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I spotted an (insert obscure car name here) classic car today! (Archived)
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2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic
I could enjoy a '57 Packardbaker wagon, blower, 3-speed and O/D, and roof rack. It looks like a trim, intermediate-size car, with a nice low beltline. Of course, not what the typical Packard owner back then was looking for though!
I suppose there is some celebrity status and a touch of perversity in owning something completely hideous, but if I had money to spend that would be the last car I'd spend it on. As a former double-Hawk owner, I find the '58s completely unappealing. It is not attractive, it has no prestige, it brings up a very dismal point in history, and it's certainly not worth the cost of restoration.
So I find the allure elusive.
Besides, the value of "classic cars" is tied to supply and demand. It has nothing to do with merit.
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/capsule-review-mercedes-benz-300sel-6-3/
Do you ever get to smoke the tires on your own fintail?
Cool article though, those 6.3s are awesome cars.
on the belt (gawd awful road), a lat 60s or somewhere around there continental mark 2 door. Decent shape, looked like a driver. Pretty sure I have never seen one like this before.
bunch of mopars. 67 baracuda, and a 69ish Charger (gen. Lee body style) in red. and a 70 or so challenger, on a rollback.
A Cobra of some kind (had to be a replica) on a trailer being towed behind a U haul at a rest stop on the jersey turnpike.
very nice '67 camaro driving around local streets.
and a few others that, as usual, escape me.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Cool 107
I'd prefer it stock, would be one of cleanest-looking 107s around.
I never liked cars that look like what they aren't, and always liked cars that were what they didn't look like :P
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
I've developed a mild fetish for period tuned cars...as time goes on the more I want an AMG 126, especially a 6 litre widebody SEC.
Most car shows here tend to be Sundays, with driving events on Saturdays. As I too work maybe 9 out of 10 Saturdays, I can sympathize. There's much less of a social car community here than in California or the east coast too...I'm lucky to find a few "get togethers" for MB here a year.
nice car.
someone then pulled up across the street with a pre 57 tbird.
it had a beautiful creamy white paint job, which everyone complimented.
black and white tuck and roll seat.
then the guys started talking about how those 50's convertibles had underpowered 6 cyl engines in them and were not really all that great.
since i didn't know if it was a 55 or 56, i kept my mouth shut.
about an hour later, when the owner started it up, you should have seen the faces.
it had a quiet little rumble to it, but everyone figured out it was not a 6 under the hood.
wiki'ed it and it is a '56.
Really sharp looking. Red, think he has a hard top. pretty sure he got it when he was part owner of a Mitsu dealership in myrtle beach a few years back.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
As for the '42 Olds, I think the styling was as nice as any of the pre-war European luxury brands. And, sure, the engine and suspension weren't nearly as leading edge as the better Europeans, but how many European luxury cars were available with a fully automatic 4-speed?
I think most automatic-transmission cars were like that back in those days. I believe it had something to do with having a pump at the rear of the transmission? My '57 DeSoto's owner's manual has the procedure for push-starting listed. In its case, I think you only had to get it up to 15 mph.
What I meant in my original post is my fintail's engine can be turned off, and the car can be started while in 2nd gear (the lowest selectable).
That feature was intended to enable a controled start on snow and/or ice.
Yes, you could do that with the 'Cruise-o-matic' 3 speed auto that Ford put in their cars in the late 50s and 60s. In fact, you could also do it in Ramblers of that vintage (my father had one). I am less certain of the Chrysler 'Torqueflite', but I seem to remember that you could with that one too. Chevy automatics of the time, of course, only had two gears.
2009 BMW 335i, 2003 Corvette cnv. (RIP 2001 Jaguar XK8 cnv and 1985 MB 380SE [the best of the lot])
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic
Both my '63 and '64 Studebakers start in second gear, unless you manually put the "Flightomatic" into "L". That's kind of a drag with the '63, which is factory Avanti-powered! I wish it had the Powershift automatic trans, which at least could be manually shifted through three gears.
Fintail, I'm sure you know this, but Studebaker dealers usually handled M-B up until they broke off in '65.
When I say "start" in second gear, I mean the engine starting, not the car moving away from a stop. My fintail doesn't have to be in P or N to start, if you have it in "2", the engine can also be started with no drama at all...just seems weird to me.
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic
Today's odd car - red oval window Beetle.
And the shift patterns are less than normal:
Floor shift auto fintails are very rare, and as you can see, the gear layout is backwards from a normal car. Mine is a column shift...if you don't move the lever forward-away from you when selecting park, it will not engage and the car will roll away easily. Selecting the gears requires more than straight up and down movement, which when shifting for yourself reminds me of a column shift manual.
The pre-'56 Hydra-Matics were really rugged and efficient, but they shifted somewhat hard, with little slippage, similar to older Mercedes.
It's also possible that, since I'm not an engineer, and don't know the details of these MB and GM transmissions, that there are important differences in their designs.
I think the B-W units are found only in Adenauers...come to think of it, I can't recall seeing one, or an automatic fintail, with a defective unit.
Other auto companies, including Nissan, used Borg Warner 3-speed automatics, but maybe BW made different versions.