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Sadly, he liked those gaudy pimped-out Park Avenues with the fake convertible tops and gold trim. Once I had to drive one of them to pick up some oil and filters at the BMW Store in Cincy; I parked several blocks away so no one would see me behind the wheel.
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-2021 Sahara 4xe-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2015 X1 xDrive28i
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
Can anyone guess where I saw this puppy?
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
The proportions or shape of the C-pillar made that car look awkward.
The leSabres and Park Avenues in their time frame of 1995-2005 looked better with the vinyl roofing.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-2021 Sahara 4xe-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2015 X1 xDrive28i
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Also, a big fan of the food and service at Chick-Fil-A.
But the worst issue was the locks, which didn’t show up until after the warranty was up. First was the ignition lock, which stuck in the on position while my wife was getting groceries. That cost me a couple hundred, if I remember. Then, two days before I traded it in, the trunk lock froze in the locked position. Lots of graphite and work with a screwdriver got it working until I could get it to the Toyota dealer to pick up an ‘84 Camry. I bet they sent that pig to auction the same day I traded it. My last GM car, but to be fair, most every car maker had quality issues then. The Camry had a pulsating front brake issue that was never fixed properly.
I'm not sure what year it is. But it's an Oldsmobile rather than a Chevy or Buick version.
Was there a Pontiac version in the lineup in these A bodies? I think they were A bodies.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Only visible rust was on panel bottom behind rear wheels.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I always thought those cars turned into a wagon, well, styling-wise. The Buick and Olds coupes looked nice too, once the roofline was softened a bit. Funny, I didn't like how the cars looked when the sedan's roofline was softened; I preferred the boxy roofline, with the small C-pillar window, there.
I was volunteering at my hometown historical society this morning and looking through the 1959-60 phone book. My town's population was under 9K in 1959-60. There were three Plymouth dealers within three blocks of each other. In fact, the 16 N. Water and 14 N. Race locations were back-to-back.
Apparently then, you could sell Plymouth with Chrysler, with DeSoto, and with Dodge.
For fin, there's an ad for the M-B dealer, my good friend, Carl E. Filer Co.


So I wonder if that's the original building, just modernized somewhat?
That is the original N.W. Moyer Motor Co. building, from '30's 'til 1961.
I've been inside, probably a decade ago. Still has the big wooden ramp that led upstairs where they stored cars. Almost a 90-degree angle on that ramp. I don't know how they drove late '50's cars upstairs.
The Stude-MB dealer is to the left in that picture, now owned by the water company which covered all the windows up. I can only assume they've got equipment stored inside. You can't see it here, but the original metal pole that held their big vertical dark blue "STUDEBAKER" neon sign, which hung there for a few years after Studebaker was gone, is still out at the street.
Ristvey-Charles, I don't remember, but the building is still there. J.W. Wolfe was the Dodge dealer in all my youth, into adulthood actually, at 14 N. Race. Pretty big showroom at the time, and a full basement where they kept new-car inventory.
When I was a kid, between 33 and 43 S. Race St., was a two-or-three story, yellow brick, narrow apartment building.
Here’s a gloomy photo of the Stude dealer, about ‘66. They no longer had M-B then but had Simca.
I know that Mr. Filer Sr. had a 220 sedan, black with red interior.
They sent their best mechanic to M-B school in NYC, and he said he'd take the train from Greenville (Erie-Lackawanna Railway) to NYC and drive back a M-B back for them to sell, a few weeks in a row. On a Greenville FB page, one guy posted his Dad worked part-time at Filer's and remembered removing cosmoline from chrome trim on 'Benzes.
When the Stude/MB agreement ended in '65, Filer's lost that franchise going forward.
I'd been told that they got 'Benz repair and maintenance business from outside the Greenville area including larger Sharon, 15 miles to the south.
When I read/hear that "...only the best/biggest Studebaker dealers were chosen to handle M-B", I have to laugh a little. I believe if you offered to buy tools, signage, and training, you got the franchise.
The lettering over the front of the building has survived, I recently found out. I want to at least see it sometime. That font is what Studebaker told dealers to use for signage in the '40's.
Incidentally, the most expensive 4-door Dodge was the $2,373 Royal V8. Cheapest DeSoto 4-door was the $2,386 Powermaster, which just had an inline-6. Next up the rung was the Firedome, with the Hemi 276.1, at $2673. That did overlap with Chrysler, as their cheapest 4-door was the Windsor Deluxe, at $2562. It came standard with an inline-6 that was slightly larger than the one in the DeSoto.
So, in 1954 at least, Chrysler Corp was still doing a pretty good job of maintaining a hierarchy, without too much overlap. Despite juggling five divisions, GM was actually doing a pretty good job as well, with the exception of Buick. The Special was cheaper than the least expensive Olds, and cheaper than the most expensive Pontiac.
Ford didn't have any problem at all maintaining their hierarchy, as they only had Mercury to fill the gap between Ford and Lincoln.
Still, even though Dodge and Plymouth didn't quite overlap, they might have been close enough to cannibalize each other's sales a bit. Meanwhile, the distance between Plymouth and DeSoto or especially Chrysler was big enough, that it made more sense to pair them up.
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2015 Subaru Outback 3.6R / 2024 Kia Sportage Hybrid SX Prestige
In early '50's Plymouths, I think maybe '51 or '52, I seem to remember model names "Cranbrook" and maybe "Cambridge"?, spelled out in block letters on the front fenders, with an underline under the name. If I remember them, they were old cars by then and most-likely driven by old folks. Although, I'll admit that old folks are who I mostly remember seeing driving Larks right through '66 models.
Humor me here; one last photo from my hometown.
This is the Erie-Lackawanna Railway station, where we'd get on passenger trains from Hoboken, NJ and Chicago and a bunch of places in-between, until Jan. 1970. This pic is from '67. Building was built in 1881. It still stands but looks sorry. A group (of which I'd have been part) asked the current inhabitant, Norfolk-Southern, if we could paint the exterior for free and they denied us.
I used to leave out of this station with my mother and sister in the '60's, and go to visit my maternal relatives in Brooklyn and Long Island, while my Dad was at USMCR Summer Camp.
Sign in the eaves said, "Greenville, Home of Thiel College".
Boy, when I look at the pic andre posted of the former Moyer and Filer car dealers in town, then look at the old pics of the places, I realize how barren that general area looks now, even devoid of any trees now, sigh.
Worse, Edsel and Mercury actually overlapped pretty badly. The Ford-based Edsels carried the bulk of the sales. The most expensive 4-door Ford was the Fairlane 500, at $2428. That was with a 6-cyl engine. The cheapest Edsel 4-door was the Ranger, at $2592. It came standard with a V8, a fairly potent 361 with 303 hp. I imagine though, if you put a V8 in the Fairlane 500, it would have come close to the Edsel's price.
Mercury had a Medalist 4-door that year, priced at a low $2,617, with a 235 hp 312 V8. It was kind of a loss leader model, probably to get shoppers in the door, and maybe the occasional fleet sale. It was a slow seller. The Monterey 4-door was $2721, and had a 312 hp 383 standard.
Meanwhile, Edsel tried to make their larger, Mercury-based models a bit more exclusive, offering them only has 2- or 4-door hardtops, and a convertible in the top range Citation. Station wagons, and 2/4-door pillared sedans, were relegated to the cheaper, Ford-based models. The Corsair 4-door hardtop started at $3425, while the Corsair was $3615. Meanwhile, Mercury had the Montclair "Phaeton" 4-door hardtop at $3365, and the Montclair "Turnpike Cruiser" at $3577.
The Corsair and Citation were actually on a longer wheelbase than the Mercury Medalist/Monterey/Montclair, 124" vs 122". But then, at the top of the range, Mercury trotted out the Park Lane, on a 125" wb, at $3,944 for the 4-door hardtop. That was more than a Buick Super ($3789), but still well below a Roadmaster ($4667) or Limited ($5112). The Olds Ninety Eight 4-door hardtop was $4,096.
Over at Chrysler, the mid-range Saratoga was $3955 for the 4-door hardtop, while a New Yorker was $4404.
Ford reacted pretty quickly with the Edsel for 1959, dropping the slow-selling Mercury-based models and focusing on the Ford-based ones. But, Mercury went the wrong way, getting even bigger for '59. The Park Lane moved up to a 128" wb, while the others went to 126".
In general, 1959 was a recovery year for the industry. However, Mercury dropped a bit, from around 153K to around 149K. But, they dropped the cheap Medalist, which had accounted for about 17K units in '58, so maybe that wasn't so bad. Edsel contracted from around 63K units to around 45k. But again, considering it lost the more expensive models, perhaps that wasn't too bad. Getting rid of those larger models might have helped Mercury cut its losses too, as people who would have bought one of the bigger Edsels might have just gone with a Mercury. Also, by '59 the Galaxie was out, and pretty popular. That probably put some pressure on Edsel, and maybe Mercury, to a lesser degree?
The other notable loser that year was DeSoto, which dropped from around 49K to 46K, despite a model lineup that was unchanged. I think DeSoto sales were a pretty good indication that the traditional middle-priced market really was changing. Their entry-level Firesweep actually increased in sales compared to '58. But the more expensive Firedome and Fireflite continued to drop. And the story was similar with Chrysler. The entry level Windsor saw a fairly substantial increase, while the more expensive Saratoga and New Yorker were off a bit.
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2015 Subaru Outback 3.6R / 2024 Kia Sportage Hybrid SX Prestige
They actually had a Ferrari on a few years ago. I think on the nighttime show, or one of the anniversary specials. Nobody won it.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Best for me to withhold comment, LOL
A fool...
More money than...
'21 Dark Blue/Black Audi A7 PHEV (mine); '22 White/Beige BMW X3 (hers); '20 Estoril Blue/Oyster BMW M240xi 'Vert (Ours, read: hers in 'vert weather; mine during Nor'easters...)
I guess if you just have to have the reference unit for all those people out there restoring Chevettes, it’s worth the money.
I just want to know why it only have 47 miles.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Speaking of auctions, this one surprised me - a few more miles and several years older than the Chevette, bringing around 3x the original price:
Truth be told, I'd rather have a 47-mile '77 Vega. It's what the '71 should have been, durability-wise. Make mine a GT wagon.
In contrast the Chevette never was truly horrible when it came to reliability/durability. It was more of one of those cars that would squeak and rattle with age, nickel and dime you, and you hated it the whole time, but it just wouldn't die. But, I think the Chevette was more of a forgettable little car for most people, and just never managed to achieve the level of infamy that the Vega did.
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport-2020 C43-2021 Sahara 4xe-1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2015 X1 xDrive28i
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
Too lazy to check, but I'm pretty sure '74 was Vega's best-selling year, no doubt due to gas crises, but I'd guess that the bad news wasn't all that 'out there' by that time. They added a second plant to build them.
For styling, I don't really like the first years very much. I don't like the dollhouse-tiny taillights and bumpers. I like the '74-75 styling the best.
Wife was driving a 12-year-old Chevette in 1990. I don't recall it being unreliable, but it was indeed eminently forgettable. I detested painted metal inside the car that was the color of the outside.
I could still enjoy owning a Cosworth. Yeah, I know, 110 hp instead of 150, but I like the idea of DOHC and fuel injection at the time. Probably the same reason I like late '60's performance Corvairs. Fact is, of course, that a big V8 will trounce them every time, but I like the idea, I guess, of 'engineering sophistication', for real or not.
This was my favorite color combo on one. My friend wanted a used one at an AMC dealer in '78 in this scheme, asking price $3,500. His Dad wouldn't co-sign for a two-year-old Vega at $3,500, LOL, even though at the time he owned a '77 Vega Kammback he bought new, and a '78 Malibu Classic sedan.
I met a guy at Hershey this past year who was showing a Cosworth Vega. It was his second one. He said he bought a new one....in 1978! I know the one our hometown dealer got in, hung around for a year and was advertised at $4,800-odd at that point. I don't believe anybody paid sticker for one! The small dealer where I bought my C8, told me they (i.e., his Dad) never sold Cosworths as he didn't want to spend the money for the tools. Probably a wise choice in hindsight!
Road and Track, I remember did a test of one alongside some Euro cars....the only one I remember is a Saab, for some reason. Their conclusion was somewhat surprising, not the conventional wisdom then and especially now.
Different tack, but coming out of my donut joint today, saw this Malibu I like in color and equipment. The rear styling is my favorite angle of the car. I put 2K miles on one last spring and was surprised at how pleasant (quiet, enough power, spacious, economical) it was. I entertained buying a new one but my cheap nature is keeping me in the old Cruze next to it for now.
The in-laws of my younger brother-in-law just bought this '66 Chevelle Malibu Sport Sedan out in AZ. They said it doesn't meet noise levels in their retirement village, LOL.
I spot that it is missing the factory wheel opening moldings.
First year for a GM mid-size four-door hardtop.
Emblem on front fender says "327", a good choice, but who knows what it's packing now.
I like the old 'tinted glass in all windows' option--light green like glass Coke bottles used to be. My white '63 Lark Daytona had them; really noticeable on a white car.
On the winter note and obscure spotting note, yesterday morning I was in the middle of my every weekend day couple hours spent on the ice at the local skate ribbon (a smaller version of the one in Chicago), dodging the "swimmers" and dorky hockey dads/wild no rules for me hockey kids, and on the main street in front of the ribbon, saw a blue 58 Eldorado Brougham in traffic. We've had a fraction of the normal snowfall this year (we average around 4 feet each winter) and the roads aren't filthy, but it was no more than 25F out and the roads still have gunk on them, and this high rarity was out amid the cloned CUVs and manly man pickups. It looked immaculate, although it was far enough away for me to not see real detail nor a plate. I had to tell my friend how rare the car is, and how much more valuable it is compared to a normal 58 Caddy.
On the tinted glass subject, period MBs could also be ordered with green glass. In the 90s blue tinted glass could be had, that was always an attention getter for the observant.
The Eldorado Brougham was really something special. I think $13k is sticking in my head as its new car price, astronomical then of course.