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

qbrozen

Pretty good deal for the Stagea. Everyone wants the turbo version, though. That's where the money is.

qbrozen

well, nobody ever said "the Japanese have such distinguished and understated taste."

tjc78

Poor car.

fintail

Spotted in the wild years ago:

stickguy

at least a 2 door makes sense to use for the conversion.

is that white one supposed to be an open air hearse?

fintail

Random pop up in a social media feed Andre-mobile for sale locally


And speaking of Lincoln pickups, this popped on Malaise Motors:

fintail

A few precious gems from CL:

Pizdets

Mirthmobile still for sale - remove those pipes

90s GM pizazz, fun dealer name

Neato

Great color combo

Getting thin on the ground

Flipper and proud of it

ab348

The ‘61 Chrysler is intriguing. Wish they had shown more pics of the interior.

So many buttons on the dash/console of that ‘99 Bonneville. Just the opposite of a current-day glass dash.

oldfarmer50

fintail said:

A few precious gems from CL:

Pizdets

Mirthmobile still for sale - remove those pipes

90s GM pizazz, fun dealer name

Neato

Great color combo

Getting thin on the ground

Flipper and proud of it

I’d take that New Yorker but in black.

That Pontiac looks beat. You used to be able to find them with half the mileage at half the price.

explorerx4

Pontiac has a salvage title.

fintail

oldfarmer50 said:

fintail said:

A few precious gems from CL:

Pizdets

Mirthmobile still for sale - remove those pipes

90s GM pizazz, fun dealer name

Neato

Great color combo

Getting thin on the ground

Flipper and proud of it

I’d take that New Yorker but in black.

That Pontiac looks beat. You used to be able to find them with half the mileage at half the price.

The $500 beater of my youth is now a $2000 beater (just like the 90K house of the era can now be 500K here).

tjc78

Anyone like Pepsi?

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1989-pontiac-grand-prix-se-pepsi-edition/

oldfarmer50

tjc78 said:

Anyone like Pepsi?

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1989-pontiac-grand-prix-se-pepsi-edition/

Wow! 135hp. That’ll make you spill your Pepsi.

stickguy

the GP did have 180 torque so probably moved along fine at normal speeds. Love the seats on that, but that is about all I like.

this is very nice looking. and only 125 HP, and about the same torque. But was still a performance car back in those days. Wonder if there is anyone left in the country that can actually sort out that Kugelfischer mechanical fuel injection. I remember an episode of wheeler dealers where they bought at Tii that had been sitting needed it redone, and Mike found some old guy (the generic "Hans") that was an expert, but he was old at that time. and did not seem to have much competition to go to.

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1974-bmw-2002tii-144/

fintail

I last drove the fintail on November 6th - it snowed the next day, and winter set in pretty soon after. Since then I hadn't started the car or even removed the cover. We've warmed up a bit lately, so this morning I thought I would start the car, let it idle for 15-20 mins to get to operating temperature, see how the battery is aging, as it is from 2014.

It was maybe at freezing or just above this morning - first turn of the key, cranked a little slow, but fired up, ran for several seconds at a very slow idle, then stopped. Second turn, fired up and ran fine. Still alive in the new year - I didn't drive beyond the driveway as most roads are still sludgy if not still snowy or wet:

fintail

Things from CL and Marketplace:

Malaise spectacular - great color combo, fun year, loaded, nice design in general, appears legit, crying out for the period optional wheels - maybe not bad given recent interest in this era

Rare malaise, interior aged well

Disco chic, owner is proud

Seems fair?

Needs stock wheels, stat

Handsome Ford

Not a Ford

Starring Shelley Long and Tom Hanks

Boxy but good

Early gnat

Probably cool if reverted to stock, but it's hard to recoup that investment

This thing has a presence, and it might not be friendly

Same here

Looks nice enough but the amount of doors doesn't help value

Base model perhaps, maybe needs detailing

Clean but a bit dear

Might have potential

tjc78

The Eldo is a very nice example. Agree the optional wheels would really set it off.

Ford truck is pretty cool, not sure why they haven’t addressed the bed. Looks great otherwise

Both Lincoln’s are pretty beat. Not sure if there is upside on the 1960.

The 75 Caddy looks like a solid deal to me. Sharp car for under 10k.

Córdoba seems overpriced without seeing the actual interior and the rough vinyl top.

ab348

I agree on the Eldo and the F-250. Not sure I'd want anything else there.

oldfarmer50

I like the style of the Eldorado.
I owned an 82’ Olds 88 which was a pile of junk in every way. Be wary of GM 80s quality.
That Cordoba T top is interesting.
The VW with only 16k miles after 50+ years is suspect. How did the bottom get busted and Bondoed?
That Eclipse clone is nice but a turbo would make it special.
The 60’ Lincoln would be a heck of a cruiser if restored. How much would that cost?
Is the seller of that “not a Ford” being cute or does he really not know who made the S-10?
Does that 75’ Lincoln really have a million miles?

The rest are on Facebook marketplace so you can assume they are all scams and flippers.

qbrozen

Oh. My. Goodness.

stickguy

that, is weird. lot of work went into it though it seems. probably fun in the rain!

tjc78

@qbrozen said:
Oh. My. Goodness.

This is what happens when you drink a 30 pack in the garage

xwesx

Hey, it's just purpose-built! The guy wanted an off-roader, and he knew he was likely to chew it up in the woods, so he built what he wanted and did it on the cheap!

fintail

Some CL things:

Wheels from my high school parking lot, 1992

Been listed for at least a year, looks nice enough but must be too dear

This hasn't sold yet either

Florida package (or perhaps Joisey)

Nice basic spec

Cool for what it is. price is chilling too

Probably didn't cost this much new

FWD

Big Red

Great pic, fun ad copy, just broken in

Could be fair

2+2 = something

sda

The driver seat in the GM is gross. I don’t understand how someone would let it get that bad. Yuck

ab348

Having owned an early MR2 from new, I cannot imagine how many ills the one advertised must have - especially considering the ad copy/style. In 4 years, mine had a bad throwout bearing, a head gasket failure, went through 3 factory stereos, had a side window fall into the door, and needed rust repair under the front bumper, along with several other minor issues.

tjc78

Cool mix there. I agree about the seat in the GM what happened there?

Red Lincoln is too far gone.

I could see me making my kids first car something like that Topaz just to make them understand how cars have come… but I’d be nervous with the lack of safety features.

kyfdx

tjc78 said:

Cool mix there. I agree about the seat in the GM what happened there?

Red Lincoln is too far gone.

I could see me making my kids first car something like that Topaz just to make them understand how cars have come… but I’d be nervous with the lack of safety features.

I used to tell my son that his first car would be a Yaris.. but, I was just kidding. Topaz?

oldfarmer50

I would take that Reatta for that price and mileage if the dash lights worked. Those have gone up in price recently.

That Topaz would make a nice A to B car if you didn’t need the latest electronics.

Can you imagine how much paint you would have to buy to spray that Lincoln Mark?

There are some other cheap transportation cars listed that I’d buy.

kyfdx

9 year old Escape for $14K. Holy crap.

fintail

I want to like the Topaz, but yeah, in these days of portly CUVs and oversized trucks, a risk putting a kid in one. I think of myself and friends who drove relatively old cars when we were new drivers in the early 90s, but the vehicle fleet on the road is a lot different (heavier, larger, taller) now.

Michaell

One of the high schoolers that work at the cooking studio drives a Charger. I haven't had a chance to see if it's RWD or AWD; I assume the latter here in CO.

tjc78

@fintail said:
I want to like the Topaz, but yeah, in these days of portly CUVs and oversized trucks, a risk putting a kid in one. I think of myself and friends who drove relatively old cars when we were new drivers in the early 90s, but the vehicle fleet on the road is a lot different (heavier, larger, taller) now.

Yeah it’s fun to think that would be good first car, but Topaz vs Tahoe/Expedition etc is a scary thought.

qbrozen

Personal bias at work, but I'd rather my new driver be in something they can maneuver and control easily than in a 6k-lb precarious battering ram. I want him to be the brain of the dog, not a flea on the dog's back, if you get my meaning.

andres3

A guy had just got a prior generation supercharged 3.0 A6. He admired and said he was surprised how well is pulled power for a 4,000 pound car with just a stage 1 tune.

He's driving on all-seasons with stock brakes and cooling; how fast do you want/need to be without having the other "go fast" parts that make the HP responsible and usable?

sda

qbrozen said:

Personal bias at work, but I'd rather my new driver be in something they can maneuver and control easily than in a 6k-lb precarious battering ram. I want him to be the brain of the dog, not a flea on the dog's back, if you get my meaning.

The 06 TL that my daughter drives does not have many of the safety nannies of our other cars. The TL doesn't have a backup camera, blind spot monitoring, though it does have abs, traction control, and multiple air bags. I would like to think that by not having these features it has forced her to be a better defensive driver and in tune with her vehicle and surroundings.

fintail

andres3 said:

A guy had just got a prior generation supercharged 3.0 A6. He admired and said he was surprised how well is pulled power for a 4,000 pound car with just a stage 1 tune.

He's driving on all-seasons with stock brakes and cooling; how fast do you want/need to be without having the other "go fast" parts that make the HP responsible and usable?

My non-tuned 100% stock TT V6 E wagon is amazingly fast too, really more than almost anyone needs out of a 4300+ lb car. And the best bit, it is completely under the radar.

fintail

tjc78 said:

@fintail said:

I want to like the Topaz, but yeah, in these days of portly CUVs and oversized trucks, a risk putting a kid in one. I think of myself and friends who drove relatively old cars when we were new drivers in the early 90s, but the vehicle fleet on the road is a lot different (heavier, larger, taller) now.

Yeah it’s fun to think that would be good first car, but Topaz vs Tahoe/Expedition etc is a scary thought.

Back in the day when I was a new driver, my parents put me in 60s cars without a care. These days it might be a little riskier. if anything, because many old cars have decayed a little more in the past 30 or so years.

andres3

fintail said:

andres3 said:

A guy had just got a prior generation supercharged 3.0 A6. He admired and said he was surprised how well is pulled power for a 4,000 pound car with just a stage 1 tune.

He's driving on all-seasons with stock brakes and cooling; how fast do you want/need to be without having the other "go fast" parts that make the HP responsible and usable?

My non-tuned 100% stock TT V6 E wagon is amazingly fast too, really more than almost anyone needs out of a 4300+ lb car. And the best bit, it is completely under the radar.

I meant to add that he was talking about what to do next to add "more power." Even though he was happy with the power he already had.

HP can be addicting. You get used it it. You become tolerant.

A few days in the under-powered Jetta loaner though, and my tolerance went down and the S4 turned into a beast again.

fintail

andres3 said:

fintail said:

andres3 said:

A guy had just got a prior generation supercharged 3.0 A6. He admired and said he was surprised how well is pulled power for a 4,000 pound car with just a stage 1 tune.

He's driving on all-seasons with stock brakes and cooling; how fast do you want/need to be without having the other "go fast" parts that make the HP responsible and usable?

My non-tuned 100% stock TT V6 E wagon is amazingly fast too, really more than almost anyone needs out of a 4300+ lb car. And the best bit, it is completely under the radar.

I meant to add that he was talking about what to do next to add "more power." Even though he was happy with the power he already had.

HP can be addicting. You get used it it. You become tolerant.

A few days in the under-powered Jetta loaner though, and my tolerance went down and the S4 turned into a beast again.

Or people become numb to hp, perhaps. High power remains readily accessible at mainstream prices. Personally, I don't need any more than I have.

tjc78

When I get into a rental with less power it does does a little while to get used to. That Kona I had was painful.

qbrozen

@tjc78 said:
When I get into a rental with less power it does does a little while to get used to. That Kona I had was painful.

If you wanna try a 660cc Wagon R with 3-speed auto, lemme know. You’ll never see any other car as slow. Although it may beat an NA 80s Benz diesel to 40mph.

kyfdx

tjc78 said:

When I get into a rental with less power it does does a little while to get used to. That Kona I had was painful.

The only Kona I've rented had the turbo. Not bad. I can imagine how doggy the base engine must be.

tjc78

@qbrozen
My golf cart might be faster!

@kyfdx
It wasn’t horrible but clearly labored to maintain 75 uphill with the AC on. I wouldn’t have dared a pass on a two lane road.

stickguy

passing on a 2 lane road is one of those reasons people always toss out for why you need the 900HP fire breathing engine option. I think I actually do it however maybe once ever 10 years. Last time I recall doing it was in my 2.4 NA Sonata and it did just fine!

texases

Yep. I once passed a car on CA1 (the PCH) driving my 198 cid Duster pulling a small UHaul. Stupid thing to do, I was lucky. But I’ve never needed 300+ hp, just takes a little planning.

oldfarmer50

tjc78 said:

When I get into a rental with less power it does does a little while to get used to. That Kona I had was painful.

That wasn’t my problem yesterday as I was given a 5.0 Mustang convertible to transfer to another office. Lots of fun in the Vermont mountains.

Your rental assignment may be due to offices playing “hot potato” with each other. For example, when we had to get three vehicles to take to another office we were given one OK car, one car car that had two days left on the registration and a truck with a bad charging system and lights on the dash. The agents claimed they had no idea about the problems and reluctantly gave me another truck after I reminded them that they would be responsible to tow it back if it broke down.

They gave me a big Ram diesel that was out of DEF and would go into 5 mph limp mode in another 50 miles. Since the trip was over 160 miles we had to go hunting for the fluid and try to not spill it on our shoes in a truck stop parking lot.

stickguy

I hope they at least had all season tires on that Mustang.

Enterprise (I think) did that to my BIL once. He rented a car to drive to CT (from upstate NY) when he bought his Jaguar (no trade so it was the easiest way to do it). He reserved some cheap car but when he got there, they claimed to be out so they "upgraded" him to a giant Ram PU (I think a 2500). He did not care that much so took it. The folks at the local agency at the end where ticked off though, because it took up 2 parking spots in a small lot. Exactly the reason the local guy likely gave it to him, since it was 1 way and they wanted to get rid of it.

kyfdx

My wife’s first BMW in 2003. First day she drove it to work, it died in the parking lot. Called a tow to the nearest dealer. No loaners available, so they booked me a car with Enterprise. F-250 dually with the biggest gasoline V-8 available. Pouring down rain. 2 days with a 50-mile R/T commute. About 9 mpg. 😡

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

I hope they at least had all season tires on that Mustang.

Enterprise (I think) did that to my BIL once. He rented a car to drive to CT (from upstate NY) when he bought his Jaguar (no trade so it was the easiest way to do it). He reserved some cheap car but when he got there, they claimed to be out so they "upgraded" him to a giant Ram PU (I think a 2500). He did not care that much so took it. The folks at the local agency at the end where ticked off though, because it took up 2 parking spots in a small lot. Exactly the reason the local guy likely gave it to him, since it was 1 way and they wanted to get rid of it.

At least our office folks aren’t this bad:

https://triblive.com/local/monroeville/monroeville-woman-fraudulently-rented-avis-cars-for-heroin-cash/