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

ab348

explorerx4 said:

I liked the original show where they would work on a lot of vehicles you cant get here.
Not sure if it is broadcast in Europe, but I wonder if they like it because they get to see lots of vehicles you can't get over there.

As I understand it, it was originally developed and shown only in the UK. It took off and eventually there was a Wheeler Dealers France and I believe it was shown with subtitles or overdubs in many other European countries as well. After some number of seasons, it was picked up by Discovery and shown in North America, where it also became a hit. Where it gets a bit murky is why they started coming to America. I think there was a desire even some years ago to expand their horizons beyond the UK which would explain why they started going to France, Italy, Poland, etc., and bringing cars from those places back to the UK shop. Doing the same with America probably seemed like a logical next step.

At some point 2-3 years ago the original producers ended up relinquishing control of the production to Discovery, presumably in exchange for a decent sum of money, and the whole operation moved to California. Between the change in producers, directors, and crew the show started to change. From Discovery's POV it probably made some sense because they had this show that was now very popular in the USA so why not do cars that the audience here would be familiar with? That required a US base. But Edd clearly didn't want to spend so much time away from home and it started to unravel, plus he had a business over there that suffered from lack of attention which eventually went bust also. His last season was not a happy one, as could be seen in the very odd 1916 Cadillac episode that was the last one he appeared in.

The original UK audience, or at least some part of it, is now unhappy with the US focus of the show, even though they are doing more imported cars than US ones. The complaint seems to be that they abandoned their roots and sold out to the Yanks. I can understand that to some extent because like you, I enjoyed seeing them work on cars we didn't get here (or at least not in great quantities) and the oddball British vibe appealed to me. The rather basic UK shop somehow seemed more realistic to me as well. Brewer has defended the move in part because the California weather lets them maintain a more efficient production schedule than dealing with the wet UK winters and produce more shows in less time. Maybe that's true. The show isn't the same show though.

fintail

I stopped watching WD when they moved stateside and started going after cars I can see at any local show. The British element, with excursions to the continent, was the attraction. All gone now.

Got up early today and ventured out to Gilmore. As expected, it is an amazing facility, more like numerous small museums linked on a campus. I think I spent 4 hours there, and I didn't stop moving. One could spend a day if they really took their time. Some of the buildings are made to resemble dealerships, pretty cool. Notice it was a pleasant balmy fall day in southwestern Michigan:





They had displays of automobilia too - the hood ornaments were amazing, someone's labor of love. Also several shelves of tin toys, among them, a fintail:



I took a few hundred pics. I could start anywhere with the cars, but as movie cars have been a theme, here's one:



This lovely Eldo Brougham was Dan Akroyd's car in Driving Miss Daisy.

And I know some here like variants of the Cutlass, here's a 442 in the perfect color:



I'll post more now and then.

sda

fintail said:

I stopped watching WD when they moved stateside and started going after cars I can see at any local show. The British element, with excursions to the continent, was the attraction. All gone now.

Got up early today and ventured out to Gilmore. As expected, it is an amazing facility, more like numerous small museums linked on a campus. I think I spent 4 hours there, and I didn't stop moving. One could spend a day if they really took their time. Some of the buildings are made to resemble dealerships, pretty cool. Notice it was a pleasant balmy fall day in southwestern Michigan:





They had displays of automobilia too - the hood ornaments were amazing, someone's labor of love. Also several shelves of tin toys, among them, a fintail:



I took a few hundred pics. I could start anywhere with the cars, but as movie cars have been a theme, here's one:



This lovely Eldo Brougham was Dan Akroyd's car in Driving Miss Daisy.

And I know some here like variants of the Cutlass, here's a 442 in the perfect color:



I'll post more now and then.

yes please

uplanderguy

Could you get in any building you wanted to today? Sounds like you'd recommend it. This might be a nice cabin-fever long-weekend trip for me this winter.

omarman

'71 Olds 442 W-30 with the red inner fender liner. Good times.

explorerx4

@omarman,
You come up with some good details.

fintail

Yep, I think it was all open, other than the miniatures building, which I believe was closed for the winter. Several of the buildings are not heated, and were quite cold today. Definitely worthy of a long weekend for you, IMO, I think you would appreciate the place.

Here's another unusual car, I think there was a discussion about 61 Caddy flat tops some time ago. There was one in the showroom, in a very nice color combo. Cloth car:

uplanderguy said:

Could you get in any building you wanted to today? Sounds like you'd recommend it. This might be a nice cabin-fever long-weekend trip for me this winter.

explorerx4

@fintail,
I have to ask, are you on some kind of vision quest?

boomchek

We had a 62 Caddy like this for sale at my previous lot. We sold it for around $6-$8k I think. Here's my son messing around in it.

benjaminh

There was an antique Volvo (?) that was burned up in the tragic Paradise fire....

stickguy

yeah,, that is a Volvo. I am sure there were a lot of old cars like this lost with so many houses burning down.

fintail

If that Caddy is as nice as it looks, it might have been a real deal at 8K CDN, that's closer to 6K USD, well within the "cheap and cheerful" category, lots of car for the money.

The sad Volvo is a PV445 Duett from the 50s, a desirable model.

Vision quest? Seeing as much as I can in a relatively short time. I've visited numerous museums in Europe , this year I gave some of the auto belt a shot.

ab348

I was reading the other day about the Detroit Historical Society's exhibits and collection. They have a large number of vehicles stored in an old warehouse, each encased in one of those inflatable plastic storage bubble bags, which they move in and out of exhibits. Apparently in their exhibit area they even have the old body drop from Cadillac's Clark St. assembly plant that actually works and mimics that process.

uplanderguy

fin, you have the LeMay out your way, probably America's best old-car museum, but you sure hit all the ones between Illinois and eastern Michigan!

There was a private collection of a lot of stunning Hudson vehicles in Amish-town Shipshewana, IN, owned by a fellow named Eldon Hostetler. It was a great collection; sadly, he died and the vehicles were sold off not very long ago. That's about the only one I would've suggested a year ago that you see in that area, other than all the ones you did see.

I'm just smitten with Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg. It being in the original showroom and office/engineering building really adds to it. Hats off to whomever brought it back to life. I seem to remember that the Kruse auction family had something to do with it at one time.

imidazol97

Here's a movie car. I have more photos of it, but they're not together with this one from my phone.

stickguy

Hangover?

Mr_Shiftright

stickguy said:

yeah,, that is a Volvo. I am sure there were a lot of old cars like this lost with so many houses burning down.

Pretty rare car. Looks like a PV444 wagon. Hope they got out of it. A number of people were burned alive in their cars.

kyfdx

Mr_Shiftright said:

stickguy said:

yeah,, that is a Volvo. I am sure there were a lot of old cars like this lost with so many houses burning down.

Pretty rare car. Looks like a PV444 wagon. Hope they got out of it. A number of people were burned alive in their cars.

Hmmm... similar to the one I saw in Sonoma in September? I'll have to see if I still have that picture. I assume I posted it here.

kyfdx

Nope, not the same

Mr_Shiftright

That's a PV 544--the 444 has a split windshield and a B16 motor. A 544 can have either a B16 or B18 motor---quick way to tell the difference in engines? The B16 has the oil filler cap dead center in the middle of the valve cover. The B18 has it toward the front of the car. The B16 is not such a good engine, running only 3 main bearings. The crankshafts have been know to break if you push the car too hard.

imidazol97

stickguy said:

Hangover?

Got it without the rest of the picture. How do people remember these movies
and things about the movies?...

This was the pretty car out of the 4 used in the movie.

stickguy

I remember cars. Just not people or names. And that happened to be a movie I actually saw!

Mr_Shiftright

That's fine. Remember, people come and go, but cars are forever.

explorerx4

I read that Irv Gordon passed away. Over 3.2 million miles on his P1800.

texases

I'd like to see the detailed maintenance log on that Volvo!

stickguy

Wonder if they are going to bury him in it!

fintail

I once had someone come up to me and state the fintail is just like the car in The Hangover. That movie was an enormous hit, and I think many still associate it with the car. I've read the car(s) used in any rough scenes were cut down coupes rather than real cabrios, as even a high grille 280SE cabrio is a big money car now.

I believe the Volvo Duett (wagon) used different nomenclature than standard cars - 445 for 444 based cars, 210 or something for 544 based cars.

I wonder if this had any scenes in a movie, this is the Tucker at Gilmore. This is the lowest mileage survivor, with 50 miles on the clock, all original:

explorerx4

Here's link via autoblog/r&t about Irv and his P1800
https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/classic-cars/a25165860/irv-gordon-million-mile-volvo-p1800-obituary/

explorerx4

Could have been awesome
https://providence.craigslist.org/cto/d/1978-pontiac-grand-safari/6750939015.html

fintail

The wagon is cool, but I expected more detailing and presentation for that money.

xwesx

fintail said:

The wagon is cool, but I expected more detailing and presentation for that money.

Seller couldn't do that, given the location....










(read as "cheap as ****" )

ab348

That's a lot of money for even one as nice as that. Biggest negative about it is the 301 engine, undersized for that application and a grenade just waiting to go off. In contrast, an '88 Olds Custom Cruiser with more miles but in about as nice condition just went for under $6K on BaT, a steal.

Seeing the original hubcaps in the cargo well reminded me of something I'd forgotten about. Those same hubcaps were on my '77 LeMans coupe. One day I was driving in city traffic and looked to my left to see the reflection of my car in a store window. I saw the front left hubcap had disappeared, either flying off unnoticed or more likely stolen by some miscreant. My brother had mentioned a large junkyard he had used with success so I made my first visit and asked the guy at the counter if they had such an item. He didn't know and suggested I drive through the yard to see if any similar ones were there. It was a very large yard crisscrossed with rough dirt roads. I did so and within minutes found a neatly-stacked set of 4 of the identical items in perfect condition right by the side of one of the paths. Magic! $5 and it was mine. Those were the days.

thebean

Saw a pale yellow Chrysler TC ("by Maserati") yesterday. Very little rust on it. It seems that every one of these I've seen are in that shade of yellow.

uplanderguy

I seem to remember hearing that all existing Tuckers were indeed used in the movie.

RE: That Pontiac--I've heard similar things about the 301 as ab348 mentioned.

I wondered why, unlike a Caprice Estate, a Grand Safari would not have had any rocker moldings, then it occurred to me--Bonneville coupes and sedans had bright metal about halfways up the bottom of the sides, LOL! Couldn't have done that on a wagon, but they could've used the small rocker trim from Catalinas.

Although I don't like skirts, I could really enjoy a '79 Bonneville coupe with no vinyl top and no optional pinstriping nor body side moldings, the 'snowflake' wheels, and the cloth buckets and console. Although rarely-seen, those cars reminded me of Grand Prixs of 15 or so years earlier.

thebean

@fintail, I have really enjoyed your pictures and narratives on the various Midwest auto and RV museums. I'm planning a trip up there next spring, and you really have whetted my appetite to see these places. Studebaker and Gilmore museums will be a must, and maybe I can do the A-C-D and RV museums if time permits. Thanks!

fintail

The MH/RV museum can't be more than 30 minutes or so from Studebaker - if you plan it right, you can fit it in. It's a cool place, but not as large as others, so it probably won't take more than 2-3 hours even if you take your time.

ACD would take some time, and is a bit out of the way, but worth it if you want to make a detour, maybe an excuse for an overnight break.

thebean said:

@fintail, I have really enjoyed your pictures and narratives on the various Midwest auto and RV museums. I'm planning a trip up there next spring, and you really have whetted my appetite to see these places. Studebaker and Gilmore museums will be a must, and maybe I can do the A-C-D and RV museums if time permits. Thanks!

fintail

A couple more pics, this time a couple of blue Ford products.

First, the Edsel at Henry Ford - a highline 58 Citation like this is one I would choose, and probably had low survival rates, nice car:



And a nice Lincoln display at Gilmore, I think this was another low mileage preservation piece:

tjc78

That Lincoln is the same color (or very close, they had three similar teal/blues) of the 79 Town Coupe I had.

kyfdx

Pretty sure that’s a ‘77 or ‘78.

My parents had two ‘76 models, but 2-doors, and no Town trim (base coupes)

sda

It was sad that the 460 was no longer available for the '79.

tjc78

Sign says 79. There are only a few ways to tell a 79 from a 78

1: if the instrument/radio bezel is silver it’s 78, 79 was woodgrain
2: like @sda said if it has a 460 it’s a 78

The earlier years usually had rear fender skirts and the old dashboard. Pre 77, had a longer wider grill too

Most people find 77 the best year. 460, waterfall grill and the old (Lincoln specific dash)

fintail

Here's another Gilmore car, and a competitor to that Town Car. I think this was another preserved car (maybe something missing on the rear fender). I liked this one, when I was a kid, my dad had a friend with one in this color , I want to say it was a Fleetwood, but I remember the color clearly, and riding in it, it felt special:

kyfdx

tjc78 said:

Sign says 79. There are only a few ways to tell a 79 from a 78

1: if the instrument/radio bezel is silver it’s 78, 79 was woodgrain
2: like @sda said if it has a 460 it’s a 78

The earlier years usually had rear fender skirts and the old dashboard. Pre 77, had a longer wider grill too

Most people find 77 the best year. 460, waterfall grill and the old (Lincoln specific dash)

Yeah, they took that grill from the Mark for ‘77. Our ‘76s had a body color piece that ran above the grill.

omarman

Waterfall grill Lincoln? Or Imperial?

stickguy

took a little lap of the bottom of NJ today (S. Jersey, to central, then down to the shore). Saw a surprising number of old cars out driving around, considering there was still snow piles in some places. I think mostly folks getting one last decent weekend in before putting away for the winter.

a few I remember, a 67 GTO, 65ish Corvette convertible, 52 or so Stude 2 door, a couple of (I am sure fiberglass) 20s/30s rods, and a couple more that escape me now.

Michaell

stickguy said:

took a little lap of the bottom of NJ today (S. Jersey, to central, then down to the shore). Saw a surprising number of old cars out driving around, considering there was still snow piles in some places. I think mostly folks getting one last decent weekend in before putting away for the winter.

a few I remember, a 67 GTO, 65ish Corvette convertible, 52 or so Stude 2 door, a couple of (I am sure fiberglass) 20s/30s rods, and a couple more that escape me now.

A tour of South Jersey takes what, 45 minutes?

Still, quite a number of sightings for mid November.

sda

omarman said:

Waterfall grill Lincoln? Or Imperial?

I always liked the look of that Chrysler Imperial/New Yorker. The tufted leather interior was very comfortable, though the lean burn fuel system was cold natured and balked and coughed as the engine warmed up. A friend had one that his dad bought for him. I rode in it many times.

uplanderguy

I always remember Cadillac's yellow leather interiors in the '70's ad '80's. It was distinctive, and I'm guessing it played well in FL.

We've discussed this here before, but I've grown to really like the tapered B-pillar of the '77-79 Fleetwoods. When new, I didn't like that at all. It's unique though.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1977-Cadillac-Fleetwood-Breath-taking-1977-cadillac-fleetwood/392174073129?hash=item5b4f657529:g:ZSUAAOSwoEFb7eVa:rk:1:pf:0&vxp=mtr

Interesting that this car has cloth interior. I'm thinking that the leather was the same seat pattern.

Chrysler introduced the loose-pillow with many buttons in the lower back section look, but everybody copied it and used it for years--including Cadillac. I like this era Fleetwood's leather seating that didn't have a ton of buttons.

It's too bad that on this otherwise nice car, the pockets in the back of the front seats are so loose and the elastic pretty much gone. I see this often. They weren't that strong, but it seems like people put textbooks in there as opposed to maps or magazines, LOL.

uplanderguy

RE: That Edsel...I was surprised years later to see that, like concurrent Fords, the Edsel's hood opened from the rear. For some reason, the Ford had styling in front that would suggest that, but the Edsel's didn't, to my eyes.

For no particular reason, I like hoods that open from the rear.

ab348

uplanderguy said:

I always remember Cadillac's yellow leather interiors in the '70's ad '80's. It was distinctive, and I'm guessing it played well in FL.

We've discussed this here before, but I've grown to really like the tapered B-pillar of the '77-79 Fleetwoods. When new, I didn't like that at all. It's unique though.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1977-Cadillac-Fleetwood-Breath-taking-1977-cadillac-fleetwood/392174073129?hash=item5b4f657529:g:ZSUAAOSwoEFb7eVa:rk:1:pf:0&vxp=mtr

Interesting that this car has cloth interior. I'm thinking that the leather was the same seat pattern.

Chrysler introduced the loose-pillow with many buttons in the lower back section look, but everybody copied it and used it for years--including Cadillac. I like this era Fleetwood's leather seating that didn't have a ton of buttons.

It's too bad that on this otherwise nice car, the pockets in the back of the front seats are so loose and the elastic pretty much gone. I see this often. They weren't that strong, but it seems like people put textbooks in there as opposed to maps or magazines, LOL.

I loved the yellow Cadillac interiors (and the outside paint too). A thing that was only possible in that era but it looks good to me, certainly better than today's Model T "any color as long as it's black" mindset.

Velour of that quality was probably preferred by many over leather. It made for a very nice seating surface.

Too bad whoever took the pics of that Fleetwood applied those awful photo effects. I know a guy, a former coworker, who does even more extreme effects with every photo he posts online. He even took a photo I posted and applied the same dumb effects to it and sent it back to me because he thinks it improves them. I just want to yell at him.