Shiftright

Yes, the Countach LP 400S was available from '76 to '82. The '75 LP400 is the rarest of them all and worth double any other Countach.

ab348

Saw a pristine M-B 240D on the roads today, quite an accomplishment for a day that was -12 degrees Celsius. Dark green with a mid-brown interior, best I could see it was very well-kept. Even though the roads were dry there was a lot of salt dust on them still so I wonder why it was out. Surely not a daily driver.

explorerx4

Not the only one out in back weather.
http://www.mysuncoast.com/ap/man-get-stuck-in-blizzard-with-his-convertible-top-stuck/article_cb353838-f325-11e7-b38c-d739bf35c0e8.html

fintail

240D, latest that will be is 1983, not bad. Probably best at starting in a heated garage in that weather.

I saw that SL snow video on the web, funny. As early 90s SLs have depreciated to near-nothing, and might not go anywhere, a little fun might not hurt it.

fintail

I know there's a "periscopo" Countach locally, not sure what year, but it is a very early car. Owner actually drives it on the street now and then - risky.

Mr_Shiftright said:

Yes, the Countach LP 400S was available from '76 to '82. The '75 LP400 is the rarest of them all and worth double any other Countach.

stickguy

would that be an SL300? I saw a black one with hardtop on parked at BJs the other day, on a really cold night. So someone must be using it for regular duty. My neighbor a few years back had a nice looking red one.

omarman

1978 was the year of the silver anniversary Corvette. I didn't drive it but sat in one in a dealer showroom.

The least liked new vehicle that I drove in 1978 was actually a '79 model year Dodge custom conversion van. Orange with black stripes. I drove it just one time and wondered what all the fuss was about. My cousin bought it new and traded it off a year later.

The best new car in '78 that I drove and spent some time with was a Buick Park Avenue Limited ordered by my aunt. Smooth, quiet, and roomy comfort. GM wasn't losing any money or customers with that down-sized line. Different world.

Pantera in '78? I was thinking that ended by 1975 with 5-mph bumpers and catalytic converters. Summer of '74 I saw a nice orange Pantera parked at the old Lockbourne AFB and briefly spoke to the owner.

fintail

It could be a 6cyl car (badged "300SL" or "SL320") depending on year. More likely a V8 car, but the later run 6cyl cars aren't too rare. It looks to be a car no newer than 1996, but the details are hard to tell via video quality and snow obscuring many features.

CFO of where I work sometimes drives a late 90s SL500, and he can definitely afford something more expensive.

stickguy said:

would that be an SL300? I saw a black one with hardtop on parked at BJs the other day, on a really cold night. So someone must be using it for regular duty. My neighbor a few years back had a nice looking red one.

fintail

Ford got out of Pantera around 1975, yes, but DeTomaso started importing them some time later, and they lasted through the 80s. Later 80s ones were updated to match period aesthetics:

omarman said:

1978 was the year of the silver anniversary Corvette. I didn't drive it but sat in one in a dealer showroom.

The least liked new vehicle that I drove in 1978 was actually a '79 model year Dodge custom conversion van. Orange with black stripes. I drove it just one time and wondered what all the fuss was about. My cousin bought it new and traded it off a year later.

The best new car in '78 that I drove and spent some time with was a Buick Park Avenue Limited ordered by my aunt. Smooth, quiet, and roomy comfort. GM wasn't losing any money or customers with that down-sized line. Different world.

Pantera in '78? I was thinking that ended by 1975 with 5-mph bumpers and catalytic converters. Summer of '74 I saw a nice orange Pantera parked at the old Lockbourne AFB and briefly spoke to the owner.

omarman

Is there a link available relating to the U.S. spec DeTomaso Pantera imported here for sale in 1978?
Seriously I thought the "some time later" DeTomaso was a gray market thing in the 1980s.

fintail

I think after Ford, they were all either grey market here, or whatever distributor was used by DeTomaso. I was a little too young to be a customer then , but as a kid , was always surprised that the design went back to ~1970. I think I had a toy one.

omarman said:

Is there a link available relating to the U.S. spec DeTomaso Pantera imported here for sale in 1978?
Seriously I thought the "some time later" DeTomaso was a gray market thing in the 1980s.

ab348

Late '70s were not a great time but when you were living through it you didn't necessarily realize that. Neighbor at the time had a Rabbit Diesel that could barely get out of its own way and clattered like a can of pebbles but he loved to brag about its gas mileage. Another neighbor bought this, in these exact colors:



My brother went through a series of company cars which included a RWD Buick Skylark coupe with the V-6



and a base model '77 Firebird with the 301 and wheel covers, not a great car



Other brother and BIL both bought Cutlass wagons, one a '75 and one a '76.

We had the '78 Grand LeMans Safari, not a bad car to drive but atrocious build quality:



It wasn't until the end of the decade we got a car that actually drove really well and seemed to be built decently too, the '79 Impala:

kyfdx

I was fond of the lime green w/white landau that came on multiple GM models. Don't ask me why.

That 301 V-8 in the Firebirds was a doggy motor. My '77 Cobra II would dust one of those off the line. (of course, after 50 mph.... not so great).

Got my license in 1974, so very familiar with those vehicles. That Impala reminds me of our Driver's Ed car (only it was a 4-door). I remember really liking the "downsized" GMs that came out in 1978.

omarman

My sister and BIL both bought new Chevy Malibu cars in '79. She got a Malibu wagon and he got a Malibu Classic 2 door coupe. Both had the 267 V8 engines which seemed fine to me when I drove the wagon. Very quiet and smooth on the city streets but can't recall driving it at freeway speed.

The wagon had 2 issues that my sister complained about right after delivery. The fit of the windshield was poor and had to be sent to the dealer's body shop and there was some electrical glitch which I can't remember.

My BIL's coupe had no build issues except for its "triple green" color scheme. It was like 2 different shades of green exterior and another darker green velour interior. Eh, not for me.

I think GM was still calling them A body at the time but later designated them all G body RWD. I can't point out any real problem with those down-sized intermediates except that I liked the Nova better. In the 80's I bought a used '78 Nova 305/automatic that I just liked better than the down-sized Malibu.

I've always wanted a 9C1 Nova even though they made the 9C1 optional on the down-sized Malibu and Impala/Caprice too.

Mr_Shiftright

fintail said:

I know there's a "periscopo" Countach locally, not sure what year, but it is a very early car. Owner actually drives it on the street now and then - risky.

Mr_Shiftright said:

Yes, the Countach LP 400S was available from '76 to '82. The '75 LP400 is the rarest of them all and worth double any other Countach.

The Periscopo is not the rarest Countach but is the most valuable of all. Yep, it is risky to drive at a value north of 1.25 million. But there is some air leaking out of the Countach bubble all across the board.

fintail

I wonder if some deflating in the high end market is kind of a canary in a coal mine.

Now just for west coast real estate markets to deflate.

Mr_Shiftright

Well everything is inflated right now, so yeah, fasten your seat belts.

fintail

Maybe it's good I have my classic car investment fortune in a stable value fintail fund

Mr_Shiftright

Well it's not going to go down in value, so why not? Some "investors" have already eaten it big time on their collector cars. A few of the exotics have dropped 15%-20% in just a year. Some are big winners, too. Corvette fuelies, Dodge Hemis, are all up.

uplanderguy

When I was in college, in '78, and other guys my age were wanting a 280-Z, or Camaro, or whatever, I remember checking the boxes on the back of the new downsized Malibu brochure. I thought the Monte Carlo hadn't shrunk very well, but I liked the simple lines of the Malibu (still do although I rarely see one). I wanted a black Malibu Classic coupe, no vinyl top, bumper strips but no guards, body side moldings, gold pinstripe, the honeycomb, scooped plastic wheelcovers, door edge guards, remote left-side mirror, 305 V8, A/C, F-41 suspension, the gauge cluster that got you the round instruments a la Monte Carlo (plus more gauges), the 50/50 split front cloth seat with dual folding center armrests in gold, tinted glass, cruise control, and AM-FM radio with rear seat speaker. I'd still like a car like that. At the time, getting EPA ratings of 17/25 out of a V8 seemed amazing. The interior of those cars seemed very big for the exterior size. Those downsized intermediate GM's felt more like small big cars to me, where Ford's felt like big small cars to me. Body-on-frame was probably the reason I liked the feel of the GM's. The RWD mid-size GM's were really the last GM's I liked quite a bit.

"Mine" would've looked a good bit like the one Car and Driver tested here:

http://www.curbsideclassic.com/automotive-histories/vintage-review-1978-chevrolet-malibu-classic-car-and-driver-goes-crazy-for-f41/

stickguy

I agree that the Malibu of that vintage was really sharp looking. I liked the Pontiac versions too, and especially their interiors.

fintail

I see a Malibu coupe like that around here in the summer, wearing wheels from an 80s Camaro. It obviously has something not-stock under the hood.

ab348

stickguy said:

I agree that the Malibu of that vintage was really sharp looking. I liked the Pontiac versions too, and especially their interiors.

I'm like you , and I must be of the lunatic fringe group that really prefers the '81 styling:

stickguy

I was thinking more of the 79ish Grand Prix/Grand Am. A friend in HS had one (his parents) and I drove it once. Quite different than my families new Omni!

uplanderguy

I thought the Malibu had the tautest look/least overhang of all of them. But it had to be optioned up IMHO. The Pontiac had the best standard instrument panel IMHO--usually they did.

uplanderguy

One thing I liked about the '81 GM's is that they offered both a dark and light turquoise color unlike any they'd offered in a decade or more--with similar-color interior available. I chose a two-tone Light and Dark Jade (as they called it) Monte Carlo for my first new car that year, with matching interior. It was stolen 19 months later, but I still have fond memories of it.

fintail

Saw a SVX in traffic today, welcome to the PNW.

Mr_Shiftright

Former Citroen owner, no doubt. Life isn't hard enough.

fintail

I remember my brother was looking for a SVX or XT6 several years ago, on a Subaru kick that passed. He said every car he looked at had potential or full-blown suspension or (maybe) transmission issues. He gave up. Too bad, as they are cool looking and interesting.

Mr_Shiftright

Good luck trying to get anyone to work on one. Our local Subaru specialist has banned them from his shop.

Mr_Shiftright

$70K for this? Not in my universe:

Meet The Sabra

texases

How does that front suspension work??

Mr_Shiftright

I've been looking at it. Scary.

xwesx

Mr_Shiftright said:

$70K for this? Not in my universe:

Meet The Sabra

Definitely an example of "rare doesn't mean valuable."

fintail

I suppose you'd have to be an Israelophile to be into it.

I like the fiberglass quality panel gaps, Saturn would be jealous (and Tesla at times, too).

Mr_Shiftright

Hey, if you can't get your thumb in there, it's good to go!

Using Reliant as your go-to technology source for building a car is not my idea of a good start.

explorerx4

Mixing a round wheel well and one square one is not a good look.

tjc78

Interesting that the hose clamps don’t match in the engine bay.  You would think they would try for originality with only 40 miles...

omarman

Bonhams January 18 auction with the Sabra will also put this restored 1982 Lancia Rally 037 Stradale up for bids. Can't be many of these left now with only 205 built back in the day.

Mr_Shiftright

I'm going to predict roughly $275K on the Lancia, and that the Sabra will bomb as a no-sale or will be let go way below estimate.

kyfdx

Last generation Prelude,today.
In red.. looked bone stock.