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

PF_Flyer · December 2019

Real life solutions

thebean · December 2019

Anyone remember the Citation commercials from the late 70’s?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sh_F2vFfDW0

Every time I saw one, I wanted to see if it would run with the rear wheels removed.

fintail · December 2019

A very determined jingle and funny sound effects, yep that's the late 70s/early 80s.

explorerx4 · December 2019

I remember watching this Top Gear episode and it pretty amusing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn1JN4b41XM

fintail · December 2019

https://youtu.be/OMNlAbUeTuk

texases · December 2019

Hatch it is. Am I remembering the Olds ‘Aeroback’?

fintail · December 2019

I think that's right, Aerobacks are not hatchbacks. Same for the Austin Allegro, which looks like a hatch but isn't.

imidazol97 · December 2019

explorerx4 said:
I remember watching this Top Gear episode and it pretty amusing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vn1JN4b41XM

Hillarious. Especially the fake British accents. But the humor is pricelessly well timed.

Comparing the cars to a Hyundai. Outrageous.

ab348 · December 2019

It's a shame how they got old and started recycling all the same old schtick over and over again. The recent episode of The Grand Tour released on Amazon was embarrassingly bad.

fintail · December 2019

I think I stopped watching TG even before troubles with the BBC. Even then it was becoming the same old thing. Some glory years in the mid-late 'oughts though.

stickguy · December 2019

zipping along fast on I287 today, a gorgeous red BMW 635CSI. Though looked to have wider than stock wheels, and the rear tires seemed to be out of whack. tops tipped way in. But darned it sounded nice!

uplanderguy · December 2019

Back to Citations for a moment...for looks, I always liked the Club Coupe, rarely-seen now and even then:

uplanderguy · December 2019

Saw this on Facebook this a.m. While a very clean car, and I can appreciate any make of car if clean and authentic/original, I always thought these were the oddest-styled cars. 1961 Rambler Ambassador. I don't know why, but I always think "Eastern Bloc" when I see Ramblers up to the '63 Classic and Ambassador. I'm thinking the instrument panel of these cars was somewhat odd, too, and not just because of using numerals 1-12 for 10-120:

fintail · December 2019

The front end of that pictured car is very 1961, aka weird.

Article relating Rambler design to fintail design - the similar size helps.

Was the Citation notchback a shorter run model? Even here, they are seldom-seen. The 2 door hatch has a profile I always thought was somewhat reminiscent of a football.

uplanderguy · December 2019

The Citation Club Coupe (notchback) was discontinued for the '81 model year, but reintroduced for the '82 run per wikipedia. Discontinued for '85. I don't remember those years specifically, but I do know it was discontinued after the first model year, reintroduced, then discontinued again.

Chevy did some weird stuff like that in the early eighties. The Caprice Classic coupe was discontinued after '82 but reintroduced for '84. Monte Carlo bucket seats and console shift were discontinued after '81 but reintroduced for '84.

texases · December 2019

And that's an X11, the 'hot' one. I remember the CandD article about it, they LOVED it...

roadburner · December 2019

texases said:
And that's an X11, the 'hot' one. I remember the CandD article about it, they LOVED it...

My wife had a 1984 Skylark T Type when we got married. She wanted an Accord coupe, but in the days of the voluntary import quotas the dealers were insufferable. Her dad was a Buick fan, so I suggested a T Type and the rest was history. It really wasn't a bad car.

ab348 · December 2019

"Hot" back then being 0-60 in 13.1 seconds, I remember them raving about the 2.8 pushrod V-6, but I never liked it or its later variants very much. Having said that, dad had an '82 Omega coupe with the V-6 and it was an OK car.

kyfdx · December 2019

I remember test driving the Citation with the V-6, when new. I was pretty impressed with the acceleration. At the time, seemed like a big leap forward, from the crappy V-6s of the '70s.

uplanderguy · December 2019

Speaking of "crappy V6's from the '70's"--

My sister and her first husband had a new '75 Buick Century Special coupe.

That Buick V6 shook like a Vega four.

Terrible in an otherwise-nice car.

fintail · December 2019

House fire in the general area last night (back story behind it, the house was the scene of a killing a couple weeks ago, what a coincidence), and a Colonnade sedan parked alongside the fire:

Saw a live image this morning, and the car appeared unscathed. Things age well here.

uplanderguy · December 2019

'77 Malibu Classic.

roadburner · December 2019

kyfdx said:
I remember test driving the Citation with the V-6, when new. I was pretty impressed with the acceleration. At the time, seemed like a big leap forward, from the crappy V-6s of the '70s.

Our T Type had the HO V6; acceptable hp for it's time with a nice exhaust burble.

fintail · January 2020

If this is Wednesday, this must be Belgium (I think - from the fb fintail group):

fintail · January 2020

This morning spotted an old "short" (in height and length) motorhome that looked to be in OK condition. Most these days seem to be basket cases or restored, this was more of a survivor, and appeared to be on original plates. I think it was a Cortez, like this:

ab348 · January 2020

Hope the pagoda-roof doesn't slip sideways off that narrow bridge when the driver gives it a little gas.

fintail · January 2020

I'll guess 1965-66 by the W108 at left. Old MBs are actually pretty balanced, and with the 2nd gear start automatics fare well in snow. I've driven the fintail in snow several times, not difficult.

fintail · January 2020

A dark red Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III was an unexpected sighting in a nondescript Seattle suburb on a damp dreary winter day:

https://youtu.be/litDi_yXW-Q

omarman · January 2020

Linked brochure pic from another topic.
Obscure car lineup from 1973 which still makes me want a purple Javelin with a black vinyl top. Good times.

ab348 · January 2020

Dad bought a new Hornet Sportabout in 1975. The interior was pretty low-rent and the seats weren't great either - upholstered in plasticky sort of mesh or knit vinyl - doors had painted metal tops, and the dash was mostly a big metal casting with a plastic tray the width of the car under it that made today's "hard plastics" that reviewers like to gripe abut look like a luxury material. But having said all that, the thing drove great. The 258 6-cylinder was a good engine, the Chrysler TorqueFlite transmission worked well with it, the power discs were very good, and most surprisingly, the thing handled pretty well. Compared to our '74 Maverick it felt like a sportscar. I imagine the Hornet hatch like the one pictured, equipped with the V8 option and the right suspension, wheels, and tires, was quite entertaining for the times.

stickguy · January 2020

I am either proud, or embarrassed, to admit that I owned (personally, not a family car when I was a kid) 2/3 of that ad. I had a Hornet just like that (the 2 door hatch model) but it was dark green. I think it was a '75, but the memory going back that far for the details, is weak.

actually a nice car from what I recall. Better than some of the other crap I owned! big 6 and 3 speed stick. Only real issue was that someone converted it to floor mount from column (from what we figured) but the must have done something weird, because when you shifted, a sleeve on the column rotated. And occasionally the linkage hung up. Other than that it was a pretty good car.

Also had a slightly later Gremlin. Maybe a '74 with big bumpers on both ends. Yellow X with the 4.2L and also 3 speed on the floor (this one factory). And the 3 spoke drilled steering wheel, very sporty! About 4 different shades of yellow depending on the panel. But also a pretty solid car for the day. Spare tire took up most of the hatch area though.

Never did get a Javelin though. Or the AMX that I really wanted!

fintail · January 2020

When I was a kid, an older lady antique dealer friend of my mom's had a powder blue on blue Sportabout, I think around a 75. It was very low mileage, and fairly pristine. I am pretty sure it was a 6. I remember after the old lady's husband passed, my mom helped her out with something, and drove the Sportabout for her. I rode with her, and it didn't seem like a bad old car, ran and drove just fine. I think it had definitely been babied though, which had to have helped. The old lady's late husband had a very nice 75-76 Olds 88 coupe, yellow on white I think, that I liked for some reason, and toyed with buying as a first car. I didn't do it, and I think it sold for around a grand back then (early 90s).

kyfdx · January 2020

My friend's mother had a mid-70s Hornet sedan. I thought it was a terrible car..

fintail · January 2020

On the road in the rain last night saw a ~1990 E-class (S124) wagon immediately followed by an early W124 E-class sedan. The sedan was a basic grey market Euro model on plastic hubcaps.

fintail · January 2020

Posted on the fintail fb page, a 1961 press photo. Pretty high tech for that time, but the fins were just about to become passe:

explorerx4 · January 2020

On Saturday, got passed on the right by an orange VW van, old air cooled one.
I was doing at least 70 at the time. The driver must have had that thing floored.

stickguy · January 2020

Driving around yesterday in the nice weather, robins egg blue rubber bumper MGB

fintail · January 2020

Some of those VWs can have WRX engine swaps.

Out in the slush today, an early 90s JDM diesel Landcruiser smelling like an old MB diesel, and a first gen JDM Landcruiser Prado.

explorerx4 · January 2020

@fintail,
Hmm, not sure it sounded like a Subi engine, but maybe depending on the muffler.
I definitely could hear it, though.

stickguy · January 2020

there are also swaps to a much hotter VDub boxer engine.

bhill2 · January 2020

Not to mention Corvair and Porsche swaps.

ab348 · January 2020

I found this article really interesting. Maybe classic tractors are the next big thing:

https://www.hagerty.com/articles-videos/articles/2020/01/09/why-midwest-farmers-ditch-newfangled-tractors-for-old-school-rigs?utm_source=SFMC

That Oliver tractor leading the article looks sweet!

texases · January 2020

I got a mail a for a classic/antique tractor magazine. Not my thing, but looked neat.

uplanderguy · January 2020

That Oliver tractor leading the article looks sweet!

Like Studebaker, Oliver was a South Bend, Indiana company. In fact, one of the towers of the plant remains just down the street from the location of the Studebaker National Museum.

uplanderguy · January 2020

RE.: The AMC's--always thought the Hornet Hatchback had nice lines, and so did the Sportabout IMHO.

AMC interiors left a lot to be desired to my eyes in that period, though.

The Sportabout's hatch had a high liftover which was a bit weird I think.

Valiant/Duster and Dart about owned the compact market then, but I always wondered why anyone would've chosen a Hornet or Maverick over a Duster or Nova, which both seemed larger to me in that same general price class...unless of course you hated Chrysler or Chevy and I did know folks like that then.

My uncle was a diehard AMC guy. He had a new '72 Hornet 4-door. It had the beginnings of rust on the tops of the front fenders at slightly before three years, I remember that.

omarman · January 2020

My cousin and his wife ordered (!) a new 1974 Pinto 2 door painted white and asked for the largest engine option. Upon delivery with the 2.3 liter 4 cyl instead of the standard 2.0 my cousin had a bit of buyer's remorse for a funny reason.

He was disappointed with the 2.3 engine due to some stalling issues. The dealer told him that for the next model year the 1975 Pinto wagon could be optioned with a 2.8 liter V6. I was surprised that he and his wife special ordered a Pinto to begin with but then it seemed like he was already considering ordering a new V6 Pinto wagon and trading in the '74 that they just took delivery on!

But the real buyer's remorse which set in was the appearance of a small but nasty looking rust spot about mid way down the driver's door. It looked like a "rust comet" with a long rusty tail streaking behind it.

They never ordered, shopped or owned another Pinto again.

kyfdx · January 2020

There is no teacher like experience

fintail · January 2020

When I was little, my paternal grandma had a Pinto, it was one of the hatchback type with the large glassy hatch window. I think it was blue on blue, and I recall riding in it once, I was indifferent. It wasn't insanely old the time, this might have been 1981-82 or so. It was replaced by a long line of Cavalier sedans, which shows her priorities in cars. My grandpa always had a Ford truck set up to pull a 5th wheel, and sometimes a Chevy conversion van.

stickguy · January 2020

back in HS (a long time ago) I almost traded a 1970ish Nova (V8, 3 speed I think) with a rod knock (or some sort of engine noise) that I bought but never registered (long story, but it came with a spare hood that for years was leaning against the side of my parents house behind some bushes!) for a friends Pinto wagon. Orange, 4 speed. Pre-bumper car. I do remember the spark plugs were in a can (of gas I think).

I ended up selling it instead. Probably should have just kept it. Engine probably would have gone for a while, or easy to drop a junkyard motor in. It at least sounded vast. Actually, I that was my only V8 car I ever owned I think.

And yes, back in those days, I really was a high roller.

ab348 · January 2020

Rust on a Polar White 1974 Ford product was something with which I was far too familiar given our experience with our '74 Maverick, which rusted ferociously. 1974 was a very bad year for rusty Fords. I never did hear if a cause was pinpointed, either the quality of the steel they used, improper preparation for painting, or something else.

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

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