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Comments
A few years ago, I used to see a guy in my neighborhood that used one of those little hardtops to deliver pizzas. Seemed like it was still in pretty good shape.
The Datsun 200SX had a cool looking little hardtop around the same time that had a similar roofline. I also thought those little Dodge Challengers and Plymouth Saporros were kinda neat.
"leading edge tecknowlegey"
A "collector" of 450SLs?---that's rather pompous, given that it's not a collector's car unless you mean collecting them in your back yard.
I vote "jerk".
The mileage is stated in the ad title, I would say it's implied to be original. And it could be.
The collector thing is funny though...a claimed fintail collector would have more credibility.
Now that I look through those pictures though, the car DOES look like a repaint. I think one giveaway is how while the paint is nice and shiny, if you look at the reflections in it, they have kind of a blurry, fuzzy look. And the main thing that bothers me about the interior is that it's done that thing that GM cars of the 70's tended to do, where as they aged, even if you took care of them, the different materials would fade at different rates, so eventually you'd eventually end up with 5 or 6 interior colors where originally you only had one! It's really noticeable with the center console, which has almost a pinkish hue to it. Either it's just faded to that color, or it's been replaced, pulled out of another car that faded a bit differently.
I think they're pretty cars, but aren't you better off getting the 560SL?
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
I'd agree with you, except for "NO rust. Very clean!"
At that point, the guy is fair game. I just ran through the pictures, but I also saw the rust on the lid... and if it's rusty there, what do you think the lower corners of the doors look like? They are conveniently not shown in the pictures.
Our 'expert' might have phrased things a little differently, but he has a point. Esp. on a place like Craig's list, which caters to the amateur. I didn't see the overspray on the muffler until I looked for it...but I think he's right.
-Mathias
He reminds me of the type of person who bad-mouths a movie without having seen it. Suddenly a "rust stain" becomes rust, and overspray becomes evidence of a complete repaint...I'm surprised he didn't spot accident damage from the photos, or flooding.
Funny how a seller posts a boatload of close up photos and then somebody wants to slam him for "hiding" things!!!
You can't win with some people.
http://chicago.craigslist.org/car/106367749.html
low mileage Rambler
fun "minivan"
You're right, '79 Malibu price is kind of silly. But if you don't ask, you don't get.
Rambler? Pricey, but some nostalgic person might overpay.
Again, price guidelines are fine, but when you get into rare/oddball cars that are still at the low end of the price scale, it only takes one person that really wants it.
Besides, paying 5K for a 3K malibu or Rambler isn't the end of the world, certainly not as bad as paying 75K for a 30K "muscle" car!
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
To think, put a port hole in it, and some shag carpet, and you have an English Pinto cruising wagon!
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
MINI -- yeah, you're right, better watch the paperwork on this one. Just because it's IN the country doesn't mean you can't get into a lot of trouble with this car.
Sometimes what they do with a model of car that has a long production run is to put the modern body on an older frame, and then register it under the older frame #s. This happened all the time with Citroen 2CVs you see in this country. You could do the same with a Mini I would think.
Also people will bring in illegal cars on one year resident visas and then switch paperwork with a US legal car, or even just hand you a foreign title or "papers" for the one year residency.
If it doesn't have DOT/EPA papers, don't buy it!
Seriously, AMC should be remembered for making cars that no self-respecting teenage boy wanted to be caught DEAD in!
It was really weird watching roger moore as JB flying around in an AMC hornet-those things could barely make 65 MPH!
I don't remember the 6 cylinder pushrod engine as particularly long-lived....I recall them as clattery, rough-idling oil burners that sounded like golf balls in a clothes dryer.
But of course memory is not reliable. That's just how I recall them. The old flatheads were okay though.
EPA/DOT: Well whether one likes the law or not, it's the law and people should pay attention to it lest they get burned big time. Personally I think the EPA served both good and bad purposes...it did keep a lot of useless rust-buckets out of the USA and tried to curb the abuse of importers. But like all laws, sometime they work at cross-purpose, I agree.
I haven't heard of hordes of awful cars making it to Canada or the market being flooded with unsafe wrecks. Maybe the EPA/DOT should rethink their stance...but of course, that would impact someone's income, and it's not what you know...especially when you really don't answer to anybody.
When it came time to retire the Hornet, they tried calling a few junkyards, and I even called a few. Nobody would even TAKE the car off their hands, let alone give them anything for it! We finally drove it down to a big junkyard near Culpeper VA, Leon's Auto Parts, and he gave them 90 bucks for it. They had offered to give it to me, but I knew better! :P It was leaking oil really badly, but that wasn't entirely the car's fault. The valve cover gasket was leaking, and they asked me to fix it. So I got out the socket set and tightened the bolts. One of them snapped off. Instead of getting it fixed professionally, they just drove it like that. I think it blew out about one quart of oil every 100 miles or so! It had around 90,000 miles on it when it got "retired". Body was actually in good shape, except for some rust at the bottom of the doors. One of the back windows would come off its track and fall down into the door, too.
Grbeck and I saw a Hornet at Carlisle. It was a pristine 1970 with only 28,000 miles, but was a nasty little thing! I tried to sit behind the wheel. Horrible seating position, with a close-in, awkwardly angled steering wheel. I don't think fat people could drive these things very comfortably! And the brake pedal was much closer than the gas pedal, making it very awkward to move your foot from one to the other. In fact, I couldn't do it without bending my leg at an extremely awkward angle, otherwise I'd hit the steering wheel with my leg!
Yet, as bad as this thing was, I KNOW I drove my friends' Hornet wagon a few times back in the day! And I don't remember it being that bad. But then, maybe I've just gotten spoiled by newer and better cars since then, so I forgot how bad it was?
I actually liked them both, and thought they drove fine, but this was the early 80's. If nothing else, they drove as well as my '73 Duster and '67 Camaro (6 cyl, PG), and where at least not at all rusty (unlike the others).
I imagine if I drove one now I would be aghast at the discomfort level, but at the time, any wheels was good wheels!
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Are we drifting topic here? I don't think so, since any "project car" you undertake had better conform to local and Federal laws or you are totally screwed. I've seen so many horror shows that I really want to give people a heads up about "weird" cars.
Onto the EPA/DOT silliness...dancing elephants indeed. The mere cost of shipment for oddball cars should keep the joker consumers out of the market - these things would be bought as hobby cars by enthusiasts, not regular commuters. There'd really be no harm done, but I am sure for those in charge, punch drunk on a power trip, it's hard to see the other side. Not progressive people or ideas.
In areas where the emissions test is required, cars from 1977-present are subjected, unless they're Diesels or trucks over a certain GVWR. Or, if you get historic tags on your car, which you can on 1980 and older cars (1981 as of January 1, 2006)
So if you are buying in California or bringing a car into California you had better make sure the car is old enough OR that will pass smog. Some of the 80s carburetted cars are doomed in California...they just can't pass the test anymore.
In the SF Bay Area, cars are smog tested on dynos now.
Wait, I just realized something...on the latest cars they just do an OBD-II scan and check for error codes. That actually pisses me off, because I want to see a printout to see how my car's really doing, not just the computer verifying that it's running okay! With my Intrepid, I really wanted to see if, and how much the emissions deteriorated over the years.
I have to jump back to the Dodge Challengers. My mother had a pair of 1977 challengers for a while; one from new and purchased in Alaska, the other used and purchased, I believe, in 1983. The Alaska car was silver and the latecomer was blue. I fondly recall both vehicles because:
1) In 1982, not too long before my youngest brother was born (I think my mother was pregnant with him.... maybe 6 months?), we went garage-saling as we did every weekend. This was about hour 7 or 8 on the day and my brother and I, ages 4 and 5, respectively, were rather worn out. We "waited in the car" while my mother went to "one last sale...." Well, waiting in the car consisted of pretending we were driving it. My brother managed to shift it into neutral and off we went down a hill. I told him "pull up on that lever!" and he did.... to no avail.... and the car eventually came to rest on top of a large hedge after it plummeted over a retaining wall. Amazingly, the car suffered no real damage, at least not something a 4-year-old would notice when we drove away.
2) In 1984 my youngest brother (then 2 years and maybe 3 months old) pulls a similar stunt in the blue Challenger. Except this time the car is parked on the street and he is so small he cannot do anything to affect the car's movement, be it steer, brake, etc. My brother and I were charged with watching him, but we were in the back yard playing ball and he "slipped away." I tell you what, when we saw the car roll past us, you can bet we were watching real hard! Three cars had to veer out of the way of the car as it slowly made its way across the road, and it finally was stopped by a neighbor's fence along the next block after it plowed down about 50' of newly painted picket fence and ground to a halt on top of the concrete base upon which the fence was built. Again, the car was driven away from there, but I'd be amazed if it did not sustain some steering or suspension damage.
Anyway, fun memories. In retrospect I am amazed and thankful that nobody was injured. Those were tough cars for their size! :P
I would be happy to buy a clean V8 stick Gremiln X if one came along. They really weren't bad cars for the day, compared to the rest of the crap out there. At least they were pretty tough.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
With our cold winters, we get a lot of inversions that keep the pollutants near the ground. Fairbanks used to be on the EPA's blacklist! I think that wood-burning stoves are more the problem than autos, but both are monitored very closely.
Not to mention that engine was no speed demon, but supplied enough torque to spin the 32"x12" tires from a standstill.
'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 can't remember the last time I saw a manual transmission Vigor
Funny, I test drove a manual transmission Vigor about five or six years ago, and a '90-ish Mercedes 190E 2.3 (automatic) the same day, I think they were the same price; I liked the Vigor a bit better, it was kind of fun to drive (I'm sure the stick shift helped), sprightly, though not a powerhouse by today's standards. Still, even with only 85k on the clock, an anomaly like a 5-cylinder Acura that barely anyone even remembers isn't going to bring $7k on this planet, IMO. I can think of a bunch of cars (foreign and domestic) on which I'd rather spend that kind of money.
Knew a guy who bought a stick Vigor used after we graduated from college. Nice car IIRC, probably realeased a little too soon. I think an updated version would be a big seller right now.
Speaking of 5 cylinders, knew a guy a few years later who swore the Vigor used a V-5. Could not in any form or fashion talk him out of it.