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

kyfdx · March 2020

Rambler buyers then are like Mitsubishi buyers now.. I still ask, Why?

stickguy · March 2020

I’d much rather have an S/C Rambler than a hornet. And I had a hornet!

uplanderguy · March 2020

'59 Lark VIII Regal 4-door sedan. There is one I've seen over the years just like this at Hershey in the car show. I just read that they were shorter than a '59 American, which is hard to believe. My Stude-MB dealer friend told me he had to hire a salesman in '59--instead of just him and his Dad, LOL. I much-prefer the styling of the '62 and later Larks, but I can see why these sold well...advertised as an in-between car.

https://www.mad4wheels.com/studebaker/lark-1959/car-wallpaper-333400

texases · March 2020

kyfdx said:
Rambler buyers then are like Mitsubishi buyers now.. I still ask, Why?

It’s the reclining seats!

benjaminh · March 2020

1959 Lark brochure page....

uplanderguy · March 2020

That black hardtop--I have read many times over the years that they hired tall models to make that hardtop look lower!

benjaminh · March 2020

The visibility in the Ford Falcon station wagon that my parents had when I was a kid was amazing....

stickguy · March 2020

That lark was a remarkably good looking car for 1959. Some pretty garish competition though

uplanderguy · March 2020

It's funny. Of course I grew up seeing many times the number of Big Three cars than I ever saw Studebakers. If you see enough of anything, they look normal to you. After being in Studes for over 30 years now, I'll look at some stuff Big Three now, and I think "What were they thinking?". I won't mention specifics because it'd be easy to get into a huge discussion about it and I'll pass on this, LOL! I have been enjoying these posts lately for sure though.

ab348 · March 2020

We had a Hornet and it seemed plenty roomy. I say that based upon many trips in the back seat as a teenager.

In '69/'70 a sub-$2000 base price was a big deal to the marketing types. I remember the Maverick was introduced with much ballyhoo because it was priced originally at $1995. I also remember a magazine doing a road test of a base model Duster with zero options that was priced close to that.

uplanderguy · March 2020

I remember pestering my father to take me to the unveiling of the Maverick on April 17, 1969. It had been marketed pretty heavily, and at $1,995. The shelf in place of a glovebox is something I remember vividly, as well as the humorous names of some of the colors ("Thanks Vermilion" I think was one of them).

But even then, I noticed how they seemed smaller than the Falcon they were replacing.

I rather-like the '66-69 Falcon two-doors--even they had long-hood/short-deck styling. I know the performance engines weren't there anymore, but seems like I never see them now.

A Hornet always struck me as smaller than a Nova or Valiant/Duster/Dart, as well as the American it replaced, but I really can't say based on interior space.

ab348 · March 2020

Back in the mid-70s when we had the Hornet, a neighbor had one of those Falcons, a '67 or '68 I believe. A 2-door sedan, black vinyl roof over red paint, wheel covers, whitewalls. I always thought it was a good-looking car. I imagine that with whatever small V-8 Ford offered in them they would be pretty sprightly.

uplanderguy · March 2020

I can just picture that Falcon. That seemed like a popular color combo in the model they called the "Sports Coupe".

I'd read somewhere that the Falcon wagons in those years were the same size as the Fairlane wagons, but had a Falcon front clip. One of those things that makes you ask "Why?".

I was a fan of that show "The Wonder Years", set in the late sixties in CA. They were all excited when Dad wanted to look for a new Ford. The salesman shows them the Mustang, and the music to "2001: A Space Odyssey" plays. The wife and kids are all smitten. Then Dad says "Got any Falcon wagons?" The looks on their faces, while they mouth "Falcon wagon?" was priceless.

The Dad ended up getting a '69 Custom 500 4-door sedan, not a bad choice at all.

andre1969 · March 2020

When Ford redesigned the intermediates for 1966, all Falcon models were moved to that platform, and essentially became truncated Fairlanes. The Fairlane and Falcon (and Comet) wagons were on a 113" wheelbase, I believe. Falcon 2- and 4-door sedans were on a 111" wheelbase, with hardtops and convertibles being dropped. Fairlanes and Comets were on a 116" wheelbase.

Being a truncated intermediate, rather than a true compact, probably gave the Falcon pretty good shoulder room. I can't find any measurements from that far back, but for a comparison, the Dart/Valiant usually had something like 56" through their lifespan. I was able to find external measurements. A 1966 or so Falcon was a bit stubby, at 184", overall, but a bit wide, at 73.2". For comparison, a '67-69 Dart was around 196" long, but only around 69-70" wide.

In trying to eyeball pictures of them side by side, it looks like Ford just did that common GM trick of moving the rear axle further back, again making it more noticeable on 4-door models, but also lengthening the rear wheel opening, perhaps to disguise it a bit. So I wonder if a Falcon and a Fairlane/Comet actually had the same amount of passenger volume? My guess is shoulder room and headroom (in the sedans at least) would be the same. And if they just made that extra wheelbase wasted space, then either the Falcon must be one helluva a roomy compact, or the Fairlane is one helluva cramped midsize!

When the Maverick came out, it definitely looked smaller than the Falcon to me, although considering how stubby the Falcon was, I think the 2-door Maverick was still close in size. And I believe the 4-door Maverick was actually bigger! But, just something about the Maverick's style makes it looks small, to me. Style-wise, it just looks closer to cars like a Pinto or Vega to me than compacts like a Dart, Valiant, or Nova, that typically tried to look like bigger, more substantial cars.

fintail · March 2020

I quite like those, but I much prefer them with the rear side window not covered with louvers etc:

One of these showed up on CL a few years ago in very nice condition, and fairly cheap. I had to resist temptation.

I do have an old diecast example:

xwesx said:

Wow. That photo brought up some memories! My mother had two of those, both manuals, at the same time. One was blue, the other was silver. My my my.

fintail · March 2020

Rambler did make it into pop culture - Beep Beep!

My politically Ike/Nixon grandfather, not exactly a counter-culture guy, had a Beetle as a company car for some time. Apparently he liked it due to low running costs. He also had a couple of Toyotas of the era that he had no issue with.

uplanderguy said:
I don't have specifics as to year or dollar amount, but I remember Rambler Americans being advertised at nearly-Beetle prices in ads, and I've made my share of goofs on Ramblers, but certainly more car for the money, and American-built.

Of course, it was nerdy and didn't have the counter-culture 'cool' of a Beetle, but that stuff means less to me the older I am, LOL. I've become my Dad.

fintail · March 2020

Seeing how the Civic (along with everything else) has bloated, I suspect it is closer in size to a mid 60s Fairlane, and probably weighs as much as a Galaxie.

Falcon wagons are decent looking cars, with the wraparound rear glass.

If we're going to go for 1960 as another "pick a car" year, I'd have a few choices then too, Ford included.

benjaminh said:
For model year 1960 the Ford Falcon a good deal for the money. And I actually like the styling of it. Ford advertised it by saying, more or less, "this is a real car! It's small and simple, but it's not some foreign, rear-engined, air-cooled freak. And there are 6000 Ford dealers coast to coast where you can get it serviced."

I wonder if the original Ford Falcon is smaller than today's Civic.

The car my family had when I was very little was a white 1960 Ford Falcon station wagon, which was surprisingly roomy, and actually ok for reliability if my childhood memory serves. We had it until 1970, when my parents got a slightly used 1969 VW Bus.

uplanderguy · March 2020

I mentioned this elsewhere once, and I know about stories like your grandfather's, and about guys who were at Pearl Harbor buying Toyotas, etc., but I think this is hilarious, and I knew guys I could see saying something like this.

My friend's Dad and his brother bought a Ford/Mercury dealership in Illinois in 1964. The Dad was the sales end; the uncle was the Service Manager.

In '65, the Toyota road man came by to see if they wanted to handle Toyota. My friend's Dad said "I don't make any decisions without my brother's approval", so he called his brother up front. His brother was a veteran of the Pacific theater and of course had personally seen and participated in some really bad stuff involving Japan.

The uncle walked around the car, opened the door, shut it, and said "Why would we want to handle a piece of **** like that?".

I laugh out loud just thinking about it.

Everybody, please spare the "well, they had the last laugh", blah blah blah, but I can just picture it.

My Dad was active duty in the Korean era, though never went there, but you couldn't have given him any car that was from a foreign manufacturer. Even British, LOL. Thirty-two years in the U.S.M.C., mostly Reserves, but retired as Sergeant Major, highest he could attain.

I think some of that has to do with living an entire life in the industrial heartland.

I know the lines are way-blurred now, but that went down the line to me, too. It's tough to do these days, and I am fully aware of being considered an anachronism by some folks, but I'm glad all opinions here, at least, are OK.

BTW, I could enjoy owning an XK-E.

ab348 · March 2020

uplanderguy said:
I mentioned this elsewhere once, and I know about stories like your grandfather's, and about guys who were at Pearl Harbor buying Toyotas, etc., but I think this is hilarious, and I knew guys I could see saying something like this.

Along those same lines, over in the Mystery Cars topic, scattered about are a number of pics from France in the 1960s. I am always surprised by the number of German cars sold there in that era. Seems there would have been more, umm, resistance.

fintail · March 2020

My grandpa of course was also a WW2 vet, served in the Pacific (Aleutians. mostly IIRC), and didn't seem to have anything against foreign cars. I think his mind saw things in pre-and-post 1945 terms. He even admired the couple MBs I owned before he passed, but I know he was leery of any car with possibly rigorous and expensive maintenance. He was fond of Chryslers, a red 1965 model being his all time favorite, I think.

A fun car memory came to mind - I remember we drove to visit my grandparents in my dad's lowish mileage 68 Fairlane, kind of a test for the car for the ~250 mile round trip. This would have been around 1993. My grandpa saw the car and said it was nice, then said something like "I thought you said it was a Falcon, those things are tin cans!", which made laugh. IIRC he also liked my dad's 60 Ford. He was something of a car guy, but mostly professionally. He worked in federal government procurement, specifically motor pool - he worked in the group who disposed of surplus vehicles (the company cars were private sector, as he kept working past his public sector retirement, didn't stop working until his early 70s, finishing up as a rental car mover like a few on these boards. He liked to keep active and get out of the house, and the money funded his horse betting and sports season tickets).

uplanderguy · March 2020

I knew a few folks who owned Beetles, and I rode several times in them, although there was no dealer nearby until "Hickory Volkswagen" opened sometimes in the late sixties about fifteen miles away.

What I mostly remember about Beetles is that in our salty-winter areas, the running boards went, and everybody knows the jokes about the heat and defrost, but when the class clown in my class told me the windshield washer ran off the air in the spare tire, I doubted him. But, he was right!

I rode with him once when he had the washer squirters aimed towards the sidewalks, to get people wet, LOL.

His Dad was a prof at the college in our town, and his Mom was a teacher at the high school.

I also remember thinking the first time I heard a hood shut on one, "That sounds like me putting the lid on our galvanized trash can"!

ab348 · March 2020

fintail said:
My grandpa saw the car and said it was nice, then said something like "I thought you said it was a Falcon, those things are tin cans!", which made laugh.

I probably told this story before but one of my earliest memories of anything car-related was when I was 4 years old. Dad had a '59 Meteor 4-door as our family car, bought new. One day it was parked at the curb in front of our house when we heard a big bang outside. Ran out front to see someone had hit it in the left rear with such force that it turned out the two cars were impact-welded together. A big crowd of people congregated to watch the tow trucks try to separate them. I remember I got a cigarette burn on my arm from a careless observer - it really hurt.

Anyway, the Meteor was at the body shop being repaired for a week or two and we got a rental car - a new Falcon, white IIRC. I remember the first evening we had it getting into it with mom and dad to go somewhere. I was curious about the new shiny car from the back seat. Before we even left the driveway, mom dismissed it by saying "This thing is tinny!". I hadn't heard that expression before given my age but knew exactly what she meant.

uplanderguy · March 2020

My parents bought a 1962 Fairlane in 1964. My sister was 13 and I was six. My Dad was also looking at a Falcon. I swear, I can remember my sister and I both goofing on that! He ended up with the Fairlane 'cause it had seat belts, which apparently were added.

I also remember my Dad liking Goldwater, and my sister and I getting "All the Way with LBJ" buttons to rib him.

uplanderguy · March 2020

Seems there would have been more, umm, resistance.

Nearly crying chuckling.

fintail · March 2020

My mom's first new car was a Beetle, and I have to imagine my grandfather gave his approval. That car has a fun story as my dad blew up the engine, and replaced it with a Porsche 912 engine, which was apparently faster but needed more work. I think my birth forced that car to go, my mom apparently driving my dad's 70 Mustang until she got the T-Bird.

Rust was never an issue here, even on those cars. When I was in college around Y2K, I remember I had a professor who was the original owner of a 1964-65 Beetle, and he drove it daily.

I think a number of WW2-era vets kind of "got over it". The world changed, and they had to as well, or they'd be stuck in a bitter hole forever. When I was a teen, a good friend's stepdad was 20+ years older than his mom, and was also a WW2 vet, who was at Normandy IIRC. I visited my friend a bit, including after the time when I got the fintail, and his stepdad really liked the old car, it'd get him telling stories of a Beetle and Dauphine he owned back in the day. No resentment at all, most gregarious guy I can imagine.

andre1969 · March 2020

The original '60 Falcon was only something like 2200-2300 lb, for a base 2- or 4-door sedan. They were on a 109.5" wheelbase, which doesn't really sound "tiny", but they were only around 181" long. Supposedly they actually were pretty well-built, when it comes to fit and finish, and they were reliable. But, they were also pretty fragile..."reliable" doesn't always equate to "durable". And if you ever have the chance to look up underneath one at a classic car show, take a look at how close that drop-in gas tank is to the rear bumper...downright scary!

When the Falcon went to the shortened Fairlane platform for '66, it did bulk up a bit, now starting around 2500 lb. In contrast, the Fairlanes started in the 2800 lb range. However, my old car book tends to average 6-cyl and V8 weights together, when production figures aren't broken out by engine size, so that could have accounted for some of the weight gain. The '60 Falcon only offered a 6-cyl, while the '66 offered 6- and V8s.

By '70, the Falcon started a bit over 2700 lb, so I guess Ford did try to beef them up a little bit?

uplanderguy · March 2020

I'm a bit foggy on this, but I think the '70 Falcon might've been sort-of like the '69 and '70 Camaro and Firebird--meaning the '69 was built into the normal '70 model year to some point. Then the Falcon became the cheapest Fairlane/Torino model as a '70 1/2. So I wonder if that's the 2700-lb. car you reference.

My last wartime remark:

When I was a kid, I was surrounded by Dads who were WWII vets. Most didn't speak about it, but when someone did, I rolled my eyes and had no interest. As an adult, I'm very interested in that period, as it is absolutely-mind-blowing to me that that stuff happened only one thin decade before I was born. I still occasionally see something in social media implying that people should still feel guilt over several things this country did in the 1800's. Ugh.
I do think, like anything, as years go by and we are farther away from the reality of something, people know about it less and/or are less interested in it, and it becomes more in the back of the mind--as it probably ought to. And that's OK.

What's the next model year?!

benjaminh · March 2020

andre1969 said:
The original '60 Falcon was only something like 2200-2300 lb, for a base 2- or 4-door sedan. They were on a 109.5" wheelbase, which doesn't really sound "tiny", but they were only around 181" long....

Just looked it up and the Civic Sedan is 182.7—and so longer than a Falcon.

thebean · March 2020

Late on the stick shift driving topic, but back in the early 70’s my father bought a Chevy Ii with 3 on the tree for my first car. He took me to a vacant parking lot and tried to teach me to drive stick. I think I caught on decently, and he told me to drive home since it was over uncrowded streets. We got to a stop sign on a mild incline, and that was my undoing. I couldn’t get it to slowly start up the incline, I stalled it a couple of times, and we started rolling back towards the car behind us. My father took over the controls, yelled at me, and we made it home. He traded the Chevy II a few days later for an El Camino with a Powerglide automatic. I never did learn to drive a stick, sadly. ☹️

uplanderguy · March 2020

Not often seen then or now, especially, but Chevy II's could be had with four-cylinders through the '70 model year.

I can remember our getting a flyer in the mail from Chevrolet corporate that said "Nova 4 Sale!". I also remember my Dad checking out a light green new '70 Nova four-door. He loved green cars. He was as thrifty as they come at the time, but even my Dad, upon seeing it was a four-cylinder and not a six, lost all interest entirely.

Chevy used to, deceptively I think, advertise that only Nova came with a "standard four, six, or eight!". Yeah, but all three were considered separate models and had increasingly-expensive base prices.

Same when they made V8 full-sizes have Turbo-Hydramatic, power steering, and power brakes "standard at no extra cost!". I remember thinking, "Sheesh, the base price is up about $400", and then I figured out why.

andre1969 · March 2020

The "1970.5" Falcon, which was a de-trimmed Fairlane/Torino, started at 3100 lb, so it was definitely a beefier car. My understanding is that side impact regulations went into effect on January 1, 1970, that the old compact Falcon could not pass. The Maverick 4-door wasn't out yet, so it wasn't a "full line" compact series yet, so to fill the gap, until the 4-door Maverick could come out, Ford offered the Torino-based Falcon. It came as a 2-door and 4-door pillared sedans and a wagon. It wasn't priced much higher, either. A 1970 Falcon 2-door started at $2390, while the 1970.5 was $2460.

For '71, the Falcon nameplate went away entirely, with the Maverick 4-door on the scene. The Fairlane also went away, although really all Ford did is fold it into the Torino lineup. Whereas the '70 lineup was Fairlane 500/Torino/Torino Brougham/Torino GT/Cobra, for '71 it was now Torino/Torino 500/Torino Brougham/Torino GT/Cobra. The '71 Torino was priced a bit higher than the '70 Fairlane had been, but that was probably because of inflation, moreso than any move upscale.

benjaminh · March 2020

When I met my future wife she was driving a white 1961 Dodge Lancer with the famous Slant Six. She inherited it from her grandmother. Looked almost exactly like this one as far as I can tell, although my wife's actually had a fire-engine red interior that I think I like better. This used one has only 8000 miles?? Very strange, but I almost have a desire to own it. But no. Don't have the money, can't get to California, don't need it, etc., etc.

http://www.2040-cars.com/Dodge/Lancer/1961-dodge-lancer-770-4-door-sedan-326176/

Imho that was a higher quality car than a Ford Falcon. I bet it cost more new too, and so perhaps not a fair comparison. But that was a solid car with a powerful engine, great visibility, and just a quality feel. It's still rusting all these years later in my brother-in-law's backyard. We had a kid, and so we needed backseat seatbelts for the baby seat. When we gave it back to him I think the car had only about 65,000 miles on it. I don't think he's started it since we gave it back to him in 1996.

Here's a 62 in a different color. Push button transmission!

uplanderguy · March 2020

At about the same time the '70 1/2 Falcon came out, priced very low for an intermediate, Chevy introduced its new base "Chevelle" series. When '70's came out, all Chevelles were Malibus.

A bit embarrassed about this now, but as a, ahem, precocious kid, whose parents owned a '67 Chevelle 300 Deluxe, I actually wrote a letter to Chevrolet Customer Service (address in owner's manual), that we as a family were disappointed in that the 300 Deluxe was discontinued (actually, I was forever angling for Dad to buy a new car). Not long afterward, the base Chevelle came out.

At the time, I liked to think my letter had something to do with it. Dad pooh-poohed that entirely, LOL. But it may have been the result of the '70 1/2 Fairlane-based Falcon. Back then, whatever Chevy did, Ford responded to, or vice-versa.

andre1969 · March 2020

uplanderguy said:
Same when they made V8 full-sizes have Turbo-Hydramatic, power steering, and power brakes "standard at no extra cost!". I remember thinking, "Sheesh, the base price is up about $400", and then I figured out why.

A similar thing happened in 1982, with the GM RWD intermediates. A 3-on-the-tree was standard on the 1981 Malibu, LeMans, Century, and the Cutlass sedan, when equipped with the base V6 (229 or 231). But for 1982, the automatic was standard. I have a feeling though, by that time power steering and brakes had been standard for awhile, though?

In the case of the Malibu, the price went from around $6600 in 1981 to $8100 in 1982! Much of that increase was also inflation.

andre1969 · March 2020

The '61 Lancer (it debuted a year after the Valiant) started at $1979 for the 2-door sedan, and $2041 for the 4-door. Meanwhile the Falcon was $1914 for the 2-door sedan and $1976 for the 4-door. So, about $62 difference.

That might sound negligible today, but adjusting for inflation, it would probably be around $500 in today's dollars. Considering how price conscious economy car buyers could be, and how soft the economy was around the '58-62 timeframe, it was probably enough to make a difference. I'd also imagine the Valiant/Lancer's styling might have put off a few buyers. It had a lot more flair to it than a Falcon, but a lot of buyers probably didn't want that kind of ostentation...it was probably too "European" for a lot of buyers' tastes!

Interestingly, the Valiant/Lancer was on a shorter wheelbase (106.5") than either the Corvair (108") or the Falcon (109.5"). But, I thought it seemed like the most substantial of the three cars.

benjaminh · March 2020

andre1969 said:
The '61 Lancer (it debuted a year after the Valiant) started at $1979 for the 2-door sedan, and $2041 for the 4-door. Meanwhile the Falcon was $1914 for the 2-door sedan and $1976 for the 4-door. So, about $62 difference.....

That's amazing. I guess Dodge was almost giving them away to compete with the Falcon. That's a really good deal for that car imho. I showed my wife the ad above and she was amazed. She said actually she had a dream about driving it a couple of months ago, including the push-button transmission, as well as needing to stomp on the non-power brakes to stop the car. It's amazing how deep cars can get into our hearts and dreams. A few times I've dreamed about the VW Bus I learned to drive on too. Here's a short video of a 1961 Dodge Lancer. Look how much room there is to work in the engine bay.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Uij6Uow5nA

kyfdx · March 2020

benjaminh said:
When I met my future wife she was driving a white 1961 Dodge Lancer with the famous Slant Six. She inherited it from her grandmother. Looked almost exactly like this one as far as I can tell, although my wife's actually had a fire-engine red interior that I think I like better. This used one has only 8000 miles?? Very strange, but I almost have a desire to own it. But no. Don't have the money, can't get to California, don't need it, etc., etc.

http://www.2040-cars.com/Dodge/Lancer/1961-dodge-lancer-770-4-door-sedan-326176/

Imho that was a higher quality car than a Ford Falcon. I bet it cost more new too, and so perhaps not a fair comparison. But that was a solid car with a powerful engine, great visibility, and just a quality feel. It's still rusting all these years later in my brother-in-law's backyard. We had a kid, and so we needed backseat seatbelts for the baby seat. When we gave it back to him I think the car had only about 65,000 miles on it. I don't think he's started it since we gave it back to him in 1996.

Here's a 62 in a different color. Push button transmission!

Holy Cow! Was your wife driving in grade school?

I thought we were close to the same age. And, my first car was a '70 model.

fintail · March 2020

Interesting that the Lancer above has Swiss plates. I recall seeing numerous old Mopars in my visits there, and the Swiss tuner Monteverdi used Mopar products as basis cars.

uplanderguy · March 2020

Maybe because it's only early spring here in NE OH, but my first thought in that pic was "they sure wear their shorts short there".

benjaminh · March 2020

kyfdx said:
....Holy Cow! Was your wife driving in grade school?

I thought we were close to the same age. And, my first car was a '70 model.

!
I'm 55 and my spouse is 56.

stickguy · March 2020

I think the key phrase in the story was "grandma's car"

kyfdx · March 2020

stickguy said:
I think the key phrase in the story was "grandma's car"

Yeah, but most grandmas aren’t driving 20 year old cars.

roadburner · March 2020

As I've said before, if the 1982 Z28 or Mustang GT had been considerably quicker, I might still be a ponycar owner. Their window of opportunity opened a bit too late. I'd still take a GT500, though.

xwesx · March 2020

thebean said:
Late on the stick shift driving topic, but back in the early 70’s my father bought a Chevy Ii with 3 on the tree for my first car. He took me to a vacant parking lot and tried to teach me to drive stick. I think I caught on decently, and he told me to drive home since it was over uncrowded streets. We got to a stop sign on a mild incline, and that was my undoing. I couldn’t get it to slowly start up the incline, I stalled it a couple of times, and we started rolling back towards the car behind us. My father took over the controls, yelled at me, and we made it home. He traded the Chevy II a few days later for an El Camino with a Powerglide automatic. I never did learn to drive a stick, sadly. ☹️

I find that story funny, yet sad. My wife has a reasonably similar story about learning to drive. She lived with a friend's family for her last year of high school, and the dad offered to teach her to drive. She wanted to learn to drive using his pickup, which was a manual. He was thrilled about her wanting to learn on it, as his own daughters showed no interest.

After one lesson, he wouldn't teach her anymore; he said she "had a heavy foot." And that was it. She didn't drive stick again until I taught her with the '69 C20.

benjaminh · March 2020

10-minute video of an owner showing off his 1963 Hawk.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=en9PpF4XgVI

roadburner · March 2020

xwesx said:

thebean said:
Late on the stick shift driving topic, but back in the early 70’s my father bought a Chevy Ii with 3 on the tree for my first car. He took me to a vacant parking lot and tried to teach me to drive stick. I think I caught on decently, and he told me to drive home since it was over uncrowded streets. We got to a stop sign on a mild incline, and that was my undoing. I couldn’t get it to slowly start up the incline, I stalled it a couple of times, and we started rolling back towards the car behind us. My father took over the controls, yelled at me, and we made it home. He traded the Chevy II a few days later for an El Camino with a Powerglide automatic. I never did learn to drive a stick, sadly. ☹️
I find that story funny, yet sad. My wife has a reasonably similar story about learning to drive. She lived with a friend's family for her last year of high school, and the dad offered to teach her to drive. She wanted to learn to drive using his pickup, which was a manual. He was thrilled about her wanting to learn on it, as his own daughters showed no interest.

After one lesson, he wouldn't teach her anymore; he said she "had a heavy foot." And that was it. She didn't drive stick again until I taught her with the '69 C20.

My first time driving a manual was when I had a summer job with the State Highway Department; the foreman told me to drive a pickup back to the garage and I wasn't about to admit I'd never driven a manual before. By the end of my tenure there I was driving-against ALL the rules of course-dump trucks, graders, rollers and water tankers.
Good times.

fintail · March 2020

Saw a W124 500E out in the rain late this afternoon.

kyfdx · March 2020

fintail said:
Saw a W124 500E out in the rain late this afternoon.

Is that the Porsche model?

fintail · March 2020

Yep that's the one.

kyfdx said:

Is that the Porsche model?

kyfdx · March 2020

fintail said:
Yep that's the one.

kyfdx said:

Is that the Porsche model?

Nice spotting

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

Comments

Helpful Tools

Most popular vehicles