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Once a certain car I'm tracking, or a certain specific year/type/option list car sells 5 or 6 times for the same or more money, then I take notice of a market change.
If you're thinking of riding Mr Romney coat tails to fame and fortune in a car auction, best think again about that.
Mr Egbert is sort of remembered as father of the Avanti, and of course he inherited a corpse of a corporation to work with---and for those few brief years, he gave it a good shot. But the company was doomed since 1946, and Mr. Egbert was doomed as well, being quite ill and dying young. Something of a hero figure in the minor pantheon of automotive gods I'd say.
Romney (senior) was respected for what he did, but mr. personality he wasn't. My dad liked him. I still have a letter from Mr. Romney to my dad somewhere.
Do you think I could sell it on eBay for a million dollars? :P
EDIT: Just found this pic on eBay:
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/1962-Sherwood-Egbert-booked-Disorderly-conduct-charges-Pr- ess-Photo-/160861124293
Rambler customers were more like Studebaker customers---thrift-conscious people. They weren't about to spend money on extravagances as might a Buick or Olds owner.
If Rambler had stuck with an improved American series, and Studebaker ditched everything but the Lark series, who knows--they might have survived longer, and would have hit the 1971-73 "sweet spot" for economy cars.
Think of how far Chrysler took the Dart, and Chevy the Nova and Ford the Falcon.
Problem is, there was little money in building small, de-contented cars.
Yeah the wagon is cool, it's so Euro with the hubcaps, cloth interior, and 5 speed manual. I'm tempted to go look at it but I think I might actually go check out the white 190E.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
Here's a cool 190E, optimistic price
And another
Euro model
The 2nd Cosworth 190E I saw that too because the guy is advertising on CL here in Vancouver BC as well.
I think they're all a bit optimistically priced. Hate the headlights on the 2nd one although it would be an easy replacement. Not sure about that balck electrical tape on the driver's seat though. :sick:
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
2.3-16s are tough to move. The W201 has a cheapy rep to it now, and few want to pay a premium price for one. The dogleg shift pattern and I suspect a few rare expensive parts don't help, either.
Most people don't seem to know an upholstery shop can probably fix a stitching issue for relatively little money.
driving around today, a later year pinto wagon that badly needed a paint job.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
EDIT: There were two SC/Ramblers at the recent Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale. One brought a tad under $50K, and one bought $60K!!!!!
I find the graphics and plastic add-ons tacky, but it was a performance engine in an economy car body, and lots of folks seem to like that combination.
A lot of old MBs go unmaintained, shame about that late car. It probably won't be easy to flip an old MB either, unless you rescue something nice out of an estate or something.
First, a local one. Our local Rambler dealer was not well-regarded. They were a smaller operation than those of the big 3, in an older, smallish building in a not-so-nice part of town, without a whole lot of space for inventory. Their reputation wasn't great. That had to hurt sales. Later on in the early '70s the dealership changed to a different operator in a different part of town and things improved greatly.
The '60s Ramblers had a mixture of good and bad design details. I like the body design of this '64 Classic quite a bit. It looks modern for the times, and I remember they won an award of some sort for their integrated bodysiide stamping. They used a lot of polished aluminum trim that looked good.
But look at that interior. The ledge stamped into the metal dash looks designed to inflict injury. The speedometer graphics they used always bugged me. I never understood why the speedo went "1 2 3 4.." instead of "10 20 30 40...". It just looked odd. And "Weather Eye" may have been something when it was introduced, but it was old hat by the '60s. In our part of the world, they may have sold some upscale models, but every one I remember seeing until the Javelin came out in '68 was a stripper, kind of crude, and slow. I mean, a lot still came with vacuum wipers, something from the 1950s and before!
Still, I like this car because when was the last time you saw a '64 Rambler Classic coach?
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
Prior to the 1960s, AMC had nothing like the Hawks, they were late to get a V-8, they built no trucks, the American was based on the 1950 Nash Rambler that was later brought back to life after being out of production two years. They were never considered to be a styling leader.
On the positive side, the Rambler American was the US low price leader, it rivaled Studebaker for ecomony, they had a good OHV 6 cylinder motor, usually had better rustproofing and they started in cold weather. They excelled in station wagons and when I hear the word "Rambler" I think of a station wagon.
A good friend of mine, whose Dad had a good executive job, had a '64 Rambler American station wagon as a family car until '73! I teased him mercilessly about that! Although, his Dad always said it was a good car. That's something I've heard a few times from people who had owned '60's Ramblers.
Even then, I thought Studebaker, for an independent, seemed to make a little 'cooler' cars than Rambler..mostly because of the Hawk and Avanti although I always liked the Lark Daytona hardtops when I'd see them.
I always was totally turned off, too, by the "1,2,3,4...." speedometer...although Studebakers from '63-66 only had "0, 20, 40, 60", etc. so I guess I shouldn't laugh too loud!
I grew up in a very urban, car-centric, drag-race kind of world, so the country boys probably had a different automotive universe to dwell in.
Basically the more a car could terrorize the local population, the better we liked it. :P
AMX -- yes, the earlier AMXs do have collector car value, most definitely!
I always thought late '50's and early '60's Ramblers (up through '62) often looked like Eastern bloc products, like this one (MHO only, of course):
http://carpictures.cc/cars/photo/car_picture/15590/1962_rambler_classic_parked
And regarding the odd speedometer markings: maybe that old AMC inspiration was the reason my '86 Jeep Cherokee (the small one) had the same numbering scheme on the speedometer and tach: 10, 20, 30, etc. Only tach I've seen numbered in 100 rpm units. :confuse:
3-soeed column shifters are like the Kiss of Death--probably the least favorite of all the optional types of transmission you could put in a car.
Even 4speed column shifters are preferred to 3 speed ones....I guess it's that clunky 1-2 shift that annoys everyone.
"We left for Frisco in your Rambler. The radiator runnin' dry...."
LOL!!!
I suspect that the CLA will have seating for two in the back. While that wouldn't be a deal breaker for me there are times when seating for five is useful for us. I've read that the next generation C-Class will be larger than the current one, so that one will probably seat five in reasonable comfort for relatively short distances. If the next C-class is indeed larger it'll be about the size of the '80sW124. I loved that model.
Didn't the Nash Metropolitan have a 4-speed on the column?
At the time of South Bend's closing (12/20/63), Studebaker was America's Number 5 auto manufacturer.
Just another sign my memory isn't what it used to be...
I see the Auto Show in your area already happened, in November?
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
The W212 E can be kind of W124-like, especially in simple trim. There's a functional feel about it absent in the W211.
Seattle Auto Show was in November, I was in Germany then...no regrets. My past experience has had the Seattle show outranked by Vancouver - but I remember the 2010 Vancouver show was scaled way back.
Reading these posts brings back a memory for me. At the point that I got my driver's license my Dad had a '64 Rambler Classic, and the quote above did indeed represent the opinion among my friends and classmates. However, my Dad had the good taste to get a V-8 in it. In addition, it came with a 3-speed slush box, as opposed the 2-speed Powerglide that came on Chevys. That allowed me get the hole shot on them in the all-important stoplight "comparison of engines". When I did that to one of my peers driving their parent's Impala they of course had no choice but to go home and die of shame. Good times.
2009 BMW 335i, 2003 Corvette cnv. (RIP 2001 Jaguar XK8 cnv and 1985 MB 380SE [the best of the lot])
Total time capsule, I flashed back to the 80s when I used to go to there in high school.
Rare find!