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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: 2009 328i; 2018 330i xDrive
What year was it, again, that they switched the two-toning so that the dark color was on top and the light on the sides? I know you mentioned it in the past, but can't remember. My Mom's '86 Monte Carlo was a 2-tone gray over silver.
I know I posted it before in the past, but here's one of the few pics I have, that has my '82 Cutlass Supreme in it, which was light Jadestone.
I had lined up all the cars I had at the time, and climbed up on the roof of my Grandmom's garage and took that pic. It would've been around February 1994.
For some reason my old 2000 Intrepid's purchase date always sticks vividly in my mind: November 6, 1999.
My 2012 Ram was September 23, 2012. I had thought that was the date, but had to look up my records to make sure.
With all my other cars, the I can remember the month and the year, but not necessarily the exact date. With two exceptions. I bought my '68 Dart on April 3, 1992. I remember that because it was the day after my birthday. And I bought my '67 Catalina on April 20, 1994. Now that, I had to look up though. All I could remember is that I bought it on the same day as the birthday of one of my friends, and his birthday is the same day as Hitler's!
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
On Monte Carlos, that started with the '83's. I think the '83 is just a nicer car in several ways over an '81--except for that flip-flop in two-tones.
I was talking with one of my younger friends the other day, about generation gaps and such. I mentioned how he might not know how to start a car with a carburetor. Without missing a beat, he asked "What's a carburetor?" Although, in an attempt to redeem himself, he did say he could remember when you had to "turn that thing on the door to make the window go up and down." He couldn't remember the word "window crank"
I was talking with one of my younger friends the other day, about generation gaps and such. I mentioned how he might not know how to start a car with a carburetor. Without missing a beat, he asked "What's a carburetor?" Although, in an attempt to redeem himself, he did say he could remember when you had to "turn that thing on the door to make the window go up and down." He couldn't remember the word "window crank"
I get it, but I hear stuff like that and it makes me go "D'oh!".
When I was a kid, I knew who FDR was and some other stuff from before my time. I was always sticking my nose into the "World Book" and was younger than all my cousins, so that, plus being a weird kid, might explain it all.
I knew the Book of Knowledge set was pretty old, so while it's in good shape I've always been reluctant to open them, in case they were getting brittle. But, I just popped one open and it's older than I thought. Copyright 1926!
One thing I didn't salvage in time, though, was Grandmom's old National Geographics. At some point, my Mom and my uncle started going through them, little by little, and throwing them out. And, they started with the oldest ones first. I used to love looking through them as a kid, and seeing the old car ads. I was able to save some of them, but they were mostly from the 80's.
The older you get, the faster the passage of time.
A few other cars didn't fare so well, though. There was a '68-72 Nova that got blown up with a car bomb. And at one point, there was one car (I forget which) that got blown up, and landed on the roof of a Panther woody wagon. It happened quickly enough that I couldn't tell if it was a Country Squire or Colony Park.
2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech, 2006 Acura TL w/nav
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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
2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech, 2006 Acura TL w/nav
Speaking of steering wheels, the one in the pre-airbag Allante always bugged me a bit, especially because of the buttons on one spoke - asymmetrical, which makes me twitch a little:
On the subject of large early airbag wheels, the late Allante airbag unit wasn't going to win a beauty contest either:
Impala:
Genesis:
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
The gap in time is enough to make me think it wasn't even a copycat job, almost like it was just how someone designed it, but the similarity is hard to ignore.
Rolls-Royce wheels always amused me, too. This existed until 1989/90!
And the airbag wheel that replaced it wasn't a looker:
I hate the digital instrumentation option in them.
The Allante--I liked the exterior, hated the interior.
The Rolls-Royce--the panel is so blah, and the earlier steering wheel, and shift quadrant up on the column, make me think 'Checker'. Just as bad, the panel makes me think of the very last Avantis made in Youngstown, OH up through 1990--the flat face of the panel, and the looks of the woodgrain.
I love the styling of this car, subdued relative to 1959 (Buick) design.
I saw this car after it did a road cruise in N. Ky in early November--chilly.
For the record, This is an Invicta, the middle line. The convertibles were also availabe in
the leSabre line and then the longer Electra line for that year. Three
different convertibles.
I don't remember ever seeing one driven back then.
My high school buddy's parents had a 1960 sedan. I don't recall that his mother
ever let him drive it when we went out "scouting."
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I thought it was a shame that the Electra/Ninety-Eight/DeVille lost their convertibles for '71. Convertible sales in general were dropping by then, but interestingly, in the Buick line, for '70, the Electra convertible outsold the LeSabre and the Wildcat convertibles combined! Sales were pretty low though: 2487 for the LeSabre, 1244 for the Wildcat, and 6045 for the Electra. In the Olds range, the Ninety-Eight led the Delta 88, but the margin was much slimmer: 3161 Ninety-Eights versus 3095 Delta 88s. The DeVille moved 15,172 units.
Just to round out the GM big car lineup, the Impala convertible sold 9562 units, while Pontiac sold 5436 Catalinas and 5438 Bonnevilles. So it seemed like while convertible sales were trending downward, the more expensive, luxurious models for the most part, tended to hold their popularity a bit better.
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2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve
Here's an ad for one that was for sale on Hemmings.
The M-body came out in mid-1977, as a luxurious spinoff of the Aspen/Volare. It was much better built, though, and when equipped the right way, was downright luxurious. Initially it was sold as the Dodge Diplomat and Chrysler LeBaron. In 1980 they were squared off a bit and made more formal. Chrysler axed the bigger R-body models after 1981. For 1982, they moved the LeBaron name to an upscale version of the K-car, and renamed what had been the LeBaron, as New Yorker. If you wanted a 5th Avenue, it was a trim package.
For 1983, they came out with a version of the K-car with a 3" stretch to the wheelbase, and moved the New Yorker nameplate to that, so now the big one was called "New Yorker Fifth Avenue". Then for '84-89, they called it just "Fifth Avenue".
The Fifth Avenue was a fairly popular car for awhile. It outsold the K-based version from 1984-87, although in '88, the small FWD version was redesigned, a bit larger and a lot more upscale looking, and by that time the M-body was showing its age and sales were finally starting to fall off.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
I do like them, but I always thought the big '68 Buicks looked like they were going through a bit of an identity crisis. The sheetmetal says "Buick", especially that trademark swoopy spear-crease on the side. But up front, I swear there's an Oldsmobile trying to get out!
They really did have the nicest used cars in town. They had a reputation for not dealing, and three or four-year-old Buicks and Oldsmobiles looked like new cars there.
I remember a used, champagne-colored '68 Wildcat two-door hardtop. Can't remember the cost, but I was a fan of the GM fastback coupes (Bonneville, Wildcat, Delta Custom) of those '67-68 years with the big fastback roof, but with the luxury interiors. I liked them better than the Electra 225 and Ninety-Eight because at least where I lived, you saw the cars less-frequently. I liked the combo of fastback and luxury interior, which as you know almost completely went away at GM in the seventies.
I know there used to be different levels of Wildcats in and around that time, even though there was only "Wildcat" badging on them, but the car I remembered had a notchback front seat with center armrest. The car looked nice (other than the lower front fender!).
Funny that the '66 and '67 big Buicks had about the same instrument panel although different sheetmetal outside and the '68 was a one-year-only instrument panel although shared exterior sheetmetal with the '67.
I liked that big sweep down the side of the '67 and '68 Buicks, but I really didn't care much for the '68 and '69 Skylark models, even though they had it. I think they were my least-favorite styling of all four of the midsize cars from GM those years.
I too think the Allante looks good, and I too dislike the interior. I still recall when those debuted, as I kept up with cars when I was a kid, and always had a magazine subscription (for a long time, Autoweek, as I liked getting something weekly). Even when I was 10, I knew competing with the SL was a crazy idea.
For the Rolls-Royce, I've always had a funny idea that they were just doing it to be quirky. or extremely traditional, but not always in a good way. On the other side, MB had very modern looking wheels and dashboards in the 70s.
That one car made my trip worthwhile. There were a couple of others there that were gems. Small gathering in chilly November when most cruise-ins were done.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I love that car and the taillights in the giant fins.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0X2tQzwzdnQ
2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech, 2006 Acura TL w/nav
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2015 Subaru Outback 3.6R / 2014 MINI Countryman S ALL4
It's a supercharged R3 engine, and it routinely spanks cars that people would have a hard time believing, at the Pure Stock Musclecar Drags in Michigan. I remember one year somebody who would've been scheduled to go up against the car wouldn't, as was overheard, "I'm not losing to a Studebaker", LOL.
The friend of the owner drives the car here. He is in his early eighties (!) and is a retired high school shop teacher.
https://www.thedrive.com/news/38775/historic-cadillac-dealership-in-kentucky-closing-suddenly-after-75-years?xid=fbshare&fbclid=IwAR35UpEpi-ohNZs7i71Tj0fI7jZ9aSEb19m9LgAa9uKVMoIXrIpmokfE3YM
I would have expected a more modern theme for the age of the dealer (like "Casa de Cadillac" in Sherman Oaks), but Kentucky might do things like the old south.
The owner of the Stude calls it "The Plain Brown Wrapper", LOL.
To be fair, by '65 only Corporate was still in South Bend for Studebaker, and I can imagine a lot of local people were angry that production was no longer local. Avanti II was just getting ramped up in '65 there though.
It actually looks worse now, than it did in that 1994 pic, because I had some body work done but didn't get it repainted. Although to be fair, that 1994 pic isn't the highest-resolution in the world, so it's hiding some flaws!