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

fintail

Saw this in a fintail group - final run car survived the Lahaina fire, looks like the plastic lenses melted:

texases

qbrozen said:

Gotta be the worst possible choice for the steering wheel.

Surprising lack of info and pics. I’m not familiar with their auctions. If this was BaT, I’d say $25k is possible. Realistically, this should be a $20k car, max, IMHO. Put another $7k (and lots of personal hours) into it and I think it could be a $35k car.

That '66 Chrysler 300 got bid up to all of $5500. Now trying to sell it for $28,600 OBO. Good luck with that!

fintail

Just a few things this week:

Maybe dear for a project just drive as is

Cool enough but with a price

Reminds me of a Corsica/Beretta nose

Stop being so lazy with pics

Cool in an oddball way but I don't think you can there from here at that price

Mileage champ

Seems dear for a driver and the white top seems unusual, but I am not an expert

kyfdx

Vette seems pricey for a car without a convertible top

ab348

A bit of a stretch to advertise a rear engine NSU as a BMW, even if it is simply a way to overcome the lack of a predetermined manufacturer name choice in the code on Craigslist.

texases

They should have listed that NSU as a Corvair...

fintail

Just a few this week:

Looks good but performance might be annoying

Might be cool when finished but a labor of love

Thin on the ground

Odd place for a HVAC vent

No depreciation here, almost never did

Was this the bad engine per Adam?

Someone cared for it

Actual miles?

Quite rare now but a project

A little patina

texases

Amazing condition on that X-11 with 147k miles. I thought they were going to be hot stuff, glad I got a Scirocco instead.

bhill2

"performance might be annoying". Fin, you have a gift for understatement,

tjc78

You have to love GM back in the days of the X11. Parts bin radio and HVAC controls don’t fit? Just turn them sideways… it will be fine.

Love the 911

kyfdx

I think the Aurora vent in the armrest might be to defog the side windows..

ab348

I don't think those Citations looked that good when they were sold new. Amazing that the GM red interior hasn't faded to 50 different shades of pink.

The Pacer looks less like a pickup than it would if a hot tub was fitted in the back.

stickguy

X11 is nice looking. I thought those were attractive back in the day too. But weird that it would be the "sports" model, have extra gauges, but no tach.

the Pacer is cool in a truly goofy way. But going to cost a fortune to finish right. Surprising though how well a 440 big block fits in there.

And I would trade either one of my kids (heck, the wife) for the 911. That is gorgeous.

sda

Other than some soft interior trim, the 240D looks nice. I imagine replacing those parts will be a treasure hunt. Not my favorite exterior color but certainly period correct. I had the same wheels on my 89 Jetta Wolfsburg edition. Great car. Mom’s 98 Aurora was very similar to that 99. Champagne color, sunroof, Autobahn suspension. She loved that car and named it “Champagne lady.”

ab348

sda said:

Other than some soft interior trim, the 240D looks nice. I imagine replacing those parts will be a treasure hunt. Not my favorite exterior color but certainly period correct. I had the same wheels on my 89 Jetta Wolfsburg edition. Great car. Mom’s 98 Aurora was very similar to that 99. Champagne color, sunroof, Autobahn suspension. She loved that car and named it “Champagne lady.”

I think close to 100% of that generation of Auroras were painted that color. My ex-boss had one back in the day, same color.

tjc78

Popular color on everything then. Think of how many Camrys, Accords and Altimas were gold.

qbrozen

Ah, ‘80s American iron. Where high-output = 135hp. Sigh.

fintail

Weird thing with MBs of almost that exact point in time - a few plastics age weirdly, and wrinkle like that. Might be able be replaced with pieces from a later car, or maybe a repro exists. Cult car and they made over 2.5 million 123s, parts are seldom hard to find. 116s and maybe 123s also have a quirk where the seat stuffing collapses with time, and the upholstery gets a deflated look.

The champagne color makes me think of late 90s Camrys where the paint ages differently on plastic vs metal, so after 25 years you will see cars with a slight paint mismatch between bumper and body, never been replaced - just the passage of time.

sda said:

Other than some soft interior trim, the 240D looks nice. I imagine replacing those parts will be a treasure hunt. Not my favorite exterior color but certainly period correct. I had the same wheels on my 89 Jetta Wolfsburg edition. Great car. Mom’s 98 Aurora was very similar to that 99. Champagne color, sunroof, Autobahn suspension. She loved that car and named it “Champagne lady.”

bhill2

fintail said:

Weird thing with MBs of almost that exact point in time - a few plastics age weirdly, and wrinkle like that. Might be able be replaced with pieces from a later car, or maybe a repro exists. Cult car and they made over 2.5 million 123s, parts are seldom hard to find. 116s and maybe 123s also have a quirk where the seat stuffing collapses with time, and the upholstery gets a deflated look.

The champagne color makes me think of late 90s Camrys where the paint ages differently on plastic vs metal, so after 25 years you will see cars with a slight paint mismatch between bumper and body, never been replaced - just the passage of time.

sda said:

Other than some soft interior trim, the 240D looks nice. I imagine replacing those parts will be a treasure hunt. Not my favorite exterior color but certainly period correct. I had the same wheels on my 89 Jetta Wolfsburg edition. Great car. Mom’s 98 Aurora was very similar to that 99. Champagne color, sunroof, Autobahn suspension. She loved that car and named it “Champagne lady.”

Yes, I remember our 380SE. By 200K miles or so the stuffing was pretty beaten down. Had the seats re-stuffed and they looked like new (gotta love MBtex.

fintail

bhill2 said:

fintail said:

Weird thing with MBs of almost that exact point in time - a few plastics age weirdly, and wrinkle like that. Might be able be replaced with pieces from a later car, or maybe a repro exists. Cult car and they made over 2.5 million 123s, parts are seldom hard to find. 116s and maybe 123s also have a quirk where the seat stuffing collapses with time, and the upholstery gets a deflated look.

The champagne color makes me think of late 90s Camrys where the paint ages differently on plastic vs metal, so after 25 years you will see cars with a slight paint mismatch between bumper and body, never been replaced - just the passage of time.

sda said:

Other than some soft interior trim, the 240D looks nice. I imagine replacing those parts will be a treasure hunt. Not my favorite exterior color but certainly period correct. I had the same wheels on my 89 Jetta Wolfsburg edition. Great car. Mom’s 98 Aurora was very similar to that 99. Champagne color, sunroof, Autobahn suspension. She loved that car and named it “Champagne lady.”

Yes, I remember our 380SE. By 200K miles or so the stuffing was pretty beaten down. Had the seats re-stuffed and they looked like new (gotta love MBtex.

Your car had Tex? Surprising, I would have assumed leather was standard on that car, which was the middle S-Class of its time in the USDM (slotting between the 300SD and 500SEL). Maybe a special order credit option - custom builds are possible today, and were then, too - velour could also be requested.

Tex is still a great material - it might not fool an expert, but to the layman it even does a sufficient job of impersonating leather.

tjc78

Most of the synthetics today are pretty convincing. My Mom swears her Murano is real leather and I’m not telling her any differently!

kyfdx

BMW has really improved their vinyl. One of our service loaners fooled me.

fintail

My wagon has Tex, which is amusing for a car that had an MSRP a hair's breadth under 80K. I have no problem with it, low maintenance and it looks fine. Leather gives me some paranoia about it decaying with time - I would condition my prior leather MBs a couple times a year.

oldfarmer50

qbrozen said:

Ah, ‘80s American iron. Where high-output = 135hp. Sigh.

Back then even a Corvette only had about 200hp. Sad time indeed.

gsemike

Doug Demauro just did a video on Auroras. Quirky interiors indeed. Almost the whole interior was exclusive to the car, including the weirdly placed vents

https://youtu.be/op6qVB8c334?si=s1wLwg3AjepY3ezi

gsemike

What's on Long Island Marketplace

Very original looking 92 Ranger Never see them like this here

Remember when RAV4 were actually small?

3 pedal GT for 3 grand

Looks like a decent Lexus for 4 grand But those TX plates give me pause

Check that rug and package tray for moisture but G6 looks good for the priceYes, I know that they weren't good cars

An actual $1500 Accord

stickguy

Ranger looks good for farmer.

texases

Best Rav4 was 2007-2008 or so with the V6, pretty small, pretty fast.

kyfdx

texases said:

Best Rav4 was 2007-2008 or so with the V6, pretty small, pretty fast.

It was very, very quick. Corolla level interior, though, even with leather. My wife considered one, when her lease was up.

Michaell

kyfdx said:

texases said:

Best Rav4 was 2007-2008 or so with the V6, pretty small, pretty fast.

It was very, very quick. Corolla level interior, though, even with leather. My wife considered one, when her lease was up.

The parents of my best friend in CA have one of those; over 100K miles, and I agree with the interior comments.

qbrozen

Mustang would be a great toy. 440 saves already so I’d imagine gone or has a major issue.

andres3

Michaell said:

kyfdx said:

texases said:

Best Rav4 was 2007-2008 or so with the V6, pretty small, pretty fast.

It was very, very quick. Corolla level interior, though, even with leather. My wife considered one, when her lease was up.

The parents of my best friend in CA have one of those; over 100K miles, and I agree with the interior comments.

Agree on the Rav4 those years with the power V6. Fast in a straight line for sure. I cross shopped it with the A3 and that makes total sense. The Rav4 with a V6 wasn't cheap.

The A3 won out easily in value, due to the luxury interior vs. economy Corolla interior, and of course, better handling with similar speed. The Rav4 is bigger, but the A3 was surprisingly roomy and utilitarian as a hatchback. A DSG vs. std. slushbox auto too.

explorerx4

A lot of green for not a lot of green.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JTTnc7Yupo

fintail

The "small" RAV4 is the first gen convertible - before everything had an angry face and became numb:



Probably a third the length of a big Bird.

tjc78

I saw that Thunderbird on another video yesterday. Beautiful shape, but would be so much more desirable in another color. (IMO)

sda

For some reason, don't know why now, I really liked Jade green during the period it was offered. My birth stone is jade. I think it was because the color seemed vibrant and rich compared to other colors offered then.

fintail

Bird would be more brash in white on white like the one my mom had when I was a little kid. A "lipstick edition" is very period correct, too.

oldfarmer50

stickguy said:

Ranger looks good for farmer.

You can get newer for about the same. That’s gone right past hooptie into the classic stage. From now on the price just goes up.

The Rav 4 is just the right size. New ones are huge.

That GT Mustang might be good if not beat. If cared for 130k miles on a 4.6L is ok.

160k miles on that G6 is probably all the life it had.

The TX Lexus might be a scammer reposting pictures from other ads.

The Honda doesn’t say how many miles but I suppose it doesn’t matter, they run forever even without gas.😉

texases

Fans of the smaller Rav4 should look at the Corolla Cross Hybrid, peppy and 40 mpg or so in a compact boxy shape. Plenty of headroom, too, at least in the one (not a hybrid) we rented.

fintail

Took the old car out today and had fun. Had the car idling in the driveway for a minute, a guy came by and commented on it, and the car idled for several minutes while talking - I had a feeling that would drain the battery a little again. Drove to the gas station, maybe half-2/3 mile away, and after filling up, one turn of the starter and nothing. Fortunately, I remembered to take my little jumper box with me, and with it, the car started without problem. I then drove the car for maybe another half mile, turned it off, and it started without hassle. Drove it again for maybe 5 miles, turned it off, and it started right up afterwards. The ammeter is showing normal charging behavior, I think the slight discharge at idle (which I may have set just a little slow) is just enough to play games with the 2014 vintage battery.

gsemike

texases said:

Fans of the smaller Rav4 should look at the Corolla Cross Hybrid, peppy and 40 mpg or so in a compact boxy shape. Plenty of headroom, too, at least in the one (not a hybrid) we rented.

It certainly looks decent but I wonder why they went with "Coralla Cross" instead of maybe Rav3

fintail

A few precious treasures for sale:

Small

Cool but you can't get there from here

Overlander before it was a trend for overmonied insta types

Still trying with the bright colors

Maybe not bad if this floats your boat

Abnormally aspirated

Save it from the derbies

Pretty enough car, always irks me to do all that and skimp on the upholstery, repro material isn't that expensive

Rare for reasons

Go Commando

Michaell

fintail said:

A few precious treasures for sale:

Small

Cool but you can't get there from here

Overlander before it was a trend for overmonied insta types

Still trying with the bright colors

Maybe not bad if this floats your boat

Abnormally aspirated

Save it from the derbies

Pretty enough car, always irks me to do all that and skimp on the upholstery, repro material isn't that expensive

Rare for reasons

Go Commando

I recently read the obit of the designer who penned the TR7 and TR8.

fintail

Michaell said:

I recently read the obit of the designer who penned the TR7 and TR8.

Harris Mann, who designed several other BL cars, including my guilty pleasure, the Princess.

stickguy

I like the Vega. too bad it isn't a manual though!

and I actually like that design Triumph. Not brave enough to tackle that particular one though. Let someone else spend 4x what it is worth, and buy it at a steep discount instead!

Michaell

fintail said:

Michaell said:

I recently read the obit of the designer who penned the TR7 and TR8.

Harris Mann, who designed several other BL cars, including my guilty pleasure, the Princess.

I met a guy in college who owned a TR7. However, he sold it when he moved from the Bay Area to Phoenix to attend school, and was driving around in a late 70's or early 80's Grand Prix - after the big downsizing. We drove that car from Phoenix to LA and back on a school break, once. Comfy car, and made me want a G-body at the time.

kyfdx

I love the Jeep, but for that much money, I want a restomod engine. Can't imagine how crappy that original V-6 with a slushbox is..

explorerx4

Same person is selling the Imperial and the New Yorker.

ab348

The '55 Stude President Speedster is the infamous "Lemon and Lime" color combo. It looks decent cosmetically, but the price seems optimistic for a car with a transplanted Chevy small block and a Mustang II suspension.

fintail

Yeah, Imperial seller had that 60 Dodge in the background for sale too, but the ad vanished before I could post it, must have sold - rare car.

This came up in an unrelated search, a real hen's tooth - I don't need another old car, and if I did not sure I would go with this era as I already have German wingadinga, but I like it.