I spotted an (insert obscure car name here) classic car today!

thebean

The Chevy motor mount recall should have included Chevelles. My ‘67 El Camino was included, although we didn’t know about it. Every time I took off “spiritedly”, the 283 would buck up a tad and the fan blades would hit the shroud. When I told my father about it, I got a “talkin’ to” about fast starts. So, I never mentioned it again. I seem to remember reading much later that the remedy was to run a chain across the top of the block and tighten it to the frame. But, we got the car/truck used and wasn’t aware of any recall fix. ☹️

ab348

Attn: @fintail ! This video was made for you:

https://youtu.be/CIYty4sRO-g?si=3o-t8EE1GbJ3I94d

stickguy

a couple of BMWs in my neighborhood. and E36 M3 (that one seems sagged into the driveway. Have not seen it moved or touch since we moved in) and an older (I think a 320 vintage but did not get a close look) tucked up in the corner of another driveway. That one looks like it might move!

fintail

Michaell said:

@fintail said:

Out on the road while cruising in the fintail earlier today - 67 Galaxie, 71-73 Mustang, 70s Alfa Spider, early 70s Ford pickup, MB W203 C32 AMG in sad condition.

Do you think any of those folks see you in the fintail and report back to their internet or social media friends about seeing your car?

Very possibly - on several occasions I have spotted people taking pics of it, younger people esp. as I think to those of a certain age, it is kind of an alien machine.

fintail

ab348 said:

Attn: @fintail ! This video was made for you:

Just caught that, a good one. That car has many differences from mine, yet as they are in the same family, some similarities (including my wonky gas gauge which has been that way since I bought the car). That car is a little newer and a lower trim than mine, but fintails are all almost the same structurally. Nice to see it getting attention, Leno will give the cars more exposure than just about anyone else could.

fintail

This is the minty old Ford I spotted a few days ago, image via dashcam:

uplanderguy

I always liked the ‘56 Ford pickup with the wraparound windshield. The dash reminded me some of Ford passenger cars, which I like.

I remember one of the major model kit makers made a kit of the ‘56 F-100 well afterwards, which makes me think those were well-liked generally as a truck for the model company to bother.

Michaell

uplanderguy said:

I always liked the ‘56 Ford pickup with the wraparound windshield. The dash reminded me some of Ford passenger cars, which I like.

I remember one of the major model kit makers made a kit of the ‘56 F-100 well afterwards, which makes me think those were well-liked generally as a truck for the model company to bother.

Before my dad bought his '70 Chevy C-10, he owned a black 50's Ford pickup. I want to say it was a '53 or '54, but I'm not certain. Was pretty beat up, IIRC - but, he used it as a truck. I do not recall ever riding in it, although I'm sure I did.

andre1969

One of my cousins got me a model of a '56 Ford pickup, for either my 8th or 9th birthday. Which would have been 1978 or 79. Weird, I hadn't thought about that model in ages, or that cousin. But it all came back to me like it was yesterday. It was brown, and I remember it had decals on it that said "Bear Bait."

And, sure enough, doing a Google search, here it is!

uplanderguy

Yesterday while driving the seven miles between Greenville and Jamestown, PA I passed a car salvage place with a black ‘50’s M-B 180 out front. Looked like a hulk and the grille had been removed. Would’ve taken a pic but I blew by it on my way to a lunch appointment.

explorerx4

This one lives about 1/2 a mile from me.
Ironically, it also says Bait on the side as in a Tackle and Bait business.
I saw it up close when it was parked out front of Harbor Freight the other day.

stickguy

That one is definitely on bags.

xwesx

It's a real shame to neuter a pickup like that, but still better than leaving it to rust away in a field somewhere!

uplanderguy

Ducking for cover; yet, I can relate!

“The wheel on the Blue Origin spacecraft after returning from space yesterday.”

sda

@uplanderguy said:
Ducking for cover; yet, I can relate!

“The wheel on the Blue Origin spacecraft after returning from space yesterday.”

What happened? Your car? Ouch.

fintail

Got behind a ~71 Torino fastback on the road, the style that makes me think of Aussie cars. Sadly, my dashcam doesn't seem to have captured it, after 6+ years it might be getting tired, fun times.

uplanderguy

The pic is a joke on the all-female passenger list on the Blue Origin spacecraft a couple days ago! I cribbed it from FB.

As someone with a wife and two daughters, I have indeed experienced this though.

andre1969

uplanderguy said:

The pic is a joke on the all-female passenger list on the Blue Origin spacecraft a couple days ago! I cribbed it from FB.

As someone with a wife and two daughters, I have indeed experienced this though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_H4k83u9Itc

explorerx4

Saw this while out walking the granddog today.

texases

Black wheels are EVERYWHERE

tjc78

@texases said:
Black wheels are EVERYWHERE

Unfortunately

xwesx

fintail said:

Got behind a ~71 Torino fastback on the road, the style that makes me think of Aussie cars. Sadly, my dashcam doesn't seem to have captured it, after 6+ years it might be getting tired, fun times.

Could just be the microSD card. We had one go bad on the Forester's camera a while back. I put a 256GB in it that is still going strong! I think the system itself requests a 32GB card, which is not big enough to record all that much time, and it results in vastly more read/write cycles on the card as it overwrites prior recordings.

fintail

xwesx said:

fintail said:

Got behind a ~71 Torino fastback on the road, the style that makes me think of Aussie cars. Sadly, my dashcam doesn't seem to have captured it, after 6+ years it might be getting tired, fun times.

Could just be the microSD card. We had one go bad on the Forester's camera a while back. I put a 256GB in it that is still going strong! I think the system itself requests a 32GB card, which is not big enough to record all that much time, and it results in vastly more read/write cycles on the card as it overwrites prior recordings.

I think it might be sun - today I put my (exterior) sun shade on, and it worked fine after sitting at work all day. It seems to start up fine after being in the garage all night, but a couple times lately after being in direct sunlight it simply wouldn't power on. Not sure what that's about, could also be linked to the card (which are as old as the camera and have plenty of overwriting in their history) too, maybe should upgrade. I run a 64 MB - had a 128 but it gave errors. These have been generally trouble free.

sda

I had a Vega and Sunbird. Fun to watch. My Sunbird with V6 5sp, was a much better car even though it was based from the Vega. https://youtu.be/uikDrF3F0-s?si=dQvngttuPpaYJwS-

roadburner

By the late '70s the Monza and Sunbird were decent cars.

stickguy

a friend from HS sister had a Monza notchback from that era that he ended up with after college. Base model I think, pretty sure with the iron duke engine. I seem to recall it was a decent car that drove OK and didn't give them any trouble. a lot nicer than a Vega at least!

Michaell

My '79 Sunbird (bought in the spring of '82 with less than 12,000 miles on it), was pretty reliable until I had my first accident in it - T-boned a lady who made a left in front of me.

The body damage was repaired OK, but I now suspect that there were some mechanical issues that should have been resolved, but weren't. Specifically, I think a motor mount (or two) was broken, and the engine and transmission got misaligned, making shifting tough. Lived with it for the better part of two years, until it was totaled in a second accident in my last semester - ironically, while I was on the way to see a mechanic.

uplanderguy

At the time, I much-preferred the Monza and similar cars to the Vega. I had two high school friends who had new '75 Monza 2+2 V8's.

Now, I'd take a Cosworth Vega over any of those cars. The rust problems were gone, you had the power of a small V8 or the V6 in a lighter car I think, and the interiors were quite nice. Just looking at the engine was a thing of beauty. I remember reading somewhere that they cornered flatter than the same-year Corvette with radials.

They stickered high for sure, but I wouldn't doubt the majority were sold for well-under sticker. The one our hometown dealer got in was advertised a year later at $4800-something, the sticker price of a V8 Monza with THM and PS then.

I don't like the '76's yellow taillight lenses, which always seemed 'import' to me then, but I liked that the cars were available in any regular Vega color. My fave is the dark blue with white interior.

I have to laugh when I look at Vega pages. People have never heard of a Cosworth. There'll be an article on a Cosworth, and someone will post underneath, "I had a '71, it was terrible".

No you didn't.

sda

My sister had an 80 Sunbird hatchback that she bought around 89 for less than $1k. It was in decent shape. Iron duke, 4sp, ac, ps, less than 50k mi. With the exception of it needing multiple clutch cable replacements, the ball at the end of the cable where it attached to the transmission would break off, it was reliable. A mechanic found where the cable was attached at the firewall, the firewall would flex. He welded a plate to reinforce the firewall and that fixed the issue. Later, someone rear ended the car. The rear quarter panel was slightly damaged, bumper and tailights were ok. Still driveable. The insurance company totaled it and gave my sister $1200.

explorerx4

Saw a 20xx GMC Envoy for sale in a driveway the other day for $1800. It didn't last long.
Kind of funny, the price was spray painted on a piece of plywood which also had $8900 kind of painted over from when it was used to sell a previous vehicle.

uplanderguy

I toured Lordstown assembly in 1980, while they were building the GM cars like Monza and Sunbird. Our tour was second shift, so that late the cars must've been selling well. They took us through the plant on a tram-like thing--like a string of roller-coaster cars. I can remember going past some people on break who yelled, "HELP! Get us out of here!". I also remember a navy blue Monza hatchback going down the line with a yellow rear-end panel and the "CHEVROLET" hatchlid nameplate on upside down.

Whether this had anything to do with it or not, I had heard separately that sometimes the guys who drove cars out of the plant to the storage lot would sometimes clip a doorway just so they could drive a car to the body shop, a different end location, before coming back to drive other cars out.

I also toured the plant with my Cub Scout troop in '68. At the time they were building full-size Chevys, and FIrebirds, but oddly, not Camaros.

I've owned four new Lordstown-built cars, and two used ones. I will say the '15 Cruze cheapo LS I drive daily now, 121K miles, the body and paint are still excellent, and it's navy blue and I'm not sure has ever spent a night or day inside our garage since we bought it in 2017. It was coming off a lease.

I always heard the Cosworth was built on its own line. Where I bought my C8, small dealer, I asked the owner, same age as me, if they sold any Cosworths. He said his Dad chose to not handle them as he didn't want to buy the tools and training required for what he felt would be minimal sales. Financially, a good call.

Michaell

uplanderguy said:

I toured Lordstown assembly in 1980, while they were building the GM cars like Monza and Sunbird. Our tour was second shift, so that late the cars must've been selling well. They took us through the plant on a tram-like thing--like a string of roller-coaster cars. I can remember going past some people on break who yelled, "HELP! Get us out of here!". I also remember a navy blue Monza hatchback going down the line with a yellow rear-end panel and the "CHEVROLET" hatchlid nameplate on upside down.

Whether this had anything to do with it or not, I had heard separately that sometimes the guys who drove cars out of the plant to the storage lot would sometimes clip a doorway just so they could drive a car to the body shop, a different end location, before coming back to drive other cars out.

I also toured the plant with my Cub Scout troop in '68. At the time they were building full-size Chevys, and FIrebirds, but oddly, not Camaros.

I've owned four new Lordstown-built cars, and two used ones. I will say the '15 Cruze cheapo LS I drive daily now, 121K miles, the body and paint are still excellent, and it's navy blue and I'm not sure has ever spent a night or day inside our garage since we bought it in 2017. It was coming off a lease.

I always heard the Cosworth was built on its own line. Where I bought my C8, small dealer, I asked the owner, same age as me, if they sold any Cosworths. He said his Dad chose to not handle them as he didn't want to buy the tools and training required for what he felt would be minimal sales. Financially, a good call.

We have several Cruze's in our driving school fleet - two of the original body style, and one (2017?) with the refreshed body style. All of them with over 100K on the odometer, and they're still pretty tight feeling. I like them much better than the Foci we have, likely because the dual brake pedal setup we use makes me less comfortable in the Ford - not as much room to stretch my legs out. Plenty of space in the Chevy.

stickguy

I like the newer style Cruz. Looks nice. Have never drive. One though. With a manual could be a nice little spare car.

uplanderguy

I have heard that the first-gen Cruze turbos can be a headache, but mine is a non-turbo. I did buy a new '17, the last style, which my daughter in Seattle drives now and is approaching 100K miles with no issues. We can get into a discussion here on this I'm sure, but on both my turbo cars, I used 93 gas (daughter uses 91 out there as 93 is not available), based on what seems like a hundred things I've read from mechanics about premium being better for turbos in general since in their minds, manufacturers play with stuff to get the cars to run on 87 but not good. So far, I've had good luck with both our turbos.

I much-prefer the last-gen Cruze, which are all turbos, for interior space in the back seat, and interior materials. The styling is meh outside, barely distinguishable from anything else in that class. The first-gen Cruze to me has less road/tire noise.

I rode in probably a 2015 Focus that a friend's friend owned. I don't know the model but the first thing that struck me was how small the center screen was compared to my 2017 Cruze. Now, my cheapo 2015 doesn't have a screen there except for the radio. No backup camera.

I'm a huge proponent of satellite radio and I have it even in the '15.

Last year when I went to Memphis, I rented a car. They had a brand-new Highlander for me. I insisted ahead-of-time on satellite radio. They (Enterprise) told me it didn't have it and it couldn't be added. I couldn't live without satellite radio, especially on a long trip. They gave me a Malibu with it. Enterprise, at least last year, added $5 a day for satellite radio and worth every penny to me. I was surprised even a rental-spec car didn't come with satellite. I first had it on my '08 Cobalt 5-speed with crank windows.

Michaell

I don't think any of the Cruze's in our fleet have the turbo engine. Perfectly fine for the around town driving that we do 90% of the time. Had one out on the highway yesterday and it was able to keep up with traffic just fine.

I don't understand why people think they need 300+ HP for their daily commute.

xwesx

fintail said:

I think it might be sun - today I put my (exterior) sun shade on, and it worked fine after sitting at work all day. It seems to start up fine after being in the garage all night, but a couple times lately after being in direct sunlight it simply wouldn't power on. Not sure what that's about, could also be linked to the card (which are as old as the camera and have plenty of overwriting in their history) too, maybe should upgrade. I run a 64 MB - had a 128 but it gave errors. These have been generally trouble free.

Oh, right... maybe just overheating. The good news is that a newer BlackVue is a direct replacement and will slip right into the same holder as the one you have, including the same connections (at least as of the 900 series), so it would only take about five minutes to replace it, if needed.

stickguy

Up, you can just download the XM app to your phone. Access to that comes with the plan. Then if you end up in a car with native XM you can just stream it through the app. Not quite as easy (and not sure is CarPlay or the google version include it) but still gets you satellite.

xwesx

sda said:

I had a Vega and Sunbird. Fun to watch. My Sunbird with V6 5sp, was a much better car even though it was based from the Vega.

Oy, that was horrific. It is somewhat comforting to know that the terrible advertising today has a long history.

explorerx4

After a couple of minutes, I kept checking to see how far into the video I was to see how long until it was over.
The first shot of the green wagon showed the paint on the front fneder didn't match the rest of the car.
I did like those Firebird like snowflake wheels on the Formula model.

uplanderguy

stickguy, thanks. I have heard that. I am so embarrassingly low-tech though. I don't think I have a single app on my phone--that I know of.

"Shocker!" you say--I still buy new Chevys and have owned four Studebakers, LOL.

sda

Within 5 minutes I saw two RAV 4 V6s. Fairly rare today.

fintail

xwesx said:

fintail said:

I think it might be sun - today I put my (exterior) sun shade on, and it worked fine after sitting at work all day. It seems to start up fine after being in the garage all night, but a couple times lately after being in direct sunlight it simply wouldn't power on. Not sure what that's about, could also be linked to the card (which are as old as the camera and have plenty of overwriting in their history) too, maybe should upgrade. I run a 64 MB - had a 128 but it gave errors. These have been generally trouble free.

Oh, right... maybe just overheating. The good news is that a newer BlackVue is a direct replacement and will slip right into the same holder as the one you have, including the same connections (at least as of the 900 series), so it would only take about five minutes to replace it, if needed.

I have a 900S-2CH. Apparently the power cable is not compatible between S and X models, so I would need to find a replacement old stock camera (which do seem to exist). I think I read the battery for these models also might not be compatible. It's a huge PITA to install hidden wires, and I had a high end shop do it for me when I first got the car - not sure if Spokane even has a similar shop, or how much of a fortune it would cost (I am getting into a moderate bathroom reno right now, so I am feeling broke). I am hoping maybe it was a fluke and things are ok now, or maybe I need to devise an interior cover or disconnect it when parked. The fun never ends. I drove the car earlier today and the camera operated fine.

fintail

At the supermarket today spotted a clean enough Taurinental. There are two or three of these in the neighborhood - I need to keep track of which is which, one lives on a jogging route but I can't recall if it is the red one or blue one (I saw the red one today). As those cars have multiple potential Achilles heels (head gasket, transmission, suspension), a survivor that has to be at least 31 years old is getting obscure.

uplanderguy

My 'Benz friend had one, a dark plum color. He bought it used and didn't have it real long, for some reason. I liked the color and interior. I don't remember him saying he had any particular problems with it.

andre1969

On my way to the grocery store this morning, I was behind this Plymouth Fury convertible for a bit. I think it's a '70. IIRC, the '69 had the taillights above the grille and backup lights in a bumper that was a bit lower mounted. And I don't think there was a '71 convertible at all.

ab348

Correct on all counts, Andre. The ‘70 is the one to get if you must have a Plymouth C-body convertible. There was one locally that was just gorgeous that was apparently being sold by a longtime owner a few years ago that I was all ga-ga about for a while.

roadburner

I normally don't like big barges, but I would take a 1970 Fury GT.

explorerx4

I had a 70 Sport Fury 4 door hardtop with a 383 Super Commando.
It was Burnt Orange with a Houndstooth vinyl roof.
Must have been pretty rare because I can't find any pictures even close to it.

uplanderguy

In either '70 or '71, I remember they made a "Fury Gran Coupe", an upper model, on the Fury I and Fury II two-door sedan body. Paisley vinyl top, I think--could be remembering wrong. I'm guessing they had a glut of those bodies and decided to upgrade them to move them.

andre1969

It's funny how tastes can change over the years. I used to not really care for the Fuselage Mopars, because they just looked too fat to me. There were still a few that I liked. For instance, I liked the Imperials, and the later Monacos that had the hidden headlights. I also liked the '69 Polara/Monaco, which seemed to look a bit more trim.

Now though, when I look at them, I appreciate the clean lines. And they don't look so fat to me anymore. Heavy and a bit chunky/bulky, yes. I think it's the skirted rear wheels that most of them had, plus the high beltlines/smallish windows. And those loop bumper/grille combos also added to a bulky look.