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

ab348

Mr_Shiftright said:

texases said:

A very nice looking XJS cabrio in the turn lane, blinker working and everything!

I bet he's flipping it on and off by hand, though!

Nah. If he tried doing that surely either the blinker switch or the turn signal lever would have broken.

texases

That Buick is all heeled over for the turn, I see...

andre1969

Mr_Shiftright said:

texases said:

A very nice looking XJS cabrio in the turn lane, blinker working and everything!

I bet he's flipping it on and off by hand, though!

I just finished up a huge car collection appraisal...there were 4 XJS in the group and the # of running ones?

None.

I actually had to start doing that with my '79 5th Ave. I think it might be the flasher bulb under the dash starting to go. But basically, the right blinker works just fine, and when I put the hazard lights on, they work fine. But when I put the left blinker on, it'll come on, but takes a really long time to cycle off and then on again.

I keep forgetting about it because I don't drive the car that much. But then I remember, so I just do the left blinker manually

Mr_Shiftright

There are three positions on the XJS turn indicator----OFF---FLICKER--OFF.

I love '55--'56 Buicks. Sure, they handle like mom's couch on casters, but the interiors, the dashboard, that Dyna-Flow, the quiet, kinda lazy V8 power, and of course, have to depress the gas pedal to engage the starter motor---how cool is that?

berri

That Buick looks quite sharp Andre

tifighter

There is a lovely BMW 507 roadster parked in the lobby of the LeMay museum today. They have a vintage BMW exhibit showing now.

stickguy

Dang. Now I want some fried chicken.

omarman

stickguy said:

Dang. Now I want some fried chicken.

and biscuits.

explorerx4

When I was up in the Charlevoix, MI area, saw about 1/2 a dozen 911's, all air cooled, except one.

explorerx4

Not every day I see one of these parked next door.

xwesx

Wohoo!!! A 6x6! I need one of those!

Mr_Shiftright

The ultimate high card in the "how big is your SUV" poker game! I drove those a LOT in the Army--also the tanker version and the wrecker version. Interestingly, the 6X6s were automatics except for the tankers. And no, you don't need a key to start them.

andre1969

explorerx4 said:

Not every day I see one of these parked next door.

Ooh, I want one! Weren't some of those built by Diamond-T?

Mr_Shiftright

Studebaker built a lot of them.

explorerx4

No key to start one? I wish I knew that a couple of hours ago.

Mr_Shiftright

Have you been watching re-runs of Hogan's Heroes again?

explorerx4

Hogan's Heros? No, but I do watch Rat Patrol once in a while.

sda

Mom taught her mom how to drive in this '56 Special after my grandfather passed in '58, a year before I was born. He was 47.

ab348

^^^ That's your mom from back in the day? She looks fabulous!

Mr_Shiftright

I just saw (of all things) a '55 Desoto galumphing down a side road in town, through the vineyards. I really wasn't expecting THAT. You just never know what's hiding in the tall grass.

bhill2

Mr_Shiftright said:

I just saw (of all things) a '55 Desoto galumphing down a side road in town, through the vineyards. I really wasn't expecting THAT. You just never know what's hiding in the tall grass.

In high school in the mid '60s one off my (few) fond memories was of a fellow student who proudly drove a '55 Chrysler wagon; white over peppermint pink. I nearly stole it.

fintail

Saw an XJS convertible, and it too was moving under its own power had working turn signals (proof that Jag and BMW never linked up, perhaps )

berri

Sky King drove Chrysler wagons too

thebean

bhill2 said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

I just saw (of all things) a '55 Desoto galumphing down a side road in town, through the vineyards. I really wasn't expecting THAT. You just never know what's hiding in the tall grass.

In high school in the mid '60s one off my (few) fond memories was of a fellow student who proudly drove a '55 Chrysler wagon; white over peppermint pink. I nearly stole it.

There's got to be more to that story. Nearly stole it?

omarman

thebean said:

bhill2 said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

I just saw (of all things) a '55 Desoto galumphing down a side road in town, through the vineyards. I really wasn't expecting THAT. You just never know what's hiding in the tall grass.

In high school in the mid '60s one off my (few) fond memories was of a fellow student who proudly drove a '55 Chrysler wagon; white over peppermint pink. I nearly stole it.

There's got to be more to that story. Nearly stole it?

First thought may have been grand theft...on second thought, how to hide it?

ab348

bhill2 said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

I just saw (of all things) a '55 Desoto galumphing down a side road in town, through the vineyards. I really wasn't expecting THAT. You just never know what's hiding in the tall grass.

In high school in the mid '60s one off my (few) fond memories was of a fellow student who proudly drove a '55 Chrysler wagon; white over peppermint pink. I nearly stole it.

Might have looked like this one, which seems to have been auctioned a few times in recent years. Not as posh inside as I would have expected.

tifighter

ab348 said:

I like that a lot.

Mr_Shiftright

I'd drive something like that around as a daily driver.

imidazol97

andre1969 said:

It's a 1955 Buick, and I believe it's a Special. At least, I think it's a Special. That year, I believe the Special was the only Buick that got 3 portholes, while everything else got 4? I'd imagine the 4-door hardtop was pretty rare...IIRC, it came out in mid-year 1955, and only on the Special/Century (and the Oldsmobile models).

I got curious about this car because the logo doesn't look like there's a drop on the "p" in Special.
But that's what is says.
Special. Riviera, Model 43.

Dad bought Uncle Will's '55 Special 4-door sedan when I was in college. I drove it while I was taking the engine on my Mustang apart at home to fix a Ford problem. Tank. Heavy. Powerful. Thirsty. Smooth.

berri

I believe '55 was the first true Virgil Exner design at Chrysler. He was able to put a little lipstick on the 54 models.
I always liked mid 50's Buicks. A friend in college drove a 55 Buick base 4dr sedan on campus. Those doors liked to swing open without warning at times - and no, it wasn't someone needing to puke

bhill2

thebean said:

bhill2 said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

I just saw (of all things) a '55 Desoto galumphing down a side road in town, through the vineyards. I really wasn't expecting THAT. You just never know what's hiding in the tall grass.

In high school in the mid '60s one off my (few) fond memories was of a fellow student who proudly drove a '55 Chrysler wagon; white over peppermint pink. I nearly stole it.

There's got to be more to that story. Nearly stole it?

No, not really. I didn't mean it literally just that I wanted it so badly that I was tempted.

Mr_Shiftright

There was this guy on Long Island called...I think...Bobby Yunanks or something like that. Little bantam of a guy, very usual personality. Impish.

When he got drunk, he'd drive his '55 Buick convertible into the ocean. He must have done this a half-dozen times.

Eventually the police ripped up his driver's license, and he joined the USMC. I was surprised because he was so small but I guess they liked something about him (he was charming in a way). I saw him in uniform so I know he did make the grade. He looked about the same but his voice was 3X deeper.

bhill2

ab348 said:

bhill2 said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

I just saw (of all things) a '55 Desoto galumphing down a side road in town, through the vineyards. I really wasn't expecting THAT. You just never know what's hiding in the tall grass.

In high school in the mid '60s one off my (few) fond memories was of a fellow student who proudly drove a '55 Chrysler wagon; white over peppermint pink. I nearly stole it.

Might have looked like this one, which seems to have been auctioned a few times in recent years. Not as posh inside as I would have expected.

Yes, as far as I remember it was much like that except really pink.

Mr_Shiftright

Yes, Chrysler had a very pink PINK, like a pastel. This one is more "Peach".

fintail

This is kind of a neat idea for a video:

https://youtu.be/blW7gkHSBaU

omarman

My favorite part of that history is that it deletes the actual sound or music of the modern traffic mix. No blaring rap and not 1 single fart can Honda to be heard.

fintail

Or in my area, the flamboyant Subaru exhaust drone (on a car almost always wearing stickers and emitting vape smoke). I like to joke "My brother has a Honda that sounds like that - a Honda lawnmower".

omarman

RE: 1970's mix
I see a white F-body that's probably a 76-ish Firebird in the scene with Logan's Run on the marquee. (still no de Sade option )

In a San Francisco scene I see a red '69 AMX with a white racing strip parked under a big TOWER RECORDS sign. Then a white 240z and a VW drive past the old AMC car like a sign of things to come.

In the next scene I spot 2 Pintos going through the intersection from opposite directions proving that the domestic market was safe from all import competition. Yeah that should work.

fintail

The Pagoda SL on the highway ramp in the 60s segment also portends things to come for the higher price segment of the domestic market.

omarman

Ah didn't see that on the first view. Right behind the T-Bird then but years later...

tjc78

Cool vid.  There was a 70s Lincoln in the 80s shot but otherwise really cool how most shots had all decade correct cars.   

fintail

Thinking along the lines of the upstart competitors makes me remember "Driving Miss Daisy", which had a subtle take on this too. Daisy's son (Dan Akroyd), a successful businessman, was always seen in a late model Cadillac, until the last scene showing his car, set in the early 70s, when he was driving a MB W109.

The 90s scene in that video showing a Z32 300ZX, 90s Skylark, and 90s Mopar minivan seemed especially well-set.

andre1969

Hey everybody, lemme pick your brains for a minute. A friend of mine is looking to buy an antique car, but it'll be his first, and his tastes are running all over the map. Basically, he'll see something that catches his eye, and want it. Until the next thing that catches his eye comes along. Which, admittedly, is how I came across a few of my cars over the years!

Anyway, he found a 1956 Buick Super 4-door sedan (not a hardtop). It's solid black. Looks good in the pics, but they're not that detailed. It has some aftermarket gauges mounted under the dash, and has newer thin whitewalls. It only has 20,000 miles on it, although that can be both good and bad. Anyway, I know that's not much to go on, but could anyone give me a ballpark figure on what something like that would go for? They're asking $20K. I told him I'd guess more like $12-14K, but that was just a guess. Thanks!

texases

Will he be able to have it inspected?

explorerx4

Can't find the story, but I read about a guy that did some Edsel tribute cars.
Feast your eyes.

ab348

andre1969 said:

Anyway, he found a 1956 Buick Super 4-door sedan (not a hardtop). It's solid black. Looks good in the pics, but they're not that detailed. It has some aftermarket gauges mounted under the dash, and has newer thin whitewalls. It only has 20,000 miles on it, although that can be both good and bad. Anyway, I know that's not much to go on, but could anyone give me a ballpark figure on what something like that would go for? They're asking $20K. I told him I'd guess more like $12-14K, but that was just a guess. Thanks!

I'd be dubious of the mileage on a couple of counts. First off I would be shocked if that was the actual mileage given that the car is over 60 years old. Secondly, if it is correct, that means it ran an average of just a few hundred miles a year. That isn't good for anything. Oil gets sludgy, carb gets gummed up, seals dry out, etc. You might end up needing to do a total overhaul/refresh of a lot of things once you start driving it. As for the car itself, the price seems high for a 4-door. If he is looking at that kind of money I'd think there are some better options where a lot of the necessary work has already been done.

tjc78

@explorerx4

It’s kind of cool that the creator of those Crown Vic turned Edsels only changed the same things that differentiated the original Edsels (front and back ends, interior trim, etc). 

andre1969

okay, now I'm getting the whole story. Turns out my friend's not in the market for this '56 Buick. He has a friend whose sister is selling it at a small dealership in South Carolina. Now I dunno if she's selling it on consignment, if it's actually her car, or what. Anyway, here's a pic of it, if anyone's curious...

berri

Stately looking upper level Buick sedan.

As for the Edsel conversions, those Panthers run for a long time and aren't worth that much in trade. So if someone wants to create an Edsel edition, what the heck. Doesn't really seem to look any worse than the Florida tarted up Camry's or Panthers with vinyl roofs, gold emblems and fake wire wheels

ab348

Seeing that Buick instantly reminded me of a '55 Roadmaster 4-door in the same color that I saw at a show in Elkhorn, WI in 1994. It too was an original car and was for sale for $5000. I was fascinated by it and was all over it. Even though it was very well-kept and had virtually no rust other than surface rust underneath what struck me the longer I checked it out was that it would soon be a money pit because if you used it very much things would start to become problems - the interior would wear quickly, the chrome and paint would start to look tatty, and then of course whatever mechanical weaknesses it had would soon become apparent.