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

PF_Flyer · November 2019

Barn finds are always interesting

explorerx4 · November 2019

Miami Mang!

fintail · November 2019

On the road in podunk: Bronco II, a Festiva in an odd light yellow/beige color, and what I think was an AMC Eagle SX4.

fintail · November 2019

Headed home today, not much interesting on the road as it rained off an on, but did see this heavily modified and very loud 80-83 Corolla SR5 liftback merging onto the highway. Yes, once upon a time, Corollas were interesting:

https://youtu.be/FxOkDyNcNEY

uplanderguy · November 2019

Not often heard from here--I think this is a very nice '73 Dodge Monaco. I like that the styling isn't nearly as large-looking as the same-year Chrysler, and those wheels look great on a Monaco IMHO. Typically not a fan of hideaway headlights but looks great here I think:

https://www.hemmings.com/auction/1973-dodge-monaco?fbclid=IwAR34kkB_FrvRDTgbFycbVg9GiaulkAUu-0AIcKsTbSw1YefyNqCA8_RzHSI

ab348 · November 2019

That's a nice car, I remember seeing it previously somewhere. The '72/'73 Monaco front end design was very handsome to my eye and was reminiscent of that of the Mercury Marquis, but I think the Dodge version looked better. Too bad that the dash has cracked (as many did) where it is perforated for the radio speaker, time has proven that to be a bad idea. Interiors on the Fuselage cars have proven to be a bit less robust than some other makes from that time but this one isn't holding up too badly except for the dash top and the sun-baked upholstery on top of the back seat.

stickguy · November 2019

if that one isn't big enough.

https://www.hemmings.com/auction/1977-chrysler-new-yorker

uplanderguy · November 2019

Even as a four-door, I'm preferring the Dodge.

I got very tired of that tufted-button leather-type interior, although I know Chrysler invented it. After awhile, every Caddy with leather was similar to this too.

I like the Caddy leathers of the early seventies, or even the Fleetwood leathers of the late '70's, that didn't have a ton of buttons in the lower back section.

andre1969 · November 2019

Mopar's '69-73 fuselage cars were always kind of hit or miss with me, but for the most part, I always liked the Dodge versions. I thought the '69 Polara and Monaco, in particular, were attractive. And, the hidden-headlight Monacos of '72-73 were pretty sharp, I thought. In some years, the big Dodges seemed a bit heavy-handed, with those bulky front-ends, but overall, the cars tended to look less fat and tipsy than the Plymouths and Chrysler/Imperials.

I like that '77 New Yorker too, except for one little detail. I never cared for the workmanship in the area around the opera window. I think the problem is that they simply took a 2-door hardtop, and pieced that trim around the roll-down window, to create the opera window effect. And then they simply took away the window crank, and power window switch. I don't know if this is true or not, but I heard that on the versions with power windows, they just took a hardtop coupe, pieced that opera window trim around it, and actually left the power window motors in there! If you know what you're doing, you can get a power window switch and the wiring from the junkyard, and wire them up to roll up and down. And, that might be one reason why the trim looks so sloppy. The way it's pieced against that window, it probably has some play to it, compared to a car that's actually built with a B-pillar and a stationary rear window.

These things actually have a pretty good survival rate, in my opinion. While GM's downsized big cars were wildly successful, I think there was a bit of a backlash against them, by people who still wanted these mastodons. As a result, they saw slightly improved sales in '77-78, as GM didn't build anything that was directly comparable to them. I think they tended to be bought by older, moneyed people, who took care of them.

Every once in awhile, I thought about getting one, if I ever got tired of my '79 5th Ave. I'd prefer one of the 4-door hardtops, though.

uplanderguy · November 2019

Anybody see "Ford Vs. Ferrari"?

We saw it yesterday, and even my wife enjoyed it.

I think Christian Bale mugs an awful lot through it, and they make HFII look like even more of a buffoon than he's been reported as previously, but I liked it a lot.

I found one 'timing' problem in the film. I'll see if anyone else notices it. It takes place in the room where Iacocca is talking about Ford getting into racing other than NASCAR and HFII belittles him for the poor sales of Ford products.

I saw three Studebakers in the movie, a '57 Golden Hawk, a '58 four-door sedan (Champion or Commander), and a '51 Land Cruiser. Oh, and the Bale character tells someone, "You seem more like a Plymouth or Studebaker driver to me".

uplanderguy · November 2019

In some years, the big Dodges seemed a bit heavy-handed, with those bulky front-ends, but overall, the cars tended to look less fat and tipsy than the Plymouths and Chrysler/Imperials.

I think opening up the rear wheel openings, like Dodge did, does wonders for getting rid of the lard-*** proportions!

ab348 · November 2019

I have read a lot of glowing reviews, so many that they make me suspicious of the reviewers writing them. I would be shocked - SHOCKED! - if the reviewers were influenced by largesse coming from the movie studios. Imagine if that happened in car reviews. Wait, what??

The last few days I have read comments from people who paid money to watch it, and while most are positive, there have been a number critical of the Hollywood treatment it got (i.e. the HFII character) and some of the inconsistencies in the vehicles. Apparently there is a Cobra shown in one scene with modern 20" wheels and rubber-band tires. Another commented on a Cobra variant shown that did not exist at the time. But who knows, if Matt Damon can pass for Ol' Shel I guess anything is possible. :laughing:

ab348 · November 2019

andre1969 said:

I like that '77 New Yorker too, except for one little detail. I never cared for the workmanship in the area around the opera window. I think the problem is that they simply took a 2-door hardtop, and pieced that trim around the roll-down window, to create the opera window effect. And then they simply took away the window crank, and power window switch. I don't know if this is true or not, but I heard that on the versions with power windows, they just took a hardtop coupe, pieced that opera window trim around it, and actually left the power window motors in there! If you know what you're doing, you can get a power window switch and the wiring from the junkyard, and wire them up to roll up and down.

That is true, at least for some examples, as I have seen it documented on Mopar forums. I guess it was easier for them to install the same assembly and alter the trim than to engineer an entirely different fixed glass and mix that in on the assembly line.

The last of the big C-body Chryslers had a reputation of being quite robust even back when they were 10 years old or thereabouts. They had some weaknesses in interior trim and things like wiper linkages and the Tempmatic A/C system, but overall they just were built like tanks. Unusual for Chrysler in that era.

omarman · November 2019

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/... \

Get one with a bigger window. Good times.

uplanderguy · November 2019

RE.: Ford Vs. Ferrari--I liked Matt Damon's portrayal of Carroll Shelby a lot. He played him to be a cool character, much-like I envisioned (and maybe have heard over the years) he was.

uplanderguy · November 2019

That view of the brown New Yorker shows what I always thought was Chrysler's deliberate attempt to crib the style and shape of the '71-76 GM big-car windshield--large, curved, thin-pillars covered entirely in bright metal.

stickguy · November 2019

we saw it, and my wife and a female friend of ours who is visiting really liked it, as did I. So many cool Cobras, but entirely possible there was a timing issue or 2 sneaking through, but only the hard core fanatics are going to pick up on that (or maybe just care). Fun to see them being hammered on though instead of locked away in collections!

one thing I noticed was even though they spent a lot of time on the 66/67 seasons, they never showed of mentioned the Mustang GT350 he was doing for Ford too.

I did like that they showed Shelby to be somewhat of a snake oil salesman playing fast and loose with other peoples money a lot of the time, which is supposedly what he did at the time.

fintail · November 2019

I thought this was cool, a pair of fintails with rear blinds. These are in South Africa, where fintails were pretty popular when new, and I think these blinds were common accessories in SA and Oz.

tjc78 · November 2019

Is that the same blue as yours or a touch darker?

Cool combo. I like the blinds. Kinda reminds me of the 80s with the louvers on the hatchbacks. My mom had an 85 Dodge Charger and I thought it was so cool she got them.

This one is a Shelby but you get the idea.

omarman · November 2019

cool louvers

explorerx4 · November 2019

@omarman,
Is there anything not cool about that? Color might not be for everyone.

texases · November 2019

I put a set of those on my '79 MKI Scirocco in '81...at least they were the nice alloy ones, not the plastic stuff.

roadburner · November 2019

I had an alloy set on my Arrow 2.6 GT.

sda · November 2019

fintail said:
I thought this was cool, a pair of fintails with rear blinds. These are in South Africa, where fintails were pretty popular when new, and I think these blinds were common accessories in SA and Oz.

Any idea what model year they are? Red interior on both, neat.

explorerx4 · November 2019

@sda,
click on the picture and it should open up in a larger window.

ab348 · November 2019

fintail said:
I thought this was cool, a pair of fintails with rear blinds. These are in South Africa, where fintails were pretty popular when new, and I think these blinds were common accessories in SA and Oz.

I seem to remember you were thinking about acquiring a set for yours a while back? Would look very cool.

fintail · November 2019

Yeah, there was a guy in Spain or something who had a hoard of window blinds. Really tempting, I've always liked the look for some reason. Maybe because I also kind of like rear window louvers on period correct cars. I should look into it, would make the car stand out even more.

ab348 said:

I seem to remember you were thinking about acquiring a set for yours a while back? Would look very cool.

fintail · November 2019

Black car is a 230S ~1965 - what I call a "second series" fintail, when the W108s replaced the higher W111s in the heirarchy, and other W111s (like this car) remained in producion. Blue car is a W110 190 , could be a few years older but not before 1961.

sda said:

Any idea what model year they are? Red interior on both, neat.

fintail · November 2019

I suspect you are right, I think I have seen the car on a MB forum before, and it barely darker. I think this is paint code 335, where my car is 334.

Speaking of fintails in South Africa, this still amuses me:

https://youtu.be/C4oM_PPTMDs

tjc78 said:
Is that the same blue as yours or a touch darker?

Cool combo. I like the blinds. Kinda reminds me of the 80s with the louvers on the hatchbacks. My mom had an 85 Dodge Charger and I thought it was so cool she got them.

This one is a Shelby but you get the idea.

ab348 · November 2019

At moments of weakness I believe I would really enjoy something like this. Fabulous colors, with an interior the way God intended a convertible to be. Even a white steering wheel!:

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1966-cadillac-coupe-deville-2/

xwesx · November 2019

Looks good: Used enough to use, yet nice enough to be seen without embarrassment.

tjc78 · November 2019

Yeah, that would be a great cruiser. I'd take it

imidazol97 · November 2019

Those seats are the ones with air blowing through them for AC IIRC.

sda · November 2019

imidazol97 said:
Those seats are the ones with air blowing through them for AC IIRC.

Ventilated seats in 65? That’s cool, sorry couldn’t resist. The car lacks ac however. I had a 70 DeVille convertible as a project and weekend car when I was in college and loved it. So smooth, quietly quick, comfortable and swilled gas to 7-10 mpg. 20:20 hindsight, I wish I never sold it.

tjc78 · November 2019

The Deville did offer heated seats in 66, but I didn’t know about ventilated units.

sda · November 2019

The seats in the 65 look the part, thick, supple leather, comfortable.

fintail · November 2019

Yesterday afternoon saw a white E28 535is, has to be becoming desirable now, a red 63 Impala 2 door HT, and got a thumbs up from a young guy in a modified Lexus SC400.

imidazol97 · November 2019

PF_Flyer said:
Barn finds are always interesting

How about garage finds?

explorerx4 · November 2019

I like watching the Barn Find Hunter series.

fintail · November 2019

On today's episode of Hoarders. Looks like a easy rescue anyway. A couple years ago at a yard sale I saw a 63 Galaxie convertible stored in a similar manner, used as a shelf for stored junk. I recalled seeing the same unique car (black on red) on the road 25 years prior.

texases · November 2019

Junk on the convertible top...ugh...

bhill2 · November 2019

Ten years or so ago an open garage door on the house directly across the street from my sister revealed the rear end of a medium blue Gran Turismo Hawk buried under the typical garage junk. Haven't seen the door open lately, so it may still be there.

imidazol97 · November 2019

Is that car worth more now to the owners to sell to someone who wants to refurbish it or is it worth more a decade or two from now?

My thinking is it's not a unique surviving specimen. I see similar restored or preserved vehicles at car shows occasionally, so it won't be worth a lot because it's a rare survivor. AND I think restoration will be more difficult because of difficulty getting parts in the future so a buyer would pay less because the expense of restoring will be higher than it is now.

I know if it were mine, I would have nothing on that soft top and I'd have put a cotton tarp over the thing decades ago.

omarman · November 2019

It is now one with the 65 gallon Rumpke recycle container.

fintail · November 2019

I wouldn't restore it, assuming it isn't rotten. Detail it, make sure it is mechanically and structurally as good as possible, and drive it. Due to costs and economic realities, the days of restoring common cars have passed, save for labor of love type projects.

I don't see much room for appreciation in a car like that Chevy convertible (or the garaged Galaxie I mentioned, or the garage Stude mentioned). The generation most into those cars has peaked, and in the future the vast maajority of 60s material will be like 40s material now. It'll still have value, but buy it to enjoy it, not for profit.

texases · November 2019

Assuming it's in decent (not rusted out) shape, that Chevy would make for a good 'Wheeler Dealer' episode.

imidazol97 · November 2019

I'd have to ask the owners how long it was driven before it was garaged and stored rather than used. I had told them that I felt the time to sell it was then which might have been less than 5 years ago. I don't own the car nor do I have interest in restoring it. But I didn't think about the decreasing number of buyers due to aging out from peak interest in the cars of that era. I did consider the cost to repair and refurbish thinking it would increase.

I'll mention to them the next time I see them about the era of cars that us older guys are interested in restoring.

Will there be a newer generation interested in restoring Honda Fits and Camrys and Avalons and Mazda 6's?

stickguy · November 2019

Maybe the tuner crowd. Look at prices of Supra TTs.

kyfdx · November 2019

Pretty sure that I'm restoring a Honda Fit, right now..

fintail · November 2019

Common modern cars won't fare any better than common modern cars of the past - few are lining up to restore a 65 6cyl Biscayne or Custom 500 just as nobody wants to restore an 85 Celebrity or an 88 Camry. But the cooler cars will end up having their day, just as the better material from 80s/90s is coming into its own.

I look at restorations falling out of favor for mainstream cars as a positive. It opens the hobby up to more people, and it makes it more affordable - the latter is needed more than most will give credit in this devolving socio-economic world.

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

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