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2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
I did briefly have a Nova. Maybe a 1970? Did not have it long and never registered it. That was a V8 (no clue what one) and of course, 3 speed stick. Actually that was my one and only car with a V8 (out of 40+ cars over the years).
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
Even though the seats on that car are pretty low-rent looking, I still find the overall pattern fairly pleasing to the eye. Part of it might be the color, though. Green interiors can really be hit or miss, but I think this one's a fairly nice hue.
The door panel would definitely look nicer with the little wood strip aft of the pull strap. I think the Custom got you that little detail?
It's also funny too, how sometimes you can just look at a color, and it immediately makes you think of the year. This is kind of a morbid memory, but back in 2015, when my family was at the funeral home planning Grandmom's funeral, we were in the coffin "showroom" which was on the second level. I remember looking out the window, to a fenced in lot across the street, that had an old Catalina hardtop in it. Judging from the light green, my first thought was, "1973!" Oddly, one of the caskets they had in the funeral home, for those on more of a budget, was a painted metal one that was a light shade of green, that would have complemented that '73 Catalina quite nicely.
And, just to show that some things never change, I just did a Google street view of that place. Looks like that '73 is still there, as of August 2019, at least...
Looks like this body shop, or whatever it is, has a 2nd-gen Corvair, as well...
That '73 Catalina reminds me of the gentleman maybe three or four years back who was buried in his '73 Catalina two-door hardtop. I'm thinking it was that bright green metallic. There was video of the burial online; him apparently strapped upright in the driver's seat with a hat on.
Elderly Man buried in his 1973 Catalina
It almost doesn't look like an original color, but according to the paint charts, there was a "Verdant Green" that looks like it might have been that shade.
I used to joke, back in the day, that I was going to be buried in my '57 DeSoto. But too many people threatened to dig me up
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech, 2006 Acura TL w/nav
That was her 3rd straight Pontiac, but she hated it, for some reason. I don't remember why. Kept it for one year, and traded it on a Lincoln Coupe.
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The '72, especially, had a nice Custom Interior option in a luxurious brocade pattern that also gave you a center armrest in the rear seat, only if you bought the four-door. Very, very nice.
In '73 IMHO, they tried to ladle on a lot of luxury 'extras' onto the Grand Ville which made me not like it anymore. Skirts, round instrument pods changed to square, fussy seat pattern with a bunch of connected diamonds, woodgrain on the doors that reminded me of the stalk of a 'Ricochet' air rifle, etc.
The Grand Villes used a good-quality vinyl, but were never available with leather.
But the Pontiacs just seemed a bit over-the-top in their styling. They were trying for a little of that Grand Prix magic, I guess, and dabbling in "retro" styling several decades before retro became cool, but the effect just comes off as a bit pimpy to me. I also didn't like the way Pontiac was trying to become "all things to all people", where the Catalina seemed to go downscale a bit, while at the upper end they were aiming the Grand Ville at the Electra and Ninety Eight. But, their range was pretty popular from '71-73, so I guess they were doing something right.
Pontiac seemed to get hit harder in the 1974 recession/oil embargo than the other GM divisions did, though, and its big cars never really recovered, the way they did at Chevy, Olds, and Buick.
In a twisted, Mad-Max, post-apocalyptic sort of way, it kind of works!
I would paint it flat black and scare people at the grocery with it.
2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
There is some part of me that misses having a true beater. Years ago when I had the 79 Continental people really were scared of that thing. No one tried to merge in front and would move out of the way if I was barreling down the left lane.
Maybe that wouldn't happen today since there are so many more SUV's and monster pickups on the road, but in the early 2000s it certainly stood out as a beast.
Speaking of those boats in a show we were watching the other night a drug cartel guy burned a really nice 78 Continental 4 door. It upset me that the show would have ruined such a nice example.
2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve
But then, what's the going price for a Lincoln like that? I'm sure pristine low-mileage examples are now fetching a lot of money, but I guess you can still find a pretty nice example that photographs well for $6-10K?
I tend to wince any time I see an old car get smashed up anymore, though. My first thought is usually HEY, somebody could have used that for parts!
Reminds me of a car a friend's mom cleared after her dad passed. 77 or 78 Town Coupe, 25K miles. It had sat outside, covered (either under a tarp or in a shed), but in Seattle, so while the paint was aged and probably needed replacement, the interior was immaculate, the car was light grey on matching leather. It ran and drove without issue, but doubt needed some recommissioning. She struggled to sell it, and finally let it go for something like $1500.
2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve
2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech, 2006 Acura TL w/nav
It's a sickness.
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
2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve
There's something relaxing about having a car where you don't care where you park it.
The '03 Regal I inherited from my Dad is in much better shape, but still a beater. It has a dent on one of the front fenders, and on one of the rear quarters. And it has no hubcaps. I'm not sure how it got the dents, but do remember my Dad saying that an uninsured motorist hit him. I also don't know the story behind its lack of hubcaps. I know it had them, when he bought the car! I wonder if he tried to pry one off, and broke it, not realizing you have to actually take the lug nuts off. At least, that's how it was with my 2000 Intrepid, so I'd guess most plastic wheelcovers were that way by this time?
He bought some cheap Wal-Mart quality hubcaps, but never put them on. I have them, packed away somewhere. They're so cheap and ugly though that I refuse to put them on the car...I think it actually looks better with the plain black steel wheels!
2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech, 2006 Acura TL w/nav
Of the whole X-car batch, I always liked the Skylark the best. I thought they looked good in 2- or 4-door versions, and the interiors were pretty nice. With the Omega, I just didn't care for the front-end, which seemed a bit flat and featureless. I mean, you could tell it was an Oldsmobile, but it seemed like they still didn't go through a whole lot of effort to make the distinction.
I wasn't a fan of the hatchback body styles, but kind of liked the Phoenix coupe. Some versions had a grille that seemed a bit too ornate, but there were some later trim levels, like this '83 LJ, that I liked. I think the simpler grille looks nice on the car...
I had a coworker and friend who bought a year old '80 Citation Club Coupe, 4-speed, which he rolled on icy roads, and replaced it with a new '82 Phoenix coupe (can't recall the transmission). He liked it. He bought two or three Grand Ams new over the years after that. I've lost track of him some since.
Purely for styling, my favorite X-car is an '80 X-11 Club Coupe, but not the best one of all to buy over the production run, LOL. Rear end resembles '78 Malibu Classic.
I seriously considered buying a new '85 X-11, but bought the mechanically identical Celebrity Eurosport instead, worried about three-year trade-in value. The X-11 was cheaper to buy new and when I ordered my Celebrity the news about the discontinuation of the X-cars was already out there. While I was in the dealership ordering, the owner, probably about 40 or so, came to say 'hello' and I said "So they've discontinued the Citation". He smiled and clapped his hands, LOL.
2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech, 2006 Acura TL w/nav
Although, perhaps the circular theme in that center stack is a bit much. And so are the little exposed screws, rivets, or whatever. Knowing GM, they're probably screws, but those annoying little "star drive" or whatever they called them, where you had to have just the right tip to take them out!
But then, from this angle, I don't like it at all...
The cluster right in front of the driver, above the steering wheel, looks like it's just stuck on. And I don't like how the center cluster is at a different angle from it. I know I'm being nitpicky, but it just seems clashy.
If you got the right interior though, these did have nice seats and door trim.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
Oh, and on this day, November 18, 2009, my 2000 Intrepid was dealt a totaling blow, when someone hit-and-runned on it while it was unattended in a parking lot.
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I have seen this car passing by a few times over the past couple years, but I never was able to get up close to it until now. I had no idea it was a 406. It looks pretty original to me.
The owner (younger than me) came out and jumped in while I was taking a pic of the '406' emblem. I asked him if that was OK and he said 'Sure, today's the last day I'll have it out this year'. Note low LR tire. It sounded like a race car when he started it and left....loud, lumpy idle.
I have to say, I have always rather liked the '63 Fords. I remember my Dad saying once, "I like the big taillights on those cars. Safe". A lifelong Studebaker man friend of mine, feels these were probably the best-built postwar Ford.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
I like it better than the '64 too. Almost unequivocally, I don't like cars with body side moldings that run the full length of the side of the car, over the front wheel openings, especially when the trim nearly touches the wheel opening.
I always thought they sold a ton of '64's and that they must've been pretty good cars, as it seemed I'd still see a handful of them between where I live and 37 miles down the road, where I worked, into the late '90's.
A '61 Starliner is my favorite big Ford of that era, but as I've posted before, I get tired of Ford's 'tomato red' as I call it (and this car is a faded version of that). The XL cars of the '62-64 era had great, durable interiors too I think.
I casually knew a guy with a deep burgundy '63 1/2 XL with black vinyl roof, and in fact my uncle owns a medium blue '63 500XL four-door hardtop, an unusual beast, although I've never seen the car in person.