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

uplanderguy

I liked the '72 front end, but I hated how plain they were down the sides. Even the Biscayne and Bel Air had a rocker molding, but the Impala didn't! I'd have absolutely bought the optional wheel opening moldings.

Big difference from the wide moldings along the entire lower body of the '71's.

I think the "Derwood" and other assorted wrong-names was a funny running gag on that show. She really had a disdain for Darrin, LOL.

Endora was a great character, as was Mrs. Kravitz, and really the Uncle Arthur character was too. Aunt Clara as well. And even as a kid I thought Elizabeth Montgomery was a beautiful woman.

At or around the time of her death she owned a blue 1958 Packard sedan, believe it or not. I plainly remember it being featured in Special Interest Autos.

andre1969

I have to confess, when I was a kid, I didn't realize that Samantha and Serena were both played by Elizabeth Montgomery! I forget how old I was when I finally figured it out, but probably at an older age than I'd care to admit!

I never really noticed the lack of a lower molding on the Impala, but yeah, looking at pics, I think the Bel Air and Biscayne, with the molding, do look better. I'm not as crazy about the Caprice though, with that wide strip. It makes it look fatter, I think. The skirts might have something to do with that, too.

Now that I think about it, my '68 Dart 270, which was the mid-range Dart that year, had a lower chrome strip along the rocker. But my '69 Dart GT, which was an upper range trim level, didn't have it. It might have been an option o the 270, though. I looked at some pics of '68 Darts on google, and it looks like some 270s have it and some don't.

ab348

That ‘72 didn’t look great in that paint color. I remember back then when we got our first color TV how my parents and I noted that a lot of cars you saw on TV shows didn’t have vibrant colours and looked blah. I see the same thing now when I occasionally watch an episode of Mannix. The DVD I’m watching now has him in a ‘70 Barracuda convertible in dark green with a black vinyl interior and top, and it looks really bland. Don’t know what they were thinking.

sda

Perhaps some of those otherwise bland colors worked well in black and white? Dad, never a fan of TV reluctantly caved and bought our first color TV in 1972. A console Zenith 25” which had a defective UHF tuner that was never repaired correctly. We were delighted with it regardless.

xwesx

25"! That was quite the luxurious TV in 1972!

We had a 19" TV from the time I can remember (around 1980) until 1991 when it finally just wouldn't turn on anymore. For the last couple years, we had to switch it on and let it warm up for a couple minutes or more before the picture would show up. My dad replaced it with a 27" Magnavox with large stereo speakers that could mount or dismount from the TV. That thing was just a revelation for kids that had only ever known that old Zenith, and it wasn't just the size difference.

I recall several times when he would have the older tube TV torn apart on the pool table. I think he replaced various parts and tubes in it until he couldn't get the parts anymore.

tjc78

We had that same Magnavox with the detachable speakers!

roadburner

My folks gave me a 19" RCA color TV for my birthday in 1981. I was ecstatic. 49 years later I'm looking at a 75" TV.

andre1969

My grandparents bought a new Zenith 25" console, with a slate (or slate-like) top in 1972. That sucker cost about $700 back then! I remember my Mom buying a new Zenith 25" in 1979, and it was just under $600, so that shows how electronic prices were slowly coming down, despite inflation. I saved up some money for my 13th birthday, to buy a new tv, and my Granddad matched me, 50%. I got a Toshiba 19" color, and seem to recall it was just under $400. That was 1983. For my 14th in 1984, I saved up for a VCR and Granddad again matched me half, and I got a new GE top load, with a wired remote, for $379+ tax. So, say $400.

For my 12th birthday I got an Intellivision video game system, and I remember it said "for color tv viewing only". I think it would actually work on a black and white tv, but the problem was that for two player games, some normally vibrant colors would just show up as gray, so it was hard to tell who was whom. Oddly, for all the rage at the time over how great the graphics were and how colorful it was, the Intellivision only had a 16 color palette, while the Atari VCS had 256. And the Intellivision's screen resolution was only 160 pixels across x 96 pixels high, although you could have up to 8 moving objects that were a higher 160 x 192 pixels. Meanwhile, the Atari's resolution was 120 pixels across x 192 high. Still, it seemed like earlier Intellivision games looked much more attractive than earlier Atari games. Although I remember when Activision came out and introduced "Pitfall" for both systems, one reviewer slammed "proof positive that an Intellivision can almost emulate an Atari!"

On that sequoia '72 Impala in "Bewitched", I like that sequoia color a lot, although I think much of that is nostalgia, as my grandparents had a '72 Impala 4-door hardtop in that color, with a white vinyl top. I do remember the color seeming much more vibrant. I wonder if it's partly because of the lighting. There's just something about that shot in "Bewitched", like it was shot in the afternoon on a winter day, and that seems to wash it out a bit. And, that could have been the case, considering when that was most likely filmed. And even though everything looks fairly green, it is southern California, after all.

Still, it was interesting that they'd use a green one. I always remember the Stephenses having blue cars, with the exception of a bright green '69 Camaro convertible. Even when the old black and white episodes were colorized, they'd usually turn the Stephenses' car blue.

fintail

Thinking of TVs, my parents bought what I guess was a relatively expensive (it was "cable ready" and had a digital display) monitor type 19" TV and a top loader VCR in the early 80s. I don't recall the TV brand, but the VCR was a Sylvania. The TV crapped out around in the early 90s and the VCR finally gave up the ghost in 1995-96. From then it was a rotation of 25-32" tabletop models, they seemed to get really cheap in the 90s, and failed every few years. My grandpa, who counted watching sports as a big hobby, always had a nicer large console TV. I also recall my great grandmother got the first PIP model I ever saw, around 1987-88 I think, she was in her late 80s, and also always had a nice TV. My Samsung LED is 11 years old (LED was a big thing then, cost me close to $1500 I think), still working like new, I won't replace it til it gives up.

uplanderguy

The dopey stuff I remember....the very first '72 Impala our local dealer, where I about lived as a teenager, got in was a Sequoia Green Sport Sedan, white painted roof, optional wheel opening moldings. I remember spying it way out back before introduction day. A classmate's parents bought it. I liked the color in person, but on a convertible, don't know about that. I always, then and now, liked 1972's 'Golden Brown' which I think was pretty popular.

andre1969

It's interesting how some things, like cars and especially electronics, get cheaper over the years as technology marches on. I know people tend to say that cars aren't exactly "cheap", but when you factor in all the standard equipment, safety advances, and other improvements, I think they're actually fairly cheap.

For instance, in '72 when my grandparents bought that $700 Zenith, they also bought their new Impala, for about $5,000. Adjusting for inflation, that would be around $4322 for the tv and $30,875 for the Impala, in today's dollars. Yet we recently got a new tv, a 60 inch 4k something or other, late last year for something like $1200. And, on Cars.com I just noticed the cheapest new 2020 Impala they have listed locally is a 1LT for $30,188. It has an MSRP of $34,860 though.

That Impala would be better in just about every respect compared to my grandparents' '72, though. About the only areas the new one would definitely come up short is towing capacity and if you truly needed 6-passenger seating capacity.

Now, if only real estate and health insurance had kept to those same low levels of appreciation...

fintail

Or if wages had kept up with real estate and health insurance. Then we'd be in a world of cheap cars!

uplanderguy

$5,000 was a rather expensive Impala in 1972.

Where I lived, most Impalas in stock did not have A/C, but had whitewalls, radio, full wheel covers, radio, etc. Most were $3,900-4,200 (depending on body style).

Our 1974 Impala Sport Coupe, well-equipped but no A/C, stickered at the bottom including destination, at $4,408.00. I remember that clearly.

As my wife says now, "They didn't call it that then, but you'd be considered 'on the spectrum' now", LOL.

BTW, when I went to look at a C8 in Stow last Sunday, they had three new Impalas left. Two were LT's at $33K-34K stickers, and one was a pearly white Premier, everything I could see, including 20 inch wheels (more than I'd want), and a gorgeous black leather interior with saddle piping. To my eyes, I don't know who would need more luxury and size than that. Yes, it had a sunroof. Sticker was $41,825.00. Was built in Detroit. My guess is good deals to be had on them. As I've said, I so-wish I could've talked the wife into that instead of an Equinox.

fintail

We're all "on the spectrum" in our own fun way via the minutiae we have in our heads

tjc78

I think we all remember little things like that especially for items we are interested in.

I know way too many details about old electronics we had, etc. Now go ahead and ask me what I had for breakfast!

ab348

Back about 10-15 years ago I hung out on a forum about vintage color TV restoration. Those guys were really into it and very expert, so it wasn't something I would ever attempt, but fun to read/see their obsession with this stuff turn into results. For early color sets they seemed to generally feel that RCA were the leaders. Later in the '60s and pretty much thru the '70s, the consensus was that Zenith sets were the best-built and designed. Then the Trinitron came along and that was the beginning of the end for US-made sets. We got our first color set in 1971 or so, a floor model RCA 25" job but a cheapie with a woodgrained metal cabinet on screw-in legs. It actually worked well for about 10 years or so. When it finally gave up the ghost the parents bought a 20" RCA ColorTrak with a digital pushbutton tuner but no remote. Decent set but a rotary tuner would have been easier to use, a remote even better. When I went out on my own in the early '80s I took a 12" RCA color set that had been in my bedroom at home and it served me well for many years. Then I had a succession of those black plastic Asian tabletop jobs, none of them memorable.

ab348

uplanderguy said:

$5,000 was a rather expensive Impala in 1972.

Where I lived, most Impalas in stock did not have A/C, but had whitewalls, radio, full wheel covers, radio, etc. Most were $3,900-4,200 (depending on body style).

Our 1974 Impala Sport Coupe, well-equipped but no A/C, stickered at the bottom including destination, at $4,408.00. I remember that clearly.

As my wife says now, "They didn't call it that then, but you'd be considered 'on the spectrum' now", LOL.

Around here given Canadians general tendency towards cheap cars, back in the '60s and '70s most dealers did not stock loaded cars. The standard domestic-car order for stock was whitewalls, wheel covers, automatic, PS, AM radio, and if a large car, power brakes. Maybe a two-tone or vinyl roof. Power windows or locks, A/C, stereo, or anything else was pretty rare to find in inventory. unless it was a Caddy, Lincoln or high-end Chrysler. I remember that when the parents did a factory order for their '71 Monaco, the only options they ordered were a vinyl roof, Torque-Flite, PS, PB, clock, and AM Radio/rear speaker. Not even a remote mirror or rear window defogger, and not the 383 I wanted them to get (they took the standard 318).

uplanderguy

My small-town Chevy dealer kept Chevelles and big Chevys with whitewalls, wheelcovers, maybe vinyl top, side moldings, AM radio, rear-seat speaker, and maybe tinted glass. A/C was the exception--probably more prevalent on Caprices. I'm talking early-to-mid seventies.

A friend from Indianapolis has told me he found that strange, compared to Indy-area Chevy dealers at the time.

I've heard about thrifty Canadian buyers. You guys got the Biscayne for years after we didn't, and I think you had Bel Air two-door hardtops well into the seventies!

RE: TV's--for some reason, my parents bought Admirals (I think my Dad liked the dealer on Main St., who astonishingly is still there, though not selling Admirals!). My grandparents bought Zenith, which my Dad always said was "expensive". My first TV I bought in '82 was an RCA 19-inch color which I paid $299 for. I will say that I used it a lot for probably 15 years and didn't put a penny into it.

andre1969

uplanderguy said:

$5,000 was a rather expensive Impala in 1972.

Where I lived, most Impalas in stock did not have A/C, but had whitewalls, radio, full wheel covers, radio, etc. Most were $3,900-4,200 (depending on body style).

Our 1974 Impala Sport Coupe, well-equipped but no A/C, stickered at the bottom including destination, at $4,408.00. I remember that clearly.

Yeah, I thought of you, when I typed that, because I remember us having this conversation in the past. I just looked it up in my auto encyclopedia, and it shows a '72 Impala 4-door hardtop V8 base pricing for $3771. Would the automatic, power steering, and power brakes have been standard equipment by that time? If so, that does seem to be a pretty good deal.

I remember this one had a vinyl roof, am/fm radio, and a/c. Crank windows, manual locks. Most likely a tinted windshield. Whitewall tires. Standard cloth interior, although I can't remember if they called it "brocade" or "jacquard", but something like that. I'm starting to wonder if it really was $5,000, or if Granddad had simply said "around $5,000", and his own memory was fuzzy on it. I do remember my uncle saying that Granddad was not a good negotiator, so he probably didn't bargain them down much. They towed a trailer with it, but I don't know if it had a trailer towing package. And I remember it being a small trailer, like an 18-20 foot. 350 V8, which I think was just the 2-bbl. I'm not sure, but I think the 350-4bbl was more of a performance engine, and probably meant for the likes of the Camaro?

For '74, my book shows an Impala Sport coupe starting at $4162, and the hardtop "Sport Sedan" starting at $4215. Considering how bad inflation was starting to get, it seems like they did a pretty good job holding the line on prices. That's about a 12% jump in two years, for the Sport Sedan.

andre1969

Oh, as for my grandparents' '72 Zenith, I think it crapped out around 1987. They bought a new Zenith to replace it, their first tv with a remote control. Granddad took the guts out of the '72, took off the sides, and the top sat down on the base and made a handy makeshift coffee table. I actually used it as a coffee table when I first moved out on my own. And then we used it for awhile, as a stand, where we put another 25" console that had a narrower base, something one of my friends gave me back in 1999...I think that one was a Magnavox. Eventually that one gave way to a 32" tube tv, the type that looks like a big portable, but weighs about 100 lb or so. I held onto the Magnavox for awhile, in case we needed it as a backup. But, that never happened, and in 2014 I called bulk trash pickup and set it out at the curb for them, along with an old 25" console that my uncle wanted to get rid of as well. It still worked, just no need for it, and no demand, either. Eventually I got rid of the ghost of that '72. It got packed out in the garage, but then around 2016 I think, I figured it was time to start purging. So I took a pic or two of it, in case any sentimentality came back, and set it out with some other stuff for bulky trash pickup as well.

I've heard that these newer flatscreens don't last so long, but we have one from around 2009, that's currently in the spare bedroom. We have another, from around 2012, that was starting to get a bit of a dark spot toward the bottom. It's not that noticeable, but shows up more when projecting darker images. But, they're so cheap these days, it doesn't seem like a big deal when they do die. I've also heard that they're not as durable in general, though. That if you decide to take a tv out of commission, but store it as a spare, they just don't age as well as the older ones did, and can still go bad.

The '72 Impala made it to around 1982, when Grandmom and Granddad sold it to some friends of the family, for $600. They put a new vinyl roof on it, drove it for about a year, and sold it for $700. It only had about 100,000 miles on it, but Grandmom's commute to work was only about 2 miles. Close enough that she and her friends from work would come home on their lunch break and catch "The Young and the Restless"

sda

My grandmother called the show “The Young and the Wreckless”. She lived with my parents for years and mom worked close enough that she would come home for lunch and watch with my grandmother. Mom still watches that show. Dad referred to TV as the idiot box. My father in law built several Heath kit TVs. I’m told he would somehow, without fail, interrupt others watching a show by having to fine tune the picture. IIRC, our 72 Cutlass Supreme had a sticker around $5200. It had AC, Cruise, power disc brakes, vinyl roof, deluxe wheel covers, am/fm stereo, separate factory 8 track player, electric trunk release, bumper guards. Manual windows, locks, seat. It was a demo with 3k. They traded a 69 Olds 98 for it, don’t know what they actually paid for it.

fintail

Speaking of old TV restoration, there's a Youtube movement for it, too. This guy has a few nice old cars, and many TV restoration/repair videos

I like this one most, cool cabinet, and the period programming adds to it, like AM oldies in a vintage car

Probably harder now with analog being gone. I have an old TV. a small Sony "Micro TV" that lives in a small suitcase. It works, too, found it at a yard sale ages ago and for some reason couldn't leave it there.

stickguy

I like reading/watching threads like that. Stuff on say the Volvo forums, some people post amazingly detailed write-ups of projects. After reading a few threads and watching a couple of videos, I have a real good understanding on how to change the T belt on a Volvo, complete with making my own cam lock tool out of an allen wrench!

uplanderguy

andre, yes, Turbo-Hydramatic, power steering, and power disc brakes were standard on all V8 Impalas for the '72 model year.

andys120

It wasn't exactly a classic but it is unusual, the first I've ever seen. I spotted a hatchback i didn't quite recognize in traffic. At first I thought it was a Daewoo. it looked like this>



As you can see the badges are small and hard to read but after following it for a bit I made out that it was a SEAT Leon, essentially a Golf built by VAG's Spanish arm. I dunno what it was doing in AZ but I'd bet it got here via a returning serviceman, unless it came via Mexico.
It wore a standard Arizona plate.

kyfdx

Neat

xwesx

kyfdx said:

Neat

Indeed. Maybe a once-in-a-lifetime spotting in the US!

fintail

Several years ago on the WA coast I saw a SEAT, on MX plates. I thought FL was "anything goes" when it comes to vehicle registration, maybe AZ is too, but I thought they had emissions.

A few years ago, a SEAT turned up in the garage where the fintail slumbers. This one had no plates IIRC, but MX registration window stickers. It was there for a week or two, then vanished:

fintail

Sorting through old images, thought some might find this amusing - taxis in Zurich, 2012:

stickguy

a DTS was not what I expected to see.

xwesx

fintail said:

Sorting through old images, thought some might find this amusing - taxis in Zurich, 2012:

Ah, domestics. What garbage!

uplanderguy

Funny that the Caddy looks so diminutive.

I thought that was decent styling outside, but the inside, blah to me. I like more brightwork.

I do think those might've been the last cars in the world to offer six-position seating and a column shift if you wanted it.

fintail

Odd risk there too, Northstar taxi? Maybe it has a swap or has been fixed. Gas also isn't cheap there, but it probably isn't any worse than the other two, depending on engines (MBs are likely diesels and possible retired rentals).

andre1969

uplanderguy said:

Funny that the Caddy looks so diminutive.

I thought that was decent styling outside, but the inside, blah to me. I like more brightwork.

I do think those might've been the last cars in the world to offer six-position seating and a column shift if you wanted it.

I think a lot of it is a proportioning trick. The Benzes, being RWD, have a longer hood, longer wheelbase, and more distance between the cowl and the front axle. In contrast, the Caddy has a larger looking roofline, but a stubbier looking hood. Although with a wheelbase of 115.3" and an overall length of 207", it's hardly tiny.

I'm not sure what year that Benz is, but for, say, 2005, it looks like they came in two sizes. 116.7" or 121.5" wb, and 198.5" or 203.1" overall. Also, is that picture distorted, in any way? Maybe it's just my eyesight (or my monitor) but the front wheel on the Benz in front looks slightly out-of-round, like it got stretched a bit.

We used to have some neighbors, that lived behind my grandparents. The wife had once said that one day, she wanted to have a paved driveway with a Cadillac in it, and then she'd feel like she'd had it made. They moved to Southern Maryland back around 2000 or so, and she finally ended up getting a Cadillac, of that generation, in sort of a light burgundy color. Finally got her paved driveway, too!

fintail

MB in front is a W211 E, pre-facelift, 2002-2006. I notice this is a basic car without sunroof. Car at rear is a W221 S, pre-facelift, 2006-2009. Pic is from a phone, so things can happen.

tjc78

I do think those might've been the last cars in the world to offer six-position seating and a column shift if you wanted it.

Tied with the Town Car and Crown Vic. They both ended in 2011 and were only available with column shift and split bench front seat.

• 
  
  

uplanderguy

2013 Impala could be had with bench seating and column-shift, and for the unfortunate center passenger in front, the FWD floor might be a tad more roomy. Page twelve here:

http://www.auto-brochures.com/makes/Chevrolet/Impala/Chevrolet_US Impala_2013.pdf

tjc78

I didn't realize that style of Impala soldiered on until 2013!

They had the 3.6 by then. That is a nice powertrain for that car! I've have three 3.6's and really like that engine.

tjc78

Ha.. because I'm bored.

They even made one with a front bench!

https://www.carfax.com/vehicle/2G1WA5E37D1142372

uplanderguy

Those were somewhat tight in the back seat IMHO, but I thought the basic styling was solid. The upper-line polished wheels from 2007 or so made their way down to the lower-line models in the later years. I like a machined or polished wheel, not chrome. I hate flat-finish wheels which so many cars have now. The one in your link really is a low-line model, LS.

I remember upper models of those Impalas had a rear spoiler which I didn't care for, but you could delete-option them for a credit.

stickguy

Was that caddy sold over there? Seems really weird to import an oddball then use as a taxi, when parts must be non-existent.

ab348

I had several of those pre-2014 Impalas as rentals and never liked them. Part of that was due to the base pushrod engine (3.5?), which always failed to impress me and had a bit of a sewing machine sound. Funny the little things that make you turn against a vehicle too: what always bugged me was that to save a couple of $, they did not have a gear indicator next to the floor shift lever. Seemed unnecessarily cheap. I must have had bad luck too because I think every single one of them I had as rentals had a front end problem of some sort, either a shimmy, a shake like an out of balance wheel, or alignment problems.

But I had a white one for a week or so when my '09 Lacrosse was in the shop with its transmission woes, and my then 85 y-o lady neighbor commented on how much she liked my new car when she saw it in the driveway. :laughing:

tjc78

I had plenty of them too as rentals. Never offended me in any way, but yes that 3.5 wasn't the best!!

I've never driven one with the 3.6. I think it would be a completely different car.

Yes they were tight in the rear as that was just the platform. The Grand Prix was the same way.

uplanderguy

Those had the shift indicator up in the instrument panel didn't they? I drove other GM's like that over the years (although names of models don't come to me now).

For driving, I used to prefer the Malibus of the 2004-2007 vintage better. The top model of that era Malibu had perforated suede seat inserts, which I liked on top of the driving dynamics I liked better.

I drove a 2013 Impala once as a rental. The 3.6 (300 hp) and six-speed automatic they must've been testing pre-all-new Impala introduction the next year, made the car a lot nicer to drive. The seats of most of them were pretty flat though.

ab348

I was behind a Malibu Maxx with a V6 today. Strangely, I always liked those despite the low-rent interior most came with, and despite my intense dislike for the sedan version. This one looked well-kept and moved along smartly.

fintail

Caddy existed in the Euro market in the late 00s, but not the DTS. Private import. Surprising amount of American cars on the road in Switzerland, especially Mopars.

Random sighting in Schaffhausen - I vividly recall seeing a Dart Swinger HT just before this, too:

stickguy said:

Was that caddy sold over there? Seems really weird to import an oddball then use as a taxi, when parts must be non-existent.

tjc78

I've probably said this before but one rental I never really minded was the Olds Alero.

It was such a step up from the Grand Am/Malibu IMO and very un-GM inside. The switch gear was all a little different and Olds had a double-din radio like the imports (most other GMs had that odd 1.5 DIN style, like Chrysler).

Nice cars for the time, IMO.

fintail

Malibu Maxx SS would be obscure now, future rarity. Not GM's finest moment, but I kind of liked the basic design of the car.

Speaking of the old Impala, I clearly recall getting one as a rental in ATL with 4 miles on the clock. It was...a car. 3.5, disappointing mileage, maybe because it was new, but I recall it couldn't approach 30 mpg on the highway. I also recall hitting my head on the A-pillar. That car got scraped by a hit and run driver in the hotel parking lot the first night I had it. I called the credit card insurance, let the rental agency know - and I never heard a word about it, no claim ever filed.

ab348

I had an Alero rental once and really liked it too. Almost made me buy one instead of the Intrigue. If I could have found a nice coupe with the high-end wheels I might have gone that way.

tjc78

I was close on an Intrigue, but went with an 88 instead. It was a 1998, pretty loaded (not an LSS) burgundy over cream. It leaked water inside from day 1 and they never could fix it. I kept it only 11 months, took a bath on it and was soured on GM for a quite awhile.