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

explorerx4

First gen Old Bravada, white with gold lettering.

tjc78

Gold lettering.... glad that died. Now the black wheel phase needs to go!

imidazol97

This pulled up beside me at the stoplight on a rainy Seattle type day. Bad lighting.
Buick Estate Wagon 1970?

ab348

Later than that, between '74 and '76. Must be pretty rare these days.

explorerx4

Was that one of those that had the tailgate that lowered under the car?

sda

It was referred to as a clamshell. The window retracted into the roof and the tailgate into the floor.

fintail

Those clamshell wagons are pretty cool. Would be even better on the period Buick 5 spoke wheel.

explorerx4

I've seen this at the grocery store and took a picture today.
Nice step side F150

imidazol97

Another sighting this week was a Montego.
The wheels and tires have been urbanized, but I love the car. I followed off my route hoping to get a picture.
I think it's a 1973.

stickguy

in traffic today, a fairly clean looking 75ish Nova. Red 2 door. odd sighting.

andre1969

That Montego has got to be a rare car. I don't remember them being very common, even when they were new-ish.

andre1969

That Buick Clamshell Wagon Imidazol97 posted is pretty cool. But, I can also see why people hated on those bulky 5-mph bumpers so much. I think they actually worked well on some cars, but on that particular Buick, I don't think that rear bumper looks like it accents the car very well.

imidazol97

andre1969 said:

That Montego has got to be a rare car. I don't remember them being very common, even when they were new-ish.

The Torino was cheaper. This Montego was a light green color. A pretty color.

imidazol97

andre1969 said:

That Buick Clamshell Wagon Imidazol97 posted is pretty cool. But, I can also see why people hated on those bulky 5-mph bumpers so much. I think they actually worked well on some cars, but on that particular Buick, I don't think that rear bumper looks like it accents the car very well.

The car looks like it's ready for the destruction derby at the county fair with that heavy bumper.

tjc78

The earlier models looked so much better, with normal bumpers.

ab348

I wonder if back in the day when they were relatively plentiful in junkyards if it was easy to retrofit an original-style rear bumper to ones with the battering ram style.

fintail

Saw a first gen Jetta sedan in traffic today, those are pretty thin on the ground these days. It was obviously cared for, no doubt by a VW cultist. Also saw a W123 and W126, nothing else of interest which surprised as the weather was nice.

tjc78

ab348 said:

I wonder if back in the day when they were relatively plentiful in junkyards if it was easy to retrofit an original-style rear bumper to ones with the battering ram style.

Not so sure. Looks like the taillights are different due to the size of the bumper. Other models you may have been able to.

xwesx

fintail said:

Those clamshell wagons are pretty cool. Would be even better on the period Buick 5 spoke wheel.

It has five-spokes.... maybe not Buick five-spokes (I'm not up on my wheels)?

Either way, it looks nice; especially for the period from which it hails.

imidazol97

I don't recall having seen anything like it in car shows around here. But that looks like may have been in car shows.

I agree about the original Buick wheels. But I do tolerate folks who go to the chromes and mags that are typical of what people would use to "soup" up a car in those days, if they could afford them.

The only wheels neater are the 6-lug Pontiac wheels. I'm not sure of the years for those. But I hope someone else is and will post them.



I'm not sure if these are the Pontiac wheels or not. They have 8 lugs.

omarman

That wagon looks pretty good considering that it's wearing Ohio plates.

imidazol97

omarman said:

That wagon looks pretty good considering that it's wearing Ohio plates.

Agree. If I ever see that car again at a show, I'll see if the owner is with it and find out where it has been all its life.

fintail

Yep those are the Buick wheels, great design in general and they really fit the car, along with many other cars.

imidazol97 said:

I agree about the original Buick wheels. But I do tolerate folks who go to the chromes and mags that are typical of what people would use to "soup" up a car in those days, if they could afford them.

ab348

8 lugs for the Pontiac.

imidazol97

ab348 said:

8 lugs for the Pontiac.

Yes. You're right.  I love seeing those at a cat show. 

texases

imidazol97 said:

ab348 said:

8 lugs for the Pontiac.

Yes. You're right.  I love seeing those at a cat show. 

What, on a Cougar?

imidazol97

That should be at a car show.  This keyboard on my Samsung...

andre1969

I forget what year the Pontiac 8-lug wheels started, but I think the last year for them was 1968. As I recall, the brake drum was actually built into the design of the wheel, so that made them a bit expensive, come replacement time. Disc brakes became more common starting in 1969, and I believe, if you got disc brakes, you needed to go to a 15" wheel because the 14" couldn't clear the caliper, or something like that. 1969, I believe, is when Pontiac started offering the Rally 2 wheel in the 5-on-5 full-sized B-O-P bolt pattern.

I always liked that Buick 5-spoke magnum wheel (or whatever they called it...Mopar had a similar style a few years called "Magnum"). And it looks really sharp on that '75 LeSabre wagon.

ab348

andre1969 said:

I always liked that Buick 5-spoke magnum wheel (or whatever they called it...Mopar had a similar style a few years called "Magnum"). And it looks really sharp on that '75 LeSabre wagon.

Buick made them in different varieties of both 14” and 15”, and in 5x4.75” and 5x5” bolt patterns. In the late ‘60s they even made a very good replica of it in a full wheel cover. First time I saw those they fooled me. 

andre1969

Did Oldsmobile ever offer a version of their Rally wheel on the 5x5 bolt pattern? I've seen them in the 15" size, but only on something like a '73-77 Cutlass, or the downsized '77+ Delta 88 coupe/sedan, so it was still the 5x4.75 pattern.

And, for some reason, the center cap on the Delta 88s was broader, and spread out to cover the lug nuts, which I thought looked odd.

I think about the closest thing to a Rally wheel I might have seen on an Olds in the 5x5 pattern was actually a Buick mag, with Olds center caps? At least, that's sticking in my mind. For some reason, I'm also getting a mental image of an 80's Delta 88 wagon using the Buick Rally wheel that was kind of common on Electras and Estate Wagons in that timeframe, but just with an Olds center cap?

tjc78

Yeah, Olds has the same wheel with different caps.  

https://barnfinds.com/family-rocket-1973-oldsmobile-custom-cruiser/

Olds also copied the other Buick wheel into the 80s early 90s

https://barnfinds.com/truckster-survivor-1990-oldsmobile-custom-cruiser/

ab348

tjc78 said:

Yeah, Olds has the same wheel with different caps.  

https://barnfinds.com/family-rocket-1973-oldsmobile-custom-cruiser/

Olds also copied the other Buick wheel into the 80s early 90s

https://barnfinds.com/truckster-survivor-1990-oldsmobile-custom-cruiser/

I'm pretty sure those are Buick wheels on that Custom Cruiser. If the caps have an Olds rocket they are ones someone cobbled together.

Olds did offer a rally wheel of sorts on the big cars in a 5x5" pattern in '71 and '72 but it was a unique wheel they called the SS IV.




http://www.oldcarbrochures.com/static/NA/Oldsmobile/1971 Oldsmobile/1971_Oldsmobile_Prestige_Brochure/1971 Oldsmobile Prestige-36-37.html


As @tjc78 noted, Olds and Buick wagons in the last few years of the downsized square-rigger era up to 1990 shared an alloy wheel design with unique center caps for each make. These were handsome wheels.

uplanderguy

Those Pontiac wheels are called "Eight lug".

I love the looks of them, but I'd actually pick the Buick wheels over them. That Buick wheel has to be the longevity king, as I believe they were used from '64-87--maybe even longer as I think the full-size Estate Wagon was built after that.

Those Pontiac eight-lug wheels could not be had with disc brakes, as the hub was part of the brake drum IIRC.

EDIT: Sorry, I see some of my points have already been made here.

imidazol97

This looks like the little brother to Fintail's Fintail.
Car looks perfect.

stickguy

that car has all around visibility you don't see today!

fintail

I think that might be a shade lighter than mine (and several years newer), but nice car.

Mr_Shiftright

Euro model.

tjc78

My 79 Continental was that same baby blue.

fintail

That 280SL also has sidemarkers, so either a very federalized car, or a US car with Euro lights added later, I wager the latter is the case here.

ab348

That is a great color for a 280SL.

ab348

When I was a kid I was ga-ga for these and really wanted my dad to buy one, with zero luck.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1970-mercury-marauder/

This one has some issues that make me go "hmmm" like the fitment of both rear quarter windows. I know wiper switches for these are likely made of unobtainium but the solution chosen here would concern me. There are enough little things that I would be hesitant, but OTOH, you do not find these very often.

stickguy

There’s an electric blue one of those that lives near me.

tjc78

Like that Mercury. 

andre1969

Remember those old Volvo ads where they used to brag about how strong the roofs were? Wonder if they got the idea from this?

Mr_Shiftright

Could have been a good candidate for the Darwin Awards.

fintail

Those strong Briggs bodies.

andre1969

Mr_Shiftright said:

Could have been a good candidate for the Darwin Awards.

Not to mention, who wears high heels and dresses up that nicely to go to the junkyard!

omarman

Mr_Shiftright

Oh, I don't know. A little sweep up, some curtains.....

imidazol97

andre1969 said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

Could have been a good candidate for the Darwin Awards.

Not to mention, who wears high heels and dresses up that nicely to go to the junkyard!

Maybe to an upscale pick-n-pull?