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

fintail

Definitely an Adam Golderg mentality here. The Youtuber has many other videos, and one can sense there's both some sentimentality, and also the prescience required to record mundane aspects of life, somehow knowing it would be interesting later.

A car once common and now nearing extinction and qualifying as obscure, his mother bought a new Stanza in 1989, of course he recorded that, too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkM7A7F8roU

uplanderguy

Isn't it funny, although I guess not-surprising, that we enjoy old pics or videos of the time of our youth? Nothing personal at all, but I was 30 in 1988 and starting a real job in 1980, I don't have many warm/fuzzy memories of that period. To me, pop music started really stinking around then, when the video became more important than the tune, LOL. Cars got more boring IMHO. I love seeing pics and video of the sixties, when I was small--the Kennedy era. It's all relative I guess.

My Dad, born 1928, used to reminisce positively about the '40's and early '50's, LOL.

ab348

Mom should have kept the Marquis.

roadburner

I graduated from law school and started work in 1982; I have fond memories of the '60s and early '70s musclecars and luxury coupes. However, my focus went mainly European for me in high school so the '70s weren't awful- there were interesting Alfas, BMWs, Mercedes, and Porsches from that era- and things improved dramatically in the '80s. When my girlfriend(and now wife) found a 1973 Bavaria for me in 1983 my future automotive trajectory was pretty much confirmed. As for music, I was heavily into Alternative/Punk/New Wave from 1977-on- so there is a lot of early '80s music I really like(Berlin, The Bus Boys, The Primitives, The Psychedelic Furs, The Undertones, etc.)

fintail

My real tangible memories only go back to the early 80s, and footage from the 80s and early 90s can be very interesting to me. Random street scenes especially, as here on the west coast, there were still many unusual cars around. I got into cars at a young age, and quickly gravitated to German, vintage, and oddball cars - maybe helped by my dad, who liked old cars, but nobody in my family really cared for foreign cars. I had a thing for MBs and Porsches by the time I was a few years into grade school. I enjoyed looking at exotic cars much more in the 80s and 90s than now, modern stuff all seems sterile and common compared to similar material from 25+ years ago. I guess this mentality starts when you hit about 40

fintail

She ended up giving it to the cameraman when he was still a teen, and it lost a headgasket.

The Youtuber ended up buying a similar car a few years ago, and had to revisit the past again:

https://youtu.be/UbSQ1u0qGOU

ab348 said:

Mom should have kept the Marquis.

ab348

I was born in 1956 and have memories of the 1960s when I was a kid. When it comes to cars I remember seeing a lot of cars in the mid-60s that dated from the early 1950s that were bad oil burners. It was not at all unusual to be behind a '52 Chevy or Ford on the road and just be inundated with a cloud of blue smoke. I remember Dad would hurry up and try to pass these cars which led to all sorts of anxiety on the two-lane roads that were the norm back then. Someone in the family had a standing line they would use when encountering one of these cars - "When he pulls into a gas station he asks them to check the gas and fill the oil!". I thought that was hilarious at the time.

One of the earliest memories I have of any sort is standing outside on the lot with Mom and Dad at the Ford dealer in 1959 when he bought his '59 Ford sedan and him telling the salesman how smart I was. I guess I must have said something about the car that seemed unusual for a 3 year-old.

fintail

In this area, there was still tons of 50s and 60s material around in the 80s, and even into the 90s it wasn't uncommon - just like 30+ year old cars aren't insanely rare on the road here today, a daily sight.

My dad had a 70 Mustang before the Horizon, bought before I was born. I vaguely remember the car, and riding in the back seat, in the middle. I think he later told me that the transmission was slipping, and that gave him an excuse to buy a more efficient car, in the inflationary late malaise early 80s. I definitely remember my mom's T-Bird, as it was on the road until 1985 - only around a 10 year old car by then, but a dinosaur my dad said wasn't worth fixing.

omarman

J. Geils sums up his love for cars and music as well as I've ever heard it before.
"Italians build cars like we played music..."

berri

LOL - but the "Centerfold" looked good

PF_Flyer

Wonder how much drag the "sun visor" adds

stickguy

I would need a tugboat and some spotters to navigate that barge

Mr_Shiftright

Even pigs can fly, given sufficient initial velocity.

ab348

PF_Flyer said:

Wonder how much drag the "sun visor" adds

I dunno if those old Stovebolt Chevys can go fast enough to actually have aerodynamic drag become a factor.

PF_Flyer

And since I saw The King's Speech yesterday... the original fog lights?

kyfdx

New season of The Americans on FX. Moved forward in time by three years, so mid-80s, I think.
The main character's new car is a Lincoln Mark VII LSC. Nice!

Also, spotted what looked like a mid-80s gray market S-Class, in the first episode of this season.

Michaell

kyfdx said:

New season of The Americans on FX. Moved forward in time by three years, so mid-80s, I think.
The main character's new car is a Lincoln Mark VII LSC. Nice!

Also, spotted what looked like a mid-80s gray market S-Class, in the first episode of this season.

I've loved that show, and am sad this is the final season. The cars have been phenomenal.

Loved it when Philip brought home a Camaro Z28 as his mid life crisis car.

PF_Flyer

stickguy said:

I would need a tugboat and some spotters to navigate that barge

I just had visions of a "Walmart Harbor Master" directing it to its berth...LOL

tjc78

kyfdx said:

New season of The Americans on FX. Moved forward in time by three years, so mid-80s, I think. The main character's new car is a Lincoln Mark VII LSC. Nice! Also, spotted what looked like a mid-80s gray market S-Class, in the first episode of this season.

Bobby Bacala in the Sopranos also had a Mark VII. I wouldn’t throw one out of the driveway.  

kyfdx

I actually got to drive one in the '80s.. It was a pretty nice rig at the time. The LSC model was very "euro". Unlike a Celebrity Eurosport or a Cutlass International edition.

uplanderguy

We went to see the film "Chappaquiddick" yesterday with another couple. Better-made than I anticipated, and done as an historical movie. We had every political slant covered in our group and we all thought the film was basically done 'down the middle'--you are shown what an ogre old Joe was, and that Ted was in the shadow of the three deceased brothers, but you are also made aware of his delusional tactics and incredibly bad judgment after the accident.

The movie is full of old cars and I only noticed one that was newer than 1969--a '71/72 Ford full-size wagon. Funny, a friend of mine from Indiana independently made the same observation about the Ford in an email to me this morning.

I predict this film will come and go in theaters quickly, despite it being a very good movie IMHO. Younger people will have no interest I bet, and from the movie's Facebook page that I've been checking out for the past month, liberals post they won't see it because 'it's all about deflecting from Trump', and conservatives post they won't see it because 'it will be a gloss job on Ted'. Both couldn't be more wrong.

uplanderguy

RE.: '49 Chevy Fleetline sedan with sun visor--somewhere in the house I have a pic of my paternal grandmother standing by their '49 Chevy Fleetline Deluxe four-door, much-rarer seen in my memory than the more-conservative Styleline bodystyle. It has a sunvisor like the car pictured. I can remember my Dad saying "I bought that visor for Grandpa for Father's Day", LOL.

uplanderguy

I had a new Celebrity Eurosport I ordered in '85. I bought the stiffest suspension, Goodyear Eagle tires and the 2.8 MPI V6. Equipped like the much-loved 6000 STE at the time (remember those?). It was a level cornerer for sure. In fact, I was driving a friend's '84 Monte Carlo and tried to take a turn as I would in my Celebrity and the Monte almost felt like it was going to roll over!

fintail

I remember driving my friend's 83 Monte after driving my 89 S-Class (just after the turn of the century, these weren't new cars), and the brakes on the Monte scared me with their detached and delayed feel.

uplanderguy

My parents bought a new '84 Monte Carlo V8, which was a 305 4-barrel. This, coming off an '80 Monte V6. It felt like an absolute hot rod, although was soft-riding. Montes from '73-80 all had the sporting tires and suspension standard; thick sway bars front and rear, etc. In '81 they stopped making that standard. My folks' '80 Monte had 205-70-14 wheels and tires. The '84 definitely rode smoother on Greenville's pocked streets, LOL.

roadburner

The main change in the 1973 Monte Carlo was a high caster front suspension. None of the other GM intermediates had it until the Laguna S3. I held on to my one owner 1974 until 1989. I kind of regret selling it- but not nearly as much as I regret selling my E24 M6,

uplanderguy

The Grand Am and Cutlass Salon have the bigger tires and stabilizer bars front-and-rear standard, but I do remember reading about the Monte's caster. The Monte and Grand Prix were the only coupes of the intermediates from '73-77 to be on a 116-inch wheelbase (four inches longer than the others).

jpp75

Speaking of Monte Carlos I saw this one on Saturday. I've seen it a few times before parked in a neighborhood adjacent to mine. It's in amazing shape to be regularly parked on the streets of Denver.

kyfdx

I drive by this one often.

Mr_Shiftright

I like those old VW pickups. Many were diesels, but totally gutless. My friend put a turbo on his, and predictably, it blew up. He kept raising the boost for more power.

Yeah, well....

kyfdx

Those look like Nissan wheels. Maybe, came off the car parked in front of it?

You couldn't really haul much with a FWD pickup, though.

Mr_Shiftright

It's just a grocery getter, for sure--maybe a small dirt bike or some plants from the nursery.

kyfdx

In my local mechanic’s lobby:

Mr_Shiftright

Made by Puch I think (or Gilera?)

kyfdx

Mr_Shiftright said:

Made by Puch I think (or Gilera?)

Pretty sure it's Puch.

toomanyfumes

Nice Monte Carlo. As a child I liked those, until my Dad rented one when we took a Florida vacation,and I had to ride in the back seat.

kyfdx

toomanyfumes said:

Nice Monte Carlo. As a child I liked those, until my Dad rented one when we took a Florida vacation,and I had to ride in the back seat.

My friend's older sister bought one new.. It had the swivel passenger seat. Nifty.

kyfdx

On my way to the coffee shop

andre1969

Looks like a '64 Dodge 880/Custom 880. In some respects, a "1964 DeSoto"...

They really weren't a huge seller, but were more popular than the '62-64 "full-sized" Polara, which was downsized about 15 years too early. I think they're handsome cars, if a bit non-descript. On some models though, the roofline looks a bit awkward. It was all-new for 1960, but didn't look *that* different from '57-59, so with the squared-off bodies some features, like that rounded off rear window look a bit out of place.

andre1969

Here's one that's not exactly obscure, but there may not be enough left to really identify it...






Any ideas? It's definitely a GM X-frame car. It's a bit hard to tell in photos but in person it looks like a shorter wheelbase model. From what little is left of the dashboard, I'm going to guess a '59-61 Chevy?

Here's a little background on it. When I was a little kid, Granddad would take us grandkids on walks around the neighborhood. There's a middle school by a creek, with a wooded area in between, and it was a popular dumping ground for cars, and other junk, back in the day. I think it was around 1977 that Granddad first took us kids back there...the innocent days of playing on junk cars, hopping in the creek, etc...nowadays they'd probably call Child Protective Services on you! Well, at some point around 1984, perhaps, they went through and cleaned the area up, but for some reason had missed this particular relic.

Interestingly, I can still remember all of the other cars that were back there. There was a blue VW Bug that was mostly whole, and a white VW bug that was more torn apart, Aso blue Karmann-Ghia that was half-buried in rubble. I think someone had dumped it over the edge, as the area was being in-filled and leveled for the school fields, and they just covered it over partially. For some reasons, VWs were a popular car to dump there. There was also deep red Kammback wagon...the Type III, I think they called it. And the fastback version, almost on its side in a ditch that fed into the creek. Actually IN the creek was an early Ford Falcon 2-door sedan. And finally, at the edge of the school field, just into the woods, a first-gen Corvair, with the roof cut on one side and bent over, like the fire department practiced on it and then dumped it.

the fact I can remember all this stuff probably shows I was a car nut, even at a young age! Anyway, Granddad passed back in 2016, and the house got sold last year. I was feeling nostalgic yesterday, and went by the old neighborhood. And sure enough, that old GM X-body was still there!

It's kind of wild to think that it's still there, after 40+ years, and actually seems little-changed. Even as a kid, I remember it just being the frame and a cowl. Heck, who knows...it might still be there after I'm dead and gone...unless they decide to expand the school's field, out closer to the creek.

fintail

Nice to see you, Andre. We still want to see pics of the DeSoto back on the road

The relic heap indeed appears to be a 59-60 Chevy to me, by the remnants of the dashboard shapes visible in the 4th pic.

uplanderguy

With that panel (or what's left of it), I'd make a fairly comfortable wager that it's a '59 or '60 Chevy.

uplanderguy

RE.: That maroon '73 Monte Carlo posted several posts previously--I know the '70-72 has stood the test of time better, but I can remember the first '73 I saw and it was that same combo--maroon with black full-vinyl top and the Rally Wheels. I still like the looks. To me, that car is begging for the original-style thin white stripe tires. They really saved money on the interior compared to the Grand Prix though. I like the Monte exterior better, but the Grand Prix interior, all day long!

andre1969

Thanks, guys! And Fintail, I want to see that DeSoto back on the road, too!

fintail

This is how I suspect a fintail restoration would end up - a 15 year project. At least you have no guilty feelings for not driving it.

Speaking of DeSotos, I think I posted in this thread that a local specialty dealer apparently bought a collection of mostly everyday 50s and 60s sedans, in nice driver/local show condition. In this lot were at least 3-4 DeSotos from maybe 55-61, and they have apparently all sold, none are listed now. In the mix were a couple of cool 61s, some other wacky era Mopars, and a 58 Edsel 4 door HT that I somewhat liked.

andre1969 said:

Thanks, guys! And Fintail, I want to see that DeSoto back on the road, too!

uplanderguy

That '64 Dodge 880--I can remember a very clean, deep turquoise four-door sedan in our hometown when I was a kid--just down the street from us. Older folk-owners. I'd have really liked the same car in a two-door hardtop. I like the horizontal taillights.

Now that I think about it, unusual that Dodge offered two different full-size cars in their line simultaneously.

Those, and the '65 Chryslers, are probably my favorite Mopars up until the '68 Plymouth Satellite two-door hardtop, which to my eyes is the '65 Impala of sixties Mopars--just perfect proportions and decoration, right down to the wheelcovers and nameplates.

andre1969

uplanderguy said:

Now that I think about it, unusual that Dodge offered two different full-size cars in their line simultaneously.

That might be an evolution of 1960-61, when the Dart lineup came out. In 1957-59 Dodge just used one wheelbase, 122", for all of their cars. The low-end Coronet was the volume leader, while the pricier Royal and Custom Royal were more low-volume. But, during that timeframe Chrysler was trying to let Imperial fly more on its own...but not necessarily making it more luxurious; rather moving some other cars downscale. DeSoto had pushed down into Dodge territory in 1957-59 with the low-priced 122" Firesweep, which I believe split the difference between the Royal and Custom Royal in price. Chrysler followed suit in 1958, moving the Windsor down to the shorter wheelbase.

These moves most likely prompted Dodge to start shrinking, as well...and to be fair, a bit of downsizing DID occur in the auto industry around that timeframe. Compacts became all the rage; the '61 Lincoln was downright compact compared to the '58-60. The '61 Caddy was a bit trimmer. The B-O-P standard sized cars also shrunk a tad for '61. Mercury moved down to the smaller Ford body. DeSoto gave up its 126" wheelbase models completely, and then went away. And probably a few other examples I'm missing.

Anyway, for 1960, Dodge replaced the Coronet line with the Dart, which matched Plymouth model-for-model with three sub-series...Seneca, Pioneer, and Phoenix. It was on the smaller, 118" Plymouth wheelbase, although wagons stayed on the 122" wheelbase. The Royal/Custom Royal were replaced with the Matador/Polara, on the longer wheelbase.

The Dart was a smash hit, actually outselling the full-sized Plymouths. However, the compact Valiant helped Plymouth stay ahead of Dodge in overall sales. The Matador and Polara, however, weren't all that popular, although maybe a bit moreso than the old Royal/Custom Royal had been. In 1961, the Matador was dropped, leaving just the Polara as a "big" car, and it still wasn't that big of a seller.

So, when the shrunken '62 models came out, they probably decided to save some money by just putting the Polara on the same platform as the Dart, and just making it nicer, and with bigger standard engines. But then, it proved to be a very poor seller. IIRC, the '62 Polara didn't offer a 4-door pillared sedan, so that's one reason it sold so poorly. As a result, they essentially took a '62 Newport, threw a '61 Dodge front end on, and came up with the 880.

This might have also been a result of the way Chrysler changed their divisional structure. Whereas once upon a time they tended to have Plymouth-Dodge, Plymouth-DeSoto, and Plymouth-Chrysler-Imperial dealerships, for 1960 they left Dodge on its own, and lumped Plymouth with Chrysler-Imperial. At that point they really didn't need DeSoto anymore, as it overlapped so much with the low-end Chryslers...but Dodge still needed something equivalent.

For a few years in there, I think the Dodge 880 was priced exactly the same as a Newport. I want to say for a few years, the base price of a 4-door sedan was $2964 for either. I think it was trimmed comparably as well, although the Custom 880 was a step up. So, while they'd never give Dodge something equivalent to a New Yorker, 300 Letter Series, or Imperial, the 880 at least gave them something for the "traditional" middle priced market, until the redesigned '65 models came in. IIRC, the 1965 Dodge 880 actually outsold the new "big" Polara, but then for 1966 they went with a Polara/Monaco hierarchy.

uplanderguy

Good primer on Dodges of the early sixties! Growing up mostly with Chevys, there was Biscayne/BelAir/Impala, then Caprice, throughout the decade. I still have some trouble with remembering the various Mopar models of the sixties, although I guess the Chrysler was Newport/300/NewYorker throughout the decade.

andre1969

Thanks. One reason Mopar's lineup might be hard to keep track of, is they kept changing it! In contrast, GM stayed fairly consistent, making more minor changes. The one I really have trouble keeping track of in the 60's is Mercury. It seemed like they played around with their full-sized lineup so much, that I just couldn't keep up, until eventually, I guess, they settled on Monterrey for the mainstream cars and Marquis for the nicer ones, and Marauder for the performance.

Chrysler stayed fairly consistent, as well. They started off with Windsor/Saratoga/New Yorker/300 Letter in 1960. Then in 1961 they came out with the cheap Newport, and dropped the Saratoga. For 1962 the Windsor was dropped, and the non-letter 300's arrived...I guess they sort of split the difference between the old Windsor and Saratoga. Eventually, I think the Newport Custom replaced the 300 non-letter cars.

tjc78

Late run (had an airbag) Plymouth Horizon. Looked pristine with a teenager driving it. Must have been grand moms garage Queen.

Also saw about 20 Allantes in a lot on the way to my Sister in laws house. I’ve driven by a dozen times and always saw a ratty white one out front but never noticed the mega load under cover in the back. Odd, need to do some research to see what it actually is.