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

uplanderguy

Say, I got to thinking. Did the early 60's Buick Deuce and a Quarter or Olds 98 even offer a flattop roofline?

I thought they did, and googled both of those (with '1960') and pics of both came up.

uplanderguy

andre, just read your post about the Scenicruiser and enjoyed the "North By Northwest" reference! That, and "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte" are probably my favorite movies, period.

jpp75

Spotted this Saturday before the snow moved in.

imidazol97

Those are some great pics, Jpp.
Cadillac, Buick, and now Pontiac. All looking absolutely stock!

stickguy

I love the pics of old cars In modern settings. Always amazed at how much lower they are (and bigger windows).

berri

Fin, Port Gamble is in Kitsap County IIRC and I believe I've actually visited it. Neat little town and shops, and the general store had a decent small coffee and food area as well. I recall it isn't far from that large bridge span that crosses over to the Olympic peninsula. Beautiful area.

berri

jpp - is that Grand Prix a 64? Liked that car.

sda

benjaminh said:

Some more pages from the Cadillac brochure for 1946....

I so enjoy you posting these old brochures. It is neat to see how many features and advancements came to market and makes me appreciate how good cars are now. I remember riding in the cars my parents had in the 60s and 70s and how noisy (wind noise primarily) they were at highway speeds. Dad generally cruised around 80 mph on the interstate. New cars are whisper quiet in comparison. One trip I remember fondly is when we drove from New Orleans to Houston, to visit friends, onward to Amarillo, to Gunnison National Park (we camped out the entire trip except Houston), Royal Gorge, Dodge City, etc. Dad drove all day across Texas, a lot of the time cruising at 90+ in their 69 Olds 98. From the three kids in the back seat dad was barraged with the are we there yet?? Good times. Here I am supervising dad waxing the Olds. I was 12.

fintail

Yep, I think it is no more than 10-15 mins from the Hood Canal bridge. It's an 1850s era (very early for these parts, as in western WA there isn't much 19th century material) company town that somehow was preserved and is still somewhat intact.

berri said:

Fin, Port Gamble is in Kitsap County IIRC and I believe I've actually visited it. Neat little town and shops, and the general store had a decent small coffee and food area as well. I recall it isn't far from that large bridge span that crosses over to the Olympic peninsula. Beautiful area.

fintail

I saw "the car of tomorrow" - an Allante (on TV) this evening:





And on this day in 1983, Sutherland Motors in Spokane was having a sale:



That green Seville sounds like an interesting looking car. There's a decent chance the MBs are still on the road somewhere/

benjaminh

.....
I so enjoy you posting these old brochures. It is neat to see how many features and advancements came to market and makes me appreciate how good cars are now. I remember riding in the cars my parents had in the 60s and 70s and how noisy (wind noise primarily) they were at highway speeds. Dad generally cruised around 80 mph on the interstate. New cars are whisper quiet in comparison. One trip I remember fondly is when we drove from New Orleans to Houston, to visit friends, onward to Amarillo, to Gunnison National Park (we camped out the entire trip except Houston), Royal Gorge, Dodge City, etc. Dad drove all day across Texas, a lot of the time cruising at 90+ in their 69 Olds 98. From the three kids in the back seat dad was barraged with the are we there yet?? Good times. Here I am supervising dad waxing the Olds. I was 12.


Aside from you it's not clear how much interest there is in these old car brochures. There's aren't many "likes" or comments. Thanks for sharing your pic and memories of your family and your Olds 98. I have a fondness for that car since I used to own one. Our 1988 Olds 98 had a very quiet highway ride.

uplanderguy

Sorry, couldn't resist. Saw this on Facebook this a.m.

ab348

What is a Mercedes-Benz 3000?

The prices seem rather expensive for 1983 used cars. I will take the '79 Riviera assuming it has the Olds gasoline 350 engine. The '81 Electra could be a nice car but is crippled with only a 307 V-8. The Colony Park would be an interesting thing to see if it appeared in the same condition today.

stickguy

I think that’s a 300 D

fintail

Maybe car prices were higher in no-rust areas? Also, it's from an expensive brand dealer, maybe negotiation room built-in, too. MB 3000 is a 300D.

I like seeing the old brochures, if anything, for the artwork.

Lucas wiring harness smoke is also available in economy size, with a handy applicator:

andre1969

That two-tone Jadestone '81 Riviera sounds like it was a really pretty car.

Mr_Shiftright

uplanderguy said:

Sorry, couldn't resist. Saw this on Facebook this a.m.

I could never figure out how the British figured out that the earth was + ground. That would mean, of course, that the universe is - ground-----otherwise our solar system would fly apart. On the other hand, the rest of universe seems to be expanding, as if + and - were repelling each other. But the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies are on a collision course, so they must be attracted to one another.

It's all very puzzling.

xwesx

Mr_Shiftright said:

I could never figure out how the British figured out that the earth was + ground. That would mean, of course, that the universe is - ground-----otherwise our solar system would fly apart. On the other hand, the rest of universe seems to be expanding, as if + and - were repelling each other. But the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies are on a collision course, so they must be attracted to one another.

It's all very puzzling.

Probably best not to bring it up; I find that this topic tends to be rather polarizing.

jpp75

benjaminh said:

Aside from you it's not clear how much interest there is in these old car brochures. There's aren't many "likes" or comments. Thanks for sharing your pic and memories of your family and your Olds 98. I have a fondness for that car since I used to own one. Our 1988 Olds 98 had a very quiet highway ride.

I definitely enjoy the old brochures, appreciate you taking the time to scan and post them.

ab348

jpp5862 said:

benjaminh said:

Aside from you it's not clear how much interest there is in these old car brochures. There's aren't many "likes" or comments. Thanks for sharing your pic and memories of your family and your Olds 98. I have a fondness for that car since I used to own one. Our 1988 Olds 98 had a very quiet highway ride.

I definitely enjoy the old brochures, appreciate you taking the time to scan and post them.

Likewise!

Mr_Shiftright

I like them because they combine cars and culture. When we look at those old cars, we get a sense of what the country might have been like at the time.

fintail

Saw a Malibu Maxx SS on the road today, can't be common.

Michaell

fintail said:

Saw a Malibu Maxx SS on the road today, can't be common.

3.9L and 240 HP of fury!

Though I do remember a pretty decent review on it in C&D.

uplanderguy

Whenever I see a Venza, I'm reminded of a Malibu Maxx.

benjaminh

Well then, some more from Cadillac....

benjaminh

benjaminh

benjaminh

PF_Flyer

Mr_Shiftright said:

The big cars of "olden days" are just TOO BIG for modern roads and conditions anymore, IMO. You can't park them anywhere, and they barely (if at all) fit into one's garage in either a very modern, or very old house. They wallow and bounce, and massive understeer greets you at every turn. The hood "oilcans" at every dip in the road. You're forced to "grandpa around" so that you don't get arrested for squealing tires and knocking over road cones. It's costs you $3 bucks to go 10 miles. If it's a droptop, the windshield will do the macarena across your dashboard when you go over a pothole or railroad tracks.

To be fair about it, on a straight flat road in Nevada, with the cruise control set at 75, and you sitting ace-duece with your pinky on the steering wheel and your SO scrunched into your shoulder, it does harken back to the American Dream.

That reminds me of when I was driving in about 1994 with the kids in the car and I saw a '66 Newport sitting in a gas station lot with a For Sale sign on it. I told the kids that that was the first car I ever drove, and my 6 year old asked, "Were the roads bigger back then?"

PF_Flyer

Mr_Shiftright said:

I like them because they combine cars and culture. When we look at those old cars, we get a sense of what the country might have been like at the time.

It's even interesting to see how advertisers were approaching the problem of selling consumers on a product

fintail

I really liked those fastback/Sedanette style Caddys when I was a kid (in the 80s, old cars then of course).

ab348

fintail said:

Saw a Malibu Maxx SS on the road today, can't be common.

I was next to one in traffic a few weeks ago, in good condition too. Was surprised to see as they were uncommon sights here even as new cars. I always sort of liked them actually, especially the SS version.

ab348

benjaminh said:

I always loved that waffle-pattern style of upholstery stitching. Too bad nobody seems to offer that any more.

Mr_Shiftright

Big year for Cadillac---1948----tail fins, ohv V-8. They were ready to emerge as the King of luxury and glamour around the world. Packard, Lincoln and Chrysler couldn't touch 'em on the very high end of things.

Yeah, the ads treated people like they were intelligent. You're not likely to find too many modern car brochures spending 1/2 a page on "piston skirt design".

The old brochures sure did push "lifestyle", however. 1948 was a time when America was just emerging as the world's superpower, with an economy to match. Vets were buying homes and cars, and there was actually a middle class that prospered. You could be, say a manager in an office, or even a skilled machinist, and make enough money for the wife to stay home with the kids, to buy a little ranch home, buy a new car, and maybe even afford a country cabin and a small boat.

Now, to do that you'll need two incomes and a lot of debt.

berri

Ironically, I believe those original finned Cadillac's brought on some differences of opinion among Cadillac customers initially. Turned out to be a good call by Harley Earl.

xwesx

Love the drawing of the hydraulic push rods. Hahah. That was high-tech!

Mr_Shiftright

Remember, flathead engines soldiered on here and there in American cars for another over 20 years. I think the last civilian flathead was....what?....1959?

So yeah, all these innovations must have seemed quite modern in 1948.

andre1969

PF_Flyer said:

That reminds me of when I was driving in about 1994 with the kids in the car and I saw a '66 Newport sitting in a gas station lot with a For Sale sign on it. I told the kids that that was the first car I ever drove, and my 6 year old asked, "Were the roads bigger back then?"

My mother had a revelation something like that a few years back. I was showing her the antique cars in my garage, and she kept fixating on my '76 Grand LeMans coupe, most likely because she had a '75 LeMans when I was a kid. She asked "was my car that big?!" kind of incredulously. "Yes, Mom,", I replied. And she was like "Are you sure? I can't believe I used to drive something that big!"

Then, I told her that she used to drive something even bigger. Her first new car was a '66 Catalina convertible. I showed her my '67, which is only incrementally bigger, and she was just about bowled over. Honestly, I don't see why she was so shocked though, as she and my stepdad have a 2000 F-150, regular cab/8-foot bed, as well as a '97 Expedition, and neither of those are exactly shrinking violets.

As for size, I don't think it's the roads that are a problem for big cars, so much, as it is the parking spaces. Keep in mind, the same road that we might whine about taking a big old car down also have to service pickups, SUVs, trash trucks, school buses, the UPS truck, moving vans, and so on. Even roads that ban thru traffic over a certain GVWR are still usually designed to take those trucks. Those trucks can go on the roads as long as they have business on that road. They're just not allowed to use it as a shortcut to get to somewhere else.

Anyway, I can remember working at a certain building back in the early 90's, and sometimes I'd drive my grandmother's '85 LeSabre to work. There were parallel parking spaces out in front, and I remember having no trouble at all parking her car in them. Well, in 1993 I moved to another building. In early 1999, we moved back. We still had that '85 LeSabre, but this time, it would not physically fit in those parallel parking spots. In the intervening years, they re-striped them, and made them shorter, to get more volume. If I had the nose of that car even with the line up front, it was actually hanging over the line in back slightly.

They've also been making pull-in spaces narrower, which really makes sense, because cars are definitely NOT getting narrower. When you figure that the three most popular vehicles sold today (F-series, Silverado, Ram) are about as wide as any car ever got, and even compact cars are about as wide as what midsized cars used to be (a modern Honda Civic is about as wide as my old 1980 Malibu), not to mention all the porky crossovers and such, the only ones benefitting from narrower parking spaces are the body shop industry.

xwesx

andre1969 said:

They've also been making pull-in spaces narrower, which really makes sense, because cars are definitely NOT getting narrower. When you figure that the three most popular vehicles sold today (F-series, Silverado, Ram) are about as wide as any car ever got, and even compact cars are about as wide as what midsized cars used to be (a modern Honda Civic is about as wide as my old 1980 Malibu), not to mention all the porky crossovers and such, the only ones benefitting from narrower parking spaces are the body shop industry.

No doubt!

My family stopped at a grocery store in downtown Portland last winter, and the little parking lot they had there was just ridiculous. If everyone pulled into their parking spaces centered, a person still could barely get out. We were in an Escape, and we barely managed that feat. I had to place my hand between my door and the parked vehicle next to me, then squeeze out while smashing my fingers in order to avoid metal-to-metal contact. I was lucky and was able to back into an end space, so only one side of conflict with vehicles, but that's just simply too small.

Maybe they figure if people are worried about getting door dings from others pulling in and out, they'll not linger in the store (which was also tiny for the amount of stuff they crammed in there) longer than necessary.

berri

New parking lots seem an exercise in total foolishness anymore. Talking about the big cars of yesteryear - they haven't gone away. Just become 4 dr pick up trucks and large SUV's. If anything, they are larger yet.

stickguy

I hate parking lots. I will drive around a bit scoping out a spot far from other cars, and pride myself on finding premium spots (such as next to an island). And of course, blocking out from shopping carts. That is key.

ab348

One grocery chain here has done something with their newer stores I haven't seen in years. The painted lines on their spaces are a sort of elongated U shape, making the effective shape much wider so there is a lot more room to open doors. I love their lots.

fintail

I notice the width of modern cars when I park the fintail after parking the Bluetec (or vice versa). The cars appear to be the same size, the old car seems marginally longer, and the new car is wider (and heavier).

Some parking lots here are horrible jokes, others even have double lines for extra room. It's a crapshoot. As there seems to be no regulation behind it, vote with your wallet, or enjoy the walk from a distant spot (which always attracts someone else).

Mr_Shiftright

'55 Pontiac Chieftain 2D hardtop. Haven't seen one of those in ages. This year and model was just at the threshold of Pontiac's transformation from an old person's car to something modern enough to compete in 1955. It wasn't quite old and wasn't quite new. Chevy was sexier, Buick was bolder, Olds was faster (shades of NASCAR?).

andre1969

I always wondered if featuring a '55 Pontiac on "I Love Lucy" did much for its image? I liked the '55-56 Pontiac for the most part, but never cared for the front-end, with the way the fender tops above the headlights had sort of a peeled-back look. But, otherwise, I find them attractive. I think the added length makes them look a bit better proportioned than a similar-year Chevy.

fintail

The little gills/vents above the lights have always bugged me, too. I remember that episode clearly, they drive the car to California. Here it is on the set, with dulled paint and sans windshield to reduce glare:



And on the road:



IMCDB has mention of several cars being used, and there being a giveaway of at least one of the cars.

uplanderguy

Lucy wanted a blue Cadillac convertible. Fred said he found one.. Of course it was like a 1922 or something, LOL.

thebean

Saw a first gen Barracuda today parked at a transmission shop. I remember when those first came out. My neighbor was a salesman at a Plymouth dealership and he took us to the dealership one evening to look at the 'Cuda before it officially came out. Man, I thought they were so cool. But now I look at that back glass and think "Whaaaat?"

Mr_Shiftright

That's one piece of glass you don't want to break.

kyfdx

The only thing cool about the original Barracuda was the name..