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

uplanderguy

Pardon if this has been posted here, as I'm not here all that often, but I'm pretty stunned at the bidding so far. It is a low-mileage '79 Bonneville Safari with 350 and 18K miles:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1979-Pontiac-Bonneville/113520463692?hash=item1a6e58cf4c:g:k7gAAOSwzThcLsTS:rk:6:pf:0&vxp=mtr

texases

Odd that there aren't pics of the seats. Looks very nice otherwise, engine compartment is spotless.

ab348

You know it’s low mileage because the wood grain decal on the edges of the steering wheel spokes hasn’t worn away. Dad’s had the shiny metal underneath showing after 6 months.

uplanderguy

I clicked on one of the pics at the lower part of the ad and from there could page down and see a pic of the front seats. Very nice vinyl design and material that looks like leather (although I know it isn't). I remember '79 Chevys that color in and out and wasn't a fan, but what a nice low-mileage example and I can admire that in almost any car.

uplanderguy

Owner of that '64 Valiant must've thought it was a Barracuda.

Ba-dum-dum!

kyfdx

I found it!

fintail

Wagon is getting BaT style bidding, nice, good color too. I wonder if RLX sales are in triple digits these days.

Saw a Honda Beat on the highway today.

kyfdx

I just assumed that was the RLX.

uplanderguy

ab348, re.: "The Body Builders" video:

On many a post on Edmunds over the past ten years or so, I've seen keyboard bravado from the usual cast of three or four characters, about how the UAW were overpaid for easy work, etc. I think those people have never once heard an assembly-line worker talk about what a day's work was.

'Hemmings Classic Car' has a reader's section called "I Was There", and without exception anyone that writes about their days on the line talks about how totally grueling it was and how a lot of people couldn't last a week doing it. I've read similar things at Lordstown when the line was moved to 100 cars an hour in 1972.

uplanderguy

BTW, I like that '70 Caprice Sedan at 5:25--454 not often seen in '70's, the first year for that engine. Nice color too. I fear we'll never see car colors like that again, sigh.

That video also reminds me of when I saw my first Monte Carlo, sitting outside the service department at Dart Chevrolet-Cadillac in Greenville, PA on a Sunday morning. It was a light blue car with black vinyl top, and had a white sheet over the grille and headlight area and also over the rear panel and taillight areas. My Dad and I were looking at it when someone came out of the Service Department, climbed in, and quickly drove it inside.

uplanderguy

I won't get into the habit of posting stuff like this, but just saw it elsewhere and find it amusing. I can't picture what Ford that early FM would've come out of, but I'm thinking perhaps a truck with all that metal around the radio.

sda

My daughter wouldn’t have a clue. She doesn’t listen to the radio, just songs thru iTunes and the like.

stickguy

I remember how, but had to think about it for a minute.

berri

I remember our 60 Ford had a metal dash

ab348

I saw that meme on FB and was puzzled by something. The dial shows both the AM and FM bands. But I don't see anything that would let you switch between the two.

omarman

It's a conversion AM/FM stereo for a 1965 Mustang.

"This radio started life as an Ford Factory AM radio. It was converted to AM/FM Stereo with aux inputs. This customer requested that we relabel the dial face with both the AM and FM dial markings. This can be done on many radios that have the dial numbers printed on a metal panel behind the dial glass. Dial markings moulded into the plastic lens or etched on the glass dial cannot be altered. If you look carefully, you can see the small status LED indicator installed between the 108 and 16 on the far right hand side of the dial."

andre1969

uplanderguy said:

Pardon if this has been posted here, as I'm not here all that often, but I'm pretty stunned at the bidding so far. It is a low-mileage '79 Bonneville Safari with 350 and 18K miles:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1979-Pontiac-Bonneville/113520463692?hash=item1a6e58cf4c:g:k7gAAOSwzThcLsTS:rk:6:pf:0&vxp=mtr

But I ordered Antarctic Blue!!

Oddly enough, I just happen to be watching "National Lampoon's Vacation" as I happened across your post! Even though that '79 Safari is much more tasteful, the green and woodgrain do make me think of the Wagon Queen Family Truckster a bit

omarman

Lou Glutz Motors happens to be located near Eugene.

Oregon that is.

fintail

You can even get Lou Glutz license plates, for fun if you live in a single plate state:

berri

Needs a pair of shades and a calculator

explorerx4

I broke a few things playing roller hockey in my 40's playing against kids in their 20's.

uplanderguy

OK, opening myself to ridicule here ("Even more than usual?" some might say)--but I like this car and I can't recall when I've seen one so clean and original/authentic. I don't love the color; I'd have chosen whatever that dark plum color they had was....but surely seen less than the formal-top Supreme:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1978-Cutlass-Salon/163132223095?hash=item25fb702e77:g:Bq8AAOSwRxJb5lG1:rk:21:pf:0&vxp=mtr

The midsize '78's are probably the last new GM cars I liked a whole lot (I know they were built well into the eighties). It seemed amazing to me how they got interiors and trunks those sizes in cars with that external tidiness.

stickguy

I actually like those too. but unfortunate color combo.

tjc78

Hard to imagine a modern car with panel fit that bad. Look at the leading edge of the driver’s door to the fender. You’d never see that today.

Intersedting time capsule in period colors.

stickguy

too bad no interior shots. It's local to us (in Paulsboro). Should run over and take a look at it!

uplanderguy

I clicked on the picture near the bottom and a bunch of photos came up, including interior shots.

I'd accept that fit in order to get some multiple color choices inside and out, LOL.

ab348

I like those as well, at least in theory. I didn’t mind the styling, unlike a lot of people. But they were not robust, and material and build quality were not great either. The Olds 260 in this one was a gutless wonder. And it is badly overpriced like most of Gateway’s offerings. I understand that most of their cars are on consignment and then they add something like a 40% markup to get the advertised price.

roadburner

I loved the 1973 Salon as well as the Grand Am- back when GM was pushing the European sport/luxury angle; back then bucket seats and floor shifts were unheard of in domestic four door sedans. I always swore I'd never buy a grandpa car with a column shift and so far I've kept my vow(although the i3's gear selector came close, although I DID just lease it).

uplanderguy

Growing up GM like I did, you are absolutely right about GM and no bucket seats and console in four-doors until the '73 Grand Am and Cutlass Salon.

I only learned later about Studebaker 4-doors in the '63-64 era with buckets and console, and the Galaxie 500XL 4-door of the same years having them.

My friend's parents bought a new '78 Salon Brougham four-door in that ubiquitous copper color. He and I took it when new to visit a high-school friend who was going to college in St. Louis. My impressions of the Cutlass when new was that I had never ridden in such a quiet, smooth, luxurious car of that size. Roomy inside too.

They drove it well into the 100K's, and in NW PA too.

I'm well-aware the '78 and later midsize RWD GM's will never be viewed like the preceding ones, but to me those earlier cars were so obese considering the utilization of interior and trunk space. I'm certain that '78 has more legroom in back than any model '77 Cutlass coupe.

Show me a clean, original, low-mileage '73-77 intermediate of any GM make tomorrow and I'll still really appreciate it though.

uplanderguy

Speaking of the 260 being really slow--I remember that they used that engine in the old-style Cutlasses too; I'm thinking '76-77. I bet those were reallly slow, with three 'l''s! LOL

I don't expect anybody to check, and I'm too lazy to look at the brochure online but in '78 could you get a 305 in the Cutlass, does anybody know?

ab348

You could indeed get a 305 in the Cutlass Salon in '78. You could even order it with a 4-speed.

One little-known thing was that in high-altitude areas, the Cutlass Cruiser wagon in '78 was available with a 350.

uplanderguy

Cool! I remember hearing that Malibus and Monte Carlos could be had with 4-speeds in '78 so it makes sense the other divisions' cars could too.

uplanderguy

RE.: The 350 in '78 Cutlass wagons--I seem to remember something like that in Malibu wagons too. Those were the years of "Requires High Altitude Emission" and/or "California Only" or "NA California".

texases

Passed a Porsche 928 going the other way. Looked nice from 20+ feet.

omarman

RE: 1978 Olds Cutlass 350 option. Oldsmobile 350? Or Chevy 350?

In 1978 the Chevy 9C1 police package could be ordered with the Chevy LM1 350 engine in the Nova, Mailbu and Impala. (In 1979 the 9C1 package was dropped from the last year production of the rear drive Nova.)

stickguy

Says right in the ad you might get an engine from a different division.

omarman

stickguy said:

Says right in the ad you might get an engine from a different division.

That's an ad for the 1980 Chevrolet 9C1 police package for Malibu and Impala. Says 1980 and POLICE right in the ad. In big type!

RE: 1978 Oldsmobile Cutlass station wagon with the high altitude 350 engine option ... Was that option an Olds 350 engine in 1978?

texases

Didn't GM put that "you might get an engine from an different division" in all its ads around then, because of the lawsuit?

omarman

Found a page from a 1978 Oldsmobile brochure that lists the Cutlass Cruiser 350 option as LM1 and on the Engine Supplement Sheet it's identified as produced by Chevrolet. Looks like only the Olds B and C platform got the Oldsmobile L34 350 engine for 1978.

andre1969

Normally I'm not a fan of those aerobacks, but for some reason, I kinda like that one. It might be the Rally wheels that help set it off. And, it actually does have some flattering angles. I always thought it was curious, that GM would opt for that look for the Cutlass and Century But, maybe it did sort of make sense at the time. While the upright, formal look that got ushered in with the '75 Seville would become the default roofline a few years later, the '73-77 Colonades were anything but upright, and perhaps GM was trying to emulate the styling onto the downsized cars.

Actually, if you look at a '76-77 Cutlass coupe, the cheap version with the big triangular windows, at certain angles I can sort of see the inspiration for the '78 Aeroback.

As for interior room, these cars did have pretty good legroom in the back, and definitely an improvement over the '73-77 versions. However, the seat cushions were thinner, IIRC, and the driveshaft hump was bigger.

Going off the top of my head, I want to say the '73-77 coupes were listed at something like 32.9" of legroom in the back. In '78, I think the coupes were 35.6", but the personal luxury versions (Monte Carlo, et al) were something like 36.2". I thought it a bit odd that the personal luxury versions had more legroom, but I do remember they also had a more upright backrest.

berri

texases, GM got caught with the engine swaps undeclared to buyers in the mid 70's. States like Illinois sued them. Ultimately, owners of the Chevy engine Olds (referred to as "chevymobiles" in the media) got $500 refunds and I think extended engine warranties. As part of those settlements GM agreed to disclose the possibility of engines from different GM divisions in their advertising and sales.

uplanderguy

I think it's unusual that the Cutlass Salon and Supreme had different wheel opening shapes starting in '78. Back then, wheel opening shapes, to me, often defined a car's styling. The '73-77 Cutlass had the same wheel openings no matter which model you got.

In the styling details, I think Olds beat Buick in those '78-79 mid-size years, particularly in the aeroback. I was never a fan of yellow taillight lenses and I think Buick had them. Screamed "foreign!" to me at the time.

UPDATE: Now that I think about it, side sheetmetal and wheel opening shapes were revised in '76 for both the Cutlass and Century/Regal coupes, but sedans retained the '73-75 side sheetmetal and wheel openings.

andre1969

I never cared for the '78-79 Buick Century...something about the front-end just seemed a bit, for lack of a better word, generic and "featureless". I think it has to do with the way the whole front-end slopes back. I think the '80-81 was a huge improvement though, with the grille being a bit more vertical, and the headlight area more rakish. I think the turbo coupe, especially, looked great for 1980.

And, I can agree on those taillights screaming "foreign". However, I think Buick would rather you have thought "European"

uplanderguy

Another original, low-mileage wagon on eBay....I grew up around a Chevy dealer and this one nails the original/authentic bar, 25K miles. I want to say this color was called "Black Cherry" (might've been the '70 name). Too bad it's not a bigger engine and Turbo-Hydramatic, but I'll be interested to see where it ends up, bidding-wise:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1969-Chevrolet-Caprice/173741596850?hash=item2873ce60b2:g:yOIAAOSwAP9cPSUO:rk:3:pf:0&vxp=mtr

Big fan of original cars.

One "nit"--does anybody think the way the numbers on the odometer look, seems funny?

berri

Oops, meant to post in the Studebaker forum. Oh well, fits here too I think.

63 and 64 were two of the few years back then that I preferred the styling of the big Ford over Chevy. The 1963 Plymouth was rather unique to say the least, but I guess they were trying to make it look bulked up over the 62. They did this better with the 64 to my perspective at least. Actually, I thought Rambler did a decent job on their 63 full size styling. I get the last several years of Studebaker mixed up, but personally liked the looks of the more rectangular taillights over the round ones. Regardless, I thought Studebaker did a nice job given the limited bucks they had to work with. I think Brooks Stevens may have had a bit to do with that? Speaking of which, I will always wonder how the 67 proposed styling would have ended up and sold had it happened. I liked the prototypes I saw, but suspect any actual product release would have likely been toned down. You almost have to have a soft spot for those independents that made it that long in the marketplace really.

uplanderguy

I thought the '64 Studebaker facelift gave it more modern looks, but a friend of mine whose parents bought Studes then said that at the time they thought it no longer looked like a Studebaker, and they didn't like that.

I like the '63 1/2 Fords. In the '62-63-64 Chevys, I like each year less than the one before. In fact, I really don't like the '64's much at all...flat in the front, flat in the back, and the Impalas have that U-shaped trim down the side.

I thought the '63 Rambler, Classic mostly, was a very good redesign. It totally lost that 'Eastern bloc' look, IMHO, LOL. I'm not crazy about the instrument panel nor how on four-doors, the front and rear doors look completely interchangeable, side-to-side, but still, a good-looking car. I wish on the '64's, they hadn't gotten rid of the sectioned front end (it was flat in front in '64). But for '64 they finally offered a hardtop.

uplanderguy

RE.: That Kingswood Estate wagon link above--a friend correctly pointed out that there isn't the slightest hint of 25K mile patina in that engine, and he's definitely right. It looks like it was built at Tonawanda yesterday.

ab348

That Chevy wagon looks like code 52, Garnet Red, which isn't a metallic paint. The only other red was Burgundy Poly but that seems too dark compared to the photos.

I find it hard to believe that the engine compartment and engine hasn't been redone.

tjc78

Ad said that it had new heads installed and the entire car was Detailed top to bottom

I'm guessing a full engine detail was included.

uplanderguy

Friend, who used to wrench back then, said in his opinion the 327/Powerglide combo was the most bulletproof combo in those cars. I'd have liked a Turbo-Hydramatic.

He was a service writer at a Chevy dealer in 1969 in Indianapolis. He jokes that probably half Chevy's production that year was "Frost Green". I know what he means--I saw a ton of that color too, and not a fan!