Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Options
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
Funny how you can still learn things about cars from 50 years ago. Earlier this week I watched the latest Wheeler Dealers episode which featured a '65 Coronet. It was a pretty mediocre episode overall, but I found myself really appreciating the styling of the Coronet. I'm not sure that the Coronet was even sold here in '65 since I don't recall seeing them until '66. But this one had some nice creases stamped into the sheet metal and the tips of the front fenders had little emblems on them which I know I had never seen previously.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve
That's good that someone is at least trying to make use of that old Lordstown plant. Seems like a huge waste to just let it sit and rot.
Similarly, my sixth-grade teacher (1969-70) had a maroon '65 Satellite convertible I admired back then. About three years ago I saw one in my hometown big Heritage Days car show that looked just like it. I walked around front and the owner's name on the windshield sign was my teacher's name! I'd never seen it since middle school. Her husband was showing the car that day. She lived in Long Island, NY and went to college about 25 miles from my hometown in western PA; the new Satellite was her graduation gift from her parents. She'd met and subsequently married her husband while they were in college.
I told her husband that Hemmings Classic Car would love a story like that--one woman-owned car all these years and that I knew someone who worked at Hemmings. He smiled and didn't seem interested in that. I'd have loved to have seen it.
The other thing I remember most about that teacher was that she loved the 1969 Mets and had stuff over half her blackboard about them.
I think the tide was turning away from cars like that by that time. It looked pretty fresh in 81, but Ford's aero movement made other cars look old fast.
In the late 90s, a friend/college roommate had an 83 CL, which in that trim I called a "Peggy Hill" car (that character actually had a G-body Regal sedan).
Sales of the Monte Carlo were definitely down, by this time. For some reason, it seemed like the Regal and Cutlass Supreme kept their popularity a bit longer. GM's personal luxury coupes all got a momentary reprieve in in 1981, when the aero restyle helped sales in an otherwise down year. But then in '82 they all fell. The Regal and Cutlass Supreme seemed to suffer less though, than the Monte Carlo and Grand Prix, and when the economy got better, the Regal and Cutlass Supreme seemed to bounce back more. By 1986 though, the personal luxury coupe market in general was starting to contract, and buyers of those cars seemed to prefer the T-bird and Cougar.
It may have been because I started my first real job in Sept. 1980 and travelled frequently, but I seem to remember other '80's Chevy ads, just not Monte Carlo.
I'd still like an '86-88 LS with checkerboard wheels and NO body side moldings. I like that the LS model lost the hood ornament.
I love this two-tone, but I'd honestly have to see if that glue-on body side molding could be removed with no permanent damage, LOL. I also like the last interiors (CL) of this era--definitely a non-cool thing by then.
That Bonneville Brougham trim level was called "Valencia", I think. That red/white/black pattern is a bit much for me, but they also had it in a gold/tan/black/white combination that I find easier on the eyes...
Oh yeah, I do remember they had a coaster called "The Son of Beast", that was supposedly the only wooden coaster with a loop. While that sounds like an incredible engineering feat, the loop itself was all steel, so it was a bit of a hybrid. I recall one of the trains fell out of the loop. By the time I went to King's Island, the "Son of Beast" was closed down, but you could still see it standing. The original Beast is pretty cool. Especially at night, as most of it is in the woods, and towards the end it gets going so fast that it feels downright dangerous!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88VchSMpbVQ
In 1974, I sat next to Dave Concepcion on the Racer.
Edmunds Price Checker
Edmunds Lease Calculator
Did you get a good deal? Be sure to come back and share!
Edmunds Moderator
Edit: just checked the Roller Coaster Database. Looks like Kings Island only had two coasters back when the Brady Bunch was filmed. The second one was a small one geared more towards kids, called the Scooby Doo coaster. It went through several name changes, and is now called Woodstock Express.
We have the same coaster at Kings Dominion. I remember going on it as a kid, and even as a teen/young adult. I tried to ride it in my early 40's though, when I was on a bit of a nostalgia kick. Let's just say the old saying is true...you can't go home again! That thing was cramped as hell, and really not made for adults. At least, not tall ones.
One time 2 people got electrocuted touching the water while crossing a bridge, at about the same time someone fell out of a ride and didn't survive. Another person got killed by an Eiffel Tower elevator.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
The Trans Am is nice, too. When I was a kid, those things seemed all the rage, although once I actually got closer to driving range, I started lusting after larger cars like the Monte SS, and Grand National. This particular example is interesting, in its subdued gray/silver color scheme. Back in the day it seemed like most of them were black with gold trim, or red with silver.
The Town Car is nice, too. Especially with the moonroof!
https://gothamcruisers.com/66cruiser.htm
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Ram 1500 Bighorn, Built to Serve
He also had a Grand Am coupe; a '74 I'm thinking. He had originally bought the '76, and while he liked it for the most part, wanted something with more guts to it, so got the Grand Am and put the '76 up for sale, which is how I found it.
I wonder if they were connected.
Another time a guy in a black costume with a black Mercury Marauder was there,
and I don't know what character that was to portray. But he got a lot
of attention from folks.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
For the Batmobile talk, I noticed something fun, on a Google street view of the Christmas Story House in Cleveland, A Batmobile is in front of it
coffee cruise-in down Cincy way. Mostly exotic vehicles at the cruises there from what I've seen.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Scary indeed!
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
I think "Captive Air" might have been standard on the DeSotos and Chryslers. At least, I've never seen a DeSoto/Chrysler wagon with that access panel.
Man, that compartment cover sure must've left a pretty big visible seam!
I know that's a '59, but my vote for 'weirdest front wheel opening' goes to the '60 model Plymouth.
Edmunds Price Checker
Edmunds Lease Calculator
Did you get a good deal? Be sure to come back and share!
Edmunds Moderator
The 1960 Plymouth in general makes me question just what, exactly, the stylists were thinking. The rest of the Mopar lineup was fairly tasteful that year, I thought, but Plymouth just seemed to go off on its own tangent.
One feature of the '60 Plymouth that I do think looks good, from certain angles at least, are the tailfins. They're a bit much by 1960 standards, but they seem to have an expensive, upscale look to them, almost like they're too nice for the rest of the car! I've wondered sometimes, if the way Plymouth did their fins was Chrysler's way of taking a shot at Cadillac? Basically, taking their cheapest car and aping GM's most expensive? The '57-58 and the '60 fins always gave me a bit of a Cadillac vibe. Not the '59 though. For some reason, when I look at the rear of the '59, it seems a bit "European" to me. I think it's the low-mounted taillights and the strong crease that cuts across above them, forming the edge of the trunk lid. If you stretch your imagination a bit, it almost looks a bit Benz-ish.
I sort-of think the '60 Dodge is a good-looking car, but only in the lower models. The longer ones have those elongated fins at the back.
When I was a kid, I had a model kit of a '60 DeSoto hardtop. Quite like a Chrysler. Good basic styling I think.
You seem to like old sitcoms. Did you ever watch "Gomer Pyle, USMC"? There was an episode where Pyle was looking after Sarge's '60 Dodge (identified as a "'61" on the show) and while parked near a construction zone, a crane crushed it. The construction company replaced it with a new '66 Dodge Coronet 500.
That show was pretty cruel to old Mopars. I remember another episode where they blew up a '58 Dodge Coronet convertible...
For some reason, I'm also thinking of a '55 or '56 Dodge that ended up in a lake, but I couldn't find that on the IMCDB.
Apparently, Sarge's '60 Dodge started off as a nicer Dart Pioneer hardtop coupe, but a cheap Seneca 2-door sedan was substituted for the actual destruction.
https://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_231763-Dodge-Dart-Phoenix-1960.html
And, in typical Hollywood fashion, it looks like they had continuity issues. In the comments on that page, someone noted that Sarge was still driving that '60 in seasons 3 and 4!
Speaking of car issues on old shows, we can't forget Barney Fife's "60 Edsel with a 61 grille", and how he actually drove a 58 on the show.
I remember the one where Barney had the Edsel, but haven't seen it in a long time.
There was a Gomer Pyle episode where Opie ran away to join the Marines with Gomer. I'm thinking this was in '67 or '68. Andy showed up just at the end to collect Opie. He did a lot with his five minutes--few words, look of disgust, then put his arm around Opie while they walked out of Gomer's barracks. Opie told Sarge how Gomer's letters back home made the Marines seem exciting and said he had the 'best sergeant in the Marines'.
Supposedly the most-watched Andy Griffith episode was I think in '68, when Barney offered to find a place for a US-USSR summit meeting and suggested Mayberry. This wasn't the original plan, but it ended up being at Andy's house. The episode had Barney visiting Mayberry from Raleigh. Apparently this was based on a similar thing that really happened the year before in the U.S.
My favorite episodes don't even have Barney--one is called "The Church Benefactor", 1968, where someone dies and leaves the church $500 and there are different opinions on what to do with it--just had my hometown written all over it--but the other is "Goober Goes To The Auto Show". Aunt Bee is looking to buy a new car and she, Andy, Opie and Goober go to Raleigh for the auto show, where Goober runs into an old mechanics school buddy of his, who puts down Goober owning his own station now and says he is an engineer with "Amalgamated Motors", LOL. It ends up that he's a grease monkey at a station in Raleigh.
In that episode, Aunt Bee and Opie are checking out some European sports car; the make escapes me. Aunt Bee accidentally sprays the stuffy salesman with the windshield washers, and Andy comes over and says "Let's look at American compact cars".
Of course, Frances Bavier owned a '66 Studebaker Daytona Sports Sedan which her Aunt Bee character actually drove on the "Mayberry R.F.D." show. Even though I love Studebakers, I admit that Aunt Bee driving a '66 Studebaker seems totally believable. Someone on the S.D.C. forum worked at a dealer in L.A. and remembered Bavier bringing her '62 Lark in for service.
One I recall clearly was the car driven by Otis, a 33 Ford cabriolet. Early V8 Fords have always interested me, and this car is very rare today - amused me that it was seen as a relic when the show was new:
This might be the auto show car. Ferrari 275 GTB/4, 7 figure car today:
A fancy visitor to Mayberry:
Barney's Edsel, nice looking car:
Aunt Bee:
And of course:
Of course, the exterior shot was of a Ford product. I guess it's possible the interior was of a '60 or '61 Fairlane, as they had a slimmer C-pillar, and more rounded rear window than the more formal Galaxie. But, they were still fairly upright, and a '60 Mopar is swoopier. I've tried to keep an eye out for that episode, but of course, now that I'm actually looking for it, I won't find it anytime in the near future!
Here's the IMCDB link for the 1958 Edsel: https://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_27628-Edsel-Pacer-1958.html
Down in the comments, someone mentions that the car still exists, and as of 2018 at least, was at a shop in Roanoke, VA. Apparently the car has two gear selectors...the original pushbuttons on the "Teletouch" steering wheel and a a floor shift, modified that way so that the cast wouldn't be confused as how to select gears.
I wonder if that's true, though, or if the reality was simply that the Teletouch gave out, and the car was converted to a floor shift? I can't imagine that pushbutton gear selection was *that* alien to people by then. That would have been the 1965-66 season, so that Edsel would only be 7-8 model years old. And Chrysler had pushbutton transmissions through 1964. You'd think they wouldn't be *that* hard to figure out.
At the ending, Goober, after being put down by his old 'buddy', is dejected. Andy is driving Aunt Bee's '55 Ford Sunliner and pulls in to get gas. They all complain how rude the attendant is compared to getting service at Goober's. Andy goes up to buy a bottle of pop and spies the "engineer from Amalgamated Motors" lubing a car in the grease rack there. He goes to get Goober and asks him if he wants to say something to his old friend. Goober says "I wouldn't want to embarrass him", and ends the show being the bigger man, of course.
Here's an episode of Mayberry R.F.D. (which suffered without Andy IMHO), where Aunt Bee is getting out of her own Studebaker. My previous Stude was the same year and model; just different color but with same black vinyl top. I wonder how many people actually drove their own cars on a TV series. The episode is from season 2 (1970), "The Mynah Bird". All the other cars in this series were Mopars.
I haven't seen "Mayberry RFD" in ages, so long, most likely that if I watched it now, it would be almost like watching them for the first time. I kinda wish they'd show it, throw it in with the Andy Griffith syndication package or something. From what I recall reading, it was a pretty popular show, even without Andy Griffith in it. But, like just about everything else with a tree, it suffered the fate of CBS's "Rural Purge".
I'll admit, I prefer the old black and white episodes of "Andy Griffith" to the color ones. I never really saw Andy as being played as a dumb hick in those episodes, but more like someone who had a cunning intelligence about him, but acted like a simple country bumpkin, and usually ended up showing up the smug city slickers. He seemed like he had more fun with the other characters too, and played off of them really well. In contrast, with the later episodes, he seemed more like he was getting annoyed with them.
Still, there were a lot of good color episodes, as well. One other thing about the black & white episodes, though...it seemed like you really could lose yourself in them, and feel like they were taking you to rural North Carolina. But, with the color episodes, somehow, it just had more of a "Hollywood" feel to it. I don't know if it was that the color picked up the dry air and smog, or you saw the California mountains off in the distance more clearly, or what. But it just didn't seem quite as much "down home" I guess.
I was reading an article recently about the '60 and '61 Dodges, where it said that Virgil Exner was not involved in the refresh of the '61s because of his heart attack keeping him away from work, and that it was a free-for-all among the designers who were left, with people jockeying for position and trying to impress the higher-ups in his absence. The results of the lack of leadership for not just Dodge but also Plymouth in '61 were some pretty strange designs going into production.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
I guess I prefer the '60 Plymouth front wheel opening to early-fifties Nashes with no wheel openings!
Of the early sixties Dodge and Plymouths--I'm trying to think which I liked best. Probably a '62 Fury.
My Stude dealer friend was invited by the Dodge zone man to go with him to the dealer showing of the new '62 Dodges in Detroit as our town had lost its Dodge dealer owner and was looking to sign another up. Talk of big sales ensued. My friend got to Detroit and the zone guy said "What do you think?" and my friend replied, "Those look worse than Studebakers", LOL.
Needless to say, he didn't acquire the franchise, probably not a great idea.
He did pick up this Chrysler product in 1964. He later told me he thought the Chrysler 5/50 warranty would be a good sales advantage. I've heard of other Stude dealers that picked up Simca; I would've thought Chrysler dealers would've been first in a town to acquire them, but who knows.
The fellow on the far-left is still with us at age 88. He owned a new supercharged '64 Cruiser four-door sedan in black with red cloth buckets and floor-mounted Powershift (PRND21) automatic.
This might be a bit of revisionist history, but here's an article that mentions for 1961, they were going for a more trim, compact appearance. https://www.motorcities.org/story-of-the-week/2020/the-1961-plymouths-were-iconic-looking-cars
I never really thought about that, because the cars were still about the same dimensions, overall. But, the front-end, while bizarre, didn't seem quite as bulky as the '60. And with the fins shaved off, and the rear rounded off and scalloped, the cars do appear a bit smaller.
But, realistically, I don't think they put that much deviousness into it. In the case of the '60 Plymouth, it actually took quite a bit of effort to come up with that look, love it or hate it. The end result might be questionable, but you have to give them credit for trying, and letting their imaginations run wild.
With the '61 DeSoto, I think they just did the bare minimum to differentiate it from a Chrysler, in an attempt to use up some DeSoto-unique trim, badges, etc. And while that upper grille-bulge seems pretty awkward, they probably made it like that so it could share the same hood with a Chrysler.