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

Mr_Shiftright

oowww......

Daihatsu had great names! Didn't they build the "Rocky" mini-SUV?

kyfdx

I drove a Daihatsu was as a rental on my honeymoon in the Caymans.. Left hand drive, but you had to drive on the left... I can still hear all of the honking...

That was in '93, and I thought it measured up well with the small Toyotas, etc...

seminole_kev

had a Charade. I remember it only because, from the front passenger seat, I could stick my foot through back behind the console around to the driver's gas pedal. My friend would be sitting there and I'd stomp on it and he would think it had an Audi "sudden acceleration" attack. Used to scare the hell out of him. Worked every time.

Yes I'm somewhat of a jerk, yes I like it, no I won't change.

Mr_Shiftright

A female acquaintence of mine proved me wrong about Daihatsus. Our relationship was basically that I would advise her on cars and she would do exactly the opposite.

So she bought a brand new Daihatsu against my better judgement.

Now this was a woman to whom I had previously awarded the coveted Nigel Shiftright "Miss Negligence" award. Not only had some of her cats died under mysterious circumstances, but she also managed to not change the oil on a car she owned for 31,000 miles. Her excuse, which she tossed off rather casually was "I forgot".

But I'll be damned she drove that Daihatsu for over 93,000 miles with nary a speck of trouble--just some "expendables" here and there.

I KNOW she didn't take care of the car, so the car must have been way better than I thought possible.

PS: Hey! You guys gonna join us tonight for the "Fix-it" chat?

Come Visit Me At 6PM (PST) 9PM (EST)

kyfdx

Sounds like fun.. but my first mechanical question usually is: How do I get the hood open?

If it gets more complicated than that, I resort to my most advanced mechanical skill: Writing checks.

Mr_Shiftright

That'll work.

You guys better show up. I'm going to be taking names, so if you don't want strange things appearing in your posts, you know what to do

"Hi, I'm Ralph. Does anyone else like to dress up funny while driving their obscure car?"

lemko

...a light teal blue 1962 Buick Electra four door hardtop for sale. Looked nice at a distance. Didn't get close.

seminole_kev

had forgot from this morning (about spit out my lunch when I remembered it).

Saw this morning on the way to work.....an early 90's Volvo sedan (maybe a 740? one of the angular, "skinny" ones)...that had been streched into a limo WITH vinyl roof AND the Limo boomerang antenna on the back.

Yes it was awful.
Yes I'm still in shock.

jaserb

Lately I've seen a disturbing number of homemade pickup trucks - as in, hacked the roof off a car with a Sawzall or something. Just off the top of my head:

Jeep Cherokee (actually looked OK)
Early '80s Subaru 2 dr. hatch (probably still had a bigger bed then the Baja)
Chevy Corsica (had to see it to believe it).

Weird stuff.

-Jason

kyfdx

A Geo Metro.. Not sure if it was a convertible originally or not, but I don't think it was... No doors, no top, but a big Wrangler style roll bar ...

But, finished sort of professionally.. I guess.

EDIT: Actually, it was more of a quasi-Wrangler than a quasi-pickup. I guess you still win.

michaellno

There is a car for sale in the area. Late 60's Olds Cutlass, don't know if it was originally a 'vert or not, but there is no roof on it now. Primer and rust seem to be the primary colors. What's really odd is that it looks like the Cutlass body was dropped onto a 4x4 pickup frame, then raised and had what look to be 33" tires shoved under it. It looks to be a good 12-18" off the ground.

Yikes!

lemko

...some guys hacked the roof off a black 1962 Mercury Meteor sedan. The rear doors were welded shut. There was no top, so they just covered the interior with a tarp when the car wasn't in use.

A few years later I had a peculiar co-worker who sawed the top off his brown 1984 Mustang coupe. He improvised some kind of bizarre looking manually operated top,(with a reverse-slanted C-pillar ala 1963 Mercury "breezeway") that was fashioned from a canvass tent and its aluminum poles. You had to see it.

andys120

in those amateur chop jobs. They'd fold like a cheap suit in a crash.

andre1969

I was talking with my grandmother one Sunday, as I was going through some old photographs, and she told me about Granddad's first pickup truck...an old Plymouth! Turns out he took a Plymouth car and hacked off the body behind the doors, and built a truck bed. I don't know what year it was...I want to say a '47? I don't know how long he had it, or how well it held up, but eventually it gave way to a 1955 or so Chevy pickup.

andre1969

what would happen if you took an old body-on-frame car and did something like this to it?



One of the guys in my Mopar club said that, back in the day, he used to like to get an old full-sized GM beater from the '71-76 generation, like a 4-door hardtop, and chop the roof off. He said they'd last for a little while, but eventually what would happen is either the doors would stick shut, or you'd open a door and then it wouldn't shut. And, of course, since they were beaters to begin with, they were already rusty, and cutting the roof off probably only accelerated that, as it would let water get in the passenger compartment unless you did a VERY good job of covering it.

But I was wondering if, maybe on a smaller car, like GM's downsized full-sizers, or a downsized intermediate, maybe the lighter bodies wouldn't be as likely to bind up and cause door opening problems? And I'm wondering if maybe a coupe, like this one, might also hold up better than a 4-door? Although the '71-76 4-door hardtops were already beefed up to account for the lack of a full B-pillar, so maybe it would be a wash here?

Still, I think it would be kinda cool do do something like this. Cheap way of having some fun in the sun...just make sure you keep it garaged, I guess, and only drive it on nice days!

And I'm sure Lemko must be cringing at the sight of this! ;-)

jaserb

of a Cadillac hearse, converted to a pickup truck and painted an insane shade of purple.

That was ... interesting.

-Jason

stickguy

just pick out the likeliest member of the fleet, get a sawzall and a case of beer, and give it a try.

I'll even come down to help (depending, of course, on what brand of beer you get, and whether I can try the saw).

stickguy

local gas station has a gen 1 Voyager cut down into a pickup. They even fashioned a plywood bulkhead, which I suppose gives it some protection. Must have been a semi-pro job, since they even cobbled in a window.

There is a body shop on rt. 1 near west windsor that for years had a mid-80s (I think) Eldo dropped onto a jacked up 4x4 chassis (somewhat of a junior monster truck). I think it was a convertible, and pretty sure it was bright pink. For whatever reason, they liked to park it out by the road.

andre1969

unfortunately, the only body-on-frame vehicles in my fleet are a '67 Catalina convertible (no need there!), an '85 Silverado (now that WOULD be kinda cool with the roof off!), and my '57 DeSoto, which no cutting device of any kind is coming near!

Everything else (Gran Fury, New Yorker, Dart, and Intrepid) is unitized. Hmmm, it's a shame I didn't hold onto my Grandma's old '85 LeSabre...but then it was a 4-door, so we would've had to chop the door frames off, too! Even back in high school, I had thought about chopping the roof off of my '80 Malibu once it got to the point that it was ultimately worthless. But, I ended up doing the sensible thing...sell it and pocket the money, instead of chopping it up and making it fun, but totally worthless!

andys120

both seen moving through rush hour traffic on my way home tonight...

-Lotus Europe the paint was shot, practically matte finish, and the body wasn't particularly straight but it was moving

-'67 Shelby Mustang in a very nice metallic light blue w White LM stripes, I didn't get enough of a look to see if it was a GT-350 or GT-500. The bodywork appeared to be flawless, not the sort of car to take out in rush hour traffic!

I can't recall the last time I've seen either of these on the road but to see them both in such contrasting conditions in a short time on the same street is truly bizarre.

ateixeira

Saw a 2CV yesterday, baby blue with the huge canvas top that slides back. Must've been the most narrow tires I've seen on a car in my lifetime.

The label had a 6 on it, 2CV6, something like that. That couldn't possibly be a 6 cylinder, could it?

Pedestrians were absolutely gawking. It came from my very own garage so it must be a co-worker's. I suspect it's this quirky French (is that redundant) exec we have.

I've seen a boxer twin French custom car in his same parking spot before, so this guy must have quite a collection.

-juice

Mr_Shiftright

Nah, just more "power" with the 2CV6, with 602cc, a blistering 0-60 in about 30 seconds, and a top speed on a flat endless windless desert of maybe 70 mph. Fuel mileage as good as a new hybrid, though.

kyfdx

A newer Chevy Suburban with hearse style rear doors (duh), and the padded vinyl with the "S" molding covering the cargo area windows.. In bright white..

wimsey1

I saw a new Ford GT in South Haven last night.
Wonder if he had it out to the track.

ateix-Yes, at least in in automotive terms "quirky french" is considered redudant in every country except, of course, France.

Mr_Shiftright

As they say about French cars:

"The French imitate no one, and no one imitates the French"

ateixeira

What type of engine in those? In-line 3? boxer twin? Just curious.

-juice

Mr_Shiftright

L'il boxer yeah. Deux cylindres. Nasty little cars.

ateixeira

The kit car/roadster he also owns must have that same engine, then.

I'll try to snap a photo next time I see it. The engine is fully exposed and looks truly bizarre. But I guess it is accessible!

Vive le France!

-juice

ghulet

...saw the following:

Checker Marathon limo (or just LWB) really nice, gray with black vinyl top

Fiat 2000 Spider (Spyder?) in ice blue, definitely one of the later versions, with nice factory alloy wheels

First-generation Toyota Tercel four-door automatic, sounded as if on its last legs, and looked it as well, with nasty rust-colored paint

Mr_Shiftright

Fiat 2000 with fuel injection is a pretty nice cheap sports car. 1980-82 I think was when they made FI.

jrosasmc

You know what's not so bad these days? The Datsun 280Zs from 1975-78...with FI I've heard they can be a spunky little car.

Mr_Shiftright

Yeah, if you can stand to look at them. Compared to the 240Z, which seemed so pure and clean, they are pretty cluttered up with doo-dahs. I don't imagine they'd be fun to fix either.

fintail

Not the rarest, but in a grocery store parking lot on a dreary drizzly evening I spotted both a very nice 67 Camaro SS, and a nice first gen Monte Carlo. The Camaro was nice in white and red, but the Monte was a pukey brown with a tan top. Aaah the 70s

jrosasmc

Are 280Zs that more difficult to repair than the 240s?

kyfdx

124/2000 Spider...
240/260/280Z up till '78....

I'll take any of these.. just leave under the tree this Xmas, please...

jaserb

and has nice reliable Bosch fuel injection, much easier to keep running than the good but fussy 70-72 240 dual SU carbs and far better than the horrible '73 240/260 carbs.

As far as looks, the 280Z suffers from that dread malady of the mid to late '70s, "fat-bumper-itis". All body panels are interchangable between the first '70 240Z and the last '78 280Z, leaving aside the homely 2+2 models. Besides the bumpers (which are not an insignificant difference), the only stylistic differences between the 240Z and 280Z coupe are the tail lights and some silly hood louvres in the '77-78 280Z. I had a 260Z, which had the thin bumpers from the 240 and the tail lights from the 280.

Now, the 280ZX, on the other hand, was a whole different animal. "Cluttered up with doo-dahs" definitely fits here.

-Jason

kyfdx

1) You are correct, the 2+2 has been an abomination on every Z car made.

2) I, too.. liked the 280Z.. Other than the bumpers, it was a great car.. A friend of mine had a '77 and I think it was rated at 180 HP.. Maybe my memory has dulled with time, but I loved driving it.. I think the ZX in '79 only had 135 HP.

regards,
kyfdx

jaserb

Here's a nice 240Z in the classic Orange color. I had a '73 just like this. Okay, much rattier, but other wise just like this:


Now here's a '78 280Z in the same color, with the aforementioned hood louvres and some aftermarket wheels:


Finally, a 280ZX in all its goofiness. This is an anniversary edition but they were all pretty pimpy compared to the "Z" cars:


-Jason

jaserb

the bumpers on that 280 don't look all that bad. I think the fact that the chrome is shiny helps, and the chrome overriders (I've seen those on 240s too) don't hurt it much. Compared to the fat bumper MGBs and such it actually looks OK.

And yes, most mechanical parts were also swappable between '70 and '78. Take that from a guy who's spent waaaaay too much time looking for Z parts in junkyards.

-Jason

seminole_kev

how is parts availability and parts costs for the old Z's? If I could find a rust free one for not too much, I wouldn't mind having one. What would a rust free, say 280Z run nowadays?

lemko

...a 260Z?

kyfdx

A '77 in my local paper.. asking $4700.. Ad states that it is 'nice'.

My guess is $3K-$5K for decent ones..

$7K-$10K for excellent...

Just guessing.. maybe based on what I think they are worth...

seminole_kev

but I'm far from a Datsun expert!

kyfdx

'73 and '74... Maybe part of '75?

jaserb

in various states of (dis)repair, from daily drivers to parts cars.

70-73 model years = 240Z
74 model year = 260Z
75-78 model years = 280Z

There were actually early and late 260Zs. Early models (the majority) had thin bumpers similar but not identical to the 240Z bumpers and late models had the fat 280Z bumpers. All had the evil flat top Hitachi carbs, which should be immediately ripped out and replaced with either the round top carbs from a 70-72 or a set of Webers. All had the same tail lights as 280Zs as well, and the interiors were more like 280s than 240s.

'73s were all 240Zs, unfortunately sharing the same carb problems with the '74 260s.

Price wise, I'd imagine a nice driver could be had for well under $5000, with the 240s more expensive than 260s or 280s. I think the best looks / price combo is a nice early 260 with the carbs sorted out.

Parts availablility is quite good. When I sold my last 260 3 years or so ago I could still get tune up parts at Napa, and there are specialty shops such as Motorsport Auto in Orange CA that sell just about anything you could want.

-Jason

Mr_Shiftright

280Zs are not very valuable right now, but you can get decent money for a 240Z.

Yes, I was thinking of the ZX, escuse me, although seeing the 280Z I still think it's downhill from the 240Z for any number of reasons, both cosmetic and mechanical

These aren't cheap cars to fix. SU type carbs may not be perfect but obsolete fuel injection and that late 70s electro-mechanical engineering can be challenging. And the way the various Zs DRIVE is really something worth factoring into the equation, don't you think?

I think the market speaks for people's preferences....a 240Z is worth at least 50% more than a 280Z and 300% more than a ZX.

But to be fair, it's the rare sports car that improves continuously during its evolution. Seems like the general pattern is inception to improvement to embellishment to disaster. (Noted exception, the Corvette, which DID all of the above, but then CAME BACK!).

The earliest renditions of a new sports car are often fault-ridden but somehow the purest to drive and look at. It's like the designers and engineers had their whole life to think up the first one, and then only 6 months to do the "new and improved" model.

kyfdx

I think that makes the 280Z a great buy... I think you are getting a slightly better car than the 240Z, at half the price.. That is if you want to drive it, not keep it for an investment.. The 280ZX.. is garbage at any price... You might as well get a Chevy Monza or a Mustang II.

kyfdx

2/3 the price, not half..

jaserb

Find a turbo model with a good drivetrain and transplant it into a Z.

Sorry, Shifty. Having had experience with both you can't convince me that the injection system on the 280Z was problematic. I've seen too many 280s where the body rotted away around an engine that still started and ran perfectly, and too many 240s and 260s with carbs that were dorked up by some hamfisted mechanic and barely ran. 280Z is torquier, too.

-Jason

jrosasmc

But 280Zs came with Bosch L-Jetronic injection, which can be found on a variety of European cars of the time (namely BMW and Saab).