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BTW, what's wrong with my mind when some useless piece of trivia, like Dennis Weaver's license plate sticks in my mind, but then some nights I can't remember what I did two nights ago! Priorities, eh? :P
Also, this wouldn't be the first time a movie has paid a little tribute to "Duel".
A few years back, there was a movie called "Torque", I think. In the early minutes, there was a chase scene on motorcycles. At one point, a reddish-orange Valiant (but I think a '69) pulls out on the road and nearly creams some of the bikers. Then, a moment later, a gasoline tanker (it was actually one of the "Backup trucks" from Duel that was never used because it kept breaking down, yet survived all these years) pulls out on the road, and I think it made a couple bikers wipe out.
There was also an "Incredible Hulk" episode, from the first season, called "Never Give a Trucker and Even Break", that uses a lot of stock footage from Duel. However, they did round up a Valiant, and a similar truck, for when they shot new footage. For that episode, they had David Banner, one of the bad guys, and a lady trucker all wear blue shirts, because Dennis Weaver wore a blue shirt in Duel!
At one point, the Incredible Hulk kicks a door off the Valiant, and you can see where they forgot to paint the door jambs, when they made it orangish-red! And, it was a cheap model, with a low-grade black vinyl interior. Dennis Weaver's Valiant, as I recall, had a 2-tone brown interior, and was pretty nice...if still vinyl. I heard the truck they used for that episode got blown up in some other movie in the late 70's.
Oh, and "Hush Hush, Sweet Charlotte" is a movie I liked a lot.
It's probably been my favorite movie since I was a kid. I have it on DVD now. It's got some plot holes, but I like it better than the earlier and better-known "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?", another Robert Aldrich chiller with Bette Davis and Victor Buono. And a couple nice '64 Electra 225 six-window sedans and a a '64 Buick Special sedan are in it too, although they want you to think that "Dr. Drew" only drove a '64 Dodge Dart.
Oh well, it's not like any of that stuff is irreplaceable!
2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve
Absolutely, they have aged well.
2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve
Even when the Seville was redesigned in the late 90s it stayed with the same general shape, with just some rounded off corners.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
The sunroof leaks. He basically caulked the roof closed to seal it. I'm not kidding, it's this black RV sealant or something.
They're dirt cheap used, but I think his engine is also beginning to go.
I think the Countach is an 88-89 model.
I'm almost certain that leg room was also greater in the 2-sedans than the coupes.
Two-door sedans seem to have gone the way of the do-do bird. Yet, there are 2-dooe SUVs, although I can't think of one at the moment.
All factory Mustangs had floor shifters. Ford never built a Mustang with 3-on-the-tree.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
2016 Audi A7 3.0T S Line, 2021 Subaru WRX
I've actually finally come to terms that what I like (big floaty barges) is not what the majority of the car buying public likes. At the moment there are very few large cars left. I think even my LaCrosse isn't that big and certainly isn't floaty like a Vic or Grand Marq (although my Grand Marq actually has a higher steering effort).
Toyota firmed up the Avalon and ES350, GM has firmed up just about everything and Ford as well. Its the way it is, majority rules. I'll just have to keep the Grand Marq a long time!
2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve
True, they were looked at as the "in" thing at the time. Ford allowed the Panther to just stay stagnant from basically 98 to the end. There was a major suspension update in 03 (added rack and pinion steering) and some further tweaks in 05 (DBW) but they allowed it to basically fade away.
I've always thought they could have done an independent rear suspension and a modern V6 along with some newer high tech features. I think they would have sold quite a few more to consumers. My 04 has the "Florida" treatment but the later models could certainly be made to look less Grandpa-ish.
2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve
I don't know why so many Americans buy such large, bulky vehicles, but they do. Many Americans just switched from large cars to large SUVs and pick-up trucks. Here is a list of the best selling vehicles in America.
http://www.goodcarbadcar.net/2013/03/february-2013-usa-vehicle-sales-rankings-by- - -model.html
Of the American vehicles, the Ford F-series truck is No 1, the Chevy Silverado is No.2, the Ford Fusion is No. 5, Ford Escape No,. 9 and the Dodge Ram is No. 10. The only car in the top ten is the Ford Fusion. The best selling GM cars are the Chevy Cruze at No. 16, the Malibu at No. 17
and the Impala at No. 18.
It is hard to believe that the best selling General Motors cars cannot make the top ten, but that is how things are.
With most cars, you're lucky if you get more than one body style to choose from. And usually just a base engine (usually a 4-cyl) and an optional (6-cyl or stronger 4).
Also, there's not one single car out there that I would really consider a "full-size" car, at least in the classic sense. Nothing that can hold 6 passengers and 20+ cubic feet of cargo. The Taurus does have a pretty big trunk, around 21 cubic feet. But its interior isn't all that big...about the same size inside as an old 80's Malibu or Diplomat. The Charger/300 seem a bit bigger inside, but are hampered a bit by the big transmission/driveshaft hump, and a midsized trunk. The new Impala feels bigger inside still, and has a bigger trunk than the Charger, but I don't think it's as big as the Taurus. But it still doesn't have big-car shoulder room. It's a VERY comfy 4-seater that could handle 5 if you needed to.
Now, trucks don't get very good fuel economy, so you pay the penalty there. But, apparently, a lot of people are willing to make that sacrifice. My new Ram Hemi has gotten as bad as around 12.3 mpg around town, and broke 20 on the highway once. My 2000 Park Ave has done as bad as maybe 14.5 mpg, but on the highway it got around 30 mpg a few times. 27-28 is more typical. Running average since I've had it is about 20.6. Truck is around 14.3, but it doesn't get driven as much, and shorter trips, so that probably hurts it alot.
Well, Cruze is sort of a big compact, and Malibu is a smallish mid-size, so they overlap a lot and probably cannibalize each other a bit.
Malibu leaves room for the Impala one size up. Some competitors fill the mid-size and full-size segment with the same car - like Honda.
Then you've got the craziness at Nissan - the new Sentra is enormous, probably has a bigger back seat than the Malibu, yet Nissan has an Altima and a Maxima above that in size.
During lunch my lunchbreak, I saw a new Nissan coming up behind me, and thought it was an Altima at first. But, as it passed, I saw it was just a Sentra. You're right, those things HAVE gotten pretty big!
As for the Altima and Maxima (and previously, the Stanza and Maxima/810), there was almost always some degree of overlap between the two. In most years, the Altima (or Stanza) was actually bigger inside than the Maxima! I think the difference is that the Altima/Stanza has been more of a bread and butter compact, then midsize, whereas the Maxima was more of a "premium" car (I hesitate to say "luxury", even though they are pretty nice). Back in the old days, it was sort of an attempt at a Ford Granada, but in later years, has been more like a poor man's BMW...first a 3-series contender, but now more like a 5-series. Albeit FWD.
The new Versa sedan is a lot smaller than the just-launched Sentra sedan.
To confuse things even more, the Versa Note 5 door is not based on the same platform as the Versa sedan. Not unlike the Elantra sedan vs. GT.
Full cloth roof, chrome fender trim, pinstripe thin white walls.
2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve
No there isn't. My Lacrosse has a fairly decent sized interior, but shoulder room is only fair and the trunk is not large at all.
The Ford Taurus is probably the largest car with the smallest useable interior in recent years. The center console is very large, driver's foot room is non-existent and the rear legroom isn't so hot. The trunk is, however, huge.
The Panther's had great shoulder room, six passenger (on all except a few LX sports and GM LSE's) but rear legroom is a tad less than many FWD drive newer models.
One car that had tremendous room in all aspects was the 05-12 Avalon. The rear floor was flat and rear seat reclined to make it feel even bigger back there. Toyota took every good aspect of that car and destroyed with this new model.
2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve
I wonder, is that one little detail that Ford eliminated to cut costs, at some point? I remember in the past, they'd have blackout trim there, rather than it being body color.
Probably, they kept decontenting the Panther right to the end. Mine is one of the last fully loaded models with the air suspension, heated seats, wood wheel w/controls, side air bags and of course the retro full digital dash (1985 flashback!)
On the last models they took away all that.
2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve
I've never seen a total clone of mine. I've seen white with black top but never with the black interior as well.
I was toying with the idea of taking the chrome fender trim off, but I'm afraid what 9 years of having it on would look like. One was a little loose and when I peeked behind it, everything seemed fine. I'm still a little afraid to.
2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve
Yes the single-row timing chain does need to be looked at. Most have been converted but god forbid it hasn't been done and that single row chain gets loose and jumps time---that'll cost ya'
I sure wish it could have been a clean 280SL for $5,000. I'd be in hog heaven on those profits.
If applied to a Chevy or any non-US make it does not count as Full Florida but as utter sacrilege.
My Dad leased a '82 Chrysler New Yorker with the full Florida treatment.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
A nice 113 280SL for 5K would be one to keep - they've never been worth that little, and have seen a bit of appreciation over the past decade. Keep it, fix it up, drive it.
LOL. I've seen just about everything around here with cloth tops. Altimas, new generation LaCrosse, Camry, Malibu, CTS, STS, DTS.
2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve
maybe if I could absolutely *steal* the car i might be tempted--but the idea was to flip it.
I agree, once you add up all the costs to Germany, it's not worth it.
Euro market is soft right now for classics of any kind except creme de la creme big buck rarities.
In Europe, it is the 6cyl cars that are most in demand - 280SL and 300SL.
And also does the metric "100 kms" mark have the same impact on car buyers there as the 100k mile reading here? It would be funny to read seller ads for old Camrys and Accords claiming, "...just getting broken in nicely at 400 kms!"
I guess there was a 450 SLC 5.0 coupe that is considered quite desirable, but I've never seen one. Fairly rare.
450SLC 5.0 is very rare - kind of a homologation special, lightweight (for a 107), variants were prepped for road racing.