Project Cars--You Get to Vote on "Hold 'em or Fold 'em"

qbrozen

I know very very few. Lessee...

G35 = diamond graphite (i think?)
S70 = coral red
V70 = moondust
Pilot = havasu blue
Pacific = midnight blue (?)
626 = meadow green (?)

That's about all I can come up with, and as you can see, I'm not 100% sure about all of them.

BTW, just noticed this is my 13333 post.

lemmer

Did you make money on your recent auto sales?

qbrozen

Made money? eh. I wouldn't say that. But I got to enjoy them for very very little. Let's see...

'87 BMW - purchased September '07 for $3300 with 112k miles. Invested nothing other than normal maintenance. Never even bought tires for it. Sold July '10 with 126k(?) miles for $3k.

'91 190E - purchased October '09 with 158k for $1500. Put maybe $300 into it. Sold July '10 with 164k for $2k.

'85 300z - purchase January '09 with 156k for $1100. Put ~$1400 into it. Sold Aug '10 with 160k for $3300 (although still haven't received all money and it is still in my garage).

It LOOKS like I "made money" on the latter 2, but if you consider my labor ... that's not really true.

lemmer

You can tell your wife you make money on your hobby. That is all that matters.

xwesx

Possibly, but it depends on his wife! My wife wouldn't care how much I made, she can't stand seeing the vehicles in the driveway.

jrosasmc

Why did you sell the '91 Mercedes so quickly, after owning it for just a few months? Did you want or need something better?

qbrozen

It was always just supposed to be a temporary car. But, more importantly, I discovered after the new baby arrived that I couldn't fit 2 kids in the back and still have room to drive. So that's when I stepped up to the V70. Then that started worrying me a bit with its flakiness, and I got a raise at work, so I moved onto the GTI.

jrosasmc

What year's the V70 - and how come it started acting flaky? Some of the newer Volvos aren't supposed to act "flaky," at least not in my case. My '99 S70 (base) has been quite dependable lately, knock on wood - although at 114k miles I'll need to do some remedial maintenance on it soon.

Hope everything works out with the V70. I have another Volvo, my '96 850, that's currently in storage and on blocks, with 89k original miles on it. I have to take it out one of these days since I haven't driven the car at all this year.

qbrozen

it was the ill-fated '01. I traded it on the GTI.

cruise control and stereo would cut in and out intermittently. And then the transmission did 1 weird shift flare and I decided that was it.

explorerx4

Typhoon

jlflemmons

One day I was driving in a rural area and came upon a Typhoon at a stop light. When the light changed, oh my word! You could hear the turbo spool up as that thing took off like it was fired out of a cannon.

There was/is a group of enthusiasts that were modding those things up to 350+ HP and getting 1/4 times in the 12's.

Both the Syclone and the Typhoon were technology platforms for GM. The one in the ad looks too good for that price.

explorerx4

you are probably right, the vehicle pictures looked great for the asking price.

oregonboy

If it was for real, I would expect that it is sold by now.

steine13

Hartford, CT? Not a GM hotbed... the price is realistic, I would think, and the car is "rare," but who really wants these things? It's a throwback to muscle cars, done with trucks because of looser regulations and, well, it was the style at the time...

The S10 and its clones were thoroughly miserable cars.
Cheers, -Mathias

qbrozen

I'm with Mathias. I think some of you are forgetting what these things are like (between my family and 1 closest high school buddy, I've lived with 6 of them). The build quality and materials is just pitiful. The engine is the only thing its got going for it and basically all you are paying for.

andre1969

I wonder how that Chevy 262 V-6 took to turbocharging? I find it to be an engine that's rough and crude and noisy, albeit pretty durable. I wonder if the turbocharging made it unreliable, or if they beefed it up adequately, like what Buick did with the turbocharged, and later supercharged, 231?

Mr_Shiftright

Probably the fairest review I ever saw on a Typhoon was:

"fast great looking pile of crap"

Never owned one, have no real experience with them except market value---they seem to have an enthusiastic but very small following. My impression about them when they come on the market is:

1. For their scarcity, you do see a lot of them for sale

2. Most owners have put a LOT of money into them, and thus price them so high that they rarely sell.

3. You probably should not be driving them hard, at their full performance potential.

4. $6900 seems somewhat undervalue; however if this one we see for sale has never been modified or beefed up, it could be a hand grenade with a loose pin in the wrong hands.

I'd say if a Typhoon stands tall, is top-notch high #3, or low #2 driver, not heavily modified, that anything up to $10000 is market value.

Would I pay that for one? No, but maybe $5K---they look like fun.

explorerx4

nice little satellite sedan

jlflemmons

the odd thing about that generation of S10 is that the quality was so sporadic across the country. I owned three; a used '85, used '86, and a new '92. Of the three, the only real problem I had was on the '92, where the paint went flat in 18months. This was a very common problem in that era across all brands as this was at the time of the failiing primers (big chunks of paint coming off) and the transition to clear coat.

In our case, the dealer took one look at the car and gave it a complete repaint with clear coat. I saw the vehicle many years later after we had sold it, and it still looked very good. Never had any mechanical, squeak, rattle problems, and with the L35 CPI balance shaft engine, ran like a rabbit.

That being said, I know my three in that generation were the exception, not the rule. And the '99 and '02 we have owned were badly prone to squeaks, rattles, and other odd maladies.

I still believe there is a market for such a vehicle, but only if GM were to step up and really put the design effort into them. But if I am going to stray from the topic, I would still say that GM should have updated the Astro/Safari and kept it on the market. Extremely versatile, and based on the volume of survivors on the road, at least somewhat durable.

omarman

"But if I am going to stray from the topic, I would still say that GM should have updated the Astro/Safari and kept it on the market."

Chevy Astro van was one of those vehicles I wanted to like but couldn't find a way. My test drive at a dealership in 1989 was really disappointing. The thrashy 4.3 was too awful to live with. Ten years later my wife and I rented an AWD Astro for a trip and found that it was just too cramped up front for anything but short trips. And the AWD made it a gas hog.

I agree that the Astro had the right look and mission, but not the engineering. It was like the Fiero team at GM said, "Now, let's build a van!" Or was that the Lumina? And I just remembered test driving a new Beretta back then too. Gawd awful awful. Cheap interior would offend a Dodge Omni owner.

andre1969

Good looking car, and a sweet color! I'd love to get a '68-69 Coronet or '68-70 Satellite (never did like the '70 Coronet with its double-loop bumper) hardtop coupe with a 318. Nice, well-balanced car. Fast enough, but not a guzzler. Only problem is that these days, it seems like they've all been turned into Roadrunner, GTX, Super Bee, etc clones.

fintail

My dad had an 85 S-10 Blazer when I was a kid. I think it might have had the 2.8. Engine went through exhaust manifold gaskets like a kid eating candy. Interior was very low rent. The vehicle rusted in mild Pacific Northwest weather. Although I will admit it never stranded him. It was eventually dumped for an Exploder, which felt like a Lexus in comparison.

jlflemmons

In typical "stop before finished" GM bean counter mentality, the Astro/Safari was designed for the small block V8 engine with the 4.3L as the entry alternative. Jagsthatrun.com states that the V8 conversion on the Astro/Safari is the easiest transplant you can do. Everything in the drive train was from the 1/2 ton pickup.

But you are very right about legroom in the front. Definitely could have used some work there. But those things could almost turn inside the turning radius of the Voyager/Caravan/T&C.

The Lumina/Silloette/Montana was the Fiero-in-a-van attempt.

Comments about the rust/squeaks on the S10 Blazer is exactly what I mean; If you got a good one, it was very, very good. But if you got a dog... ruff.

hpmctorque

Speaking of Beretta, I saw one on the rode today, being used to deliver pizzas. The exterior, or at least the sides I saw, seemed in decent shape.

steine13

The worst part about the Astro was the harmonica action in the IIHS crash test. Truly frightening, which is why I never owned one. It'd make a great canoe mobile & camper, but no thanks.

I had an '04 Silverado with the 4.3 and automatic, and I really liked that powertrain...

Cheers -Mathias

oregonboy

Harmonica? To you mean accordion? (Or perhaps bassoon!)

steine13

Doh!
Can I please have my flag back so people will understand why I write nonsense?

Yes, accordion, like so:
http://www.iihs.org/ratings/rating.aspx?id=66

Other vehicles in this type of crash, you open the door and get out.

-Mathias

andre1969

From what I remember, most body-on-frame vans would crumple up like that back in those days, so I don't think the Astro was much worse than an Aerostar, or a "real" van. Basically, you just sat too close to the front of the vehicle, so you were essentially in the crumple zone.

IIRC, weren't most pickup trucks pretty bad back in the mid-90's as well, when it came to that offset crash test?

Usually, a vehicle like that will do fairly well if you run into something that's going to give. For instance, if you rear-end another car, or t-bone somebody. Or even if you hit something head on that's lighter than your car. But, run it into something solid, like a big tree or a bridge abutment, and that's when you get turned into the musical instrument of your choice.

texases

I read that, for whatever reason, the Japanese liked the Astro van styling, so Toyota used it as the inspiration for the 1st-gen Scion xB. Unfortunately, it also shared the poor crash performance: for the 1st-gen xB it was side crashes that were bad

texases

Good luck getting engine parts

fintail

I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up going home. Zhe Germans would love that thing. Nice price :shades:

omarman

Saw this on Bat and had to read the ad a couple times to get an idea of what the seller had and how he wants to dispose of it.

Looks like 65 Porsches + several truck loads of parts which the seller wants to package/sell in $100K lots to buyers. Apparently seller wants to avoid parting out in single parts, etc.

Maybe he needs someone like Shifty to do a pre-sale appraisal with suggestions on how to manage a sell off like that. Given enough time (and money) one person might accumulate a lotta stuff, but a little professional advice couldn't hurt when it comes time to unload it all.

Mr_Shiftright

Actually I think the seller is pretty savvy. What he seems to be doing is putting what he calls (interestingly) his "Porsche junk" just out of reach of salivating newbies or incorrigible Porsche freaks. I suspect he has a few gems mixed in with a lot of old worn out stuff----but who knows? It takes a good eye (ahem) to spot the usable, valuable cylinder head, for instance, amidst the worthless Porsche scrap metal.

As for complete early 911s, those could be valuable; however, being unibodies, if the chassis is badly rusted, you can just throw the things away---they will never, ever, be right again. Of particular interest would be a restorable 911E, or an early 911S. The run of the mill 911T probably is not worth restoring if it's in bad shape. Rebuildable engine cores might be of some value, and of course any NOS parts would be worth something.

One problem is that a lot, as in a LOT, of Porsche stuff is being reproduced and is available to restorers.

texases

Are there any Porsche salvage yards in the US that are big enough to bit off the whole lot? You'd need to be big to take it all, crate it up, ship it, and sift through it, with, say, 20% going into stock, the rest going to the scrapper.

Mr_Shiftright

Oh yeah, there are a few big operations. Parts Heaven

http://www.partsheaven.com/

is one---they used to be called Porsche Heaven but Porsche jumped on them with both feet for using their name.

I bought a few engines from them while back---they're pretty good. Not cheap, but they seem to stand behind their stuff.

jlflemmons

Thing about those Astro/Safari's....

They called it "body on frame" but I owned three of them, and never figured out what they were talking about. There was no friggin frame, it had a subframe for the engine and tranny, but the rest of that beast was unitized. Where you see it buckle in the crash is where the sub frame bolts to the body.

To me, "body on frame" is what you have with a full sized pickup truck. You have a full length frame, and the body bolts down on it. Heck, even the little S10 series was a full frame vehicle.

andre1969

There was no friggin frame, it had a subframe for the engine and tranny, but the rest of that beast was unitized. Where you see it buckle in the crash is where the sub frame bolts to the body.

Hmm, that's kinda odd. I never knew that. I just always thought the Astro/Safari was based on the S-10, and had a full-frame underneath?

But then I've seen the word "unit-body" or "Unibody" thrown around pretty loosely, too. I think the worst offender is the Honda Ridgeline. They call it "unibody", but how can it be unibody when it has one of these under it?


Even Chrysler, which coined the word "UniBody", put some pretty substantial sub-frames under their cars. My two A-bodies, three R-bodies, and one M-body all had a pretty substantial sub-frame up front, and one in the back, and I'd say roughly 2/3 of the car's length had framework underneath. So, at that point, I wonder if they should have just gone and made a full-length frame?

And then, on some compacts like the Chevy II and the Mustang, they'd make "subframe connectors", to give the thing more or less the illusion of a full-frame car.

jlflemmons

Astro Frame

So really the "Frame" is the engine and tranny cradle. The rest of the frame is layers of sheet metal in the body.

andre1969

Actually, now that I know the Astro is really more of a unibody, I somehow have a bit more respect for it. For all its faults, the Astro did two things well...hauling and towing. Better than most of its minivan competition. I'd always thought that was because it was body-on-frame, but I guess this shows that unibody can serve just as well.

Then again, the evidence may have been there prior to this. Back in the 70's, some of those behemoth GM wagons were rated to tow up to 7,000 lb. But, I believe the Unibody Chrysler mastodons were rated the same. I'd guess the big Fords of the era were comparable?

explorerx4

he must a be discriminating collector. has a GMC Cyclone (twin to the Typhoon) with 21k on it. steine13 are you out there?

explorerx4

i also wonder what his idea of a 100k 'per lot' is.

Mr_Shiftright

With 21K, I have no idea what he's "saving it" for---this is the kind of "collectible" you want to use up and enjoy before the world stops caring altogether.

steine13

Zhe Germans would love that thing.

Yes ve vud!
-Mathias

hpmctorque

Of course I meant road, not rode, in message #21717.

lemko

Remember that '80s Mitsubishi van at the Carlisle Chrysler show? Your legs were the crumple zone. It's even worse in an old VW bus where there's nothing between you and the object you're about to hit but a thin piece of sheet metal. You can even see the back of the headlight pods on each side of you.

andre1969

that reminds me...I have to get those pictures posted!

omarman

i also wonder what his idea of a 100k 'per lot' is.

Don't know but in his latest update of the ad, seller posts that he's down to "60+ cars" and still has "a couple of truckloads full of parts."

And his signature vehicle list is down to just one: twin turbo v10 diesel touareg daily driver.

Wonder if the others (GMC Syclone, etc.) were part of the sale too?

fintail

Talked to my mechanic about the fintail's hot running issue today. He agrees it is either a thermostat issue, an obstructed radiator, or remote chance of a water pump impeller issue. I guess none of those are terribly expensive to set right.

Which is good, because tomorrow the E55 gets new tires. They cost about 80% of what I paid for the fintail, years ago. Ouch.

explorerx4

actaully saw this car today going to work

only driven on the 4th of July? Vermont joke

classic subi

huh?

qbrozen

1. Just cause you put JDM parts on it, don't make it a JDM car.

3. inside of the subie looks pretty clean. wonder how many miles.

4. ooohhh.... the elusive automatic Camry. score!