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

texases

There are a LOT of folks that I remember their make and model of car, but can't remember their name...

fintail

Easy where I live now, I can just guess "you drive the Subaru parked out there", and chances are I will be right

ab348

uplanderguy said:

The '66 had the square gauges which I didn't like nearly as well, and the right 1/3 of the dash on all of the full-size Pontiacs had that clear, sort-of Lucite panel (for lack of a better word), with either "Catalina", "Pontiac" for Ventura and 2+2, "Star Chief Executive", "Grand Prix", or "Bonneville" on it. That took away the woodgrain in that area, but also the black vinyl on the lower models.

Funny, I have seen some '66 Executives where that dash had color-keyed vinyl instead of black--seems like it was on the Vista (four-door hardtop). I've seen other '66 Executives with black there, even with other-colored interiors.

I didn't know that, but found this with my first search. An interesting look:

uplanderguy

I like the '66 Executive--last Pontiac using the name "Star Chief". No skirts, which is a good thing to me. Yes, it's on the long-wheelbase. The cloth interior was very nice, almost never seen and I think (although not sure) not available on the two-door hardtop. I like that the volume was lower than the Catalina and Bonneville.

These optional '66 full-size Pontiac wheelcovers are drop-dead gorgeous IMHO, although a quick search didn't turn up a real car with them that I could find:

sda

I remember most cars of teachers and neighbors as well. I know I shared this story before, not sure what thread. When I was in the 4th grade my teacher, an old stern spinster, drove a 68 Chevy Bel Air sedan, silver, 307, a/c. We lived about 5 blocks from school. Walking home from school one afternoon I turn the corner and what do I see, my teacher's car in our driveway! I meekly entered the front door to find mom and my teacher sitting on the couch and talking. I thought I was in trouble. Come to find out my teacher was selling my parents the World Book Encyclopedia. whew
Oh! This was 1968 so it was a new Bel Air.

fintail

2nd grade - nice older woman with a bronze 77-79 T-Bird, 3rd grade - younger woman who I didn't like had a silver wedge Supra (I liked the car much more than the driver), 4th grade - nice middle aged woman with an Olds Omega, 5th grade - nice younger woman also married to a teacher, friends with my mom, had a ~70 Vista Cruiser and a Pontiac 6000 2 door (probably much rarer than a Vista Cruiser now), 6th grade - nice middle aged guy with a Bronco II. Then from middle school onward had several teachers every year, I remember many of their cars too. One that will always stick in my mind was the pleasant middle aged woman home ec teacher who had a pristine black on palomino 300CD - not terribly old then. She traded it for a 190E, I remember her telling me about how modern she thought the new car was - now that coupe would be pretty desirable. She replaced that with an Eddie Bauer Ford Explorer.

sda

Amazing how popular those Explorers were. It seemed everyone had to have one or the Jeep Grand Cherokee.

fintail

Probably a lot easier to live with than a modern MB there and then, as well, as the nearest dealer was a couple hours away.

xwesx

Does this count as a classic these days? This belongs to my "parking lot mate." He's faculty, and I'm pretty sure he has owned this thing since it was new (and he was MUCH younger).... DX, very basic, manual transmission, stylish roof rack.

kyfdx

Best Civic, ever!

fintail

92-95, still tons on the road in the PNW. I remember when those debuted, they (and the whole Civic lineup) seemed extremely modern. I remember those headrests with the single support.

stickguy

my father's new wife had one of those when they got married 96 years back now). Base model 2 door hatch, with a manual. No clue how many miles, but it was pretty beat with a lot of rust. She no longer drives and I think it disappeared a few years ago. I just have no clue where.

roadburner

texases said:

Three tilted gauges, like the 240Z dash. I wish I had kept my dad's industrial design book from the '40s, it talked about how designs work be better with an odd number of elements, 1 or 3 or 5 instead of 2 or 4, for example.

The 1970 and 1971 Cyclones had the same feature:

xwesx

stickguy said:

my father's new wife had one of those when they got married 96 years back now). Base model 2 door hatch, with a manual. No clue how many miles, but it was pretty beat with a lot of rust. She no longer drives and I think it disappeared a few years ago. I just have no clue where.

Rust tends to do that.

uplanderguy

I don't know if I've ever seen a larger quarter window on a car like that Civic, since a Citation hatchback, LOL.

ab348

uplanderguy said:

I don't know if I've ever seen a larger quarter window on a car like that Civic, since a Citation hatchback, LOL.

I don't know if that exact model was ever sold up here as I truly do not remember that quarter window design. Regardless, I have not seen one of that generation here in ages. Dust to dust, or more accurately here, rust.

andre1969

Years ago, some friends of mine, a married couple, asked my advice on buying a new car. They wanted something small. Even though my preferences run towards domestic cars, even I knew the Japanese tended to be regarded more highly when it came to small cars, even back then. So, I recommended a Honda Civic to them. Part of my rationale was simply that it's hard to go wrong with a Civic, but also, I liked the fact that it had grown a bit, and seemed substantial for a small car.

So, they bought a '94 Civic EX. It was well equipped, about $16,000. And damn if that car didn't end up being the biggest turd they ever owned! It blew two head gaskets, and had a/c problems, and I think a few other issues. They got rid of it around the 80,000 mile mark, when the second head gasket started to go bad. They replaced it with a Saturn S-series, in 1998. I really haven't kept in touch with them that much, so I don't know how well the S-series held up.

I'm still convinced to this day though, that it was a sort of curse...the only reason that Civic was such a turd was because I recommended it to them!

kyfdx

That's funny. I had a friend that had her heart set on a new Camry ('88-'91 generation). But, when it finally came time to get a new car, they had come out with the new generation, and it was a lot bigger than she wanted.
She bought a '92 Civic EX sedan, loaded up (accessory alloys, etc). They kept that car until 2005. with a zillion miles on it. The only reason they sold it, was I sold her my wife's '03 BMW 325i

andre1969

One of my old supervisors back in the 90's had a '92 Civic. I think a DX? It was a total stripper model, with a stick shift. I remember he got it up to well over 200,000 miles before replacing it. He had a long commute, mostly highway, so he racked up miles pretty quickly. I remember him saying he managed to get something like 80-90,000 miles out of the first set of brakes. I used to think that was far-fetched, as I was driving a '68 Dodge Dart at the time, that was lucky to get 10-15,000 miles out of the front brakes and maybe 15-20,000 out of the rear. But, I guess when you do mostly highway driving, it makes a huge difference. Plus, slowing down a lightweight 4-cyl probably doesn't take nearly as much effort as a torquier V8. I've never really driven a stick for more than a moment or two, but don't drivers of those cars tend to downshift when they slow, to save on the brakes?

That '94 Civic my friends had, was a nice car though. I remember it was sort of a magenta/plum color, and they nicknamed it "Barney".

jwm40517

My 8th grade teacher in 1961 was the trophy wife of local Caddy dealer and drove a new white Corvette.

kyfdx

jwm40517 said:

My 8th grade teacher in 1961 was the trophy wife of local Caddy dealer and drove a new white Corvette.

I was in 8th grade in '70-'71. Which school?

tjc78

Only teacher’s cars that I can remember as a stand out was a first gen SHO (White). Another was the history teacher in high school. She was near retirement age and drove a then brand new Chrysler New Yorker in powder blue. She parked it right up in front of the school (guess she was always early).

uplanderguy

Besides Mr. Williams' Evening Orchid '65 Impala Sport Coupe, the farthest back I remember a teacher's car is Mrs. Washburn the art teacher's '65 Chevelle Malibu Sport Coupe, in that dark turquoise metallic. I had her for second grade so it would've been new or extremely close.

fintail

In high school I don't recall any insanely cool cars had by teachers, but I remember the principal had a Reatta, which was fairly new then. I also remember a teacher got what was I think the first restyled 90s Ram I saw. I also remember at least a couple college professor cars - one who was the original owner of a ~64 Beetle and still had it as a daily driver in the late 90s, and a woman maybe in her 60s who had a Probe Turbo and a 57 T-Bird.

xwesx

My 5th grade teacher had a 1978 Camaro that he bought with funds collected via aluminum cans (5 cents each in Oregon for a long, long time.... and still are!). He drove that the entire time I was there ('87 to '95), and then some.

Another teacher bought a 1992 Toyota Celica GT. We thought that was pretty cool at the time. Not a Supra.

kyfdx

Freshman year, the librarian had a new boat tail Riviera

roadburner

My 9th Grade English teacher had a new 1972 442. The Spanish teacher had a 1968 912.

texases

My sixth grade teacher had a Beetle, first one I sat in. I was surprised by how roomy it was (up front).

11th grade or so, my English teacher had a '70ish Tempest convertible, I did a tune up for her at the gas station I worked at. I can't remember if it was a 6 or a base V8 with the AT.

xwesx

Oh, yes, I forgot that my first HS english teacher had a late-run beetle convertible. Bright yellow with a black top.

explorerx4

In our neighborhood and in really nice condition.

Michaell

explorerx4 said:

In our neighborhood and in really nice condition.

Galant?

fintail

Galant of maybe 99-02. The pre-facelift ones weren't bad looking.

texases

Mitsubishi styling used to be clean, pleasant; the it turned odd/jarring.

Michaell

Before I bought my L300 in 2002, one of the cars I looked at was the Diamanté.

ab348

This photo popped up in my online browsing today and I realized it had been so long since I’d seen a set of these wheels that I had forgotten they were even offered. I have to think that they weren’t a very popular choice. Anyone know how long they were offered?

fintail

I call those "80s wheels". Maybe 86-88? Or a little earlier? Also on Mexican market SS, i think. When I was a student in the late 90s, someone in my building had a late Monte LS on those wheels, with t-tops.

uplanderguy

Offered '81-88. I recognize that photo from the cover of the '81 Monte Carlo brochure, which I perused a good bit before I bought my first new car, an '81 Monte Carlo.
I like those wheels a lot, and in fact today would love an '86-88 LS with them, but I bet I haven't seen ten cars in person, in total, in my life with them. At our hometown dealer, the cheap Rally Wheels ($56 option) were much-more popular, though not nearly as nice IMHO.

xwesx

I remember seeing those in person only once, and I found them mesmerizing as the car drove slowly by before pulling into the parking lot. For the time, they were quite unique.

andre1969

My senior year in high school, the brother-in-law of one of my co-workers got a Monte Carlo with those checkerboard wheels as a loaner, while his truck was in the shop. This would've been around 1988. At the time, I thought they were kind of weird, but nowadays I think they're pretty cool.

sda

That Monte Carlo looks sharp without the landau vinyl top. Very crisp, uncluttered.

uplanderguy

No bodyside molding, too. GM usually showed their cars in ads and brochures without them, apparently knowing they looked cleaner without them although almost no one bought them without them.
At the time, my parents had a new '80, but I was quite impressed with the '81's tone-downed styling. And I thought the rear resembled the '74, a nice tip-o-the-hat. The '81 was the first year in many that if you wanted the bigger tires and stiffer suspension, it was optional. They still came with full wheelcovers (still metal at that point), and clock standard, which were optional on the B-O-P similar cars I think--I know I've seen that era GP with dog-dish caps.

uplanderguy

Spotted in town a couple days ago. ‘93 Lumina. I always liked the simple rear styling with the traditional thee lights on each side. Two of this car’s three brake lights are out LOL.

In Euro coupe form I generally liked these cars. Back in those days of choice, you could get the Euro without what my friend called the 'upside down Frisbee" spoiler. The instrument panel was a snooze, but when you got gauges, at least they were analog round and not digital.
A large FWD coupe was something no one but the General was offering then.
I liked the Lumina Euro coupe better than the '95 Monte Carlo. Too many horizontal lines running down the side of the car, and that weird outline of the quarter window.

ab348

uplanderguy said:

No bodyside molding, too. GM usually showed their cars in ads and brochures without them, apparently knowing they looked cleaner without them although almost no one bought them without them.
At the time, my parents had a new '80, but I was quite impressed with the '81's tone-downed styling. And I thought the rear resembled the '74, a nice tip-o-the-hat. The '81 was the first year in many that if you wanted the bigger tires and stiffer suspension, it was optional. They still came with full wheelcovers (still metal at that point), and clock standard, which were optional on the B-O-P similar cars I think--I know I've seen that era GP with dog-dish caps.

Looking at the brochure for the '81, I realized that unless you were in California, you couldn't get the 305 under the hood. You had the choice of the 229 V6, the turbo 231 Buick V6, or the 267 V8. I had forgotten they offered the turbo Buick engine in these. None of the 3 choices really appeal to me very much but I wonder if the Buick engine would have been better than the little V8.

uplanderguy

I had the 267. While it was smooth and sounded like a V8, it was a dog. I want to say it was 115 hp. The Buick Turbo was 170 I'm nearly certain, so it would've been waaayyy better than the 267.
I liked how they didn't feel the need to put a bunch of special trim to signify the Turbo model--just that small asymmetrical hood bump with chrome "TURBO" lettering. I'm pretty certain it was available with any interior and wheel choice.

fintail

I remember seeing a Turbo 78-80 style in town when I was a kid, I vividly remember the hood bulge and "turbo" badge. I also recall seeing an early 80s Monte Carlo diesel at a used car lot in the early 00s.

uplanderguy

When my '81 Monte Carlo was stolen in September '82, I looked at an '82 demo Diesel Monte Carlo. My friend's father was a Chevy/Buick Service Manager at a town about 25 miles from our hometown, and even then he advised me against it. I'm glad he did.
Even though I lived in Ohio then, I bought my hometown dealer owner's '82 Monte demo. It was solid Dark Jade, a V6, and it had the Custom Interior which became known as the CL in '83. Even with that plush interior, I liked my two-tone V8 '81 better.

fintail

Going through my archive, I found this, in early cameraphone quality:

uplanderguy

I always liked the Monte Carlo script. It never changed from 1970 to 1988 on the non-SS cars, anyway. It was often typical for the nameplates to change at a redesigned model year.

kyfdx

Wow.. diesel

uplanderguy

ab348, you had correctly told me a week or so ago, that my search for a stock '78 Malibu Classic with the special instrumentation and 50/50 front seat would be a very difficult one. A fellow posted this 40K mile original he owns on a Facebook page. I hate the color, but the only other thing missing is I'd say it doesn't have the 50/50 seat--if it does, both sides are lined up perfectly, LOL. Still, this is as close to what I'd like as I've seen in a long time.