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I liked the inset gauges with conical lens covers which don't give bad reflections like some other cars do with a flat IP.
My dad's car was a 4 door, white on white, 289/3 on the tree, manual steering, manual brakes, dog dish hubcaps, no other options come to mind other than the Philco AM radio, which was maybe the fanciest option aside from the V8.
2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve
Those Torino pics are interesting as I had forgotten or never knew that Ford changed the instruments from white-on-black to black-on-silver. Our '78 Grand LeMans growing up and then my '79 Park Avenue both had black on silver instruments. They looked great cosmetically, but at night they were more difficult to read for some reason, especially in the LeMans.
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My parents' '80 Monte Carlo, and my '81, both bought new, had large analog clocks as big as the speedometer, in the same cluster. I don't remember issues with either. My parents' '84 Monte Carlo, which I really liked, did not come standard with a clock so had a blank space as big as the speedometer--out of only two large circular pods. I hated that aspect. My Dad bought a cheap digital clock and somehow stuck it in a blank place on the concave right 1/3 of that panel.
My '82 Monte Carlo, bought as a demo in Nov. '82 after my '81 was stolen, said "Quartz" on the clock, but I actually remember that clock losing time by the time I traded it in summer '85 for the Celebrity Eurosport I ordered.
Drew zero discussion here (versus about 200 comments on the Facebook page where the owner posted, LOL), but page back up and look at how large the circular instrument pods were on the '67 big Chevys, to me the best full-size Chevy panel, ever, and I liked how they were behind a clear cover. But with no clock that would've looked ridiculous. The gas gauge was as big as the speedometer. Any smaller gauges, optional, were in the small circles outside the three huge ones.
All four of the Studebakers I owned ('63, '64, and two '66's) had generally the same instrument cluster, with three large circular instruments. All my cars had factory clocks, but when they didn't come with one, the pod said "Studebaker Corporation"--'Studebaker around the top, and 'Corporation' around the bottom. I thought it was goofy they'd have used the word 'Corporation' there. If you got a tach, you couldn't get a clock, and vice-versa.
EDIT: Now that I think about it, my '63 had a tach, no clock.
Did '69 Fords have the locking column with ignition switch on the side of the steering column? I can't recall.
2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech, 2006 Acura TL w/nav
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
As for locking steering columns and gearshifts, I want to say that the feds were going to require it for 1970, but in a rare move for a domestic, instead of fighting it, GM was proactive and made them standard in all of their '69's (except for the Corvair).
Did the Corvair run a full model year for '69, or was it cut short? Often in those days, when the feds would enact a new regulation, it would take effect on January 1 of a given year, rather than the start of the model year. That's why we ended up with anomalies like the "1970.5" Falcon. The proper 1966-70 Falcon would not pass the side impact regs that kicked in on January 1, 1970, and a 4-door Maverick wasn't ready yet, so they just used a stripped down version of the Fairlane as a stopgap.
Headrests were similar, with the requirement kicking in on 1/1/1969, so theoretically there would be some '69 model year cars that didn't have them. I don't think I've ever seen one though, so I'd imagine most of them were just made standard at the beginning of the model year.
The requirement for shoulder belts was 1/1/1968, with the exception of convertibles. And, I wouldn't be surprised if pickups didn't get a pass, as well. One thing I'm curious about though, did the shoulder belt requirement ever get rolled back? At the Ford show in Carlisle PA this past summer, there was one or two Pintos that didn't have shoulder belts. I asked about it, wondering if the belts had simply been removed, but one of the owners said his car just wasn't ordered with them.
I liked the '66-69 Falcons sooooo much better than the Maverick that replaced it! I think the coupes are even a bit 'jaunty'--long-hood, short deck, stylish quarter windows.
Head restraints, on GM cars, even the Corvair, were standard at the beginning of the '69 model year.
I'm doubtful that a Pinto could be ordered without shoulder belts, as if they were an option, but I'm not certain. I can't ever recall a safety feature being optional equipment, at least once seat belts became standard equipment in everything in the mid-sixties. Funny, the build sheet for my '66 Studebaker does say "Omit Rear Belts", now that I think about it. But Studebaker never seemed to do stuff like the big guys, LOL.
I'm thinking if GM had shoulder belts, it would've been required by the government at some point in that model year. Pretty sure if one sees a car in the '70's without them, they'd have been removed. Or...maybe that Pinto was sold in the Canadian market? Who knows?
Since my reference point in those days is GM, I always remember seeing shoulder belts folded neatly above the front side windows on cars, never being used, even when looking at several-year-old cars.
Were you at Carlisle these past few days?
It has the 1966-only style Studebaker radio, which I believe the dealer installed some time between when the car was built in Nov. and when it was sold in April, which was a month after production ended completely. The folks who bought it new traded in a '53 Studebaker on it.
2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve
http://blacktieclassics.com/
Most of the inventory must be aging as they sit outside.
For example this Monte has the interior literally crumbling and dropping onto the seats.
http://blacktieclassics.com/inventory/?VID=638909
This Catalina must have water getting in as the top edge of the windshield disintegrated right onto the front seats.
http://blacktieclassics.com/inventory/?VID=10870458
This was open, very clean inside. Exterior could be saved, shiny but some bubbles.
http://blacktieclassics.com/inventory/?VID=281770
I kinda liked this one, but was sagging really bad. It also has an 88 rear light panel, but that could be a thing as I’ve seen other 87s that way which can’t be a coincidence.
http://blacktieclassics.com/inventory/?VID=44022849
2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve
We talked about this before, but I rented an Enclave in CA last winter and liked it a lot, although that's more than I'd pay for a new vehicle. Long-been somewhat of a cheapskate. Some things are hard to change.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
There is an Avanti parked next to the black Town Car.
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We have to make a decision by Dec 7th but this pesky home purchase has my car shopping on hold at the moment!
2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve
I remember them being a L-M dealer. Back when I had spare time I used to walk their lot and the Ford dealer next door.
2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve
You had my interest piqued until I saw it was the '87 LSC, the 'stretch' one with all the 'stretch' in the back seat. Yuck! Proportions totally thrown off!
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It has factory A/C, not at all common in GM mid-sizes at the time in our general small-town, northwestern Pennsylvania rural and working-class areas.
In the '70's, at our local Chevy-Cadillac dealer in Greenville, PA, I remember seeing new Monte Carlos and the occasional Chevelle from Oshawa, although most came from Baltimore.
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Was '72 the last year they used the F-85 nameplate? Boy, it was surely largely-eclipsed by "Cutlass" for several years before that. I guess really not much different than 'Chevelle' or '300 Deluxe' being eclipsed by 'Malibu'.
For comparison, in '71 they sold 769 F-85s with the Chevy 250-6, and 3,650 with the Olds 350. In addition, they sold 1345 Cutlass Holiday hardtop coupes, 618 Cutlass Town Sedans, and 47 Cutlass wagons wit the 6-cyl. So, it's easy to see why Olds made the decision to go standard V8 all the way.
In '72, the Cutlass lineup was base (coupe/sedan/wagon), S, (coupe/hardtop coupe), and Supreme (hardtop coupe/hardtop sedan/convertible). Oh, and Vista Cruiser, which was its own series. For '73, the lineup was base (sedan/coupe), S (coupe), and Supreme (sedan/coupe). Vista Cruiser was still listed as its own separate series.
So, it looks like the F-85 just went away on its own as demand withered, rather than being absorbed into the rest of the Cutlass lineup as an extra-cheap loss leader.
I've heard that the main reason that Olds got the Omega for '73 was that dealers wanted a 6-cyl, low-end car to fill in the gap left by the F-85. Olds sold about 50,000 Omegas that first year (21K hatchbacks, 26K coupes, 13K sedans). So while it wasn't really a smash hit, I guess it wasn't a failure, either. Unfortunately, my old car book doesn't break out 6-cyl versus V8 stats for the Omega. But, using Nova production as a rough template, I'd imagine the bulk of Omegas were the V8.
2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech, 2006 Acura TL w/nav
I do recall that when my Dad bought a new Mercury in '73 the bench seat had 3 across seating but only 2 headrests. And the lovely game show buzzer/light for seat belts.
I never saw many '73 or '74 Omegas or Apollos around town, although I remember thinking how pretty the Apollo coupe in the brochure, with the chrome Buick road wheels and the optional interior that was a bit of a tuck-and-roll, looked. All were saddled with that ho-hum Nova instrument panel though.
It looks like Buick got rid of the Special nameplate quicker than Olds dropped the F-85. By '69 they were calling it "Special Deluxe", and it was offered as a coupe, sedan, wagon, and "luxury" wagon. Meanwhile the Skylark was divided into base and Custom. For '70, the Special Deluxe went away, while the Sklyark line expanded slightly to base, 350 (you had to pay extra if you wanted a 350 engine though), and Custom. Then in '72, like at Olds, the midsize went with a standard V8. Unfortunately my old car book doesn't break out Special/Skylark production into 6/V8 numbers like it did with the F-85/Cutlass, in the years I posted above.
RE.: '68 Cutlass--I think the prettiest of the GM mid-sizes that year. Although, I am intrigued by the Chevelle Concours coupe, which isn't in any piece of literature or showroom album I've ever seen, and I've looked. Product of a strike in a GM upholstery supplier, leaving only black vinyl available in most Chevy lines. The Concours was added apparently as a way to add a little variety to black vinyl only, even though the Concours coupe could only have black vinyl inside--same seating as Cutlass Supreme or Skylark Custom, depending where the Chevelle was built.
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I can't recall ever seeing an explanation of why they chose the SX moniker, but your idea sounds as plausible as any.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
I don't get the black either, but on the Concours, they would've been using Olds and Buick interiors so probably kept those to black to keep from shortages in other colors in those lines.
I can remember one '68 Concours coupe in my hometown--that light-to-medium metallic green so many '68 Chevys seemed to be. It had the Cutlass Supreme black vinyl seating, I recall that (didn't have the buttons on the seat backs the Skylark Custom had). I don't believe I've ever seen another in person. I have seen the Concours Sport Sedan in '68 an '69, rare but not almost non-existant like the coupes. The Sport Sedan is in the brochure with a panty-cloth interior. I believe the Concours coupe was added to keep sales from drifting away from the Malibu Sport Coupe being available with only one interior choice during this strike. I'm guessing the Malibu Sport Coupe may have been the best-selling Chevy after the Impala Sport Coupe.
I wonder how many people ordered, say, Malibus with some other interior than black vinyl, then they came in black vinyl.
Incidentally, I had posed the Concours interior situation to a Studebaker friend who sent me a copy of that letter--someone he had met at a show had a '68 Chevelle SS396 with the Buick Skylark Custom bucket seats in black and the guy mentioned the strike and showed him the letter. My friend asked him for a copy of the letter which he subsequently sent to me, which explains the thing I think.
http://www.oldcarbrochures.com/static/NA/Buick/1973_Buick/1973_Buick_Apollo_Folder/1973 Buick Apollo Folder-03.html
There are plenty of domestic brands that have the trim level with a name.
Dodge Durango, Citadel and Crew and Ford Fusion Sport and Titanium come to without much effort
Executive
Signature Series
Cartier
90’s Cadillac Deville Concours
2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve
2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve
Are there current Lincolns or Cadillacs with a trim-level name that is identified with a stylized nameplate on the side of the car? None I can think of, other than Buick's 'Avenir'. It wasn't "Enclave" with a small "Avenir" underneath; it was a script "Avenir" on the door. Old-skool cool IMHO.
Chevy's "Premier" on the Malibu has a little block with that in it, on the decklid.
I know that decades ago, series names were everywhere, but now they are not.