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

uplanderguy · April 2021

Although it looks different, as most of you no doubt know they call everything up to a '62 a 'C1'. A friend of mine told me once the kingpins are the same part no. since '50.

benjaminh · April 2021

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who has watched It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World over the years in part for the cars. Since I grew up in California I also watch it to see what cities and roads there looked like in 1962. My earliest memories are from around 1967, and so not far off from that.

Anyway, here are some more views from the museum....

fintail · April 2021

Crosley Hot Shot, something I remember my dad talking about when I was a kid.

IAMMMMW is an unrepeatable classic, there will never be anything like that again. I recall writing a paper on it in a basic/GUR "music appreciation" class, analyzing the soundtrack. There's also a scene with a red and white 60 Ford wagon, virtually identical to the car my dad had in the 90s - I recall seeing this and thinking it was pretty cool:

I swear my dad's car didn't have "FORD" letters on the hood though, rather, an emblem.

Also for a brief moment near the end, on the fire truck/ladder scene, there's a fintail visible:

fintail · April 2021

On the road today, an A body Century coupe ~1990, once not too rare but can't be many out there now.

Also noticed that creamy beige colored 69 Galaxie fastback I posted in the snow a few months ago is gone.

stickguy · April 2021

passed a house with a 1974ish 4 door Olds Cutlass in the driveway. Period dark brown. Oddly, parked next to a 1990s vintage MB SL.

nice house too.

fintail · April 2021

Saw 2x FJ40 Landcruisers today, one an early looking model with no top and doors, obviously restored. The other was parked at a very expensive house, I could see these being lifestyle vehicles for outdoor cosplay types who want to look "real".

xwesx · April 2021

fintail said:
Saw 2x FJ40 Landcruisers today, one an early looking model with no top and doors, obviously restored. The other was parked at a very expensive house, I could see these being lifestyle vehicles for outdoor cosplay types who want to look "real".

Well, yeah! Those things are valuable! You can't go out and get them dirty...

explorerx4 · April 2021

@ab348,
I LOL'd at one point early in this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liMwmF6Ohd4&t=494s

ab348 · April 2021

explorerx4 said:
@ab348,
I LOL'd at one point early in this video.

They’re quite the couple. I find myself wondering what the age difference is.

fintail · April 2021

Today saw 2 more old Landcruisers, FJ60 this time - one in driver condition expected for a 35 year old vehicle, the other looked brand new, at least as clean as the fintail, either a heavily detailed low mileage car, or a restoration (I'd wager on the latter).

stickguy · May 2021

driving, a gorgeous orange with white stripes '69 Camaro Z28 (or a look alike). Looked brand new. I wanted it.

and on trailers (probably heading to Atco raceway, or a car show because neither one had decals) a 68ish looking Chevelle, and a 79 or so Firebird. Both looked very clean.

fintail · May 2021

Saw that Lark hardtop I've mentioned to uplander again today, this time on the road - someone is driving it! Also a pristine 70s F-series, 80s custom style mid 30s Chevy hot rod, maybe 67-68 Dodge sedan with a for sale sign, pre-87 Saab 900 turbo.

stickguy · May 2021

got behind a 71-72 ish Buick Regal GS today. Period brown. Sounded healthy. My wife thought it was ugly (car and color). But I liked it.

tjc78 · May 2021

In brown that’s not the best looking car. She is right.

benjaminh · May 2021

More pix from my visit to the Corvette museum....

fintail · May 2021

Never heard of that "entombed" story, fun.

fintail · May 2021

Out on the road today saw a few things - Rabbit, red Stingray convertible, early 70s Corvette convertible, another nice 70s F-series, avocado green W123 240D, W114/115, 67 Mustang, the same Packard from a couple weeks ago, 77-79 Impala/Caprice Sport Coupe that looked like a straight barn find under a heavy layer of dust, red and white two tone, and this - which is what I imagine most of these cars looked like back in the day- no rally wheels, no suspension lift, apparent smallblock, subtle color combo, whitewalls, etc:

ab348 · May 2021

That Impala appears to have bucket seats?

uplanderguy · May 2021

Yep, that Impala is a Super Sport, indicated by the extra blocked nameplate under the "Impala" script on the front fender.

At some point a few years back, I saw another SS like this. While I didn't remember a SS-specific wheelcover on the '68's, I doubted they had the same full wheelcovers as the regular Impala. Apparently I was wrong. I believe that indeed was the case.

I like cars like this--original/authentic and in a non-flashy color.

I remember when my Dad came home from work and said he saw new '68's on a delivery truck for the first time--"They put the taillights in the bumper. What a dumb idea!", LOL.

I also remember going to the dealer to see the '68's in the fall of '67, with my Dad and grandfather.

benjaminh · May 2021

ab348 · May 2021

uplanderguy said:
Yep, that Impala is a Super Sport, indicated by the extra blocked nameplate under the "Impala" script on the front fender.

At some point a few years back, I saw another SS like this. While I didn't remember a SS-specific wheelcover on the '68's, I doubted they had the same full wheelcovers as the regular Impala. Apparently I was wrong. I believe that indeed was the case.

I don't know if those wheel covers are correct for a SS or not, but they look wrong to my eye, being the mundane regular Impala wheel covers.

I like cars like this--original/authentic and in a non-flashy color.

I remember when my Dad came home from work and said he saw new '68's on a delivery truck for the first time--"They put the taillights in the bumper. What a dumb idea!", LOL.

I also remember going to the dealer to see the '68's in the fall of '67, with my Dad and grandfather.

GM Design seemed to have a "thing" for taillights in the bumpers around that time. Full-size Chevys from '68-'70 had them, Cutlasses from from '70 to '72, same with Malibus and possibly others.

uplanderguy · May 2021

Love the Fawn Beige '62 Corvette, although I think some styling is lost without the hardtop.

When I was at the Corvette Museum in 2006 (I was working in Nashville and a coworker and I played hooky one afternoon), they had a display on stylist Bill Mitchell who grew up in my hometown and it was listed on their display there. I also saw it on a display of him at Henry Ford Museum once which made me think that was part of Mitchell's authorized bio which I liked.

uplanderguy · May 2021

'68 Chevy brochure photo below.

uplanderguy · May 2021

Here's an Impala SS from the '68 brochure, and the wheelcovers are indeed the same as the regular Impala full wheelcovers.

Nice seating and door panels I think.

You know me, I like the idea of the SS427 although those three big fake louvers don't do anything to add style to the car I think, in fact detract.

sda · May 2021

At first I was going to question why the convertible had louvers and the coupe did not. Then I read the copy and louvers and other enhancements were exclusive to the 427. Too bad the 68 didn't have the 67's gauge cluster which had a sportier look and fitting to the SS.

uplanderguy · May 2021

I agree on the instrument panel of the '67--best full-size Chevy dash ever IMHO. And to my eyes, the '68's body side moldings smack down the middle of the side don't look as good as the '67's simpler side trim. I do think the '68's seating and door trim is an upgrade to the '67.

ab348 · May 2021

Man, that white over red SS427 convertible would be worth a few dollars today. I notice it has different wheel covers than the mundane ones on the other car pictured.

benjaminh · May 2021

When I was a kid we had neighbors who had one of these, and then they traded it in on a brand new 1976 Caprice Classic. That 67 is a nice looking car I think.

sda · May 2021

I like the 67 better than the 68. The 68 has the 'new' hidden wipers. Could you get the hidden headlamps for either year? I know they were an option on the Caprice.

andre1969 · May 2021

It's interesting, the subtle differences in interior dimensions, between the coupe and convertible. I can understand headroom being different and, naturally, shoulder room in the back being tighter on the convertible. But, I think it's a bit odd that the convertible would have slightly more legroom up front than the hardtop coupe? Seems to me they'd be identical. Wouldn't it be the same seat, same track, same mounting position on the floor, etc, for both of them?

I just looked up the specs for the '67 Catalina, and they have the hardtop coupe and convertible legroom listed at 42.6" up front, and only 33.9" in back. For comparison the Impala is 42.0" for the convertible, 41.7" for the hardtop. And the back is 36.4".

Now, I'm sure there's plenty of "new math" ways to measure legroom, but I just can't believe there'd be that big of a difference between the Catalina and the Impala. Also, just going by feel, I'd say my Catalina definitely doesn't feel that roomy up front, but the back seat seems a lot better than 33.9".

uplanderguy · May 2021

That blue '67 SS427 is sharp, and the trim a lot subtler than the '68. Fan of the full-length rocker trim.
Another thing I like about the '67 is that you could get the Strato-Bench seat, which got you bucket backs but a fold-down center armrest and the option of three across in the front when required. That was gone on the '68 SS's.
RE.: Hideaway headlights--I am almost sure that they were available on the '68 SS.

benjaminh · May 2021

The 1968 Oldsmobile Cutlass Holiday Coupe is also a nice car of that era. In part because I once owned a 1988 98 I like Oldsmobiles. What options does yours have @ab348 ? If you feel like sharing some pix (maybe side profile and dash) hope you will.

benjaminh · May 2021

I feel like the first of these experimental Corvettes might have inspired Speed Racer's Mach 5.

stickguy · May 2021

Silver one looks nice.

sda · May 2021

This was my grandmother's 68 Cutlass S. She special ordered it to replace her 62 Olds Dynamic 88 4dr sedan. The Cutlass had the 350 2bbl, Jetaway transmission, PS, PB, AC, AM radio, rear defroster (a fan that blew on the back window). She lived in St. Petersburg so she ordered a light exterior color with the Oyster white interior with contrasting black carpet and dash. It was a sharp car.

explorerx4 · May 2021

The front of that red 2 rotor Corvette looks a lot like a first gen Saturn.

stickguy · May 2021

Looks like a 280Z (ZX?) also.

ab348 · May 2021

@benjaminh said:
The 1968 Oldsmobile Cutlass Holiday Coupe is also a nice car of that era. In part because I once owned a 1988 98 I like Oldsmobiles. What options does yours have @ab348 ? If you feel like sharing some pix (maybe side profile and dash) hope you will.

Thanks Ben. Mine was a pretty standard car when it was bought new. 350-2bbl V8, Jetaway (2-speed) automatic, PS, PB (drums), wheel discs, AM radio. The original owner had the GM blower-type rear defogger installed at some point, which I removed when I replaced the parcel shelf some years ago.

Over the years I have added some things that would have been available. I sought out the 1968 4-bbl intake, Quadrajet carb, and associated throttle linkage bits, so aside from the compression ratio it now has that. I added rally wheels, first the correct 14'x6" SSII wheels that debuted in 1968, then about 10 years ago when it was time to replace the tires anyway I changed to SSI 14"x7" wheels from a '71 Cutlass. I added a 4-4-2 rear bumper along with dual exhaust with the 4-4-2 exhaust trumpets. I swapped out the AM radio for the correct 1968 Olds AM/FM unit, and added the 1968 8-track tape player too along with the correct dash clock. I added boxed rear lower control arms and the 4-4-2 rear anti-sway bar, and upgraded the one in front with a stout one from a '70s Trans Am. In addition I have done cosmetic things such as rechroming the bumpers, replacing emblems, renewing the carpets and front seat upholstery, and a full body repair and repaint shortly after I acquired the car in 1993.

I have a set of front disc brakes here from a '72 that would be a bolt-on, along with a Turbo 350 transmission from that same year that I intended to have rebuilt and installed to replace the 2-speed. Unfortunately I will not be doing those last two projects as my health no longer permits it, and I will likely be selling the car this year for that same reason. It is time to move it on to a new owner. Given all those changes I can't call it an original car, but everything I have done to it was in that spirit. There aren't any aftermarket parts on it, as everything I have done used correct GM parts, either for the year or that generation of A-body. The car has only about 54,000 miles on the clock (working from memory) so it is very much like going back in time when you drive it, for both good and bad.

When he was working for The Truth About Cars, Mark Stevenson was local to me and became an acquaintance, and he did a story on it that I have posted here previously:
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2015/09/comparison-test-1968-oldsmobile-cutlass-s-1968-ford-mustang-gt/

The pics that follow are his:

texases · May 2021

Everything you've done has improved the car, I have no problem with those kind of modifications to a plain-Jane car. And the result looks great. My stepmom had a '69 Cutlass S, I always liked driving it.

texases · May 2021

Here's a questions for folks: do you know of any place that sells new replacement cassette decks for '80s GM cars? I know one can go to Ebay for used ones, but I'm surprised the 'classic radio' places I looked don't have ones with cassette decks.

stickguy · May 2021

I like what you did with it. Similar idea to what I would to to a car like this, at least if it was a normal model, not some special trim like a Z28 Camaro.

Sorry you need to sell. At least you had a lot of years with it, but always good too IMO when cars get used. Sad to see them just sitting in a garage wasting away.

ab348 · May 2021

A few older pics taken by me in years past:

sda · May 2021

@ab348, We had that same 8 track player in my parent's 69 Olds 98 and 72 Cutlass Supreme. I can hear Simon & Garfunkel, The 5th Dimension, Glen Campbell playing in my head. Didn't you do a color change on your Cutlass? I really like the changes you made.

ab348 · May 2021

@sda said:
@ab348, We had that same 8 track player in my parent's 69 Olds 98 and 72 Cutlass Supreme. I can hear Simon & Garfunkel, The 5th Dimension, Glen Campbell playing in my head. Didn't you do a color change on your Cutlass? I really like the changes you made.

When I bought the car from the original little-old-lady owner, it had endured a bad bondo repair of some fairly insignificant rust spots and a cheap repaint in the original Ocean Turquoise paint color that by then was faded and dull. I looked at the R-M paint chart for Olds in ‘68 at the body shop and didn’t like a lot of the choices given the black interior, so I ended up with Scarlet almost by default. It looks great and turns a lot of heads. But if I had it to do over again, I would have stuck with the Ocean Turquoise. In a modern base/clear paint job I bet that color would pop.

Note to Mods: composing this reply, the usual “blockqote” terminology is gone. What’s happening?

fintail · May 2021

Your Cutlass looks brand new, @ab348 , stunning in the pics. All of your upgrades are appropriate, too. In that climate, something like that must be unusual indeed.

uplanderguy · May 2021

Greg, the car looks great! The Cutlass is the best-styled of the four GM intermediate coupes that year IMHO. I've told you this, but I have a female friend from college who has a plum-colored '68 4-4-2 with black vinyl top and red interior, floor-shift automatic, that is undergoing a slow restoration. I drove it once--over 40 years ago, LOL. I remember changing a burned-out brake light bulb in it back then for her. It has full wheelcovers so looks like a Supreme when you walk up to it. Ironically, she wanted a 4-4-2 with the huge graphics (her dorm room no was 442) and she was actually disappointed when her Dad bought her the '68 when it was about ten or eleven years old! (She was an only child.) At her late husband's memorial service (outdoor celebration and cookout), I brought info I think you had given me to verify that it was really a 4-4-2, and it was. Factory A/C and built in Oshawa, Ontario.

I've mentioned this before on Edmunds, but I've also always been intrigued by the '68-only Chevelle Concours Sport Coupe. They had Cutlass Supreme seating and door panels, or Skylark Custom, depending on assembly plant, and additional exterior trim. All kinds of BS about them online, but I finally found a GM Sales Bulletin saying that a strike in Chevrolet interior plants made this necessary. I can remember exactly one in our town when I was a kid--that awful light-to-medium metallic green '68-only color. Come to think of it, I don't remember seeing that green on any of the B-O-P midsizes that year.

I haven't seen a single '68 Concours coupe in person since.

benjaminh · May 2021

Thanks for sharing those photos of your '68 Oldsmobile. It looks great! That 8-track tape system is a very nice addition.

andre1969 · May 2021

@uplanderguy said:

I can remember exactly one in our town when I was a kid--that awful light-to-medium metallic green '68-only color. Come to think of it, I don't remember seeing that green on any of the B-O-P midsizes that year.

Uplander, do you know what that green was called? We had a '68 Impala 4-door hardtop when I was a kid, and I always remember it being a bluish-green color. But awhile back, I found some old photos, and one of them had my Granddad standing next to the car when it was new(ish). It was definitely more green, than blue, in that pic, and not as attractive as I remembered it as a kid.

Grandmom and Granddad bought the Impala new, but then in '72 did a swap with my Mom, for her '66 Catalina convertible, and then used the Catalina as a trade-in on a new '72 Impala. I was around 2 at the time, and Mom didn't like the idea of driving around with a small child in a convertible, so that's part of the reason they did the swap. Although, I also heard that my Dad also drove the car a lot, and was pretty rough on it.

Mom traded it on '75 for a new LeMans coupe, in sort of a persimmon/bronze color. A few years back, I asked her what made her trade the car, and she said the rear end was starting to go bad. In the long run, she probably would've been better off just fixing the Impala, instead of getting the LeMans! But, she was also only around 26 at the time, and driving your parents' old full-sized 4-door probably wasn't considered "cool" in 1975!

I'll have to see if I can dig up that old Impala pic. I'm pretty sure I had scanned it in, and posted it at some point in the past.

uplanderguy · May 2021

I don't know what it was called, but here it is! (The car looks pretty nice with the Rally Wheels, but I saw this green all over '68 Chevelles, full-size Chevys, and Chevy II's.) I can't say I remember it on any other GM division that year--unusual, and probably a good thing!

andre1969 · May 2021

I think that's it! Oh, I found that pic of my Granddad, with his '68 Impala.

It looks a lot lighter in this pic, but that's probably just because of the washed out film they used in those days. The car looks really jacked up in this picture to me, but I know they did use it for trailer towing, so he might have beefed it up in the rear, or something. Those back tires look seriously over-sized for the car, too. Looks like it's just a 14" rim though, so I guess that's an indication Granddad didn't splurge for disc brakes. IIRC, that option required you to go to 15" rims. Or, that could also be some kind of snow tire? The date on the picture says April of '68, when the film was developed, so that pic was probably taken on a warm day around the tail end of winter.

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

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