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

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Comments

  • magnetophonemagnetophone Posts: 605
    I saw an Alfa 164 on the road today. Not really that rare, but not that common, either.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Sonoma, CaliforniaPosts: 64,490
    Why, there's one in my driveway! I must put this in my rare bird notebook!
  • jaserbjaserb Posts: 858
    a new (or nearly so) Ferrari 550 Maranello in grey? Yeah, not exactly an obscure vehicle, but rare as hens teeth aroung here. Certainly drool-inducing, but I'm not entirely won over by the styling - the hood scoop does nothing for me. Let me try driving one for a week or so and I might change my mind ;-)

    -Jason
  • wishnhigh1wishnhigh1 Posts: 363
    Today I was driving on university drive in Palo Alto, and in the course of 5 blocks I saw:

    A black S600,

    silver S55(parked next to the S600 no less!),

    Nissan Skyline GT-R(I couldnt tell if it is R33 or R34, my eyes arent as well trained as some),

    Alfa Romeo 164LS(yep, the higher trim model),

    and a black BMW 850. And that was just in 5 blocks downtown!

    Later in the day I saw a new Porsche 911 turbo, a Maserati Quattroporte, a new SL500, and Datsun 1600 roadster!
  • wishnhigh1wishnhigh1 Posts: 363
    BTW...I saw a second styling generation Q45 today, right around the time I saw the Maserati Quattroporte. Like a 95 or so.

    Has anyone ever noticed the resemblance? It looks like that generation Q45 is a modern day continuation of the old Quattroporte. I mean, near perfect proportion matching, ride height, greenhouse shape...EVERYTHING. Well, except the Q45 had mounds better fit and finish and visible quality than the nearly 2 decade old Maserati.
  • jrosasmcjrosasmc Posts: 1,711
    So the Maserati really was that bad in quality in its heyday?
  • verozahlverozahl Posts: 574
    wishnhigh, I'll let you answer jrosas on that.

    Bet I can beat your Ace of Cards: today I saw five Chevrolets, five Pontiacs, five Oldsmobiles, five Buicks, and five Cadillacs, and I didn't even have to travel five blocks... I just stood at the side of the road and watched Detroit Mediocrity on vacation! >;p

    Sigh, Vero needs a trip to California for Christmas or something. >:(

    Still think that DMC was cool, though! But you said GT-R, eh? Man.
  • ghuletghulet Posts: 2,628
    I've never seen a newish Maserati Quattroporte, only an '80s model (there's a circa-83 sitting on the street in my 'hood, it's kind of a mess). Please post a link if you can find a picture.
  • kw_carmankw_carman Posts: 114
    I wouldn't mind going ton California just to watch cars!

    Here's a car I totally forgot about...the Cadillac Allante... I didn't see this particular one on the road, but in a local used car flier (called Auto Mart here). It was a '91, low miles (so they say), and was $11k.

    Looking at them on the road, they're as bland as an older Camcord, just with a convertible top.
  • lemkolemko Philadelphia, PAPosts: 15,306
    ...I could sit on the curb and watch Japanese cars, but then I'd fall asleep from boredom!

    Anyway, California would probably be the best place to go to look for the first Maybach 62 on the streets. The car was built with Hollywood types in mind. The last time I was in Los Angeles I noticed that Mercedes S-Classes and Rolls-Royces were as common as Chevrolets and Fords in Philadelphia.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Sonoma, CaliforniaPosts: 64,490
    The old Quattroporto's leather interior was to die for.

    You'd wish for a leather interior like that in your new car.
  • magnetophonemagnetophone Posts: 605
    Buicks and Oldsmobiles and Chevies are boring too, just like Camrys and such.

    I have a coworker that drives an Allante. What an ugly car!
  • andre1969andre1969 Posts: 23,560
    ...if ya really want to be cruel we could kidnap Vero, tie him up and force him to attend the All-Ford, All-GM, and All-Chrysler Nationals at Carlisle...with his eyes taped wide open!
  • seminole_kevseminole_kev Posts: 1,722
    as long as there are a lot of 60's cars, I'd love it. If it was going to be nothing but stuff from the 70's and 80's, I'll be screaming louder than Verozahl!
  • magnetophonemagnetophone Posts: 605
    Ooh, a vintage Cutlass Salon!
  • andre1969andre1969 Posts: 23,560
    ...of stuff from the dawn of automotive history on up to current stuff. The vast majority, I'd say though, is 60's and pre-catalytic converter '70's. Sometimes it's neat though, to see the late '70's stuff and 80's, just to see how far downhill cars had come.

    When I was there for the Chrysler show, I had my '79 NY'er. One day, there was a '78 parked on one side of me and an '84 or so 5th Ave on the other side. That was kinda neat, seeing all three generations, side-by-side, to see just how much they shrunk them up and changed them over the course of just a few short years, as the NY'er nameplate kept getting shuffled to smaller platforms. Too bad there wasn't one of those little K-based NY'ers to complete the set!
  • lemkolemko Philadelphia, PAPosts: 15,306
    ...who got 265K miles out of his K-derivative 1985 New Yorker and this was a man who hardly pampered the car. For an even rarer car, when was the last time you saw the Chrysler K Limousine and Executive Sedan? The last time I recall seeing one was in the early '80s. Must've been a lot to ask of that transverse 4-cylinder engine!
  • jrosasmcjrosasmc Posts: 1,711
    Yeah, especially if the 4-cylinder was a Mitsubishi unit!
  • lemkolemko Philadelphia, PAPosts: 15,306
    ...a picture of Lee Iacocca emerging from a 1981-83 Imperial custom made into a long wheelbase 4-door sedan. This was a really sharp car and would've sold much better than the coupe. I understand there was a "Frank Sinatra" edition of the 1981-83 Imperial that came with a collection of his music on cassette. Frank Sinatra even appeared in a few print ads with Lee at the time.
  • andre1969andre1969 Posts: 23,560
    ...that specializes in old Mopars. When I first started going there, back around 1989, they had a bunch of those K-car limos! They must've had about 10 or 12 of 'em sitting there, all in a row.

    I forget how much these things weighed...maybe around 3500 lb? Too much really for a 4-cyl of that era to pull around, but probably not much worse than a minivan.

    It's not worth renting the movie just to see this car, but if "Cannonball Run II" ever comes on late night tv, like in between reruns of "Logan's Run" the tv series and "The Giant Gila Monster/Killer Shrews" double feature, you'll get a chance to see one of those long wheelbase Imperial sedans. It was painted up in military colors.

    Sadly though, Lemko, I don't think it would've sold. That thing had to have been longer than an R-body, and they were languishing at the time. 1981 was not a good year to be a full-sized Chrysler product!
  • magnetophonemagnetophone Posts: 605
    jrosasmc,

    Actually I believe the 4-cylinder was a Chrysler creation and the 2.6 V6 was a Mitsubishi. I remember hearing that the Mitsubishi was actually the unreliable motor.
  • andre1969andre1969 Posts: 23,560
    The Chrysler engine was a 2.2 that had something like 85 HP, IIRC, with a 2-bbl carb. I forget how much the Mitsubishi 2.6 had, but it was ultimately massaged up to around 102 hp. The Mitsu's big advantage was torque. Again, I forget the exact numbers, but the 2.6 was just better suited for pullilng a heavier car around.

    It was also an oil burner, and had other problems that I can't remember right offhand. The Chrysler 2.2's biggest problem was head gaskets. It was an iron block with an aluminum head, and different expansion and contraction rates of the two metals with regards to temperature would play hell with the head gasket.

    Eventually, the 2.2 was enlarged to a 2.5, and that effectively replaced the 2.6. When the 2.2 got fuel injection, it was up to 96 hp. I think the 2.5 had 100.

    Today, both of these engines are still with us, but in greatly altered form. The 2.0 used in the Neon and the 2.4 used in the Sebring and Stratus are descendants of the 2.2 and 2.5. Hey, maybe that's why the Neon was so famous for blowing head gaskets!
  • jaserbjaserb Posts: 858
    My friend's dad bought one (it was probably 6 or 7 years old at the time) when I was 16 - it was cheap and would hold, what, 7 people or so? We took it to the lake once when we went sailing on their ratty old sailboat. I remember thinking we must have looked like a white trash episode of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" (Lifestyles of the Poor and Anonymous?)

    -Jason
  • lemkolemko Philadelphia, PAPosts: 15,306
    ...ferries his guests to his show in one of these old K-limos?
  • machiavellimachiavelli Posts: 260
    Andre - leave the Neon's sex life out of this, OK?! LOL!
  • andre1969andre1969 Posts: 23,560
    ...the head gasket on our '88 LeBaron turbo. Thankfully, she was the ex- by that time, and the car was in her name and not mine! I think it cost her about $700 to get it fixed, which included replacing the warped head with a new unit.

    The car never ran right after that,though. I ended up having her take it to my mechanic, who got it running more-or-less right, by properly re-attaching all the vacuum hoses, wires, etc under the hood that Billy-Bob the mechanic missed with the head job. My mechanic told her not to put another dime into it, and unload it as quickly as possible!
  • lemkolemko Philadelphia, PAPosts: 15,306
    ...I did see a 1994-vintage Eagle Vision the other day. There are not many of these versus the other LH cars.
  • andre1969andre1969 Posts: 23,560
    I'm about to catch a ride home with a co-worker who has a 1994 Eagle Vision!
  • magnetophonemagnetophone Posts: 605
    Are you just carpooling to save gas or did your Dodge Intrepid break down!?
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Sonoma, CaliforniaPosts: 64,490
    I saw a Nissan Patrol 4X4 yesterday. I had forgotten how nice looking they were for their time. Very cool vintage 4-by.

    Anyone ever see Deloreans on the road anymore or have they all been turned into goldfish ponds?
  • jrosasmcjrosasmc Posts: 1,711
    I have a feeling that it costs a bit of money to keep a DeLorean running on the road.
  • ghuletghulet Posts: 2,628
    I've seen a few in Chicago, one or two on a regular basis. I can't imagine having one, finding parts must not be too easy, and it's not like they're actually fast by today's standards.
  • logic1logic1 Posts: 2,433
    I think I have seen the same one! It is not in particularly good shape either. Gosh knows who does the wrenching.
  • wishnhigh1wishnhigh1 Posts: 363
    old quattroporte:


    http://www.vintagecarsource.com/pages/vintage/84maserati.htm


    Q45:


    http://www.edmunds.com/used/1993/infiniti/q45/4drasedan/photo_1.html


    See the resemblance?


    Now see the new Quattroporte concept:


    http://www.omniauto.it/home/quattroporte.htm

  • andre1969andre1969 Posts: 23,560
    ..but that '94 Vision I caught a ride in, has 146,000+ miles on it, and is still on the original transmission!!

    Matt, nothing's wrong with the Intrepid, but something that I knew would eventually happen finally did. My uncle started complaining about me having too many cars around my grandmother's house, so I caught a ride to her house, drove the Gran Fury back to work and left it there, and then took the Intrepid home. I live in a condo, and parking is pretty tight here, so I've been keeping a few over at Grandma's. I work in a secure area, with plenty of parking that's pretty safe, so I figured I'd just leave one car up there, as long as nobody complains!
  • jrosasmcjrosasmc Posts: 1,711
    I certainly hope the transmission in my dad's '97 Grand Cherokee lasts that long. I haven't heard the greatest things about that SUV's trannies, though.
  • verozahlverozahl Posts: 574
    Saw a DeLorean in a used car parking lot earlier this week in Wisconsin. Allantes can be seen on summer Saturdays if you go looking for them in the Detroit area. Eagle Visions are around as well, they look better than the other LH-mobiles.
    Spotted an Alfa Romeo 164, green, on Huron Street as I rolled back into Ann Arbor yesterday. It's Ann Arbor's resident Alfa - The Green Alfa. I see it a few times a year.
  • jrosasmcjrosasmc Posts: 1,711
    And is there only one Alfa in the Ann Arbor area?
  • porknbeansporknbeans Posts: 464
    First, I'm surprised that andre lives close to a junk yard that specializes in Mopars. LOL

    Saw a Allante in Lake Geneva (resort community in Southern Wisconsin with lots of Illinois money) a couple of weeks ago. Pristine condition with some lady who looked like her face had been on a stretching machine (can somebody say toooo many face lifts).

    Finally, there is a Delorean that I see driving around Madison every once in awhile that I swear the guy paints in different colors for the seasons. Yes, I know it was a stainless steel body but this car was painted....several times.

    BTW, nice concept shots, are they going to bring it to the states?
    Porknbeans

    Grand High Poobah
    The Fraternal Order of Procrastinators
  • verozahlverozahl Posts: 574
    It is THE Alfa. Your question is thus answered in the affirmative. Would you like to move to Michigan?
  • ghuletghulet Posts: 2,628
    I saw a stretched, four door 1980 Chevrolet El Camino, with rear doors the same as the fronts, causing a huge V-shaped 'B' pillar. Wacky. Hopefully I'll see it again (it's sitting on Ashland Avenue) and take a picture of it, which I will post.
  • andre1969andre1969 Posts: 23,560
    ...if you see that 4-door El Camino, definitely take some pictures and post them! Back in March I made up a 4-door El Camino in Photoshop, and I'd be interested to see how the real thing compares!


    I'm used to working on a Macintosh, but I'm on a PC at home, so I can't figure out how to post the dang thing here! But here's a link to where I posted it on Edmunds...


    /direct/view/.ef0925b/211


    It's post #178, the first in that segment.

  • ghuletghulet Posts: 2,628
    ...I gotta find my brother's digital camera and run over there, hopefully I'll have them up by tomorrow or Monday. It doesn't look a whole lot like yours; like I said, it used front doors for the rear ones, so it's _really_ stretched quite a bit, and since the door glass is so raked on both sides, it has a pronouced 'V' shape to the fabricated B pillar. The car looks to be in decent shape, except it's got some primer or body filler between the doors. I'm wondering what the interior looks like, too.
  • checkmecheckme Posts: 73
    An Acura SVX SUV. It looked like it was from the early or -mid 90's. Has anyone ever heard of this model? It looked like a giant Iszuzu Trooper. This one had consular plates, so it was probably brought here from overseas.
  • ghuletghulet Posts: 2,628
    ...I do see an SVX every now and then, it was basically a rebadged Trooper, that's why it looks like one, checkme.
  • verozahlverozahl Posts: 574
    Subaru SVX is an AWD Sport Coupe that I could be convinced to kill or die for.

    The Acura SLX is the rebadged Isuzu Trooper that is/was Acura's biggest mistake EVER.
  • ghuletghulet Posts: 2,628
    But I submit that the 5-cylinder Vigor was a bit of a mistake.
  • magnetophonemagnetophone Posts: 605
    no way! I loved the Vigor! It was a kick [non-permissible content removed] automobile.
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Sonoma, CaliforniaPosts: 64,490
    Die for an SVX? Life is getting cheap these days.

    Hold out for an NSX at least if you want something Japanese and highly competent.
  • magnetophonemagnetophone Posts: 605
    Or a last-generation RX-7!
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