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

fintail

I suppose in length or weight per dollar, this might be OK

Mr_Shiftright

frightening car to drive IMO...noticeably incompetent in handling, braking and structural ridigity. I can still recall the front hood sheet metal oilcanning in and out as the front end bounced up and down like a bounding gazelle and the dashboard wiggled and creaked side to side over bumps. Yikes! Gimme a rear drive '67 Lincoln Conti convert anyday over that barge.

fintail

"one of a kind" - I hope so! What is the name of that color? "Krylon Blue"? Atrocious, why do this to a perfectly good car

Mr_Shiftright

oh that looks like a Miracle Auto Body color.

fintail

Honest looking smaller old tank

Another potential good driver

fintail

Oh yeah, in the British mag "Mercedes Enthusiast" there is an article about the Top 10 future collectible MB, and they choose the C36 as one of them. Of course, it's a different market than here. The magazine is using a C43 as one of its fleet cars, and they like it a lot.

Also, a very interesting article on a Universal, and the popularity of pontons and especially fintails in Syria.

qbrozen

So that '70 Fury has climbed well past the $5k high estimate. I believe the seller had about a $7500 reserve because I checked this weekend and it was at $7k with reserve not met. Yikes! well, there goes all my hopes and dreams.

at least my wife can rest easy now.

british_rover

Yeah I can see that happening for the C36.

I really like the idea of owning a fleet of late model low production/importation vehicles. Having a numbered plaque makes it even better but not necessary.

The short lists of the ones I want so far.

1990/1991 lMitsubishi Galant VR-4 they only imported 3,009 of these.

2000 Holland & Holland Range Rover Only 125 of these were imported. Scroll about half way down to see the specs.

2002 Westminster or Rhino edition Range Rover. 125 Rhino edition Range Rovers were imported and 300 Westminster editon vehicles.

I wouldn't mind having a 2006 edition westminster Range Rover but at almost a 100,000 dollars they are a little out of my price range.

2006 Subaru Legacy GT Spec B I know what you are gonna say, "Its a Subaru what are you thinking?" They only impored 500 and it does have the numbered plaque. We have a subaru store in our dealer group so I got a chance to drive one and I must say for the money one of the better sports sedans I have driven. I really like the brick red leather too.

fintail

Cheapie roadster

I like having a modern low production car too. Unfortunately, my insurance company also knows it is an unusual car.

I saw an odd Range Rover this weekend...it was the older kind, yellow, with some kind of smallish emblem on the door. Was this any kind of limited edition?

british_rover

It was probably a Borrego Edition Range Rover. I have never actually seen one in person. They were all Borrego Yellow yellow in color, same yellow as SE3 Freelanders were offered in, with some special interior stuff.

Check here just scroll down to special editions.

There were a ton of Special Edition Range Rovers during the 2002 model year since it was the last year of that body style and they were filling in production gaps before the retool.

fintail

Maybe that was it. I swear it sat kind of different and had some kind of emblem on the door, but I saw it in traffic, so that might warp my perception. RRs are fairly popular in my neck of the woods, as well as LRs - there's a current model RR, a LR3, and about 3 Discos in the parking garage of my apartment building alone. Maybe some special editions made it here too.

british_rover

I think, although I am not sure, that the import numbers for Special edition cars are for the US and canada combined.

If it was a Mark II body Range and it was in yellow then it had to be a the borego edition one cause I think that was the only time they offered that color in the Range Rover.

Mr_Shiftright

Older AMG models have historically tanked big time in value in America, partly because the old ones were ugly "boy racer" cars and partly because people are shy of modified luxury cars that they can't get fixed easily. We'll see what happens with the new gen, which are more attractive and less pretentious styling-wise. They will always be saleable but the question is at what price. I don't ever see them bringing back their original MSRPs for a long, long time, maybe never.

fintail

I'm actually in the US, in a very status-conscious locale where these cars fare well. I see at least one Sport per day, for example.

I'm having some memory lapse now, I can't exactly recall of it was a MkI or MkII car. It had some kind of special, yet old looking wheels, too.

fintail

I wouldn't expect actual real investment potential out of any of these cars, certainly not a return to MSRP - I mean, my C43 stickered at around 57K back in 1998! And a loaded S65 today will be like 180K+. You just can't win with that. But I at least like to think there will be demand enough to avoid depreciation to nothing. I mean, 126s are still depreciating, and it's kinda sad.

Mr_Shiftright

Well you're right, no car that has serious HP will ever depreciate to NOTHING...but the term "collectible" suggests to me mobs of people in a bidding frenzy and drunk with lust...I don't see that for these cars....

fintail

I'd be happy to see them with some kind of following...like fintails or pagoda SLs and the like. The cars are too complex and stodgy in appearance to ever get people all insane. But they are still cool cars. Maybe "special interest" is a better term...a 1999 AMG car won't end up like a 99 Taurus, but it's not a gullwing or a Hemi Cuda.

xwesx

Ah, darn it! I need that truck! :mad:

fintail

Good enough looking battleship

ghulet

I kinda like that Catalina wagon, but it's probably just cheap enough that it'll end up in a demo derby. Kind of a shame. Seems the higher end (Bonneville/Caprice, etc.), loaded models end up in gentler hands and were usually better cared for early in life. No surprise there.

Can't remember the last time I saw one of these:

http://chicago.craigslist.org/car/145678715.html

I'm sure this was snapped up instantly, not only for the price but for the highly unusual rust-free old body. I remember what a sensation these cars were when new, though they seem underwhelming in most respects now. Heavy, a bit thirsty, equipped with automatics probably half the time, but I guess glamorous anyway. I love that it's at least original, though needing an engine or at least a rebuild (is that possible?).

qbrozen

i would love that if it were a stick.

andre1969

Wow, somebody must have a real fetish for those fuselage bodies, because that '70 Fury is now up to $8100! The reserve IS met, though!

andre1969

from a few posts back. Reminds me of the old '69 Bonneville 4-door hardtop I used to have. Even though that car went through starters like they were Chinese food (eats one and then before too long it's hungry again!) and got all beat-up in the hands of my cousin, who owned it before me, I still kinda wish I had it.

It had a 400-4bbl which I think had 350 hp in that setup, but not positive. It was pretty fast though...when it wasn't eating starters! It was also a surprisingly well-handling car, considering its bulk. I guess "Wide Track" really meant something back then!

Mr_Shiftright

Geez---who'd want that old Supra? It needs paint and an engine, so you're buried for life in it(and the next life, too). I don't get it. Well maybe they would just gut it and make some kind of retro-rod out of it.....

This is a $2,000 car clean AND running, with all the power and handling of a Corolla.

Maybe they think it's a 90s twin turbo or something?

fintail

I'm kind of ashamed to admit I almost like that Supra too.

When I was in high school, ca. 1994 an acquaintance got a pristine 1980 Supra from his grandma or great aunt or something. It was in new condition, kind of an off-white. It had like 50K miles on it IIRC. I remember even at the time noticing that it was kind of an obscure car. I thought it was pretty cool in its own way...but being in the hands of a dumb kid, the wear piled on fast.

andre1969

one of the other drivers had a Celica hatchback. I want to say it was a 1981. It was primer gray, pretty rusty, and pretty nasty in general. His girlfriend also worked there for awhile, and she drove a beat-up early 80's Chevy pickup, also in multiple shades of primer. I guess that was their color of choice! :P

Still, that Celica could have been a cool car if it was in nicer shape. Oh, and count me in as one who also likes those circa 1980 Supras. When I was a kid and would see one occasionally, I used to think they were something mildy exotic.

ghulet

...if not really 'desirable'. It's as loaded as I've ever seen, anyway:

http://chicago.craigslist.org/car/145960753.html

andre1969

I never really was a fan of the first-gen Granada, but that 1980 looks about as nice as they come. Decent color combo, nicely optioned, and a 302 V-8!

I think this was also one car that really worked better as a 4-door sedan than it did as a coupe.

fintail

I want to like it, but maybe for a couple grand less

I'm glad there's no pic

And yeah, if that Granada is mechanically sound, it has to be worth it.

jrosasmc

Know that I'm not trying to offend you or anything, but what is up with all those '63 Ford Galaxies you're posting as of late? To be frank I have a friend who has a '64 sedan and it gets to be sore on my eyes sometimes.

Now this is not a project but a car I would easily lust after:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Volvo-240-ONE-OWNER-1992-VOLVO-240-ONEOWNER-54K-O- RIGINAL-MILES-VERY-CLEAN_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ31877QQitemZ4626110780QQrdZ1-

For some reason I've been coveting a real low-mileage '90s Volvo 240 lately. I know they look boring to the majority of the public but I think they're superb-looking and really fun to drive.

andre1969

the '63 is one of my favorite Fords of the '60's, followed closely by the '65-66, and then maybe the '67.

We had a '64 Ford Galaxie 500 sedan when I was a little kid, and I didn't like it. In fact, I think I hated it, but my Dad hated Fords, so he probably taught me to hate it! Even today though, I don't really care for the '64 Ford, even though it's not that different from the '63. I just think that in '63 they got all the details just right on that body style.

I have a cousin down in southern VA who has an old Galaxie 4-door hardtop, but I can't remember if it's a '61 or '62. I think it's black with a dark red top and red interior. Been ages since I've been down that way, and it seems like nowadays the only time we see that side of the family is whenever someone dies.

british_rover

A couple of years ago there was a very similar car to that Galaxie down the street from me but in white with a new top and new transmission. The interior was pretty much perfect and the painted only needed minor touch up in a few areas. I think the guy wanted 5,500 for it so yeah I agree that one is overpriced.

fintail

LOL it's really just all coincidental! Maybe they were really popular in the NW back in the day or something. Most 63-64 Chevys I see around here are pretty rotten, and Mopars from that era are rarely seen, but there are lots of 65-68 models lurking around.

fintail

This helped GM's fall from the top, no doubt

One of those 65-68 Mopars...they held up well, shame about the tranny

andre1969

if those wasp-waisted "X"-frames that the Chevies used up through 1964 made the cars more prone to rusting than Fords, which used a more conventional frame. I can't remember if the Fords used a perimeter frame or a ladder frame, though.

The X-frame made the Chevy more vulnerable in a side impact, and since it naturally would have made the car more prone to twisting, they had to shore up the sides of the car. However, the way they did it wasn't as sturdy as if they just had a frame up under there in the first place, so it may have been more prone to rust-out.

I've heard that those X-frame cars were sometimes considered to be a cross between body-on-frame and unitized. Not completely one type, but not completely the other, either.

IIRC, the '59-64 Buick also used an X-frame, but I think the '59-64 Olds and Pontiac used a more modern perimeter frame.

fintail

This is a shame as it looks pretty nice...hopefully it will become a good parts car or a recipient of a good engine, and not become a franken-benz

Eye-catcher

fintail

That might be it. I've seen several ratty 63-64 Chevys over the past couple years, and the similar Fords I've seen just seem more solid. I'm sure they do rust well themselves, though, it seems everything from that time does.

andre1969

that's not going to have anything to do with how fast sheetmetal rusts out...stuff like the quarter panels, rockers, lower edges of the door, around the headlights, etc, so I guess an old Ford or perimeter frame GM car from that era could start looking bad just as fast. But with the Chevies, I think the real structural damage might start quicker, so that they get removed from service sooner.

Oddly, most of the Mopars I see from that era that haven't been restored don't seem TOO bad with respect to rust. Especially considering that they were untized from 1960 onward. I wonder if it's because the '57-59 models rusted so badly and got such a bad rap, that Chrysler was actually FORCED to improve their rust resistance?

I don't know if this is true or not, but I've heard that GM tended to roll their sheetmetal thinner in those days. I don't know about the early 60's, but judging from my '68 Dart compared to my '67 Catalina, the Dart definitely feels like it has thicker sheetmetal to me.

fintail

Aah, I don't know so much about body-on-frame cars, I've never dealt with them in great detail. I figured the parts of the body not near the frame might somehow be more likely to rust.

Maybe the Fords just had more conservative owners than the Chevies which always seemed to end up in the hands of racers and car abusers.

fintail

Seldom-seen anymore style of a lowline survivor. This is the kind of thing one would hope to find a 427 in, but I am sure it is just a big old 6

fintail

Period colors can probably make a vehicle hard to sell

If the car is sound, this has to be worth it

andre1969

I don't like brown cars, but I could deal with that Caddy. That Fairlane looks to me like it would be a steal, if it looks that good in person.

fintail

Ads like this worry me (not to mention the car)

stevedebi

Wow, I had no idea that Cameros used the Ford Mustang design and emblems for that year. Amazing. Do you suppose the owner doesn't know it isn't a Chevy?

fintail

I have to wonder if the ad is even more than a scam, but something about it seems dumb enough to be real.

The car has LOTS of issues too, salvage for sure.

fintail

Something you don't see every day

fintail

A very Brady wagon

I bet these are fun when they break

This looks to be in reasonable shape

Mr_Shiftright

'78 Wagoneer -- it would be better if you owned your own fuel tanker.

stickguy

not a bad deal, since it looks like they throw in a Land Rover with it.

british_rover

I think that is a series one Disco, I need to see the tail lights to be sure, so buying that wagoneer and getting the Rover for free is actually about right. :P