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I spotted an (insert obscure car name here) classic car today! (Archived)
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Been so long since I've seen a short one, it makes me chuckle a bit. But you're right; probably not largely different in size than the models you mention.
I recall a neighbor had one of those shorty models new in ~1992, it was a very 90s "black cherry" color. It replaced a K LeBaron Turbo coupe.
That 4 cyl was so under powered in that vehicle. I'm not exaggerating and remember this well. It was a hot summer day, AC cranking,7 adults and it almost didn't make it up a steep hill.
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I'd like to ask, "What on God's green earth is making you think that?".
Sheesh. Being dumb is forgiveable; being dumb and being so certain about it, is not!
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https://barnfinds.com/clean-and-green-1973-chevrolet-camaro-with-22k-miles/
But I would still want to spruce it up. Mags, front and rear spoilers. stuff like that. Oh and front disks if it does not have them. Will never drive a front drum brake car again!
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I'd seen that Green-Gold (that's what they called it) '73 Camaro, six with 3-speed.
We had a new '73 Nova coupe, six with 3-speed on the floor. Never would leave the driveway without a stall and a restart in the morning.
The green interiors on GM's became a nice dark green for '73, as opposed to the olive-y green the year before, but it rather clashes with the Green-Gold exterior IMHO.
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2020/03/qotd-youthful-recollections-of-superbly-disappointing-automobiles/
He shares this on what I thought back in the day was probably a pretty good car....
A Dodge Dynasty was the first car my parents bought together as married people. It was a nearly new mid-range model, with plenty of power equipment, velour seats, and no vinyl roof. It also had the middle engine option, a 3.0-liter Mitsubishi V6. Do you see where this is headed? The metallic grey box was a 1988 model, the first year for the Dynasty. I was old enough to see disappointing vehicular qualities by the time it started to have issues (which didn’t take too long). The most notable craptacular experience was the time we traveled all of 20 minutes to the Northern Kentucky International Delta Hub to drop off my great aunt and uncle after a visit. It was a hot summer day, probably 90 degrees or more, and after we pulled away from the terminal the Dynasty promptly died. We weren’t yet off the grounds of the airport, which is why the nice policeman who picked us up was of the airport variety. This was the obviously best day ever for me at age six or seven, as I got to ride in a police car for the first (and only) time! He took us back to the airport jail while my mom arranged a tow truck and other things in a pre-cell phone world.
Later, the internet helped me diagnose the issue as a junky fuel pump which didn’t operate well in high temperatures — an issue endemic to the Mitsubishi engine found in the Dynasty. That first event was the beginning of a string of situations where the Dynasty would cut out in traffic situations, on ramps, or just when it was hot and the A/C was cranked. Shortly thereafter, the engine often belched blue smoke as it started to implode via compression issues. As I recall, it was about seven years old and had 80,000 miles on the odometer when my parents dumped it for a light blue 1994 Plymouth Grand Voyager. That one had a Chrysler V6 instead. The Dynasty is etched in my memory as a thoroughly bad car. What model carries that designation for you?
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Now, in the early 90's, I remember test driving a used Dynasty. Around that timeframe I also test drove a Monaco or Premier (can't remember which it was, as it's all a distant blur now), and an '86 or '87 Cutlass Supreme sedan with the 307. I remember the Premier/Monaco feeling like it was the most fun to drive. The Cutlass had a more old-fashioned feel to it, whereas the Dynasty sort of split the difference. Overall though, the Cutlass Supreme had a comfortable sort of familiarity about it, like an old friend you could depend on.
The one guy called his the "Die Nasty".
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"Mine is a 1984 Buick Skylark, which my parents purchased for $900 as a second vehicle. It was brown inside and out, equipped with the Iron Duke 4 cylinder and 4 speed manual transmission.
Let’s start with the transmission:
Fourth gear would be classified a super-overdrive, almost like the transmission was missing a couple gears between 3rd and 4th. Simply run the engine until it sounded like it was going to explode (no tach), then shift into 4th. Once in 4th, the vehicle couldn’t accelerate because the RPMS were too low and the engine didn’t have any torque.
The floor mounted shifter seemed to be pulled directly from a Ford 8N tractor, complete with 45 degree bend halfway up the shift lever. Lever travel was measured in feet, not inches.
– First gear put the shifter directly in front of the radio, blocking it’s use.
– Second gear was somewhere near the driver’s right hip.
– Third gear blocked the passenger from using the radio.
– Fourth gear was somewhere near the passenger’s left hip.
– Reverse was interesting because it was located directly in your passenger’s crotch.
The really fun part was how unstable the vehicle was when driving. It would try and spin out at every opportunity, almost like it was trying to kill itself and the occupants. However, this wasn’t predictable. The car could spin out halfway around a cloverleaf at reasonable speeds, with no change in steering angle or application of brakes or throttle."
$900? What a ripoff! LOL
I wonder if the ol' faded memory syndrome has taken effect as to the model year, as by '84 most sources seemed to agree they were a pretty decent car.
I do know this--no other car in that size and price class had that level of interior quality and space, IMHO only.
The recall for locking brakes (which folks said resulted in spinouts) was in March 1983 for earlier cars. I never heard the A-cars having that issue (introduced 1982), and they were identical underneath.
https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/plain-and-simple-1958-studebaker-scotsman
"A 1958 white 2 door Studebaker Scotsman that gave a new definition as to how cheap a cheap car can be made. Silver painted steel bumpers, grill, and hubcaps that rusted after a couple of years, a steering wheel that cracked and fell apart, driver’s side windshield wiper only, cardboard driver’s side only sun visor, no dome light, no radio, the heater was the only optional equipment, 3 on the tree, the most anemic straight 6 that I ever encountered, and rear windows that would not open. Most of the interior was cardboard including the kick panels, door panels, and the cheapest vinyl and supposed cloth on seats that I have yet to see replicated on any car since then. The acceleration made an old Datsun 210 with an automatic look like a hot rod. One of my brother sanded and repainted the hubcaps and grill gold and my father took the first $200 for the a car that was barely 3 years old. My father ordered a new 4 door 1962 Roman Red Chevy II 300 with a red interior, Powerglide, and AM radio in Sept. of 1961. We got the Chevy II just before Thanksgiving and it was like a luxury car compared to the Studebaker. During 1957 and 1958 the Studebaker Scotsman was one of the cheapest new cars you could buy well below 2k and it definitely showed it was cheap in more than just price. It was an ugly car as well and one that we soon forgot."
Mine is certainly without question my 93 Taurus LX 3.8. I know Taurus' were hit or miss but the 3.8's were really bad.
I had it for about three years from 45K miles to just under 100K. Thank goodness I bought the extended warranty. It's been awhile but here is the highlights of repairs and things wrong on trade in.
Head Gasket with head resurface
Tie rods (twice)
Misc Sensors; at one point it would only idle at 1500 RPM
It leaked everything
AC only worked on defrost
Transmission was really slow to shift and if you floored the gas it would bounce off the rev limiter a few times before 3rd engaged. 4th gear was if it felt like it.
Both power seats died
Moonroof leaked
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I could enjoy a Scotsman two-door wagon as a novelty, but no thanks on either of the sedans.
I question the veracity of the "driver's side windshield wiper only" comment; I will check on that. Ah, memory!
EDIT: That story is wrong. They had vacuum wipers, with electric optional (standard on all other Studebaker models, even trucks).
They sold so well that Studebaker actually introduced a Scotsman pickup the next year, super-low-price.
My dealer friend told me he sold five Scotsman sedans to the Bessemer and Lake Erie railroad as Company cars in '57 or '58. He said the execs there weren't very enamored, LOL. But he was about 200 feet from their Corporate office which probably helped in the sale. He also sold several new '62 Larks (a much-nicer car IMHO) to the railroad.
I would say my worst car was my '85 Celebrity Eurosport, the only car I ever ordered. I didn't want the four-speed automatic but was forced to order it, late in the year (CAFE?). At 37K it had neither 3rd or 4th gear. At that time the powertrain warranty was 2/24, but my dealer put in a remanufactured unit for $100 (deductible) and it was fine until I sold it at 61K and bought my '89 Beretta GT. Other than it was boxy, the Celebrity was a fun car to drive; had the 2.8 MPI V6 and Goodyear Eagle tires on aluminum wheels.
My parents' worse car, in my memory, was their '62 Ford Fairlane, the car that made Dad swear off Fords forever. I remember it was the only car they had that would just randomly stop running.
The worst-assembled new car they had was the '73 Nova. Dad hated the Chevelle that year. The Nova looked nice--a coupe, Rally Wheels, whitewalls, Exterior Decor Group (body side moldings and bright metal around the door and quarter window frames), AM radio, and optional floor-shifter for the 3-speed ($26). No power steering, drum brakes, rubber on the floor. It did have all-vinyl interior door panels, LOL. But there was probably almost a half-inch gap where the right half of the instrument panel met the A-pillar; it leaked water in the trunk via the taillights (common on this model year), leaked water onto the driver's floor; a ring of some sort was missing in the 3-speed trans which resulted in grinding (was replaced under warranty).
But....the bottom of the sticker, including destination, was $2,625.00. Almost impossible to believe.
In Aug. '74 a lady in a '71 Delta 88 pulled away from the curb and hit us hard in the right side. Dad traded on a '74 Impala Sport Coupe, new. He didn't want a '75, just trickling in, as he didn't want unleaded fuel only.
Our full-size Chevys seemed our best-assembled. My Stude friend, who attended GM technical school in the late sixties, so much as said his instructors said GM was most proud of the full-size cars. It does make you wonder when the brochures for the big Chevys would often just say (model year) "Chevrolet" on them.
For fifteen years I worked with an older guy who always said his '64 Rambler Classic was his best car (purchased new). I have heard other older folks say they enjoyed their Ramblers. This same guy said his worst car was his new '77 Toyota Corolla. He heard all the positive press, but he said, like our old Fairlane, it would just stop running and he worked about 35 miles from home. His dealer was not helpful. He traded on a new '81 Escort wagon which I remember well.
They had vacuum wipers, but electric was optional (standard on all other Studebakers, even trucks, that year). This reminds me that I remain amazed that 1956 Packards had vacuum wipers when even 1956 Studebaker trucks had electric.
I wouldn't want to be quoted on this, but I think I had read/heard that AMC models had vacuum wipers until 1970!
After a half-hour of the woman in the car trying to convince me to go to a bluegrass festival with her (no chance) a Dynasty pulled up from the rental company. Transferred my stuff into it and got out of there. The difference in driving experience from the Taurus was remarkable. Much softer, didn't handle at all, more plush inside but felt narrower and closed-in. Didn't like it at all.
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Just look at the dashboard design. Ford was light years better.
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You were a player!
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My uncle had an early 86 car with a 3.0. I was in the car when the transmission went out, but it had maybe 150K on it then. I also remember passing 100 mph in both cars (deserted roads, of course).
Amazing cars design-wise though. The original Taurus is still striking compared to anything in the segment then, and the 92 facelift sharpened it up and kept it relevant. That's also when they really became fleet queens though, I remember there were even jokes about Taurus rentals.
That Nissan and our 1992 legacy wagon were the 2 that never had to visit the dealer for anything.
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My mom has had her current Camry since 09, hasn't needed anything other than scheduled maintenance, but the AC is now kind of lukewarm. I think it has no more than 80K on it, so it will last forever, miles accumulating faster now that my brother is using it to commute, I suspect she'll give it to him and get a Corolla/Camry/RAV4 maybe as her final car, as in another 15 years she probably won't want to drive anymore.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
I’m pretty sure Ford was the only make doing green interior in the 90s
There is a guy on the Panther forums that has a 95 ish MGM creme over the willow green interior. That had to be a special order. I can’t imagine any dealer stocking that.
As for patterned seats? My Stepdad had a Gen 1 Neon (one of the very first ones sold by the dealer). It was white, white hubcaps and dotted interior. What a site. The running joke in the house at the time was which car was at the dealer more (my Taurus or the Neon). The 92 Caravan and Century were pretty much indestructible.
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Early cars can be found in very period correct blues, kind of tealy, which would be fun with either interior.
Here's an example of a busy ovoid Taurus interior:
My mom's 93 was white on blue, which I called a "government fleet" combo - but I like blue interiors. The upholstery was a typical somewhat plush velour of the era - not mouse fur, but not velvet.
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My girlfriend (now wife) bought a new Cutlass Supreme coupe in 1980, her pride and joy. The silver paint oxidized quickly, especially on the trunk. We ended up trading it for a '84 Jeep Cherokee when we moved to Anchorage.
My grandmother's '85 LeSabre was dark gray. It held up better, but it also stayed garaged for maybe the first 10 years of its life. It was fading on the hood, and to a lesser degree on the trunk as it aged We got rid of it in 2002, and it was just getting its first blemish of rust. The rear bumper was starting to rust, and it was making the chrome plating bubble up.
In contrast, my Granddad's '85 Silverado, which was a non-metallic red, would still shine up pretty nice with a wax. Towards the end of its tenure with me though, I do remember that if you wiped snow off the hood, it would pick up a reddish hue! The guy who bought it from me in 2017 waxed it up some and hit some of the rusty spots with spray paint, and it actually looked tolerable. I'd imagine that poor thing got junked by now though. I heard the guy was driving it around on antique tags for awhile, but then lost his insurance, didn't turn in the tags, and got some fines levied against it. He was living in a house with 4 or 5 other people in a town nearby, and keeping it in the driveway. They lost the house some time last year, and I'd imagine he wasn't able to hold onto the truck.
My '82 Cutlass Supreme, which was light Jadestone, was a bit faded on the hood, roof, and trunk by the time I got it in 1993. I was able to buff it out somewhat.
I remember my dad's red 60 Ford would look amazing when freshly waxed, but would oxidize in no time.
When we got our first GM that had 4 speeds instead of 3, the service manager said the reason the
Plymouth vans had high failures was overheating. He said that running at low engine RPMs locked
up in 4th gear at let's say 45 mph didn't pump the transmission fluid fast enough to cool parts. He suggested
keeping the our transmission in 3rd to keep the RPMs of the pump higher in that suburban type of driving.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
My Mom's Caravan was a three speed, probably why it was trouble free.
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I've heard that by around 1996, they got most of the kinks worked out of that transmission, but I don't think it ever was fully fixed. I've suspected that in later years, they designed it to somehow "lose" some of that horsepower, between the engine and the drive wheels, in order to save itself. In later years, it seemed like it was okay in lighter cars and the smaller-displacement engines, but where it would still fail was in larger, heavier vehicles with torquier engines. Meaning mostly the minivans. Now the 3.5 that went in Intrepid R/Ts and 300Ms was fairly torquey, but you had to rev the snot out of it to get to that torque level. And the OHC engines, like the 2.7 in my old Intrepid, and the 3.2 and 3.5, were pretty peaky. They didn't have nice, broad torque curves like the older OHV engines. I did learn with my Intrepid, that if I tried to keep the rpms around 4800, it would take off more quickly, as it stayed in its peak torque range longer, I guess. But if I simply stomped it, once it got to around 6,000 rpm it would upshift almost instantly.
FWIW, the Mopar 2.7 V6 also had a reputation for sludging. But, I've also heard that you had to basically abuse the hell out of it to get it to do that. Overheat it, let it run low on oil on a regular basis, go too long between oil changes, and all that fun stuff. I was pretty good on keeping up with it, although sometimes I did go a bit too long between oil changes. And once I did let it get down to about two quarts, which was enough to make the oil light come on if I stopped too quickly or took a turn too fast. Still, I got it to around 150,000 miles with no engine or transmission trouble. Then someone pulled a hit and run on it while it was unattended in a parking lot.
I've often wondered too, how much those long service intervals played in the downfall of some of those transmissions? IIRC, the Intrepid called for changes every 100,000 miles on the regular schedule, or 50,000 on "Severe service". And going back even further, when GM first came out with that lightweight THM200C transmission, they actually called for 100,000 mile intervals on that!
I'd imagine nowadays, with improvements in transmissions and the fluids, those longer intervals are more realistic. But, back in the era of the THM200 and Mopar Ultradrive, I think they were a bit optimistic.
When I moved my daughter to CA last August, I had rented a small Korean SUV, and she drove her '15 Cruze LS with her (Ohio) boyfriend along. It was hot-hot-hot much of the way. She traded off riding with him driving in her car, or riding with me. The third day her boyfriend said, "Her car will do 100", LOL.
I do think in a small town like ours, people bought the dealer almost as much as the car.