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I spotted an (insert obscure car name here) classic car today! (Archived)
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2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I could very-much like a '65 Chrysler 300-L.
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I do believe the 1960 body was all-new, though, compared to 1957-59, even though it doesn't look it.
As for the '63-64 Chryslers, I think my problem with them is that, while that body is okay for a Newport-class car, it really was too diminutive for something in the New Yorker's price range...a car meant to compete with the Buick Electra and Olds Ninety-Eight.
But, maybe it was meant to be. The bigger New Yorker was becoming a mere shell of its former self, seeming to have never truly recovered from the 1958 recession. While the Chrysler brand made a comeback, it did so mainly on the strength of the Newport and non-Letter 300 cars, which were priced in what had once been Dodge and low-end DeSoto territory. The big Saratoga went away after 1960, leaving just the New Yorker and 300G on the 126" wb for 1961. I think the New Yorker dropped the hardtop coupe and convertible for '62, and the 300H went to the shorter 122" wb. So that would have left the New Yorker with just pillared and hardtop sedans, and the Town & Country wagon. But, to make the New Yorker bigger, they just stretched it out ahead of the firewall, giving it a longer hood and fenders, but with no increase in interior room over a Newport. At least with a Buick/Olds, you got a larger interior when you went from a LeSabre/88 to an Electra/Ninety-Eight.
The prestige did return for '65, in my opinion. And, I guess Chrysler did benefit from not messing around with compacts and midsized cars like Olds, Buick, and Mercury did, so that gave them a little cachet. Still, even though the cars were bigger, I think the fact that the New Yorker wasn't actually bigger than a Newport/300 hurt its prestige a bit. Nevermind the fact that they were ALL big cars!
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Careful Up, you're a GM fan and those 65's were heavily influenced by former Fomoco designer Elwood Engel who took over at Chrysler from Virgil Exner. Personally, I found the 63/64 Chrysler design inside and outside interesting and different, but maybe it needed a bit more to compete with its GM competitors that were very clean looking. The 64 Pontiac kind of went its own way too with the headlight design.
I guess Plymouth still might have sold on engineering...stuff like the torsion bar suspension, which gave superior handling, early adopter of the alternator, and also an early adopter in making a 3-speed the standard automatic, and using a decent-sized engine for the standard V-8. Maybe the geeks, engineers, and such liked it for that? Plus, the styling did somewhat tie in to the various turbine show cars of the time.
I've heard that one reason people like the style of the Toyota Prius is that it stands out and draws attention to itself...it doesn't look like every other compact/midsized car out there. And that was one reason it's been so popular...a hybrid Accord, Fusion, whatever, looked just like the non-hybrid version, but the Prius buyers wanted their cars to stand out. So maybe the '61 Plymouth buyers were a similar sort?
That's one reason I'm kinda fond of the '62 Dodges. To me, they seem wild, offbeat, and definitely stick out, in a combination that I find appealing. But, the '62 Plymouth, I just find kinda ugly.
Saw something now-obscure - a pristine first gen Olds Bravada.
Then there is the ongoing question of who really introduced the successful Intermediate car. The 62 Ford Fairlane was probably the first official Big 3 Intermediate entry. Ironically, Ford didn't really dominate in that segment and even the subsequent Torino seemed to appeal mostly to Ford loyalists or buyers shopping the deal. GM's senior compacts quickly ballooned in size and GM made their entry official with the all new 64 Malibu. Was the 62 downsized Chrysler full sized entry actually an Intermediate in disguise? Same goes for the 58 Rambler. Some will argue the first Intermediates were actually from the Independents like the first half of the 50's Nash and 53-55 (?) Loewy Studebakers, as well as the Willys Aero.
Cars did get heavy, my Bluetec is half a ton heavier than the fintail, literally 1000 pounds.
The first Falcons were tin cans, and the Corvair was...well, a Corvair, but had the nicest interiors and, arguably, most palatable styling. The Valiants were just weird-looking, and the Falcons were blah (but got better).
My favorites of the bunch were the Falcon Sprints for performance and the '65 Corvair for looks.
I remember around 1993 when my dad found the 68 Fairlane, we took it on a drive to visit my grandparents. My grandfather was surprised by it, as apparently my mom told him about the latest acquisition, and he was expecting a Falcon. He said something along the lines of "Falcons are terrible cars" - they must have had some negative vibes early on.
I remember around that time, when I was starting to drive, there was a red on red 63 Sprint in town, and I would have loved to have it as my first car. I know I have told the story before, alas, the owner never drove it but wouldn't sell.
I know it's not quite as glamorous as a '60 Imperial or Caddy at some Olympic sized pool in the hamptons, but I guess it's not a half-bad substitute...
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And the first project is definitely going to be having a garage built!
Pools are based on gallons anyway. What’s that, 35,000-40,000?
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
E500
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Third rig from the right is an Alert Red Nissan Sentra SR Turbo! Whoo-hoo!
2021 Kia Soul LX 6-speed stick
I was able to find pics showing the rear of a '75, 76, and '77 Cutlass sedan, and they all had a vertical piece splitting the taillight into two thin, tall sections. So maybe the '74 sedan had that treatment with the horizontal cut? And, for some reason, that particular hue of washed out green just screams "1974" to me. It might have been a one-year-only color, or maybe just a color that was really popular that one year, and then soon faded away?
Not a "classic" or particularly obscure, but...