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2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
I won't go so far as 'timeless', but as usual I think, simple ages the best.
Dad didn’t normally buy new cars. I can only think of three, the 76 Cutlass wagon, 76 GMC Sierra 15 4wd, and the 95 Cutlass Ciera SL II. The Ciera was the top of the line that year, all power, V6. It had two options, keyless remote and power driver seat with electric recliner. We had just moved back from Europe to rural Va in 76. He traded for the Ciera when his 85 Grand Marquis LS ac required major repair, a refrigerant leak that involved removing the dash.
2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech, 2006 Acura TL w/nav
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Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport 2020 C43 2021 Sahara 4xe 1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica
Wife's: 2015 X1 xDrive28i
Son's: 2018 330i xDrive
2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve
"Go Bears!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lt5GsfNcDzA
Never gets old.
2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve
"You're not selling a damn car here, Jerry!".
My daughter talked us into watching Wes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom" the other night. Offbeat like a Coen brothers movie. I liked it. Of course, it was set in 1965 but the main car you see again and again is a '68 Dodge Coronet wagon. Would it have been so hard to get a '65 or older? Of course the rest of my family rolls their eyes.
2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve
Movies and tv shows do annoy me sometimes, how they portray cars, crashes, and such. I love how it seems like, especially back in the 70's, every time a car had a blow out, the driver would lose control and have a horrific crash. And it's amazing how easily cars rolled over, and caught on fire back then!
FWIW, in that pilot there were three different cars that rolled over...the Grand Am, an early 70's Hornet that also had a blowout and lost control, and a Celica that David flipped over and rolled down an embankment after he got miffed changing a tire and hulked out. And every singe one caught on fire. The Celica even exploded with a fireball that would have been worthy of Dateline NBC doctoring up a '73-87 GM saddle bag truck!
Oh, also I think this might be the first time I have ever seen a Grand Am with just hubcaps, and not some kind of rally wheel...
The car I recall was like this, but I swear it was a brighter gold. I don't mind it - the A body wagon isn't bad looking. Once ubiquitous - I knew several kids who's family had one when I was in grade school. Now, they are obscure indeed:
Speaking of Fargo, when I was in college, I knew a young woman from the Philly area - she said people here, especially maybe in the location where I was closer to the border, "people here sound like they are from Fargo". I thought that was amusing, I don't hear it.
2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve
and first time in years, another guy a few houses up had his Grand National out. black of course. Looked brand new. usually I just see it in the garage wearing a cover. Not sure if brakes were sticky or he just had to get used to them because he seemed to lock them up a little and slide on some gravel at the stop sign!
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Earlier Series III car before 1986, had some storage grime but extremely clean under it. Perfect for re-enacting a Sixteen Candles scene that will always stick in my head.
Also saw a 60s Elan on the road, late run Mark VIII, E30 cabrio,
2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech, 2006 Acura TL w/nav
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
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2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
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2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
I caught the Rockford files a lot in reruns when I was older, but one episode that always stuck with me, from when I was a small kid, was one where the body of a woman was found in the trunk of a Chrysler LeBaron in a parking lot. And sure enough, here's that car!
Whomever put together the Rockford Files entry on the IMCDB sure must have had a lot of time on their hands, because that is a VERY comprehensive list!
Rockford Files was new just before my time, but I remember it in reruns. I remember hanging out with a grade school friend after school one day, and we were watching cartoons. His mother (German, and always seemed very stereotypical to me) walks in, scolds us for watching "trash" or something, and changes the channel to the Rockford Files - never will forget that.
2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech, 2006 Acura TL w/nav
No wonder kids liked hanging out at my house, my parents didn't really care so long as the police didn't show up.
On that note, my dad hated sitcoms and anything Disney.
Relating to cars, I remember my friend's dad bought one of the last boxy Town Cars in 1989. When I visited the area several years ago, I saw it parked near their house, still looking clean. I also remember his older brother had a late 70s Cutlass that my friend and I covered with water and stuffed snow into the locks during a cold spell around maybe 1989, as revenge for something.
Drove over to the nearest Chevy dealer and their inventory looked down 40-50% to me, from normal. They still had the pearlescent white new Impala Premier. I love the bright side molding and the chrome-encased side mirrors. $41K sticker, but I'd assume they're dealin'. I probably wouldn't like those rubber-band tires though. EDIT: Instead of a pic I took a short video of the car, which I can't seem to post here. No big deal.
It's weird, the things you can remember...he probably got rid of that truck back in 1986 or 87...I remember they had both it and their '85 1/2 ton Silverado concurrently for a year or two. I was at the Carlisle PA swap meet this past weekend, and saw a 3/4 ton Sierra with that same badge, and the memories came flooding back like it was just yesterday...even though I hadn't seen our particular truck in over 30 years!
Ours was sort of a burnt-orange color, with a white roof and side contrast. It had a 350, which was probably a bit over-matched in a truck that size. I remember Granddad saying it would get about 10 mpg, regardless if it was local or highway driving, and it could be totally empty, or have a camper on the back, it got about the same mpg.
On the subject of HVAC repairs in general, for some reason it seems like Ford products back then were often expensive. I had to have the heater core in my '80 Malibu replaced, back in 1989, and I remember it was around $225. The mechanic said that one of the worst cars to replace it in was anything based on the Ford Fox platform, because you had to really tear the dash apart to get to it.
And, my friend who prefers Panthers traded his '04 Crown Vic LX on an '09 Grand Marquis LS Ultimate in 2012, when it needed HVAC work. It actually still blew cold, but had some kind of short in the system where the it wouldn't stay on. It would keep turning off and on again at random times. This was during a particularly hot spell in the summer, and the car had around 230,000 miles on it anyway, so he used that as an excuse to trade. I forget how much he said it was going to cost to fix, but it was between $1-2K, and I want to say in the upper part of that range.
Honestly though, I don't know how those prices could compare to other models, so these days they might all be expensive. It's been ages since I've needed HVAC work done on a car, other than adding a little freon to the Ram or Regal. I do remember my 2000 Intrepid's a/c compressor crapped out, in early 2009, and sent shrapnel through the whole system and had to be flushed out. The compressor, a new serpentine belt for good measure, and cleaning out the system and other associated damage came out to around $1300.
I used to like blaming that car's problems on the entire world. It was a German-owned company, with a US-nameplate, built in Canada, and with a Japanese compressor!
"Well, according to the State of New York...you are!"
The original car, parked next to a lovely then-new MB W140. Also recall Kramer's car was an airbag model:
As I was driving into town along the old 2-lane highway I spotted a MG TF coming towards me, obviously restored, and a short time later a mid-80s Honda Civic sedan, quite original looking, both of which were likely vehicles kept there by the "summer people" as they are called. The Civic in particular is nonexistent in these parts due to rust which indicates this one is only used this time of year and then put away. Also an assortment of modern fun cars passed by including a couple of Miatas, a Maserati coupe, and a hyper-expensive Mercedes-Benz AMG Roadster with the DeSoto-like vertical bar grille. While US visitors are pretty much non-existent there so far this year the village still seemed somewhat active with lots of people strolling around on this pleasant day.
As I drove through the village I went past our old liquor store building which I had helped sell when we relocated to new premises. It was worth serious money because it had a large parking lot and we sold it to the village IIRC for use as a depot for their service vehicles. I don't know what happened between then and now but it is a privately owned gym facility these days. But parked out front were three interesting old vehicles, 2 Cadillacs and a ChevyPontiac:
That gave me a clue as to who might own it now for reasons that are too complicated to explain here. Just down the road from there is what I believe was a train station many, many years ago that had been converted into a garage/shop for one of the wealthy residents with an old-car habit some years ago. Today the doors were rolled up, some of the cars were parked out front, and the two fellows that worked there were standing in the shade taking a break. I stopped and asked if I could get a couple of pictures. They were most gracious and confirmed for me the owner of the cars and, I presume, the gym.
They told me that the DeSoto was just finished this past winter and the Stude pickup and Microbus a year or two before that. The '40s sedan out front was a ChryslerChevy along with the International pickup. Inside was the '56 DeSoto and a '40s Studebaker sedan along with two veteran cars, a Model A and a 1917 McLaughlin-Buick.
Inside:
Quite the collection to stumble upon!
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
I could have sworn they said that the two-door was a Chrysler. But I thought it looked too small for that, and you're correct that it's a Chevy now that I look closely at it.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech, 2006 Acura TL w/nav
2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech, 2006 Acura TL w/nav
That reminds me of one I spotted at a small town dealership in 2004 (yay for timestamps on files). This was very low mileage, and I suspect out of a funeral home - don't see many of these around. Also note the new cars on the lot in the background, along with the old gem:
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve
I think it's also pretty cool that Ford offered a variety of axle ratios in those days, plus the dual exhaust option. With GM, I think the only time I've seen dual exhaust on a B-body, is if somebody put it on aftermarket. And they'd usually get stuck with ultra-tall ratios...often a 2.56:1 with 305s and 2.73:1 with the 307, although I'm sure wagons and trailering packages got something quicker.
My 1985 Consumer Guide has a test of an LTD Crown Vic with the dual exhaust, quicker ratio, and other upgrades, and Grand Marquis with just the single exhaust. Interestingly, they're both listed at the same hp and torque...140 and 250 ft-lb, respectively as I recall. But, wouldn't it pick up a few extra hp from the dual exhaust?
One thing I remember about the 307 in my grandmother's '85 LeSabre is that the transmission seemed awfully eager to upshift, almost as if it was trying to keep it from hitting its peak power. I learned that if you shifted it manually, it was a LOT more responsive. I'm sure most automatic-transmission cars are, but the LeSabre seemed even moreso. And, once you got it to higher speeds, it seemed to catch a second wind, like it was finally hitting its peak torque in 4th gear, and there was no higher gear for it to shift to, to put the squash on that.
Years ago, at the public library, I found some kind of big reference manual full of facts and figures, and it listed the top speeds of various cars. I remember looking up 1985 specifically, and remember that the 307, in something like a LeSabre, had a higher top speed than something like a 305 in a Caprice. The 307 did have a bit more torque, 255 ft-lb, versus 245 for the 305, and the peak torque came at a lower rpm, so I don't know if that would have anything to do with it. But, I also have a feeling these top speeds were just mathematical calculations based on weight, gearing, coefficient of drag, torque curves, etc., and the calculations might not have played out the same way in real life.