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

explorerx4

Pretty nicely done, although not sure about the wheels.
https://westernmass.craigslist.org/cto/d/1966-chevrolet-impala-big/6637216626.html

ab348

I am not crazy about the color though that may be a function of how the pictures render it. I absolutely do not like the wheels and dog-dish caps on a car like this. All that said, the price seems reasonable these days for what it is. I wonder what hidden faults may lurk given that.

andre1969

Yeah, I'm not so crazy about the color, either. It makes me think of root beer. But, it could be the lighting. I think those wheels would look better if they were the chrome Rally wheels, instead of body-color. Or, at the least, maybe a trim ring would dress it up.

ab348

I just took a second look at the wheels and realized they are Corvette-style Chevy rally wheels painted body color. Bad choice doing that but at least they could be resprayed argent fairly easily and as you say a trim ring would go a long way. Fit of the trunklid/moldings would drive me nuts if that couldn't be adjusted out.

kyfdx

omarman said:

If that Oldsmobile Autocrat belonged to David Noran it's listed as a .
1910 prototype

That's the one.

Our son's have been friends since grade school. Unfortunately, my son was in Las Vegas and couldn't attend the memorial. But, I texted him a picture of the car, and he replied, "yeah, I've driven that car". So, there is that.

kyfdx

I missed the Concours this year, but he wins an award about every year there. I'm pretty sure he won Best in Show at the first Concours (1977?)

benjaminh

1941 Plymouth....

https://westernmass.craigslist.org/cto/d/1941-plymouth-special-deluxe/6615328408.html

ab348

Seller had to use the "barn find" nomenclature, unfortunate.

It is "sorta" original. Unfortunately the seats are upholstered with the wrong material, the dash would have been woodgrain-painted, and the door cards are MIA.

Not sure why T3 headlights are featured. They were a GM thing in the '50s/'60s.

stickguy

not my thing, but that is a nice looking Impala. If the description of the work done is accurate (scope and quality), somebody is losing their shirt on that restoration.

ab348

Trunklid/molding fit seems to be a common problem on '66 Impalas. The factory must have had fun churning these out.

Mr_Shiftright

That Nash is perfect for off-roading, with FRONT fender skirts to keep you from steering off the path and 4 inches of ground clearance so you don't hang up on a ground squirrel.

benjaminh

1971 Thunderbird $8k....






https://classics.autotrader.com/classic-cars/1971/ford/thunderbird/100915819

omarman

why did some of that make me think I was watching Brokeback mountain?

Must be another movie I never saw. What happened?

benjaminh

1964 Olds 17k....Would those chrome tail pipes have been original? And what about those cupholders? If those are original is this the "cocktail" edition for the young executive??







https://classics.autotrader.com/classic-cars/1964/oldsmobile/cutlass/100992903

omarman

I like that bird-beak Thunderbird better than the '71 Montego with a very similar nose. Plus the 429 Tbird may not be all that fast but makes up for it by being thirsty. Still if it checks out to be as stock and well-kept as pictured I'd want it. As long as I could find/afford storage for something that big.

benjaminh

1969 "Neil Armstrong" Mercury Marquis Brougham offered for $6500....






https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/cars-for-sale/mercury/marquis/2126807.html

fintail

On the T-Bird, dress the tires but don't clean the whitewalls, nice! I think the next gen car my mom had when I was little had similar turn signals on the dash.

Speaking of those, another green 72 Bird has turned up about a mile from me, now there are two green 72 models locally (one looks and sounds mean with period mags and a period looking subtle hood scoop).

For the money, that Marquis looks like a neat affordable entry into the hobby. Good deal.

stickguy

a few blocks from my house, a nice looking Trans Am. Black with gold stripes of course. Did not see the front, so can't be sure of the year, but from the butt it looked like a 72 or 73.

andre1969

ab348 said:

Trunklid/molding fit seems to be a common problem on '66 Impalas. The factory must have had fun churning these out.

The fit of the front door doesn't look too good on that first one, either. On the second one, my first thought is that they're leaving trunk unlocked, to make it easier to get into the beer cooler. Umm, not that I speak from expeience...

imidazol97

omarman said:

Tbird may not be all that fast but makes up for it by being thirsty.

You can say that again.

imidazol97

andre1969 said:

On the second one, my first thought is that they're leaving trunk unlocked, to make it easier to get into the beer cooler. Umm, not that I speak from expeience...

That's one of my pet peeves from car shows. There will be a really nice car that I'd like to photograph, but the trunk is wide open and the hood is up. More than once I've run back to a car like that when the owner had gotten in and started it to leave. Then I got a worthwhile photograph.

ab348

I like that Marquis too. Always liked the Cord-inspired front end styling. Too bad they didn't vacuum under the front seats, debris shows in the shot of the rear seats. Seems pretty nice otherwise with just normal signs of age. I forgot that Ford made a 429-2bbl engine for their big cars, seems odd. Being a 4-door holds back the value but as was said, makes an affordable way to get into the hobby. I would love to see one in this sort of condition as a convertible (hopefully without black seats!).

fintail

I'd offer a grand less than asking and see what happens, give it a good detail, and take it to local shows and club meets. I think it would be welcomed, and many would enjoy seeing it - something once not so rare that is quite rare now. A welcome break from all of the Mustangs and Chevelles etc. You won't make a fortune, but the initial investment will be a lot less, probably running costs, too.

imidazol97

I like the Marquis. The fact it's a hardtop is a good plus; 4-door actually has a nice profile and style to my eyes, at least. The colors on it are perfect. Nothing to offend.

Mr_Shiftright

fintail said:

On the T-Bird, dress the tires but don't clean the whitewalls, nice! I think the next gen car my mom had when I was little had similar turn signals on the dash.

Speaking of those, another green 72 Bird has turned up about a mile from me, now there are two green 72 models locally (one looks and sounds mean with period mags and a period looking subtle hood scoop).

For the money, that Marquis looks like a neat affordable entry into the hobby. Good deal.

Oh I thought the Marquis was named "Armstrong" because it didn't have power steering. It's an old joke.

benjaminh

1936 Oldsmobile 2-door sedan offered for 17.5k....






https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/oldsmobile/unspecified/1989431.html

benjaminh

1953 Oldsmobile 98 offered for 12k obo....









https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/cars-for-sale/oldsmobile/98/2120350.html

benjaminh

1964 Thunderbird offered for 18k....














http://www.gatewayclassiccars.com/SCT/274/1964-Ford-Thunderbird

benjaminh

1967 Mercedes-Benz offered for $12.6k....







http://www.gatewayclassiccars.com/TPA/964/1967-Mercedes-Benz-200

benjaminh

Here's a somewhat older car I actually saw myself, a c.1986 Cadillac Seville that's been parked about a block away from where my parents live in Seattle for the whole 19 years they've been here. Since I don't consider the Catera to really be a Cadillac, and with the Cimarron just being "by Cadillac" rather than actually a Caddy, I think this might be the smallest Cadillac made since....the 1920s? Before that? Anyway, there's grass growing up around this car, and I have never seen it actually in motion....

omarman

Mr_Shiftright said:

fintail said:

On the T-Bird, dress the tires but don't clean the whitewalls, nice! I think the next gen car my mom had when I was little had similar turn signals on the dash.

Speaking of those, another green 72 Bird has turned up about a mile from me, now there are two green 72 models locally (one looks and sounds mean with period mags and a period looking subtle hood scoop).

For the money, that Marquis looks like a neat affordable entry into the hobby. Good deal.

Oh I thought the Marquis was named "Armstrong" because it didn't have power steering. It's an old joke.

"Still holding out for the de Sade option." Older joke.

andre1969

imidazol97 said:

That's one of my pet peeves from car shows. There will be a really nice car that I'd like to photograph, but the trunk is wide open and the hood is up. More than once I've run back to a car like that when the owner had gotten in and started it to leave. Then I got a worthwhile photograph.

I always leave the hood down on my '67 Catalina and '79 5th Ave, because they're really nothing special under the hood. In my opinion, you see one stock Pontiac 400 or Mopar smallblock, you've seen 'em all.

Interestingly, on both of these cars (my '76 LeMans too, I think) when the trunk is unlocked, it still stays flush. Now on my DeSoto, if you open it, the trunk will pop up a bit. I seem to recall on the '68 and '69 Darts I had, that the trunk would also pop up just a bit.

With more modern cars...my 2000 Park Ave, when you opened the trunk, that thing would actually fly up and fully opened with some force. I had a friend go with me when I first looked at it at the dealer, and I can remember he walked around behind it as I pressed the trunk release, and it clocked him in the jaw. But, with my Dad's '03 Regal, it lays perfectly flat. The Park Ave uses the old fashioned, cargo-crushing gooseneck hinges and torsion bars, while the Regal uses struts.

benjaminh

@andre1969: Any chance you'd post a few pics of your 67 Catalina?

texases

Saw a '62 T-Bird out for a drive this weekend. Looked to be in good shape. Any particular nickname for this model? All I could find was "Bigbird"...?

omarman

Bullet Bird: 1961–63 Thunderbirds.
There's a FB page for them.

fintail

I've also heard "cigar bird".

Re: 80s downsized Seville, someone who works in my office campus has one, white, in pretty nice condition. If something like that is going to survive, I supect the Seattle area is as good a place as any.

That late run fintail is interesting for the wood dash and windshield surround - IIRC, that model didn't have interior wood from the factory, someone had to do a retrofit - wouldn't have been cheap. Looks nicely done, even if the finish might be a little shiny (I think non-W112 fintail sedans had more of a matte finish). The 53 Olds is interesting for its state of preservation, I think a good detail might bring it out.

texases

Those two Oldsmobiles - are those prices a bit high, given the limited market for them?

fintail

I think there's very little market for a 53 Olds sedan, and it will never sell near that price.

PF_Flyer

Wife wasn't quick enough with her phone and I was driving, so I don't have a live pic, but we had a '65 Shelby GT350 cruise past us Sunday morning

texases

Nice....wonder if it was a 'tribute' car, lots of those around...

Mr_Shiftright

Practically all of them. Not too many people take their 1/2 million dollar cars motorboating on public streets or to show n shines.

berri

"Still holding out for the de Sade option."

Which reminds me of the old Saturday Night Live skit that made fun of the Mercury jeweler TV spot by having a rabbi perform a circumcision in the back seat of one

fintail

andre1969

benjaminh said:

@andre1969: Any chance you'd post a few pics of your 67 Catalina?

Sure! I need to get some new pics up at some point, but it looks about the same, as in these.





Good lord, my old '68 Dart is in one of those pics...and I got rid of that thing back in early 2009, I think!

jwm40517

The 64 T-bird seems to have an aftermarket seat belt for driver only and none for other seats. When did belts become common or standard? My 66 Chevy II had lap belts.

andre1969

I had always thought it was 1965 that seatbelts, lap belts at least, were required to be standard equipment, but according to Wikipedia it varied by state. Apparently, it was federalized in 1968, and that's when they also made shoulder belts up front standard in all cars. I think it was actually all cars manufactured after 1/1/1968 though, so some early '68 models might just have the lap belts.

ab348

The first car of ours that had seat belts I can recall was our '67 Pontiac. You are correct on the shoulder belt regulation. My '68 Cutlass was built in September of 1967 and it has only lap belts.

texases

Our '63 Polara had factory lap belts, optional I'm sure.

fintail

Fintail only has seatbelts in the front - and they are original, probably should replace them. Prior owner installed later type belts in the rear, but I keep them hidden under the seat.

IIRC my dad's 60 Ford didn't have seatbelts, but he retrofitted a set when he bought the car.

imidazol97

andre1969 said:

my 2000 Park Ave, when you opened the trunk, that thing would actually fly up and fully opened with some force. ... The Park Ave uses the old fashioned, cargo-crushing gooseneck hinges and torsion bars, while the Regal uses struts.

The upward force can be adjusted to your liking by moving just one of those two torsion bars to the next notch to reduce the force. It worked on my leSabre.