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

thebean

stickguy said:

Oh, I would love to have a 67 El Camino. Yummy.

Not if you were a 17 year old boy in 1972 trying to impress the ladies. At least in North Texas, this did not have a lot of street cred. Now, yes, but then it was a contributor to a lot of lonely Saturday nights. Or, maybe it was just me and not the car.

stickguy

sadly, I am no longer 17. But on the bright side, I also have no interest in impressing ladies. Or anyone for that matter.

sda

I found an interior shot of the 73 Grand Am.  It was very nice with reclining buckets and full instrumentation except tach, a large clock resided there instead.  It had cruise, no tilt, a/c, am/fm with rear speaker.  The sport steering wheel was cushioned and had a nice feel.

explorerx4

The other day, I saw a really nice aqua blue 66 or 67 El Camino(didn't get a great look at it in traffic).

uplanderguy

That Grand Am--same panel as Grand Prix of course, and to my eyes, the best '70's instrument panel, period.

I'm reminded of the Grand Am door panels differing from the Grand Prix's, and looking better IMHO.

I can't see the handle above the glovebox door, but it's probably the lighting.

explorerx4

When I was at a body shop today, I saw this.
Plate on back was DADS GTO.
I heard it start up, but couldn't really see it at first, but some reason my first guess was Pontiac.

uplanderguy

Typically wasn't a big fan of the '68-69 GTO (that's a '69) but that one sure looks nice.

Maybe because so many '68's seemed to be that Verduro Green!

I know among Pontiac folks the hood-mounted tach is coveted, but seriously, they couldn't find a place to put it inside the car?!

berri

Those straps seemed pretty flimsy for how long and heavy those doors were. I seem to remember it not being unusual to see them hanging on by one screw at one end, on cars not all that old.

That was my experience on the 76 Cutlass. The 79 Monte had exterior trim pieces falling off instead. Couldn't win.

berri

RE the GTO - I thought that generation of GM midsize cars was the nicest of them all personally. Reminded me of viewing the outside of a Boeing cockpit.

uplanderguy

My parents owned an '80 Monte Carlo from April '80 to Dec. '83. No exterior trim fell off, but I do remember seeing the chromed bumper trim coming off '78's and probably some '79's as well. The '80 trim looked identical but was apparently fastened better.

berri

Not only the bumper trim, but also the side body trim. Evidently some of that stuff used adhesive. The 79 was a nice car that unfortunately had bad build quality. Maybe they built it in several plants as I think it was a popular car back then. Was you 80 when it went to quad headlights?

fintail

I may be in a minority, but I never have really liked the 78-80 Monte, seems to be an odd "tweener" size. The 81+ models were greatly improved in terms of styling, IMO. Make mine (well, maybe not, as I might not like how it drives) a late run model with checkerboard wheels, T-tops, and flush "Euro" lights.

andre1969

fintail said:

I may be in a minority, but I never have really liked the 78-80 Monte, seems to be an odd "tweener" size. The 81+ models were greatly improved in terms of styling, IMO. Make mine (well, maybe not, as I might not like how it drives) a late run model with checkerboard wheels, T-tops, and flush "Euro" lights.

Personally, I thought all of GM's personal luxury coupes improved considerably, style-wise for 1981. With the '78-79 models, I just didn't care for the single headlights, and when they tried grafting quads on for 1980, they just didn't look quite right, either. And, while the Grand Prix kept its quad lights, it also had the turn signal between them, 1977-style, and it just seemed awkward on the narrower front of the '78-80.

Of the '78-80 batch, I think the Cutlass Supreme coupe was my favorite.

omarman

thebean said:

omarman said:

thebean said:

fintail said:

Does the emblem on the door panel, above the door pull, say something, or is it just 70s ostentation? I can't make out "Monte Carlo", and I am not sure if there was a trim level.

Great color combo, I can't even imagine modern cars in something like that, their boring designs might not work with it.

I believe it just says GM, but I might be mistaken. My first new car was a ‘76 Monte, but nowhere near as cool as this one. Mine was boring medium blue with blue cloth interior and bench seat. But, to me it was a chariot, coming from my old beat up ‘67 El Camino.

'67 El Camino! Ooh. When you say "old beat up" does that mean rusted-thru-beat up? If not that was still a very cool ride back then.

Wow, that’s the exact same color of mine. It was beat up due to me having several (5) fender benders in it, not all my fault. The back window framework rusted out resulting in a couple of my college textbooks getting soaked. We tried to address this with silicone sealant, but it wasn’t 100% successful. It also had the GM 283 engine issue with failing motor mounts. Any medium to hard acceleration resulted in the fan hitting the shroud or something. Later on after we sold it, I found out that Chevy was doing some gratis repairs using a chain, as I recall. But, we never got that memo. My dad bought it for me to drive because his gas powered golf cart would fit in the back with the tailgate closed. So, he used it on golf days and I got his Caprice wagon (total chick magnet ).

Around 1976 a friend of mine bought a '65 Chevy which had been fitted the recall cable/bracket "restraints" to correct the V8 motor mount problem. Until then I'd never heard about the recall story either.

When I finish writing my book it's gonna be called, "Dad Bought Me a Mustang After I Outgrew The Pony....and my siblings still resent it." He also let me borrow his Broughamosaur on date nights. Wasn't the dad thing cool in the 70's? Good ol' dad. Good times!

uplanderguy

That motor mount recall was a huge story at the time. It was the largest recall in history for a long time.

uplanderguy

I don't really care for the '78-80 Monte Carlo that much. In fact, I like the '78 now more than I did then. But as I've recounted here, I do like the '78 Malibu Classic coupe the best of the '78-81 years and always have. I do like the '78 optional instrumentation on the Malibu, and standard instrumentation on the Monte, with the two pods for controls and the rest of the entire panel, even in the middle, pushed back against the windshield for a feeling of space, and the gloss black trim outlined in gold pinstripe--zero woodgrain. Chevy cluttered that up in later years IMHO.

My own first new car was an '81 Monte Carlo. I thought then, and still do, that it was a very, very nice update. It had a ton of bad woodgrain on the dash, LOL, but I loved that car.

Weird, after '81, I don't believe I ever saw another magazine or TV ad for the Monte Carlo, unlike the other GM cars like it.

I'm with fintail--I'd like an '86-88 LS, checkerboard wheels, no body side molding, in a dark color. I haven't seen a nice one like that in a long time though.

I actually put a deposit on a new '85 Monte Carlo SS in dark maroon, but changed my mind and I got the deposit back. A few months later I ordered a Celebrity Eurosport two-door in the solid dark plum color (whatever they called it) and 2.8 MFI V6 and aluminum wheels. They told me the wheels were on backorder and I said if it comes in without them, I'm not buying the car!

I thought the '81 upgrade was an improvement to all the GM intermediate luxury coupes except the Cutlass Supreme, which seemed to gain an underbite and seemed to acquire more squarish wheel openings.

uplanderguy

My parents' '80 Monte (yes, four headlights), and my '81, were built in Baltimore. I'm sure they were built in several plants. Even though I was living in NE OH at the time, I bought my '81 at my hometown dealer, Dart Chevrolet-Cadillac, in Greenville, PA from our favorite family salesman there. They located the car for me from a dealer in Clearfield, in central PA. It was built in Aug. '80 so was an early '81. I bought the car in Jan.

I had only been working at my first 'real 'job since Sept., and I couldn't get a car loan at my bank there. My Dad spoke to the president of the First National Bank in Greenville, and I got a loan there without even setting foot in the place...all done through the mail. A lot of people knock small towns, but that was only one of a lot of benefits I believe I got from living in one when I was younger. My buying the car at a dealer in the same town as the bank probably didn't hurt, as my Dad knowing the bank president from being a customer over the years helped too I'm sure.

uplanderguy

Here's a clean, well-optioned '78 Monte Carlo Landau for sale. I appreciate "as built" and this car is that. Wish this car were a Malibu Classic; I'd be checking it out closer, LOL!

There's an instrument panel photo that shows that look I like on these cars.

I remember these cars being expensive, and the $8K sticker of this car when new reinforces that memory! They drove so much nicer than Ford's similar-sized cars IMHO, although Ford's were less-expensive. All Monte Carlos from 1973-80 came standard with the 70-series tires and sport suspension.

I make no claim as to asking price of this car; have no idea. But it looks like a four-year old car in the pics to me.

https://classiccars.com/listings/view/991001/1978-chevrolet-monte-carlo-for-sale-in-davenport-iowa-52801

sda

I’ve never special ordered a car but always wanted to. Not sure I have the patience to wait for it to be delivered. I remember my grandmother ordered her 68 Cutlass. She did a good job selecting options, though if she had asked me, ( I was 9, lol) I would have added a few more including an am/fm radio and a clock to fill the huge empty spot in the dash. When the car came in her mom complained that she should have gotten it in red as that was sportier than the light metallic blue and would attract men! My grandmother was then in her early 50s and a young widow at 40.

stickguy

that generation Monte looks awkward to me. The styling just seems off, with the sharp lines, etc. A friend in HS used his Mom's late 70's Pontiac version of that car (a Grand Am I think) and to me it looked a lot cleaner. Dark blue, honeycomb wheels of some sort, bucket seats. Hot stuff in 1979! Kinda made my parents zero option Omni look kinda nasty!

I got to drive it once. I know it was the V8. since I had a 6 cyl Camaro, and the family cars had been a '69 Volvo then the Omni, it was like driving a race car.

fintail

When I was a student in the late 90s, someone in my apartment complex had a Monte LS with checkerboard wheels and T-tops. It was extremely clean, and gave me the vibe that it was a gift hand me down car from grandparents or parents. Whoever had it maintained it and kept it clean, I never found out who owned it. I remember it being black or dark blue. A pretty rare option combination, google images finds only a couple cars with both features. Also funny to think it was only a ~10 year old car then, time flies. Something like this:





Ad for car, claiming a 65K mile example for $6500 which seems fair, not sure if this is an old ad however

Thinking back, at that time I had a good friend who was a Monte enthusiast, and his dad also liked cheep and cheerful hobby cars. Around 2000 or so, he picked up a 'tweener ~80 Grand Prix, loaded with buckets and T-tops, from a junkyard - someone had driven it in to scrap it, but it had only a minor malady, and he picked it up for like $500, he drove it up to our college town to show it off to his son. It was in very decent condition. I wonder what happened to it.

uplanderguy

Boy, I like that gray Monte Carlo! The '78 styling looks like they tried to ape the side sculpturing of the previous iteration too much, but I like it better now than then. Still, I like the later iteration's styling better.

I don't care for white-lettered tires against the checkerboard wheels, but still, that car is pretty to my 61-year-old eyes.

My OCD is kicking in here, but often there's one little thing on a car or model that just bugs me, and on the later Montes I don't like the optional side molding being placed so close to the standard bright lower-side molding. I like these cars without the upper molding.

I remember a very dark maroon with lighter-maroon under the bright molding, factory two-tone on these cars that at the time was very sharp to me. A friend of mine said he hated that two-toning in general, calling it the "truck two-tone", LOL.

uplanderguy

RE.: Ordering a vehicle:

I only ever ordered one vehicle, my '85 Celebrity Eurosport two-door. Told it would take six to eight weeks and took twelve. They were so sick of me calling they couldn't deliver that car fast enough. I bought it at Timmers Chevrolet in Norcross, GA. I should look to see if the dealer survives.

I was forced to order the 4-speed automatic--ordered rather late in the model year and I suspect this was to get their CAFE up. My friend's Dad, a Chevy/Buick Service Manager in PA, told me not to get that trans but I had to. At 37K it had no third or fourth gear--powertrain warranty was 24K but Chevy put a remanufactured unit in for $100.

Most of my other new cars--other than my new Equinox and the '17 Cruze before it--I had my dealer do a search for as I was quite specific about options and colors. Anymore, there are so few choices that it seems to me no real need to have a dealer search around.

andre1969

stickguy said:

that generation Monte looks awkward to me. The styling just seems off, with the sharp lines, etc. A friend in HS used his Mom's late 70's Pontiac version of that car (a Grand Am I think) and to me it looked a lot cleaner. Dark blue, honeycomb wheels of some sort, bucket seats. Hot stuff in 1979! Kinda made my parents zero option Omni look kinda nasty!

I got to drive it once. I know it was the V8. since I had a 6 cyl Camaro, and the family cars had been a '69 Volvo then the Omni, it was like driving a race car.

If it was the "direct" Pontiac version, it would've been a Grand Prix, although they did offer a Grand Am from '78-80. IIRC, the Grand Am even offered a 4-speed stick with the 4-bbl version of the 301 for a year or two. I want to say 0-60 was around 10.5 seconds. Slow by today's standards, but if they jerk you around just right, sometimes even a slow-ish car can still feel fun.

I just checked the EPA website, and interestingly, they list the 301-4bbl as an option on the Grand Prix as well, offered only with the 4-speed stick. The only other V8 combination was the 301-2bbl/automatic. But with the LeMans/Grand Am, they offered a 301-2bbl/auto, 301-4bbl/auto, and 301-4bbl/4-speed. Of course, we're not talking about high-powered engines here...the 2-bbl had 140 hp, 150 for the 4-bbl.

I think California cars only got the Chevy 305-4bbl, and only with an automatic. None of the Pontiac V-8s (or the 305-2bbl) would pass California emissions standards, and were banned.

andre1969

Uplanderguy, just curious, what made you change your mind, about the '85 Monte Carlo SS? Would insurance rates have been really high on it?

Back in high school, I wanted a Monte SS really bad. By this time, they were mostly used cars. When I was in college, I got semi-serious about looking for one, but called my insurance company and they said my insurance for something like that, full-coverage, would be around $3,000 per year. And this was around 1989! Of course, I was only 19 years old at the time, and being a single male teenager, considered a high risk. I think I was paying around $900-1000 per year, liability-only, on my 1980 Malibu coupe.

uplanderguy

I had had new '81 and '82 Monte Carlos already, and insurance did cross my mind. Some of the graphics on the Monte SS seemed a bit undignified to me for the body styling, but at the time it drove and sounded nice to me!

Ironically, when I decided I didn't want the car, the car they had in stock for me was not the one I had put a deposit on. But, it was the same car, colors and options. It was from another dealer. Another salesman had sold the original car. My salesman gave me a thing about not returning the deposit, and I remember giving him the line "Hey, it's not the car I put a deposit on, and it's not like I'm sticking you with a Citation", LOL, since Monte SS's were a hot commodity then. I got my deposit back but bought my Celebrity at a different Atlanta-area dealer a few months later.

I entertained the thought of an '85 Citation X-11, same car mechanically and even same wheelbase as the Celebrity. The discontinuation announcement had already been made and I worried about resale value in three years. I wish they'd have made the X-11 in the Club Coupe body in '85--I'm pretty sure they did not. There was an enormous dealer in Sandy Springs that had two or three new X-11's but all were the football-shaped hatchbacks, LOL. Even sticker was quite a bit less than a comparably-equipped Celebrity Eurosport, which was quite a bit less than a Monte Carlo SS.

The '85 Citation had a one-year-only instrument panel, with the radio finally being horizontal, LOL.

sda

Did you live in GA when you bought the Celebrity? I found the horizontally mounted ac/heat controls in the 82 Skylark that I bought used awkward to use.

andre1969

That's interesting, that they'd go through the effort on the Citation to make a change like that to the dash/radio, for a 1-year only thing. I wonder if enough people complained, and initially, they were planning on offering the Citation a bit longer?

Also, looking at my old car encyclopedia, it looks like the Club Coupe was discontinued entirely after 1984. That year, it only sold 4936 units. Although, the 2-door hatchback only moved 8783. The 4-door hatch sold 83,486.

For 1985, they sold 7443 2-door hatchbacks and 55,279 4-door hatches.

uplanderguy

I did live in Norcross, GA when I bought the Celebrity. The Monte SS I put a deposit on was at a dealer in either Roswell or Alpharetta--it was a small dealer and I'm looking at a map of Georgia just to get those two towns' names, LOL. The dealer in Sandy Springs was huge and I'm thinking it was called Tom Jumper. They drove you to look at inventory, in golf carts. I also drove a new '85 Camaro Berlinetta there and didn't like it at all. Where I bought the Celebrity was definitely at Timmers in Norcross....he did commercials and his name was Tim Timmers.

uplanderguy

Thanks andre for the production numbers.

Chevy had some weird things going on in the early eighties. For '82 they dropped the Malibu coupe and the Impala coupe, and there was no '83 Citation Club Coupe nor bucket seats in a Monte Carlo for '82 or '83. There was no '83 Caprice Classic coupe either.

The Caprice Classic coupe and the Citation Club Coupe were both reintroduced for '84, as were bucket seats in the Monte Carlo.

andre1969

1981-83 was a bleak time for the auto industry in general. I sort of consider late 1979 through 1983 as one big recession, but I think the actuality is, there were two short "official" recessions, and a lot of "correction" here and there.

I'm convinced that GM was intending to pass off the '82 Malibu as a second wave "downsized" Caprice, like what Pontiac did as the Bonneville G. But, then, cooler heads prevailed. The '81 Malibu coupe had been a slow seller, with about 34,000 units sold. But, guess what? The Celebrity, even in its best years, never topped that figure in coupes. They did top out at around 29,000 a few years, but the sedans and wagons were by far the biggest sellers. My guess is that GM, in an attempt to save a few bucks here and there, dropped a few of the less common configurations, like the Impala/Caprice coupe and such.

For 1981, the Impala was down to only 6,067 coupes, while the Caprice did a bit better at 9741 base coupes and 6615 landaus. When the Caprice coupe came back for 1984, it sold 19,541.

berri

My 76 Cutlass was made at the Doraville GA plant. Wonder what they were building while you waited for the 85 Celebrity? Or you could have walked across the tarmac at ATL and seen what Ford had at their Atlanta plant.

uplanderguy

My office was in Doraville. I want to say they were building Cieras and Centurys there in '85, but I'll have to see if I can find out online. Celebritys were largely built in Oklahoma City but for some reason mine came from Oshawa, Ontario.

ab348

uplanderguy said:

I entertained the thought of an '85 Citation X-11, same car mechanically and even same wheelbase as the Celebrity. The discontinuation announcement had already been made and I worried about resale value in three years. I wish they'd have made the X-11 in the Club Coupe body in '85--I'm pretty sure they did not. There was an enormous dealer in Sandy Springs that had two or three new X-11's but all were the football-shaped hatchbacks, LOL. Even sticker was quite a bit less than a comparably-equipped Celebrity Eurosport, which was quite a bit less than a Monte Carlo SS.

The '85 Citation had a one-year-only instrument panel, with the radio finally being horizontal, LOL.

It's too bad the Citation's reputation was trashed by that point, since it was likely that by '85 GM finally got it close to right. The X-11 for '85 was a nice car and probably would have been a pretty good performer. I've only seen the new-for-'85 dash in brochure shots and it looks fairly plain but maybe it was better in person.

fintail

Funny thing, given the location of that 87, maybe you crossed paths with it back in the day (if you remained in GA).

I am sure I have mentioned it before, the Monte enthusiast friend of mine also had an 85 SS, and still has it. When I met him in 1997, he had a 1983 Monte CL he bought from a friend of the family as his first car, a couple years prior. It was grey on grey, velour interior, 305. I remember joking that CL stood for "CeLebrity" At the time it had maybe 100K on it, and was extremely clean. He kept the original wheels and wire caps, but was running smaller 90s style chrome wheels with low profile tires, which gave it kind of a lowrider look to my eyes, but it had no suspension mods. He later put wheels from a ~80 Z28 on it, and I think he had some minor fitment issues.

In 1999 or 2000, he bought the SS. Although he was still a student, he saved money, and had always liked the cars, so he took the plunge. He shopped around a bit, looking at some dodgy cars, and finally found a local ~50K mile car, black on red, t-tops, very clean, for maybe 6K. I remember I went with him to look at it, as I seem to be able to find little cosmetic flaws or suspect issues, and it passed my inspection. He ended up storing it at his dad's place, and continuing to drive the 83, while taking the 85 out on occasional weekends. In 2001 or so, the transmission in the 83 failed, so he started driving the 85 while it was being repaired, and found he liked it a lot more, and put another 30K or so on it in a few years. In 2002, it was involved in a crash - a teenage girl in a Sentra ran a stop sign and smashed the drivers front quarter. I recall he called her insurance company, and they started giving him data - about a crash she had been in a few weeks before. Funny. The car ended up being completely repainted, but it was not the best job, 10-footer. A few years later he got married, and the car was relegated along with the 83 to his dad's barn.

A couple years ago, he sold off the 83 - it was hard for him, he wanted it to be saved rather than scrapped. The new buyer made it into a real lowrider, and sent him pics of the project. He still has the SS, sitting in his garage with tentative plans for a cosmetic restoration - apparently it still runs and drives fine. I drove it a couple times, it seemed a lot more fun than the 83, which was really isolated, and had brakes I didn't like, no feel and delayed reaction. His family cars today are ~10 year old Mazda 6 and Odyssey.

uplanderguy said:

Boy, I like that gray Monte Carlo! The '78 styling looks like they tried to ape the side sculpturing of the previous iteration too much, but I like it better now than then. Still, I like the later iteration's styling better.

I don't care for white-lettered tires against the checkerboard wheels, but still, that car is pretty to my 61-year-old eyes.

My OCD is kicking in here, but often there's one little thing on a car or model that just bugs me, and on the later Montes I don't like the optional side molding being placed so close to the standard bright lower-side molding. I like these cars without the upper molding.

I remember a very dark maroon with lighter-maroon under the bright molding, factory two-tone on these cars that at the time was very sharp to me. A friend of mine said he hated that two-toning in general, calling it the "truck two-tone", LOL.

explorerx4

I bought an 83 T'bird Turbo Coupe in 1983, so it wasn't as bad as some are making it out to be.
Depends where you were looking.

roadburner

explorerx4 said:

I bought an 83 T'bird Turbo Coupe in 1983, so it wasn't as bad as some are making it out to be.
Depends where you were looking.

I had a 1984 Turbo Coupe with the manual 5 speed. I bought it in 1993 from a friend to use as a work beater to keep commuting miles off my M6. It wasn't a bad car at all. The kid I sold it to in 1998 still has it.

roadburner

The only car I ever ordered was my Club Sport. I ordered it in August 1995 and took delivery in November. I knew it would be a bit of a wait as the DOI listed the SOP as October.
When I bought my MS3 I wanted a Cosmic Blue GT so my salesman had to do a bit of a dealer search.
My next car will probably be ordered as I definitely want a moonroof delete.

thebean

In reading my Hemmings Classic Car this morning at coffee, there was an article on 1959. The article said that Buick brought over German Opels (which I knew), Ford brought over Zodiacs and Zephyrs (same), and Pontiac brought over Vauxhauls, which I didn’t know. I must have been too young, as I lusted after Opels when I was in Jr High (around 1967-68).

uplanderguy

I liked the '87-88 Thunderbird, and I realize the '83 was revolutionary, but they didn't do anything for me. For a car in that segment, interior room was lacking IMHO and I didn't care for how Ford went with those thick-framed doors around the glass, even on the Mark VII.

andre1969

uplanderguy said:

I liked the '87-88 Thunderbird, and I realize the '83 was revolutionary, but they didn't do anything for me. For a car in that segment, interior room was lacking IMHO and I didn't care for how Ford went with those thick-framed doors around the glass, even on the Mark VII.

I like the '83 T-bird more now, than I did when it was new. And, can appreciate it for what it was, style-wise. They seemed pretty well-built, too, with good fit and finish, decent panel gaps, and the interiors seemed pretty high quality. Some of the designer trim levels, like Elan, Fila, or whatever, were pretty ritzy, too. But, I'd still prefer a GM personal luxury coupe, mainly for the things you mention. Roomier and more comfortable, to me at least. More cargo area. And, while the styling was dated compared to a T-bird, I just liked them better. I didn't care for that overly rounded off look. Made me think a bit of an upside down bathtub.

Even though they're in the same class, a T-bird from that era is really a compact car, whereas a Monte Carlo, et al, is an intermediate. The EPA even ranks them as such. Although, going by interior volume, I think a '77-79 Mark V is actually ranked as a compact!

I did think the '87-88 T-bird was a really attractive update. The Cougar, less so. The Cougar's proportioning just seemed off, with the exaggerated quarter window and formal roofline just not blending with the rest of the car like it did in '83-86.

Back in 1998, when my '86 Monte Carlo was in the process of being totaled out after getting t-boned while I was delivering pizzas, the local body shop had an '85 Cougar for sale. It had the 302. I think they only wanted $1500 for it. I was slightly temped. But, I ended up limping through the rest of that summer alternating between my '68 Dart a '79 Newport I had, with about 250,000 miles on it. Eventually the water pump went bad on the Newport, and I didn't want to put any more money into it at that age/mileage. So, I bought an '89 Gran Fury that used to be a police car. It only had about 73,000 miles on it. I figured being 10 years newer, and with less than 1/3 the mileage of the Newport, it would be a better car. Sadly, it wasn't.

I hadn't thought about that '85 Cougar in ages now. I wonder how I would have liked it, if I had bought it?

uplanderguy

RE.: The '87 Cougar update--I think it looked worse than the previous car, unlike the Thunderbird. Stupid story, but I had just lost like 40 lbs. and this gal I used to know a bit in another department at work started being sorta...flirty. She was a looker, although not the brightest bulb, LOL. (My wife now says that girl reminded her of Marcia Brady, with long hair she shouldn't have had at 30 years old, LOL). We went out a few times and she broke it off (again, LOL). But she had a dove gray '87 Cougar with blackwall tires...a basic model. I drove it a couple times. Don't remember much about it.

A longtime friend and coworker had sort of a dark grayish-blue '87 T-Bird Turbo, with a navy blue cloth interior that was striking.

roadburner

My wife's 1984 Skylark T Type was actually a very good car, although I don't usually care for FWD in a car that big. The only '80s GM cars I liked at the time were the Monte Carlo SS and The Regal T Type/Grand National.

berri

I thought the Fomoco's of that era tended to ride a little firmer than the GM's, so that might affect an individual driver's preference between them some.

fintail

I remember the 83-86 T-Bird quite well when new, as my mom wanted one to replace her aging 70s model. However, my dad didn't agree - now that they had 3 kids, my mom didn't work, and apparently car prices inflated to more than he wanted to pay, it just wasn't working for him. I remember him trying to convince himself or us that a loaded Tempo coupe was just like a "smaller T-Bird", I remember he used that phrase. Lo and behold, my mom ended up in a Tempo, and I wonder how much cheaper that really was. I recall someone in the neighborhood had a turbo T-Bird , I remember the Mustang style wheels.

I never cared for the 83-88 Cougar either, few cars can make a reverse angle C-pillar work (Avanti perhaps did it best), and the Cougar didn't do it, especially in 87-88. I remember a grade school teacher of mine had an 83-86 Cougar, beige, would have been a new or late model car at the time - of course, only the sanest and smartest of us have no problem recalling the cars our teachers drove 30+ years ago.

uplanderguy

I remember starting in '83, all T-Birds and Cougars came with bucket seats and console. By that time I still occasionally would carry somebody in the center position of my Monte Carlo.

I remember what several of my teachers drove. I've told this story before but I always remember my sixth-grade math teacher driving a firethorn-like '65 Satellite convertible. Two years ago in my hometown's 700-car car show (July 4 weekend) I saw one and thought, "that looks like Mrs. Miller's car". I went around front and it sure was, per the placard on the windshield. I later found out she rec'd it as a college graduation gift in 1965. It still looked great. I don't remember seeing the car or Mrs. Miller in all the years between 1970 and 2017.

imidazol97

I recall the 55 Plymouth 4-door my 5th or 6th grade teacher had. He had a 6 cylinder because it didn't have a V in the grill. Tailfins. It had more side chrome than this base Savoy, but same colors.

imidazol97

My third and fourth grade teacher always had Oldsmobiles. 1953. 1954. And she was an aggressive, fast driver on the gravel roads or paved roads in our area. She took the "Rocket engine" by Oldsmobile to heart.

She was a friend of my adult sister who lived 1/2 miles from us, so I saw her cars frequently.

fintail

I remember 2nd grade: 77-79 Thunderbird. 3rd grade: 82-85 Supra. 4th grade: Olds Omega. 5th grade (school had a 3 period system for junior high prep I guess): Pontiac 6000 coupe/Tercel 4x4 wagon/83-86 Cougar. 6th grade (normal system): Bronco II. Then junior high, with 7 classes per day, I'd have to think a bit, but I recall the foreign languages teacher had an 82-85 Accord, an English teacher had an 87+ LeBaron coupe, math teacher and art teacher both had F150s, home ec teacher who I liked had a beautiful black on palomino 300CD, traded it in 1990 for a new 190E (her husband was a lawyer). High school would require more thinking, I recall a science teacher with an ~87 Maxima, English teacher with a Mercury Monarch, math teacher with an early 90s Accord, German teacher with a ~87 Cavalier that got wrecked and replaced by new 94 Cavalier, art teacher with a Subaru wagon and his wife had an early non-turbo W123 300D. I also remember some college professor cars - one was the original owner of a 64 Beetle he still drove in ~1999, the other was a memorable 60-something woman who taught arts/humanities subjects who had a Probe Turbo and a black on red 57 Thunderbird.

tjc78

The only two teacher’s cars I can remember are my grade school English teacher had a white first generation SHO and my history teacher in high school had a baby blue early 90s New Yorker. I remember as a Senior she actually asked me to move her car for some reason or another.

Thinking about that now, not sure why she would have trusted a student with her car....