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

lemko

...on my way to work this morning - a 1971 or 1972 Buick midsize convertible. Not sure if this car would be a Skylark or GS. There was no GS or GSX badge on the grille. Could somebody i.d. this car?

andre1969

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item- =2488200026

If it were in better shape. I'm sure that this particular one is a money pit in waiting, though!

lemko

...I know where there's a '53 like that DeSoto you posted in much nicer condition. It's dark blue.

michaellno

1) Jag E-type 4.2 coupe. Silver, wire wheels, nice condition

2) early 50's pickup (Ford? Chevy? didn't see a name plate). Green, excellent condition.

3) '67 or 68' Chevrolet Impala or Caprice convertible. Top down, orange exterior. Looked like it was used on a regular basis.

andre1969

tonite at one of the local shopping plazas. It happens every Monday nite, but I always end up forgetting about it, having to work, or having something else come up. It's fresh on my brain now though, so I might try to go check it out this evening. Naturally though, it's supposed to rain today :-(

mh3

...of unknown vintage in rough, but driveable condition. It was the "Luxury Edition", no less.

rcf8000

A couple of days ago I spotted a 1956 Studebaker President on a Tucson street. (I had to look it up in a book to figure out what model year it was.) It was in excellent condition, but I can't imagine why someone would try to keep one of those clunkers running. Studebakers were junk when they were new. (I know from experience; my dad was quite fond of them, for some reason.) Tucson is kinda like Havana when it comes to lots of cars on the streets from the '40s, '50s, and '60s. The same day I saw a '48 Chevy.

andys120

Are these obscure enough?

-Fiat 850 Spider in cherry red with a nice luggage rack on the rear deck. I never thought I'd see one of these running under it's own power again let alone actually looking decent. A new MINI would dwarf this car.

Jaguar Mk. IX, the less sporty big brother of the sublime Mk II (dunno what happened to III thru VII). This dove grey one looked okay cosmetically but didn't appear to be in running condition.

andyman73

On the way to my church car show, I saw a stunning E-type convertable. It was a dark maroon color, and sounded to be in excellent mechanical order. The guy driving had a huge smile on his face.

Andy

grbeck

At the repair shop across the street from my place I saw a very clean, white 1962 Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk sitting out front.

Unfortunately, it started to rain just as I arrived home from work, and the owner put it in the garage before I could walk over to take a look at it.

It still looks sharp after all these years. Hard to believe that the basic body debuted for the 1953 model year.

Mr_Shiftright

First of all, ten points for spelling "Turismo" correctly. Every time I see "Tourisimo" I grate my teeth.

This car was a really interesting slight of hand trick for Studebaker. They basically took parts off the shelf, slammed on a hew hood and grille and created a fairly handsome car for pocket change.

I had one of these. It was in every way just last year's Studebaker but it ran strong and looked great. The 289 was a good, if heavy, engine.

And finally, you can get decent money for a restored GT Hawk, it took 40 years to break $15K, but the cars are now on the rise (to a point).

MKIX is pretty obscure. Many of these cars are cannibalized for parts to restore XK 150 roadsters (engine, brakes, etc.). They are big clumsy Blivets, but a Mk VII was successfully rallyed by none other than Stirling MOrse, if I recall correctly.

andys120

Speaking of spelling gaffes, don't you mean Sterling MOSS, Shifty? </;^).

Dunno what the Mk VII was. A big honker like the IX and the X?

jrosasmc

Spotted just this morning: One of the first of many Miata "special editions," a '91 British Racing Green model. Looked brand-new too, that's how clean this example was...it was being driven by an older guy.

One question: Would being the first special edition series add any value to this particular year of Miata?

ghulet

Today, I saw a Volvo PV544 (I think?), the one that looks like a VW Bug with a '40s Mercury front end grafted on, second one I've seen this week. This one was faded red, the other was faded light blue. Also, a beautiful '59 Jaguar XK150, in burgandy (guessed at the year, but the '59 JAG' IL license plate kinda helped me).

andre1969

I went to the Dodge dealer to test drive a Magnum. I had gotten a flier in the mail that said if you came down and drove it, they'd enter you in a drawing to win one, and you also got a free bbq tools kit.

While down there, some guy had a somewhat rough '85-87 Regal T-type. Basically a "poor mans" Grand National. It was a dark metallic gray with leather seats. The paint was faded, and the rear bumper was pushed in a bit, but when he fired it up it was one of the sweeter sounding 231's I've heard lately!

On the way back I saw a '2-tone green, light-over-dark, '55 Pontiac 4-door. Not sure of the series, as I didn't get that close to it. Looked like it was in good, but nowhere near restored, condition. I think I've seen this car around, but in locations about 20-25 miles away. Unless there's two of them? Possible, but I kinda doubt it.

ghulet

....I saw the following:

Panoz Esperante
BMW Z8
64 or 65 Olds Cutlass convertible, kinda rare
the fabled Chrysler/Maserati TC convertible

Mr_Shiftright

I KNEW THAT Andy, honest! hahahaha....

Went to an old dairy farm today. Lady said she had a "bunch of old Jaguars".

Well she did. All XJ6s, all weather-beaten, sunblasted and with cobwebs. Complete and not rusted or dented, but where do you start? Told her basically to donate them or haul them away for scrap iron.

There was a sorta kinda maybe you'd save it XJ6 in the barn (complete with bats). Dusty and a bit shabby, but it was a Euro spec 1970 model with a 4-speed manual transmission. Also it ran after a fashion. So I told her to try and sell that one for $2,500 and see what happened. That car was a bit interesting and certainly obscure in the USA.

But the rest of the fleet are boat anchors, even though there are good pieces on them.

She had a nice old International 20 foot flatbed 6X6, 1944 model, under a shed. Possible someone could bring that one back. It supposedly runs but needs glass and upholstery. Quite a monster..basically a duece and a half Army truck but with civilian equipment.

tarik

...this morning, I got passed by an MB 450 SLC, the hardtop iteration of the early 70's SL convertible. I always liked the stretched look of the longer wheelbase and the little "curtains" in the quarter windows. They probably are a pain to clean, though...

It had a British license plate on the front bumper, and was a RHD, too! Everything cool except the baby blue paint job, which looked somewhat tacky. Ever noticed how wiiiide those models look from behind?

seminole_kev

..for those that our curious about some of the older Jags. Some quick information (and more importantly...pictures! ;-) of past jags below.

http://www.car-nection.com/jagbase/

and more indepth:
http://www.jag-lovers.org/modelindex.php3

Just in case anyone was interested.

fintail

That flat blocky trunk of the W107 MB did give them a wide butt look, esp with the SLC

Here's something kind of related to obscure cars. My mom found this old advertising thermometer at a yard sale. She bought it because she thought the car on it was a fintail. Of course, it's a 58 Olds...about as far from a fintail as a period car can get. I guess the color is close

Here it is

kyfdx

There was a Regal T-Type at the car show Sunday.. Had the turbo V-6. In very nice shape.

andys120

I looked up the Mk. VII on one of those links. Now I know what those were.

Here's an article about Americans who collect Soviet era Russian cars..

http://nytimes.com/2004/08/30/automobiles/30CARS.html

michaellno

I have a college buddy who bought one just after we graduated .. he was rendered a paraplegic in a rodeo accident when he was a teenager, so he had it equipped with hand controls.

So far as I know, he still drives it -- I've seen it once or twice around town here in Denver.

jrosasmc

Got a chance to talk to a new freshman this morning at school and you know what he drives? A '68 VW Westfalia camper...that's right, a '68 Bus. It is very tired-looking and it smokes like holy hell on start-up, but he seems to get along fine with it.

andys120

He'll be fine as long as he doesn't have to go uphill <:^)

First Gen M'Buses with the classic split window are becoming very rare in regular service, Westpfalias even more so. I still see the Gen IIs on a semi-regular basis. I saw a Gen II
Westpfalia two or three weeks ago.

scscars

Seen this week - A 1961 Rambler Ambassador painted flat black as if it may be someone's idea of a future street rod, a '62 Chevy Impala 2-Door in good condition, '54 Chevy pickup, running, but judging from its look, probably not for too much longer, '65 Plymouth Belvedere - very plain, '69 Chevelle SS 396 Convertible in excellent shape - metallic dark green with white stripes, and a '72 Camaro SS, also in very good shape.

Andre: Here's one for you. The local Ford dealer has an '86 Dodge Diplomat SE on his lot with 72600 miles. The car is medium to dark blue with a silver padded vinyl roof. I checked this car out on Sunday when the lot was closed. It has a 318 C.I. engine and light gray velour cloth upholstery. Dash and instrument panel are dark blue with medium-toned plood and a bright silver plastic instrument panel surround. It also has whitewalls and wire wheel covers.

This Diplomat also has an unusual feature. The front end clip appears to be from a Chrysler 5th Avenue Salon, only the center grille has two thick metal crossbars. I know these front ends could be found on '86-'88 models, but they were not common even back then.

For all this, the dealer is asking $2461. A bit high perhaps. Maybe there's a buyer in suburban Chicagoland somewhere.

Overall, this car was very well cared for, at least on the outside, and would probably draw a few curious folks at Mopar events.

ghulet

....today I drove to Champaign/Urbana and back (a bit over 300 miles) and the only old or obscure car I saw was a STUNNING '61 (I asked the owner, I can't tell the years on these) Thunderbird coupe, in like a seashell color. Very appropriate color, kinda beachy. The thing that struck me most was how LOW that car rode, of course the standard for the day 14" wheels don't help much on a big, heavy car like that.

stickguy

at a local high-end used car lot (lots of MB, BMW, and some oddities). For some reason, they now have some classics mixed in. A few that I noted:

1967 Barracuda (1st year) fastback. white on white, 383 4 speed. Looked like new. I actually liked this one...

1976 Vette, but with an AT, in great shape

an older Nova SS, probably about a '66, with real big tires in back.

And of all things, a 1948 Packard limo! Yours for only $18,999. THey had to kill a lot of Mos to get the hair for those seats.

Also a bunch of Avantis. They are actually the regional dealer for new Avantis, and they had coupes and verts. Seemed to be on a corvette chassis (and interior), but still looked like an Avanti. They also had some older "real" ones (the one I saw was a gen II I believe, the continuations that were still like the originals).

And on the NJ Turnpike (on a trailer), a chrome bumper MGB GT in BRG. Looked nice, except for the side covered in plastic where the drivers door was missing.

fintail

Well, I haven't seen anything obscure or noteworthy for the past couple days, but I know I am going to, as I am off to Vegas for the long weekend. I plan to visit the Imperial Palace museum, I know they've got some goodies there. I am sure I will also see my share of by-the-hour rental exotics on the street, too. I'll be sure to take some pics to share.

ghulet

Oh yeah, I forgot that's legal in Vegas, too, along with the gambling (-;

Have fun, stay safe, fintail.

andys120

Speaking of Avantis, the Avanti Motor Company is for sale, the whole kkit and kaboodle because the original owners (presumably the guys who bought it from the defunct Studebaker-Packard Co.) are retiring.

I saw a late Chrome bumper MGB as well in bright shade of orange which means it would've been a made '68-'73ish.

And-
A very nice '68 Mustang convertible, off-white with red GT stripes on the lower flanks.

A 70ish Olds Cutlass coupe, possibly a 4-4-2, I only got a glance but was impressed by the condition.

lemko

...a teal blue 1965 Pontiac Tempest sedan in average condition. It had rusty aftermarket hubcaps on it.

Mr_Shiftright

Quick, somebody, I need a photo of a Sunbeam- Lotus! Apparently, this car is something like what Lotus did with the Ford Cortina---breathing hard on another manufacturer's rather mundane sedan.

kyfdx

http://www.sunbeamlotus.com/

andys120

Jeepers, it's an Omnirizon! Never heard of them (Sunbeam-Loti) before
but I had a Dinky Toy of a Sunbeam-Talbot roadster when I was a kid.

wimsey1

I think some people are putting Honda drivetrains in Minis these days. That should fit your size, fun & sanity needs. Or would that have some purity issues? I think as long as they don't ruin a Cooper it is a good way to make a fun little car usefull. GOMINI.com I think has info.

Sunbeam Lotus-Yup, that's it. Looks like an Omnirizon but has rear drive.

turboshadow

I know the Omnirizon, I have driven the Omnirizon, and Mr Lotus-Talbot, you are no Omnirizon!

The Lotus-Talbots 'competitor' was the equally obscure Vuaxhall Chevette HSR, a cool looking droop snoot, twin cam Chevette that those bastages at GM wouldn't bring over.

Turboshadow

andre1969

Every once in great while, maybe about as often as someone tries to do a remake of the "Twillight Zone", I'll see an Isuzu I-mark around. Not the later I-mark that we also saw as the Chevy/Geo Spectrum, but the older RWD model that was one of the many permutations of the Chevette.

It's amazing how, even back then, the small cars that GM let us have over here were crap compared to other versions. This I-mark seemed superior to the Chevette in just about every way. For one thing, it was a sedan and not a hatchback, which made it look much more upscale. The interior was much nicer too...I don't think there was any exposed metal like there is on the inside of a Chevette. And even tiny details, like spacer windows in the rear doors so that the rear windows could roll down further. The only area where it was obvious that this thing was related to the Chevette was in the A-pillar/windshield area. That usually seems to be the giveway spot of any car, because I guess it's one of the more expensive parts to redesign.

Some of those Opel/Vauxhall coupes were pretty hot looking little cars, too. I think if some of these better, nicer looking designs had been allowed over here, small cars in the US would have enjoyed a better reputation than what was impressed on our memories by the Chevette, Pinto, Vega, etc.

alfox

(Funny, the first two letters were different the way she spelled it... )

Man, did that car spend some time on the hook! My mechanic saved a spot for it on his lot. It died eventually, less than 10 years old and under 100k miles, due to rust - the fire wall rusted out so bad that there was no place left to attach the fixed end of the clutch cable, and it was getting structurally soft.

andre1969

the Rectum? (Rectum? Nearly Kiltem!)

Mr_Shiftright

The Lotus philosophy under Colin Chapman was different from most other performance car makers. He insisted that the car initially be made very light and possibly quite breakable, and then strengthened as the weaknesses occurred. Most other companies, even Ferrari, started out making heavy cars and then taking weight off as the risks allowed. Two completely different mind-sets in car design.

Some companies excelled in making a car heavy AND breakable---LOL!

turboshadow

..."If it makes it through the victory lap, I put too much metal in it."

Turboshadow

Mr_Shiftright

Which is why showroom cars are never really "race-derived", even though they'd have you believe it.
I don't think most owners would want to rebuild the engine at the end of a day's drive.

tarik

...I saw a silver Bitter CD, kind of a strange sighting here in South Carolina. It had a good rumble to it from the GM 327 V8, though. It looked like this model, only with the original wheels:

Mr_Shiftright

Ah, a bit of a porker, that car. Weighing nearly 4,000 lbs, it made 0-60 barely in 10 seconds or a bit less. Of course, one could always breath on that rather anemic '70s Chevy block and improve things considerably. (production power to weight ratio was about 20 to 1!) Problem is, putting money in a car that isn't worth anything is hard to do unless you are totally in love with it.

Look at a Maserati Indy and you'll see where the styling came from.

A true oddball---gut catch herr tarik!

andre1969

except for the plexiglass slab-looking hatchback, and the taillights that look like a cross between a Pinto or those off-the shelf things that get put on motorhomes and home-made trailers!

tarik

More on Bitter's history can be found here, the owner of the one I saw also drives an SC Coupe and the convertible version, too!

Andy, at least the turn signal lenses point in the correct directions...

Mr_Shiftright

I guess you could get a Bitter with an Opel inline 6 as well. I think I remember appraising one of those years ago but I can't recall the model. I was overly generous at $15,000, but you know, it was a nice car and it needed some insurance protection, so what the hell. It was a plausible if optimistic price.

millspd

I saw a Suzuki X-90 on I-290 just before the Elgin-O'Hare expressway exit. Haven't seen one of those in a long, long time. Looked to be in good shape too.

tarik

...was first available with a GM 327, later with the 350 variety engine. The following model, the SC, had Opel's then top of the line I6.