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

qbrozen

Mr_Shiftright said:

Some of those are pretty impressive. I do wonder though how many have had engine replacements? I see the Acura has. Some of the "sales pitches" are interesting. Well seems like 400K is just about the "outer limits". I suspect the last 100K are the hardest.

I am simply amazed when anyone drives the same thing for so long.

berri

Omar - does that Pontiac make you think of Joni Mitchell and her song "Big Yellow Taxi"

texases

Most all the >250k mile vehicles on cars.com are pickups and other work trucks. Then a few Lincolns, misc. Japanese cars and some odds and ends.

Mr_Shiftright

qbrozen said:

Defender ad claims recent respray

That mileage may be in Km, since the vehicle was imported from Italy, where nothing ever rusts and where paperwork, VIN plates and former repairs are "Non c'è problema!"

Mr_Shiftright

qbrozen said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

Some of those are pretty impressive. I do wonder though how many have had engine replacements? I see the Acura has.

Some of the "sales pitches" are interesting.

Well seems like 400K is just about the "outer limits". I suspect the last 100K are the hardest.

I am simply amazed when anyone drives the same thing for so long.

I'd be bored with the Solara in two weeks.

omarman

berri said:

Omar - does that Pontiac make you think of Joni Mitchell and her song "Big Yellow Taxi"

Yep. Joni and the cartoon video played on the Sonny and Cher show. Good stuff.

xwesx

explorerx4 said:

There is that little dot between the 3's on the navigator.

Darn off-by-one error will get you every time!

ab348

"Original miles" never fails to baffle me. What are non-original miles? Nobody has ever explained that to me.

stickguy

that just means actual miles. As opposed to the ODO stopped or was changed out.

stickguy

I don't drive enough miles now on any car to get to those high miles before I turn 100 (or die, whichever comes first). For a bit I had a 95 mile RT commute. If I did that for an extended time, then I would have been putting 25-30K per year on the car, so doable since 200K would only be 7 or 8 years.

tjc78

I’ve been in Panther limos/taxis reading into the upper 500k range on more than a few occasions.  

They really do take a beating.  If you ask almost any city taxi/livery driver they all universally miss the Panther.  

tjc78

qbrozen said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

Some of those are pretty impressive. I do wonder though how many have had engine replacements? I see the Acura has. Some of the "sales pitches" are interesting. Well seems like 400K is just about the "outer limits". I suspect the last 100K are the hardest.

I am simply amazed when anyone drives the same thing for so long.

I get antsy after one year and less than 10k Miles. 

ab348

tjc78 said:

I’ve been in Panther limos/taxis reading into the upper 500k range on more than a few occasions.  

They really do take a beating.  If you ask almost any city taxi/livery driver they all universally miss the Panther.  

It is rather amazing. Back when I was working, we used a car service that had a fleet of Town Cars and those routinely did 300K miles. They would do the necessary maintenance/repair/replacement of the mechanicals, but the bodies and interiors all looked nearly new. It was remarkable. Going back a decade or two, the local taxi fleets swore by the last of the GM B-body Olds Delta 88s, which went out of production in '85. Those things were used by the fleets here for 20 years and racked up huge mileage numbers.

gsemike

High miles

Really astonishing how good some of these cars look. Used to be, cars could be used up at 100K and they would look it. Bodies really do hold up pretty well now

Mr_Shiftright

Good service and a garage makes a big difference. Also where you live.

I think livery cars do much better than taxis. In a city cab all kinds of disgusting things happen.

Fleet owners like to squeeze every drop, but if there's an abnormal amount of down time, then it's time for retirement.

andres3

tjc78 said:

qbrozen said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

Some of those are pretty impressive. I do wonder though how many have had engine replacements? I see the Acura has.

Some of the "sales pitches" are interesting.

Well seems like 400K is just about the "outer limits". I suspect the last 100K are the hardest.

I am simply amazed when anyone drives the same thing for so long.

I get antsy after one year and less than 10k Miles. 

So your saying your due for some new car purchases then!

xwesx

No, I think he's saying that he is going to have a hard time sitting still for the next few years.

tjc78

Yep .. sitting 20 months till my next punch (well maybe 16 ish )

stickguy

I am either sitting 5 months, or a couple of years I guess, depending on what I do with the Elantra and my daughter.

I do know that in 4 months, I will be dropping 1 car off the payroll when the Jetta goes back.

gsemike

stickguy said:

that just means actual miles. As opposed to the ODO stopped or was changed out.

Or not original driveline

fintail

Had the old dear out on a nice cool spring-like day. Got a lot of looks, and a guy came to ask me about the car when I was topping off the tank. The car started right up and ran fine as usual. Gratuitous pic:



The whitewalls seem to have mellowed a little after 5 years, which I like - I don't want them to look too stark and bright.

And a new little issue, the front passenger seat has a little split going on at a seam in the vinyl:



Kind of weird, as the seat is seldom occupied, maybe a couple times a year. Must just be 50+ years catching up with it. I will try gluing it back.

isellhondas

A good upholstery shop can fix that. Trouble is all of the stitching may be brittle now.

fintail

If I get into that, I might as well have it reupholstered. The passenger seat is the best one - the drivers seat has a few small splits like that which I have glued back, and the rear has no splits, but isn't perfect either. I suspect the stitching or however the vinyl is held together is indeed just failing with time. I worry about the headliner stitching too - most of it looks great, but I can imagine it going. The car isn't getting any younger.

isellhondas

You could take a Road Trip! Drive it down the coast to Tijuana! They will do your interior while you wait!

fintail

I'm persnickety. Assuming the car would make it that far, I would want it done right - correct material and textures. Maybe not possible in an old fashioned tuck and roll job.

Really, I will just patch it up and call it "patina" - restoring the car in such a way would be a slippery slope. Do the upholstery, you'll want to do the wood and the rest of the interior. Then paint and body. Chrome, engine, suspension. Then 50K is gone.

berri

You could take a Road Trip! Drive it down the coast to Tijuana! They will do your interior while you wait!

...and strip it like the Family Truckster in Vacation

gsemike

Since Spring is supposedly Springing

https://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/d/1967-oldsmobile-442-holiday/6526236652.html 67 442. These have grown on me lately and this one looks quite nice

https://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/d/65-el-camino-deluxe-california/6522621943.html 65 el camino. Some pics the paint looks really good and others it looks flat

https://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/d/1988-mercedes-convertable-560/6537386823.html 'everyone else is asking 11 to 20k'

https://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/d/1967-ford-galaxie-xl/6537304659.html Cool full sizer but has been in an accident

https://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/d/1973-triumph-tr6/6537131048.html TR6 with frame off resto. Always wonder when I see a restored car with cheapo no name tires

https://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/d/air-conditioningcruise/6537067757.html Is this one too good to be true?

https://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/d/1971-volvo-142e/6524768198.html Nicest 71 Volvo left. I mostly don't get it. Seats look surprisingly nice

qbrozen

Wagon price makes sense to me. Seems fairly shabby.

Are TR6s really worth that much these days? 

Love the Volvo, but not THAT much. Maybe $9500 worth if its perfect. Not a real-world price, just my gut reaction to it if I were buying.

ab348

I'm a bit suspicious of the wagon but hard to tell.

The 4-4-2 is nice enough and probably priced close to what it ought to be.

texases

330,000 on that Volvo, with no description of engine work? I'd want to know...

fintail

Yeah, the Volvo seems oddly priced, and I get a flip to hipsters vibe from the seller.

If the 560SL checks out, no harm done at that price.

I am suspicious of the wagon, too.

Mr_Shiftright

gsemike said:

Since Spring is supposedly Springing

https://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/d/1967-oldsmobile-442-holiday/6526236652.html 67 442. These have grown on me lately and this one looks quite nice

https://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/d/65-el-camino-deluxe-california/6522621943.html 65 el camino. Some pics the paint looks really good and others it looks flat

https://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/d/1988-mercedes-convertable-560/6537386823.html 'everyone else is asking 11 to 20k'

https://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/d/1967-ford-galaxie-xl/6537304659.html Cool full sizer but has been in an accident

https://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/d/1973-triumph-tr6/6537131048.html TR6 with frame off resto. Always wonder when I see a restored car with cheapo no name tires

https://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/d/air-conditioningcruise/6537067757.html Is this one too good to be true?

https://longisland.craigslist.org/cto/d/1971-volvo-142e/6524768198.html Nicest 71 Volvo left. I mostly don't get it. Seats look surprisingly nice

Don't ever advertise an old Mercedes as "barn fresh". Guy doesn't even know the color of his own car. Median auction value on a 560SL is $17K, so what's up?

Caprice Wagon --price is market correct for a car in "fair condition"--daily driver with some wear and tear.

TR6-- guy needs to check his registration. I don't think it's a '73. It's pricey for a small bumper version. Clean, later model ones are getting up there in price, yeah---high teens.

'71 Volvo---good sturdy cars but the price is moonbat crazy. Try about 1/3rd of that.

stickguy

I always lusted after the TR6. I could live with that one. But not for that price!

and I love the Volvo, but agree the price seems, well, pricey! So many memories looking at that dashboard (we had a 1969 144 when I was a kid, that I learned to drive on). I would love to have that one, miles be darned.

stickguy

another one I saw listed, and looked through the pictures, and really liked. Until I saw the price.

http://www.twinpineford.com/used/Chrysler/1989-Chrysler-Conquest-b8d3c8df0a0e0aea5a71343d296d7b19.htm?searchDepth=9:9

fintail

Eisenhower's Cadillac involved in a bit of a scrape in Germany - some ironic WW2 joke can maybe be made, gotta think about it.

Apparently some other cars on the road crashed, getting tangled with the Caddy trailer, which detached and tipped. This will actually be buffed right out, no doubt.

gsemike

ab348 said:

I'm a bit suspicious of the wagon but hard to tell.

The 4-4-2 is nice enough and probably priced close to what it ought to be.

Maybe it's a northeast thing, but those words 'big block chevy' are gold here. The wagon has interesting options with power windows and locks, and looks driver clean. With the combo, it would be a hit a cruise nights.

Mr_Shiftright

stickguy said:

I always lusted after the TR6. I could live with that one. But not for that price!

and I love the Volvo, but agree the price seems, well, pricey! So many memories looking at that dashboard (we had a 1969 144 when I was a kid, that I learned to drive on). I would love to have that one, miles be darned.

The 140 series Volvos were pretty rugged in *most* areas (such as front end suspension and the bottom end of the engine, and the manual transmission) but had weaknesses that would certainly come out in a high mileage car. That engine can run fairly decently with a very flat camshaft--people spend a lot of money trying to make the engine not so gutless but they don't usually address the "soft" camshafts, which of course, are the problem.

Other weaknesses include fiber timing gears that strip (get steel ones), tiny u-joints that always break, and an exhaust system held up entirely by little rubber doughnuts. Erratic idle speed is almost always worn throttle shafts in the oteherwise brilliant SU carbs.

omarman

What does D stand for in D Day? Detroit.

I think the story translates as, "A large hunk of Detroit iron hurtled into the path of several German vehicles rendering them broken and blocking their retreat from the battle field. "

Picture caption: "D Day plus infinity."

I can't read German so I could be wrong.

fintail

1 minute CL browse finds two oddities.

1 of 1 with an electric clock! - I like this kind of minutiae.

After almost 40 years, this is how these survive here - not a common sight in the 21st century, probably make a fun race alongside a 240D automatic.

stickguy

that beast must swill gas at a furious pace.

Mr_Shiftright

That Torino might be worth close to that--depending on how it looks top to bottom--the photos don't really show much. Good that it's an automatic--you wouldn't want to row that barge.

Mr_Shiftright

RE: '79 Honda---do they have any smog testing in the Seattle area? That car couldn't be registered in CA.

andres3

Mr_Shiftright said:

RE: '79 Honda---do they have any smog testing in the Seattle area? That car couldn't be registered in CA.

I thought old cars were exempt in CA?

ab348

Being 1 of 1 with a clock is probably not a huge selling feature.

Decent enough car, looks nice and colors are good, though I never liked the poverty hubcap look, but it probably fits with that particular car. Wonder if they fixed the horn yet.

Mr_Shiftright

andres3 said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

RE: '79 Honda---do they have any smog testing in the Seattle area? That car couldn't be registered in CA.

I thought old cars were exempt in CA?

1975 and older only.

I can understand why he put a Weber carb on there, as the original Honda carburetors of that era are a devil to rebuild. The various orifices in them are so tiny that its sometimes near impossible to clear them. On the down side of the Weber, though, you get a finnicky carb that is really designed for WOT operation.

fintail

25 year rule here, most diesels and 2010+ models are also exempt.

Mr_Shiftright said:

RE: '79 Honda---do they have any smog testing in the Seattle area? That car couldn't be registered in CA.

fintail

Regarding the Cobra, I think it is pretty cool too. I remember that dash on the 68 Fairlane my dad had in the 90s, and it had the same hubcaps (white on white 289 3 on the tree sedan with no options other than radio - I'd like a Marti report on that).

ab348

Little-remembered fact: the '68 Fairlane/Torino had conventional white-on-black instruments in those 4 pods but for '69 Ford changed them to black-on-silver. Better-looking but much harder to read.

omarman

I'm liking the '69 Cobra but I can't love it without pics underneath. Still just from the seller's ad it's an impressive old beast.

In HS I used to have a '68 Torino GT with 390/automatic and a friend used to take me cruising in her dad's '70 Cobra with a 429/4-speed. That '70 Cobra showed its best side on the highway where cruising at +100 mph was effortless. Around town it was more like a workout for the driver and the gas mileage seemed worse!

fintail

I didn't know that about the instruments. I just remember the blank hole for the optional clock.

That 289 car was kind of a chore to drive as well, manual steering and brakes along with the 3 on the tree. I didn't care for driving it, but my dad loved it.