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

uplanderguy

I'm thinking a few years in, you could get a 'regular' TrailBlazer with the V8. I seem to remember V8 emblems on them.

I know they were more practical, but I hated the looks of the longer ones they started making. They looked so stretched.

roadburner

I recall that the Isuzu version was nicknamed the "*ss-ender."

imidazol97

tjc78 said:

Mitsu had one? .

I said Mitsubishi and it should have been Isuzu...?

tjc78

I looked it up.. the Rainer had the 5.3, the TB could have the 5.3 or the 6.0 like @explorerx4 mentioned.

texases

I haven't found a Mitsu version - which was it?

kyfdx

texases said:

I haven't found a Mitsu version - which was it?

It was the Isuzu, not Mitsu

gsemike

There's a good YouTube video on how many badge engineered versions of this platform there was

uplanderguy

The Buick and Olds versions had round wheel openings instead of squared-off, so at least all the versions didn't look almost completely identical.

ab348

imidazol97 said:

I believe that was built at the Moraine plant in our area. Same line. A skillet came along with different sheet metal and things being added.

I took a plant tour and I believe there were 5 variations of the Trailblazer being built there that day. Was one a Saab? The Mitsubishi. GMC.
After searching for clones on internet, I found Oldsmobile and Buick each also had a clone.

That makes 6.

I don't think Mitsu had anything to do with the rest of the ones you mentioned. Any clarifying info appreciated.

andre1969

I thought the Saab 9-7 version was rather attractive.

kyfdx

andre1969 said:

I thought the Saab 9-7 version was rather attractive.

Same..

imidazol97

imidazol97 said:

tjc78 said:

Mitsu had one? .

I said Mitsubishi and it should have been Isuzu...?

ab348 said:

imidazol97 said:

I believe that was built at the Moraine plant in our area. Same line. A skillet came along with different sheet metal and things being added.

I took a plant tour and I believe there were 5 variations of the Trailblazer being built there that day. Was one a Saab? The Mitsubishi. GMC.
After searching for clones on internet, I found Oldsmobile and Buick each also had a clone.

That makes 6.

I don't think Mitsu had anything to do with the rest of the ones you mentioned. Any clarifying info appreciated.

You're right. You missed the correction post I made that's quoted above. I mix up Mitsu and Isuzu. My mistake.

And Wiki, I assume it's right here, says the vehicles were also built in another plant. Oklahoma? Kansas?

uplanderguy

The Saab also had round wheel openings. I'm surprised GM went to the expense.

Michaell

@imidazol97 said:
You're right. You missed the correction post I made that's quoted above. I mix up Mitsu and Isuzu. My mistake.

And Wiki, I assume it's right here, says the vehicles were also built in another plant. Oklahoma? Kansas?

I know GM had a plant in OKC, as my cousins husband worked there when they were building the Malibu and Cutlass in the late 90’s. When the plant closed he transferred to Arlington TX (he commuted) where they continue to produce the GM full size SUVs.

uplanderguy

Trail Blazers were last built in Moraine, OH for 2008. I’d think the clones would have been built there also.

imidazol97

A little history... the Moraine plant was IBEW rather than UAW. Despite the local union's donated money and supplied huge nonfinancial help to political campaign, they were left out when the plant closings were chosen. They hoped to be treated like their UAW brethren. Lots of lost jobs at the plant and at suppliers in the area.

uplanderguy

That was an old, long-standing plant IIRC.

explorerx4

I had seen this before on my walks and finally got a picture of it today.
Usually, I only see it in the garage.

kyfdx

'69?

explorerx4

I had to go to my haircut appt, so I drove by it to check the year.
Yes, it's a 69. It has the 'air scoops' in the rear quarters.

roadburner

The only '69 Mustang Sportsroof lacking the air scoops was the Boss 302.

imidazol97

uplanderguy said:

That was an old, long-standing plant IIRC.

The plant site originally was Frigidaire, IIRC, where the IBEW folks worked. Owned by GM. I believe I've got that right. Our area had lots of Harrison, ACDelco plants for brakes and shocks.
I recall seeing the helicopters lifting air handler units onto the roof as they were building the plant--these were visible from I-75.

tjc78

@andre1969 said:
I thought the Saab 9-7 version was rather attractive.

There was a movie where the lead female drove a Saab 9-7… I have no idea what it was but remember it because it was such an odd choice

andre1969

tjc78 said:

@andre1969 said:

I thought the Saab 9-7 version was rather attractive.

There was a movie where the lead female drove a Saab 9-7… I have no idea what it was but remember it because it was such an odd choice

Was the female rather attractive, too?

tjc78

andre1969 said:

tjc78 said:

@andre1969 said:

I thought the Saab 9-7 version was rather attractive.

There was a movie where the lead female drove a Saab 9-7… I have no idea what it was but remember it because it was such an odd choice

Was the female rather attractive, too?

Of course!

I looked it up.. the movie is Untraceable and the actress is Diane Lane.

explorerx4

That Mach 1 I posted a picture of the other day is weird. The scoops on the rear quarters say 1969 but the front and back say 1970.

texases

Yeah, wonder if someone decided to mix and match parts.

ab348

tjc78 said:

<

I looked it up.. the movie is Untraceable and the actress is Diane Lane.

Ms. Lane certainly qualifies as attractive. Not so sure her Saab does.

explorerx4

Maybe some day, the owner will be outside and I can ask him.

imidazol97

Speaking of Saabs. This one is good looking.

fintail

No discussion of Saabs in movies is complete without this classic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bbq6MeFZ-s

uplanderguy

Some non-Studes displayed at the Concours at Copshaholm in South Bend yesterday.

I hate the skirts, but when's the last time you saw a Meteor? '63 here:

These always crack me up, that BMW built this in '57. This car actually passed me going the other direction in downtown South Bend Friday afternoon:

For andre:

uplanderguy

For Greg:

Looks great, but I don't recall that shade of blue at GM in '68. Usually, the divisions shared colors but had their own color names. Not always though--Pontiac had that olive green-like color (Verduro?
Verdoro?) exclusively then.

explorerx4

The 442 has the under bumper air intakes.

uplanderguy

Did they all have that? I have a female college friend who is having her '68 442 restored now. I wasn't aware of this feature.

explorerx4

They changed it to a different type of ram air system at some point, a later model year.
Could have been mentioned in a Jay Leno episode.

uplanderguy

Just saw this. Wow, I got there about 2:15 that afternoon, stopped inside the entrance to take a couple pics of the sign, ate and had a beer, and left maybe an hour later.

That poor guy. Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Husband killed. Right about where I stopped to take my pics.
https://www.wthr.com/video/news/local/indiana/indianapolis-man-killed-wife-injured-from-falling-tree-limb-in-south-bend/531-4240d687-3974-4901-a025-c64e9e59cacf

Pics I took at 2:15 that day:

ab348

uplanderguy said:

Did they all have that? I have a female college friend who is having her '68 442 restored now. I wasn't aware of this feature.

Thanks for that pic. The ram-air scoops under the bumper were used in '68 and '69 for the W-30 engine option in the 4-4-2 and for the much less common Ram Rod 350 option on lesser Cutlasses. The 400 engine in the 4-4-2s wasn't a great engine as it was the 455 long-stroke with a smaller bore, so it didn't like to rev. By contrast, the Ram Rod 350 was an absolute screamer and from some reports at the time was faster than its big brother.

The under-bumper scoops were a bit of a kludge, vulnerable to curb and other damage and requiring large holes to be cut in the inner fenders for the air ducts to reach the air cleaner. In '70 through '72 they did a different hood with integral scoops that mated up with a special air cleaner which seemed to work well enough.

In terms of that paint color, it doesn't look familiar to me either, though it's not a bad color. Olds (and GM overall) had 4 blue or bluish shades in '68. Olds called them Sapphire Blue, Teal Blue, Ocean Turquoise, and Teal Frost. I'm leaving out Nocturne Blue which is a very dark blue. That car seems closest to Sapphire Blue, which Chevy called Grotto Blue, but not very close. My Cutlass was originally Ocean Turquoise and wasn't very close to the color of the car in that picture either.

tjc78

The Isetta always makes me think of Steve Urkel

roadburner

Back in 1979 I had a chance to buy an Isetta that was extremely clean and only needed the seat reupholstered. For $1,000. It even came with the OEM service and parts manuals (in German).

gsemike

@andre1969 said:
Was the female rather attractive, too?

For a while on the Office, Jim was driving a Saab 92-X (the Saabaru] seemed like an odd choice he looked to tall standing next to it

kyfdx

We were shopping a 9-2X turbo, at one point. @nyccarguy drove from the Bronx to NJ to check one out for us.

benjaminh

Neon sign for an unknown dealer selling Cadillacs and Oldsmobiles c. 1950.

xwesx

uplanderguy said:

Just saw this. Wow, I got there about 2:15 that afternoon, stopped inside the entrance to take a couple pics of the sign, ate and had a beer, and left maybe an hour later.

That poor guy. Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Husband killed. Right about where I stopped to take my pics.
https://www.wthr.com/video/news/local/indiana/indianapolis-man-killed-wife-injured-from-falling-tree-limb-in-south-bend/531-4240d687-3974-4901-a025-c64e9e59cacf

Wow; that really is crazy timing! The stuff we never even really think about....

ab348

Old trees are scary. My neighborhood was developed in the 1950s and most of the street trees are maples dating from that era. That is approaching end of life for maples and in recent years the city will take them out if you complain. I had run-ins with two of them. One had a split with rot in the crotch of the trunk and one side let go in an ice storm about 25 years ago, blocking the street and doing about $1200 in damage to my Olds Delta 88 parked nearby. A few years after that, one out front lost a large limb in a windstorm and took out a hedge but thankfully nothing else. It and several others have been removed over the last couple of years. In fact just this morning a crew from the city arrived to finally remove the stumps. That was an all-day job. They used a new-to-me grinding device that mounts on the rear bucket arm of a backhoe that is a hydraulic-powered stump grinder. It was slow going but did the job on 3 stumps out front.

texases

Same here, but with cottonwood trees. At a certain age they start to drop branches, and they can be 10" or more in diameter, with no warning and almost no sound, no wind required. Very dangerous.

roadburner

Fallen trees are all to common an occurrence at Casa RB.

sda

roadburner said:

Fallen trees are all to common an occurrence at Casa RB.

Did you have a storm come thru?

roadburner

sda said:

roadburner said:

Fallen trees are all to common an occurrence at Casa RB.

Did you have a storm come thru?

Yes, the picture is from several months ago. A strong storm usually brings down a tree and/or some big branches.

fintail

I have a maybe 60-70' silver maple. It looks healthy enough and I hope it has some years in front of it, as it adds appeal to my lot and it creates a lot of shade. Only drawback is about a month in the fall.

Spotted yet another K-Car today, a grey one, later run CHMSL model.