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

ab348

explorerx4 said:

I have heard of GoFundMe, but how do you know the intended beneficiary actually gets the donations?

It's all dependent upon the organizer or sponsor. I looked into the fellow behind this one and from what I can tell he seems solid. I think most of those are set up by the people seeking the funds but this one obviously is not. I donated to one similar a couple of years ago, for a fellow who was very helpful to many in the Oldsmobile community despite his own less than great circumstances, who was killed in a motorcycle accident. It raised over $10K for his wife and kids, which helped them out quite a bit in the immediate aftermath.

Mr_Shiftright

The interior is pure Chrysler, though, and you know what THAT means.

omarman

"If you can find a better car, buy it."

explorerx4

White S10 pickup with tubbed rear end and huge slicks. Just casually driving up the street.

Mr_Shiftright

69 Camaro, nothin' special, but under the hood was interesting:

Mr_Shiftright

Also had a 6-speed Richmond transmission.

ab348

A Katalog Kar?

Mr_Shiftright

More like a fake COPO car. It does move out smartly. Sounds cammed-up.

ab348

I really don't get paying over $12K for a 1970 220D but what do I know?

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1970-mercedes-benz-220d-2/

stickguy

looks like a nice one though. And the right tranny!

maybe a little high, but if you really wanted it, no big deal. a couple grand maybe?

The buyer even said as much. He wanted the car, and was getting it unless it got crazy. So if he paid a tad too much, didn't care.

fintail

Those cars are getting to the point now where really nice ones are scace. No bargain, but if someone had to have that exact car, probably not a big issue, as it would cost a lot more than that to spruce up a heap to that level.

texases

Wonder why that 220D needed a new block at 70k?

fintail

Owner neglect maybe.

I am in Canada for a few days, lots of odd JDM stuff on the road, as expected. Normal obscure cars are a ~61 Chevy truck appearing to still be used as a daily driver, and maybe the rarest J-Car, an Olds Firenza.

Mr_Shiftright

texases said:

Wonder why that 220D needed a new block at 70k?

If you rev them too high, the cylinder heads can crack, and from that point, perhaps severe overheating. Many Americans didn't know how to drive a diesel car back then. Perhaps that's what happened. These cars are durable, but not as durable as the legend that precedes them.

That thing couldn't pull the cheese off french onion soup.

It had better be REAL nice for that money, and without any needs.

That little round thingy in the dashboard with the holes in it, tells you when the glow plugs are ready to help ignite the fuel. You pull it out by hooking your two fingers around it, as I recall. (might be fuzzy on that one).

Actually for my money, the very best version of that car is the 220 gas, with 4-speed. It's a more durable car and you can actually get out of your own way with it.

Michaell

Mr_Shiftright said:

texases said:

Wonder why that 220D needed a new block at 70k?

If you rev them too high, the cylinder heads can crack, and from that point, perhaps severe overheating. Many Americans didn't know how to drive a diesel car back then. Perhaps that's what happened. These cars are durable, but not as durable as the legend that precedes them.

That thing couldn't pull the cheese off french onion soup.

It had better be REAL nice for that money, and without any needs.

That little round thingy in the dashboard with the holes in it, tells you when the glow plugs are ready to help ignite the fuel. You pull it out by hooking your two fingers around it, as I recall. (might be fuzzy on that one).

Actually for my money, the very best version of that car is the 220 gas, with 4-speed. It's a more durable car and you can actually get out of your own way with it.

I know that not long after my dad bought the '72 220D, it had to have the engine rebuilt. I never found out why.

And, I remember the glow plugs. One of the things my mom hated about that car - having to wait before you could start it.

fintail

For that style MB, I agree the 4 cyl gas is the way to go. The 6 cyl cars are higher maintenance, the diesels are too slow for most modern traffic. The 4 cyl gas won't be fast, but adequate, and it is an easy engine to live with.

Mr_Shiftright

That era 220 gas is one of my favorite cars. It's relatively simple, well-built, good on MPG, handles and brakes very well and is completely off everyone's radar.

Mr_Shiftright

These are actually nice cars and kind of a sleeper---but this one is not priced correctly:

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/cto/d/1991-lincoln-mark-vii-lscmiles/6529473341.html

Based on the Fox platform, you can hotrod these the same as you can the equivalent Mustang GT.

roadburner

Mr_Shiftright said:

These are actually nice cars and kind of a sleeper---but this one is not priced correctly:

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/cto/d/1991-lincoln-mark-vii-lscmiles/6529473341.html

Based on the Fox platform, you can hotrod these the same as you can the equivalent Mustang GT.

My dad had a 1986 LSC; it was a great car. It is the only Lincoln I could see myself owning.

berri

I always liked the greenhouse on the MkVII

Mr_Shiftright

Me, too. Great seats, and the LSC gets rid of the silly hood ornament and blah wheels of the regular Mark VII. The later models use the 225HP 5.0 HO engine and you can breath on those pretty easily--a blower would be nice. With some careful planning, you could make yourself a really nice luxury sport coupe for 1/4th the price of an equivalent new car.....AND.....shop at Auto Zone for parts.

kyfdx

My aunt had an '85 LSC. She loved it, and I liked it pretty well, too.
Only 160 HP at that time, though.

Great seats

Someone t-boned her in 1992, and she had to replace it.

Mr_Shiftright

Yes the early LSCs didn't have a lot of HP. I think they started to get really decent power around '87.

No manual transmission ever offered, though, and the wheelbase is longer than the Mustang.

fintail

Some classics at the Vancouver Auto Show (they also had a few typical rods and late 50s Chevy stuff, but I've seen those before I think):

berri

On a much less exotic take, a Dodge Dynasty tonight. That thing is probably even more squared in design than Fin's Fintail

omarman

My late wife bought a new Dynasty in '92. Inside and out it tried to prove that it's "Hip To Be Square."

Michaell

Out running errands tonight, I spotted a SquareBird and an Isuzu Axiom.

ab348

I was visiting my dad in Florida in either '91 or '92 and had a rental Taurus from Hertz which suffered a ruptured fuel line under the car when I could not avoid running over a truck tire tread in heavy traffic on I4 outside of Lakeland. Some good samaritans called Hertz for me (no cellphone then) and they eventually arrived on-site with a replacement car, a Dynasty. Quite a difference from the Taurus. Much softer and floatier, didn't handle at all, and while it had decent fore-and-aft space, the K-car platform meant it was quite narrow inside. I wasn't a fan.

uplanderguy

Older Mark VII's in my area eventually looked like low-riders as the airbag suspension crapped out. Old-skool guy I am, I liked the looks and details of the Eldorado (through '85 anyway) much-better, but too bad the engines were so lame.

roadburner

uplanderguy said:

Older Mark VII's in my area eventually looked like low-riders as the airbag suspension crapped out. Old-skool guy I am, I liked the looks and details of the Eldorado (through '85 anyway) much-better, but too bad the engines were so lame.

FWD disqualified the Eldorado from my consideration.

Mr_Shiftright

The only FWD V-8 domestic car I would consider is a 60s era Olds Toronado. Aside from being an engineering marvel for its day, it has snow-going capabilities that one has to see to believe.

berri

The original Toronado is one of my favorite styled cars. For me, it looks good in all perspectives.

Mr_Shiftright

I used to put very "luggy" front tires on my '66 and take it on Colorado mining roads. Sometimes I'd meet Jeep clubs up at the top of some bluff and they weren't all that pleased to see me! It could have used more ground clearance, though. I had a few mishaps. It was Gold with a kind of cream/green interior. I sold it to a guy who had a huge German Shepherd named "Duck" (no, I don't know why) and man, that dog loved that car. Naturally, this fellow could park it in downtown Denver with the windows open, as long as Duck was in the back seat.

ab348

Early Toros and Eldos were popular later in life as float-plane tractors too.

Mr_Shiftright

Never saw such a thing!

ab348

Mr_Shiftright said:

Never saw such a thing!

Quite common out on the west coast apparently. The big-engine FWD platform got transformed into a few different uses once the back end of the body was sawed off.

Mr_Shiftright

"For Sale---Toronado, Runs good. Needs body work".

omarman

As seen on youtube.

Or maybe use a truck?

roadburner

Mr_Shiftright said:

The only FWD V-8 domestic car I would consider is a 60s era Olds Toronado. Aside from being an engineering marvel for its day, it has snow-going capabilities that one has to see to believe.

Yes, I'd take a '67.

roadburner

Mr_Shiftright said:

I used to put very "luggy" front tires on my '66 and take it on Colorado mining roads. Sometimes I'd meet Jeep clubs up at the top of some bluff and they weren't all that pleased to see me! It could have used more ground clearance, though. I had a few mishaps. It was Gold with a kind of cream/green interior. I sold it to a guy who had a huge German Shepherd named "Duck" (no, I don't know why) and man, that dog loved that car. Naturally, this fellow could park it in downtown Denver with the windows open, as long as Duck was in the back seat.

I would leave my Doberman in the passenger seat of my Datsun Roadster. She never barked or growled- she just stared. Nobody would park beside it if she was riding shotgun.

uplanderguy

I do like the flat floors and winter traction in our part of the country, FWD provided. The VII was the first domestic luxury car I can think of to move to thick side window frames--but everybody eventually went to this.

uplanderguy

RE.: The first Toronado--for a long time, like the boattail Riv, I thought the car was way-too large for the styling. It's grown on me. I think with GM's volume, anything looks more mainstream after awhile (like the '59 Chevy! LOL). I think the Toro didn't get optional disc brakes 'til '67, although going from memory here. Not sure I'd want one without. There was a really pretty (IMHO) dark plum color across the GM line in '67 that I've seen Toros in that looks really nice I think--I'd want that color.

Mr_Shiftright

The original Toro was burly, that's true, but I think that was the intention. This was no ballerina.

fintail

A number of unusual cars on this amateur video shot on Easter exactly 30 years ago:

https://youtu.be/ylhHckM3wYY

These videos are fascinating to me, as I am just old enough to remember things looking like this. The young camera operator is one of those people who had the forethought to record ordinary aspects of everyday life, knowing it might be interesting some day - he has a number of other interesting videos, if one likes period street scenes and cars. This is as close as we can get to a time machine.

kyfdx

'60s radio station... and, a lot of '70s iron.

Kind of weird for 1988.

kyfdx

But, a Grand National and a late model S-Class... so, some recent cars, too.

fintail

No surprise, the W126 caught my eye most (GN too). The MB is a 300SD, a good chance it is a 1981 car by the color, "China Blue", which is quite scarce. I also notice the car has a decent sized dent - no doubt it was miled up even then, would have been a good long distance commuter for someone who could afford it.

Tons of old cars in the PNW back then, the age of the cars doesn't surprise me as they'd age similarly in LA. And being in the car with a parent, oldies would have been on the radio now and then.

fintail

The same user made this one, which I think I have shown before (good car content starts at about 8:30):

https://youtu.be/yhXtzgcYyiY

I remember mini trucks were a huge deal, and Sentras were very popular among younger people.

kyfdx

If he could write, he could have grown up to be Adam F. Goldberg (fin, I'm sure you've seen that show).

ab348

kyfdx said:

'60s radio station... and, a lot of '70s iron.

Kind of weird for 1988.

Last days of the Reagan era. Seems like another world now. I guess since it was a Sunday the traffic on I10 wasn't so crazy. I was trying to figure out the long sweeping curve around the 4:00 mark.