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

stickguy · September 2004

I expect that GM will be sending me a check any day now.

andys120 · September 2004

I spotted a 70s era Lotus Eclat outside of a repair garage and driving on the highway, a shiny new yellow Caterham Seven.

http://ndixon.home.cern.ch/ndixon/eclat.htm

And just for something completely different, a two-tone '55 Buick 4dr HT(white over black)in pretty good shape, it looked like an older restoration.

kyfdx · September 2004

On the way home yesterday..

White Ferrari Testarossa and a Model A.

On the back of a trailer this a.m., a Model T.

michaellno · September 2004

A Nissan Skyline GT-R. Right hand drive, silver, musta been a generation or two old. No plates - wonder how he got it into the States?

ateixeira · September 2004

Reminds me, I saw THREE of them on the Washington beltway about a month ago, must've been a club or something.

We have a lot of diplomats in the area, but I checked and they had regular plates. Gray market imports?

They sounded great!

-juice

wimsey1 · September 2004

VW Karmann Ghia coupe, nice shape, red.
'20's Dodge sedan driving down the road, there are a lot of Ford A's being driven around here but the Dodge was a surprise.

I agree on the ALFA/SAAB dealer idea, that would be cool! :^) Naturally the odds are awful. :^(

lemko · September 2004

There is a rather nice-looking white 1968 Pontiac Grand Prix somebody at work owns. However, I saw another one on my way back from lunch, only not in such nice shape and in a rather icky pale green. Also spotted a fairly decent 1969 Chevrolet pickup in black with a white roof.

andyman73 · September 2004

Today, coming to work I saw a lovely baby blue Karmen Ghia. A few more miles, saw a mint 1st gen RX-7.

ateixeira · September 2004

Sorry for the redundant title.

)

OK, here is the bizarre 3 wheeler French car I mentioned a while back. It has a front mounted boxer twin engine, perhaps from a 2CV, who knows.

I think it's a kit car of some sort, see if you can identify it.

http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4290819759&p=4142305074- &idx=10

-juice

kyfdx · September 2004

A new Lotus Elise.. I was moving at speed down the interstate, and it was coming the other way, but moving slowly in a traffic jam, so I got a pretty good look.. Yellow..

I wouldn't have known what it was, but my son has the Matchbox car.

I wasn't aware that they were being sold in the US, anyone have any insights?

regards,
kyfdx

ateixeira · September 2004

No Insight, but I like the new Prius.

)

I think the Elises are on the way, perhaps you saw one of the first ones, or a press car.

MotorWeek had one on their program that aired yesterday, and they are located in Baltimore. So if you saw one in that region it might have been their test car.

-juice

kyfdx · September 2004

Insight.. I get it...

In Cincinnati..

andys120 · September 2004

but I saw a '64-'66 Stingray convertible, very nice in red and lacking the chromed side pipes that are so commonplace on them now, they were actually rare back in the day when less than one in five Stingrays appeared with them.

I blame over-restoration, since I dislike the Bling Bling appearance of the side pipes.

I also saw a late pre-war or early postwar Pontiac sedan in battleship gray, looked like a total, but accurate resto.

fintail · September 2004

I saw a few goodies today....nice powder blue Karmann Ghia, a somehow stately looking c.41 Dodge - must have been a higher model, a 59 Impala 2 door hardtop, and a really strippo looking 62 Chevy 2 door post, in white of course. Maybe it was a 409 car. I also saw a c.50 Pontiac sedan, obviously restored and really clean, but the color was all wrong. It was a medium metallic blue that is reminiscent of what so many old police cars used to get painted after they were auctioned off.. I am sure it wasn't a stock color.

lemko · September 2004

...a black 1966 Plymouth Fury III station wagon. I haven't seen one of them in a l-o-n-g time.

Mr_Shiftright · September 2004

I haven't seen an American staion wagon in a long time! Not a live one anyway.

Hard to find good old wagons. Most of them were beaten to death.

lemko · September 2004

...a good old-fashioned American station wagon than any SUV or minivan. My first car was a 1968 Buick Special Deluxe wagon and it served both my brother and I very well. I could probably fit more stuff in that wagon than any of these monster SUVs out there while getting much better fuel economy and driving dynamics.

lancerfixer · September 2004

<Thud>

Sorry, that was me falling off my chair. I saw "1968 Buick wagon" and "driving dynamics" in the same sentence.

Carry on.

On topic, though; I did see a 1950 Hudson last night on I-380. It was in primer, so I'm guessing it's an ongoing project.

andre1969 · September 2004

to have one of those old hardtop wagons, like what Buick, Olds, Chrysler, Mercury, and Rambler offered for a few years in the late 50's and early 60's. They were cool looking, but never really caught on. I guess the hardtop and the wagon were two body styles that were just never meant to be merged!

andys120 · September 2004

Seems to me I read an article a little while that
said that Hollywood types were snapping up old '50s-70s wagons and driving them around town.

No, Shifty, I'm not sure where they found 'em either but I do see a derelict '58 Olds HT wagon at the local wrecker.

It'd prolly cost 20 grand just to resto the chrome on such a beast.

Mr_Shiftright · September 2004

I think a retro-rod 60s wagon, which could be given the minor incidentals that Detroit left out in 1965, like brakes, handling, tires, fuel efficiency and safety, would make a nifty 21st century "sport wagon" as we say in Marin. I'd probably pick a mid-size or compact wagon for such a project---the full size babies are real gas-eating barges---oh, wait, I just described an SUV, only flatter! How about a Buick Special wagon? They made those, didn't they? We'll do a small block crate motor, 4 speed automatic, Camaro front end, rack and pinion, radials, bilsteins, lowered of course, sport springs, headers, dual exhaust, fuel injection, cushy bucket seats up front, lots of sound deadening, upgraded sound system, sunroof (maybe), shoulder belts, GPS, trailer hitch, roof rack, oil cooler, trans cooler, AC.....oh, wait, maybe I'll just write a check for a Dodge Magnum~

fintail · September 2004

Ebay time:

There is a hardtop wagon on ebay now...it's a more restrained Chrysler though.

I too like hardtop wagons...old wagons are cool, and so are hardtops. I think they usually were upmarket models, which would have limited sales.

This car is pretty cool...IN GERMANY! It needs to go home.

Another ultra-clean Yugo. Look at that gauge cluster...has to be one of the worst ever

I've always had an attraction to big brass cars...and this one looks awesome

These are kind of bizarre

Neat early Datsun

If your name just happens to be Bill Gates, or you are tied to a big oil company or defense contractor, this might seem like a viable project

Neat little roller-skate Crosley

Early NSU with US market looking headlights...I didn't know they were imported here

One of the best left, I am sure

This is interesting

Nicely patinated DeSoto

Nice looking late DS

Ultra low mile Falcon

Decent looking late fintail, in my color

Unusual and nice looking earlier Euro fintail...only about 1.5 years of fintail production offered hydrak, and I suspect very few had it

Mr_Shiftright · September 2004

RE: Innocenti 1100 Spider --

How ironic that this car resides in "Waterloo" New York. The English word "fair" has now been redefined, and will now be a substitute for the former word "disastrous".

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RE: Ro80---amazing, an NSU Ro80 that actually went 90,000 miles! Actually a car that might be worth saving, although not with the original engine being rebuilt (keep that in a suitcase somewhere). Rather nice looking car for the 60s, don't you think? The first "aero" look in a sedan, predating Taurus and Peugeot.
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Crosley Wagon -- neat little car, looks to be in great shape. The one bid looks rather suspicious I must say, being a dead-on high retail book bid.
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Peugeot 604 -- be afraid, be very afraid. Bad car. EVIL car. Run away, run away!
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Kaiser Darrin -- highly collectible car if you like that sort of thing. I would have stopped bidding at about $15,000 myself, and that's about what I would have appraised this car at. But, being hard to find, and if we get two bidders who MUST have it, the bids may go well above market value. It would be tough to get much more than $40K for a restored one, so do the math. Maybe worth a bit more, I'd have to see it and see how rusty it really is and what unobtainium trim pieces might be missing.
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The ADLER has landed! -- well, interesting old car but I fear the owner is a bit deluded as to value or significance. If you think you can get $60K for a restored 4 cylinder Adler in the USA, and much more than bid for one needing LOTS of work, well good luck! Also his text is very odd. He buys a car like this and "knows nothing" about it after owning it a year? Okay........... Here's a car that definitely warrants an inspection prior to purchase.
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andre1969 · September 2004

and any '56 Mopar 4-door hardtop is a fairly rare sight nowadays. I think the Mopar hardtop sedans in '56 used the same roof as the pillared sedans, whereas GM could afford to design a hardtop-specific roofline, that had the C-pillar moved further forward, eliminating the little quarter window in back (IIRC it was in the C-pillar in Chevies, Pontiacs, Roadmaster and Caddies, and in the door in other Buicks and Oldsmobiles). As a result, to really give an open-air look from A-pillar to C-pillar Chrysler made the little quarter window pivot down at an angle as the main window rolled down. It was a cool looking effect, although I'm sure it was prone to leaking.

fintail · September 2004

Isn't the 604 diesel OK? Or is that the gas? I know one is better than the other, I can't remember which. I just like them out of childhood sentimentality.

I like that DeSoto too, I bet those are a lot rarer than 2 door hardtops now. From the looks of things, you could do much worse with the opening bid.

Mr_Shiftright · September 2004

604---Hello, Thank you for calling the House of Pain...yes, your 604 is ready".

Worst part of 4-door pillarless hardtops is probably the incessant rattling. The only pillarless 4-door I ever thought looked better than its two door equivalent was the Corvair.

This one shown below is pimped out, but you can see the nice lines:

andys120 · September 2004

Well Shifty you could argue that a lot of late 50s and early 60s four HTs looked better than their 2dr equivalents. I sure felt our '59 Merc Monterey had a nicer roofline than the relatively rare 2 dr HTs.

With the '64 Catalina we had it was a tossup but the four door looked better to some, including me,
because it eschewed the faux convertible roofline common to GM 2dr HTs of the era.

The Corvair looked quite nice with either 2 or four door HTs IMO.

andys120 · September 2004

The Innocenti Spider was a license built mechanical clone of the Austin Healey Sprite with Italian bodywork (and the better for it).

I forgot to mention that I saw a very cherry-looking Corvair Monza Spyder, post '65 with maroon bodywork, no turbo badge on trunk lid. I used to have a major jones for those.

andyman73 · September 2004

Spotted a baby blue Triumph, looked like an early model kinda bugeye like. Was in great shape, top was down. Sounded great.

That NSU did look pretty neat. If I had more money than brains, I'd give it a shot. Put a nice DOHC Honda 2.0 in it.

andys120 · September 2004

Most likely that was a TR-3 or 3A that you saw, baby blue was a common color for those.

An Ro80 with a reciprocating engine would be kinda like an electric fishing reel. What would be the point? Ro80=Rotary, as in Wankel engine.

Mr_Shiftright · September 2004

Put in a nice rebuilt rotary engine from mazdatrix or Racing Beat.

An Italian A-H Sprite? Gee, why not just buy a MkII Sprite then for $5,000 all ready to go? You can get any part you need two days UPS and it's as simple as a mailbox to repair.

andyman73 · September 2004

My father had a A/H Bugeye Sprite. He was fresh from Vietnam, had buckets o cash. Saved most of his $ while in country. Helped a friend buy a 67 Vette, and in return friend sold him a 57 Bel Air, for 150 bucks. Then after driving Vette for awhile, sold dad the A/H. Dad really loved that Sprite. It was the anti-pony car answer to his custom 70 Cuda, with 383. Sad thing about it all, was driving home, on leave, from Ft. "Lost in the Woods"(Leonardwood)Missouri. Friend was taking a turn driving and fell asleep. Cuda was ok, towed A/H was totaled. That was spring of 70. Took dad 19 years before anyone but mom drove one of the family vehicles again. And that was only one of his bro's taking the nephews to a Reading Phillies ball game.

Ok, done rambling. On topic, saw previously mentioned 1st gen RX-7, belongs to fellow employee, drove it to work yesterday.

ghulet · September 2004

...do I recall that you were recently looking for one of these? Cloth interior on a U.S. spec car is interesting, if not exactly desirable (I hate white, and I hate gray interiors, but this one's beautiful nonetheless). Also, the opening bid price is pretty much top dollar for something like this, even with 74k miles, and especially considering there's virtually no description of the actual CAR, its history or what has or has not been done to it ('freshly serviced' is among my favorites in vague auto ad terminology). Mighty nice looking, anyway.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&cate- - - - gory=6332&item=2490609312&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

jlawrence01 · September 2004

Showed my wife the Crosley and her first response was ...

Is that the new Scion (xB) that we saw last night ...

andyman73 · September 2004

Kept forgetting to mention the blue Yugo I passed on the way home from work, Friday morning. Was chugging along in the opposite direction. It appeared to be in one, rust-free piece.

fintail · September 2004

That's a very nice looking 126, ghulet. The velour was a special order item for the NA market, and I suspect few people chose it, as cloth in a car that expensive just doesn't fly here. I've never actually seen a NA market car with it, that's the first. It looks pretty genuine from the pics I can see....but yeah, the opening bid is top of the market for an earlier car like that. "Freshly serviced" to me means "$15 Wal Mart oil change", but who knows.

I'd like to find an even earlier 126...production in 80 or 81. I want a fully loaded Euro model with ABS and airbag. That one you found should have ABS (I can't see the details enough in the pic), but airbag was optional, and few outside of Europe chose it.

What I really want to find is a 300SE LWB fintail, 1963-65.

Maybe a Crosley is kind of like the 1947 equivalent of an xB.

ghulet · September 2004

I was under the impression (though I definitely could be wrong) that ABS and airbag were standard on all NA S-class cars for '85 but that they weren't available for '84. OTOH, a friend's mom had (has?) a supposedly '85 380SL and it has no airbag, so maybe that was just for the sedans. I'm gonna look into that and get back to you, it may be that one was available and one wasn't, can't remember.

kyfdx · September 2004

'54, '56. '58 and two '60s (his and hers). Amazingly, only one Gen II ('63-'67).. a really nice '64 convertible...

Also, some extras for Andre..

Chrysler NewYorker.. big fins.. I forget now.. maybe a '58?

'66 Dodge Polara convertible..

'68 Pontiac Catalina convertible.

A gazillion Gen V Vettes.. If you had an almost brand new Corvette, would you spend all day sitting in a folding chair in a parking lot?

Also, a one-week old '05 C6 Corvette Targa roof.. They did a good thing, ditching the hidden headlights...

Mr_Shiftright · September 2004

My favorite Corvette (generally not my favorite car) lives in Santa Cruz---it's a 1958 body fitted to a C5 chassis and drivetrain. Oh, momma!

And beautifully done by expert engineers.

gambit293 · September 2004

Not really a classic or anything, but I passed the first BMW 6 today I've seen on the road in Chicago. It was a convertible. Until I was close up, I thought it was a Lexus SC.

IMO, looks much nicer on the road than in pics and even car shows.

stickguy · September 2004

that's funny. most people think the 6 series convertible looks like a Sebring.

kyfdx · September 2004

I like the 6 convertible.. It does have some of that "Sebring" look from the rear, but I wouldn't mistake it for one..

In the Cincinnati area, I see one at least twice per week now...

andre1969 · September 2004

as in, the 6 convertible looks more like a Sebring 'vert than it does the Lexus SC430! The BMW 6 has an upscale look to it, where IMO, the SC430 looks like a chopped and bloated Hyundai Tiburon.

Funny thing though, after all these years of people criticizing Pontiac for aping BMW, now it seems that just the opposite has happened! Back in the day, BMW's trademark was that little Edsel-eque "pig-snout", or "twin kidney" motif centered on a plain horizontal grille. As Pontiacs started shortening up the sections of their trademark split grille, it did start to look a bit BMW-ish.

But nowadays, those BMW grilles, which have dropped the little snout in the center, and is just a generic split grille, just screams "Pontiac".

Mr_Shiftright · September 2004

Happens all the time...the innovator gets imitated, then people get so used to the imitation that the innovater looks like the imitator.

Did that make any sense at all?

kyfdx · September 2004

I was trying to figure out how to say the same thing.. Now, I know why I didn't try..

lemko · September 2004

...copper colored 1967 Cadillac in somebody's driveway, 1963 Cadillac Sedan DeVille near service station - looks as if its about to undergo retoration, little more than a shell of an MG Midget near another service station, and an older, slightly customized VW Bus.

andys120 · September 2004

I've noticed it too. In fact some of the photos I've seen of the new Pontiac G6 resemble a BMW 5er
with a touch of Audi A6 thrown in. The G6 might make a better looking Bimmer than the E60.

None of this applies to the interior which appears stereotypically Pontiac and the worse for it.

I saw an early model Lotus Esprit, with the razor-edge Guigiaro styling coming straight at me and looking impossibly low.

fintail · September 2004

You might be right on that, ghulet. I have a little library about the 126, and I just looked up some stuff. In the March 85 R&T test of the 500SEL, they say ABS was standard on the 126 cars that year, optional on others. Airbag was standard on 500 series cars only. I also have a Jan 84 R&T test of a 500SEC, and it has an airbag and no ABS. I kind of assumed ABS came along for the ride with the airbag, but maybe not. It's easy to spot too, as the ABS module is in a black box on the drivers side, near the front of the car, behind the headlight.

At an auto auction here a while back, there was a grey market 81 380SE that had airbag and ABS. I was actually halfway tempted, but it was pretty tatty.

IIRC, 107 roadsters didn't get either until 86.

ateixeira · September 2004

The G6 is another GM wedge, not ugly but nothing to write home about either.

Look at the C-pillar, especially, it doesn't look like any BMW to me, new or old.

-juice

andre1969 · September 2004

I can see a hint of Camry in the G6. Mainly in the glass area, C-pillar, and taillights. That taillight treatment has been done to death too, as it's been on the Neon, Taurus, some Benz models, and even some motorhomes in some form or another.

Still, it's not a bad looking car.

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

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