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Comments
Those old Jag XJ6 sedans are seductively pretty cars, too, and I can see how people get lured into buying them. My fascination with them ended when I finally had the chance to sit in one, though. I've heard that, for interior volume purposes, these things were actually rated as subcompacts. And upon trying to fit inside one, suddenly I could see why!
Benz styling does nothing for me although I genuinely admire how they have managed to keep brand identity through 50+ years or more. It's merely my subjective attitude. I'm not comfortable driving a Benz. I feel too "old" or something. I dunno---crazy......however, I felt VERY comfortable in a 300SL Roadster--I could live with that! And I think I'd be okay in a Ponton. They have an old-world charm quite divorced from more modern associations with a Benz. I could invest time and effort restoring a Ponton (to a reasonable degree).
For value, you just can't beat those older American barges right now...GEEZ, $500? You couldn't have a load of gravel delivered to your driveway for that, much less an entire car that can take you somewhere. And you buy your parts at Kragen. What's not to like?
It runs fine...ONCE it finally gets started! :sick: . In fact, it pissed me off bad enough on Tuesday, that once I finally got it running again, I took it right to the mechanic.
It has a problem with the automatic choke, and can sometimes be cranky in cold weather. I knew about this though, before buying it. And I figure hey, for $500, I'm not expecting showroom new!
I have found though, that the more I drive it, the less troublesome it is. Until last Thursday. We had a really hot day, and when I went out to it after work, it just refused to start. It would turn over and turn over but wouldn't catch. The butterfly valve in the carb throat was stuck totally open, and I couldn't get it to close. I've had old carbureted cars in the past where you could just pull the linkage from under the hood and get it to close, but on this one it was buried somewhere, probably under the Lean Burn module. Anyway, one of my coworkers was leaving, and came over to see if I needed help. I had her get behind the wheel and depress the gas pedal. That freed up the valve so I could close it, and prop something on it to keep it closed. Then, the damn thing fired right up! Common sense would dictate that I would drive the car straight home, but instead I went over to the house of a friend, who had been wanting to see it. And I stopped off at the gas station on the way home. Both of those times though, it fired right up. Something kinda funny happened at the gas station, too. A woman in a minivan stopped off, and she had two little kids. Well, the little kids took one look at my car and just loved it, for some strange reason. The mother even thought it was neat. I thought that was interesting, because women usually don't notice cars unless they give the impression that the owner has money. And little kids, I thought, usually wouldn't notice something unless it was bright and shiny. But, who knows? Maybe these little kids will grow up to be versions of me, and as they get older will develop an unhealthy liking for big late 70's mastodons? Hey, maybe THAT'S it!! Little kids usually like dinosaurs! :P
After that, I kept a block of wood in the car that I could use to wedge the gas pedal down if I needed to in the future. Sure enough, Tuesday afternoon, it was another hot one, and the car refused to start. However, even with forcing the valve closed, it still wouldn't start. I gave up and started walking home. It's about 3 1/2 miles, so I figure I could do it in under an hour.
Luckily, one of my roommates was just getting out of the gym, so he drove straight out to meet me. I had made it about halfway home, hot and sweaty, and not exactly in a Mopar-hugging mood. Some thunderstorms came though about an hour later, drenching everything and cooling down considerably. We went back out to try getting the car started. Damn thing fired up on the first try! I immediately took it to my mechanic and dropped it off.
So if nothing else, in its current condition, the car WILL start, eventually. But I'm worried that eventually I'm going to drain the battery or wear out the starter, and I know in its current condition its wasting a lot of fuel. So I'd rather just get it fixed right.
You'd have to be prepared to part with some money now and then to keep it up to spec, and there'd be many times when the work couldn't be done at home.
I still greatly admire the 126s, just such a homogenous and handsome design, and so good for time it was developed. It is timeless, it still has a presence today. "Just right" as you say. These were certainly my favorite non-exotic or vintage car when I was a kid. I really liked my car, but I was bit by the new car bug, the old car was getting up there a bit and I felt bad about abusing it, and I had no place to store it even if I had tried to keep it. It went to a good home.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
Speaking of the Twister
I don't know what category this is... maybe a "project" to get it cleaned out. It's not a classic, but the ad is.
But this falls under "I'd rather walk".
-Mathias
Yeah, I think I lucked out with getting it for $500. The seller really wanted to get rid of it, though. It had been his father's car, and his father passed away about 6-7 years ago. He kept it around and occasionally used it as a spare car, but the seller works in construction, and really needs a truck. He was driving an '80-86 style Ford F-150 with about 300,000 miles on it, but it was on its second 300 straight six. Anyway, they sold the father's house back around the beginning of the year, so the NYer lost its parking space. That's when it went to the gas station, where it went through the annual PA inspection and then just sat around. The owner was friends with the guy who owned the gas station, so he didn't mind it sitting around there.
And sit it did, until Grbeck noticed it, mentioned that he had a surprise to show me, and then drove us past it that night.
In some ways, now that I paid $500 for this "new" New Yorker, I almost feel ripped off by the $900 I paid for my '79 5th Avenue edition almost 6 years ago! :P
Anyway, if the mechanic gets it back to me in a reasonable amount of time, and I can get the radiator hoses changed, I'll have it up for the Mopar show. I guess I could just have the mechanic do the hoses if I wanted to be lazy, but I can do it myself for a lot less money. R-bodies are actually pretty easy to work on under the hood, for a 70's car. There's a lot of crap under the hood, but also a lot of room. In contrast, when I look under the hood of my '76 LeMans, I just want to throw my hands up in disgust!
nice E36 M3
5spd 5-series (scary miles)
this looks good, until you get to the last 2 words
3-series drop-top has been for sale forever (high miles?)
cheap M3 in arrestmeyellow (there is no part on this car that you can buy for $14)
ticket magnet
beautiful MR2
link title
'94 BMW convertible--it's not the miles that 's the problem it's that it's already $1,000 over retail. Geez seller, go look at a price guide that is realistic, not Kelley. $5,750 is about right for buyer and seller. $6,900 is too high
'99 BMW 528i -- the problem here is that the seller is not adjusting for the high miles. He's looking at basically correct retail book but disregarding the mileage discount that is necessary. About $8,500 is right, not $9,900.
I get the heebee-jeebees about reports about the rear control arms and diff mounts pulling from the frame, although the M3 supposedly has additional bracing over the regular 3 series.
A nice, low mileage E36 M3-4, maybe silver with black leather, and a sunroof for the right $$ and my finances would be in serious jeopardy.
The odometer reads 37,xxx - I asked my dad if that was 137K or 237K ... he said 137K ... this is for a truck that is 37 years old! He had the engine replaced at 90K.
and i love the description:
Car is completely stock...
Recent replacement of the front bumper and all aerodynamic under panels. Sport version....
I just replaced the original M-Contour II wheels with a low mileage/20,000 mile set of 1997 M3 M-Double Spoke II Sport Wheels. 17x8.5" rear and 17x7.5" front wheels. ...
car seems pretty unstock for a completely stock car.
oh, and the best line:
Has original Michelin tires in good shape.
EGADS!!! 150k miles on the original tires!!!! ;b
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
i think this may make me a bmw convert if it keeps up the good work. i'm actually kind of jealous that my wife's toy is nicer than mine (meaning the alfa).
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
(it's true BTW)
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
this pics are still in the listing where i spotted it.
it runs GREAT. the whole passenger side is pretty beat up, but it still shines for the most part. new tires, newish top, and now a full tune-up, water pump, thermostat, new coolant, and timing belt. the auto tranny shifts are barely perceptible, all the electronics work, and the brakes could pull the fillings right out of your teeth. so far so good.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
Ouch!
Das tut weh.
-Mathias
(I want my flag back, though)
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
2024 Jeep Grand Cherokee L Limited Velvet Red over Wicker Beige
2024 Audi Q5 Premium Plus Daytona Gray over Beige
2017 BMW X1 Jet Black over Mocha
This is how I spent last Saturday... 350 miles towing an old rusted out Ford plow truck. I have about 71,500 on the Chevy now.
overpriced or a bargain, depending on your POV
Same place, an E30 that makes the previous E36 look like a steal:
E30 with $30k in "upgrades" (??)
One more time:
E36 M3 automatic (whatzup with that?)
james
A HS buddy of mine has a paint and body shop and did the work ... it looks like a new truck by and large.
The largest part of my heritage is German with Cherokee the next largest.
i do have a 2L spider, and that's the car we were talking about the motor swap on.
speaking of the alfa, I thought I'd have it back on the road tomorrow, but I just now come to find out the brake master cylinder kit i got from international auto doesn't come with the rubber grommets to mount the bowl to the cylinder. ARRRGGG!! that's actually the ONLY part I needed, but I bought the kit for $25 thinking it was a better deal than buying JUST the grommets for $18. Guess who the fool is now? Now I gotta wait a couple more days for the darned grommets to ship!
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
How did it work exactly. I have always read that honda did it first on their bikes and then the NSX.