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Comments
I saw some posts which claim that the old Plymouth is actually a 1940 instead of a 1939 as claimed on American Pickers. Depending on collector's tastes in particular make/model cars, a thing like that could have a big impact on a resto project!
But like you posted, considering the overall limited interest in prewar Plymouths it may not make a difference. Here's a pic of the AP "garage find" in question:
Some prewar Chrysler products are rather nice. This 36 Desoto for instance is, IMO, far more attractive than that other lump.
Yup...also, the '39 had a bolder upper grille, and smaller lower grilles. Those integrated headlights on the '39's must have been a pain to replace if the glass broke. IIRC, the Plymouth, Dodge, DeSoto, and Chrysler all used a different shape. I'm guessing it was also pretty common to just convert the things over to regular round headlights in later years, as those original parts became rarer.
It's kinda funny how people associate portholes with Buicks and split grilles with Pontiacs, yet both styling themes were common long before Buick or Pontiac made them a trademark. Here, the same car is showing them both off!
Somewhere packed away, there are some old pics of my house, with a 1937 Plymouth parked beside it. One of these days, I hope to find them again, so I can scan them in and post them. It would be a nice companion piece to this old shot, with a 1953 Chevy parked in the same spot...
BTW, when did color film start becoming commonplace? The picture with the 1953 Chevy has "1965" printed on the lower part of it (I had cropped it from the scan). So, I guess, even back then, my family was known for driving cars that were out of date. I guess it's in my DNA. :P
could be a couple of propane tanks, though.
1940-41 were very dull years for styling IMO. Cars became fat and bloated. Very clumsy looking cars for the most part. Some cars look like they are moving when they are standing still, others look like they are standing still when they are moving.
This unfortunate trend wasn't really "cured" until the '49 Ford---then we were really done with vestigial running boards and humpy trunks and pontoon fenders.
And speaking of American pickers, I watched part of a rerun of the latrest episode last night...I am surprised they didn't try to haul those ruined Isettas out of the woods. I think the taller guy likes odd Euro cars...he has that lowered old VW Transporter pickup.
The styles of the late 30s/early 40s look depressed because of...well...the Depression. It lasted so long it just ground everything down eventually. The last thing people wanted was to be seen in flamboyant cars when so many were suffering.
Also the world was very jumpy, anticipating war.
Compare 1945-1954 with 1955--1971 in America. Same idea....from the frumpy to real vitality in car design.
Funny you'd mention getting struck by lightning. My cousin's '69 Bonneville got struck by lightning in the driveway next door...probably less than 50 feet from where the Chevy is in that pic! I bought the car from him a couple years later, and had electrical problems with it. At the time, I didn't make the connection that maybe the lightning strike had something to do with it. :surprise:
So, if people step up and pay, time and time again, a price "we" think is too high, then we're out of step with the current market IMO.
But....*BUT*....one sale, one tin can, one MGB, sold for a "lot of money" does not set an entire market.
Evidence of this would be to take the same tin can that sold on American Pickers for $500, and put it on eBay and try to sell it for $500. Or that Barrett-Jackson car that sold for double "book price"---advertise it and try to re-sell at that price.
Often it can't be done---so if it can't be done, then the buyer who ponied up for the "high price" is....in the parlance of the classic car world....(I love this phrase)...."the buyer is currently ahead of the market". :P
I had a guy ask me to determine the value of a really rough Ford Woody. I told him, and he protested....so months later he sells it for $15000 more than I said. He calls to say "you were wrong".
But I don't think so in this case, because whoever bought it paid too much for the condition---it was a one-time emotional buy. Now he's in $45000 for a rough Woody, when he could have had a really sweet one for $90K. Can he get from his $45K wreck to the $90K beauty for an additional $45K? No way in hell.
Ebay messed things up too. It had huge prices in the early days on many items due to few sellers and many bidders...I think things are weaker now. It also glutted the market for some things. Many people also don't understand when someone sets a "Buy It Now" price on a given object, that it isn't worth that price if it doesn't sell.
I'd love to see what a lightning strike would do to a modern MB/BMW/Lexus
Nah, no visible marks that I could see. I guess it's possible that it wasn't a direct strike? Like maybe it hit a tree or something else close by, and then arced to the car? I didn't actually see it happen, just took my cousin's word for it.
Years ago, my dog got struck by lightning. We had gone on a long trip out west, and left him with my uncle, who was living down in the mountains in VA at the time. The dog was chained to a tree, and one of my uncle's friends was sitting on the front porch working on a chainsaw, when lightning hit the tree. Both the dog and my uncle's friend got shocked, but both lived. After that, though, every time it thundered, the dog would run and hide. Can't say I blame him, after that!
I'd be amused to see the gremlins that would pop up if a LS 600 hybrid or something really electrical like that was struck by a natural bolt.
Frankly, I don't see how this is possible-the boat ride to Greece ain't cheap-and rebuilding an S500? That has to be absolute lunacy! Just the parts bill alone would be frightening. Of course, maybe there are cheap aftermarket parts available in Europe?
Does this make any sense?
Or maybe he wants to set a new record...probably should have picked a car like this instead
In Germany I saw late model A8 taxis, late model S-class taxis, and a few 7 series taxis too.
I started getting into a discussion with someone over on 'diesels in the news' about how modern diesels are not really that much more reliable than gassers, but once they trotted out 'they're just getting broken in at 200k miles', I quit.
All you have to do to win this argument is take someone to a huge auto wrecking yard and read the odometers of every car that isn't smashed up and thus killed prematurely.
Even IF a passenger diesel engine could routinely go 400,000 miles, the rest of the car wouldn't, so what is the point?
Automakers' engineers are not stupid people. They don't design one component to outlast all the others by a margin of 3 to 1.
Future star of Project Drift.
Not the SR20DET swap most people do.
Why pictures of the engine can be important.
Choose your own nameplate and trimline.
Benz Diesel --- oh, only needs a new wiring harness. Should be able to knock that out on Saturday morning.
Pontiac Ferrero -- successor to the Ferrera, later replaced by the Ferreru. Having run out of vowels, Pontiac gave up.
Heck, just go buy a crate engine. Chevy HP is sooooo cheap these days. You could buy a bone-crushing engine for $4000 all ready to roll AND with warranty.
But, y'know what, I'd take that Cressida in a snap (right this minute) if it's as decent as it looks. Quite the equivalent to a 528e, save for the ABS, but more power, cheaper to fix and $18k new then (as opposed to $30k for the BMW). Mom bought one new (an '86, same car) and it was quite nice (though the auto trans made noises, but caused no problems, almost from day one). She put 50k on it in its first year, sold it to a co-worker who (not kidding) had it til maybe two years ago and 300k+. Not terribly roomy, but '80s-Japanese-plush (lots of strange gadgets: Technics EQ stereo with next-to-steering wheel double controls, odd non-motorized 'memory' tilt wheel, auto-close two-way sunroof with 'beep' warning to remove hands, insanely thick Cadillac-like button tufted velour), pretty damn quick for the time (Supra engine w/~160hp.....I know, but it was 1985) and handled quite nicely. Crummy in snow, of course (RWD, automatic, 2900-ish lbs, I'd guess, w/most in the front, and no TCS back then). You could even get one with a stick (quite rare now), leather and headlight washers. Pretty trick.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330416489170#v4-38-
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/CALIFORNIA-ORIGINAL-1981-TOYOTA-CELICA-GTA-20-000- -miles_W0QQitemZ200453868244QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Cars_Trucks?hash=item2eabfb4ad- 4
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Icon I6L Golf Cart
And those bumpers are a travesty on an otherwise decent design.
But I don't believe the miles for a second. It has turned over once, I'm sure. The center armrest, driver's carpet, and driver's seat attest to that.
'11 GMC Sierra 1500; '98 Alfa 156 2.0TS; '08 Maser QP; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '11 Mini Cooper S
I am shocked it cost so much when new, that 10K barrier must have been significant then.
I'm not sure how $9500 MSRP stacked up back then. My grandparents bought a 1981 Granada coupe, and I think it was in the $8-9K range, as equipped (200-straight six, automatic, a/c, 2-tone paint, but crank windows etc). So in contrast, that Supra might not have been so bad, considering it was kinda upscale. In my mind, at least.
69 Camaro -- bidders are clinically insane unless they are bidding on a VIN plate. You should be able to buy a frame-up show quality totally correct '69 / 396 'vert for about $60K or less in today's market. So bidding nearly $10K for this pile of junk, leaves you maybe $50K to bring it back to show condition? Not gonna happen.
Now if you want to counterfeit the stolen one in your garage, or pass a non-SS car off on the naive newbie, that's a different story.
Also this car is not that rare. It would take you about 15 minutes to find a dozen of them for sale.
Now that I look at it in detail, the interior does seem pretty weathered for 20K miles, even the steering wheel looks kind of worn, and the dash being slathered with Armor-All doesn't help.
If you can get your hands on a new GXP anywhere, buy it and put it in a garage. It is one of those rare muscle cars, destined to be worth many times what you paid for it in twenty years.
Seriously? I suppose from a perspective as to how many GXP's were sold, perhaps. But, I don't see these being worth $60-100K in 20 years.
Discuss.
My guess is that if you're lucky, it might be worth what you paid for it in 20 years. Not accounting for inflation, of course. And then let's consider insurance, maintenance for 20 years, plus 20 years worth of storage. Even if you own a garage space, you're still tying that spot up for 20 years.