I went through a phase where I wanted a '61-62 Cadillac hearse. Heck, I still think one would be kinda cool. I guess if I had to go to a funeral though, it would be in poor taste to drive it in the procession? I guess I could make the final request that I be taken to my own gravesite in it, when the time comes! By that time though, a '62 Caddy might be so far removed in driving experience from modern cars, that the funeral home people might be afraid to drive it.
The reason I asked about the Brougham is that one of my buddies is a Cadillac fanatic and is looking for a square-headlamp car to complement his '90 and '91 Broughams (which have the newer, updated composite headlamps and refreshed interiors). My hunch would be that Lemko isn't open to offers no matter how big or small.
I have to think there might be some shenanigans going on - I thought these were ~50K cars. But it has all the right stuff, and looks as perfect as one can reasonably expect. If I had the money and the room and the time.
Yeah, I still have it, although it's looking pretty ratty these days. I also overheated it back in 2013...no permanent damage to the engine, thankfully, but it's been a bit hard to start ever since. I might start running it once a week or so, once the weather gets a bit nicer, just to exercise it. I'll use it to haul stuff around on occasion. Oh, and I used it to pull up a tree stump last year. Here's a fairly recent pic of it...
BTW, if it makes it to roughly June or July of this year, it will have been in the family 30 years! My Granddad bought it new over the summer of '85. He died in 1990. Grandmom kept it around until around 1995 or so, and gave it to my Mom and stepdad. They bought a new F-150 in 2002, and passed the Chevy on to me.
Yeah, I still have it, although it's looking pretty ratty these days. I also overheated it back in 2013...no permanent damage to the engine, thankfully, but it's been a bit hard to start ever since. I might start running it once a week or so, once the weather gets a bit nicer, just to exercise it. I'll use it to haul stuff around on occasion. Oh, and I used it to pull up a tree stump last year. Here's a fairly recent pic of it...
BTW, if it makes it to roughly June or July of this year, it will have been in the family 30 years! My Granddad bought it new over the summer of '85. He died in 1990. Grandmom kept it around until around 1995 or so, and gave it to my Mom and stepdad. They bought a new F-150 in 2002, and passed the Chevy on to me.
My dad bought his Chevrolet C-10 new in 1970, and it's still parked in the driveway! 45 years, and only about 140K on the clock. Engine was rebuilt about 15-20 years ago with 100K on it.
I drove it a couple weeks ago when I visited the folks in CA .. what a time machine.
Looks like he did a very nice job with it. It was a cheap little thing in its day and pretty scary to drive fast, but it does have that undeniable British eccentricity about it. Perfect car for John Lennon--better yet, Yoko. A person could destroy this car with only his hands and feet.
I just looked at a rubber B last month. It looked like new and drove great and ran great---sold for $8500. Someone had put a lot of love and a fair amount of money into it. Seemed like a good deal for that level of condition.
Today I looked at a 1966 Porsche 912---original owner! All original still, except for new paint. After driving it, all I can say is that Porsche has come a mighty long way in 50 years.
Driving these delicate little sports cars from the 60s and 70s on modern freeways really gets one's anxiety levels up. You just know that if one of these behemoth SUVs smacked into you, you'd basically disintegrate.
Yeah, I still have it, although it's looking pretty ratty these days. I also overheated it back in 2013...no permanent damage to the engine, thankfully, but it's been a bit hard to start ever since. I might start running it once a week or so, once the weather gets a bit nicer, just to exercise it. I'll use it to haul stuff around on occasion. Oh, and I used it to pull up a tree stump last year. Here's a fairly recent pic of it...
BTW, if it makes it to roughly June or July of this year, it will have been in the family 30 years! My Granddad bought it new over the summer of '85. He died in 1990. Grandmom kept it around until around 1995 or so, and gave it to my Mom and stepdad. They bought a new F-150 in 2002, and passed the Chevy on to me.
It looks pretty straight. Is rust an issue? Any plans for a repaint? It reminds me of the new 1976 GMC Sierra that dad bought when we moved to VA. It had a white top and solid red body. Red plaid interior. 350 4bbl, full time 4wd. On a good day it got 11 mpg. Dad loved it.
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It looks pretty straight. Is rust an issue? Any plans for a repaint? It reminds me of the new 1976 GMC Sierra that dad bought when we moved to VA. It had a white top and solid red body. Red plaid interior. 350 4bbl, full time 4wd. On a good day it got 11 mpg. Dad loved it.
Unfortunately, it has plenty of needs. That's actually its good side! On the passenger side, the rocker panel is rustier, and there's a big dent in the door where I think someone did a parking-lot hit and run. The a/c doesn't work, radio works sporadically, driver's side power window doesn't work (motor runs, but something came loose). It's hard to start. Rear bumper has a curl in it, from another parking lot hit and run. It also needs a front-end rebuild...all the major stuff is good, but the rubber stuff is worn out.
Also the engine, a 305-4bbl, will smoke a bit on startup, and hard acceleration. It has about 140,000 miles on it. It's okay as a backup vehicle for work, as my job is only 2.5 miles away. And, hauling junk to the dump, and so forth. My uncle has also used it to take lawn equipment (tractor, snowblower, tiller, etc) back and forth to the repair shop...he likes it because it sits lower than my 2012 Ram, so it's a lot easier to load and unload things. In fact, last summer, the lawn equipment place accidentally smashed something through the back window when loading it up, so I got a nice, new tinted sliding window for free. At the time, the windshield had a huge crack in it as well, and my uncle offered to get a new one put in for me at the same time. I had been putting it off, thinking it would be expensive, but I think it only came out to around 200 bucks. Oddly, the rear window, which the lawn equipment place picked up the tab for, was more expensive!
I don't know that I'd trust it over a long distance any more, though. I've been thinking about selling it, but just been too lazy. I just renewed the registration for two years, so I figure I'm into it for that long, at least...
Even though I do have some sentimental attachment to it, I don't have enough to try and restore it, or anything like that. As for fuel economy, around town I'm lucky to break 10 mpg. Out on the highway though, it'll get 16-18, and when it was newer, it could break 20.
This truck actually replaced a '76 GMC Sierra, which Granddad had bought new. It was a 3/4 ton crew cab, sort of a deep copper color with a white contrast. Looking at the GM paint chart, I think it was called "Grecian Bronze". Sort of like this, except ours was a crew cab...
As a kid, we took a lot of camping trips in it. Grandmom and Granddad had a slide in truck camper. Granddad bought the '85 Silverado, but held onto the GMC another year or two, because the '85 wasn't strong enough to hold the camper. They finally decided that their camping days were over, and the last few trips they made were by '85 LeSabre and motels/relatives' homes, rather than roughing it.
Prologue So I did buy an Outback from the 'no haggle' lot. It's a CPO 2014 2.5i. The price was no haggle, fortunately dropped by $200 the day before I came in. There was some back and forth on the trade and I got them to install heated seats for no charge. Can only has 10k on it, so with the CPO warranty I have almost 6 years and 90k powertrain warranty. That's longer than you get on a new one.
I seem to remember the Fairmont had a large number of recalls its first year or so out. I never drove a "pure" Fairmont, but when I was practicing driving, I logged a lot of miles on my grandparents' '85 LTD, which was a tarted up Fairmont. I was just a kid at the time, and my experience with a variety of cars was limited. The main thing I remember was that it was easier to parallel park than my Mom's '80 Malibu, despite being a couple inches longer, and it just felt more nimble in general...probably the narrower body, shorter wheelbase, and sloping hood. It was also a bit quicker than the Malibu. But, the Malibu felt roomier, more comfortable, and more substantial.
I think Uplanderguy said it perfectly in the past, where one of them felt more like a "smaller big car" while the other felt like a "bigger small car".
The closest thing I came to driving a Fairmont was my Dad's 1981 Thunderbird Town Landau with the 255 V-8. It was a dog.
Had the beast out today, started right up and ran fine. Filled it up, looks to have averaged about 20mpg on the highway drive a few weeks ago. Not bad, looks long in this pic:
Here's something - this is maybe a $750-1000 car - we aren't in Germany - looks to maybe have the rare front bench seat option. Not a 3 speed, not a hardtop. It's an oddball, the 220 - single carb, less chrome trim, this was the base 6cyl car. Lower production than the fancier models.
Looks like a parts car to me--why suddenly is decades of utter neglect supposed to be rewarded? It's going to rot in that container at that price. The one for $1000 looks more salvageable, presuming it can run.
The "Moon Shot" sticker on the storage locker car is interesting too. Maybe a nut owned it.
I too think it is beyond redemption, both cars probably are. Someone might attempt it on the continent, but getting it from here to there hurts the deal. For $4200, it needs to be roadworthy and clean.
I went through a phase where I wanted a '61-62 Cadillac hearse. Heck, I still think one would be kinda cool. I guess if I had to go to a funeral though, it would be in poor taste to drive it in the procession? I guess I could make the final request that I be taken to my own gravesite in it, when the time comes! By that time though, a '62 Caddy might be so far removed in driving experience from modern cars, that the funeral home people might be afraid to drive it.
There's a guy I know in the Cadillac-LaSalle Club with a 1961 Cadillac hearse he restored about ten years ago.
You have to do your reversing like the old folks at the local retirement home near me---you put it in gear, keep looking straight ahead, punch the gas and say: "Watch out, I'm backin' up..." I pedal real fast when I go past there on my bike...
Ah the Adenauer, restoring one of those makes restoring a fintail look financially prudent. Nice cars though, I see MB has used a hardtop model in a recent commercial.
I see bidding stalled at about where it was when I first saw the ad. Who knows if it really changed hands, but supply and demand probably plays out there, as there aren't many legit full-load AMG cars around.
How is the '89 Brougham running these days? I know it's been a while so I had to ask - have you had to have the engine or transmission rebuilt or replaced yet?
A couple of weeks ago, I bought a trickle charger and charged up the battery in the Mustang. It was relatively warm today, so I topped off the battery charge and started the car. What a difference starting with a charged up battery, so easy! wish I had done it a long time ago.
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How is the '89 Brougham running these days? I know it's been a while so I had to ask - have you had to have the engine or transmission rebuilt or replaced yet?
It still has the original tranny and engine. No need to overhaul either. The car keeps going and going and going like the Eveready bunny! Had a front tire blow on the PA Turnpike back in Oct. 2013 that caused a bit of a mess to the left front fender and wheel well. Got most of it repaired. Need some minor parts. Been too harsh of a winter to really do much.
What a fabulous car. I've always enjoyed seeing it and reading its stories over the years I've frequented the forums.
Not for sale right now, I assume?
I've had many offers, but it's not for sale.
Here's another shot of the car from last October:
It's wearing new tires from Coker tires. I still have three of the OEM Uniroyal Royal Seal Tires. Too bad they are no longer manufactured. I figure this style would be closest to what these Cadillacs would've had in the 1980s.
I was able to get some NOS rocker panel and wheel arch trim to replace those that were destroyed in the accident. I'm not entirely happy with the job the body shop I toke it to in NE PA did, so I'm probably going to have it properly redone by some guys I trust in Philly to do a good job.
lemko, did you order that '89 new, or have a dealer locate one for you, or did you buy from inventory at a dealer you went to? I'm always interested in that! I've told you this before, but I like the styling of yours much better than the ones a year or two newer, with the big headlights, lower side trim and often silver on the bottom 1/3. I always liked how starting in '84 I think, the side moldings were completely the color of the car, giving it almost the clean look of having no molding down the side. Yours is like that.
P.S.--I'm with berri--I like some chrome on a car, except I do like the completely-body-colored side moldings.
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Just to show what a small world it is, Lemko bought that '89 Brougham about a half-mile from my grandmother's childhood home, in Harrisburg, PA. That was a whole different time, though...Grandmom moved away from there in 1946, although the house stayed in the family until around 1978 or so.
And I agree, Lemko's style is more attractive, in my eye, than the '90-92 style, which had the composite headlights. One advantage to that later style, though, is that you could get a 350 V-8 as an option, although I think that was only in 1991-92. In 1990, and perhaps a few earlier years, it was offered, but only as part of a coach-builder's package, intended for limousines, hearses, etc.
I like Lemko's car more than the facelifted final run cars, too. It looks better, suits the original design. Those thicker whitewalls look really good on it, too.
No crack so the rim was straightened out. A few weeks later and it seems to be fine, although it has a lot of weights on it to make it balance. The rim on it is a 17 exclusive to the Sienna XLE that year. I'm glad that I didn't have to go hunting for that
I didn't know you could bang an aluminum rim back out. Good to know, in case I ever bend one! About 20 years ago, I wiped out on a slick spot on an entrance ramp and hopped a curb with my '82 Cutlass Supreme, which had color-keyed Rally wheels in "light Jadestone", a beautiful, but not-so-common color. Popped one tire immediately, while another tire got a huge blister on it and third had a huge chunk ripped off of the sidewall. I had just bought those tires about 4-5 months before, so it was a good thing I got the road hazard coverage!
Worse, one of the rally wheels got bent, and it was bent too badly to get straightened back out. I lucked out though, finding one at a local junkyard. It was gray, instead of light jadestone, but by the time you put the center cap on and the chrome trim ring, the contrast with the rest of the car wasn't all that noticeable.
With all the 50, 40, even 35 series tires on alloy rims, there's now a booming business in rim straightening. BMW rims seem especially fragile, CandD had to repair a few on one of their long term tests of a BMW.
I was running 205/70/R14s on my '82 Cutlass Supreme...I wonder what type of damage a similar curb-hopping would have done to a modern car with those lower-profile tires?
I also remember one of my friends hitting a pothole with his '85 Cavalier and it bent a rim...just a cheap, steel rim. We took the tire off the car, went up to the local Shell station, and they banged it out with a big hammer for five bucks. That was sometime in the early 90's.
I was running 205/70/R14s on my '82 Cutlass Supreme...I wonder what type of damage a similar curb-hopping would have done to a modern car with those lower-profile tires?.
The shop that fixed it for me seemed to feel that any aluminum wheel that wasn't cracked could be fixed. They were doing brisk business with the modern wheels of today
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The reason I asked about the Brougham is that one of my buddies is a Cadillac fanatic and is looking for a square-headlamp car to complement his '90 and '91 Broughams (which have the newer, updated composite headlamps and refreshed interiors). My hunch would be that Lemko isn't open to offers no matter how big or small.
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Do you still own your '85 Chevy half-ton pickup truck? If I remember correctly it was once owned by another family member.
BTW, if it makes it to roughly June or July of this year, it will have been in the family 30 years! My Granddad bought it new over the summer of '85. He died in 1990. Grandmom kept it around until around 1995 or so, and gave it to my Mom and stepdad. They bought a new F-150 in 2002, and passed the Chevy on to me.
I drove it a couple weeks ago when I visited the folks in CA .. what a time machine.
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Today I looked at a 1966 Porsche 912---original owner! All original still, except for new paint. After driving it, all I can say is that Porsche has come a mighty long way in 50 years.
Driving these delicate little sports cars from the 60s and 70s on modern freeways really gets one's anxiety levels up. You just know that if one of these behemoth SUVs smacked into you, you'd basically disintegrate.
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Also the engine, a 305-4bbl, will smoke a bit on startup, and hard acceleration. It has about 140,000 miles on it. It's okay as a backup vehicle for work, as my job is only 2.5 miles away. And, hauling junk to the dump, and so forth. My uncle has also used it to take lawn equipment (tractor, snowblower, tiller, etc) back and forth to the repair shop...he likes it because it sits lower than my 2012 Ram, so it's a lot easier to load and unload things. In fact, last summer, the lawn equipment place accidentally smashed something through the back window when loading it up, so I got a nice, new tinted sliding window for free. At the time, the windshield had a huge crack in it as well, and my uncle offered to get a new one put in for me at the same time. I had been putting it off, thinking it would be expensive, but I think it only came out to around 200 bucks. Oddly, the rear window, which the lawn equipment place picked up the tab for, was more expensive!
I don't know that I'd trust it over a long distance any more, though. I've been thinking about selling it, but just been too lazy. I just renewed the registration for two years, so I figure I'm into it for that long, at least...
Even though I do have some sentimental attachment to it, I don't have enough to try and restore it, or anything like that. As for fuel economy, around town I'm lucky to break 10 mpg. Out on the highway though, it'll get 16-18, and when it was newer, it could break 20.
This truck actually replaced a '76 GMC Sierra, which Granddad had bought new. It was a 3/4 ton crew cab, sort of a deep copper color with a white contrast. Looking at the GM paint chart, I think it was called "Grecian Bronze". Sort of like this, except ours was a crew cab...
As a kid, we took a lot of camping trips in it. Grandmom and Granddad had a slide in truck camper. Granddad bought the '85 Silverado, but held onto the GMC another year or two, because the '85 wasn't strong enough to hold the camper. They finally decided that their camping days were over, and the last few trips they made were by '85 LeSabre and motels/relatives' homes, rather than roughing it.
So I did buy an Outback from the 'no haggle' lot. It's a CPO 2014 2.5i. The price was no haggle, fortunately dropped by $200 the day before I came in. There was some back and forth on the trade and I got them to install heated seats for no charge.
Can only has 10k on it, so with the CPO warranty I have almost 6 years and 90k powertrain warranty. That's longer than you get on a new one.
Also, it looks like the transaxle might be going belly up, so good darn thing we do have the warranty!
Here's something - this is maybe a $750-1000 car - we aren't in Germany - looks to maybe have the rare front bench seat option. Not a 3 speed, not a hardtop. It's an oddball, the 220 - single carb, less chrome trim, this was the base 6cyl car. Lower production than the fancier models.
Low and behold, another one pops upMore realistic price
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I too think it is beyond redemption, both cars probably are. Someone might attempt it on the continent, but getting it from here to there hurts the deal. For $4200, it needs to be roadworthy and clean.
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Good to hear from you again.
How is the '89 Brougham running these days? I know it's been a while so I had to ask - have you had to have the engine or transmission rebuilt or replaced yet?
What a difference starting with a charged up battery, so easy! wish I had done it a long time ago.
What a fabulous car. I've always enjoyed seeing it and reading its stories over the years I've frequented the forums.
Not for sale right now, I assume?
New York roads. Pothole killed 2 Michelins
Here's another shot of the car from last October:
It's wearing new tires from Coker tires. I still have three of the OEM Uniroyal Royal Seal Tires. Too bad they are no longer manufactured. I figure this style would be closest to what these Cadillacs would've had in the 1980s.
I was able to get some NOS rocker panel and wheel arch trim to replace those that were destroyed in the accident. I'm not entirely happy with the job the body shop I toke it to in NE PA did, so I'm probably going to have it properly redone by some guys I trust in Philly to do a good job.
This is the Brougham's companion: a 2007 Cadillac DTS Performance "Black Beauty."
P.S.--I'm with berri--I like some chrome on a car, except I do like the completely-body-colored side moldings.
And I agree, Lemko's style is more attractive, in my eye, than the '90-92 style, which had the composite headlights. One advantage to that later style, though, is that you could get a 350 V-8 as an option, although I think that was only in 1991-92. In 1990, and perhaps a few earlier years, it was offered, but only as part of a coach-builder's package, intended for limousines, hearses, etc.
Worse, one of the rally wheels got bent, and it was bent too badly to get straightened back out. I lucked out though, finding one at a local junkyard. It was gray, instead of light jadestone, but by the time you put the center cap on and the chrome trim ring, the contrast with the rest of the car wasn't all that noticeable.
I also remember one of my friends hitting a pothole with his '85 Cavalier and it bent a rim...just a cheap, steel rim. We took the tire off the car, went up to the local Shell station, and they banged it out with a big hammer for five bucks. That was sometime in the early 90's.