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

fintail

My 66 Galaxie with a 390/4bbl was no better than that. Back in the 90s when gas was ~1.50 gallon, but I was a teen lucky to make $5/hr, so it wasn't an economy machine.

@MrShift@Edmunds said:
Yes they can suck an alarming amount of fuel. You could get as bad as 8 mpg and if you were lucky, 12 to 14 on the open road, on a windless day, downhill, with overinflated tires.

fintail

That's a base model, right?

@andre1969 said:
I have to admit, my first thought was "Parts Car!!"

imidazol97

@fintail said:
That's a base model, right?

I'm still trying to figure out why the crime scene tape on it. Was there a death in the car?

I don't think I can tell just from the side. I believe the supercharged model had a trunk label and a different grill.

tjc78

@fintail said:
That's a base model, right?

Yeah, at the base of the ditch.

andre1969

Yeah, it was a base model. As for the warning tape, I think the fire dep't put that on the car to keep other people from running into it. It went into the ditch in the early afternoon on a Sunday, but it didn't get towed out until late in the evening on Monday. I took that pic in the morning on Monday, before going into work.

I wonder how much damage the car ended up taking on? I couldn't see any damage, but I imagine that the side that was laying in the ditch had to have had some kind of damage, not to mention the underside where it would've scraped the edge of the road as it went in. The creek also backed up behind the car, so I wouldn't be surprised if it took on some water, as well. Finally, I could imagine it taking some damage when the tow truck pulled it out.

Mr_Shiftright

I think the warning tape was a factory option

berri

_I always liked the '64-66 generation of T-bird, with the '66 being my favorite___

I agree with you. Much preferred 64-66 over the Bulletbirds and thought 66 carried it off best. For that matter, I thought 1966 was generally a good year for most of Ford Motor Company styling and particularly like that coupe styling on Fintail's 66 Galaxie.and LTD.

berri

Saw a 1966 Town Hardtop in a pretty mid blue metallic paint.

I wonder if that model and roofline is somewhat unusual. Generally, when I see that vintage T-Bird without the back side windows, it a vinyl enclosed Landau model.

fintail

This is virtually identical to my car, same colors:

I think the color name was "nightmist blue". The concave C-pillar was a nice touch, IMO. But really, I wanted the car because it was kind of cool, and affordable. My dad, a Ford guy, approved (and helped).

@berri said:
_I always liked the '64-66 generation of T-bird, with the '66 being my favorite___

I agree with you. Much preferred 64-66 over the Bulletbirds and thought 66 carried it off best. For that matter, I thought 1966 was generally a good year for most of Ford Motor Company styling and particularly like that coupe styling on Fintail's 66 Galaxie.and LTD.

ab348

@fintail said:
I think the color name was "nightmist blue". The concave C-pillar was a nice touch, IMO. But really, I wanted the car because it was kind of cool, and affordable. My dad, a Ford guy, approved (and helped).

When did you have that? I don't remember you mentioning it before.

I like the '66 big Ford so much better than the '65 upon which it was based. The '65 just looked awkward to me, especially the front end. I like it better than the couple of model years that followed it too, though I did have a soft spot for the '67 for a while.

kyfdx

It's amazing how great that '66 Galaxie looks, compared to my '70 Galaxie coupe... Mine was just a big beige turd...

fintail

Roughly 20 years ago - it was my first car. It got hit within a year, then I bombed around in a Tempo that was in the family, until I found the fintail, which I bought when I was 18.

That 65-67 period was the apex of 60s style for domestics, no doubt.

@ab348 said:

Mr_Shiftright

@berri said:
Saw a 1966 Town Hardtop in a pretty mid blue metallic paint.

I wonder if that model and roofline is somewhat unusual. Generally, when I see that vintage T-Bird without the back side windows, it a vinyl enclosed Landau model.

It's officially called a "Blind Quarter" model and between those and the "normal" 2D hardtop, they made about as many of those two styles as they did of the Landau. So the Blind quarter is rarer than the Landau but not quite as rare as the 2D Hardtop.

fintail

I'm in podunk, where the overall fleet seems 10 years older than in the city. So far I've seen an unrestored looking ~51 Chevy coupe on the road, an unrestored looking ~58 Chevy pickup, 2x Chevy IIs - a sedan and wagon, a hot rod Volare wagon (seriously), early Camry, 82-85 Accord, early Tempo coupe, 70s Toyota pickup.

uplanderguy

A Studebaker friend sent me this video today. I know I've talked trash about '57 Chevys, but a 4-door hardtop (Sport Sedan) is pretty cool and this lady is cool for knowing about preventive maintenance. She bought the car new and drives no other car. I LOVE this clip:

http://www.youtube.com/v/QwcRG2aEi3s

andre1969

That was a cool video. Like you, I'm not a big fan of the '57 Chevy either. Of the three years though, my fave is the '56, and I think that's the one most people like the least! But, I think it's cool that this car has had the same owner for its entire life. And 4-door hardtops are always cool in my book! Sounds like she got a pretty good deal for $2200, although she does mention it was a demonstrator, and at the end of the model year. I think the base price of a Bel Air 4-door hardtop was around $2365, but then you'd have to add for the 283-4bbl, power steering, brakes, TurboGlide, radio, heat, etc. For comparison, my Granddad bought a '57 Fairlane 500 4-door hardtop, a car with a $2404 base price, but optioned up it came to around $3500. I think he bought earlier in the model year though, and I guess it could have had some options that '57 Bel Air didn't.

I wonder if she ever had any problems with the TurboGlide? I've heard those could be troublesome.

uplanderguy

I think her memory's a little foggy on the purchase price! LOL She's confusing 'Turbo Jet' and 'Turbo Glide'--what she's describing is 'Turbo Glide', but I'll allow her that! She said she's not had any 'major' problems, but I've heard the Turbo Glide could be a headache too. She looks like she wheels that Bel Air around with no problem, and takes off smartly too! She even walks fast so appears to be in good health. I'll assume she's a spinster. I like '55 Chevys and '56 a close second. A Studebaker buddy recently forwarded me a link to a yellow and light green '56 Nomad coming up to auction shortly--not crazy about the color, but at least it's not turquoise or red. It's a beautiful car. I'll have to post it here.

andre1969

I've heard the name "Turbo Jet" associated with various Chevy engines over the years, so I wonder if that's where some of her confusion came from? I don't think any Chevy engine from '57 was referred to as that, though. Wasn't "Turbo Jet" what they called the first 396 big block? The main reference I know with "Turbo Jet" is that in 1972, the 400 smallblock was referred to as a "Turbo Fire" while the 400 big block (actually a 402) was referred to as a "Turbo Jet".

Consumer Reports tested a '57 Chevy with a 283 and TurboGlide transmission. I think it was the 220 hp 4-bbl version, but not positive. It did well for the time, with 0-60 in the 11 second range, and coming in faster than the Ford Fairlane and Plymouth Belvedere it tested against. I think the Ford came in in the high 12's and the Plymouth around 13.1. I forget what combination the Ford had, but I think the Plymouth had a 301 and 3-speed Torqueflite. I don't know if it was the 215 hp 2-bbl or 235 hp 4-bbl though. I hope it was just the 2-bbl, because that seems like kind of a poor showing for the Plymouth.

uplanderguy

First time I was aware of the name "Turbo-Jet" was also with the 396 and bigger engines. "Turbo-Fire" was what they called most of the smaller V8's (I know the 400 small block was somewhat of an anomaly), and "Turbo-Thrift" is what they called the sixes.

Here's that '56 Nomad. Color, meh, but different. I'd be proud to have this car in my garage though:

http://www.mecum.com/auctions/lot_detail.cfm?LOT_ID=FL0114-176544&utm_source=emv&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=FL0114-F219.1

andre1969

actually, I kinda like that color combo. When you said "yellow and green", I was thinking a brighter, louder yellow. That yellow almost looks white in some lights, contrasted against that green. And, close up, it makes me think of the pale creamy yellow on my '67 Catalina, which I think was called "Montego Crème" or "Capri Cream" or some Mercury-ish sounding color.

ab348

@uplanderguy said:
A Studebaker friend sent me this video today. I know I've talked trash about '57 Chevys, but a 4-door hardtop (Sport Sedan) is pretty cool and this lady is cool for knowing about preventive maintenance. She bought the car new and drives no other car. I LOVE this clip:

http://www.youtube.com/v/QwcRG2aEi3s

I wonder how she kept it from rusting out?

The paint, chrome, and upholstery looks too good for original and 116,000 miles. I'm sure a lot of that must have been redone.

Interesting that she has 2 gallons of Prestone in the trunk. I wonder if it has a cooling problem somewhere...

uplanderguy

Living in Wisconsin, I wonder about that too. '55 and '56 Chevys were famous for rusting out above the headlights, but someone pointed out to me once at a car show that '57's have a screened area above the headlights, for ventilation there (although I was later told that had to do with fresh-air intake). I see the car has a 'Missouri' inspection sticker, an old one, so she must have lived there at some point. I give the lady big-time props for keeping the car, but I'll tell you, where I live, there are so many cars and so many distracted drivers, I'd be compelled to put at least lap belts and a CHMSL in that car if I were her.

andre1969

"Interesting that she has 2 gallons of Prestone in the trunk. I wonder if it has a cooling problem somewhere..."
I noticed it but didn't pay any attention to it. With my old cars, that's pretty much standard equipment. Not that I have cooling issues on a regular basis, but just in case...

Also, most, if not all cars in 1957 didn't have overflow bottles, so when they ran a little hot and some boiled off, they just dumped it out onto the street. So you did have to check up on the level more often in those days.

Mr_Shiftright

If she has the original Turboglide tranny in there, then she has the only one left in existence or darn near it. Most people swapped those out for Powerglides within a few years of ownership, because they had no choice.

uplanderguy

andre, re.: that '56 Nomad--I do like the car, and thankfully it's not all hammed-up with every accessory offered that year. Beautiful car.

tjc78

I think there is much more to that car story then we are led to believe. It looks showroom fresh, and 50 years of DD duty has to show somewhere. Like mentioned I bet it has been restored bit by bit over the years.

fintail

The video description says she also traded in a car. That probably accounts for the price.
I think it's a bit nice for a daily driver survivor too - especially in that climate. No doubt it has been renovated when need be - maybe she just thinks of that as maintenance.

@uplanderguy said:
I think her memory's a little foggy on the purchase price! LOL She's confusing 'Turbo Jet' and 'Turbo Glide'--what she's describing is 'Turbo Glide', but I'll allow her that! She said she's not had any 'major' problems, but I've heard the Turbo Glide could be a headache too. She looks like she wheels that Bel Air around with no problem, and takes off smartly too! She even walks fast so appears to be in good health. I'll assume she's a spinster. I like '55 Chevys and '56 a close second. A Studebaker buddy recently forwarded me a link to a yellow and light green '56 Nomad coming up to auction shortly--not crazy about the color, but at least it's not turquoise or red. It's a beautiful car. I'll have to post it here.

andre1969

Oh yeah, that's right...I forgot that she mentioned she had a 1950 Chevy before the '57. That part about how she was told she should get a new car because the old one was "making noises" just jogged my memory with something that happened to my Grandmother years ago. She was working in DC at the time, and their '55 Pontiac died and left her stranded. She said that some guy who claimed to be a mechanic came up and looked at it, said it needed a lot of work, probably in an attempt to scam her. But she called Granddad, and he drove down to meet her, got it running again, so it must not have been too big of a deal.

I wonder if that '50 Chevy was a similar situation, where whatever noises it was making was actually no big deal, but rather someone trying to take advantage of her? On a similar note, I remember my Mom saying the main reason she got rid of her '68 Impala, trading it on a '75 LeMans, was because Granddad's brother-in-law, who worked at a transmission shop, said the rear end was starting to go bad on it. Looking back, I wonder if Mom would have been better off just getting the rear-end fixed, rather than buying the LeMans? I'm sure that '68 Impala was a better car in most respects.

As a kid, I liked the Impala better, because it was a greenish-blue color that I liked, whereas the LeMans was sort of a persimmon/Bronze, which I really didn't like. I also thought that LeMans was pretty ugly. It actually wasn't a bad car, at first, but Dad wrecked it in 1977, and it never seemed to run right after it got fixed.

andys120

Another Chebby

I spotted a very nice, obviously restored 1955 Chevy Bel Air, white over yellow. The wheels were interesting stock rims with yellow outer rims and then white and capped not with full wheel covers but chromed hubcaps sporting bow tie emblems. It was a two-door coupe much like the this one except for sunshade and different hubcaps>

imidazol97

@andys120 said:
Another Chebby

I spotted a very nice, obviously restored 1955 Chevy Bel Air, white over yellow. The wheels were interesting stock rims with yellow outer rims and then white and capped not with full wheel covers but chromed hubcaps sporting bow tie emblems. It was a two-door coupe much like the this one except for sunshade and different hubcaps

Was the yellow that lemony? I saw a car locally that was a creamy yellow last summer. I remember seeing maybe one of that butter cream yellow when they were new in 50s and 60s. Rare.

With that sunshade that was rarely seen after 1954 Chevies, all this car needs is a continental tire kit to be yucky. I will walk up to the owners who have cars at cruise-ins that are essentially basic or original and complement them on it. I let them know that the continental kits, special paint colors, 22-inch rims, lowering, custom wheels, don't do it for me. Cragers that were common in the 60s and 70s are okay, but I prefer an all original car.

texases

@andys120 said:
Another Chebby

... It was a two-door coupe much like the this one except for sunshade and different hubcaps!

Neither the sunshade nor the hubcaps help on that pictured Chebby...sunshade looks like it belongs on an older car. Were those stock hubcaps?

fintail

Saw a no-grille Q45 today, and a ~65 Buick Special or Skylark and ~65 Suburban in the driveway of the same house. Also an 82-85 Supra that was drifting leaving a parking lot onto a main road.

I see this post doesn't need "approval", weird.

andys120

Yup, that's exactly the colors the car wore. I know there were creamier whites and paler yellows common in those days but one of the hallmarks of that era was the wide variety of colors available on any make/model. Now all you get is refrigerator white, black, red, and two or three shades of silver/gray.

andys120

@texases said:
Neither the sunshade nor the hubcaps help on that pictured Chebby...sunshade looks like it belongs on an older car. Were those stock hubcaps?

I agree, the sunshade makes it look like something from '47-53. By 1955 the sunshade thing had waned Perhaps due to more widespread availability of air con and glass tint.

I doubt those are stock hubcaps, the ones I saw were smaller, plainer and had four bow-ties embossed around the edges. The '55 I saw was better looking even though it lacked whitewall tires.

bhill2

@andre1969 said:
I've heard the name "Turbo Jet" associated with various Chevy engines over the years, so I wonder if that's where some of her confusion came from? I don't think any Chevy engine from '57 was referred to as that, though. Wasn't "Turbo Jet" what they called the first 396 big block? The main reference I know with "Turbo Jet" is that in 1972, the 400 smallblock was referred to as a "Turbo Fire" while the 400 big block (actually a 402) was referred to as a "Turbo Jet".

I think you are right. I don't know where she got 'Turbo Jet' with regard to a '57, although that year they did refer to the 283 V-8 as 'Turbo Fire'. She probably has a relative with a 396 Chevy and got confused.

fintail

Watched Dennis the Menace this morning, episode where Mr. Wilson thinks he has an inheritance coming, so he buys a new car. An MGA.

andre1969

I caught an episode of "Donna Reed" the other day, where the father was supposed to take the son out to practice driving, but work kept getting in the way. The car kept switching back and forth between what looked like a c1962 full-sized Mercury on the exterior shots, to a 1960 Merc 4-door hardtop on the interiors (the spacer piece in the back door behind the roll-down window was a tip-off).

fintail

I see they are both listed on IMCDB - funny continuity issue, I think the same thing would happen on Leave it to Beaver now and then. I remember an episode of Donna Reed where the son bought his first car, and his friends mocked it because it was older than him. I think it was a 46-48 Ford convertible - one is shown on IMCDB, but with no context. I remember cringing at that, as when I saw the episode as a teenager, a 46-48 Ford convertible was desirable to me. Looks like the show was Ford sponsored, with so many Fords and Mercurys on the list.

And speaking of Donna Reed, here's probably the most exotic car seen on an old American TV show, apparently won by the son:

@andre1969 said:
I caught an episode of "Donna Reed" the other day, where the father was supposed to take the son out to practice driving, but work kept getting in the way. The car kept switching back and forth between what looked like a c1962 full-sized Mercury on the exterior shots, to a 1960 Merc 4-door hardtop on the interiors (the spacer piece in the back door behind the roll-down window was a tip-off).

andre1969

Speaking of old Mercury's, just caught the episode of "The Twilight Zone" that starts off with Nan Adam's '59 Mercury having had a blowout in, ahem, the deserts of Pennsylvania! As for continuity errors, some of the night shots show a '57 Ford, which I think is cribbed from "Thunder Road".

As for Leave it to Beaver, yeah there were some scenes where they'd show stock footage of a '60 Plymouth pulling into the driveway, but then a close-up shot of Ward getting out of a '61.

andys120

@fintail said:

t.

And speaking of Donna Reed, here's probably the most exotic car seen on an old American TV show, apparently won by the son:

Yup, Ferris Bueller fans will recognize that as the car that FB supposedly launched into a pool, supposedly a 1960s Ferrari 250GT California Spider. Of course by the time Ferris Bueller's Day Off was made in 1986 they were already worth millions and a Corvette-based replica was substituted>

The car used in The Donna Reed Show appears to be the real thing. [Sigh], exotics just aren't beautiful anymore.

Car/movie trivia: a Spider California figures in another coming of age movie, The Flamingo Kid (1984):

tjc78

Didn't, know about the replicas in FBDO. Flamingo kid was a great movie, "Sweet Ginger brown......"

uplanderguy

Where are you watching Donna Reed show reruns, "Sherman"--via the Wayback Machine?!

TV shows were really loose about 'car consistency' in shots back then. I recently watched online a Mr. Ed show clip, which had a '64 Daytona and a '64 Gran Turismo Hawk, where Ed was driving a delivery truck. The shots of cars getting out of his way were all thirties cars, although other street shots showed contemporary cars. Guess you weren't suppose to question that...but on the other hand, you're watching a show about a talking horse and probably even more ridiculous than that, were all the Studebakers in his neighborhood and out on the streets, anyplace besides South Bend...LOL

uplanderguy

andre, that's the single episode of 'Twilight Zone' that I remember the most from my childhood. Truly creepy. Remember how many TV shows had cars with no inside mirrors to interrupt the shot...LOL. In last year's TZ marathon on TV, I saw for the first time, the episode with Burgess Meredith as the bank teller who liked to read. That was a sad one for sure!

andre1969

There's a station called METV ("Memorable Entertainment Television") that's 462 on our Verizon FIOS. I'm sure they're available on other carriers as well, and even over-the-air in some locales. They play a wide variety of old stuff...comedies, westerns, crime shows, sci-fi, etc.

I usually get my Pontiac fix at 5:30 in the morning when "My Three Sons" comes on. There was one outdoor scene, where Steve Douglas was going to a party, and every single car on the street was a full-sized 1968 Pontiac! Ooops! I do like though, how even some of the older cars are still Pontiacs. For instance, when Steve meets his wife, Barbara the teacher, she's driving a '66 Bonneville convertible, even though this was 1969. And they recently showed Robbie with a '64 GTO. So, even though they're all still Pontiacs, it probably wouldn't be too realistic to have a school teacher or newlywed husband just starting out, driving around in flashy new cars.

Petticoat Junction comes on at 6. Usually no cars, but there is the Hooterville Cannonball. Then the Beverly Hillbillies at 6:30, which is always chock-full of Mopars. Donna Reed comes on at 7, and is usually well-stocked with Mercurys although interestingly, there was an episode on recently that featured a 1962 Dodge motorhome...the style that in a few years, I believe, was rounded off into a jumbo-Twinkie shape and became Travco.

Mr. Ed comes on as well, but I can't remember if it's METV or Antenna TV that shows it. I always enjoyed seeing all the Studebakers in it. I wonder what the tow rating is of a Lark convertible though, as there were a few episodes that showed Wilbur towing Ed's trailer with it. Of course, doing it on level ground in a sound stage is no big deal, but I dunno if I'd want to put a Lark through that in real life!

uplanderguy

I, too, remember Pontiac on "My Three Sons" which was my favorite show as a kid. I seem to particularly remember a light blue '67 Catalina Safari. I also remember Barbara's '66 Bonneville. BTW, did any kid ever add less to a TV show than Barbara's daughter "Dodie"? LOL Re.: Mr. Ed--I thought it was cool at the time...at the South Bend airport probably ten years ago, the Stude Museum had a display of a fake barn with the dutch doors and a fake horse and a real Wagonaire, and had the contract between Studebaker and "Mr. Ed" on display there--a pitch to come see the museum while you were in town. I think they should do something like that at the airport again.

EDIT: I swear I remember a brown '65 Wagonaire, but this link shows a white '62 Lark Daytona Skytop at the airport there. Seems hard to believe they'd change cars; maybe I'm remembering the Wagonaire from a different display there, I don't know.

http://farm1.staticflickr.com/57/195871478_326aad4d32_o.jpg

Andre, Larks were body-on-frame and could be had with some good-sized V8's, regarding trailering. The brochures always mentioned trailering.

Here's a link to Mr. Ed being trailered by a '63 or '64 Champ pickup. The old Dodge bed is evident here, although except for width (and I know that's a big exception), I always thought the styling of the bed actually matched the Studebaker cab better than it did the Dodge cab.

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss155/BobPalma/mred2_zps35363445.jpg

http://motionunlimitedmuseum.com/files/photos/1959DodgePUPF.jpg

andre1969

"BTW, did any kid ever add less to a TV show than Barbara's daughter "Dodie"? "

Yeah...Cousin Oliver from the Brady Bunch, and Carrie Ingalls and Baby Grace from Little House on the Prairie!

I'll concede though, that Dodie is a bit annoying. I probably haven't seen "My Three Sons" in about 20 years or more, until I just caught it on METV. I remember Nick at Nite doing a marathon called "Night of the Setting Sons" just before removing it from their lineup, but they mainly showed the old black and white episodes. So I probably haven't seen the Dodie episodes since the late 70's/early 80's. I didn't remember her as being annoying when I was a kid, but being reintroduced to her, she is.

One thing that's kinda interesting, is that in the early 60's they used to show Chevies in the closing credits, even though the show used Pontiacs. At least, I do remember Steve having a '61 Pontiac wagon. I remember blurting out "Mr Big Bucks trades up every year" and for some reason, one of my friends thought that was particularly funny.

uplanderguy

Well, Steve was an aerospace engineer IIRC.

I always wondered how many gruff, bachelor uncles who could cook there were in that Douglas family! LOL

uplanderguy

Never occurred to me before, but wonder if Steve and Oliver Wendell Douglas
were related? LOL

fintail

Funny, the first episode of Mister Ed is on "Antenna TV" here right now. I just saw their highline Lark, like this:

The architect main character should have ended up in an Avanti later on, that would make a good architect's car.

fintail

I forgot about The Flamingo Kid. Haven't seen that in years.

The FBDO car is backed out of an elevated garage and falls a few dozen feet into a ravine. I have to imagine the Donna Reed 250GT is still around, as those were a special interest car virtually from new...I wonder what it is worth now.

@andys120 said: