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Although, maybe that's not so lofty, after all. I remember reading somewhere, ages ago, that the average '58 Impala convertible with a V8 left the showroom floor with an MSRP of around $4,000. So for a car that started at $2841, they were pretty loaded up (but most likely no a/c).
I guess my '67 Catalina is a bit rare, being a convertible with air conditioning. Especially since it was a bit on the low end, as far as full-sized convertibles go. I can still remember as a kid, asking my Mom if her '66 had a/c, and she said no, why would it have air conditioning? It was a convertible!
Both my '68 Dart 270 and '69 Dart GT hardtops had a/c as well, which I think was still pretty rare at the Dart's price point. By '68 though, I think a/c was down to around $325-350. A/c was one of those options that actually got cheaper for awhile, as the years went by, until inflation started taking its toll in the 70's.
But did they work? Lol
2021 VW Arteon SEL 4-motion, 2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech
Mopar a/c in the 60s worked great. Too bad my 72 Duster didn’t have it, I had to add an aftermarket kit, worked ok.
None of them worked. LOL.
I'll have to do a search, but I remember Greg telling me that I think the rear end on Oshawa cars was Chevy instead of Olds as if built in Lansing. Now might be the time for me to tell her to tell her restorer.
She lived in dorm room 442 and wanted one of the cars with huge "442" graphics. She was disappointed when her Dad bought her a '68. I told her, then and now, she got the good one!
The final batch of 220S/SE pontons were built until October 1959 and sold in the USDM as 1960 models, replaced by the fintail.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
Thanks for the update. I texted her that info today and said she may want to pass that on to the shop, although they may already know by looking.
Hers could be mistaken for a Cutlass Supreme if you didn’t look close. Dark maroon like plum almost, black vinyl top, lighter maroon buckets. Hers is a floor shift automatic, I’ll assume THM. Full wheel covers and whitewalls. No stripe across front clip. Neither she nor I like the looks of that stripe anyway.
To my eyes, the Cutlass line in '68 and '69 is the best-looking of all four GM divisions' intermediates.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
At the time, I loved the 'Cowl Induction' hood on the Chevelle SS, as it opened and closed every time you goosed the gas. Whether it actually had an honest function, who knows.
I went with a friend to an all-Olds show a few years back. Interesting. I saw a '62 Fiesta wagon, pretty rare I think. An owner showed me, too, how the center buck-tooth section at the front of the hood on the '70 Cutlass series was made permanent to the lower body on the '71 as I guess people were conking their head on it. I think it was '70 to '71, possibly '71 to '72, not sure now.
ETA: I should have mentioned that on the '68/'69 4-4-2 you could get ram air as well, but on those it was via 2 scoops mounted under the bumper with ducts that ran through the engine bay to the air cleaner. These are now being reproduced if you want to hack holes in your inner fenders:
You are right on the buck-tooth hood. A friend had a '70 and you always managed to hit your head on that thing hanging down if you were poking around the engine bay. They changed that for the '71/'72 models and fitted it between the grilles permanently.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
Even as a kid, I didn't like tack-on stuff. The worst Chevy for that, IMO, is the 'Monza Mirage'.
Late '70's and into the '80's, I loathed huge graphics and flat-black covering 1/4 or 1/3 of the car.
2021 VW Arteon SEL 4-motion, 2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech
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Spotted driving in Ravenna, OH today, slightly faded red ‘65 Galaxie 500 convertible with top down, looked nice and missing the LR wheel cover.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
2021 VW Arteon SEL 4-motion, 2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
2021 VW Arteon SEL 4-motion, 2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech
Dealer had some personal cars in a separate room.
Out on the road or spotted while on foot today - original looking 55 Chevy sedan, skirts, kind of a light pink/beige and white two tone. I noticed the Topaz on my jogging route has updated registration, the Taurinental on my jogging route is red - need to see if it is the same one I spot at the supermarket now and then, and the Alliance convertible now has a car cover. Also saw a 73-74 Nova looking like a period hot rod with a raised rear end, and a mild custom 60 Pontiac 2 door post.
Shortly after that, an OG silver RX-7 in great shape with wider offset wheels.
I'd much rather have either of the other two, although I'd much rather have a fastback or notchback Mustang GT of that vintage.
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
I think you couldn't make a bad choice in '65 luxury cars in that commercial. I do wish the Lincoln had a coupe. Funny, the '66 facelift, with a coupe now available--I didn't like the looks as well as '65 and older, even with the addition of size and flat side glass the '64 and '65 got. The '61-63 are about perfect to my eyes.
I liked '65 Cadillac styling growing up, but one thing I always remember, the independent cornering lights on the front sides started to sag pretty early.
But the '61 looked like a step backwards to me. Especially when you view it from the side. The front fenders seem like they're taller, and the way that crease carries up over the front wheel opening and goes straight to the front of the car evokes memories of '57-58.
Slanty headlights of the '61--when I see that styling feature (Lincolns, too), I always think, "What were they thinking?".
Saw another Ford convertible on the road yesterday, near Warren, OH. A '25-footer', baby blue '72 LTD convertible. Black top up.
I think the '61 DeSoto has a pretty strong resemblance to a '59-60 Lincoln up front, so maybe that's another reason why it seems like a step backward to me, compared to the '60.
2021 VW Arteon SEL 4-motion, 2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
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No secret here, I have always loved the styling of the '65 full-size Chevy. The exterior, especially, to my eyes is almost perfect.
The Caprice option in '65 certainly kicked the interior up. Chevy was playing catch-up to the LTD.
I love the Evening Orchid color (called 'Iris Mist' at Pontiac that year). The color was not offered on Olds, Buick, or Cadillac.
I never thought too much one way or the other, about the instrument panels in those cars, but Adam brings up some good points IMHO. It's a quality look. I prefer it to that year's big Olds or Buick panels, although it's a far cry from the perfect (IMHO) '65 Bonneville and Grand Prix panel. (I think the lower-model big Pontiac dash that year suffers some from a wide expanse of black crinkle vinyl where the Bonneville and Grand Prix had wood veneer).
2021 VW Arteon SEL 4-motion, 2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2021 Sahara 4xe
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
I would offer a bit of a counter to some of the points raised about the ‘65 Chevy. I never cared from the front end styling with the googly eyed headlights and the weak-looking front bumper. The rear end styling looked very good, but IIRC the first half of the year’s production was made using rear springs that caused the car to look droopy in side profile. Apparently they made a parts change mid-year to fix that. I also remember seeing accounts that build quality of the ‘65 was not good.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
This reminds me of something one of the two best-known Studebaker writers in the international club wrote in the late '80's in an article he did on '65 Studebakers. His parents were almond farmers in CA and longtime Studebaker customers, cars and trucks. They were friends with, and loyal to, their local Studebaker dealer, J&B Motors. One of the two dealership partners left to sell Pontiac in '64, and with South Bend closing, the writer's parents were vascillating on buying a new '65 Studebaker Cruiser, built in Hamilton, ON. On their travels, they had toured the Lansing Oldsmobile plant, and also the Hamilton plant. The writer wrote that the parents were much-more impressed with what they saw and experienced at Hamilton versus Lansing, which I can only assume was that Hamilton was smaller and most assuredly slower-moving. The writer said that made it easier for his parents to buy the '65 Cruiser their local dealer had, and help him out as on top of the South Bend closure and his partner leaving, he was in failing health at that time. They saw it partly as helping a friend out. Can you imagine anyone feeling that way now? LOL
The writer still owns his parents' '65 Cruiser.
This '66 was in the parking lot of a local repair place on Main St.
The guy lives in Kent, and I've seen the car over the years at local cruises and shows. It's very nice. It has white vinyl buckets where the passenger seat has an option where the top horizontal section of the seat can be pushed upward for a headrest effect. It's rather hidden when that piece is in its normal position. It was also an option on Thunderbirds I was told. Rather neat. The car is bone-stock, wheelcovers, whitewalls, etc. Very sharp.