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

explorerx4 · November 2005

snake... CV2 vs 2CV; that was a major 'faux paux'. hope i spelled it right.

boomchek · November 2005

I was sitting on the johnny flipping through my 1989 Road & Track Buyer's Guide today and noticed a company named CxAuto was importing the Citoen CX's to the US back in the mid 80's.

Just curious to see if any of you has actually seen one. I don't think they came in big numbers cause at almost $38000 a pop they were in MB E Class and BMW 5 Series territory.

I've seen some Citroen DS around Vancouver

and some SM's

but never a CX. Did you guys ever see a CX stateside?

jrosasmc · November 2005

I saw a CX in Las Vegas one year...it was an odd little thing from what I remember.

andre1969 · November 2005

but I don't know if it's an SM or a CX, and my collection has been packed away for ages now. I'd guess it's an SM, since I would've been a little kid when I got it. BTW, I know "DS" stands for Discipline and Sadism", and "SM" stands for "SadoMasochism". What exotic little fetishes does "CX" stand for? :shades:

snakeweasel · November 2005

Well back around the late 80's and/or early 90's there was a Citroen parked in an industrial park in Elmhurst IL. with a for sale sign. It was there for several months and my girl friend at the time wanted to buy it (she was French). Now my memory on it is a little fuzzy but it could very well have been a CX.

lemmer · November 2005

I saw one of those Sunday. The drivers always look like they think their sitting in a gold mine.

fintail · November 2005

I've seen a few late 80s CX. They pop up on ebay often as well. They seem to always be in Joisey or New England.

There was a Matchbox CX wagon and a Matchbox SM.

Last night I saw a C32 AMG, which is a little unusual, and this morning I saw a very nice early 90s BMW 850.

jrosasmc · November 2005

Do you ever see old 190Ds from the '80s up in your area? I very rarely see them here in my home state of Vermont, and when I do they're usually beat and ratty. I believe that they did not sell that well compared to their gasoline-powered brethren.

nolid5 · November 2005

...and this morning I saw a very nice early 90s BMW 850. Interesting, I saw one on the way to work yesterday and was going to post, but didn't get a chance. I can't remember last time I saw one, anyone know how many were made?

fintail · November 2005

I very rarely see those W201 190Ds. I doubt they sold well anywhere, I imagine they are awfully slow and kind of crude.

The 850 I saw was silver, and looked very nice. That was a sound enough design.

Mr_Shiftright · November 2005

The W123 chassis diesel was the big seller for Benz I think.

BMW 850s -- I really fear for the fate of these cars, in fact ALL 8 and 7 Series BMWs as they age. With the skull-crushing maintenance costs, I think these cars are all doomed to extinction once a major component fails. But that makes low-mileage survivors a real steal in the used car market as most buyers are gun shy.

CITROEN: I never met a Citroen owner who wasn't wildly eccentric. I don't know why the two go together but they do. They weren't terribly friendly or pleasant people either, but that's not the car's fault. Still one must speculate as to what the attraction is. Surely to bring that much pain voluntarily down on yourself does make one wonder indeed... :confuse:

andys120 · November 2005

I dunno if I should bother mentioning that I saw a couple of once commonplace but now rare Americans:

-A Ford Pinto h/b! I forgot to lok ast the bumpers to see if I could guess the approximate year.

-A'70 Olds Cutlass ("It was a very good year..") HT coupe.

Both cars were metallic dark green (different shades) and looked to be in good (#3 driver) condition.

I don't think I've every seen a Citroen CX.

boomchek · November 2005

The 850i and the BMW M1 are two of my fav classic Beemers. Of course the 850 is easier to acquire than an M1 and I love the 850's lines. Timeless imo.

Of all the ones for sale that I've seen most are automatics, very rarely do I see a manual 850i.;

au94 · November 2005

81 Volvo Bertone coupe in silver.

78 Ford Courier in Canary Yellow

stickguy · November 2005

I would guess about a '66-'68. The big one, looked very clean. Couldn't read the name, maybe American or Ambassador? I forget the model lines.

Very square body. Looked kinda like a supersized version of the smaller model.

imidazol97 · November 2005

I saw a Buick Special today. A 1962. I was stunned and don't know if it was hardtop, sedan, 2 door? It's snowy here and there's salt on the roads. This car was not prime. I had dull paint like it was the original but had been protected for most of its 43 years!!!

It seemed to wallow a little as it turned from the road in front of me. Of course I'd wallow too if I needed some shocks and springs after 43 years. This is not classic car weather today. There must have been a purpose for the two older adults driving it to have had it out in the salt!!! What a crime.

kyfdx · November 2005

Wow.... you win for today.. I haven't seen either one of those for a long, long time...

andre1969 · November 2005

I'm guessing it would be an Ambassador. I think the American was always one of the smallest Ramblers. They also had the Matador, but I don't think they started using that name until the 70's. In the 60's I think it was called Rebel.

au94 · November 2005

yea me!! I'll take my prize pay out in 12oz cans please. :P

chuck1959 · November 2005

You are correct the "Ambasador" was larger and "American" smaller. The "Matador" name was first used in 1971. Prior to that it was the "Rebel".

Mr_Shiftright · November 2005

Well the M1 certainly is classic but an 850 is really just a used car to collectors...they aren't particularly valued or easy to sell either. It's the old story....German luxury coupes are dead items and always have been. I'm not sure why this is, but with a few rare exceptions they don't do well at auctions at all---very dismal performance in the collector car marketplace. Bad for owners, good for YOU!

I'd buy an 850i coupe if it were cheap enough...maybe $8,000 or so, tops. M1 you are looking at $80,000 minimum. So ten times the value---that says something.

lemko · November 2005

...wasn't there a Dodge Matador in the early '60s?

andre1969 · November 2005

Dodge went through and changed the names of all their cars in 1960, and the Matador ended up being used only one year, for 1960. In 1959, Dodge's lineup consisted of the low-line Coronet, which accounted for the bulk of their sales, with the Royal and Custom Royal being the more luxurious models. They had the D-500 option (I won't call it a "musclecar" because I don't want to hear it from Shifty, but it would put many "official" musclecars to shame :P) but it was a package available on any model, as opposed to being a limited-edition model like the 300D, Adventurer, or Fury.

For 1960, the Coronet was dumped and replaced with the Dart, a whole new lineup on the 118" Plymouth wheelbase that matched Plymouth, model-for-model. What had been the Royal became the Matador, and what had been the Custom Royal was renamed Polara. These were on the "traditional" 122" Dodge wheelbase. Like the Coronet before it, the Dart ended up accounting for the vast majority of Dodge sales. I think they only built around 45,000 Polaras and Matadors combined, compared with something like 330,000 Darts. For 1961 the Matador was dropped, leaving only the Polara to carry on as the sole survivor of Dodge's once broad big car lineup.

jrosasmc · November 2005

These days I see VW Westfalia campers selling for riduculous prices like, say, $15k and up. I just can't see why people pay big dollars for a heavy/tinny, underpowered van. I recently saw in Keith Martin's "Sport and Collector Car" magazine where an original '66 Bus that had one owner and was described as "being washed and wrapped in towels after every single drive" sold for an astounding $98,000. Sad, if you ask me. VW vans...why's this so?

Heck, I pamper my Volvos and I don't wrap them in towels after each drive! :P

kyfdx · November 2005

Not much different than the 13-step Zaino program some guys are on.. (ducking).

Mr_Shiftright · November 2005

Well at least with a Westphalia you can DO something with it for $15K, which is----go camping!

I wouldn't mind having a VW diesel pickup truck---I'd pay up to $600 for a really nice one. :P

lemmer · November 2005

I would love to have a one of those Rabbit trucks. Make mine a GTI clone (there is an example of a clone of something that doesn't exist that I couldn't think of a couple of weeks ago).

jrosasmc · November 2005

But for $15k can't you buy a newer and nicer domestic motor home?

Mr_Shiftright · November 2005

Yeah but who wants to drive one of those big slugs around? A REALLY obscure version of the VW camper would be the Synchro. They bring $20K. on up.

andys120 · November 2005

Me too, I've often thought a Rabbit p'up w GTI mechanicals would be cool, so would a '65 Falcon Ranchero with a GT-350 Drivetrain and suspension.
After all a '65 Mustang was just a Falcon in a sexy dress. :P

jrosasmc · November 2005

$20k for a VW Syncro camper from the '80s huh? Is that a proven fact, even if the vehicles have high mileages?

boomchek · November 2005

Even the newer Eurovan campers fetch a ton of money for what they are. Early 90's examples with the inline 5 cylinder engines making a weak 115hp (too little for such aheavy vehcicle) can have higher resale values than BMW 5 or 7 series from the same era. We had a few early 90's Eurovans traded in before and the wholesalers were bidding $10-$15k CDN for ones with 200000kms (120k miles). Granted they were in half decent shape.

mazda6iguy · November 2005

I just saw my first Ford Fusion on the street. Not obscure per se, but very few on the road here for now.

au94 · November 2005

yet to see one on the streets in the Atlanta area. from the pics, it looks good. If Ford can resist the urge to fill up every Hertz and Avis lot, they may have a contender.

mazda6iguy · November 2005

I've always wondered what it was like to actually sleep up there in the tent portion of the Westfalia...

Mr_Shiftright · November 2005

Never did it myself but friends have with no complaints. It's an "intimate" camper to be sure but I rather like the simplicity of it rather than bringing your entire house to the wilderness with you. I'm sure this is part of its appeal to the VW van "cult", and the reason they are willing to fork over big bucks.

My friend who owns a Porsche repair shop is looking to put a 3.4 liter Porsche engine with tiptronic transmission in his Westphalia. Now you're talkin'!

lemko · November 2005

...the stock VW engine in the Westphalia and Vanagon is a real dog. Doesn't it have something like 85 hp? I read somewhere that the diesel in the 1980 Mercedes 300D is something like 88hp. There's a blue one in nice condition that's been on sale in my neighborhood for almost 3 years. I can now see why. He did drop it to $1,900 from $2,300.

andre1969 · November 2005

I came close to buying a 1974 Travco 220 (22-foot) motorhome. It had a built-up industrial 440 engine. It was small as motorhomes go, but I guess not as maneuverable or economical as a VW camper!

It looked kinda like this, but it wasn't as nice. It was kind of a neat little rig though, seeing that much convenience packed into 22 feet.

Mr_Shiftright · November 2005

WEll you just take your time and plan your moves on the highway.

TACTIC in Mercedes 300D, red light just before freeway:

Place in low gear. Jam on brake. Raise engine speed to 2500 rpm against brake...at change of light, release brake, floor car, rev to redline, ram into S gear with foot remaining floored, ditto D gear. It helps as you ram into Drive to shout YEE-HAH! or C'MON BABY...Come ONNNNNNN, BABY! Bumping your body forward also helps, as long as your seat adjuster isn't broken.

At this point you SHOULD be entering the freeway at about 45 mph which, if you are lucky, will not co-incide with a semi leaving the freeway. (Two objects cannot occupy the same space and time in our known universe).

bhill2 · November 2005

Believe it or not, you could get these vans (at least the Vanagon) with a diesel (48 hp I think, maybe it was the later engine with 52). There was one in my neighborhood a number of years back. I actually saw it moving, but I don't know how.

au94 · November 2005

maybe it was moving, but you just could not tell!

Mr_Shiftright · November 2005

there are some folks around where I live that convert them to VW turbo diesels out of Jettas. Costs like $5,000 to do it, something like that.

kyfdx · November 2005

Top down... orangey red... perfect condition..

fintail · November 2005

No ebay time today...I was at the auto show. I did snap a few pics of obscure cars

Yes

I'll take it

Airflows are cool

Interesting metal in the background too

There were a few other vintage cars there...a 65 Dodge (I think) Indy Pace Car and a fascinating gigantic 35 Packard 12cyl rumble seat roadster come to mind.

imidazol97 · November 2005

Is that a 58 Chrysler 300 (hemi) in the background there?

fintail · November 2005

The white car was a 57 300, yeah. Something like 345hp IIRC. It was actually unrestored or very lightly restored.

The car nearest to the right was a Town & Country woody, something not seen all the time

stickguy · November 2005

I discovered what the old car at my office is (mentioned it a few days ago). I saw it again, and it's a Caddy. I believe it is a 1939 60 series, because I was one in R&T (in the ads for the Stable ltd. that run in the back) that looked jsut like it, except the one I saw was black.

The dude driving it also had a huge cigar in him mouth when he puttered by.

gsemike · November 2005

I went out yesterday to meet some friends for the games at a bar a few towns over. Since it was so nice out, I opted for the scenic route and took the local highway instead of the parkway and had a few interesting sightings:

- Late 60s Grand Prix. Not sure of the year but it bascially was a two door Catalina with fender skirts. Since it was covered in a full prime coat, I assume that the owner has aspirations to a restoration but this one had a long way to go. Add 2 points for the plastic wheel covers.
- 73 or 74 Grand Prix. Burgandy with a white landau and white interior. Very nice oroginal shape. It had a for sale sign but I couldn't get close enough to see how much.
- Early 60s two-door Ford. A huge car so I guess it was a Galaxie? This was a less blocky one with 4 side by side headlights that are popular with rodders. This car needed resto but had passable black paint and no major damage and was currently registered. It was for sale from $1200 which seems decent since it definately was not a baskety case.
- To top it all off, a 1957 (approximately) Corvette. This was a beautiful car. Silver with black top and in original condition. This was as good as a 50 year old car that is being driven on the road could look.
- And for something a little more recent but still obscure: A Suburu Baja. That was an idea so bad you can see the General's influence seeping in to Suburu.

lemko · November 2005

...spotted Sunday - black Panoz Esperante. I hear these are powered by handbuilt versions of the 4.6 Ford V-8.

stickguy · November 2005

real old cars on the PA turnpike of all places. Best I can tell, they were all modernized 9some kind of hot rod). Not sure what they were though, but from the '30s

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

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