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

tjc78

Cool collection, can’t imagine what that costs to upkeep.

One minor nitpick.... unless that was seriously remodeled (which is doubtful looking at the floors) it was not a Walmart but a Target. Walmart doesn’t have a red band around the building or VCT.

omarman

Or this...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz7RFj5LGSc

fintail

CL quick browse, first 3 pages of pre-2000 FSBO:

Peak Accord

Peak RAV4

Pimptacular

JDM YO!

My what a big nose you have

Must be reliable

Brown brown brown practical truck

End of the line, maybe dear

Be still my heart

Wrong venue bud, good luck with that

Lures em in, spits em out

Makes a hen's tooth look common

Been trying this for awhile, nice but not there yet, I have a suspicion the seller knows it all already and won't take a hint

Ouch on a couple levels

LOL wut

Could be interesting, no cheap buy in anymore

For that price for this car, get better pics stat

Cooler than any new one

Another one in the wrong place, although I do like these

Pretty color combo, maybe a good driver

Italian island

stickguy

Would think if you want the moon money for a KR, it should at least be original color.

fintail

Went to the cheap auto auction today, as it was on my way to lunch, Small inventory, maybe a winter thing. This was maybe the rarest thing there (pic from auction site):



But it was much more a mess in person. I could have painted it better myself - they painted over the emblems and even over the door handles. Ugh.

Surprise was this - not sure how it caught my eye. 5-speed, has to be rare, was extremely clean and unmodified, had a plate frame from a long-gone local dealer, had a one owner vibe to it, started and ran like a new car. Someone might get a bargain here, don't see nice ones so much anymore/ Almost 25 years old, time flies:

steine13

Wow, any idea what that Pathfinder went for? Those were extremely solid SUVs, especially for their time..
I'm loving the 'period correct' color. Heck, I remember the period quite well.. talk about formative years.. -mathias

fintail

No idea, it was a ways into the auction and I didn't stick around. It was so clean though, and the 5-speed was the icing on the cake. Also apparent local car from new, I'd wager a lot there is zero rust. 160K indicated miles, and barely any wear - someone babied this thing. Pics from the auction house:





As I am developing a taste for 90s material, this one could have been a keeper from a time when Nissan was perhaps at its peak relevance.

steine13

I have a soft spot for these... solely because one of the few times I got into the local auction with a friendly dealer, he got a killer deal on a 4-year-old one of these (V6/auto/4wd) with decent miles and in great shape, and I almost bought it on the spot... until I remembered I don't really like SUVs and had -zero- use for it

You know how you sometimes appreciate a car for being a great example of something, even when you don't have much interest in the something for its own sake?

It was tempting to offer him $1k profit for 5 min of work... it was one of those end-of-auction items without a reserve that brought $2 less than it should have.

stickguy

for the right price, I would snap that up for my spare car. Should last forever.

fintail

That's kind of what this was for me - not something I particularly need or want, but the condition caught me off-guard, especially for this venue, which often has some neglected vehicles. Assuming it went for a low price, someone probably got a steal. Another browser opened the hood and started it up when I was there - fired right up, no odd noises, no smoke, etc.

Not much else was interesting. A clean enough very early production (5/97) ZX2 caught my eye, such a 90s thing. A 2007 MB ML with 200K on it was unusual, and there was a 300K+ mile Camry, but that's not too crazy anymore.

andres3

How turned off would you be by a S4 Avant 6-speed manual (ULTRA RARE!!!!) advertisement asking for top dollar $8,500 at 98K miles, and describes the exterior as 8.5 /10 but the front bumper lower splitter is cracked/sawed/broken right through in half down the middle of the car???

To me that would lower you to 7.5 AT BEST assuming all else was perfect.

fintail

This would be a B5? The kind of car you have to remove the front clip to change a headlight, and the engine is full of all kinds of weird biodegradable plastics, right? The car alone would scare me half to death, not even touching on an optimistic description and likely prior owners who weren't exactly gentle meticulous drivers.

andres3 said:

How turned off would you be by a S4 Avant 6-speed manual (ULTRA RARE!!!!) advertisement asking for top dollar $8,500 at 98K miles, and describes the exterior as 8.5 /10 but the front bumper lower splitter is cracked/sawed/broken right through in half down the middle of the car???

To me that would lower you to 7.5 AT BEST assuming all else was perfect.

steine13

In other words, a Tuesday on Craigslist.

kyfdx

Those are awesome cars, though.

fintail

How about Wednesday on FB Marketplace? It has taken the place of CL, that being full of junk and idiots. Here are some local 20th century gems:

Could be a nice enough driver

Needs a lot more pics, typical lazy FB ad, nice color

Always amused me these existed as new cars at the same time as the Taurus

Steering wheel so wrong it makes me twitch

Of all the things to make a tribute to

Needs an engine compartment detail for that money

Pretty in the pics, another lazy seller

Funny that these were a thing for a brief moment

Boxer

Bordello interior, nice wheels

Longboi

"0 issues"

For that money, I'd hope the "minor repairs" were dealt with

TRX special

I think people restore these now

Interesting, I bet parts can be fun

Small bumpers = big difference

Oval windows

One pic, why bother?

Foreign relations

Sheep in wolf's clothing

Escaped the demo derby

Rear seats gone

These have a cult

"street legal"

From their fun era

I think that was the original MSRP

tjc78

86 Bonneville; yeah no comparison to an 86 Taurus except for maybe reliability.

81 Mark VI; as much of a Panther fan I am I could never wrap my head around a 4 door Mark. At least that one is a Signature in a good color. Can't tell, but most likely red inside.

Regal, I so much prefer the later 4 headlight models.

Bonneville Limo; what a cool tailgate vehicle would that be?

ab348

Any GM 1978-end of run A- or G-body with a V6 is no fun at all. The good news is that a SBC in various flavors will drop right in although one would be well advised to update the transmission and rear end when doing so, which can make it expensive. The 1978-80 models were not very well built cars generally.

I could be intrigued by the Mustang pace car. The TRX wheels are a period curiosity now so I would replace them with newer Mustang-appropriate wheels and save the TRXs for the next purchaser. I thought the Capri would be an even bigger curiosity until I saw it had the 200 Falcon inline 6 - I had forgotten Ford was putting those in them back then. Better than the Pinto 4 but not by much.

The '88 Celica is seldom seen here and unfortunately that one seems rather used up.

The '78 Diplomat intrigues me for some reason.

The FB marketplace links should probably have a year/make/model reference in the captioning you are adding here, since you cannot tell what the car is by the link itself.

fintail

My captions are intentionally vague, so clicking reveals a surprise

I like the look of those TRX wheels. There was a rare optional wheel design on early Tempos that I think might have also been TRX, I have never seen a set in real life.

81 Conti could be a deal, just more lazy advertising, no interior pics etc.

tjc78

Sometimes I can guess them...

fintail

I like to drop the slightest hint. Coming up with short statement is part of the fun.

stickguy

blue malibu points out one of my rules of thumb when looking at used cars. Avoid ones where the trunk is full of random parts.

kyfdx

I agree with @ab348

I like being able to mouse over them, and see the make/model.

ab348

kyfdx said:

I agree with @ab348

I like being able to mouse over them, and see the make/model.

That's it for me too. The cute captions are fine, but if its a Subaru or a JDM anything (just 2 examples out of many) I have zero interest and don't want to waste my time clicking on it. Plus, for today at least, the FB Marketplace links seemed to take longer than normal for me so it was a bit of a slog.

stickguy

craigs at least has the model and year info in the link you can hover over. FB just has meaningless numbers

fintail

That's part of the fun, getting something you didn't expect

FB is laggy for me as well today, judging by some of the garbage they allow on marketplace and postings in general, it's a wonder it works at all. Although it can be handy to learn about people for those who flamboyantly wear every emotion on their sleeve and then put it on FB for all to see.

stickguy

that is one reason I would be reluctant to use FB marketplace. I don't want anything personal connected to the ad. and my FB is barely above stalker level (I think I made about 4 posts in the last 10 years).

fintail

It's fun to learn things about people, some things you wish you maybe didn't know

My page is completely locked down, very little can be gleaned from it. I mostly use FB for a couple of MB groups and other hobby groups - it seems such things migrated from forums (like this) to FB a while back. If it wasn't for those, I'd likely not have an account.

tjc78

I don't have a FB and didn't have a LinkedIn until the whole job search began.

My wife does have a fake account with some weird name, just so we can see family pictures etc.

fintail

Low mileage fintail with big price - that's how they are in Germany

fintail

CL time - pre-2000 FSBO first several pages quick browse:

C'mon, get it running for that money

Toyota tax

Heavy presence and price

Ad copy almost begs trolling

Not as rare here as one might imagine

Roller skate

Frankencar hell

Highline

I wonder what's wrong

I swear my 66 Galaxie had those same hubcaps

Looks so good, hurts so bad

Of all the things to restore, no way to find a positive ROI here, Truckster clone would have been better

Needs to be running first

Has to be rare

Lots of eyeball

Hen's tooth

DIY

Good color for it

"may not start" - that's a new one

Yeller

Two special names in one

Go broke in style. This is identical to one in town when I was a kid, maybe the same car.

These had hard-wearing upholstery, still seen all the time here

That hood

Low miles claim, but are the finishes original?

Odd number

ab348

The '67 Toro is the one to have and that one seems nice, but pricey. They look a lot better without the vinyl roof IMO.

The Ambassador is a neat car, but overpriced given that it needs an interior and who knows what else.

I love the restored Country Squire. Maybe get it at a deep discount, put it in preservation storage for 20 years?

The '66 Cadillac looks good but I agree that the owner has to get it running to get that price.

The '75 Fury is rare indeed and cheap, but that quarter panel may be unobtainium.

The '79 GMC Sierra is the ideal model but that one has a lot of needs for the price asked.

The '59 Lincoln could be a nightmare. I remember Fantom Works did one and that engine was a bear. Of course some of that could be TV reality show manufactured drama.

I suspect that Chevy II has been painted.

steine13

"Toyota Tax" on the extended-cab truck is right.. people forget that while these are "solid" in the sense of robustness, they will snap, crackle, and pop in any kind of serious accident, where a six-year-old Hyundai Accent will protect its occupants. $9k? No thank you.

I find a lot of older cars work much better in the imagination than the real world. Except the shorty Chevy van with a 3-on-the-tree I've been hankering for. That'd totally work for me as a daily

tjc78

That Panther wagon is really nice. The asking price is more than fair compared to what I've seen some go for.

Bad wheel choice, box Panthers belong in turbines.

qbrozen

I really dig the LTD for some reason. I'm thinking $5k, though. And, honestly, if the bottom end of that engine does have 177k miles, it could wind up being a money pit.

tjc78

I've seen ones no where near that nice for 5K. The only thing with ad is I don't believe the HP #s. That thing is CFI and you aren't getting 200HP to the rear wheels with CFI. It barely handles dual exhaust without problems.

You are correct with the engine, I'm sure it has what the Panther guys call the "lopo knock". All the lower powered 5.0s get it, but they run forever that way. All long as it has oil pressure at hot idle its fine. He replaced the timing set which is usually what kills them since in 81 they still had nylon teeth on the sprockets.

tjc78

EDIT... just re-read it. He said new Carb in ad copy.

fintail

Squire owner should find a venue with wider exposure, if there is a market for his labor of love (or maybe he is, and it just takes time to sell something with such a narrow niche). No doubt that's the kind one wants if one just must have an 81 model - you likely couldn't repeat the work for the same money.

I actually went and checked a 1981 LTD brochure, turbines are listed, definitely the best choice.

stickguy

has to be taking a bath on that LTD

tjc78

I posted it in the Panther forum.

One guy is tempted.

explorerx4

I wonder what's under the mat behind the 2rd row in the Squire?

xwesx

explorerx4 said:

I wonder what's under the mat behind the 2rd row in the Squire?

Probably the third row? These cars still had the rear-facing third row, IIRC.

It is a pretty wagon for the era. The owner did a solid job on his restoration and modification work.

explorerx4

@xwesx,
I wonder why they didn't show it. It kind of bothers me.

xwesx

@explorerx4 Oh, I see what you're saying. Yeah, given that the other portions of the interior include some restoration work, it is plausible that the third row either isn't there or is a clear mismatch with the appearance of rest of the interior.

fintail

Saw this possibly best survivor on another forum, so now it's BaT time

Speaking of best survivor, wow

Row your own, not sure why you'd want to

Someone put a fortune into this, tax dodging registration tops it off, should appeal to the VC-type wannabe outdoorsmen

Pretty restomod

Rare version of a rare version

Nice colors

Too bad these are a reliability horror show

An enjoyed car

You'll never find your twin at a show

Unusual colors

Another Ford wagon

Almost like Jake Ryan's dad's car, too bad these are a chore to live with

Peak Accord

This manual might not be sporty

stickguy

love that Daytona. But a surprising amount of work and repairs on something that is a time capsule. Trans work, repainted fender, new oil pan?

this I like. My favorite "big" pickup, along with an early 4x4 square body short bed stepper chevy. I have always been a stepside fan! But man, the price on this? I don't think so.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1995-ford-f150-17/

fintail

4x4 flareside, has to be really rare. Looks like BaT tax was in full effect.

Plenty of nice 90s Fords here for under 10K, but I don't recall ever seeing that configuration.

stickguy

a next generation (with the more sloped nose) version lives near me. bright teal blue. Much more integrated bed, with pipes that exit in front of the rear wheel. The color is a bit much, but I love the truck!

looks like this, but standard cab.

explorerx4

Interesting a truck like that would go from PA to NC(has PA title).

fintail

You could probably pick one like that up for a fraction of the price of one just a few years older. Like with the GM Squarebodies and the new generation trucks, the new generation Ford trucks carry much less hype on the market, and are pretty cheap.

I checked CL, didn't find anything interesting, But this has to be the nicest early Explorer I've seen in 20 years,
And this gives a fun grandpa's baby feeling

90s stuff is up next, just wait another decade or so.

tjc78

Love the Daytona as well.

Jag is pretty but wouldn’t touch it!

Non-wood grain Vic wagon is nice but boring colors

Accord. There goes that color again.