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

ghulet · June 2005

Not too far from my place, I discovered one of those European/Exotic auto repair-slash-sales lots. Basically, a hostage lot (you know: 'I'm sorry you don't have $15k to rebuild the engine on your Maserati, now I'm afraid you'll have to sign over the title'). Spotted in that lot:

(2) Fiat Spyders, both red, one with tan one with black top and interior, both looked very nice
(2) Maserati Biturbo convertibles
Acura NSX, early model
911 Carrera coupe, guards red, no whale tail, just how I like them
a rather sad looking Ferrari 400i coupe, in a nice metallic light blue with tan interior

andys120 · June 2005

pulled into a local wrecking yard that always seems to have odd and interesting cars,
right now he has the following-

-Rusty Volvo PV-544 wagon (ca. 1955?)
-Corvair HT sedan ca. 1965-66
-Datsun 240Z, '70 or '71, doesn't look restorable.
-Datsun "Fairlady" 1600 roadster, ca. 1965-'66, possibly restorable w removable HT, very rare (2000 roadsters are more common). 350Zs are still known as "Fairlady Zs"
in the JDM.

alfox · June 2005

Hey Andy - that Volvo have a legible "Save the Whales" bumper sticker?

Mr_Shiftright · June 2005

If it has a split front windshield it's a 444, otherwise it's newer than '55. That's a car I'd like to have, but not rusty thank you very much.

fintail · June 2005

A lot of Ferrari 400s are becoming to look sad. What a mess

Those Volvo wagons are cool. I know of a well-restored one in this area, two tone red and white.

I don't care for the 59 Chevy either. Ugly.

millspd · June 2005

Walking around the neighborhood on a beautiful night, I saw the Subaru Justy that was been bouncing around my neighborhood for the past ten years or so. Silver in color, the exterior still looks pretty good!

explorerx4 · June 2005

mr_shifty...
you've got to admit, it pretty cool to see a car that gm could produce that was someones ahh... fantasy. actually, the back of the '59 caddy kind of reminds me of an F-14.

seminole_kev · June 2005

I saw a new black Maserati Quattroporte (has to be the same one I had seen a few months ago). Man that is one good looking sedan. Not to many four doors can excite me the way that car does.

kyfdx · June 2005

A Biturbo and $4 will get you a frappucino at Starbucks..

How old of a 911? '84-'89 model? Those are still my favorites..

I love Fiat 124 convertibles.. Chicago, huh?

debaser853 · June 2005

I parked next to a mid 70's Eldo Convertable last night. An orangy-red color, white top and interior. HUGE car by today's standards. It was in fantastic shape.

Mr_Shiftright · June 2005

Driving a 70s Eldo reminded me so much of driving my old runabout on a lake. One learns the true meaning of phrases like "the car hurtled down the mountain".

Fiat 124s can be very nice cars if you can square them away (which you can). They are not to be confused with Alfas, however, which are a higher quality automobile.

I agree, the bi-turbos are hopeless. Nobody can get them to run right for very long.

Saw a beige 1964?? Valiant convertible. Looked like a giant enchilada in that color.

kyfdx · June 2005

Local paper has a Valiant Signet convertible for sale.. with a V-8.. Asking north of $10K, IIRC..

Mr_Shiftright · June 2005

Might-y strong price but the V-8 might swing that deal if the car were sharp. Not easy to find aftermarket trim and upholstery for those cars, so it had better be all there or you'll be smelting aluminum and tanning hides in your garage for years. At least a 68 Camaro you can order up piece by piece and build a new one.

andre1969 · June 2005

this '77-79 Diplomat 4-door sedan caught my eye down in Florida last week. It was sitting at a used car lot, and had "$1295" and "Pimp My Ride" written on the windshield. It was kind of a pale, creamy yellow, with either a dark brown or black (it was raining, so kinda hard to tell) vinyl top. Looked to be rust-free. Seemed kinda funny, to see something like that on a sales lot, but I guess down in Florida the cars tend to last longer, if you can keep the rust off of 'em. They might not get the road salt, but they still get it from the ocean! Not to mention the humidity.

On the last day we were down there, just before leaving, I saw a strange beast of a LeMans in a grocery store parking lot. I saw it pulling in, and from the front it looked like a '75 LeMans. But when I circled around and parked behind it, it had the rump of a '76-77 Grand LeMans. It was black, with Pontiac Rally 2's, and had a black landau roof and darkly tinted windows. I'm guessing it got wrecked at some point, and the owner put a '75 front-end on it?

Also saw a '69 Impala convertible, in light yellow, and a '65 or so Ford Galaxie 2-door hardtop pulling a tent trailer. And a first-gen AMC Javelin, on an auto carrier.

fintail · June 2005

I've never seen a FoMoCo version of this...an airport style taxi, the one those intrepid Cubans made into a boat and tried to come over

kyfdx · June 2005

A big-bumper Ford Maverick.. completely redone.. new paint (silvery-gray), all new chrome and moldings.. Sounded like a small block V-8 with dual exhausts, painted rear axle/differential, mag wheels.. Very nice, but why?

Then, a Porsche 911 GT3.. the non-turbo "track-edition".. Very cool..

And, then.. A VW Corrado..

All within two minutes and a half-mile of each other...

regards,
kyfdx

stickguy · June 2005

there are 3 I can recall near me. An early one that has been somewhat fixed up (restored might be too strong a term), and lightly modified to be a "hot rod". Has a V8, mags, some work on the rear end. Nice dark blue paint, looks pretty sharp.

The others (1 big bumper, 1 small) look totally original, right down to the faded paint and rusty bumpers.

andre1969 · June 2005

the Maverick is probably one of the lightest Fords of the 70's that can be easily hopped up, so that might hold some kind of appeal. They bulked up in later years, as did everything else, but I think the earlier 2-door models only weighed like 2300 lb or so. They were really light and small compared to something like a Duster/Demon or a Nova coupe. So I guess if you're a Ford hugger with a 70's fetish, that's about your only choice. Unless you want to cram a V-8 into a Pinto, or hotrod a Mustang II.

I haven't seen it in awhile, but there used to be a red Maverick 4-door that I'd see regularly in the parking lot at work. The owner was an older guy, and it looked like he kept it pristine. I work for NASA, and we have a lot of oddballs here, so that might explain it! :shades: I guess it wasn't TOO bad of a car for the time. Definitely a step below a Valiant/Dart or the Nova clones, in both size and interior room/appointments, etc. About on par with an AMC Hornet, I guess. The owner let me sit behind the wheel of it once, and I was impressed that I could fit in it!

lemko · June 2005

Does anybody remember a sporty variant of the Maverick called The Grabber? I believe these cars came with a 302 V-8. There's a guy at work with a yellow 1977 Mercury Comet. He's probably got the last one in existence as I haven't seen many since I was in high school.

kyfdx · June 2005

I'm not positive if the Grabber wasn't just a cosmetic/stripe package... though, you are correct.. most came with the 302 V-8.. Sort of like the later Mustang Cobra II.. I had one with the 302, and most people thought that was standard, but you could get one with the base 4-cylinder, as well..

I'd much rather hop-up a Maverick than a Mustang II or Pinto... I'm just surprised this guy chose one of the big bumper models, instead of the earlier ones... But, some people fix up certain cars, just because that is what is laying around.. I think I would have converted it back to the earlier bumpers..

Is that Comet really a '77? I think the Maverick was gone before that.. Maybe Mercury kept the Comet, since they didn't get a version of the Mustang II?

regards,
kyfdx

jaserb · June 2005

That is, of course, unless you get the lovely 2 tone green with a swamp green body and an olive green vinyl top. Which, of course, is the car we had when I was little. It never did run right, as it was always having carburetion / flooding problems. Probably par for the course in those smog choked days.

-Jason

Mr_Shiftright · June 2005

can we not talk about Pinto and Mavericks anymore? I'm getting depressed. This brings back bad memories of low compression Corvettes that topped out at 89 mph.

kyfdx · June 2005

Thanks to those low-compression Vettes ('75 convertible, in this case), I learned a very important lesson at a relatively young age...

It is not worth dating overweight women, just because they have a cool car... Even if they can get you backstage passes to The Kinks..

So, everything in life has a purpose...

andre1969 · June 2005

1977 was the final year for both the Maverick and the Comet. I know it was for the Maverick, but it's possible the Comet was ditched a year or two earlier? These cars were ostensibly replaced by the Fairmont and Zephyr. However, the Maverick did survive for a few more years, in spirit, at least, as it served as the basis for the '75-80 Granada/Monarch.

Is it true that the Maverick was based on the old Falcon/Comet/Fairlane/Torino platform? The platform I'm thinking of is the one that ran from around 1966-72, and spawned the Fairlane/Torino and the midsized Comet/Montego, with a shorter version passing for the compact Falcon. With the advent of the Mustang, which was based on the smaller '60-65 Falcon, the Falcon went to a truncated Fairlane platform.

I've heard that the Maverick/Comet was indeed based on this platform, but always questioned that, because it was considerably narrower and, initially at least, lighter than that older platform. It's not all that hard to chop a few inches out of a car's length or add some to come up with different variations. Just look at Chrysler's K-cars for proof of that! However, it's not nearly as easy to narrow a car.

PF_Flyer · June 2005

From the "odd coincidence file"... yesterday someone posted on the Wagons board about an automatic seatbelt problem on a Mercury Tracer. Well, we have no topics, active or otherwise about the Tracer, so I sent them to M&R. I leave the house on an errand, and lo and behold, I find myself at a stoplight, right behind a beat up Tracer. Then this morning, I'm out on an errand and pass yet another Tracer! If the condition of the two i saw is any indication, I'm not surprised that we don't have a thriving group of Tracer enthusiasts!

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lemko · June 2005

...my girlfriend had a 1991 Tracer when I met her. The paint on that car was absolutely deplorable. By the time she got rid of it, something was breaking every week or two costing her hundreds of dollars. It had to be towed from behind my house twice. She replaced it with a 2001 Chevrolet Impala which has been absolutely trouble-free.

andys120 · June 2005

I saw a very sharp-looking '64 Triumph TR-4 today, it was Forest Green (not BRG) and had a wood dash that must've been caged from a later car (TR-4a/250 or 6).

Other than that it looked bone stock right down to the faux dual tailpipes. the top looked brand new and the clear vinyl backlight was perfectly clear! (it took about 6weeks for them to get yellowed and scratched.)

NH plate # 64 TR-4.

I saw an even nicer TR-6 parked downtown the other day.

stickguy · June 2005

A red early 90's Elan. Pretty sharp looking.

Also, an early Gen 1 Bronco, in decent shape.

zukeeper · June 2005

There's an orange (!) Lotus Elise parked in front of a small pharmacy near where I work. Not really an obscure car, but consider that this is small-town Arkansas. Seems to be an awful lot of Jaguars around here, too. I'm assuming that the aforementioned Elise owner works in, or more likely owns, the pharmacy.

lemko · June 2005

...a silver-gray 1976 Chrysler Cordoba in excellent condition.

Mr_Shiftright · June 2005

No, not the motorcycle.

There's some fellow over in Coupes and Convertibles asking about a 1991 Ford Thunderbird Sport, which he seems to think is mysterious and rare. My recollection is that it was just a trim level over the base Bird with a V-8 engine instead of v6, and with some of the body styling of the LX. I think he is confusing it with later Birds that could be ordered with special suspension, etc.

But I didn't want to rain on his parade because I wasn't sure. I do know that they discontinued the "sport" trim level in 1993 I think so that's why it's rare...nobody ordered it.

Anybody got the story on this car? If so, post it here and I'll link it to his question.

fintail · June 2005

I saw something today that Shifty would like (haha). A Standard 10, c. maybe 1955. It was kind of grubby - very original with British plates under normal ones, puttering down a suburban street at about 30mph, with a typical British light blue smoke haze and a faint backfire here and there.

explorerx4 · June 2005

i had an '88 tbird 'sport'. had a 5.0 v-8 with 155 hp and dual exhaust. had a great black/grey interior, at 80 the engine was turning 2k rpm's. 22 gallon tank and great highway gas mileage. very aerodynamic, still haven't had a car since that could coast down a local road and pick up as much speed as that car.
in '89 no v-8 version on the redesigned tbird. there was a 'sport' version with a v-8 after that, but they where very expensive. i remember trying to buy a '91 sho and knew they were some out of my local dealers trading area, so i asked him to see if he could get a particular one at a dealership i stopped at. he called me back and said yes he could get it, but they wanted to make them take a tbird sport too. i knew exactly which one he was talking about, since i had seen that one too. bright read and 24k sticker. i ordered a '92 sho.
mr_shifty... don't know why you posted that here, but i guess you hit a cord with me. the internet is great like that.

fintail · June 2005

A one-off Russian car...what everyone needs

I kinda like these grubby barn find cars...even if the car itself doesn't get me going

This thing looks like it would have been primitive in 1906

Can't be many unrestored ones of these left

Bu there seems to be many of these left unrestored....guess that says a lot about the market

This looks fun in a driving-a-monster way

One you don't see every day

The car my mom drove when I was very young...hers was white on white though...maybe not the best choice when you have a couple kids

I kinda like the angularity of these. Looks like something Smokey would drive at home when he wasn't chasing the Bandit

Land yacht

Coal-scuttle Renault...I wonder how it came over

Why would anyone bid on this? The freakshow in the background is more interesting

Now this is a MB 600. I like the period correct tires, as MB actually had wide whites through 65 in an undending quest to be a little passe. I'd like those for my fintail. This is how a 600 should be.

Quite lovely lowline fintail

<a href="

Mr_Shiftright · June 2005

Well that's an interesting assortment---from the sublime to the ridiculous. Good job!

Those woodies should sell at a pretty good price, although they can be risky to restore. Problem is, it takes SO MUCH labor to restore them, that if you are paying someone to do it, you can run up the bills mighty quick. But on the far end, you can get $60K for an excellent restoration. But here in California, with most restoration shops charging $100-$150 an hour, you can see how fast you'd run up the meter on cars this shabby.

One problem is that the wood is quite intricate...often with cabinet-style joints, and compound curves abounding. Anyone who thinks they are going to carve these out from blocks of wood while in their garage has a surprise in store. You'd best be a boatwright first class.

MB 600--- that's a nice one, also a SWB which is more desirable. I'd guess about $45,000 should do it for that car. Slim market but one is re-assured by the condition. Buying a hurt one is financial suicide. They are very complex automobiles, having been limited production cars with mostly proprietary systems. Expensivo! Water pump $1,500 fer instance. If you have to have one, this is the type you should buy.

LeCar ---why would anyone give ten cents for that thing? Amazing...

Lincoln Mark V & '57 Mercury -- boy, they don't get any prettier as they get older do they? I actually jumped back in my chair. Sheer design chaos IMO.

Pierce Arrow---these cars drive so nicely for their age. You'd be amazed how much better they handle than the average 1920s car. High quality automobile, with a very strong market even today.

1906 OLDS -- that is pretty amazing.

jlawrence01 · June 2005

Finally installed the high-speed access ... nice not waiting for all the pictures to unload!

That old Renault has to be one of the uglier cars around.

What O can't figure out with the sellers is that some sellers want to maximize the sale price but can't spend a few $$$ to put up some half secent pictures that will really show off the vehicle. There are now so many people out there who will help you sell high ticket items on E-bay.

fintail · June 2005

I bet the velour in that 600 makes it a Euro market car. I like that weird velour they used for so long. Funny how in Europe leather wasn't such a big deal in highline cars...I've seen many high spec Euro-market S class with similar velour well into the 90s....although nowadays, it isn't around.

I look at prewar Packard and Pierce Arrow cars as being the MB of their day for the NA market. I like those cars too.

And yeah, bad pics can be annoying. You can get a very competent digital camera for $200 these days, everyone should at least know someone who has one.

andre1969 · June 2005

I really like that '78 Bonneville! I think my only reservation would be the 301 V-8, which wasn't a very durable engine. I think they tended to go through main bearings, among other things. Still, I guess with only 58,000 miles on it, it still has plenty of life left in it, especially if you take good care of it. And at least with a Pontiac 301, if that fails you can easily swap in a Pontiac 350, 400, or even a 455!

Kinda interesting the way it's equipped, too. I don't think it's a Brougham, but it still looks pretty cushy. Nice that it's got the full gauge package. But then it's kind of odd, seeing an interior that's ritzier than just about anything GM does these days, but with just crank windows!

I always liked that coupe roofline, too. The '77-79 Bonneville shared it with the Catalina and LeSabre. I think it looks a bit better on a LeSabre or Catalina, which had a slightly sportier look about them, but is still handsome here.

As for the '57 Merc, I always hated those things, but I think I liked 'em better than the '57 Ford! As long as you didn't get the optional 4-headlight setup, which was really vulgar on these cars! I think it's a miracle that the '57 Mercury sold at all, considering how butt-ugly it was compared to just about any car in its field. Olds, Buick, DeSoto, Chrysler, and even Pontiac and Dodge on the low end, were all much better looking cars, IMO. In a major bucking of the trends though, I think the '59 version was actually pretty attractive. Probably the ONLY 1959 domestic that looked better than it's '57 counterpart.

I'd have to disagree on the Mark V, though. I don't really care for the 2-tone treatment, but otherwise I think the car is gorgeous! After driving my buddy's '78 Diamond Jubilee with the 460 though, there's no way I'd even look at a '79, which only had the 400, which had around 160 hp, if that. His 460 was merely adequate (passing power was pretty good though...punch it around 60-70 and it would throw you back in your seat), so I'd hate to think what a 400 would be like in one of these!

fintail · June 2005

That's how I was going to describe that 78 Pontiac..."handsome". It's not a looker, really, but it does have a theme and some dignity to it. Attractive compared to more than a few current GM cars.

On my C43 hunt, I went to another local high-end lot to put the word out. They had a lot of odd metal...a 62 Chevy 409 (Biscayne I think), 47 Lincoln convert, a pair of Jag MkII, Testarossa, 930 Turbo, 230SL, some mid 60s Stingrays, 55 Eldo convert, and a handful of rods.

andys120 · June 2005

and saw a variety of interesting cars this weekend:

A lot of Brits including a '65ish MG-B, BRG type down, good driver shape,
a Morgan Plus 4 of unknown vintage in great shape also BRG and a Jag MkII
sedan in Mettalic grey, really nice and RHD!

Also a beautifully restored '55 Chevy convertible, top-down Snow White over Coral
and a Titanium Silver Ferrari Maranello (no way to tell if it was a 550 or 575).

kyfdx · June 2005

Not that rare around here.. It belongs to a friend of mine that lives about a mile away..

He is "re-doing" the car for the third time.. and, just got it put back together.. He has owned it since the mid-'70s.. Red/black.. Pretty cool little car..

Mr_Shiftright · June 2005

nice little cars, and plenty of parts around, too.

jrosasmc · June 2005

What do you make of late 80s/early 90s Camaros (base models, not Z28s)? I have a neighbor who's willing to sell me an '88 V-6 coupe with 76k original miles on it (only owner as well) for $2000. Never driven in rain or winter. Any comments on a car like this? I know GM products a little bit but not the F-bodies of that era.

Mr_Shiftright · June 2005

Well either you like them or you don't. It's kind of a nothing car really, as you can tell from the low price being asked. Probably fine for a commuter, and at that price who can complain? You should be able to dump it for at least that much if it acts up. But there's no "investment" here at all. If it's really super clean, maybe you could flip it for a small profit.

jrosasmc · June 2005

The mechanical parts on that Camaro check out fine- however, as I've seen with many from that era the bodywork is getting very tired, and the upholstery is deteriorating- nothing bad, but it does show 17 years of wear and tear.

fintail · June 2005

This morning I saw maybe an 83 or 84 Camry...I know that much because it didn't have composite lights. Not a rare or interesting car....except this one looked like it just rolled off the assembly line. It was really mint, little old lady driver of course. A very boring beige color of course...but evry rare to see one of these in good shape anymore.

andre1969 · June 2005

it would either have the 2.8 or 3.1 Chevy 60-degree unit. I'm not sure which year they upped the displacement. Anyway, they're prone to blowing head gaskets, so make sure it's been maintained well, or it may be an Old Faithful (more like the geyser, and not a trusty canine companion) waiting to happen.

IIRC, they also used the THM200-R4 overdrive tranny, which mostly had the bugs worked out by this time. Still, it's a fairly lightweight tranny that can't take a lot of neglect, but it's also gone up behind beefier engines than a 2.8/3.1, so it might be okay.

Main problems I'd imagine you'd have would be stuff breaking and falling off, doors sagging and not lining up, and those frameless windows rattling as they age. The hatch, too. Plus stuff like the alternator, starter, electrical issues, and so on. Not necessarily Camaro-related, but just 17-year old GM-related.

jlawrence01 · June 2005

I saw a pumped out 1975 Chrysler Cordoba ... now that is a car to hate.

Two old geezers were looking at it carefully.

And I kept wondering if it really had "rich Corintian leather".

jaserb · June 2005

So that's good. Of course, you still have to deal with frameless windows with awful weatherstripping, 4 foot long doors that make tight parking spaces a nightmare, performance that would shame an Echo, unflattering assumptions about your demographic profile, and if it has T-Tops ... well ...

Happy to have left V6 F-bodies in my sordid vehicular past,
Jason

kyfdx · June 2005

If you ever become a serial killer, you already have a car that fits the profile....

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

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