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

fintail

W111 Fintails did something similar too: 220/S/SE. There was a non "S" W108 (250 and 280 series cars both) as well, the base model with a single carb (I think the W108 "S" had dual carbs like a "S" fintail). This also existed with 6 cylinder W116 and W126 - both in S/SE/SEL, until 1985.

I think W108 production ended in 1972, but quite a few cars ended up titled as 1973 - also the first model year for W116 in NA.

fortee9er said:

MB used carburetors and fuel injection concurrently. I am going to use the W108 as a frame of reference because I am familiar with it. The W108 models offered a 280S (carburetor), 280SE (fuel injected), and 280SEL (fuel injected, long wheelbase). The W108 chassis ended production in 1972 maybe 1973 not sure.

fortee9er

I have a W108 280S with twin carbs I thought that was the base model. Maybe it was the base model in the US market.

fintail

Now that I think of it, you are right. S was the base, this started with W108. When the W108 replaced the fancy W111 models in 1965, the single carb model remained a fintail (either replaced by the 230S or 230, depending on how one views the new model lineup).

fortee9er said:

I have a W108 280S with twin carbs I thought that was the base model. Maybe it was the base model in the US market.

sda

I remember the 280s and thought they were handsome cars. Always enjoyed their distinctive exhaust note as they pulled away from a stop, a little blatty yet a refined sound unlike the 2.8/3.1 GM V6s that had the sound of a motorboat.

fintail

I call those old GM V6s "popcorn poppers". I remember very clearly when I was in maybe 7th grade, 1989-ish, and a new Grand Prix lived a couple blocks away - you could hear it coming. The old MBs are a little raspy, but in a smooth way.

sda

That's what I meant, raspy not blatty. I was at a loss for words..say it wasn't so. BMW 6 cylinders sound good too.

fortee9er

Inline sixes do have a nice sound.

explorerx4

I only there was some snow on the ground in the picture of the SL, would have looked like a sunny side up egg.

berri

My first slot car track when I was a kid was a Stromberg Carlson believe it or not. I only remember that because it was kind of an odd and long name for a toy. Unfortunately, it was rather inferior to some of the other brands my friends got for Christmas.

qbrozen

While sitting through son's wrestling practice last night, I decided to look up RX7s. Couldn't find any nice GSL-SEs, but found some others of interest.

I would tend to believe the miles on this one.

I like the color, but not the price with an interior that needs so much.

Looks pretty nice, but the price is nuts.

Maybe the cleanest one in existence, but no price.

There are also a number of '93-'94 turbo models priced in the mid $30k range. Mass delusion?

stickguy

That last one is do clean looks like a model.

stickguy

I'll take the 85 GSE. That is cool.

fintail

I like the pics on that last one. I am sure they want more than 10K for it.

I had a thing for the first gen RX-7 when I was a little kid (and it was a current car). I remember the family across the street had a white one, and their son and I would try to get rides in it whenever we could - one of my dream cars when I was about 5. Their other cars were a late Vega wagon and Charlton Heston/Earthquake style big Blazer.

gsemike

Considering a BMW 328 ix

I am getting close to dipping my toes back in the water and am drawn to a BMW 328ix. BMWs have always been amongst the nicest driving cars I've experienced. I want the straight six instead of the new 4, and would like AWD. I am a train commuter, so I only drive about 8,000 miles a year, so getting low miles isn't a priority, but would want to keep it under 100k.

I've seen a few listings that look good. What is everyone's feeling about these cars? For a car that presents well, what are the things to look out for?

http://www.iseecars.com/used-car-finder#id=100261915586

http://www.iseecars.com/used-car-finder#id=100267222568 Love this color combo

qbrozen

fintail said:

I like the pics on that last one. I am sure they want more than 10K for it.

I had a thing for the first gen RX-7 when I was a little kid (and it was a current car). I remember the family across the street had a white one, and their son and I would try to get rides in it whenever we could - one of my dream cars when I was about 5. Their other cars were a late Vega wagon and Charlton Heston/Earthquake style big Blazer.

My dad had a GSL-SE company car for a little while when I was a kid. Silver over red, manual trans. He got quite a kick out of it. I was amazed at how high it would rev.

Mr_Shiftright

IIRC, the Mercedes 4 bbl carb was modeled after a Rochester

qbrozen said:

While sitting through son's wrestling practice last night, I decided to look up RX7s. Couldn't find any nice GSL-SEs, but found some others of interest.

I would tend to believe the miles on this one.

I like the color, but not the price with an interior that needs so much.

Looks pretty nice, but the price is nuts.

Maybe the cleanest one in existence, but no price.

There are also a number of '93-'94 turbo models priced in the mid $30k range. Mass delusion?

The 93-95 Mazda RX-7 Twin Turbo is a highly desirable collectible, and is regarded by some as one of the best handling sports cars in the world. Also rather rare in the U.S, and in its time awarded just about every prize the automotive press could give--Motor Trend Import Car of the Year, Playboy's Car of the Year 1993 ("better than the Viper" it said), Supposedly, a new Mazda RX-7 is in the works. A steal at $25K if you ask me.

stickguy

I can't imagine that QB will fit in the TT model. I thought anyone near 6' was going to be jammed in on those?

Mr_Shiftright

It's a touchy car--that engine can grenade if you don't take meticulous care of it. I mean, they are trying to pump upwards of 275HP with an engine you could practically carry under your arm.

qbrozen

Mr_Shiftright said:

The 93-95 Mazda RX-7 Twin Turbo is a highly desirable collectible, and is regarded by some as one of the best handling sports cars in the world. Also rather rare in the U.S, and in its time awarded just about every prize the automotive press could give--Motor Trend Import Car of the Year, Playboy's Car of the Year 1993 ("better than the Viper" it said), Supposedly, a new Mazda RX-7 is in the works. A steal at $25K if you ask me.

But I said mid $30k. ;b

The reasons you point to regarding reliability is exactly why I am very afraid to ever buy one, although I so very much would love to.

And at $30k or more, I very well may prefer an NSX.

Mr_Shiftright

Yep, mid 30Ks puts you in early NSX territory but the RX-7 TT is its match in just about every regard except...sigh...reliability. I dare say it's better looking, too.

Could a low miles pristine '93-'95 RX-7 TT bring $35K in an actual sale? Yep, I think so.

This one is close:

https://www.carsforsale.com/vehicle/details/24835251

That's about market right now for the truly nice low mileage ones. One of the very few truly collectible Japanese cars.

qbrozen

Guess I missed my window then. Seems like not too long ago, they were just another used car.

looks are tough. Was thinking about that myself. While I have always loved the RX, I think the NSX would get far more stares and thumbs up. It looks the supercar part while the RX is far more stealthy. 

fortee9er

I had an RX7, a 1987 model, it was wonderful when everything was right but things like high oil consumption was definitely a demerit. Also did not like that the plugs would get soaked in fuel and the car would not start if you move it a short distance, in the driveway, and went to start it again. No start. Had to remove the four plugs dry them sometimes put them in the kitchen oven to completely dry out before the car would start again. I learned not to do that but for a while I had no idea what was going on.
Yes the 3rd gen RX7 is a marvel of engineering and good to look at but to risky for me. A Supra TT or an NSX would be safer bet.

qbrozen

I searched for Supras, too, but have not seen any clean unmolested TTs. They have a rep of being so forgiving to modding that I think finding an untouched one would be a near miracle and possibly very valuable.

Mr_Shiftright

An unmolested Supra TT would bring the same money as a very nice NSX--low $40Ks.

fintail

Had the old dear on the road today in the beautiful clear skies and cold weather, drove 40 miles exactly. The old car seems to like cold weather - below freezing this morning. After being idle for 4 weeks, it fired right up, stalled after a few seconds, then easily started again and ran like nothing happened. For the rest of the day it ran sweet and smooth, didn't miss a beat. I am pretty pleased with it, for an unrestored car of this age. Very relaxing to cruise along, listening to oldies on AM radio (the car has FM, but we have no FM oldies here).

The car turned a few heads and got a couple waves, and a guy in a very clean Luv actually approached me to tell me he liked the car, and that he is working on a later Ponton. Probably better attention than I'd get if I was in a new Bentley.

I had meant to hook up a dash cam I bought at Christmas, to make some driving videos, but the cam died. I think the fintail might have killed it. It's 12V and all, so I can't see how, but it worked before I plugged it in to the car. When I plugged it in (cigarette lighter adapter), the camera started once, then went dead and never worked again. I wonder if there could be a weird voltage issue? But I have to imagine the adapter would absorb that. The lighter works fine. I think I will just use the phone as a dashcam, maybe get some software for the next drive.

Today's gratuitous shot, from the rear this time, accentuating the fins and size of the trunk:

sda

Can you return the cam? Assuming Fintail has a factory (Becker?) am/fm radio, it must be one of the few cars that year to offer fm. Fintail is a '63? I always liked how MB would match the center of the wheel covers the same color as the car.

qbrozen

You know you want it!

stickguy

1 of 1. Nice gas tank.

Mr_Shiftright

You certainly can't fault the workmanship in some of these state prison woodshops.

fintail

Yep, it's from Amazon, already boxed and ready to go.

Back in the day, MB radios were all dealer or owner-installed - the cars came from the factory with a blanking plate. I think this was the case through the early 70s. My car has a Becker Europa TR installed when the car was a few years old (I have the receipt). At the time, the radio was used, and is correct for the year of the car. It cost over $100 back then. 64, which is identical to 63 and 65, these cars changed very little from 59-65. All panels are interchangeable, most differences are under the hood.

sda said:

Can you return the cam? Assuming Fintail has a factory (Becker?) am/fm radio, it must be one of the few cars that year to offer fm. Fintail is a '63? I always liked how MB would match the center of the wheel covers the same color as the car.

fintail

At least it's cheap-ish (and no doubt offers gladly accepted). You'd probably draw a crowd at a cars and coffee meet. Maybe take it to a mopar meet to troll some people, too.

qbrozen said:

You know you want it!

Mr_Shiftright

You could buy FM radios for cars starting in the early 1950s (first one goes back to 1930s) . The "Becker Mexico" was a hot ticket in car FMs back in the day. You'll see FM radios in many European cars imported into the USA in the late 1950s.

fintail

Some of the old Becker radios have some value too. Surprisingly, Becker NA is still in business, and refurbishes old radios at a reasonable rate. I had mine rebuilt almost 10 years ago.

sda

The Becker radios had a nice look to them. The first car we had with an fm band was mom's '72 Cutlass Supreme. When you would switch bands from am to fm the dial face would flip to show only the numbers for the selected band. When a stereo station was found a light that spelled out STEREO would illuminate which I thought was pretty cool.

fintail

The classic Becker radios are called the "pinstripe" models. They were also often seen in period Porsche, Ferrari, etc.

All of the old cars my dad had when I was a kid had AM-only radios - in the 68 Fairlane, I think the (Philco) radio was maybe the only option on the car aside from the V8.

xwesx

My '69 C20 has a Motorola AM. I pulled it out back in 1997 to replace the defunct single under-dash-mounted cone speaker, and put a more modern Alpine tape deck in there (three-hole, so I didn't have to modify the dash). I still have the AM radio, but just haven't bothered to put it back in yet.

texases

Here's how I got FM into my '72 Duster

stickguy

exact same way I got it in my 73 duster! The old FM converter.

seem to recall it did not work when it was really cold outside.

fintail

Widespread FM music broadcasts weren't really common until the mid-late 60s anyway, were they? It seems really uncommon in cars before 1970.

uplanderguy

I think FM radios became available in domestic cars around '63. I know at Studebaker, they became available mid '63 and showed up in the regular brochures for the '64 model year.

Mr_Shiftright

Wiki says that FM listeners didn't exceed AM listeners in the U.S. until 1978.

uplanderguy

I remember that factory AM-FM stereo radios in Chevrolets were ridiculously expensive into the '70's--I can plainly remember $363, which may have included a tape player at that point. But that was some serious bucks at the time.

Mr_Shiftright

The first car radios were crazy expensive as well---around 1930 or so.

I wonder if listening to the radio was thought of like texting is today---dangerous!

isellhondas

uplanderguy said:

I think FM radios became available in domestic cars around '63. I know at Studebaker, they became available mid '63 and showed up in the regular brochures for the '64 model year.

I agree on 1963 and stereo radios came three years later in 1966. Boy, were we impressed as kids especially when they were played through the Motorola Vibrasonic!

qbrozen

I was bored yesterday and perusing Hemmings for cars under $10k. Saved a mess of them.

'66 Tbird with a trunk issue

Sharp looking Cutlass

Clean Corvair 900

Red on red Falcon 4-door

V8 Valiant in need of more pics

2-door Falcon in a great color

Hudson Jet

'48 Packard that I don't believe will fit in my garage

Corvair in a pretty color combo

Mr_Shiftright

'66 Bird doesn't look promising.

Might be a little profit left in that '48 Packard if it has no major issues. You can pull a house down with that straight-8 engine.

texases

Wheel spats on that Cutlass - nooooooo...
That first Falcon might be a hot rod, what with the 200 CID 6!

qbrozen

What do you think of that silver Corvair?

Mr_Shiftright

I wouldn't ride in one without suspension modifications.

ab348

I like both of those Corvairs. I would like the '61 even better if it had the '64's camber compensator on the rear suspension. I like the interior of the '64 in white, don't see too many of those. That little Cutlass is sweet once you lose the fender skirts.