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It's been ages since I've seen one of those, but I do remember them saying that a 1975 Dodge Dart felt more like a well-preserved 1965 car than a brand-new model. But, with the direction the new cars were starting to go, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing!
I also remember them testing a LeMans coupe, either a 1976 or 1977, and mentioning how comfortable the seats were.
But yeah, back in those days, I'm convinced that if Consumer Reports had their way, the entire country would have been driving around in something akin to a used AMC American. They tested a '66 Toronado, and hated everything about it. Too big, too fast, too space-inefficient, too fuel-thirsty, etc. Although I think some of their gripes were legitimate. I believe those early Toros ate brakes and front tires pretty regularly? And they had low ground clearance, so it was easy to rip the oil pan? Or maybe that was "IsellHondas" who had said that, once?
Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport; 2020 C43; 2021 Sahara 4xe 1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica Wife's: 2015 X1 xDrive28i Son's: 2009 328i; 2018 330i xDrive
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2015 Subaru Outback 3.6R / 2014 MINI Countryman S ALL4
I think they sold about 30 of them, and 20 of them were in WA state, the rest were in MA (I think one of the Car Talk guys had a thing for them too). I'll admit I kind of liked those upon introduction, as they seemed to foreign and JDM - anything weird = cool back then.
I want to say there were some models available with AWD, though they weren't a "thing" back then.
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2015 Subaru Outback 3.6R / 2014 MINI Countryman S ALL4
90s cars are becoming vintage now, fun.
2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech, 2006 Acura TL w/nav
2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve
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Like this
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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.
I also remember my mom test driving an Eagle Vision, maybe a demo or something as it seemed nearly new.
It was really loaded with moonroof, leather, etc. This was when Eagle was known to be on the way out, and the indy mechanic she patronized told her to keep away from a future orphan, I think.
Speaking of 90s cars, I've had a love-hate-love relationship with W140s (90s S-class) - loved them when new, then hated them as they developed a bad image, but now that nice ones are rare and they kind of represent the end of an era, I am fond of them again.
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I remember how upset all the then "old" folk were about Elvis Presley and his hip motions. Then he was on Ed Sullivan Show and they kept the camera waist and above. LOL Those folks would be scandalized by today's acceptable behaviors.
My wife hates the 50's XM channel. I tell her it's the only one where you can understand the words in most of the songs, except for some Country Music today...
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Regarding music today, I don't listen to a lot of it either, save for electronic music, but I don't bemoan it. Time moves on, and nobody forces it on me. Makes me think of when my uncle complains with the "kids today" type of line, and I remind him that the old fuddy duddy set said the same about his demographic 50+ years ago. Time moves on, focus on enjoying what you like.
I think one of the influences was that when I was in my teens I was a big baseball fan, and liked to listen to distant AM radio for game broadcasts. One of the stations was WNEW in NYC which carried Mets games in the mid-70s. I loved listening to Lindsay Nelson, Ralph Kiner and Bob Murphy do the games, and when they were on the west coast I would often fall asleep before the game ended. I can't tell you how many times I was awakened an hour or so later by this, when the game was over and WNEW went to this show, with this theme song blasting out of the speaker:
https://youtu.be/R_XVRVUtjkg
I took to listening to WNEW at night sometimes just for the music. Learned about a lot of stuff there I had never heard before.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
Notice I said 45 rpm albums... IIRC sets of 3 records in a multibox.
https://youtu.be/UEaAc6pCJ3E
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
'61 Desoto?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hV0jnePT9E
I too took a liking to some jazz/swing/big band music when I was young, especially when played on a period recording on a period machine, My parents were hobbyist antique dealers, and I had little problem sourcing a vintage radio or record player - I had a small hoard of the former that were sold off at a yard sale when I was a student.
On the road today, an early Spridget and a W123 300D Turbo, with a proper amount of smoke.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Look at the front end on that thing! I'd forgotten how bad that was. And the rear is not much
better. Desoto had so many great, flamboyant cars, but this is a mistake.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Which reminds me--I see the Hershey show is now Friday and Saturday, per my friend with the Riv, anyway. We booked a night (Fri.) at the Hershey Lodge, as the rate was $199 for AACA members (which he is). I'm so bored with what's going on, I'm pretty sure I'm back to going there.
I know Les was first, of course.
IIRC in later years Les Brown and His Band of Renown was the house band for the 1960s Dean Martin Show on NBC.
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And, the Honda CR-V looked like it was trying to channel the '61 DeSoto for a few years...
The way the headlights and grille slant into each other makes me think of the DeSoto, plus that upper, separate bulge...Just pop that plastic "H" and assorted trim, and put in some metal mesh and "D E S O T O" lettering, and there ya go
I actually think the DeSoto looks good from most angles. From the side, it doesn't look that different from a '57-58 DeSoto/Chrysler (at least, the 126" wb cars), just with crisper sculpting. The front-end makes me think a bit of a '58-60 Lincoln, just with a second upper grille added on to fill that spot that would otherwise be the top of the trapezoidal grille on a '61 Chrysler.
The '61 DeSoto, and Chrysler, seemed like a big step backwards from the '60 though, in my opinion. I thought the '60 seemed really crisp, clean, and up to date, style wise. And even though fins were starting to lose their charm by '60, they still wore them well. But then, something about the '61's seemed like a step backward, style wise. I think it was the flat (except for a raised section in the center) hoodline, fairly squared-off front, and low-mounted headlights that made them look modern. But the '61's went back to that look where there was the suggestion of separation between the hood and fender line, with fenders being a bit rounded on top, and the upper headlights being back to about where they were on the older cars, that made them look a bit retrograde.
But, by this time, I think they wanted to just get DeSoto out the door and done with, as quickly and with as little fuss as possible.
Kinda makes you wonder too, how much money they would have saved if they simply wrapped up DeSoto after 1960, and not even bothered with a '61? Similar to the '60 Edsel...actually Edsel might have been worse, because they offered a full range of body styles for their abbreviated year. DeSoto just offered the hardtop coupe and hardtop sedan.
I find the '61 DeSoto interesting for its rarity.
The guy who restored my '63 Lark Daytona Skytop in the early nineties (amazingly, I was just IM'ing him), still has his grandmother's '60 DeSoto four-door sedan, in a metallic salmon-y color with white painted top. Nice, original car I remember looking at back then.
For special order claims, show me a build sheet/invoice etc backing up the claim. Otherwise, a cool story.
Fintail has an odd "special order" item - the first service on the car was requested to occur at the factory, kind of a factory break-in period, I guess. This was something that could be specified then. I can back it up, as the code for this request is on the data card, and I have the original service booklet, which indeed shows the first service performed at the factory.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Driving up my street on the weekend, a '66 Beaumont Sport Deluxe, very loud and low, resto-modded, looked a lot like this one except for an unfortunate choice of a bright non-metallic medium blue paint.
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2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
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That Beaumont nose job was nonclassical in any color/wheel combo compared to the real thing.
edit to add Just my opinion.
2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve
BTW, long story short, I sold our old PT Cruiser to a shade-tree mechanic friend an hour away, for the cost of the local shop's diagnosis that I should take it to a dealer, the no-start condition was probably due to a computer. He got the car starting every time (cleaning/replacing some grounds), cleaned it up, and put it on eBay. He got $1,075. We bought it ten years ago for $6,930, and put 92.5K miles on it. It was worth what we paid for it for sure. It came back to us when our daughter got an Equinox three years ago. We live at a busy corner and her old friends used to message her "Are you living back home again?" and/or "Are your parents OK?", LOL.
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