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

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  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,055
    edited January 2021
    If anybody gets Hemmings Classic Car, the March issue has a photo of my friend's old '58 Bel Air in Cay Coral and white that I posted here a week or so ago, ironically. He has a column and the car is pictured there.
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  • ab348ab348 Member Posts: 19,027
    fintail said:

    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.

    Casa de Cadillac was allowed to avoid updating to the new Cadillac theme although I would expect they would go for the electrification updates when the time comes.

    Here are a few vintage pics of the place along with their ancillary operations:

    image

    image

    image

    Full piece: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/architecture/dealership-classic-casa-de-cadillac-restored-to-its-full-1949-glory/


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  • explorerx4explorerx4 Member Posts: 19,253
    I think there some nuns in the Studebaker.
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  • omarmanomarman Member Posts: 2,702
    I googled the Pure Stock Muscle Car Drag Race and didn't see the rules regarding "original appearance" for competition but that's probably because I got sidetracked by an interesting Hagerty article.

    Turns out that PSMCDR is not exactly "pure stock" as advertised. Hagerty opines "You’ll find cars that are showroom stock, as well as those who are maximizing every allowable advantage." That seems to include the "plain brown wrapper" Studebaker as well as the Detroit big 3 examples they featured in their article. So I'm thinking it's more like a Potentially Stock Muscle Car Drag Race.

    Per the PSMCDR rules one guy competed with a 1971 340 Dart built with compression bumped from the factory 10.5 to 12.0:1! “I also installed a 4.30 gear, and finely tuned the suspension with replacement parts,” he said. “Now I’m able to run with quicker cars at this event and similar events across the country.” Well that definitely will help get your 70s Dart to rip the quarter mile @ 12.75 and 108 mph! Apparently without swapping in a 6 pack induction (or even a parts department Paxton supercharger). I'm assuming the Stude did not roll off the showroom floor as a 12 sec street eliminator, no?

    I can't be the only guy who remembers high school in the 70s and the very real presence of Mopar at both National Trails and the HS parking lot. Showroom stock 12 second performers were a bit scarce from Detroit or anywhere else. At least back then. A lot of today's pure stock survivors seem to be more like custom, hand-built pro street machines which at least look "period correct."

    From what little I've seen about PSMCDR so far it does look like a lot of fun for folks trying to keep old Detroit iron on the track - and maybe even cruising. Although I doubt that anybody is driving their 4.30 rear axle Dart to and from the track.

    Hagerty featured a nice contrast to the pure stock ringers with this amazing throwback to Colonnade coupes. Meet the Kojak kid:
    image
    1973 Buick GS, 350 automatic, "unknown cam" and 2.73 gears. After running high 16s, a little carb tuning brought the ET down to 16.33 at 84 mph. Who loves ya baby? :)
    A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing.
  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,055
    edited January 2021
    Well, the cars have to pass PSMCD's inspection rules, but an R3 was a regular Studebaker option for '64 and in the brochure, not something you had to know somebody to get, like some of the GM stuff from the late sixties. I do think Big Three guys, some anyway, don't like to think it's possible to get spanked by a Studebaker. It's all in fun, sheesh. There is nothing dastardly about the Stude or outside the limitations of PSMCD rules. Shifty tried to tell me as much once. Yes, that wild college music professor original owner and his driver, the retired high school shop teacher, capable of being insidious! LOL

    I went to the one in 2001. It was the weekend right after 9/11. I thought about bailing, but my wife said, 'go'. I remember the Ohio turnpike looking rather empty and every overpass having a U.S. flag hanging from it. It was a fun time that weekend. I remember a silver '66 Bonneville two-door hardtop 421 with black buckets and 4-speed, and eight-lug wheels...very sharp.

    They played Kate Smith's "God Bless America" after the National Anthem and after the flag raising both days that particular weekend. Couldn't do that today; Kate's been cancelled, sigh.
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  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,055
    andre; great color combination on the DeSoto and it's probably the best-looking Mopar that year IMHO.

    I get your comment about pics hiding some stuff. A few days ago I posted a couple pics of my Stude on the "All Original Cars" forum on FB. I mentioned that it has some patina, but the pics also hide stuff. I've gotten over 1,000 likes and a bunch of comments, all positive but one ("Bad car but nice condition"). Who feels the need to say something like that directly to the owner, LOL?!
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  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,055
    edited January 2021
    RE.: Casa de Cadillac--cars on "Let's Make A Deal" were usually from there.

    The '66's shown--probably the last really great standard-size Cadillacs IMHO--the Eldorado and Fleetwood Brougham were majestic IMHO....and rarely-ever seen in my little hometown.
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  • omarmanomarman Member Posts: 2,702
    More googling finds the PSMCDR page for the fastest All Time Lists. Fun stuff there.

    My eyes are drawn to the 2020 List of All Time Fastest Small Blocks at the PSMCDR. Note #4 is a 1972 Dodge Demon 340/240hp with automatic and posted a 12.3 ET @ 108 mph!

    I can't find a pic of that particular miracle Mopar but I couldn't resist posting a get-me-to-the-church-on-time ad from the 1972 Dodge Dart/Demon brochure.


    A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing.
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,095
    Cool stuff, and yeah, no doubt they will be one of the first to be on the electric wagon, based on location alone. They'd be dumb to turn that down - well, anyone would be dumb, as like it or not, it will be a massive impact in the future. I somehow doubt any MB dealers are refusing to deal with the upcoming electric models.

    The Caddy dealer in my previous location is in a building once used by the Hummer dealer, one of those half-Quonset style buildings, which never quite looked right to me. The prior location was a very 70s looking tile roofed Spanish style thing, later razed and replaced by overpriced condos (likely aimed at the residency purchasing demographic who is a significant force in suburban Seattle real estate).

    As well as being the dealer in Let's Make a Deal, as uplanderguy mentions, Casa de Cadillac was also seen in the music video for Tom Petty's "Free Fallin".
    ab348 said:



    Casa de Cadillac was allowed to avoid updating to the new Cadillac theme although I would expect they would go for the electrification updates when the time comes.

    Here are a few vintage pics of the place along with their ancillary operations:


  • sdasda Member Posts: 6,936
    omarman said:

    More googling finds the PSMCDR page for the fastest All Time Lists. Fun stuff there.

    My eyes are drawn to the 2020 List of All Time Fastest Small Blocks at the PSMCDR. Note #4 is a 1972 Dodge Demon 340/240hp with automatic and posted a 12.3 ET @ 108 mph!

    I can't find a pic of that particular miracle Mopar but I couldn't resist posting a get-me-to-the-church-on-time ad from the 1972 Dodge Dart/Demon brochure.


    With standard equipment so skinny on most cars then I get tickled when they brag about simulated wood grain as being a significant plus. I had the opportunity to buy a 71 Dart Swinger in burnt orange/black top, 225, a/c before I ended up with my 71 Vega GT. 20/20 hindsight, should have gone with the Dart. I was in HS, 1978.

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  • imidazol97imidazol97 Member Posts: 27,132

    If anybody gets Hemmings Classic Car, the March issue has a photo of my friend's old '58 Bel Air in Cay Coral and white that I posted here a week or so ago, ironically. He has a column and the car is pictured there.

    I'm getting more and more disappointed with Classic Car. About every second issue the foreign car articles are heavier than I want to see.

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  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,055
    Yeah, they were headed that direction. I know magazines are a dying breed but HCC has been a cheap guilty pleasure for me. It's the only magazine I subscribe to, other than my monthly Studebaker Drivers Club magazine.
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  • ab348ab348 Member Posts: 19,027


    I'm getting more and more disappointed with Classic Car. About every second issue the foreign car articles are heavier than I want to see.

    Well, they just got a new editor a few months ago after Richard Lentinello stepped away so maybe they need time to settle in. Also I've noticed that the page count is down, probably due to the pandemic and related difficulties getting to events and locations.

    I was a subscriber to the original Special Interest Automobile magazine that got turned into HCC. I got off on the wrong foot with Lentinello and he never redeemed himself with me. When he first took over and HCC happened, he wrote a piece explaining why it was changing. While he may not have meant it as such, it came across to me as a bit of a diss of SIA (which I loved) and its readers. It didn't help that the "new" HCC was less than great at first.

    I still miss SIA.

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  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,055
    I think SIA was a notch above HCC. But, it's amazing to me how cheap it is to subscribe to.
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  • ab348ab348 Member Posts: 19,027
    edited January 2021

    I think SIA was a notch above HCC. But, it's amazing to me how cheap it is to subscribe to.

    Costs an extra $18 USD/year up here in the Great White North for postage. In our worthless Canadian dollars that number is astronomical. :D

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  • explorerx4explorerx4 Member Posts: 19,253
    Anyone interested in a Cadillac?
    Probably sold already.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Noxa5JPaS10&t=481s
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  • xwesxxwesx Member Posts: 16,758
    Whew! That is quite an example.
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  • imidazol97imidazol97 Member Posts: 27,132
    Saw a Grand Am of the 70-75 era style. I believe it had several vertical grill cuts on each side of the "beak." From that I'd guess it's a 75 with horizontal taillights.

    It was the Olive Gold color and I think the roof was black vinyl. All polished up in a salty street lately from the salt, but' I'd guess it was out for a warm up while the weather was nicer in 40's.

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  • kyfdxkyfdx Moderator Posts: 235,188

    Saw a Grand Am of the 70-75 era style. I believe it had several vertical grill cuts on each side of the "beak." From that I'd guess it's a 75 with horizontal taillights.

    It was the Olive Gold color and I think the roof was black vinyl. All polished up in a salty street lately from the salt, but' I'd guess it was out for a warm up while the weather was nicer in 40's.

    @andre1969 has one of these. Met him when he came to Cincinnati to buy it. ;)

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  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,055
    edited January 2021
    That '92 Cadillac--I love the wheels, but I don't remember the cars not being silver below the side moldings. I thought they were all that way. I was never crazy about the vinyl top extending over the 'vent' window in the rear doors either.

    Question for Cadillac guy(s) here--whatever year was the last year for this style Brougham BEFORE the cladding at the bottom and vinyl top on 'vent' on rear door--did any of those cars have the 5.7 engine, or only this revision?
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  • roadburnerroadburner Member Posts: 17,312
    edited January 2021
    My son and I love the Japanese Kaiju(monster ) movies and TV series- it's a guilty pleasure. Anyway, we've been rewatching some of the old Ultraman series. Each series features a team that fights the various monsters, and they have all sorts of equipment that they drive/fly. In Ultraman, the Science Patrol drove a 1961 Corvair with a few decals pasted on.


    For the following series-Ultraseven- the Terrestrial Defense Force had the Pointer 1; how's this for a modified(apparently while on an acid trip) 1958 Imperial?


    The Monster Attack Team in Return of Ultraman had a way-cool Mazda Cosmo:

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  • omarmanomarman Member Posts: 2,702
    The Cosmo looks good in that shot. And the open door conceals any hint of that monstrous back end. Decals wouldn't help with that.
    A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing.
  • roadburnerroadburner Member Posts: 17,312
    omarman said:

    I googled the Pure Stock Muscle Car Drag Race and didn't see the rules regarding "original appearance" for competition but that's probably because I got sidetracked by an interesting Hagerty article.

    Turns out that PSMCDR is not exactly "pure stock" as advertised. Hagerty opines "You’ll find cars that are showroom stock, as well as those who are maximizing every allowable advantage." That seems to include the "plain brown wrapper" Studebaker as well as the Detroit big 3 examples they featured in their article. So I'm thinking it's more like a Potentially Stock Muscle Car Drag Race.

    Per the PSMCDR rules one guy competed with a 1971 340 Dart built with compression bumped from the factory 10.5 to 12.0:1! “I also installed a 4.30 gear, and finely tuned the suspension with replacement parts,” he said. “Now I’m able to run with quicker cars at this event and similar events across the country.” Well that definitely will help get your 70s Dart to rip the quarter mile @ 12.75 and 108 mph! Apparently without swapping in a 6 pack induction (or even a parts department Paxton supercharger). I'm assuming the Stude did not roll off the showroom floor as a 12 sec street eliminator, no?

    I can't be the only guy who remembers high school in the 70s and the very real presence of Mopar at both National Trails and the HS parking lot. Showroom stock 12 second performers were a bit scarce from Detroit or anywhere else. At least back then. A lot of today's pure stock survivors seem to be more like custom, hand-built pro street machines which at least look "period correct."

    From what little I've seen about PSMCDR so far it does look like a lot of fun for folks trying to keep old Detroit iron on the track - and maybe even cruising. Although I doubt that anybody is driving their 4.30 rear axle Dart to and from the track.

    Hagerty featured a nice contrast to the pure stock ringers with this amazing throwback to Colonnade coupes. Meet the Kojak kid:
    image
    1973 Buick GS, 350 automatic, "unknown cam" and 2.73 gears. After running high 16s, a little carb tuning brought the ET down to 16.33 at 84 mph. Who loves ya baby? :)

    My 1974 Monte Carlo wasn’t a lot faster; it had 3.42 gears, headers, 2.5” dual exhaust, a B&M shift kit, an Edelbrock Performer manifold, a Crane cam, and a recurved distributor.

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  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,095
    Cosmo rear light design reminds me of a 60 Ford:

    image

    My 10 year old niece is a big fan of old monster movies like Gamera and Mothra.

    Here's a blurry shot of a brief fintail sighting from the 1961 Mothra movie:

    image
    omarman said:

    The Cosmo looks good in that shot. And the open door conceals any hint of that monstrous back end. Decals wouldn't help with that.

  • omarmanomarman Member Posts: 2,702
    fintail said:

    Cosmo rear light design reminds me of a 60 Ford:

    image

    My 10 year old niece is a big fan of old monster movies like Gamera and Mothra.

    Here's a blurry shot of a brief fintail sighting from the 1961 Mothra movie:

    image

    omarman said:

    The Cosmo looks good in that shot. And the open door conceals any hint of that monstrous back end. Decals wouldn't help with that.

    '60 Ford definitely influenced the Cosmo styling which was from '67 or so? I hated the big car styling grafted to the fox body Thunderbird for 1980. The next gen aero 'Bird was beautiful and still fox body platform.
    A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing.
  • omarmanomarman Member Posts: 2,702
    I really like that '73 Gran Sport and it would still make a good weekend fun car. I remember going with my dad when he was new car shopping in '73 and was a little disappointed that he only test drove full sized cars. From any make. I remember that was the year that Pontiac offered the GTO option with the LeMans and the brochure listed the 455 Super Duty as an option. Dad didn't care. Oh well it turned out that Pontiac never did actually build the GTO with a 455 SD anyway. Wish I had kept the brochure though. :smile:
    A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing.
  • roadburnerroadburner Member Posts: 17,312
    omarman said:

    I really like that '73 Gran Sport and it would still make a good weekend fun car. I remember going with my dad when he was new car shopping in '73 and was a little disappointed that he only test drove full sized cars. From any make. I remember that was the year that Pontiac offered the GTO option with the LeMans and the brochure listed the 455 Super Duty as an option. Dad didn't care. Oh well it turned out that Pontiac never did actually build the GTO with a 455 SD anyway. Wish I had kept the brochure though. :smile:

    I have a 1973 "New Car Annual" magazine- the writers had driven a GTO, a Grand Am, and-I think-a Grand Prix ,all fitted with SD 455 motors

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  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,055
    edited January 2021
    I love original cars, and this one is for sale at an insane price IMHO in Connecticut. '68 Bonneville two-door hardtop. Too bad it's not a Brougham, or have better wheelcovers, but still, nice car. A high-school friend and my first college roommate had a '68 Brougham 4-door hardtop in dark blue. By the mid-seventies in our area it had rust in the dogleg in front of the rear wheel openings and the skirts no longer fit, but those are probably the last big Pontiacs I liked a lot.

    https://newjersey.craigslist.org/cto/d/easton-1968-pontiac-boneville-two-door/7265797232.html
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  • explorerx4explorerx4 Member Posts: 19,253
    For that price, you would think they would have at least mentioned some reference to PHS to document the car.
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  • ab348ab348 Member Posts: 19,027
    I could never warm up to the looks of the front and rear ends of the '68 big Pontiacs. The colors on that one do nothing for me either.

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  • stickguystickguy Member Posts: 50,435
    52 year old tires? Don't think I want to drive to far on those!

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  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,055
    edited January 2021
    For that price, you would think they would have at least mentioned some reference to PHS to document the car.

    I'd have certainly done that, or if the window sticker's still available, included that in the ad.

    I remember a lot of those '68 Pontiacs being the Pontiac-only Verduro (olive) green, or that light champagne color, name escapes me.

    The 52-year-old tires are indeed scary.

    Had I ordered that car new, I'd have forsaken the optional cornering lights for an optional wheelcover.

    You know, I mentioned liking the Brougham that year.

    My friend's had the strato-back (like bucket seat backs) front seat. Looked very nice/elegant, but I remember being unimpressed with how they felt. They were hard and thinly-padded--the backs I'm talking about.

    The standard Bonneville front seat, which the car for sale has, I'm sure was much-more confortable if not as elegant-looking.
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  • ab348ab348 Member Posts: 19,027
    At first glance I thought this was a reflection but now I'm pretty sure it isn't. If so that makes the price even more crazy.

    image

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  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,652
    I liked the Dart and the Valiant/Duster lineup from '70-72. Not quite as much as the '67-69 models

    That '92 Cadillac--I love the wheels, but I don't remember the cars not being silver below the side moldings. I thought they were all that way. I was never crazy about the vinyl top extending over the 'vent' window in the rear doors either.

    Question for Cadillac guy(s) here--whatever year was the last year for this style Brougham BEFORE the cladding at the bottom and vinyl top on 'vent' on rear door--did any of those cars have the 5.7 engine, or only this revision?

    That was 1990 when they went to that look with the composite headlights and the C-pillar rear door treatment that I called the "R-body treatment", because it reminded me of how Chrysler did the '79-81 New Yorker. I wonder if Cadillac started doing that, because Chevy did a similar look on their Caprice, starting in 1986! It was called the Caprice Classic Brougham LS. Maybe some buyers associated it with prestige, and it didn't seem "right" that a Chevy had it, but not a Cadillac!

    As for the 5.7, I want to say they started offering it in 1989, but only with a "Coachbuilders package". The rest of them used an Olds 307. The 307 was replaced by the 305 for 1991-92. For some reason I'm thinking the 350 was still fairly limited for 1990. One issue might have been transmissions. The Olds 307 used the THM 200-R4, which traces its roots back to the infamous "Chevette transmission" THM 200 of the 1970s. The 350 used the 4L60, which was a fancy way of saying THM700-R4, which itself, I believe, was evolved from the old THM350, just with a 4th gear for overdrive. So in 1989-90, they had to have two different transmissions available, which might have complicated the assembly process a little. But once they went with Chevy engines all the way, they only used the one transmission.
  • ab348ab348 Member Posts: 19,027
    I always felt that the move by GM to make the cheap-to-build Chevy V-8 the standard regardless of make, which was complete after 1990 when the last Olds V-8 was built, really accelerated the downfall at GM, which gathered steam with full bodies being shared across makes with only differing front and rear fascias in many cases. If you're buying a big Cadillac, a Chevy engine just doesn't cut it. All of it was just penny-pinching run amok.

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  • omarmanomarman Member Posts: 2,702

    This would have been nice with Super Duty power in '73.
    A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing.
  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,055
    edited January 2021
    I always thought the '69-72 (especially '69-70) GP looked better outside than the '73, but that '73 interior ran rings around the '69-72 interior. To this day I remember ogling, in and out, a maroon '73 SJ that sat in the showroom at Phil Godfrey Pontiac in my hometown. It had those big high-back buckets in red cloth, and that magnificent instrument panel, and the door panels without the flimsy suitcase strap they added a couple years later!

    Those honeycomb wheels look nice, but in my hometown, I seem to recall those, and the Turbine I wheels on Monte Carlo Landaus, losing their bright trim rings pretty easily, and both wheels look downright ugly without them.
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  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,055
    edited January 2021
    I've always heard the 307 engine was nothing to write home about, and that the 305 was generally a more powerful engine. For some reason, 140 hp is what I'm remembering in an Olds 307, but don't quote me on that. I'd not heard the 307 was a bad engine a la Pontiac 301 or anything, though. I don't think any of the other divisions besides Chevy were building a 350 by the time those engines were going into Broughams.

    I remember thinking in the late '80's, your new Caprice Classic had more output than the same-year Cadillac.
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  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,055
    I think that pic of the '68 is showing a reflection. That is picture seven of the group; the pic right before it doesn't show that. If I were the seller I'd be crystal-clear about pointing that out!
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  • explorerx4explorerx4 Member Posts: 19,253
    I did notice the speedometer is stuck at about 30 mph.
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  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,055
    Good eye!
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  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,652
    My understanding is that the Olds block in general was better than the Chevy block. One advantage was that it had more nickel in the block, which made it stronger, but a bit lighter. I seem to recall Mopar did this, as well, but not positive. I'm sure there were other advantages as well to the Olds engine; it's just that the stronger, lighter block is what always stuck in my mind.

    As for power, the 307 started with 150 hp in 1980, but was cut to 140 in 1981-88. When the HO version came out for the Hurst/4-4-2 models, it initially had 180 hp, but I think it dropped to 170 in its final year. The HO 307 was always slower than the HO 305 in the Monte Carlo SS, however I heard one reason for this was the Olds used a heavier, beefier rear-end that most likely sapped a bit of power.

    As for the 305, when the 4-bbl came out for 1979, it was actually kind of powerful for the time, with 160 hp. It was cut slightly in 1980 to 155, and then to 150 for 1981-84. In 1985, in large cars like the Impala/Caprice and Parisienne, it improved a bit to 165, but stayed at 150 in the likes of the Monte Carlo, Bonneville-G, and Grand Prix. I think a more restrictive exhaust was the culprit. Whatever year it was that the 305 went to TBI, it had 170 hp.

    The 307 usually had more torque than a 305, and usually hit its peak at a slightly lower rpm. For instance, in 1985, the 165 hp 305 hit 245 ft-lb@2400 rpm, while the 307 hit 255 ft-lb@2000. I dunno if that's enough torque advantage to offset the hp difference.

  • ab348ab348 Member Posts: 19,027
    edited January 2021
    The 305 was out prior to 1979. 1977 at least, if not earlier.

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  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,055
    The 305 came out in '76, but didn't get a four-barrel until the '79 model year.

    I still want a '78 Malibu Classic but would like the four-barrel of the '79, just not enough to make me like the '79 styling small changes enough though.
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  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,652
    Yeah, the 2-bbl version came out for '76. I meant the 4-bbl version when I referenced '79.
  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,055
    edited January 2021
    Pic posted on Facebook a couple days ago. The Lordstown plant, down the road a bit, cranking out its 400,000th Chevrolet in four years.

    Man, check out that uber-plain-jane Biscayne in the background.

    Better times in our corner of Ohio then, for sure.

    I did like those dual-stripe whitewalls then. I notice the Impala Custom Coupe behind it doesn't have them.




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  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,652
    I like the '73 Grand Prix, but somehow it seems like it lost a bit of exclusivity, compared to the '69-72. Maybe it's because its A-body roots are showing a bit more? When I look at a '72 Grand Prix, or Monte Carlo even, they look like an almost totally different car to me than a same year Malibu or LeMans. It's not obvious to me, at a quick glance, that they're related. But with the '73 redesigns, the similarity seemed to show through a bit more.

    As for interiors, this might sound like a contradiction, but the '72 interior looks more expensive to me, while the '73 interior looks more attractive. Actually, I feel the same about the exterior. The '72 looks like a more expensive car to me, but I just like the looks of the '73 better.

  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,652
    On that '70 Impala convertible above, two things just caught my eye...

    1) I never really noticed it before, but with the way the fenders peak over the headlights, and the center of the hood, I swear it looks like if you rear-ended someone, you'd smash those parts of the car before the bumper even made contact!

    2) GM toned down those fender bulges around the wheel openings noticeably compared to 1969. But for some reason, in that picture, my eye goes right to them! Maybe it's just the angle and the lighting/reflections.

    So is that the same plant that turned out Vegas, and other small cars in later years? I remember driving past it every time we went to Cedar Point, and one time there was a big sign that said "The Cruze is Coming!" The last time I went out there was 2013, I think. I remember it was the first year Cedar Point had their new "Gatekeeper" roller coaster.

    So what's happening with that Lordstown plant now? Is it just sitting there, going to waste?
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,095
    I just watched a 1986 episode of The Price is Right, and the cars were pretty decent - not the rental spec stuff usually seen these days.

    First up was a nicely equipped Trans Am:



    Then a Monte Carlo LS:



    Then a very loaded Town Car - moonroof, leather, wire wheels, etc:



    IIRC all the cars were won by their contestants.


  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,055
    edited January 2021
    andre, I don't think the bulges were reduced for '70 at all; the pic might make it look so though.

    Yeah, the '70 Chevy got the '64 Cadillac look over the headlights. Not a fan of that.

    We had a new '74 Impala with full wheelcovers, and it took me awhile to realize that they were 100% the 1970 wheelcovers, just used again. Other than early Corvair Monza wheelcovers used on the Monza Towne Coupe, I can't recall whenever that was done before at Chevrolet.

    You went all the way to Cedar Point from Maryland?! I'm impressed!

    Lordstown was totally retooled to build the Vega and was the only place it was built, until Ste. Therese, Quebec was utilized as supplemental production starting in '73 or '74. It (Lordstown) was supposedly the most-automated plant anywhere, but the line was speeded up (can't recall the number per hour), which led to worker dissatisfaction and even sabotage of cars in '72 I think it was.

    There is a company in there now called "Lordstown Motors" which is supposedly readying building an electric pickup truck. They have ambitious plans; I don't know. GM has built a battery plant near the old plant.
    2024 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 2LT; 2019 Chevrolet Equinox LT; 2015 Chevrolet Cruze LS
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