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

andre1969 · October 2006

Yeah, I thought that model was pretty cool too. It was pretty long, about 2 feet long I'd say. So that would put it around what? about 1:8?! I forget how much the vendor wanted for it.

boomchek · October 2006

Was it plastic or metal?

andre1969 · October 2006

but I think it was metal, with chromed plastic for the grille, bumpers, etc. But I'm not positive. I was kinda afraid to touch it! It does have a nice paint job though, doesn't it?

boomchek · October 2006

yeah it does, it's not often you see larger models like that.

fintail · October 2006

That Japanese tin Mercedes was made by a company called "Ichiko" in the late 60s. They are actually relatively common...I assume somewhere a storeroom of them survived and was discovered in the early 90s. Something like that is worth about $200...not a lot for a nicely detailed tin litho toy, but supply is reflected in that price. Some of the boxes for this toy actually advertised it as a "ride on" car, which seems like a bad idea.

I am not sure as to the scale of these cars...they are indeed 24" long though.

I have a Bandai tin litho fintail, scale on this is more or less 1:18

And a smaller tin gullwing, probably about 1:24

I like the Lucerne milk crate too...pretty funny.

explorerx4 · October 2006

bought a '71 customized chevelle convertible. it has a lot of thought put into it. frame painted black, engine bay smoothed, whole body painted red. hotchkiss suspension, baer disk brakes all arounds, lots of billet aluminum pieces, etc...
he said the dyno sheets showed over 460 hp.

fintail · October 2006

Outclass all those livery Town Cars

Ouch

Pimps like Corvettes too

Amusing hood ornament...should go home

I've always somewhat liked these

This is cool in a weirdo way

Last of the DS, makes me think of Clark Griswold getting stuck in an archway

Buick...truck

These seem to have a following

Weirdness on every level

My old MB specialist's Universal...fantastic car, but I don't think he's serious about selling

That rear window has always put me off

Unusual survivor...insane seller

Andre-mobile, and it's even green

Mr_Shiftright · October 2006

Pantera -- car is totalled...goodbye, too bad.

Alvis -- now here's a good example of a "clunkly" 30s British car. They weren't all handsome. He may be "planning" to sell it in America but his asking price, while not out of the question, is top dollar for an unloved marque and an unlovely model.

'61 Imperial: words fail me...good lord, that car is so hideous. Good freak show car however...lotsa looks per dollar. Like driving the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile I guess.
I can admire the Dark Side as well as the next man.

LANCIA -- cool little car, but at $6200 bid already, his reserve had better be real close to that.

fintail · October 2006

Today I saw an absolutely pristine showroom 560SEC. It was driven by a little old lady who gave me a thumbs up when I pulled up beside her in the fintail (she noticed me checking out her car I am sure).

Strange thing though...she had her seat set so close to the wheel, it was freaky. It was almost to the point where it looked like it was folded for people to get in the back. I've never seen anything like that before.

altair4 · October 2006

Obviously you have never seen my mother-in-law on the road then. Even in the smallest car, the back seat passenger will feel like they're riding in a limo, at least in the amount of space they will have.

stickguy · October 2006

3 VW bugs on the highway, looked like 60's models, but all modified. One was a baja bug, the other 2 looked to be hot rodded. Also a later bug convertible.

A rubber bumper MG B, in that puke yellow/tan color. Looked OK, but puffed smoke with every shift.

a light green Caddy convertible (De Ville) about a 1970.

and some kind of mini car on rt. 13 in Delaware. looked like a cross between a golf cart and a trike, but it had 4 wheels. Like a shrunken Manx or something. Tiny and pretty open, so I wouldn't want to have an accident in it!

merckx · October 2006

Re Manx: Sounds like a British Mini-Moke.

magnette · October 2006

Sometime back (August, I think) we had an exchange about the pink cars used as promotional/ incentive prizes by the MaryKaye organisation, which I had never previously heard of, being "over 'ere". A couple of weeks ago we went to Norway for a holiday, and round the corner from our hotel in Bergen I saw a pale pink Volvo S40, with discreet MaryKaye decals...
It turned out that our hotel was hosting some sort of sales conference or similar for this organisation, so in Norway they must have the same sort of set-up.

kyfdx · October 2006

Chevy Monza notchback coupe.. '76 or '77

andre1969 · October 2006

I spotted what I thought at first was a '77-79 T-bird, in brown, with the headlight covers stuck open. But something didn't seem right about it. Then it struck me as to what it was. It was actually a '77-79 Ford LTD-II coupe with the T-bird front clip!

fintail · October 2006

Some obscure cars in these clips:

I've always liked this...I hope I never roll my fintail...boom!

Unusual cars around every corner in this classic

Mr_Shiftright · October 2006

Bullitt is a masterpiece chase scene.

I think they gave that fintail about 200 extra HP for the performance :P

andys120 · October 2006

Thanks Fin, it's always a pleasure to see the luscious Diana Rigg.

andys120 · October 2006

-A '67 Ford Galaxie 500 XL four door, white over bronze, fairly straight and clean. It was badged for a big engine but I couldn't read the badge, likely a 390.

-An MGA roadster, white over red, looked restored, wearing period-correct wide white walls on disc wheels.

magnette · October 2006

Not a car which you would expect to see in Uk but I passed one parked outside a house in Wales a couple of days ago. I was in traffic and didn't have a chance to stop, but it was in good restored condition, and although I knew it was a Dodge, the 58 Royal bit was helped by a customised rear plate, more US than UK size, which was inscribed with the year and model above the normal UK registration. I would think it was a more recent import, as it was registered in a series usually seen on cars which have been added to the register at a later date.

fintail · October 2006

Today I saw both red and black examples of the 2 door Land Rover Defender.

fintail · October 2006

One of the endless examples of the difference between money and taste

A real "classic"

Neat old freakshow

Veteran

Probably not very resistant to fall-apart

Strange application of wire wheels

Standard of the world, once

It speaks for itself

This has to be a joke

For the really old school

OK looking fintail, wacky fabric

70s bling

prosa · October 2006

The Kanzler is rather subdued, given its prior owner.

And notice how the Renault 18 is described as "rare, clean and loved." The seller's got to be the only person in the world who "loved" one of those lemons

gsemike · October 2006

At least he didn't grab a GTO

lemko · October 2006

Very weathered black 1965 Oldsmobile F-85 wagon for sale on Verree Rd in NE Philly.

Nice red and white 1957 Plymouth Belvedere two-door hardtop.

Mildly customized red 1966 Chevrolet Chevy II wagon.

Black 1964 Ford Falcon

bhill2 · October 2006

fintail,

I have a question for you about that 220SE on eBay. The seller describes it as having 'a three speed with overdrive on the column'. I assume he means a four speed with an overdrive 4th gear, but I thoulght I would check. Thanks.

andre1969 · October 2006

from my little excursion to Hershey, PA last week. Enjoy!

fintail · October 2006

Yeah, it's a 4 speed and not even an OD, just a regular 4 speed. Fairly buzzy at higher speeds.

fintail · October 2006

Wow, lots of cool stuff there, very diverse. Among all the usual American classics, a few MB, a Rabbit...and some nice older stuff including a Brewster...wow.

Mr_Shiftright · October 2006

seller is clueless about that. It's just a 4-speed with a 1:1 ratio in 4th...nothing overdrive about it.

andre1969 · October 2006

the National DeSoto Club is going to have their 2007 convention in Waldorf, Maryland, about 45 mins from me. I guess I should take that as a sign to get the lead out and get mine roadworthy! I guess I should also stop procrastinating and re-join that club! I was a member years ago, but when my marriage/divorce pushed me to the brink of bankruptcy, I had to jettison everything but the bare essentials, and the NDC membership was one of the things to go. I guess I had my priorities right though, since I did hold on to the DeSoto! :P

oregonboy · October 2006

Something about that ex-Liberace freak-machine seemed familiar... then it struck me, the windows looked "Opel-GT". That seemed too strange, given how little the Opel was and how humongus that beast looked... but wait!!!

check out: http://www.autowallpaper.de/Wallpaper/Opel/Opel_GT/bilder/Opel_GT_2.jpg

Notice the 6 little vents above the rear window. That "designer creation" was an Opel passenger compartment dropped into the middle of a crap-mobile. Too funny!

james

jrosasmc · October 2006

Speaking of Maryland, I now live in DC, where I am currently attending grad school. Just for kicks, how far are you from the District?

Also, that blue Saab Sonett you photographed at Carlisle is one freakshow of a car. But I always liked it though. Oh yeah, since you still have your DeSoto, is it currently in running condition?

andre1969 · October 2006

I'm near Greenbelt and Bowie, maybe 15 minutes from the DC border. As for my DeSoto, well it's in running condition, but not necessarily in STOPPING condition! :surprise: It needs brake work. I found a local mechanic through a friend of mine who's not afraid to tackle old cars, which is something that's becoming rarer and rarer. He's converted a few Forward Look era Mopars to a disc brake setup, and I've thought about having him do it with mine.

andre1969 · October 2006

I took my LeMans to a local car show in Rockville, MD. The quality on some of these pics isn't so hot, I guess partly because it was a bright, sunny day, but this show is in kind of a little valley with tall trees on one end, so it makes for some fun light/contrast situations that need help from either Photoshop or a higher-quality camera! Truthfully, my camera is probably smart enough to adjust accordingly, but I'm mainly a point and shoot kind of guy!

Oh, and here's a pic of my poor truck, which got rear-ended on Friday. :sick: I know this pic looks almost anti-climatic, but you should've seen the other car! :surprise:

fintail · October 2006

Yep, I caught that Opel in the ad. Quite a few of those things still around in this area.

Did that local show have a Packard contingent, Andre?

andre1969 · October 2006

yeah, there was a Packard contingent at that show. There's also a Thunderbird contingent and this year there was a Ferrari contingent as well. I think that was their "featured" marque this year. Unfortunately, I got too wrapped up in talking with that guy who had the 1961 DeSoto and the mechanic who did the disc brake conversion on it that I lost track of the time, and didn't get to go over to the other side of field to get pics of the cars there.

fintail · October 2006

You're the only one in the world who could get caught up with a 61 DeSoto LOL

Your car shows sure seem to be better than the ones out here. In my area they are either club-specific (Mustang), a concours with some shipped in high dollar cars, or a boring little event with a dozen hotrod 57 Chevys and Camaros, and little else.

andre1969 · October 2006

on the way home after picking up my Intrepid from the transmission shop (just a servicing, not for that thing that Mopar trannies are a bit more notorious for :P ) I saw a 1967 Pontiac Tempest hardtop coupe. Or it could have been a LeMans...I forget their hierarchies back then for the midsizers but it wasn't a GTO. I think it had a small badge on it that said "Custom". Red with a black vinyl top and, well it looked good in the rain! Rain can hide an awful lot of sins though.

kyfdx · October 2006

One of the last years, I think... Automatic, of course..

Very nice condition... red

mazda6iguy · October 2006

While not a classic and only obscure for the next few weeks, I spotted a brand new 2007 Chevrolet Aveo sedan (the new design) on the road on the way to work this morning.

explorerx4 · October 2006

a early/mid 70's light blue buick lesabre. it actually looked pretty good and stood out, not just because it was bigger than the other cars going in the same direction.

fintail · October 2006

This morning I returned from a ca. 1000 mile toad trip, most of it through relatively rural eastern WA. If you think lots of old stuff survives around Seattle, one should take a trip east of the cascades. I can't count the amount of 1960s vehicles I saw either still in daily use, or sitting a extremely easy restorations. It usually takes a car decades to rust, so most everything is pretty sound.

I must have saw a couple dozen Ford Falcons, including an excellent original looking baby blue 64-65 2 door HT, a 2 door wagon, and a 2 door sedan with the mirror way up on the fender like on an old Japanese car. Off the top of my head I also spotted a 69-70 Roadrunner languishing among some other heaps by an old garage, several 66-69 Chevelles including a couple SS badged cars, a few 62-64 Chevys, an old VW transporter pickup driving along just fine, several 60s Continentals, and tons of 50s-60s trucks. No fintails though. I went to an area where I lived as a child, where a 300SE fintail resided when I was a kid. I remember the car vividly when I was young, and it was there 5 or so years ago when I visited the place last. It was gone.

And on the weird car transporter idea...I saw a 3 car load consisting of a 59 Chevy 2 door post, a white previous-gen Monte, and a Mercedes G-wagen. Odd mix.

lemko · October 2006

...in NE Philly: red 1966 Oldsmobile Cutlass two-door hardtop and nice black 1987 Buick Grand National.

toomanyfumes · October 2006

'70 - '72 Monte Carlo. Unusual because it was in mint condition, and had the full factory hubcaps with the inside painted body color.

jlawrence01 · October 2006

Last may, I spent a week on Vancouver Island and was really surprised at the weird collection of vehicles that I saw (that would not be found in the midwest)

- 30 Chevettes/Acadians/T1000s I have seen perhaps FIVE in Chicago in the past six years. And most were in pretty decent shape.

- Ditto for ancient Suburus. Literally several hundred.

- Almost NO Hondas pre 1990.

- An old Toyota truck where ALL the sheet metal had rusted away. My wife called the truch SKELETOR.

fintail · October 2006

I saw a few Chevettes out east too, and strangely enough, several Subaru Justys and a few Brats. I can't remember when I saw a Justy before that. A couple Daihatsu Charades, too.

Ancient Subarus are all over the northwest, they are a big thing here.

fintail · October 2006

What an engine sound

Lots of historical themed MB stuff popping up on youtube

This is pretty cool, esp for a still unloved model. Nice crash test footage

Neat infomercial of sorts...shame they used old footage of a W110 vs a W111 but a fintail is a fintail...I love that early W126, a 1979 built pre-production car that is featured in many old MB films and print materials

jlawrence01 · October 2006

As for Chevettes, the local Dodge dealer had a 1986 on his lot. My wife actually asked me to look at buying it. All I could think of was the old John Conlee hit "Rose Colored Glasses." You know - "they show all the beauty but they hide all the truth."

Then, one day last year, I had three people park in front of my office - in a Chevette, a Plymouth Horizon, and a Ford Maverick. I had to check the claendar to make sure that I hadn't morphed into another decade.

boomchek · October 2006

Yeah we have a lot of older Subies up here in Vancouver. Lots of environmental types who love these vehicles, no matter how old.

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

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