Mystery car pix

subearu · December 2006

Chevrolet Citation. Brings up fond memories of dad's '80 Citation that had just a few little gremlins over the 4 years they had it.

-Brian

andys120 · December 2006

derrado1 · December 2006

Nissan 240SX.

Called Silvia elsewhere, and also 200SX... not to be confused with your 200SX, which, IIRC was based on the Sentra? Correct me if I'm wrong.

Oh, and besides the terrible, terrible reliability, was the Citation a bad car? It didn't win car of the year like the Vega but it was pretty revolutionary for Detroit - big, FWD, fuel-efficient hatchback.

And damn, you beat me to it on that Olds. They retired the 98 and then to appease the old 98 buyers (so they wouldn't leave the Olds/GM fold), they grafted a 98-alike front end onto an 88. It didn't sell well to my knowledge and it was retired soon after. Besides, it didn't fit in with Olds' up-and-coming (and ultimately, ill-fated) new image - even the 88 had an aero front, and here was the chrome-toothed [non-permissible content removed]-child Regency.

I never understood though how Olds and Buick co-existed with similar models. Personally, I'm more of an Olds fan (some Buicks pique my interest though - '96 Riviera, GNX) so I remember being incensed when Olds got the axe. I understand their decision now, but Buick was more deserving at the time, no doubt about it.

bumpy · December 2006

Assuming it's stock (a hazardous thing to do with any 240SX), it's a 1995-6 (zenki nose) 240SX SE (5-lug hubs). We had a 200SX in the '80s (S110 and S12 platforms) before the 240SX arrived for 1989, then Nissan revived the name in 1995 for the Sentra coupe.

The Citation was a good idea crippled by abominable engineering and manufacturing practices. I'm convinced that whoever designed the layout of the engine compartment came to work drunk every day and didn't go home sober.

gsemike · December 2006

I remember years ago when my friend's Dad was the first person around to buy a Citation. It was probably my first time in a front driver and I was astounded by how roomy the backseat was since the driveshaft hump was eliminated. It had a little bump I guess for the exhaust but the floor was other completely flat.

One thing though: based on two month's employment at Jiffy Lube, it was apparent that the General put absolutely no thought into where the oil filter ended up when the turned their old engines and mounted them transverse. With plenty of those cars it was impossible to do an oil chage and not get the exhaust or front suspension pieces covered in oil.

andre1969 · December 2006

With plenty of those cars it was impossible to do an oil chage and not get the exhaust or front suspension pieces covered in oil.

I think in some cases, that might still be true today. I had an '82 Cutlass Supreme, RWD model, with a 231 V-6. My Dad's '03 Regal also has a 231, and while the engine has been heavily revised, the oil filter's in the same spot on the engine. Only since it's transverse-mounted, it's in a PIA spot to get to. I've changed his oil a few times for him, and if park the car in just the right spot at the edge of the driveway, and turn the wheel just right, I can sort of wrestle the filter off, although it ends up making a mess on the suspension.

But then, as I recall, in my '82 Cutlass, where the filter was around in front, the oil filter would dump oil right on one of the grease fittings for the suspension.

Come to think of it, with every RWD V-8 Mopar I've had, changing the filter would dump oil on the exhaust system.

I remember as a kid, one of my neighbors bought a new Citation. This guy was a mechanic, and in my mind was a god when it came to cars. But even he gave up and after a couple months, traded it on a new Monte Carlo. Before the Citation, they had a 1969-70 Caddy Sedan DeVille. It must have been a major trauma, going from something like that to a Citation!

imidazol97 · December 2006

On my 3800s I have now the filter is above the subframe and behind the RF wheel. They angle down and I can get a self-tightening filter strap wrench over the can. It's much easier if I jack up the right side a few inches.

IIRC my 3300 in a Century 89 had the filter angled toward the outside of the car rather than angle inward like the 3800s. I loved that one because I could reach the filter from above.

When it was cold weather I could change the filter inside the garage; unscrew it, and lift it carefully up through the area between the fender and the engine without spilling oil.

andys120 · December 2006

andre1969 · December 2006

I'd guess about a 1948 Willys pickup? Kind of a neat looking thing, but weren't they still making them look like that up until around 1964?

andys120 · December 2006

Kind of a neat looking thing, but weren't they still making them look like that up until around 1964?

Yep, even longer, that's a '65 Willys, I don't know when they stopped makng them.

lemko · December 2006

I believe Jeep trucks finally went to the classic Brooks Stevens design ala the Wagoneer in 1963. Do you recall the look with two single headlights and two round grilles approximately the same size as the headlights on either side of a tall narrow vertical grille? I remember having Tonka toy pickups and station wagons that strongly resembled these Jeeps when I was very little back in the late 1960s.

andys120 · December 2006

fintail · December 2006

Ferrari 250GT PF ca. 1960, across the street is an early 90s Z car

andys120 · December 2006

Ferrari 250GT PF ca. 1960, across the street is an early 90s Z car

All right smart guy, what breed is the dog?

andre1969 · December 2006

All right smart guy, what breed is the dog?

Is that a border collie or one of those sheltie thingies?

fintail · December 2006

LOL yeah I'll say a collie too

fintail · December 2006

Speaking of that Honda N600

andys120 · December 2006

LOL, Fin.

CHiPs is a real treasure trove of oddball old cars, here's another>

boomchek · December 2006

It's a Sunbeam Alpine, same as in Commando, not sure of the year though

andys120 · December 2006

Good guess but it's a Sunbeam Tiger, the hood scoop is the giveaway.

andys120 · December 2006

chuck1959 · December 2006

I liked the 88 also. Yeah I believe the "Regency" was added the last year. I belive starting in 2000 all that was left of Olds was Alereo, Intrigue, Bravada and Silouette. Then I think a year or so after that the Intrigue was discontinued.
It was so sad GM let Olds die a horrible death.

chuck1959 · December 2006

I liked the 88 also. Yeah I believe the "Regency" was added the last year. I belive starting in 2000 all that was left of Olds was Alereo, Intrigue, Bravada and Silouette. Then I think a year or so after that the Intrigue was discontinued.
It was so sad GM let Olds die a horrible death.

derrado1 · December 2006

Fiat Croma. Resurrecting the name of a failed big Fiat sedan of the 80's (even though it was on the same platform as the Saab 9000 and Lancia Thema, it sucked and sold poorly in most markets), this new Croma, based loosely on the Epsilon platform, is a tall-wagon/crossover thing, to be different, but it's also styled so blandly and without passion that it's destined to fail once again.

Fiat, stick with small, diesel-engined cars.

You'd think that Fiat would have learnt its less from former partner GM and their unsuccessful Opel Signum, which is basically the same thing and on the same platform. I don't mind the Signum, but it's too bland for a luxury car and too expensive for a mainstream car.

andys120 · December 2006

andre1969 · December 2006

1968 Chrysler 300 convertible? Sharp looking car with the hidden headlights.

andys120 · December 2006

You got it Andre, I think that's a '67-'68 Eldo behind it.

andys120 · December 2006

imidazol97 · December 2006

That's a 1961 Cadillac. The other car could ride in the trunk of the Caddy.

andys120 · December 2006

Yep and the little dinghy is a '69 Fiat 500 (Cinquecento), the car that put postwar Italy on wheels.

andys120 · December 2006

gsemike · December 2006

nice try... it's a Porsche-Beutler

andys120 · December 2006

You caught me Mike, it's one of a few dozen 356 model Porsche
coupes and cabrios that were bodied by Swiss coachbuilder Beutler. As you can see they were quite different from standard 356 bodies including a large grille with a BIG Porsche crest in the center>

andys120 · December 2006

fintail · December 2006

Mercury Comet...hard to tell the year, but I can see it has the accentuated fins, so I'll guess it is early, ca. 1960

chuck1959 · December 2006

Yep....1960 Mercury Comet

andys120 · December 2006

Y'all are right, it's the Falcon's brother, a 1960 Comet.

andys120 · December 2006

stickguy · December 2006

Masserati Merak?

fintail · December 2006

Lamborghini Urraco

chuck1959 · December 2006

Pantera?

andys120 · December 2006

Fintail gets the gold ring, it's the pioneering, V8-powered
Lamborghini Urraco, '75-'79.

andys120 · December 2006

gsemike · December 2006

That's a Mazda 323. Perhaps that's a late model first gen RX-7 next to it.

The car behind it is a Porsche somethingorother. I'm bad with their nomenclatures. Is it a 924?

bumpy · December 2006

Early '80s Mazda 626 with what look like hubcaps from a B210. The greenhouse is too big for a 323. The Porsche is a 914. 924 was the first of the front-engine cars.

bumpy · December 2006

chuck1959 · December 2006

X car Buick Skylark....looks to be the last model year.

stickguy · December 2006

looks like an early (2nd gen prob) 626. Not a 323, if anything it would be an early 80's GLC with that design, but it looks a little too big.

I guessed wrong on that lambo. It was a toss up between that and the Maser. I still remember a road test (MT or C&D) from around '73 when they did a camparo of those two and the small Ferrari of the time

andys120 · December 2006

Yep, 1983 626 Four-door. The coupes and 5 doors were better looking.

lemko · December 2006

That's the X-body Buick Skylark from the early 1980s.

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