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

sda

berri said:

Looked at the picture and three things popped into my mind; Mercury Topaz (god knows why), Rube Goldberg mousetrap automatic seat belts and rental cars. I have to admit though, like them or not, Ford styling kind of stood out in traffic back in those days until the cars became more numerous on the road.

That is the same color of the '87 Taurus LX that mom had. That color had a tendency to oxidize and needed frequent waxing. The red interior also faded from the sun. It was a good car that they kept for 10 years.

ab348

Saw one of these on the road today (not this exact one obvs., but very similar in color/trim) in absolutely mint shape. It looked too good to be original though I can't imagine anyone would restore one. Surprised how glad I was to see one.

bhill2

berri said:

Looked at the picture and three things popped into my mind; Mercury Topaz (god knows why), Rube Goldberg mousetrap automatic seat belts and rental cars. I have to admit though, like them or not, Ford styling kind of stood out in traffic back in those days until the cars became more numerous on the road.

My father's '76 Vega (orange Estate Wagon; I couldn't figure it out either) had those mousetrap belts too. Kind of a pain (especially if it caught your ear), but then a number of years later I was in an accident and lost most of my hearing in one ear to the airbags. I guess you have to choose your devil.

fintail

I think the decapitation seatbelts in Tempo/Topaz were maybe MY1988-89+ .

The exposed gas cap on those late Falcons bugs me. The car in that pic looks pretty clean for one returning to the Earth.

Those Crown Vics were usually pretty solid cars, I think, one of the safer domestic choices of the era. It seems the big cars fared well, but smaller cars could be a crapshoot.

tjc78

ab348 said:

Saw one of these on the road today (not this exact one obvs., but very similar in color/trim) in absolutely mint shape. It looked too good to be original though I can't imagine anyone would restore one. Surprised how glad I was to see one.

In my area box Panthers are still fairly common. I see a couple a week. Just yesterday an 88-91 Grand Marquis was in front of me. Picture above is an 83-87.

@fintail, that house in the picture reminds me of the house in Poltergeist.

sda

After getting fed up with the troublesome '79 Eldorado diesel and GM's lack of support, dad traded for an '85 Mercury Grand Marquis LS. It was the sister of that Crown Vic, looked virtually identical and had the same wire wheel covers but was dark metallic blue, blue half vinyl top, dark blue velour interior. Though it gave good service, drove well, power was weak with the 130hp 302 V8. Even though it was primarily garage kept, the dash pad cracked in several places, including the typical speaker openings, and the driver's armrest cracked from use. For whatever reason, dad never cared for the Merc yet appreciated its comfortable interior and overall trouble free performance.

ab348

The one I saw was an '83-'87 like the pic as it lacked the rounded-off corners up front that came for '88. The square edges seemed to be a Gene Bordinat design signature.

I always felt that the Panthers were slightly (or more than slightly) inferior in both design and quality to the competing '77-'90 GM big cars. But it was nice to see a survivor. I saw a '78 Caprice Coupe on the road here last week that looked great as well though in unfortunate colors (a non-metallic beige with brown vinyl roof) which detracted from the otherwise favorable impression.

tjc78

All the box Panthers have cracked dashes!  Those speaker opening were just too large.   Shame he didn’t wait one more year.  86 got SEFI and was a little more powerful along with better drive ability.   

Mr_Shiftright

fintail said:

To have those plates, the vehicle must be titled to the same year. I don't know if that can be done with a replica, unless the basis is a same-year VW, I guess.

There's so much money floating around here (some of it less dirty than others), that there's a good probability the car was just an affordable toy to the driver.

Mr_Shiftright said:

Hard to say without lifting the hood or getting under the car. There are some outstanding replicas around.

Pretty risky driving a real Speedster around. Pity the fool who rear ends one and has to cough up 1/2 million bucks.

Yeah you can title replicas to older years in some states, but they often limit the number of applicants.

berri

I liked the more squared off look of the earlier Panthers more than the latter rounded off front ends. I kind of thought the last models looked like the front end was just tacked on.

explorerx4

Saw this last night watching an episode of The Saint.
Mostly driven by the good guys, but temporarily appropriated by the villains.

jpp75

My grandparents had a Ford LTD from 1973 until they passed away in 2001. They had a 1973, a 1982 and a 1988. I don't remember much about the 1973 other than my grandmother always having to "warm it up" before we pulled out of the garage. The 1982 was troublesome and they only kept it a few years but it was the same style as the picture @ab348 posted. The 1988 was the new rounded refresh and it was amazing how much better it was than the 1982, they drove it 150k over the rest of their life without any real issues and I remember it being a very comfortable car to ride and drive.

berri

That's around the time Ford switched over to an OHC V8 I think. As for '73, my parents had a73 Galaxie. It wasn't one of Ford's finest efforts.

tjc78

berri said:

That's around the time Ford switched over to an OHC V8 I think. As for '73, my parents had a73 Galaxie. It wasn't one of Ford's finest efforts.

OHC came to the Town Car in 1991 and Crown Vic/Grand Marq in 1992 with the body style change. 1990 Town Cars are unicorns. New body, but retained the 302 as in years past.

explorerx4

@tjc78.
That iteration of Town Cars are my favorite.

Mr_Shiftright

The Panther platform cars are among the highest mileage used car survivors ever recorded, as a body of work.

jpp75

berri said:

That's around the time Ford switched over to an OHC V8 I think. As for '73, my parents had a73 Galaxie. It wasn't one of Ford's finest efforts.

I remember my grandfather bought that car right around the time of the oil crisis and gas lines (I was yet to be born but I remember him telling us that). Due to his job at a coal mine he had easy (or easier) access to gasoline and wasn't as concerned about the fuel shortages and costs so he apparently got a great deal on it as they "couldn't give them away" during that time.

jpp75

explorerx4 said:

@tjc78.
That iteration of Town Cars are my favorite.

Mine as well.

tjc78

jpp5862 said:

@tjc78. That iteration of Town Cars are my favorite.

Mine as well.

Yes, great style for a large car.  

tjc78

Mr_Shiftright said:

The Panther platform cars are among the highest mileage used car survivors ever recorded, as a body of work.

I’ve been in several cabs in NYC that had 500k on the clock.  

stickguy

Friday driving in upstate NY, not one, but 2 Fairmont futuras (the 2 door fastback style). was odd.

stickguy

and today, driving on the highway (under it's own power!) and early Jag XJ6C. The coupe version. Looked very nicely kept, complete with the vinyl roof. Chrome bumper car, so I guess very early 70s, And no noticeable smoke of fluids being expelled from it.

and amazing how low those cars are compared to modern ones. even sedans tower over it.

fintail

Some unusual cars at the annual Seattle area MBCA gathering

Even a SLC for isellhondas. I put my car in the "Silver Star" preservation register.

omarman

I like that first pic with the gold and purple trimmed 126 (?) sedan. In at least 4 other pics I found different angles of the same car in all its purple trimmed glory. What was printed on the circular door emblems?

fintail

Purple and gold are the colors of the University of Washington - it was that theme, the purple isn't a factory color (but various goldtones were popular in the early-mid 80s, the gold may have been stock). I don't recall the emblem, but I think something to do with the school.

omarman said:

I like that first pic with the gold and purple trimmed 126 (?) sedan. In at least 4 other pics I found different angles of the same car in all its purple trimmed glory. What was printed on the circular door emblems?

omarman

Ok that explains the reference to a purple M3 in the discussion below the pics.

Mr_Shiftright

tjc78 said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

The Panther platform cars are among the highest mileage used car survivors ever recorded, as a body of work.

I’ve been in several cabs in NYC that had 500k on the clock.  

Yep, I think some folks have done extensive research to find out which cars rack up the highest mileages, and the Panther platform, the Camry & Accord (of course) and....the Prius of all things are clear winners.

jpp75

Mr_Shiftright said:

tjc78 said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

The Panther platform cars are among the highest mileage used car survivors ever recorded, as a body of work.

I’ve been in several cabs in NYC that had 500k on the clock.  

Yep, I think some folks have done extensive research to find out which cars rack up the highest mileages, and the Panther platform, the Camry & Accord (of course) and....the Prius of all things are clear winners.

Before carsharing I spent a lot of times in cabs, the Panthers were the preferred choice. One of my last rides in a cab was in a Crown Victoria with over 400k on the odometer.

andre1969

I

berri said:

That's around the time Ford switched over to an OHC V8 I think. As for '73, my parents had a73 Galaxie. It wasn't one of Ford's finest efforts.

I have a friend whose Mom had a '73, either an LTD or Galaxie, and it was so troublesome that the kids nicknamed it "Mommy's Hunk o' Junk".

And now that I think about it, I seem to recall Lemko once mentioning that his parents had a full-sized '73 Ford. It wouldn't start one night, when they were all dressed up to go out to a nice dinner, and he had to borrow a Chevy from a neighbor. I believe that was one of the pivotal moments that got Lemko so hooked on GM, as a child!

ab348

Up here in the salt belt, Ford did something with their 1973 and 74 models that made them extremely prone to rust. There were ads running in the newspapers in the mid-70s soliciting owners of Rusty Fords as they were generally known to join in a lawsuit for premature corrosion. By the time the '75 models came out Ford was touting their clear rockguard coating on the lower fenders and doors as one of many new anti-rust steps they were taking.

I know our '74 Maverick had rust holes within 18 months.

roadburner

ab348 said:

Up here in the salt belt, Ford did something with their 1973 and 74 models that made them extremely prone to rust. There were ads running in the newspapers in the mid-70s soliciting owners of Rusty Fords as they were generally known to join in a lawsuit for premature corrosion. By the time the '75 models came out Ford was touting their clear rockguard coating on the lower fenders and doors as one of many new anti-rust steps they were taking.

I know our '74 Maverick had rust holes within 18 months.

So did our 1973 Bronco and our miserable 1974 Maverick.

fintail

I am glad I am in a gentle climate, those cars didn't rust here. I don't recall any rust on my mom's T-Bird (as a design that entered production for MY 1972, maybe it was immune?), nor when I have noticed other Fords of the era with more rust than other similar age cars.

berri

I see a lot of Toyota Prius as cabs these days.
San Francisco and Seattle areas are both good places to see old cars as daily drivers.

fintail

Today spotted a red MGA roadster on wide whites and hubcap-less color coded wheels, and a white ~70 Beetle in very clean condition driven by an unhappy looking older guy - maybe that way because of the heat and smoke here.

bhill2

Speaking of obscure, I was reading a letter in Collectible Automobile and the writer was reminiscing about seeing, in his youth, a '58 Impala with a hot 348 (I think he said 315 hp) and "the new 4 on the floor". I cannot find any reference to the 4-speed being available in anything but the Corvette until '59. Is anyone aware of any '58s being delivered with this tranny, maybe on special order?

Mr_Shiftright

I think you could have them dealer installed IIRC. This is one of those questions that Chevrolet monks debate in their monastic cells for days on end, and nobody ever produces any credible evidence other than anecdotal, or references to a 4-speed on some tattered page of a service manual--but that no doubt refers to the Corvette 4-speed.

There are certainly lots of conversions out there.

So this is really a Bigfoot debate.

texases

But was there ever a factory floor shift on the '58 for the 3-speed? I'm betting that the letter writer @bhill2 saw was remembering a custom installation. The hottest 348 in the brochure was 280 hp with a six-pack (more hp than the fuel injected version of the 283). Of course, they could have changed things later in the model year.

bhill2

OK thanks. I bet the car the reader saw had been modified (and ‘hopped up’ as it hey said back then). 

fintail

On the road today - BMW E21, early Maverick coupe, 78-80 Grand Prix, Ferrari 360/430 (couldn't tell), 65-66 Mustang convertible.

kyfdx

Early ‘90s Thunderbird, today. Nothing special, but looked in great shape for it’s age.

fintail

Popped down to the store and saw a first gen/pre facelift (84-86) Caravan that looked immaculate.

ab348

There is an article in the current Collectible Automobile magazine about the MN12 Thunderbirds of the early '90s. Interesting in that these seemed to stop roaming the earth around here maybe 10 years ago and are virtually unseen here now. Back when they were new they really didn't register with me much - maybe they weren't affordable to me, or too big, I'm not sure exactly why that was. I liked the styling of the pre-refresh version better than the later ones, but the last few years had a better dash and the 4.6 V-8 going for them.

kyfdx

ab348 said:

There is an article in the current Collectible Automobile magazine about the MN12 Thunderbirds of the early '90s. Interesting in that these seemed to stop roaming the earth around here maybe 10 years ago and are virtually unseen here now. Back when they were new they really didn't register with me much - maybe they weren't affordable to me, or too big, I'm not sure exactly why that was. I liked the styling of the pre-refresh version better than the later ones, but the last few years had a better dash and the 4.6 V-8 going for them.

The SC models were the ones to have, IIRC. It had been so long since the last time I spotted one, that I had to look it up, to be sure what year. Big coupes used to be a thing.

texases

Speaking of T-Birds, followed in a 2002-ish one this morning. See them once in a long while now. What a lot of work went into that sales dud.

fintail

Someone in my office parking garage has a 90s T-Bird as a daily driver, I think it is a mid-facelift one from 1994 or so.

I suspect the 3.8 was the downfall of most.

lemko

andre1969 said:

Not the most flattering in the world, but here's the first pics of my DeSoto, "out in the wild", so to speak...




It made it about 5 miles from the shop, and started bucking, finally stalled, and I rolled to the side of the road. It re-started, but made it maybe a mile, died again, and this time I didn't react quickly enough to get it fully out of the road.

The culprit? The sumbitch was out of gas! Apparently, the gas gauge lies, and tells you it's half-full right until it runs dry. I don't remember it doing that in the past, but it has a new gas tank, and I forget now what all else he replaced in the fuel line, so I guess it might just need to be calibrated, or something? Ironically, someone I know, who has a '59 Dodge Coronet, happened to drive by and pulled over (in his Ram, not his Coronet). My friend who was following me got behind the wheel, and me and the other guy pushed it as far off the road as we could. Not an easy task, with something that size, going uphill... And with the freshly-chromed bumpers, I didn't want anything pushing it, or trying to tow it...

Anyway, the mechanic sent out a guy with a can of gas, it fired up, and got me home. Oh, and I also learned one reason why these Forward Look cars rusted out so quickly back in the day. The ground was a bit damp, and soft, so when I got going again, the right rear wheel spun out. I sprayed it off real good the moment I got it home, but it was amazing how much mud, grass, etc got stuck up in the wheel well, under the trunk floor, and inside the bumper, just with that one quick wheel-spin. All sorts of places for crap to accumulate. And I'm sure people weren't that religious about washing real good under their cars, back in the day.

Wow! First time I've seen your DeSoto out in a long, long time. Can't wait to see it in person. My 1989 Cadillac Brougham has been dormant since last October with all the rotten weather we've had this summer.

ab348

Well, look who's back. Hi @lemko !

lemko

ab348 said:

Well, look who's back. Hi @lemko !

Hi! Been away a long time.

lemko

Here's an obscure one, at least on this side of the pond.

stickguy

A triumph Frumpmobile. 1960.

if not that, maybe a Herald convertible?