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

andre1969

I've probably mentioned this before, but I came close to buying a '79 Bonneville, myself. This was back in 1999. I was delivering pizzas in the evenings back then, and regularly spotted this white 4-door Bonneville in one neighborhood. Well, one warm summer evening, the owner was out as I drove past his house, so I stopped to ask him about it.

He said that he was actually in the process of getting rid of it...he was going to donate it to a charity. I asked if I could drive it, and make him an offer if I liked it and he said sure. So, I came by a couple days later. It was somewhat basic for a Bonneville...blue vinyl seats, crank windows, but at least had the Buick 350 instead of the Pontiac 301. However, since I knew the Buick 350 and 231 were related, and what a turd the 231 in my '82 Cutlass had been, I mistakenly thought the 350 might not be that great of an engine, either.

Anyway, I drove the car, but wasn't all that impressed. At the time, I had my Grandmother's '85 LeSabre 307, as well as an '89 Gran Fury ex-copcar. Well, this Bonneville was obviously nowhere near as quick as the Gran Fury, but even Grandmom's 307 LeSabre felt a bit quicker. It might have been, as it had a 4-speed automatic vs a 3-speed, slightly quicker gearing (2.73 vs 2.41 IIRC), and was a bit lighter.

Anyway, I ended up passing on the car, and the guy who owned it said he was glad I did, as well. He said he honestly wasn't too crazy about me driving around in something that old and potentially unreliable!

Back in high school, my English teacher had a 2-tone burgundy/red '78 Catalina 4-door with a 400 that she wanted to sell...for all of $500! I wanted that car BAD! But my Mom and stepdad squashed my dreams of that one real quick

gsemike

tjc78 said:

Taxes?? That house in NJ would be 12-15K in taxes. At $6300 It's only $300 more than my very modest ranch house on a postage stamp lot!

Same here on Long Island, but this isn't a real estate chat

fintail

When I think of downsized big Pontiacs, this is all that comes to mind:

uplanderguy

One interior design feature Chevy used for awhile, late '70's and early '80's, was a smoked plastic panel with a gold pinstripe outline. Used above the glovebox on Caprices starting with the '77, and used to a lesser extent on Monte Carlos and Malibus in '78. I like that as an offset to fake woodgrain (although the Caprice also used a lot of that). I can't post a link to a pic here as the hotel computer here in Savannah won't let me go to Google images, LOL. Andre, I also wonder if that '76 Bonneville Brougham you were looking at was not really a Brougham. I've seen a fair amount of sellers use "Custom" or "Brougham" in the description when the car clearly isn't one, and I've also seen such nameplates affixed to a car by an owner when they weren't that model.

uplanderguy

I would've loved a '79 Bonneville coupe, no vinyl top, with the buckets-and-console option. Rare, but I've seen them. They had that option up through '81 too. In '79 I think you could still get a 350. I would've liked that. Reminds me of the Grand Prix full-size models of the mid-sixties.

I always wished Chevy would've done that option in the late '70's Caprice Classic coupe. I know Olds did it and Buick did it, but I think neither did it as well as the Bonneville.

toomanyfumes

In the '80's a friend of mine had a 1977 Catalina, light blue Metallic, 2-door, no vinyl top. Lightly optioned, but with the 400 V-8 and Pontiac rally wheels. Was a good car for the time, surprisingly powerful, and rode nice.

andre1969

fintail said:

When I think of downsized big Pontiacs, this is all that comes to mind:

Ever notice how it turns into a '75-76 Grand Ville/Bonneville Brougham in most of the stunt scenes?

fintail

Yep. They tried pretty hard too, blanking out the rear quarter window. I suppose to a non-car person, the color and quad rectangle lights probably made it enough to not catch the eye.

I also remember the police car scene at the end had some really old cars posing as police vehicles, and of course, more Pontiac content.

andre1969 said:

Ever notice how it turns into a '75-76 Grand Ville/Bonneville Brougham in most of the stunt scenes?

fintail

Took a 105 mile trip in the project car today - it didn't miss a beat. Ran sweet, no braking weirdness, pretty hot inside as the windows seem to magnify the heat, but that's summer in an old car. I kept highway speeds around 60, rarely going past 65 - I notice if I keep it slow like that, I get virtually no blowby out of the dipstick area, a place where I seem to get a little at high speed. No complaints today, performed as good as I can hope, and got more than a few looks:

andre1969

I went to the GM show in Carlisle, PA a couple weekends ago, with my '67 Catalina. It made the trip without too much drama, although at one point it stalled out in the parking lot at the motel and I had to let it cool off before it would re-start. And on the way back home, I decided to go up into the mountains, and the car didn't really appreciate the ~1000 foot rise in elevation, over the course of maybe 3.5 miles. It never got so hot that the idiot light came on, though. And, yes, the light does work!

Oh, it also took third place in its class...although admittedly it wasn't a very big class: Full-sized RWD Pontiacs from 1946-89...and on the day they did the voting (popular vote, not judged) there were only 5 cars in that group, and for some reason, one of them was an '89 or so Sunbird convertible! Anyway, I'll post more pics later, but in the meantime, here's a couple...


And here's one of the car queued up for the winners' parade...

stever

Nice example:



Future Nissan project (one of these days I need to get my wife to drive me around for an hour so I can just snap pics of all the Chevy Luv style pickups around here).

stickguy

Andre, your desoto ever get finished?

fintail

Congrats on the award. I remember many years ago, I took the fintail to an event where I thought it would win "best foreign car', as I had been there in the past where there was only one foreign car, I think a late run MGB. The year I attend, they discontinue the award.

Those 80s Datsun/Nissans and El Caminos aren't rare sights here.

isellhondas

That's true but we don't see many cactus growing here!

isellhondas

andre1969 said:

I went to the GM show in Carlisle, PA a couple weekends ago, with my '67 Catalina. It made the trip without too much drama, although at one point it stalled out in the parking lot at the motel and I had to let it cool off before it would re-start. And on the way back home, I decided to go up into the mountains, and the car didn't really appreciate the ~1000 foot rise in elevation, over the course of maybe 3.5 miles. It never got so hot that the idiot light came on, though. And, yes, the light does work!

Oh, it also took third place in its class...although admittedly it wasn't a very big class: Full-sized RWD Pontiacs from 1946-89...and on the day they did the voting (popular vote, not judged) there were only 5 cars in that group, and for some reason, one of them was an '89 or so Sunbird convertible! Anyway, I'll post more pics later, but in the meantime, here's a couple...


And here's one of the car queued up for the winners' parade...

I always liked mid 60's Pontiacs! The weak spot were the lower ball joints. They used a tiny ball joint and when they wore out you had to replace the whole lower control arm on some models. They also would eat timing gears but once replaced with metal gears they would cause no more trouble.

stever

fintail said:

Those 80s Datsun/Nissans and El Caminos aren't rare sights here.

They do seem well screwed together, so long as you don't crash them.

(@isellhondas, you guys have tons of cacti. They are just hard to spot because the mold growing on them makes them blend in with all the ferns and other vegetation.)

Nice ride @andre1969 - I drove around a nearby neighborhood Saturday hoping to spot this gem that's been on craigslist for a couple of months now.

stickguy

I love that TR6. I always wanted one.

sda

andre1969 said:

I went to the GM show in Carlisle, PA a couple weekends ago, with my '67 Catalina. It made the trip without too much drama, although at one point it stalled out in the parking lot at the motel and I had to let it cool off before it would re-start. And on the way back home, I decided to go up into the mountains, and the car didn't really appreciate the ~1000 foot rise in elevation, over the course of maybe 3.5 miles. It never got so hot that the idiot light came on, though. And, yes, the light does work!

Oh, it also took third place in its class...although admittedly it wasn't a very big class: Full-sized RWD Pontiacs from 1946-89...and on the day they did the voting (popular vote, not judged) there were only 5 cars in that group, and for some reason, one of them was an '89 or so Sunbird convertible! Anyway, I'll post more pics later, but in the meantime, here's a couple...


And here's one of the car queued up for the winners' parade...

Looks nice! More pics please. I have a soft spot for '67 Pontiacs, especially the Grand Prix convert.

gsemike

Classics available on Long Island this week

http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/5634962611.html 65 stingray - not numbers matching

http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/5621877105.html Another 65, much rougher looking an an automatic for 7 grand less

http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/5630142899.html An FJ 40 for even more. I know that these have a following, but is this sane? Or at least realistic?

http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/5641562925.html Chevelle SS clones are going for 35 grand these days? Your Chevelle dollar does not go far

http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/5622214841.html Later early mini

http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/5656082352.html AZ born CRX. Being how every other one is rusted to heck, I guess that this is believable

http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/5628898240.html Triumph with no claimed rust, and 50k

http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/5618862825.html Green machine. You don't see these anymore

http://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/5655318149.html I guess that an old lady just drove it to church on Sundays.

stickguy

Like the mini. How did that get registered?

Spitfire, no rust, only if you don't actually look. Its in there hiding.

Chevelle, that much motor plus nitro, good thing it has roll cage. Likely to need it.

Córdoba, paging Andre.

I like the blue corvette.

andre1969

I guess some would call it an "Amityville Horror", but I do kinda like that Cordoba. I think it's actually a base model, but that cloth looks sooo nice and comfy! IIRC, this was the base interior, vinyl was the option, and then they went to split bench seats as the next level up. I love that exterior shade of green. Green interiors can be hit or miss, but I think this one comes off as one of the better attempts. Some of that green vinyl looks a bit greasy, but I recall GM having a green around this time that looked a bit sickly in comparison.

ab348

I like the Cordoba but am disappointed it does not have Corinthian leather inside.

That Accord must have been parked in an oil bath. The last time I was in one of those was over 25 years ago and even then it was almost totally rotted away.

fintail

I saw an 82-85 Accord hatch yesterday, looked to be in good shape. West coast living

texases

Too bad that CL Accord has a carb. Looked like a mile of vacuum hoses in there.

Mr_Shiftright

re: 1970 Toyota FJ40 --- they can go for even more than $50K

65 Sting Ray convertible----price is market for a clean NOM driver with 327

65 Sting Ray automatic -- seller is way off, perhaps as much as 100% too high. It's an automatic, it's rough, it's low horsepower. What's to like here? Looks like someone just parked it and neglected it. I'd give this one a serious lookover for frame rust, too.

'71 Chevelle---the money is in the build, not the car. Some serious HP there, more than a Hellcat.

80 Mini -- they put them on older Mini frames and register them. I bet the title doesn't say 1980.

'72 Triumph Spitfire -- not the best year or styling but price is fair enough. Top down British motoring for the price of a used motorcycle. Most parts easy to get, too.


76 Cordoba --- pretty nasty car for $6700. Try $2000 and kiss the buyer's hand (but don't slobber).

'85 Accord -- there's a good buy if the car checks out.

berri

Andre - I always liked that light yellow back in those days on GM cars. I thought it drew out the styling lines on them.

gsemike

fintail said:

I saw an 82-85 Accord hatch yesterday, looked to be in good shape. West coast living

A neighbor a few blocks over has one of those early Acura hatches that looks just like an Accord, maybe an 89 Integra? The body has rust spots but not horrible. I've never met the guy, but the car seems to come and go frequently enough. This one has help up OK enough in the NE, which seems to be an exception

qbrozen

FJ40s have indeed gotten expensive, but that one looks rough for that money.

Mr_Shiftright

Let me look at it more closely here....

Righto Q---it's a piece of crap. Probably needs to be taken apart and started all over again. Hard to price it from the photos and without any list of equipment on it, but I'd say with confidence worth less than half the asking price.

gsemike

Mr_Shiftright said:

Let me look at it more closely here....

Righto Q---it's a piece of crap. Probably needs to be taken apart and started all over again. Hard to price it from the photos and without any list of equipment on it, but I'd say with confidence worth less than half the asking price.

I think that the black stripes are spray painted on and where did the tan seats come from???

Mr_Shiftright

One doesn't get a good feeling from the advert, that's for sure.

fintail

Yep, that would be an 86-89 Integra, pop up lights. Still seen out here now and then, but getting a little scarce now. First gen Legends are seen on occasion too.

gsemike said:

A neighbor a few blocks over has one of those early Acura hatches that looks just like an Accord, maybe an 89 Integra? The body has rust spots but not horrible. I've never met the guy, but the car seems to come and go frequently enough. This one has help up OK enough in the NE, which seems to be an exception

sda

fintail said:

Yep, that would be an 86-89 Integra, pop up lights. Still seen out here now and then, but getting a little scarce now. First gen Legends are seen on occasion too.

gsemike said:

A neighbor a few blocks over has one of those early Acura hatches that looks just like an Accord, maybe an 89 Integra? The body has rust spots but not horrible. I've never met the guy, but the car seems to come and go frequently enough. This one has help up OK enough in the NE, which seems to be an exception

Early Japaneese cars tended to rust. Believe it or not, my '71 Vega had very little rust and our '71 Datsun 510 had rusted rockers, and the bottom and top of the front fenders at the same point in time in '77. What car held up mechanically, the Datsun.

sda

andre1969 said:

I guess some would call it an "Amityville Horror", but I do kinda like that Cordoba. I think it's actually a base model, but that cloth looks sooo nice and comfy! IIRC, this was the base interior, vinyl was the option, and then they went to split bench seats as the next level up. I love that exterior shade of green. Green interiors can be hit or miss, but I think this one comes off as one of the better attempts. Some of that green vinyl looks a bit greasy, but I recall GM having a green around this time that looked a bit sickly in comparison.

I liked the look and feel of "Corinthian" leather. It smelled nice and was soft to the touch. What happened to soft leather in cars? Now it either feels like vinyl or is really stiff.

ab348

I didn't like the car very much otherwise, but my '09 Lacrosse had really nice, soft leather. Buick called it "Nuance" leather, which I think was a treatment that gave it an enhanced leathery aroma. Regardless, it was very posh-feeling leather.

fintail

They'd rust here too, it just might take 20-25 years for it to set in.

Speaking of old Acuras, this looks like a nice preservation piece, don't see many like this anymore

sda said:

Early Japaneese cars tended to rust. Believe it or not, my '71 Vega had very little rust and our '71 Datsun 510 had rusted rockers, and the bottom and top of the front fenders at the same point in time in '77. What car held up mechanically, the Datsun.

hpmctorque

sda said:

fintail said:

Yep, that would be an 86-89 Integra, pop up lights. Still seen out here now and then, but getting a little scarce now. First gen Legends are seen on occasion too.

gsemike said:

A neighbor a few blocks over has one of those early Acura hatches that looks just like an Accord, maybe an 89 Integra? The body has rust spots but not horrible. I've never met the guy, but the car seems to come and go frequently enough. This one has help up OK enough in the NE, which seems to be an exception

Early Japaneese cars tended to rust. Believe it or not, my '71 Vega had very little rust and our '71 Datsun 510 had rusted rockers, and the bottom and top of the front fenders at the same point in time in '77. What car held up mechanically, the Datsun.

I owned a '70 510 4-door in Chicago, and it was the fastest rusting car I ever owned. Since I lived in the upper Midwest for many years I owned several domestic brand cars with which to compare the 510. Also, cold weather operation was awful, until the engine reached normal operating temperature. It definitely was not a car that was suitable for cold climates. I understand later models of the 510 had better cold start driving dynamics.

Mr_Shiftright

The early 510s had a manual choke!

sda

Mr_Shiftright said:

The early 510s had a manual choke!

Correct, and it a vacuum operated 2bbl carb and dual points. I got to be fairly good at changing and setting the gap every 12k or so. As the car got older, upwards of 100k, it became a pain to keep it running smoothly. Ours was still running yet using oil at 160k when dad sold it. I saw it drive up and down our street for a couple more years.

Mr_Shiftright

An unmolested 510 coupe is worth some (modest) money now. You could probably get $8500-$10K for one.

hpmctorque

Mr_Shiftright said:

An unmolested 510 coupe is worth some (modest) money now. You could probably get $8500-$10K for one.

Oh sure, now, because the Datsun 510 would be a collector car, or modified for racing, driven only in nice weather, in either case. However, back in the day, when it was my daily driver in Chicago, it was no fun. It was no fun dealing with the dangerous lack of power during cold weather starts and warm ups, manual choke notwithstanding. The engine always started without a problem, but then the car hardly moved. I took it to the dealer several times when it was under warranty, which was useless, because it was an emission control design problem.

Nor was it fun to watch your investment rust away like early model Vegas.

I will say it had decent traction in snow, for a RWD car. I never got stuck with snow tires, which were mounted only on the rear wheels in those prehistoric times.

It would have been a good, economical, fun-to-drive car in the Sunbelt, though...assuming it didn't reside near salt water.

sda

The '71 510 that we had I don't think would be collectible as it was the station wagon which had the leaf spring solid rear axle and not the independent rear suspension that the 2dr and 4dr had. It was appliance white with a blue interior. It was a 4 speed, so luckily it wasn't the automatic. Thinking back and I guess being spoiled by current cars, boy was the 510 noisy!

ab348

sda said:

The '71 510 that we had I don't think would be collectible as it was the station wagon which had the leaf spring solid rear axle and not the independent rear suspension that the 2dr and 4dr had. It was appliance white with a blue interior. It was a 4 speed, so luckily it wasn't the automatic. Thinking back and I guess being spoiled by current cars, boy was the 510 noisy!

My brother had a 510 wagon in the early '70s shortly after he got married. It was a real tin can even for then and he didn't keep it long. I equate it in some ways to being the Mazda 3 of its day, loved by the auto journos but not such a great car for a lot of people to use as daily transportation.

Mr_Shiftright

The Mazda RX3 of that period was a really nice vehicle, however. Definitely upscale from the 510---but alas, not as reliable or gas stingy.

stickguy

I almost bought the gas version back in about 1980. Of either the RX2or RX3. Early to mid 70s. Maybe a 707? Same basic car, but the engine went Boing.

fintail

This was linked to another site I read - if I had the space, I would consider something like this. Really rare this nice, unappreciated once but now loved, and I think there's upside potential.

Mr_Shiftright

Good little cars. I think it was only the "Japanese Atomic Insect" styling that retarded their popularity.

ab348

I like those too. Never see them up here in the NE. Back in the early '80s a woman I worked with had a first-gen Celica as a daily driver and at 10 years old it was almost completely rusted away. Up here the bodies/structure only held up well for about the first 3-5 years.

stickguy

I gad that exact car, but white. Bought it in 1986, in jersey. At that point, was already massively rotted out. Not my smartest buy, and did not keep long.

Rockers I know were shot. Pretty sure it was all eaten up everywhere. But cool car.

texases

Somebody could use some help:
http://forums.edmunds.com/discussion/41903/buick/regal/project-car-help#latest