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

fintail

Ah the fun stuff available in north of the border, but still forbidden in the US due to corporations writing laws.

Out for a walk this evening, spotted a real truck:



These are still not so rare here as rust is more rare, this one looked cleaner than most:

benjaminh

1948 Chrysler Town and Country....

benjaminh

Hostetler Hudson car museum in Indiana that just closed. The cars are apparently being sold off. Seems like several car museums in the US have closed in the last two decades. The economics of these places must be tough, esp. since their audiences are unfortunately dying off....

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g37526-d1422373-Reviews-Hostetler_s_Hudson_Auto_Museum-Shipshewana_Indiana.html#photos;aggregationId=101&albumid=101&filter=7

ab348

benjaminh said:

Hostetler Hudson car museum in Indiana that just closed. The cars are apparently being sold off. Seems like several car museums in the US have closed in the last two decades. The economics of these places must be tough, esp. since their audiences are unfortunately dying off....

It's not just car museums that are struggling. Most museums seem to have the same problem unless you are talking about big high-end museums in metro areas with a large population. Locally we have all kinds of smallish non-car museums in rural areas and they are all dying for lack of attendance and money. Initially people think that something is good to enshrine with a museum but they seldom are able to keep them going on attendance revenue alone.

benjaminh

A website listing car museums....

http://www.naam.museum/museum-list/

Mr_Shiftright

xwesx said:

ab348 said:

Here's something you don't see every day - a vehicle with a manual 5-speed on the column. Somehow "five on the tree" just doesn't have the same ring to it.

https://jdmwholesale.com/detail/879003

"five on the tree" and RHD? I don't know about you, but I would need a couple of days on a closed course before feeling comfortable with that on a public road! Hhahah

Alfa Romeo did that, too, with the Giulia sedan.

xwesx

ab348 said:

benjaminh said:

Hostetler Hudson car museum in Indiana that just closed. The cars are apparently being sold off. Seems like several car museums in the US have closed in the last two decades. The economics of these places must be tough, esp. since their audiences are unfortunately dying off....

It's not just car museums that are struggling. Most museums seem to have the same problem unless you are talking about big high-end museums in metro areas with a large population. Locally we have all kinds of smallish non-car museums in rural areas and they are all dying for lack of attendance and money. Initially people think that something is good to enshrine with a museum but they seldom are able to keep them going on attendance revenue alone.

Very true. The one here in Fairbanks is funded somewhat independently of the attendance revenue, as the owner's corporation has several large properties and is very much tied up in the tourism industry. So, this is the guy's labor of love, and attendance revenues are simply a way to probably pay for the desk help as well as to share that love with the general public.

ab348

Holy cow!

1978 LeBaron Town & Country sells for $21,500

stickguy

it was a nice one. Just did not think there was that kind of interest in one of those.

ab348

It was nice, but it still had some obvious needs, a headliner and sun visors among them.

Mr_Shiftright

ab348 said:

Holy cow!

1978 LeBaron Town & Country sells for $21,500

Friends don't let friends bid drunk.

Maybe it was John Voight's car? (The dentist, not the actor).

roadburner

The Rallye 350 went for under $20,000- I'd much rather have that than the LeBaron.

Mr_Shiftright

Yes, there are still E-Types found in old sheds, and yes, they are still very good at rusting.

This one is a British Iron Oxide mine with a good yield.

They never came from the factory with those sliding cloth roofs, did they?

Mr_Shiftright

Here's one for fintail. It's a 4.5, and is presently a rodent condo. I had to wear a respirator and gloves to check the odometer.

fintail

Parts car. Looks like the rockeRs might be iffy, too.

Fun accessory grille guard, and does it have tinted glass?

ab348

This is a 2008 so perhaps not a classic car, but I don't think I've ever seen one before. Too bad about the color choices though I know some people like the look.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2008-mercedes-benz-cl600-4/

Mr_Shiftright

fintail said:

Parts car. Looks like the rockeRs might be iffy, too.

Fun accessory grille guard, and does it have tinted glass?

No, not tinted. Just dirt.

xwesx

fintail said:

does it have tinted glass?

Why yes, but this type of tint is called "dusted glass."

xwesx

Mr_Shiftright said:

fintail said:

Parts car. Looks like the rockeRs might be iffy, too.

Fun accessory grille guard, and does it have tinted glass?

No, not tinted. Just dirt.

Argh. Beat to the punch again. I need to continue reading the comments before I go back to comment myself.

benjaminh

A 1931 LaSalle with a rumble seat and a golf club compartment. According to the administrator at Swope Cars of Yesteryear, the LaSalle was one of the first designs by Harley Earl, which is seemingly confirmed by wikipedia....



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harley_Earl

fintail

Those cars, along with fintails, could be ordered with tinted glass in either blue or green, I think. That glass is desirable today. I know of a fintail owner who had a green tinted windshield sent from Germany.

Mr_Shiftright said:

No, not tinted. Just dirt.

fintail

Those are a lot less troublesome than the prior generation, but you would need to be brave, maintenance will be dear. Being at BaT, I suspect the ending price will be full retail.

Those are in an odd spot, too old to be new, too new to be old - but they can only depreciate so much from here, and probably won't fall as far as the prior generation (an early 00s CL600 is worth very little).

ab348 said:

This is a 2008 so perhaps not a classic car, but I don't think I've ever seen one before. Too bad about the color choices though I know some people like the look.

Mr_Shiftright

Yes, Harley Earl (who was always called "Mr. Earl" at GM, designed the first LaSalles starting in the late 1920s---not great timing for a new make of car, but how did they know?

benjaminh

Mr_Shiftright said:

Yes, Harley Earl (who was always called "Mr. Earl" at GM, designed the first LaSalles starting in the late 1920s---not great timing for a new make of car, but how did they know?

But LaSalle actually did pretty well, didn't it? I don't know the figures, but I think from c.1930-1941 maybe as many LaSalles were sold as Cadillacs? I don't know. But I thought—and my memory may be faulty—that one of the reasons GM killed LaSalle was that it was almost too successful? In other words, LaSalle was seen as both weakening the Cadillac brand and also invading Buick's territory? And so, as successful as LaSalle was, Buick and Cadillac were considered more important—and so LaSalle was killed by that and World War II.

omarman

benjaminh said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

Yes, Harley Earl (who was always called "Mr. Earl" at GM, designed the first LaSalles starting in the late 1920s---not great timing for a new make of car, but how did they know?

But LaSalle actually did pretty well, didn't it? I don't know the figures, but I think from c.1930-1941 maybe as many LaSalles were sold as Cadillacs? I don't know. But I thought—and my memory may be faulty—that one of the reasons GM killed LaSalle was that it was almost too successful? In other words, LaSalle was seen as both weakening the Cadillac brand and also invading Buick's territory? And so, as successful as LaSalle was, Buick and Cadillac were considered more important—and so LaSalle was killed by that and World War II.

Are those blue dot tail lights on the LaSalle?

benjaminh

I realize it might not be a good source, but here's what it says in the wikipedia article about the GM's decision to end LaSalle:

"....LaSalle sales had consistently exceeded Cadillac's since 1933, so the question arises, why did GM decide to drop LaSalle? Evidently the lesson of the Packard One-Twenty had been weighing on the minds of the executives at GM. Since its introduction in 1935 the medium priced Packard One-Twenty had consistently outsold the LaSalle, with sales volume exceeding Cadillac's counterpart by an average of 72 percent over the six-year period 1935-40 inclusively. Since LaSalle had been a Cadillac in all but name for most of its lifespan, it was decided it was time to bestow upon it the prestigious title of Cadillac.[3]

In Packard circles, the fact that the marque's lower priced cars were designated Packards is thought by many to have ultimately resulted in the ruination of the company. In LaSalle's case that it wasn't a Cadillac was probably the ruinous factor. People do buy prestige and a Cadillac was prestige. LaSalle did not have the time to develop a prestigious name before the onset of the Great Depression, and did not have the opportunity after.[2]"

benjaminh

1941 Buick....

benjaminh

And since apparently I was so captivated by the chrome I forgot to take a pic of the 41 Buick's entire front—including the headlights—here's a pic from wikipedia of a very similar car....

fintail

I've always liked the 39 Buick, so deco:

fintail

Small town grocery store spot this morning:



Something unusual here:



Yes, an automatic. Extremely nice condition, maybe not restored (definitely not over-restored), 60-70 something woman driving it.

xwesx

Nice! The smiley face is a little over the top (and the yellow clashes horribly), but otherwise looks great.

omarman

fintail said:

Yes, an automatic.

So that placard is for the vehicle?

omarman

A Columbus car dealership has been bought by one of the stars of the 1997 movie “Boogie Nights.”
And it’s not Burt Reynolds.

kyfdx

omarman said:

A Columbus car dealership has been bought by one of the stars of the 1997 movie “Boogie Nights.”
And it’s not Burt Reynolds.

Bobby Layman.. what a piece of work.

I guess the burger thing just isn't enough?

fintail

I suspect my fintail is like a Veyron compared to that thing.

omarman said:

So that placard is for the vehicle?

omarman

kyfdx said:

omarman said:

A Columbus car dealership has been bought by one of the stars of the 1997 movie “Boogie Nights.”
And it’s not Burt Reynolds.

Bobby Layman.. what a piece of work.

I guess the burger thing just isn't enough?

Every time I see Wahlburgers scroll by on my cable menu I wonder "what's next?"

fintail

There must be a VW meet around here, later yesterday I saw a Karmann-Ghia, 60s Beetle cabrio, and an obviously restored 21/23 window microbus, kind of a yellow/orange and white two tone with whitewalls.

kyfdx

Kia K900. Pretty sure it's the only one in the Midwest.

Mr_Shiftright

I wonder how many woofers it has?

fintail

Out around town today - saw the green VW van again, have also seen an earlier Tempo coupe, Tercel 4WD wagon, hardtop Samurai, early Ford Probe, 79-83 Toyota 4x4.

fintail

Didn't see much on the drive home today - a 68-69 Cutlass/442 and some 70s era pickups was about it. While browsing around, I did find this funny image of a fintail spotted in Lithuania, wearing a period American style paint scheme:

Mr_Shiftright

Kinda like a 50s Mopar.

benjaminh

1936 Chrysler Airflow....

Mr_Shiftright

Pretty much a flop but I've driven these and compared to most cars of that era, they drive very well--easier to steer and good performance.

fintail

Airflows are very cool cars, a real landmark design and leap forward.

I like the 1934 cars most, with the more pure styling:

ab348

I also prefer the earlier Airflows and I gather that they were built like tanks. But very few people wanted to buy them, sadly. The difference between the staid, upright and angular cars that came before them and the futuristic Airflow design was too hard for most people to swallow.

fintail

Compared to a 34 Ford or Chevy or anything else, it is like a spaceship. The only 1934 car I can think of that compares is a Tatra 77, and that was much more avant-garde, exclusive, and polarizing.

Then by 1936, the Lincon Zephyr made the modernity more mainstream, and design steadily took off.

ab348

Drool.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2000-porsche-911-carrera-28/

texases

Could be a bargain. That's a lot of fake wood, isn't it? Not so crazy about that. How much for an IMS bearing upgrade?

Mr_Shiftright

Seems to be missing a pedal.