Old Car Trivia..Wanna Play?

carnut4

Weak link on the Pontiac V8? Hmmmm..I know it had a number of advanced features, like the stud mounted rocker arms[which was a Pontiac piece, borrowed by Chevy], fully machined combustion chambers, reverse flow cooling, and a very effective crankcase ventilation. I've had mine since 1989, and Id guess the fuel pump,[which had a vacuum diaphram which drove the windshield wipers] or maybe the rear main seal? I don't know.
I know overall, it was a very good engine. What was it?

isellhondas

The weakness were the cam bearings. Once upon a time, I bought an interesting Pontiac. You would probably have loved it. It had been special ordered by the original owner who sold it to his best friend who sold it to me.

It was a '64 Catalina with the 421 engine. It had a three speed on the column! It took forever to shift it but was it ever fast!!

An old timer who lived across the street had been a Pontial dealership mechanic helped me do a timing chain on it. He would tell stories of the good old days. He said that when the first 55 V-8's came out, they would quite often have bad cam bearings.

I don't know what the fix was at the time.

jerry16

Here's a chevy question that I have particular interest in:
How many engines have been put in the vette since introduction, and what was the displacement and HP for each? ( you can't have a chevy trivia session without mentioning the vette)I don't know how good a question this is, every one of you guys problably knows the answer.

zl1

Carnut4....... here is a little story you might enjoy(being a pontiac fan)My first car was a 71 Grandville 2 door,so it wasnt overly huge, I bought it for $300. The old man I bought from said it belonged to his grandson and he wanted rid of it.The main reason I bought it was for the motor,the old man said it was a 455,as did the underhood sticker.Well anyway I took it home and did a little tune up, a hotter herbert cam, rings,edelbrock, a holley 750 dual line double pumper,headers and dual exaust.Being 15 and dumb, with limited funds these items left me broke so I was unable to do a complete overhaul.When the oil pump went out and spun a bearing about a year and a half later I bought a new oil pump and bearings,when I went to install the bearings they were to large,so I thought it must be a 400,those were too small.I then got the numbers off the block and called the local gm dealer,to my suprise the motor was a 428! This particular one was factory rated at 390 hp with a 2 barrel and single exaust.Still have that little gem in the shop on a stand.It is making a bit more than 390 now though.

badgerpaul

A 71 Grand Ville not overly huge, it was a tank. I took my drivers test in my dad's new 71 Grand Ville, the hood went on forever, so naturally I failed the parallel parking.
That said, it was a good looking car bronze with a beige top. But as I recall not well put together or all that reliable.

sbarer

OK, here's a change of pace on trivia:

Name two cars on display in New York's Museum of Modern Art?

Mr_Shiftright

I'll try that one--

Cisitalia
Jaguar XKE
Volvo station wagon (just kidding on this one).

sbarer

As usual, Mr. S, you're correct!

I was in NYC with my wife, and wanted to see the Cisitalia, so we went to MoMA. After going through the entire museum, we realized that the exhibit in which it was displayed was closed for two weeks.

Mr_Shiftright

Lovely car, the Cisitalia--- especially given that it's a....1948 or something like that...I mean, compared to a typical car of that time, it's quite something.

Mr_Shiftright

Okay....first company to offer a retractable hardtop (not detachable, but retractable...)

any guesses?

isellhondas

Well, the obvious answer would be the 1957 Fords but somehow, I think you've got an ace up your sleeve?

Mr_Shiftright

Not an ace, but a Peugeot...1937 I believe.

isellhondas

I should have known! But, with a Peugeot it was probably a 22 step process!

I had a diesel Peugeot wagon. Turning on the headlights required a look in the owners manual!

sbarer

It seems interesting that no hardtop convertible has been able to establish a trouble-free reputation. The Fords were notorious for the motors burning out, and the Mitsubishi 3000GT Spider had electrical ghosts that affected top operation.(Then again, these types of motor and electrical ghosts plague my 91 Lebaron Soft-top.)

I wonder how the Mercedes SLK will do over time with their new hardtop mechanisms?

sbarer

Okay,
Name three automobiles to use Ferrari's 6 cyl engine.

stickguy

Ferrari (or was that a given), fiat dino, and something else.

How about this one: name the American car to use a Porsche engine.

sbarer

You got two out of three (the non-Ferrari-badged) Dino, the Fiat Dino (both spider and coupe configs) and...

c'mon guys...a hint: the factory production of this car was claimed at 500 for a very specific reason (although the actual production was closer to 450.)

sunliner

I've got one for you here:

1. What year was the first automotive rearview
mirror used?
2. What make of car was it on?
3. Where was it first used?
4. Who drove the car? (little clue there!)


Did the Corvair use a Porsche engine? It was an aircooled, rear-mounted 6, wasn't it?

isellhondas

No, the Corvair used a Corvair engine. They were noisy and leaked oil like a sieve.

Some folks think their old VW busses used a Porsche engine. The reverse was true! The 914 Porsches used a Volkswagen engine!

stickguy

Actually, the late 70's AMC Gremlin replacement (I've temporarily misplaced the name) used the 2.0l engine from the 924.

I just said a Porsche engine, not a good one!

Mr_Shiftright

Hey, no fair...trick question...WAHHH!

The 924 is really an Audi engine, ain't it?

sbarer

My father's two law-partners bought 924s in 1978...and at the time the dealer said the engines were actually made by VW. At the same time, my father purchased the Audi 5000S. Both the Audi and those 924's were pieces of crap. The Porsches couldn't accelerate to save their lives, while those Audis accelerated (slowly) on their own!

Oh by the way, the answer to my "cars using the Ferrari Dino engine" was "Ferrari Dino (of course,) Fiat Dino/Dino Spyder and (the one nobody got:) Lancia Stratos.

Mr_Shiftright

Interesting car the Stratos...early ones had lots of problems, but the car developed until it won the 1979 Monte Carlo rallye...the stock cars could run 0-60 in 6.8 seconds, so the race cars with turbos and 4-valve heads must have been awesome.

The Audi 5000 "problem" was never proven and is doubtful, I think, and here's why I think so......people were stepping on the gas by mistake, is the best explanation I've come up with. Most compelling proof is that the brakes on the car can hold the car at rest, even at full throttle. I think the whole thing was a media hatchet job...but now Audi is on a roll, so the damage has been repaired. Maybe it helped them make a better car...the 5000 was bad enough even without the acceleration problem.

Re: Porsche 924.....definitely an Audi van engine, not a VW, although from the same corporation...so one could say "a VW corporate engine" and be accurate enough...just nitpicking here, but your description did throw me off on the answer...


Here's one:

What do these cars have in common?

60s era Morgan +4
Early Lotus 7 Series
60s-70s Saab 96 V-4
Model T Ford

isellhondas

A tool kit in the trunk is a smart investment?

Mr_Shiftright

Yes, the list does not inspire confidence, but no, that's not the right answer...

Hint: They all share a similar component, in a general sort of way.

sunliner

Would it be the V-4 engine?

Incidentally, The rearview mirror was first used in 1911, on a Marmon race car, for the first Indianapolis 500, driven by Ray Harroun. He won.

badgerpaul

Magneto ignition?

Mr_Shiftright

nope nope nope.....

sunliner

Wood frame?

Mr_Shiftright

No, none of the car listed has a wood frame, but the Morgan and the Model T use some wood in the construction of the body, so that's a 50% good guess but not the answer.

I'll give you all one more try.

sbarer

All ran Ford engines? Or how about all had side-lifting hoods?

sunliner

Reverse pedal? Handbrakes? Folding windshield? Doors? No doors? Planetary gears? Dry clutch? Wet clutch? Ferret-skin upholstery? Black paint only? Acetylene lighting? Mass-produced? They all stay crunchy in milk?

Personally, I give up!

Mr_Shiftright

Congrats to sbarer! Excellent answer..they all ran Ford engines...yes!

sbarer

Here's a great one...Last week my father saw a collector's car drive by with the vanity license plate:

"WEIGHT"

What type of car was it?

Mr_Shiftright

A Datsun 280Z (28 ounces, get it?)

sbarer

Nope.
(It actually feels good to stump the moderator once in a while!)

Mr_Shiftright

Okay, I give, but that was a pretty fair guess if you ask me!

sbarer

Actually, I think it's a good answer, but the real answer is very interesting:

Weight is defined (at least on Earth) as
Mass X Gravity. That, simplified looks like:
MG
(It was an MGB!)

Mr_Shiftright

Oh, GEEZ, is that ever obscure! Did you guess that or did you and the owner have a lengthy explanation session by the side of the road?

sbarer

Actually my father, a former 67 MGB owner, claims he got it right off the back upon seeing the plate. He told it to my brother who took about 15 seconds to figure it out...Me, it took me a few minutes.

Just because you can't look-up the answer in The Complete Book of Collectible Cars doesn't mean it's obscure!

Mr_Shiftright

well, true enough...guess I'm not the scientific type. No, I never look up the answers in the Trivia Quiz, that would negate all the satisfaction...what fun would that be?

Mr_Shiftright

Sbarer---

DUH!(slapping self on forehead)...well OF COURSE it's not obscure to you and your dad, you had the %$#*&$ MG right in front of you to look at...you didn't tell us poor guys the make....!

sbarer

I didn't have it in front of me! The car was in Seattle, I live in the strip-mall hell known as Houston!

Mr_Shiftright

Ah, then you ARE cleverer than me...

Houston is amazing...only major town I've ever been in that had no zoning laws whatsoever,,,you can have a wrecking yard next to a nursing home (actually not a bad idea for my old age...hmmm...)

Okay, trivia.....

here are some slang expressions for automotive components, or used to describe an automotive phenomenon or event...can you tell me what they are in plain english? (Hint: these are primarily racing related)

stuffer (noun)

rumper (noun)

gilhooley (noun) or verb, to gilhooley, as in..."he gilhoolied"

druid (noun)

bug catcher (noun)

sunliner

stuffer (noun) = Hood scoop (or supercharger?)

rumper (noun) = Rear Spoiler (?)

gilhooley (noun) or verb, to gilhooley, as
in..."he gilhoolied" = To spin out

druid (noun) = I gots no fleepin' idea...something
to do with trees?

bug catcher (noun) = front air dam (?)

isellhondas

What were "Appletons"?

Hint: The lowrider crowd loved them!

Mr_Shiftright

Geez, got me on that one...Appletons...

Pretty good, sunliner....a "stuffer" is indeed a supercharger, and you nailed gilhooly...

a "rumper" is a fun word...it describes the way an engine idles when it's running radical cams...such an engine is therefore a "rumper"..

You're close on "bugcatcher"....it's actually the air intake on top of a fuel injection manifold or supercharger...you usually see them as three portholes jobbies on fuelie dragsters...

"druid" is a tough one....any more ideas on that? It refers to a certain type of person concerning with racing.

sunliner

Appletons. Aren't they a brand of sidepipes?

akjbmw

I thought appletons referred to chrome spotlights and the exhaust pipes down the side were “lake pipes”, chrome too, of course.
No idea why...

isellhondas

You are correct! Appletons were fake spotlights that were mounted on both sides of the windshield.

Many an old Chevy sported them where I grew up!