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

xwesx

fintail said:

Auction ended, probable record price for a non-6.9 W116

Holy wow. That's just... no.

qbrozen

All it ever takes is the right 2 people at an auction

ab348

Makes me wonder if I should go through the process of getting my Cutlass accepted by BaT. I do wonder about the complications of selling through that venue though.

fintail

I'd worry with BaT too, you'd need to take 300 pics of every inch of the car, and think of every little detail and flaw.

For that 300SD, I'd say it is one of the best survivors existing, but you are paying for it. One should be able to find a nice but slightly more aged car for a third the price and spruce it up. Maybe the colors did it.

fintail

A few minutes on CL:

From 0-stolen in 6 seconds - I mean mad tyte JDM yo!

Very few remain like this, seller looks like a curbstoner

See above

Toyota tax

The only way to travel

Becoming rare

These days this seems like a fair deal

Cloth interior

Driving Miss Daisy

Looks well-equipped and solid, sadly, few will care

They all seem to be this color scheme, not my first choice in wheeltrims

xwesx

That New Yorker has serious cool-factor. I like it. Is the price anywhere near reasonable? Seems decent to me for the originality and condition.

stickguy

Nice rambler. Too bad it’s a 4 door.

explorerx4

GSR is an automatic, too bad.
I liked looking at the sticker for the Cadillac.
The seller is sure proud of that trunk on the Rambler.

fintail

I'd want to be a few grand less, but if it is as good as it looks, probably no harm done. You couldn't get a basket case to be so nice for nearly the same money, but there's not a lot of demand (and what exists might be waning), so one might not break even if they sell it in the future. Something to buy out of love, which is maybe how it should be. Very sturdy cars, probably competent in most city/suburban driving, or cruising secondary highways.

xwesx said:

That New Yorker has serious cool-factor. I like it. Is the price anywhere near reasonable? Seems decent to me for the originality and condition.

tjc78

I’ve always like first generation Intrepids. Shame that one is a base model.

New Yorker is really cool.

Daddy is nice too but a 4.1. Ugh

jpp75

@tjc78 thought of you when I saw this:

https://denver.craigslist.org/ctd/d/parker-1997-mercury-grand-marquis-ls/7337099216.html

tjc78

Love that 97. Great colors, last year before the redesign, HPP and digital dash.

Price is pretty steep but I’d inquire if I was looking for one.

fintail

I notice the build date is very late on that Grand Marquis.

xwesx

tjc78 said:

Love that 97. Great colors, last year before the redesign, HPP and digital dash.

Price is pretty steep but I’d inquire if I was looking for one.

Yeah, wow. That thing is a real cream puff and must be at the top of the heap for the year.

tjc78

Only issue with that one that affects all 4.6 L from 1996 to 2001 is the plastic crossover on the intake. They make a revised part to fix it. It’s not the cheapest repair, but if I had one that nice I would go ahead and do preemptively as it will eventually go causing a coolant leak.

Other than that a 97 is truly bulletproof.

tjc78

@xwesx said:
Yeah, wow. That thing is a real cream puff and must be at the top of the heap for the year.

Yeah hard loaded and HPP package. HPP stands for handling and performance package.

Dual Exhaust
Higher ratio rear
Larger sway bars
Stiffer shocks all around
Revised rate rear air springs
Specific BBS wheels

It was available on the base GS and LS

qbrozen

@tjc78 said:
Only issue with that one that affects all 4.6 L from 1996 to 2001 is the plastic crossover on the intake. They make a revised part to fix it. It’s not the cheapest repair, but if I had one that nice I would go ahead and do preemptively as it will eventually go causing a coolant leak.

Other than that a 97 is truly bulletproof.

The plastic intake affected more years than that. My FIL had to replace it on his ‘04. From what I have read, Ford revised only PART of the manifold after ‘01, but it is still mostly plastic. Dumb.

tjc78

@qbrozen said:

@tjc78 said:
Only issue with that one that affects all 4.6 L from 1996 to 2001 is the plastic crossover on the intake. They make a revised part to fix it. It’s not the cheapest repair, but if I had one that nice I would go ahead and do preemptively as it will eventually go causing a coolant leak.

Other than that a 97 is truly bulletproof.

The plastic intake affected more years than that. My FIL had to replace it on his ‘04. From what I have read, Ford revised only PART of the manifold after ‘01, but it is still mostly plastic. Dumb.

100% correct. The earlier ones fail much more often due to the crossover being all plastic. That was revised to be aluminum from late 2001 on… but as you say there still can be failures at other points on the intake.

My 04 with a little over 100k and 13 years was still original.

fintail

Marketplace quick browse:

Looks like a deal, maybe sold already

Not my first color combo choice, but those wheels are what I would want on a bustleback or period Eldo

So many issues, such a price

Someone needs to save this

Patina, we have it

Once everywhere, now almost extinct

Sad

Wacky

Seems fair these days

Really thin on the ground now

I've actually seen a couple of these around

Luxury

For a third the price, and if I had space

Battle wagon

And an amusingly specific wanted ad

qbrozen

That Rampage is DEFINITELY a deal. I'm glad it is too far away from me.

qbrozen

On the '79 Z28: "no issues" somewhere in hidden fineprint: "except the line of rust through down the entire driver's side"

I like the Subaru, but not at that price.

stickguy

Rampage is a good looking deal. I still wouldn’t buy it with an AT though!

qbrozen

stickguy said:

Rampage is a good looking deal. I still wouldn’t buy it with an AT though!

At that price, I could live with the auto for a little fun utility runabout.

qbrozen

That Olds 98 is pretty sweet, too.

stickguy

qbrozen said:

stickguy said:

Rampage is a good looking deal. I still wouldn’t buy it with an AT though!

At that price, I could live with the auto for a little fun utility runabout.

I’m surprised you even would fit comfortably.

texases

I got a kick out of that VW ad: "ran when parked" [in 1990]; "needs a tuneup" [ya think??]; "has a title, but the previous owner can't find it" [basic failure to understand the verb "has"]

tjc78

Good luck finding an LX Taurus wagon, rare spec there. It would be easier to find a loaded Panther wagon

tjc78

Add me to list of wanting the Rampage.

xwesx

fintail said:

Marketplace quick browse:

Wacky

Hatchback?! I think he means, "Hackback."

stickguy

I like it! Though I assume it has no provision for a top.

qbrozen

@stickguy said:
I’m surprised you even would fit comfortably.

Looks damned roomy compared to my ‘85 MR2.

qbrozen

If it wasn’t for shipping cost, I’d be tempted to get the Rampage and put it on one of the auction sites

stickguy

Fly out, drive it home!

explorerx4

This was a pretty fun video to watch.
Chrysler Airflow demonstration.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFl5pEe-7uo

fintail

I'd assume 90%+ of production was GL (not sure if there was an L wagon or if I have ever seen one). The ad specifically wanting an 86 will make it that much harder, probably hard to find any 86 wagon.

When I was in high school, a friend's mom had a 91 LX wagon, loaded with leather etc.

Rampage is now "pending", I bet the seller got about 100 messages this morning.

tjc78 said:

Good luck finding an LX Taurus wagon, rare spec there. It would be easier to find a loaded Panther wagon

benjaminh

I like that Oldsmobile 98.

steine13

Be still my heart -- that "somebody should save" Audi is a DKW 1000.
That is the first car I remember, and my fondness for bench seats comes from that experience.

Of course, the other memory I have -- I must have been three or four years old -- is my dad carrying the engine on his back into the basement so he could work on it. It was an air cooled 3cyl 2cycle, so relatively small, but still outweighed him a good bit. That car was not a stellar example of the breed, even by the standards of the four circles of Doooom.

Thanks for the smile.

fintail

Four circles of doom, I like that. I know those circles are far more reliable than in the old days, but they still scare me.

2 minute CL browse:

I wonder what this will go for, bargain at the "minimum" offer

Probably has some life left in it

I like the car, but the ad is heavy on the TMI

Seems like they were all this color

Toyota tax and dreamer seller combination

Maybe a nice driver for what is now a modest sum

Air cooled

Interesting that the filler panels are intact, oh yeah, and lots of green

Something is missing

Buy a new oversized 60K showboat for the semi-annual trip to the dump/Home Depot/IKEA or this piece of the 90s for less

Never seen one of these before, it kind of works

You'd have to be very very brave

Christine's older brother

Touted as "collector's items" 30+ years ago, seems they all survived

Good basis for a "how it started/how it's going" meme with a Stinger

Pardon me?

qbrozen

Toyota pickup: auto and RWD hold this one down. I think he may get $5k tops from the right buyer.

‘51 pickup: this reeks of “well I TRIED to sell it, dear!”

stickguy

I like that falcon too. Just need to convert to floor shift. Should be easy!

And I would be all over that F150 as it appears to be not rusty.

ab348

The '92 F-150 is well-worn but still seems a bargain at that price.

tjc78

@ab348 said:
The '92 F-150 is well-worn but still seems a bargain at that price.

I was thinking the same thing. Not too many flare sides around.

texases

That Dodge pickup is odd looking in the front end, to me.

xwesx

fintail said:

Pardon me?

Hahah! Your link comment definitely caught my attention on this one.

I think the owner should start with a reasonable asking price, then we can discuss what a reasonable offer looks like....

fintail

I think a lot of people see something in a book and believe it, and also don't know how the condition scale works. I recall my dad used to talk about that, to the point where a "#1" car almost doesn't exist, yet everyone with a simply clean or nice old car thinks it is #1 because it looks good.

On the project car topic, a nice Subaru Justy popped up today on Marketplace - already gone.

xwesx said:

fintail said:

Pardon me?

Hahah! Your link comment definitely caught my attention on this one.

I think the owner should start with a reasonable asking price, then we can discuss what a reasonable offer looks like....

xwesx

Justys (AWD... didn't they come as FWD, too?) are incredibly fun little tossable cars, with that 3-cylinder engine and a manual transmission. Well, as long as you keep them well-revved.

fintail

Yep, both AWD and FWD. I think they also offered the first modern CVT, too (I also believe this wasn't without problems). An AWD Justy is likely a future collectible, already a special interest car.

xwesx said:

Justys (AWD... didn't they come as FWD, too?) are incredibly fun little tossable cars, with that 3-cylinder engine and a manual transmission. Well, as long as you keep them well-revved.

xwesx

One of my grandmothers had a string of them spanning around 1980 up to the last design that, I believe, was early 1990s. If I recall correctly, my father totaled at least one of them.

If I remember the order correctly, she had a cream-colored one, which he wrecked on black ice while commuting, then replaced that with a red one in the mid-80s, followed by a silver one around 1990 or so. I think that was the last car she ever drove, and she may have had it upwards of a decade.

fintail

I think Justy was MY 87-93 or so only, however, a slightly larger hatchback (DL/GL) existed from around MY 81 until 87 or so.

More exciting than my paternal grandmother, who had a thing for Pintos, then Cavaliers.

xwesx said:

One of my grandmothers had a string of them spanning around 1980 up to the last design that, I believe, was early 1990s. If I recall correctly, my father totaled at least one of them.

If I remember the order correctly, she had a cream-colored one, which he wrecked on black ice while commuting, then replaced that with a red one in the mid-80s, followed by a silver one around 1990 or so. I think that was the last car she ever drove, and she may have had it upwards of a decade.

kyfdx

A co-worker in the early '90s had bought a Justy for his son (grad present). CVT went out, out of warranty, and they wanted $4000 to repair it. (in 1991!!)