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

uplanderguy

We've talked about the 'checkerboard' wheels available on '81-88 Montes, and I always liked, although I rarely saw them on a real car, mostly in pics.

I could like an '86-88 "Luxury Sport" Monte Carlo (very lame name), with those wheels.

Although I grew up on Chevys and about lived at our hometown dealer, I've never owned a Chevy as a vintage car and won't. I just don't like them enough to drop the cash, LOL. Anyway, I'm done with old cars. I do like remembering them and if I see a close-to-bone-stock older Chevy that's not a Camaro, Chevelle SS, or Corvette, I'll walk to take a closer look.

fintail

I remember around 1997 or so, someone at the apartment building where I lived had a pristine black 86-88 LS on those wheels, which my Monte-driving friend called "80s wheels". I want to say the LS was also a t-top car, pretty cool for what it was.

Another friend and I would joke that the "CL" on that Monte stood for "CeLebrity". I think I drove both of his Montes once. I have a memory of the CL having brakes that were not quite as responsive as I was used to with MBs, and the SS had good throttle response (and aftermarket exhaust) and was fun with the t-tops off.

Heck, we are at a point now where Cavaliers and Luminas are considered vintage cars to young ones

andre1969

Kinda wild that the Rally wheels were only $56 extra.
I could've sworn my Mom said her '86 Monte Carlo was around $14,000, but I can't think of anything in it that would've made it THAT much more than your parents' '84, Uplander. According to my auto encyclopedia, the '86 V8 sport coupe started at $10,631. So, I guess that's about $1700 of it right there. But otherwise, it was nothing fancy. Crank windows, manual locks. Now it did have a nice stereo with a tape player and equalizer, so that might've been part of it. It also had a power antenna, and two tone paint...gray over silver. For some reason, I'm thinking it had 205-series tires as well, but I could be wrong on that. Or perhaps, it had 195 standard, but by the time Mom gave it to me, in 1998 with 179,000 miles on it, some 205's were put on. Oh, one other detail. Mom's had the 4-speed automatic, which I think was required with the 305 by '86. In '84, they gave you the option of the 3-speed or 4-speed.

That Monte was a nice car, although by the time I got it the paint was faded and the power antenna was broken. Thankfully, in the up position. And the knight hood ornament had broken off and was in the glovebox. I'm sure if it hadn't gotten T-boned, it would be long gone by now, though. I was delivering pizzas back then, and between that and my other running around, I put 13,000 miles on it in just three months.

roadburner

The window sticker for the Club Sport- $51,765 in 2025 dollars...

uplanderguy

RE.: 3-speed manual on 1971 GM V8's:

Searched in my hometown newspaper for 1971, "Turbo Hydra-matic" and this ad came right up--in our paper on June 7, 1971, mentioning in the ad at the bottom, "Now have a great summer". The ad states "Turbo Hydra-matic is now standard".

So that Buick must have been one of the dead-last manual-shift full-size GM V8's, built third week of May.

fintail

I remember I had the window sticker for my 1989 MB 300SE - 53K and change. That's 138K in 2025 devalued inflationbucks per the simple CPI calculator - and that was for the smallest engine SWB S-class with no special options. They were lovely cars with massive build and material quality, which at the time was the reason for the price:



MSRP on a 560SEL that year was 72K, or 187K today. Base S580 MSRP today is 128K, and I doubt anyone pays MSRP.

tjc78

Considering a full boat (pun intended) Town Car or Brougham was around 30K at the time it was a hefty sum of money.

The color on your S reminds me of my 2003 Avalon but a few shades lighter.

kyfdx

Our 1987 BMW 325iS had a $27K+ sticker

sda

@roadburner said:
The window sticker for the Club Sport- $51,765 in 2025 dollars...

I remember considering the 3 series including the Club Sport. The Club Sport and 325 were German built and 318 built in SC if I recall correctly. I ended up buying a new 95 black, with black leather, 5sp. Jetta GLX VR-6.

stickguy

I assume it is a classic, but definitely obscured. parked outside of a local restaurant row (front of a mall redo), just out in a couple of spots, was a real weinermobile. Weird to see one in person.

fintail

tjc78 said:

Considering a full boat (pun intended) Town Car or Brougham was around 30K at the time it was a hefty sum of money.

The color on your S reminds me of my 2003 Avalon but a few shades lighter.

MB could get away with it. After a few years Lexus changed up that idea by offering what was effectively a SWB S-Class for E-Class prices.

The color drew me to that car, "Diamond Blue", looked good beside the fintail. I sold it at approaching 200K miles.

kyfdx

stickguy said:

I assume it is a classic, but definitely obscured. parked outside of a local restaurant row (front of a mall redo), just out in a couple of spots, was a real weinermobile. Weird to see one in person.

I think there a dozen of them, roaming the country.. So, maybe not a classic?

uplanderguy

‘56 Bel Air which I totally deferred to in my C8 this morning at my donut place.

stickguy

nicely done.

ab348

Apparently this weekend the Tri-Five Chevy Nationals are underway somewhere.

All my years owning a classic car and going to shows I wondered when the attraction of those particular Chevys would begin to fade. I don't know if it has or not.

andre1969

I think the '55-57's allure might have faded, a bit. There's one car show, "Das Awkscht Fescht" in Macungie, PA that I've been going to regularly since 2002. I can remember back in the early days, they had a whole corner of the park dedicated to the '55-57. Easily a good 30 or more. But nowadays, there's just a scattering of them, and they throw them into a 1946-1960 class of cars.

If I think about it, I'll try to make a mental note when I go to the Hershey PA car show in October, to see how many '55-57 Chevies there are, compared to other cars.

One thing I've noticed, is that I at least have the perception of them being uncommon enough that if I see one at a car show, I'll actually go look at it, where in the past they just seemed a dime a dozen, and it was like seen one, seen 'em all.

It seems like everyone either goes for the '55 or the '57, but I always liked the '56 the best.

stickguy

on the floor at the Porsche dealer, a drop dead gorgeous 1988 Carrera, with the whale tail. Absolutely like brand new. Owners car, and they had a description of it. It was their entry into a Porsche sponsored competition for dealers to restore a classic. a blast from the past.

a few other older models parked outside, in not as nice condition though.

and for sale on the side of the road, a mid-60s midsized Mopar (maybe a Coronet) 4 door. pretty original, and a bit shabby, condition. Then a late run Nissan 300ZX. Looked like the 4 seat version. Seemed in decent shape. I would have stopped to look but the wife was in the car!

laurasdada

BJs parking lot, an original first edition Lexus ES250. White over the always-desirable "Gold" package.

uplanderguy

RE.: Shoebox Chevys:

I like the '55 best, and '56 a close second. Of course, I like stock wheels and tires best. Don't like the '57's fins and instrument panel. Plus, I hate how the '57 (and the '65 Mustang, for that matter) are the first two cars anyone who doesn't even know or care about old cars, will say are about the only "old cars" that matter. Sigh.

I had a friend who said about the '56, that he didn't like how the taillight mounting was a big chrome piece with designs going which-way, but only had a small round taillight lens in all that. I know what he's saying, but I still like the cars.

Someone pointed out to me years ago, that one big improvement on the '57 was that the fresh-air intake was a screened area above the headlights, which allowed air to dry moisture there. The '55 and '56 cars were horrible rusters there. The '57's, to my memory, were much better in that respect.

fintail

I like the 56 most too I suppose, maybe a case of less is more, especially compared with a 57. 56 looks especially good as a Nomad.

Those cars will always have some momentum behind them just because of the 57 somehow being an icon, but I think the tri-chevies peaked some time ago.

stickguy

Not the vintage I am interested in, but for the tri-5s I always liked the real shoebox models. Like the 210.

uplanderguy

The Two-Ten is just a trim level. The bodies were the same across trim levels.

uplanderguy

First car I remember us having was a ‘56 Two-Ten two-door sedan. We had it ‘til ‘64. It was quite rusty by then.

When I was a kid, I liked ‘55 and ‘56’s in that lightish, bright turquoise, under white. I still do although like some of the other zillion two-tone combos that were available, more now.

stickguy

whichever one then (if it was based on year) was squarer and didn't have the bigger fins. Like the American Graffiti car, which looks to be a 1955

uplanderguy

I think you like the two-door sedan body style. That particular car is a '55.

Something I remember about our '56 is that there was a loosely-hanging loop handle kind of thing attached to the interior B-pillars to assist getting in and out of the back seat. Even then I thought that was a useful thing.

andre1969

stickguy said:

whichever one then (if it was based on year) was squarer and didn't have the bigger fins. Like the American Graffiti car, which looks to be a 1955

The 2-door sedan, instead of the 2-door hardtop. You could get the 2-door sedan across all three ranges: 150, 210, and Bel Air, although it's more often associated with the 150/210 range. The hardtop coupe (and hardtop sedan for '56) was only offered in the 210 and Bel Air ranges. They weren't very popular in the 210 range though.

There was also a model called a 210 Delray, which was a 210 2-door sedan with an upgraded interior. For some reason, my auto encyclopedia calls it a "club coupe," even though it's the same 2-door sedan. To my way of thinking, at least, a "club coupe" would look more like the hardtop coupe, just with a full B-pillar, and a frame around the door window.

I don't know if I've ever seen a Bel Air 2-door sedan in person, from the '55-57 generation. But the 150/210 were/are pretty popular. Also popular among the hotrodders, because they were lighter, with stiffer bodies, than the hardtop coupes. And they do have a clean, muscular look about them.

As far as I know, the fins were the same for any given year, whether it was a 2-door sedan or 2-door hardtop. But the 2-door sedan had a larger/longer passenger cabin and proportionately stubbier rear deck, so that might have made the fins look a bit smaller.

The '55 didn't really have much of a fin, but the '56 had a modest one. For '57, I don't know if it was any taller, but it was narrower/sharper, and the trim piece might have made it look taller.

fintail

Assuming this car isn't rebadged, Randy from Auto Auction Rebuilds (a YT channel I watch now and then) had a 57 Bel Air 2 door sedan/post:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OpMjDY0SPc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tK_JXM2Q4_Q

I think the 210 hardtops are pretty rare. Tri-Chevies are another of those fun cars that probably wear more accessories/jewelry now than they did when new.

I remember when I was young seeing a 56 Nomad in a book, Sierra Gold and Adobe Beige. I was very pleased with that color combo to the point where I remember the name all these years later.

sda

https://www.google.com/imgres?q=two tone blue and white 55 chevy 210&imgurl=https://photos.classiccars.com/cc-temp/listing/197/8707/54433647-1955-chevrolet-210-thumb.jpg&imgrefurl=https://classiccars.com/listings/find/1955/chevrolet/210&docid=asx9KJ7HNru-mM&tbnid=mnzFCoHfSR6WtM&vet=12ahUKEwiEoe25_ICPAxWI4skDHSEPFdA4HhAzegQIXxAA..i&w=640&h=480&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwiEoe25_ICPAxWI4skDHSEPFdA4HhAzegQIXxAA
Mom had a 55 210 in this color. It wasn’t as nice as this one pictured. Blackwalls, basic hub caps, 6 cyl, all manual, am radio. Dad drove it a while and sold it when he got a company car in 65. He sold it to someone that worked with him for $75.

ab348

I remember seeing a DelRay at a car show years ago, in the typical pale blue and white colors.

Michaell

Spotted an MGB GT today. Looked clean, sounded great (V8 maybe?)

stickguy

that would make it an MGC. Did the hood have a bubble?

Michaell

@stickguy said:
that would make it an MGC. Did the hood have a bubble?

Honestly, I couldn’t tell you.

A HS classmate (Laura) drove one - she was the alternative one at our conservative parochial high school.

kyfdx

stickguy said:

that would make it an MGC. Did the hood have a bubble?

I thought the MGC had a straight-6?

Plus, don't recall seeing the MGC in GT form

stickguy

You are right. the C was the straight 6 (and it did come in the coupe body). the V8 was the MGB GT (not the convertible).

explorerx4

Was in Noank, CT over the weekend and saw a couple of nice oldies.

roadburner

This morning I saw a very clean Apache pickup on a trailer.

fintail

On the road today - the same 60s Dart hardtop I see now and then, early 80s El Camino, ~65 Falcon with loud custom paint scheme.

uplanderguy

Yesterday, picked up an 86-year old friend of mine and took him and a couple other friends to an Amish restaurant we love in Mt. Hope, OH. Didn't see anything interesting en route, but when I returned him home, I had to look at his bee-yootiful '64 Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk in his garage. 40K miles, factory R1 engine, silver (one repaint since new), black vinyl roof, black buckets, all gauges inside, floor shift automatic, disc brakes. I don't love silver, but the car otherwise is absolutely delicious.

fintail

Saw a clean enough later run Tempo sedan on the road, and a similarly clean 93-97 Concorde. Spokane, it's the 90s.

tjc78

similarly clean 93-97 Concorde

Must be fun keeping that on the road even if the mechanicals are ok the electronics are a nightmare! Great looking car though.

fintail

tjc78 said:

similarly clean 93-97 Concorde

Must be fun keeping that on the road even if the mechanicals are ok the electronics are a nightmare! Great looking car though.

Do those have transmission quirks or just need strict by the book servicing?

The first LH cars are really getting rare now, used to be on every corner. The one I saw had leather, I recall when the cars were new a friend's dad had a Concorde as a company car, it was cloth.

andre1969

I'd be curious about whether that Concorde has the 3.3 or the 3.5? The 3.3 was actually a pretty rugged engine. IIRC, it was designed by the same guy who did the slant six and the old big-block V8s.

The 3.5 was derived from that engine, but turned into an OHC. It wasn't nearly as reliable as the 3.3, although it did improve in later years. The 3.3 also had the "bonus" of not being all that torquey, so it didn't put nearly as much strain on the transmission.

It really is a shame though, that modern electronics can be enough to total out an otherwise mechanically sound car, these days! I remember one of my relatives had a '91-96 era Park Ave, and he said it needed about $4,000 worth of electronic work, and this was 20+ years ago!!

andre1969

fintail said:

tjc78 said:

similarly clean 93-97 Concorde

Must be fun keeping that on the road even if the mechanicals are ok the electronics are a nightmare! Great looking car though.

Do those have transmission quirks or just need strict by the book servicing?

The first LH cars are really getting rare now, used to be on every corner. The one I saw had leather, I recall when the cars were new a friend's dad had a Concorde as a company car, it was cloth.

Back when I had my Intrepid, I remember hearing that one culprit of early transmission failure was that, apparently, the owners manuals specified the wrong fluid. Something along the lines of Type 7176 when it should have been Type 9196, or something like that? But then, a mechanic told me that the only side effect of type 7176 was that it might shift a bit more harshly.

I also remember the owner's manual called for 100,000 mile service intervals for the transmission for "normal use", or 50,000 for what they called "severe duty." So translated, that was 100K if you babied it, 50K if you drove it normally. I had mine done every 30,000 miles, just to be safe. The first year I was also delivering pizzas, so I figured that would've been a bit "extra severe" duty!

tjc78

fintail said:

tjc78 said:

similarly clean 93-97 Concorde

Must be fun keeping that on the road even if the mechanicals are ok the electronics are a nightmare! Great looking car though.

Do those have transmission quirks or just need strict by the book servicing?

The first LH cars are really getting rare now, used to be on every corner. The one I saw had leather, I recall when the cars were new a friend's dad had a Concorde as a company car, it was cloth.

What Mopar didn't have transmission quirks in 90s? In all seriousness I think Andre nailed it, those who serviced it were fine if you went 100K before a fluid change bad things would happen.

I actually didn't realize the 3.5 was that much worse than the 3.3, but it would make sense. It was a newer design where the 3.3 had been around awhile and IIRC was the better engine to get in the Vans and previous generation New Yorker/DieNasty etc.

andre1969

When the 2nd-gen LH cars came out, the 3.5 (or rather, the 3.2/3.5) was actually the better engine to have! The old durable 3.3 pushrod was replaced by a DOHC 2.7 that seemed like a dream come true, in theory at least But apparently it was prone to sludging and other issues, and I've heard that when it failed, it was actually cheaper to put in a 3.2 or 3.5, than another 2.7!

That being said, I never had any trouble with the 2.7 in my 2000. A lot of those 2.7s also went into rental fleets, where they may not have been treated very nicely, so I wonder if that helped skew the average downward for that engine? My goal was to change the oil in that 2.7 every 3,000 miles, but at the end, when it was totaled at around 150,300 miles, I added up all the oil changes, and the average came out to something like once every 4,000 miles. Still, probably not enough to kill it. I also learned that the low oil pressure light wouldn't come on until it got down to about 2 quarts, and you either stopped too quickly or went around a corner too fast. It didn't seem to burn oil excessively, but I guess that's a sign that perhaps I DID let it go a bit too far between oil changes every once in awhile!

I also remember, at some point later in the car's life, the cooling lines that ran from the transmission to the radiator (actually they might have been hoses) were starting to leak a bit. My mechanic said it wasn't anything to really worry about, but with the reputation Mopar's transmissions had by then, I didn't want to take any chances!

fintail

andre1969 said:

fintail said:

tjc78 said:

similarly clean 93-97 Concorde

Must be fun keeping that on the road even if the mechanicals are ok the electronics are a nightmare! Great looking car though.

Do those have transmission quirks or just need strict by the book servicing?

The first LH cars are really getting rare now, used to be on every corner. The one I saw had leather, I recall when the cars were new a friend's dad had a Concorde as a company car, it was cloth.

Back when I had my Intrepid, I remember hearing that one culprit of early transmission failure was that, apparently, the owners manuals specified the wrong fluid. Something along the lines of Type 7176 when it should have been Type 9196, or something like that? But then, a mechanic told me that the only side effect of type 7176 was that it might shift a bit more harshly.

I also remember the owner's manual called for 100,000 mile service intervals for the transmission for "normal use", or 50,000 for what they called "severe duty." So translated, that was 100K if you babied it, 50K if you drove it normally. I had mine done every 30,000 miles, just to be safe. The first year I was also delivering pizzas, so I figured that would've been a bit "extra severe" duty!

In cars I've had that weren't leased, I've always ensured the first transmission service was before 50K miles no matter what the book suggests,. Heck, I did it before 40K on the wagon, and I recall the E55 received similar. Fintail gets one every decade or so maybe just due to time, mileage doesn't catch up. I need to see when my mom has had it done on her Camry - as she's driving far less at her age, oil changes are now an annual thing if she remembers, and I don't know what other servicing she's doing - but on an earlier 2000s era 4 cyl Toyota it might not matter.

Calling everyday driving "severe duty" is kind of diabolical, asking for trouble.

fintail

tjc78 said:

fintail said:

tjc78 said:

similarly clean 93-97 Concorde

Must be fun keeping that on the road even if the mechanicals are ok the electronics are a nightmare! Great looking car though.

Do those have transmission quirks or just need strict by the book servicing?

The first LH cars are really getting rare now, used to be on every corner. The one I saw had leather, I recall when the cars were new a friend's dad had a Concorde as a company car, it was cloth.

What Mopar didn't have transmission quirks in 90s? In all seriousness I think Andre nailed it, those who serviced it were fine if you went 100K before a fluid change bad things would happen.

I actually didn't realize the 3.5 was that much worse than the 3.3, but it would make sense. It was a newer design where the 3.3 had been around awhile and IIRC was the better engine to get in the Vans and previous generation New Yorker/DieNasty etc.

Sounds like the books may have misled people, too bad.

I recall in 1997, a friend/college roommate bought a loaded 90 Caravan ES or SE, I forget the designation, but it had everything. 2 days after purchase the transmission went - I think it was an average mileage car. He bought it from a main dealer, and they fixed it for him. I suspect the original owner was using the 100K guideline.

tjc78

My Aunt had a 94 Shadow ES two door loaded up with the Mitsu V6 and the 4 speed auto. It went through at least two transmissions in the first 20K miles.

Naturally it was hunter green with gold wheels over beige.

Fun, torquey little car when it was running right.

fintail

I need to see what did in my brother's Sundance Duster - I know it had a terminal mechanical failure, but this was 20 years ago now and I forget the details. He was fond of that car and IIRC it helped him receive multiple speeding tickets.

tjc78

That V6 was only 140 HP but in that car it felt really quick... I'd guess it was 8 seconds or so to 60