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

explorerx4

@tjc78,
Check out this unicorn.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yD0FPhLBdc

explorerx4

Lets give GM some equal time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KTN5UoKRXg

fintail

I didn't watch the video, I wonder how that TC was spared from being ran into the ground. Funeral home maybe?

On the road today, a 75-79 Nova, base looking 2 door in a very boring beige. proving that fun colors weren't on everything during that era. Also saw the STS-V I have seen a few times at the gym, the driver did what I call "running it aground" by apparently scraping the front lip on the parking curb - this car isn't being treated well, sad.

Michaell

kyfdx said:

Haven’t seen one of these in a while

Lose the stinger tail pipe and the roof rack, paint it white, and that would be the first car my folks bought for me in HS. When I bought the Sunbird my senior year, it got handed down to my sister, and my dad and uncle immediately converted it to 12V.

tjc78

Yeah the TC being an Exec L with those low miles is unheard of.

I would love to know the story. That trim level wasn’t usually bought by consumers. It was for livery use.

uplanderguy

I'm loving that Toronado...color, and no vinyl top. Back then, I thought the Toro was the best-styled of all three of those cars (Riv and Eldo). I always liked the big round wheel openings. In hindsight, I think I like the Eldo the best, as I'm reminded of the '67-70 razor-edge styling. Old-skool here but I know as nicely as the Mark VII drove, I thought the thick side window framing and interiors didn't equal or surpass the old-style Eldo, Riv, and Toro. The Riv's styling of that period I thought was a bit "hippy" (as opposed to "hippie").

As a very minor thing, I've always thought it a bit odd that the nameplates on the side of the Toro read "Oldsmobile". I'm hard-pressed to think of any other car like that at the time.

Seeing the window sticker of that Toro, makes me have a question--I could figure it out if I wasn't too lazy to look at a brochure online, but it says the 5 Liter V8 was optional at extra cost. What engine did those cars come with standard? I always assumed the 307 was standard equipment.

ab348

The '84 Toro had a 4.1 liter V-6 (an expanded 3800) as standard.

fintail

I prefer the sharp styling of the period Eldo over its platform siblings. That "razor edge" styling works very well on that platform. Make mine a 79-80 or even an 81 in blue on blue with no vinyl top, no pimptastic adds ons, and wheels rather than hubcaps.

uplanderguy

I like how the '85, and maybe the '84, Eldo, has the side moldings the color of the car, with no chrome edging, so the look is that of no side moldings. That, and that these later ones have no engine displacement badging on the front fenders, really clean up the good basic styling I think. BUT....and this is a big "BUT"--I would so-much rather have the '79 or '80 engines. Funny that the Eldo had the lamest engines of the three in '82 and later.

fintail

A V8-6-4 badge could be something to be proud of these days, you'll have a story to tell

fintail

From the big fb fintail group, I thought this was a nice pic, almost a time warp effect save for a couple modern photobombs in the background. The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain:

uplanderguy

Not a 'spot', but I find this car advertised, interesting. Haven't seen one like it in years. The Marauder roofline is better-looking I think (funny, even some 'experts' online think 'Marauder' meant 'performance' in these years--all it meant was the fastback roofline).

I have no opinion on the pricing, other than like most old cars for sale, it's probably priced high.

But I think the car is intriguing.

That interior--so similar to '63 and '64 Galaxie 500XL--seems to wear like iron. Almost every XL of that era I ever see looks like the seats are new.

https://classiccars.com/listings/view/1303836/1963-mercury-monterey-for-sale-in-west-chester-pennsylvania-19380

fintail

As one of the weirdos who likes early 60s Fomoco material, I like that Mercury, nice survivor of an unusual and quirky car. Probably overpriced, as you say - if it was a Galaxie, I bet it could bring that money. Just like if if the Mercury was a 63 Olds instead of an Impala. Still better to buy one like this than restore a lesser car, especially as the market for these will likely slowly fade with time.

xwesx

fintail said:

A V8-6-4 badge could be something to be proud of these days, you'll have a story to tell

Yeah, but then the tow truck driver responds with, "Save it, buddy. I've heard it all before...."

uplanderguy

I love the Merc as so unusual, good color IMHO too; the styling certainly can't be called timeless or even 'standing the test of time', but I sure do like the car. Family friends had a four-door '63 in this same color but with a white top; that window was awesome in those pre-A/C days (at least in our humble little town).

tjc78

fintail said:

I prefer the sharp styling of the period Eldo over its platform siblings. That "razor edge" styling works very well on that platform. Make mine a 79-80 or even an 81 in blue on blue with no vinyl top, no pimptastic adds ons, and wheels rather than hubcaps.

Yesterday only an hour after reading this I saw one of these. White over red, vinyl top, fake wire wheel hub caps and vogue yellow stripe tires.

Car looked pretty tired overall

stickguy

was pretty nice today (sunny, upper 40s). Saw I assume the same baby blue bumper MGB I have seen before. And passed driving a gorgeous burgundy 1970 or 71 'Cuda convertible. I wanted that one!

jwm40517

My father had a 63 S55 Mercury in that color or close to it. I had a 63 1/2 Galaxie 500 Xl 390 & 4 speed at the same time.

texases

C2 Corvette roadster in the garage at work, white over red, looked very nice, never saw it before. It was gone when I went out at lunch, too bad!

fintail

I bet new cars were much more likely to need a tow then than now.

Come to think of it, I've heard conflicting stories about the 8-6-4 - some say it was terrible, some say it worked fine, some just disconnected it and had no problems.

xwesx said:

Yeah, but then the tow truck driver responds with, "Save it, buddy. I've heard it all before...."

fintail

That kind of trim looked tired when new. The image it portrayed did more damage to brand cachet than middling build quality or lame engines IMO.

tjc78 said:

Yesterday only an hour after reading this I saw one of these. White over red, vinyl top, fake wire wheel hub caps and vogue yellow stripe tires.

Car looked pretty tired overall

uplanderguy

My one Stude buddy, who grew up on a steady diet of Cadillacs, claims the 8-6-4 was not bad; far-better than the 4.1 in his opinion. But comparing it to the 4.1 probably isn't saying much.

fintail

Here's a funny story our resident Nova Scotian probably knows about

ab348

fintail said:

Here's a funny story our resident Nova Scotian probably knows about

Ha! I found that one online this morning and was about to post the link myself. Yes, the story about the infamous "Iraqibu" that was all the rage back in '82 among some. The thing was, they were very strangely equipped aside from what was mentioned about emissions controls being lacking. I seem to recall GM had to refit them with catalytic converters before they could be sold which no doubt added to the price. But aside from that they were not very appealing. About the only options were air conditioning and I believe power steering and brakes (if those weren't already standard equipment). Most if not all had 3-speed manual transmissions with the shifter mounted on the floor, the standard V-6, and a 2.29 rear end gear, so they were as sluggish as can be. But the Canadian fetish towards finding a cheap new car made sure they all sold. Some were used here as taxis for a while. The 3-pedal setup later became a hot commodity in wrecking yards for hot-rod types looking to modify their own A/G-body cars.

BTW that "field" they were stored in is now Autoport, a huge facility just down the road from me where many if not most Euro cars headed for the Canadian and part of the US market now arrive in North America. They are also doing some business now exporting pickups and muscle cars to Europe.

ab348

uplanderguy said:

My one Stude buddy, who grew up on a steady diet of Cadillacs, claims the 8-6-4 was not bad; far-better than the 4.1 in his opinion. But comparing it to the 4.1 probably isn't saying much.

I read something online recently that contended that bypassing the cylinder deactivation on the V8-6-4 was easy to do if you knew how, just a matter of disconnecting some electrical connection, after which the engine ran in full 8-cylinder mode all the time. That would give you an engine that was better than either the 8-6-4 or the 4.1 (which pretty much anything would be better than given, its problems).

fintail

On the forum where I found the CBC Iraqibu article, someone posted this pic from an example they once owned:



The color caught my eye as much as the transmission, don't make em like that anymore.

xwesx

A three-speed manual?! That would be slow, indeed!

ab348

fintail said:

On the forum where I found the CBC Iraqibu article, someone posted this pic from an example they once owned:



The color caught my eye as much as the transmission, don't make em like that anymore.

Good find on that pic.

The color masks the desert sand that undoubtedly got tracked/blown in.

texases

Hey, there are sand dunes in Canada!

fintail

Fintail featured in "Automobile" magazine - not every day one is seen in an American publication

stickguy

That is a nice looking car. Fun story about inheriting 20 classic Mercedes and a warehouse full of parts!

kyfdx

tjc78

Great truck!

xwesx

Re: Lightning. That's one not seen much anymore. What's the story on it? Just a F-O-R-D?


"Fast Eddy's Auto Salon." Yep, that sounds like a reputable place!

explorerx4

There is also someone in uniform on the other side of the truck.

kyfdx

xwesx said:

Re: Lightning. That's one not seen much anymore. What's the story on it? Just a F-O-R-D?


"Fast Eddy's Auto Salon." Yep, that sounds like a reputable place!

Actually, Fast Eddie is a pretty good guy. He is one of the few body guys that will try to do something cheaper, if that is what the customer needs.

The Lightning came out of Ford's SVT division. Turboed engine. It was very fast, for it's time.

kyfdx

explorerx4 said:

There is also someone in uniform on the other side of the truck.

Yeah, I'm not sure why he was there. The truck was flat-bedded in, and they were having some trouble backing it off, without rubbing the front air dam. It's possible he was in the neighborhood, and just decided to watch. It is a neighborhood that attracts a lot of police presence.

I was there to see if there was a cheaper way to fix the bumper of my new car (holes from a front license plate, that is not needed)

stickguy

Supercharged, not turboed. But kinda cool. I would take one.

They can fill and respray your bumper. Not super cheap. Easier to leave the bracket on. Put a sports team plate on it or something. They probably also make plastic bolts that you can paint and tap in. Just leave a couple small bumps but cheap and not very noticeable.

kyfdx

stickguy said:

Supercharged, not turboed. But kinda cool. I would take one.

They can fill and respray your bumper. Not super cheap. Easier to leave the bracket on. Put a sports team plate on it or something.

The bracket is off.. Not going back on.

He said $500-$700. He is willing to fill and paint blend, the two feet of affected area, rather than painting the whole bumper. I'll have to get a quote from a full-bore body shop, to see what they say.

I blame @breld for living in a front-plate state..

xwesx

Ah, so those were photos of opportunity. And here we were (I was?) hoping you would have a great story for it!

The body shop I use is very good about that, as long as the customer is not using insurance for the repairs. That's how I was able to get my 2008 Forester put back together for about two grand under the initial repair estimate. They replaced what actually needed replacing, fixed what was economical to fix, and left the minor stuff alone (such as a slight bend in the radiator).

stickguy

That’s nuts. Use one of my edited in options.

kyfdx

stickguy said:

That’s nuts. Use one of my edited in options.

If the car was black, and there were only two holes, maybe.

3 holes for the bracket, plus two more that poked through from the license plate. And, the car is Dark Iron Blue metallic. Not sure good that would turn out.

stickguy

I would put the bracket back on. but I am also a tightwad.

explorerx4

A FrankenExplorerBurb.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qDZzO5TWWk

xwesx

Franken whatever... that thing is gorgeous. They did a very good job of combining the old with the new without making it look tacky.

stickguy

that is a nice truck. someone spent some serious money putting it together. Worked surprisingly well going onto a Mountaineer frame. I would do a couple things different. Ditch the 3rd row and sub box to give it some cargo capacity. And a little taller sidewall. But other than that, nicely done.

tjc78

That’s how you do a restomod!

stickguy

I looked at their inventory. some nice looking stuff. and some very ambitious pricing.

tjc78

I'm guessing they used a Mountaineer frame because the wheelbase lined up well.

It certainly would have been less work to use something GM since they put in an LS motor anyway.

stickguy

dimensions are more important than maker on a project like this. Must have lined up just right because on the video they had it on the lift and said no signs of cutting to make it fit. Just I think some extension on the back end. Looked real clean too. They already have it in the sold list, so no idea what they were asking for it. Probably a lot.