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

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Comments

  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,092
    edited October 2020
    Yep, that pic of the wagon is the one that created the need for the 69 Ford. I know cars aged fast then, but c'mon B)

    On a car forum I frequent, this was found in a junkyard I think in the Maritimes - an Iraqi Taxi:

    image

    image
  • ab348ab348 Member Posts: 19,027
    An Iraqibu! Rare birds these days.

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  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,652
    That's the shade of blue my '80 Malibu coupe was. When I wrecked it, Granddad and I went to the junkyard and, luckily, found an '81 that was the same color, so no repainting required!
  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,055
    I plainly remember two 3-speed (floor-shift) new '78 Malibu wagons at our local dealer. I know the story of the Iraquibus, but it reminded me. Both the wagons were the light-to-medium metallic green. One was $4,787 (why I remember that, I don't know), and the other, ordered by a customer, was $5600-something. It had Rally Wheels, the round instrument cluster with full instrumentation, AM-FM radio, and a bunch of other smallish options. I remember our salesman telling me about the latter car, "He ordered it and was tickled when he saw it had a floor shift".
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  • ab348ab348 Member Posts: 19,027
    On the subject of the downsized A-bodies, Hemmings Auctions offers this:

    https://www.hemmings.com/auction/1978-oldsmobile-cutlass-supreme

    Rare to find in this sort of condition these days for sure, but I don't find this particularly appealing, especially with the worthless 260 V-8.

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  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,055
    The seating and dash are still so nice on that car!

    I hate the aftermarket wheelcovers, easily-remedied of course.

    Just to be different, I'd probably like it better if it were a Salon.
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  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,055
    Huge deja vu, seen today sitting in outside storage at the place I keep my Studebaker (inside) over winter.

    Two of my high school friends had these new--'75 with V8. I was very envious. At the time I loved the styling, and they were a late launch in my memory--our dealer didn't get one at all until Feb. '75. By the end of the model year they seemed to be cranking them out. Later ones were better cars, but as usual IMO, the small details of the first year were the best-looking.

    This car has the factory optional aluminum wheels, rarely seen. It's a four-speed too, with the tall trans hump the '75's had.

    Those sport mirrors looked nice but were useless with those teardrop door windows in my memory--too low to be useful.

    I bet I haven't seen one at all in 30 years around here, and this one's seen better days to say the least.


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  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,652
    It's definitely seen better days, but I bet that Monza was really striking when new, especially in that shade of green. When I was a kid, I liked them a lot. When Mom was looking to replace her '75 LeMans, I tried to sway her towards a Monza. One reason though, is I had gotten a Matchbox racecar set for Christmas in '79, and one of the race cars was a blue Chevy Monza, that I thought looked real cool. I'm sure the street version would have been a letdown in comparison!

    I know they had their issues, and in general, the bigger the engine, the more troubleprone they were. But, they were certainly lookers for the era, and showed that small cars didn't have to look ugly or downscale.
  • omarmanomarman Member Posts: 2,702
    There can't be many of these California Monza's with the factory 5.7 liter left on the road now.

    image



    A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing.
  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,055
    edited November 2020
    Yes, it would be nice to have the 350 California '75 Monza now, for sure...at least to me.

    One thing the Monza had over the '75 Mustang V8 was that it was available with a four-speed.

    The '75 base price was $3,900-something, I remember that....supposedly $300 more than a base Camaro. I have to say I like the Monza better, now and back then. I thought I was a sophisticated teenager then (LOL), and the Camaro and Corvette both seemed too mainstream-teen to me, LOL.

    My one friend's new '75 was orange with saddle cloth interior, and the others was red with sandalwood vinyl interior. I am no longer in touch with the latter but as of a decade ago he still owned it, in storage, with I think 35K miles and it looked new. He added white-lettered tires and the factory aluminum wheels to it.

    Gotta say, the later-introduced Monza Towne Coupe never did a thing for me.

    Not that you buy a car like a Monza 2+2 for this, but I'd be hard-pressed to think of a car that had a more-cramped interior at the time, LOL.
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  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,652
    edited November 2020
    I have a bunch of old Road & Track magazines and other assorted magazines from the 70's. One of them has a comparison test between a '75 Monza 2+2 and a Mustang II. I just went to go look at it...unfortunately the one they tested was the 4.3 V-8, with 110 hp and (eek) 150 ft-lb of torque, and the automatic. 0-60 was 13.4 seconds. Looking at the gear ratios, it looks like the transmission was the lightweight THM200 (2.74:1 first gear, whereas the THM350 was 2.52:1 and the THM400 was 2.48:1, I believe).

    I wonder what kind of performance they got out of the 350? You'd think in a car that small, it would be pretty quick. But, I think they choked it down to 125 hp when they put it in the Monza. I'd imagine it was still pretty torquey, though? The car was also no lightweight. The one in my R&T was listed at ~3200 lb curb weight, and ~3500 lb test weight (with driver and test equipment, I'm guessing?)

    As for hatchback versus Town Coupe, with most cars I'd probably prefer a more formal roof, but the Town Coupe just never did it for me, either. I don't like the front-end with the round headlights. But, when they put the racier quad headlight front-end on the notchback, I don't think it looks right, either.

    I think the Pontiac Sunbird looks fine either in notchback or hatchback, though. It may be because the Sunbird's nose strikes a good balance, being more rakish than the round-headlight Monza, but not as extreme as the quad headlight version.

    **Edit: Well damn if someone didn't scan the actual road test in, and post it on the interwebs! :)
  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,055
    edited November 2020
    That orange 2+2 is just like my buddy's was, but his had white-stripe tires instead of white-lettered.

    I always thought the front-end styling of the 2+2 was its sharpest styling feature.

    '75 Monzas were only built at the small Ste. Therese, Quebec plant, not alongside Vegas at Lordstown. I remember a PM Owner's Survey on the cars that showed surprising positive responses about workmanship on the cars, although I think I remember that it was a pretty early survey.
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  • ab348ab348 Member Posts: 19,027
    andre1969 said:

    Looking at the gear ratios, it looks like the transmission was the lightweight THM200 (2.74:1 first gear, whereas the THM350 was 2.52:1 and the THM400 was 2.48:1, I believe).

    THM200 didn't get released until 1976. Sure that test wasn't of a '76 model?

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  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,652
    The old/obscure car sightings out "in the wild" have been pretty few and far between for me lately, especially with working from home these days. But, when I went out to the grocery store yesterday, I spotted this in the parking lot at Shoppers Food Warehouse...



    When GM redid the Bonneville/88/LeSabre for 1992, they really didn't do a whole lot for me. While they were at least more distinct from each other than the '91 and earlier models had been, the LeSabre, suddenly seemed like an old people's car, while the Bonneville was trying too hard for that boy racer look. The Olds 88 though, I thought, struck a happy middle ground between the two.
  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,055
    edited November 2020
    I believe the THM350 was used in Monzas in '75 at least, if not later. In fact, I think they weren't used on a V8 until '77.
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  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,055
    I liked the big round wheel openings on the Eighty-Eight.

    I did like the rear of the Bonneville, as it reminded me of the Avanti (tucked in at the bottom)--although whatever year the taillights became big scowls, turned me off.
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  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,652

    I believe the THM350 was used in Monzas in '75 at least, if not later. In fact, I think they weren't used on a V8 until '77.

    Hmm. I wonder if the THM200 with the 4.3 was a 1975-only thing? I just checked automobile-catalog, and for '75 the 4 cyl and the 350 both use the THM350 (at least, going by the 2.52:1 first gear). And for '76, the 4-cyl, 4.3, and 305 are all showing the THM350.

    My first inclination would be that Automobile-catalogue is wrong, listing the THM200 gear ratios for the '75 4.3 V8. But, the R&T road test of the '75 4.3 Monza is also showing those THM200 gear ratios.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,092
    edited November 2020
    The real obscure GM sedan of that size and era is the Olds LSS - must have sold a few in the PNW as they pop up now and then.

    The Olds 98 with its partial/skirted rear wheel openings always looked just a little off from rear angles, to my eye.
  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,055
    Going from memory here, but when the THM200 made its way into '77 full-size Chevys with up to the 305 engine, it was called "the Chevette transmission". I've never heard it being used in a V8 prior to then.
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  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,055

    The Olds 98 with its partial/skirted rear wheel openings always looked just a little off from rear angles, to my eye.


    Me too. A low-cut wheel opening is bad enough (LOL), but that car looked like the regular wheel opening was just cut straight across at the top with a horizontal line.
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  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,055
    edited November 2020
    Mostly for andre I guess, since we discussed '74 Malibu Classics the other day--this is one of the prettiest ones I've seen in decades, and looks like a three-year-old car--all-original/authentic looking which is a big thing to me. The price doesn't seem too bad to me:

    https://www.facebook.com/commerce/listing/388816098916852/?ref=share_attachment

    P.S. It appears to be a later-in-the-run version, without the visible interior filling-in of the prior year's big triangular quarter window.
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  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,652
    edited November 2020
    That is a nice looking '74 Malibu Classic. The pic from the rear though, really reminds me of why I hated the rear on these...


    The assembly quality just looks horrible to me...the big gap around the decklid, and how the rear filler doesn't seem to align correctly with the rear quarter panels. And, those tail lights just really look ill-fitting to me. I can see what they were trying to do though...a nod to the 3-across Chevy staple, just small and on the cheap.

    But, except for the rear view, I think it's attractive from just about every other angle. And yeah, it looks like it's in great shape, and a decent price.

    Some of the comments are interesting, with some people defending the Colonade and saying GM ruined it for '78, while others are saying the '78's were so much better. I wonder if modern audiences simply do not understand that, given the automotive climate of the time, a car like the '73-77 Colonade simply would not have been viable, for much longer. Even if the buyers wanted them, fuel economy regulations would have made it almost impossible to keep building them after maybe 1979. And in the '80 recession year, they would have been slaughtered.
  • omarmanomarman Member Posts: 2,702
    edited November 2020
    Nice car. Looks much better than the 4 y/o Malibu which I took for a test drive over 40 years ago!


    A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing.
  • ab348ab348 Member Posts: 19,027
    ^^^ That's a nice looking car for a '74. I recall our '74 Impala (which was in the same paint color) had the 350 and it was leaned out so much for emissions that it ran best when it was cold and the choke was still on. Once it got warmed up, when you stepped on the gas from a stop it would always stumble because it was running so lean, before the accelerator pump was able to catch up with the airflow through the carb.

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  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,055
    edited November 2020
    andre, to my eyes, only the '75 rear end was worse in that iteration of Chevelle!

    Small thing, but I wasn't crazy about them recycling that '71 and '72 "Chevelle" script in the rear.

    The round lights looked so right on the '73, but as I usually think, after that they changed stuff just to change it.

    With my cheap-*** tablet, I can't figure a way to post a pic from that ad, but I think the best angle is the clean side styling. I've always liked the five-slot Rally Wheels too.

    My guess is that car will sell in a reasonably short period of time at that asking price.

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  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,652
    The '75 rear doesn't bother me, for some reason...


    I think that trim piece fills out the rear end better, and the way the trunk lid is squared off, and comes down to meet it, all the seams and various parts just seem less chaotically applied than the '74. I'd hardly call it a work of art, but it doesn't bother me. When these cars downsized for '78 though, I think Chevy really did them a service by making the taillights extend all the way inward to the license plate. With the silver trim, they do still look a bit unfinished.
  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,055
    edited November 2020
    The lights aren't bad, but I always hate being able to see seams. That whole rear inset panel looks to me like it was done on-the-cheap. Similarly, I can't stand to see seams where the prior year's wraparound grille was on the '82 Malibu, '73 Nova, and even '68 Cadillac front grille.

    Using my work computer now....here's the angle I especially like on that '74:



    RE.: The ad's comments--you know I'd like a '78 Malibu Classic, but I'd have to be very specific about equipment. If it didn't have the 50/50 split front seat with center armrests, and the optional gauge package, I wouldn't want the car. In the '73-77's, I'll say I'm more forgiving in what I can like and not.

    RH mirror on that '74--I have to say, the only RH mirrors I remember from the factory on Chevys of that era are the body-colored Sport Mirrors. I'm guessing that chrome mirror was available through the parts department and was added.

    On my friend's parents' '76 Malibu Classic sedan, with the same front seating, I remember that lower tuck-and-roll section, you could really feel in your lower back. I liked that at the time.
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  • ab348ab348 Member Posts: 19,027
    Speaking of '74 Chevys, here's one I have never seen in the flesh, just pics, but which I like mostly because it offers a special interior and wheels you couldn't get otherwise. The "Spirit of America" edition:

    image

    You could only get it painted blue as above, or white:

    image
    image

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  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,055
    I've seen a few of those '74 Spirit of America Impalas in the dark blue. It is a pretty car; better wheels than were available on other full-size Chevys, and the seating was an advance-appearance of the '75 Impala's seating. The concept is slightly hokey, but I could enjoy owning a nice dark blue one. Handsome if conservative styling.
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  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,652
    I've seen an occasional Spirit of America Impala in white, but that's the first time I've seen a blue one. Pretty sharp looking
  • sdasda Member Posts: 6,936
    I like those. Carpet on the lower door panels, yay! It makes it look more upscale and not like you bought the cheapie model.

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  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,652
    sda said:

    I like those. Carpet on the lower door panels, yay! It makes it look more upscale and not like you bought the cheapie model.

    Yeah, I like that little detail, too. It's a minor thing, but it does help dress up the interior. When I bought my 2000 Intrepid, it had carpeted lower door panels, which I thought was a nice touch for being a base model. I don't think the 2000 Impala or Taurus had carpeted lower doors, in any trim level. And my '03 Regal doesn't, either.

    But, maybe by then carpeting down there was becoming passé? Around 2002, Dodge did decontent the Intrepid a bit, and the carpeted door panels was one of the things they jettisoned
  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,652
    Back in 2019, at the Spring Carlisle swap meet, I snapped a pic of this '75 Impala sport coupe...



    I thought it looked especially sharp with a plain, non-vinyl roof. And it's nice that it was a true hardtop.
  • ab348ab348 Member Posts: 19,027
    I don't think carpeted lower door panels are much of a thing these days. Unfortunate.

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  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,055
    We had a new '74 Impala Sport Coupe. My Dad was not an A/C buyer until 1984, and he not only didn't like the looks of the Impala Custom Coupe, he hated that the rear windows didn't go down. When he bought his Sport Coupe the last week of Aug. '74 ('75's had begun to trickle in but he was having no part of 'unleaded fuel only'), the dealer had two Sport Coupes with the identical sticker price--$4,408.00. One was maroon like that Malibu Classic, with white painted top and the black and white herringbone cloth interior. The other was that pale, non-metallic light green (I hated that color) with white painted top and light green brocade cloth inside. Dad bought that one despite my lobbying for the maroon car.
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  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,055
    edited November 2020
    I was back out at the storage place today to line my underhood area, now that it was cool, with Bounce sheets. I looked again at that Monza 2+2. I felt a bit sad as someone is paying to store it outside where it will deteriorate even further I'm sure. It has three flat tires. Someone has high hopes for it I bet. I took a pic through the driver's window. The black cloth buckets, and instrument panel, are in actually good shape. I always hated that steering wheel--the top two spokes can hide small gauges. But a V8 four-speed with the factory aluminum wheels--I've have been big-time-smitten with that car when it was new. It does not have A/C.

    There are two high school tassles hanging from the inside mirror, as was custom. One says "72" and the other "94", which makes me think this is someone's Dad's car.


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  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,055
    edited November 2020
    The last daily-driver car I can remember owning with carpeted lower door panels, was my '82 Monte Carlo.

    My '66 Studebaker Cruiser has a large lower-carpeted section on each door panel.
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  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,092
    edited November 2020
    I recall seeing a Bicentennial Edition Impala hardtop coupe like that at an estate sale back in the 90s. I recall they wanted $1500 for it, and it was pretty clean.

    Saw a blue and white 55 Chevy sedan on the road today, a 67 Camaro SS convertible (easy, as it had YOM plates), an amusingly 70s green MB W123, 70s VW bus, Mk II Golf, couple of 50s-60s GM or Chevy pickups, very clean 80s Tercel 4x4 wagon, big maybe 72 Mercury coupe at a used car lot.
  • tjc78tjc78 Member Posts: 15,850
    andre1969 said:

    The old/obscure car sightings out "in the wild" have been pretty few and far between for me lately, especially with working from home these days. But, when I went out to the grocery store yesterday, I spotted this in the parking lot at Shoppers Food Warehouse...



    When GM redid the Bonneville/88/LeSabre for 1992, they really didn't do a whole lot for me. While they were at least more distinct from each other than the '91 and earlier models had been, the LeSabre, suddenly seemed like an old people's car, while the Bonneville was trying too hard for that boy racer look. The Olds 88 though, I thought, struck a happy middle ground between the two.

    I had a 98 Olds 88. Nice driving car, but mine leaked water from day one and they never fixed it. I ran out of patience around 11 months of ownership and dumped it for a 2000 Solara

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  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,055
    "Solara"--I used to think, "Could they have come any closer to cribbing 'Polara'?", LOL.
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  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,652
    It always made me think of an old 70's movie called "Solaris". I've always heard of the movie, but never saw it.

    I thought the first-gen Solara was pretty nice. Not too flashy, but still good looking in a conservative sort of way. But the second one just seemed too lumpy and rounded off, and was a victim of that era where they liked to over-exaggerate the headlights and taillights.
  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,055
    The big nameplate in the back right in the center bugged me, LOL.
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  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,092
    edited November 2020
    Yeah, those second gen Solaras, a huge pile of mid 00s styling cliches. IIRC the name was technically "Camry Solara" - a replacement for the 90s era Camry coupe, kind of a Toyota Monte Carlo in a way, but very little ability to be cool.
  • tjc78tjc78 Member Posts: 15,850
    IDK the first gen in SLE V6 trim was kindy sporty. It didn't drive sporty at all since yes it was essentially a Camry coupe. Pretty quick for it's time at least.

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  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,055
    Back for a second to that 'Spirit of America' '74 Impala--I was just looking at a page discussing those cars and someone pointed out something I hadn't noticed. Those wheels were the optional pickup truck wheels and I can picture them as such...although in my mind, now that I think a bit harder, they may have been used on the Impala first; simply not sure.
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  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,652
    I should have noticed those Rally wheels, as my Granddad's '85 Silverado had them. Maybe the white paint threw me off. Also, I guess they came in different sizes. On the Silverado, I think they were 15x8. That Spirit of America is probably using something narrower.
  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,055
    edited November 2020
    My last comment on that Monza 2+2 interior, since it's apparent I'm more-enamored of those cars for personal reasons than others here, LOL! :)

    The elastic-y vinyl map pockets on the interior door panels of this car are still amazingly intact. Wasn't unusual to see them all stretched out from people overstuffing them for a number of years.

    Too bad the exterior of this car is so shot. I can only imagine the underneath.

    As a seventeen-year-old, I loved the V8 sounds in my friends' Monzas, coming from a size car I'd only heard four-cylinder rumblings from previously.
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  • sdasda Member Posts: 6,936
    edited November 2020

    My last comment on that Monza 2+2 interior, since it's apparent I'm more-enamored of those cars for personal reasons than others here, LOL! :)

    The elastic-y vinyl map pockets on the interior door panels of this car are still amazingly intact. Wasn't unusual to see them all stretched out from people overstuffing them for a number of years.

    Too bad the exterior of this car is so shot. I can only imagine the underneath.

    As a seventeen-year-old, I loved the V8 sounds in my friends' Monzas, coming from a size car I'd only heard four-cylinder rumblings from previously.

    I also like the H-bodies. I had a 71 Vega GT in Sunflower Yellow that I bought in high school for $495 and had traded my 62 Galaxie for it. Though it was a typical oil burning Vega, I liked that crazy car. It drove better than most small cars at the time. I was looking for an Olds Starfire or Buick Skyhawk when I found the 76 Sunbird V6 5sp, with Luxury interior, a/c, ps, pb that I bought. That was Sept 78 and it had 13k mi, one owner. It was also my freshman year in college. The owner traded it for a new 78 Bonneville. From what the salesman told me at the Pontiac dealer, the original owner downsized from a LeMans and found the Sunbird too small. I really liked the Monza, but I thought the 231 V6 was a better match to the car. Performance wise it was about the same as the V8, got better mpg, and was much easier to work on. All spark plugs were fairly easy to change, even with the ac compressor somewhat in the way. I still look for original condition survivors, no big V8 stuffed, jacked up drag slicks mickey moused changes. Sadly most have been crushed by now.

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  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,092
    I recall the wheels, they were painted white and had the small spokes. The car had its red and blue trim (white body) intact, it was obviously a garaged car owned by an older person. Would have been a curiosity to put away and save, especially for the price.

    Back for a second to that 'Spirit of America' '74 Impala--I was just looking at a page discussing those cars and someone pointed out something I hadn't noticed. Those wheels were the optional pickup truck wheels and I can picture them as such...although in my mind, now that I think a bit harder, they may have been used on the Impala first; simply not sure.

  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,092
    Here are some good deals on now-obscure used cars, must be around 1968 by the cars and prices:

    image
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