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

stickguy · June 2021

must have been an American Graffiti fan!

andre1969 · June 2021

roadburner said:
I saw a red '58 Impala. Heresy, but I always liked the '58 better than the '55-'57 models.

I've always preferred the '58, as well. I'm surprised that you would, though, Roadburner, since you tend to prefer smaller cars.

With me, I just like the longer, more hunkered-down look of the '58, and the proportioning in general. The '55-57 models look stubby to me, especially the 2- and 4-door sedans.

roadburner · June 2021

andre1969 said:

roadburner said:
I saw a red '58 Impala. Heresy, but I always liked the '58 better than the '55-'57 models.
I've always preferred the '58, as well. I'm surprised that you would, though, Roadburner, since you tend to prefer smaller cars.

With me, I just like the longer, more hunkered-down look of the '58, and the proportioning in general. The '55-57 models look stubby to me, especially the 2- and 4-door sedans.

It's one of the few larger cars I like; It epitomizes the '50s vibe to me.

texases · June 2021

A ‘56 Chevy rumbled by me yesterday in La Jolla on the coast road. Very nice, not sure if it was a resto-mod or just hopped up.

andre1969 · June 2021

I always thought the '58 Impala was a good looking car. I think it looks expensive, and upscale, for that price class. GM often tended to tie in Chevy and Cadillac styling in those years, while letting Pontiac, Olds, and Buick go off more on their own tangent, and I think for '58, they did a good job of giving the '58 Chevy a bit of a "baby Cadillac" look.

That's another thing GM did well in those years, I think, is making the Chevy seem like a nice enough car that even if you bought a cheap one, you didn't need to feel ashamed of it. Maybe they'd skimp out on other ways, like giving you a 2-speed automatic when everyone else had moved to 3-speeds, but then it seemed like they'd make up for it by throwing a few more bucks at the interior, or tweaking the styling just enough that it seemed like a more upscale car than it was.

andre1969 · June 2021

texases said:
A ‘56 Chevy rumbled by me yesterday in La Jolla on the coast road. Very nice, not sure if it was a resto-mod or just hopped up.

Roadburner may be the heretic for liking the '58 Chevy over the 55-57, but this is one area where I fall into heresy...the '56 is my favorite of that cycle!

As for the '58 Chevy, I always thought it was a great looking car, and sort of wished the style had hung around more than one year. But, styling changed fast in those days, and it would have looked outdated very quickly. Years ago, I also seem to recall reading that some of the proposals for the '59 Chevy, if it had kept that body shell, were going for a "central" grille them, along the lines of the Edsel, Packard Predictor, Tucker's third headlight, etc.

Although, it looks like Chevy was pondering that central theme, even with the '59 body shell.

fintail · June 2021

I think the 56 looks best in Nomad trim, and vice versa. The details match the style of the car.

Interesting date in on that clay model - roughly 15 months to model launch, and they are still working on it, with a ways to go. Today it seems upcoming model are dialed in a couple years before launch.

andre1969 · June 2021

I finally sprung the convertible from hibernation at the old place, and brought it over to the new house. I don't think it's moved more than a couple hundred feet at a time this year, until today. Checking the mileage log, I filled up on August 4, 2019. I topped it off today, between fuelings, the car had only gone 80.4 miles! And about 18 of that was today. I brought it out to the house, and then ran it up to the gas station to top it off, before dropping it off at the mechanic for its annual checkup.

Here's a video of it, pulling into the driveway, if anyone's interested...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwAeCF3bJn4

explorerx4 · June 2021

@andre1969,
Of course we are interested! Thanks for making the video.

stickguy · June 2021

any progress on the new car barn?

fintail · June 2021

For being off the road awhile, the old beast sounds pretty good! Looks good too.

Saw an early 80s Subaru wagon in traffic today, looked to be in decent shape.

xwesx · June 2021

@andre1969 I never really appreciated quite how crazy the front end is on that thing until now; thanks!

And, do we need to worry? Parking your old car out near the edge of the lawn next to the forest? It wouldn't be the first one to meet its end that way.... Hahahaha!

andre1969 · June 2021

Thanks, guys!

Stickguy, they're finally supposed to start putting the garage up on July 2. The original start date was May 17, but then the company ran into problems, including firing the lady who was coordinating this whole thing. She was such a pain, condescending, hard to get information out of, not accepting blame when she screwed up, etc. I actually told one of the reps that if I write them a review, I'd give them SIX stars out of 5, simply for firing that woman!

Another annoyance...with lumber prices jacking up, they were in a hurry to deliver it as quickly as possible, because prices were rising daily. But now, I hear lumber is starting to tank. Oh well...I'm the guy who also switched a house from oil heat to all-electric back in the fall of 2008. At the time, home heating oil was going for around $5.60/gal. Of course, once it was time to turn that sucker on in the late fall, oil prices were tanking, and our electric rates were skyrocketing!

It will be nice to have it finally built, though. I'm getting tired of seeing the roof trusses laying there in the driveway. I'm worried that every time a delivery vehicle comes down the driveway, and then turns around, that they're going to hit them. In fact, one of my friends did scrape them, with her Hyundai Azera. Didn't hurt the trusses, but put a good dent in her quarter panel. It was actually her husband driving the car that time...she wasn't pleased!

Xwesx, yeah, I guess this is how a lot of those "ran when parked" ads start. It gets driven to the edge of the woods, and before you know it, trees are growing up through it! Or, it would be just my luck, I spent a good amount of money to have some trees taken down that I thought would be a problem in the future, only to have one that I missed, take out the car.

sda · June 2021

Great car @andre1969 . I will second the comment, sounds like it is running really well for being idle for so long. Looks nice as well. I enjoyed the ride.

andre1969 · June 2021

I was surprised at how quiet it sounds, from the cell phone video. It definitely doesn't sound that quiet in person. And in parking garages, where the acoustics probably amplify the sound, it's actually set off car alarms.

I cleaned out the glovebox yesterday. One bad habit that's easy to fall into, with a car that doesn't get used that often, is that it's easy to just throw something in the glovebox and forget about it. Well, I found a "Lion King" soundtrack cassette from 1994, that one of my friends at the time, I guess, put in there for whatever reason. I remember him being obsessed with that movie when it came out. It was weird though, to think that when he put that tape in the glovebox, the Catalina was 27 years old, and 1967 seemed like such a long time in the past. But now, suddenly, I realize that cassette tape is 27 years old! Scary thing though...1994 doesn't seem that long ago!

xwesx · June 2021

I feel *exactly* the same way about that time warp. I talk about events from around the turn of the century as though they are recent, and my kids, who are 17 & 13 now, comment about how long ago that was.

fintail · June 2021

I vividly recall going on a couple road trips in the fintail in the summer of 96. 25 years ago. Quarter of a century.

Michaell · June 2021

Man, oh, man. The year after next I'll have been in Colorado 30 years ... or, half my life.

Time does move faster as you get older.

Look at it this way. Going from age 10 to age 11 is only one year but that year represents 10% of your life. Going from 50 to 51 is the same year, but now it's only 2% of your life.

Nostalgia - a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time

ab348 · June 2021

I bought this house in 1997 and moved in over the Labor Day weekend, coming from a downtown apartment. I still remember those few days quite clearly, dealing with the movers, the closing on the house, and the cleanup of the empty apartment. One thing that stayed with me was that first night sleeping here. Coming from the constant noise downtown, I remember laying in bed in the dark here and not being able to go to sleep right away because it was too quiet.

xwesx · June 2021

fintail said:
I vividly recall going on a couple road trips in the fintail in the summer of 96. 25 years ago. Quarter of a century.

Summer of '96! That was the most adventurous pair of road trips (in my 1969 Econoline) I ever took:

Alaska to Oregon in late June: Broken valve stem just outside of Hixon, BC. I stopped at an RV park for the night, tore down the engine to locate the issue, called my dad to get advice, then pulled the rockers and spark plug off that cylinder (the #1 cylinder!) and nursed the van the rest of the way home (nearly 1,000 miles).

Oregon to Alaska in late August: Picked up a non-driving friend in Portland to return to school in Fairbanks. The master cylinder went out about 30 miles short of Vanderhoof, BC. We kept driving and I just dealt with the (significant) lack of brakes. The next day, on the Cassiar Highway, I start hearing bearing noise. I thought it was front passenger side, so I stopped the van on a flat straight section of the road (it was a super skinny, dirt affair back in those days) and repacked the bearings on that corner. Oddly, the sound vanished for about fifty miles. Then it was back, so I assumed it was either beyond repacking or was coming from the rear axle, which I could do nothing about.

Then, the following day and many miles north near Good Hope Lake (at Boya Lake Provincial Park), the bearing failed to a horrid screeching sound. A dramatic day of walking, radios, and playing cards followed. We had to be towed 50 miles to the top of the highway and another 15 miles east on the Alaska Highway to Watson Lake, where we waited for three days for parts to arrive via bus from Edmonton. Back on the road, it was just us and the highway.... and no brakes.

So, how long ago was all of this? Oh, just yesterday; certainly no "quarter of a century" ago!

sda · June 2021

xwesx said:

fintail said:
I vividly recall going on a couple road trips in the fintail in the summer of 96. 25 years ago. Quarter of a century.
Summer of '96! That was the most adventurous pair of road trips (in my 1969 Econoline) I ever took:

Alaska to Oregon in late June: Broken valve stem just outside of Hixon, BC. I stopped at an RV park for the night, tore down the engine to locate the issue, called my dad to get advice, then pulled the rockers and spark plug off that cylinder (the #1 cylinder!) and nursed the van the rest of the way home (nearly 1,000 miles).

Oregon to Alaska in late August: Picked up a non-driving friend in Portland to return to school in Fairbanks. The master cylinder went out about 30 miles short of Vanderhoof, BC. We kept driving and I just dealt with the (significant) lack of brakes. The next day, on the Cassiar Highway, I start hearing bearing noise. I thought it was front passenger side, so I stopped the van on a flat straight section of the road (it was a super skinny, dirt affair back in those days) and repacked the bearings on that corner. Oddly, the sound vanished for about fifty miles. Then it was back, so I assumed it was either beyond repacking or was coming from the rear axle, which I could do nothing about.

Then, the following day and many miles north near Good Hope Lake (at Boya Lake Provincial Park), the bearing failed to a horrid screeching sound. A dramatic day of walking, radios, and playing cards followed. We had to be towed 50 miles to the top of the highway and another 15 miles east on the Alaska Highway to Watson Lake, where we waited for three days for parts to arrive via bus from Edmonton. Back on the road, it was just us and the highway.... and no brakes.

So, how long ago was all of this? Oh, just yesterday; certainly no "quarter of a century" ago!

That trip is not one you would forget!

roadburner · June 2021

We've been in our current house since 1992. I remember going to my first BMW CCA Oktoberfest in 1984; the oldest '02 was 16 years old and my Bavaria was 11 years old...

fintail · June 2021

I recall that being a long warm/hot mostly fun summer. I didn't take any trips as wild as yours, but did actually spend a few days in BC in the old car, but in the lower mainland. It had no problems - back then I'd take off for a few hundred mile trip and not worry more than checking the fluids. Now, I get anxious on a 50 mile trip, but the car is 25 years older.

Also that summer , I recall driving to Seattle to visit my grandparents, and my uncle and I went downtown, in my grandma's Olds. We were t-boned by an E-class that ran a stop sign, impact just forward of where I was sitting (so my head impacted the door/window). Not a fun day for me. The Olds was totaled, the MB was able to drive away after everything was sorted.

xwesx said:

fintail said:
I vividly recall going on a couple road trips in the fintail in the summer of 96. 25 years ago. Quarter of a century.
Summer of '96! That was the most adventurous pair of road trips (in my 1969 Econoline) I ever took:

Alaska to Oregon in late June: Broken valve stem just outside of Hixon, BC. I stopped at an RV park for the night, tore down the engine to locate the issue, called my dad to get advice, then pulled the rockers and spark plug off that cylinder (the #1 cylinder!) and nursed the van the rest of the way home (nearly 1,000 miles).

Oregon to Alaska in late August: Picked up a non-driving friend in Portland to return to school in Fairbanks. The master cylinder went out about 30 miles short of Vanderhoof, BC. We kept driving and I just dealt with the (significant) lack of brakes. The next day, on the Cassiar Highway, I start hearing bearing noise. I thought it was front passenger side, so I stopped the van on a flat straight section of the road (it was a super skinny, dirt affair back in those days) and repacked the bearings on that corner. Oddly, the sound vanished for about fifty miles. Then it was back, so I assumed it was either beyond repacking or was coming from the rear axle, which I could do nothing about.

Then, the following day and many miles north near Good Hope Lake (at Boya Lake Provincial Park), the bearing failed to a horrid screeching sound. A dramatic day of walking, radios, and playing cards followed. We had to be towed 50 miles to the top of the highway and another 15 miles east on the Alaska Highway to Watson Lake, where we waited for three days for parts to arrive via bus from Edmonton. Back on the road, it was just us and the highway.... and no brakes.

So, how long ago was all of this? Oh, just yesterday; certainly no "quarter of a century" ago!

xwesx · June 2021

fintail said:
I recall that being a long warm/hot mostly fun summer. I didn't take any trips as wild as yours, but did actually spend a few days in BC in the old car, but in the lower mainland. It had no problems - back then I'd take off for a few hundred mile trip and not worry more than checking the fluids. Now, I get anxious on a 50 mile trip, but the car is 25 years older.

Also that summer , I recall driving to Seattle to visit my grandparents, and my uncle and I went downtown, in my grandma's Olds. We were t-boned by an E-class that ran a stop sign, impact just forward of where I was sitting (so my head impacted the door/window). Not a fun day for me. The Olds was totaled, the MB was able to drive away after everything was sorted.

That sounds rough. But, if you can remember it, then at least it wasn't as bad as it could have been!

And, yes, that summer was definitely a hot one on the eastern side of the state! I worked as a grain elevator operator for about six weeks (July through mid-August), and some of those days were straight miserable with the heat and the grain dust.

fintail · June 2021

I still remember the lead up to the crash, but there's a blank spot in my memory now of the immediate aftermath. I wasn't knocked out, but maybe a mis/undiagnosed concussion. Oh well, I am still around

Probably a function of age, but the seasons seemed sharper then, maybe via colder winters. I think that was also the year of the big Spokane ice storm, and now that I think of it, I remember a similar (less severe) event on the west side. That was still a good time for old car hunting in the PNW, too - lots of stuff has vanished since, heck, another one to make you feel old, a lot of cars have been made, lived full lives, and been scrapped in that period.

xwesx said:

fintail said:
I recall that being a long warm/hot mostly fun summer. I didn't take any trips as wild as yours, but did actually spend a few days in BC in the old car, but in the lower mainland. It had no problems - back then I'd take off for a few hundred mile trip and not worry more than checking the fluids. Now, I get anxious on a 50 mile trip, but the car is 25 years older.

Also that summer , I recall driving to Seattle to visit my grandparents, and my uncle and I went downtown, in my grandma's Olds. We were t-boned by an E-class that ran a stop sign, impact just forward of where I was sitting (so my head impacted the door/window). Not a fun day for me. The Olds was totaled, the MB was able to drive away after everything was sorted.
That sounds rough. But, if you can remember it, then at least it wasn't as bad as it could have been!

And, yes, that summer was definitely a hot one on the eastern side of the state! I worked as a grain elevator operator for about six weeks (July through mid-August), and some of those days were straight miserable with the heat and the grain dust.

uplanderguy · June 2021

The Pontiac looks great, andre. For years, the '67 and '68 were the last big Pontiacs I really liked, although the '70 has come around to me!

RE.: The passage of time--I turned 63 Monday. I can hardly believe it. I remember when my mother turned 40, and I remember my grandmother in her mid-fifties.

My four years in college seemed like much-more than that, but in a good way. When my daughters went to college, it seemed like a second in comparison. It is true that four years out of 22 is a bigger percentage of your whole life than four years out of 63!

I bought my first old car, the white '63 Studebaker Lark Daytona, in May 1988. Funny to think it was only 25 years old then. I got in over my head with that one but I had fun in the 23 years I owned it. I still miss it. It had a great guttural dual exhaust burble, which one normally doesn't associate with Larks.

sda · June 2021

uplanderguy said:
The Pontiac looks great, andre. For years, the '67 and '68 were the last big Pontiacs I really liked, although the '70 has come around to me!

RE.: The passage of time--I turned 63 Monday. I can hardly believe it. I remember when my mother turned 40, and I remember my grandmother in her mid-fifties.

My four years in college seemed like much-more than that, but in a good way. When my daughters went to college, it seemed like a second in comparison. It is true that four years out of 22 is a bigger percentage of your whole life than four years out of 63!

I bought my first old car, the white '63 Studebaker Lark Daytona, in May 1988. Funny to think it was only 25 years old then. I got in over my head with that one but I had fun in the 23 years I owned it. I still miss it.

Happy belated Birthday. I am just behind you, I turned 62 on May 9. It seems like yesterday when I was repainting my 70 DeVille convertible in 82 and enjoying the Worlds Fair in Knoxville where I lived, that summer. I sold the DeVille when I moved to Charlotte in 85.

uplanderguy · June 2021

Thanks. I worked for Revco Drugs and I used to have to travel to Knoxville on-occasion, where we had a large warehouse. I remember when the World's Fair was there. I used to love a restaurant called the Copper Cellar there--great prime rib. That's a long time ago though.

sda · June 2021

uplanderguy said:
Thanks. I worked for Revco Drugs and I used to have to travel to Knoxville on-occasion, where we had a large warehouse. I remember when the World's Fair was there. I used to love a restaurant called the Copper Cellar there--great prime rib. That's a long time ago though.

My two younger sisters and I went to UT, and my little sister worked at Copper Cellar during that time frame. Small world.

ab348 · June 2021

Saw this recent upload of a TPIR episode from March of 1977 today. First game was Lucky Seven, and a lucky lady from Houston won this '77 Skylark coupe, priced at $4752. I always liked these and this one was attractive, with a white interior and Buick road wheels.

tjc78 · June 2021

Tell me your car is the from the 70s without telling me your car is from the 70s…. At least the interior is nice.

Michaell · June 2021

sda said:

uplanderguy said:
Thanks. I worked for Revco Drugs and I used to have to travel to Knoxville on-occasion, where we had a large warehouse. I remember when the World's Fair was there. I used to love a restaurant called the Copper Cellar there--great prime rib. That's a long time ago though.
My two younger sisters and I went to UT, and my little sister worked at Copper Cellar during that time frame. Small world.

The son of my mom's best friend went to UT on a football scholarship in the late 70's. I think he dislocated his hip in their third practice and it took three people to pop it back into the socket. No more football, but they honored the scholarship anyway.

I briefly thought about attending UT after high school, but it was too far away from home in CA.

andre1969 · June 2021

For some reason, with 60's Pontiacs, it seemed like I always liked the odd years, but not so much the even. Although, it's usually some minor detail that I get caught up on, rather than some major design abomination. For instance, I think the '60 front-end is a bit non-descript, and the taillight placement seems weird. But then the '60, I just love everything about it. I remember my Dad saying he thought the front-end was odd, that the grille inserts slanted the wrong way.

The '62 makes me think a bit of a Ford with a Pontiac beak at some angles, and the headlights just seem too far outward. That's probably what makes me think Ford, because it's similar, perhaps, to a '64 Ford? With '64 and '66, I'm not so crazy about the way the headlights are so vertical. I think the forward thrust of the '63 and '65 looks better.

The '67 always appealed to me, because as a kid I thought that front-end looked futuristic, plus it also had a bit of a batmobile vibe. But then with the '68, it seemed too beaky, and the hockey-stick shape of the taillights seemed too overly exaggerated, compared to '67. In the past, it seemed like the smaller cars were influenced by the styling of the bigger cars, but for '68, it was like they tried to make the big cars ape the new intermediates, and I don't think it worked that well.

For '69, the beak seemed like it was toned down, and the front worked better, I thought. And the taillight proportioning seemed "right" again. But then for '70, they went for that "neoclassic" look. If that car came out in the 90's or early 2000's, they'd call it "retro". The grille was too narrow, and I didn't like that "6-headlight" look that you got with the horn ports.

If I was one of those types who could afford to buy a new car every year, and had a preference for GM's mid-priced cars, I think I would've stuck with Pontiac for most of the 60's (although I like the '62 Oldsmobiles, and that's one of my less-favorite Pontiac years, so that would be a bit of a tossup). But by '68, I think I would've gone with an Olds or Buick. In '69, it would have been a tossup between Olds and Pontiac...I don't like the Buick's front-end that year. And then in '70, it would have been an Olds or Buick.

xwesx · June 2021

andre1969 said:
For some reason, with 60's Pontiacs, it seemed like I always liked the odd years, but not so much the even. Although, it's usually some minor detail that I get caught up on, rather than some major design abomination. For instance, I think the '60 front-end is a bit non-descript, and the taillight placement seems weird. But then the '60, I just love everything about it. I remember my Dad saying he thought the front-end was odd, that the grille inserts slanted the wrong way.

You always were a little odd!

andre1969 · June 2021

You always were a little odd!

I don't know why, but that made me think of an old "I Love Lucy Episode". The line is in this clip, starting around the 1:15 mark, when they're talking about numerology.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE7x2d3Omtk

uplanderguy · June 2021

Nice '61 Ventura in a good color IMHO. The writer mentions what I always thought--that the added length in the rear of the Bonneville (and Star Chief, if we're talking sedans) made the car a bit ungainly. Give me the Ventura this year any time.

https://barnfinds.com/tri-power-bubble-top-1961-pontiac-ventura/?fbclid=IwAR1Vzf8xKW43Y8kwrInbGC0NqmXhip4_4WJnLYYTwOq3AOIVRVC1L7awuVY

andre1969 · June 2021

If I was seeking out a '61 Pontiac, I think that would definitely be my first color choice!

I had forgotten that in 1960 and 1961, the Ventura was actually broken out as a separate model line, above the Catalina, but below the Star Chief. And interestingly, the '61 Pontiacs were downsized, if only slightly. In '60, the Catalina and Ventura had been on a 122" wb, while the Star Chief/Bonneville were on a 124". For '61, the Catalina/Ventura dropped to 119", same as a Chevy, and the bigger cars saw a smaller reduction, to 123".

For '62 though, the Catalina moved up slightly to 120". And then for '65, they went to 121" for the Catalina, 124" for the bigger cars. Seems odd to me, that they'd quibble over an inch, though. But maybe prospective buyers got hung up on the specs, and figured why pay extra for a Pontiac if the wheelbase was the same as a Chevy, so that's why they bumped it up?

The longer wheelbase doesn't bother me on the '61 hardtop coupe and convertible, but it is more noticeable on the sedans. I think the hardtop sedan hides it somewhat well, because it has a thick, fairly formal C-pillar. But the Star Chief 4-door sedan still has a thin C-pillar and wraparound rear window, and I think that throws it off. That thin pillar, with not much substance to it, amplifies just how long the rear deck is.

This may not be the best pic to use to show this, as it looks like it's stretched out, making the car look even longer and disproportionate! Here's a Catalina, from roughly the same angle, for comparison. You can definitely see where they stuck the extra 4" of wheelbase!

One other advantage the Catalina/Ventura had, over the Star Chief/Bonneville, was that the transmission hump was smaller. Although, that was because the bigger cars used the old-style 4-speed HydraMatic, whereas the smaller cars used the Slim Jim...so that might have negated the advantage somewhat!

uplanderguy · June 2021

For some reason, the ‘62 Star Chief sedan really slaps me in the face with the added length in the rear. I think I’m used to smaller cars in general, or at least long-hood, short-deck styling.

I do like the round taillights of the longer ‘61 models better than the shorter ones, but not enough to cancel out the added length.

andre1969 · June 2021

uplanderguy said:
For some reason, the ‘62 Star Chief sedan really slaps me in the face with the added length in the rear. I think I’m used to smaller cars in general, or at least long-hood, short-deck styling.

I can see that. Here's a '62 Star Chief...

On one hand, I think the thicker C-pillar helps out the look. But the rear-end styling, the way it seems to under-cut towards the bottom, helps draw attention to how long that rear is. And, I swear, in this pic the decklid looks longer than the hood! Now I don't mind a long decklid, within reason, but proportionally I don't think it should ever be longer than the hood.

By '65, I think they finally got that longer styling down right. It seemed more integrated, and natural, and I actually prefer the longer cars to the shorter ones. Now, it's not often that I get to compare the two side by side, but there's been a few times that I've had my '67 Catalina parked next to a '67 Bonneville at the Carlisle PA GM show. Usually, to my eye, my Catalina looks "normal" in its proportions. But when I see it next to a Bonneville, for some reason, my eye thinks the Bonneville should be the default, and my Catalina looks stubby!

uplanderguy · June 2021

That long deck just slaps me in the face.

I do agree that for '65 and later, it's better, but for some reason, to my eyes, a four-door pillared sedan and the long wheelbase just do not mix, even in those later years.

I used to think I'd like a '65 Bonneville hardtop coupe with the rarely-seen combo of buckets and console, which was available, as I like the fastback roof and 'regular' taillights better than the Grand Prix, but I just don't think I care for the added length, even on the two-door hardtop.

A long-wheelbase Pontiac I find interesting is the '66 Star Chief Executive, available for the first time in a two-door hardtop, and the last Pontiac called 'Star Chief'. I couldn't handle a four-door pillared sedan in one, though.

On the long wheelbase, I do like the Bonneville Broughams of '65-70 ('66-70 in two doors). Great-looking interiors.

fintail · June 2021

Those Pontiacs remind me, the 61 Caddy with the "vista" rear window like that has always seemed odd to me.

kyfdx · June 2021

My mom had a ‘62 Star Chief. It’s the first car I remember.

kyfdx · June 2021

Spotted today

tjc78 · June 2021

As much as I love Lincoln’s I just can’t find much love for the Mark IV. The III and V are so much better to me.

That one is super clean!

uplanderguy · June 2021

tjc, I agree on the Mark IV. It's just the picture of excess of that time, to me. I can say the same about the '75-78 Eldorado.

The Mark V is better proportioned I think, but still not a fan of the vents on the front fenders. And some had hideaway headlights that still looked like they had one round headlight through the door!

EDIT: Sorry, I think I'm remembering the Mark VI instead of the Mark V. I do remember at the time thinking the Mark VI was styled a lot like the V, just smaller.

andre1969 · June 2021

My preference still runs towards the Mark V, but I'm finding that I like the IV more and more these days. The V is definitely more sleek and tasteful, but there's just something about the excess of the IV that I find appealing.

Also, I don't know if this is just my imagination or not, but something about the IV just seems like it's beefier, and better built. Which could be true, as I heard they managed to shed something like 500 pounds when the V came out, even though it was really just a heavy restyle. Or maybe it's just the more curvy, heavy-handed styling gives the car the illusion of being beefier? I've also noticed that, if you just get a regular Mark, and not a designer edition, it seems like the IV was a bit ritzier inside. I've seen base Mark Vs, and they seem a bit spartan inside for a luxury car.

The Mark VI is basically what you get when you try and apply Mark V styling to a 1979 LTD 2-door sedan. I think it's just too tall, boxy, and short to really be attractive. But, they seem like they were very well built cars, and the interiors looked pretty luxurious and comfortable...and a lot roomier inside than the IV and V.

It's kind of interesting that, back in those days, Cadillac always had the upper hand when it came to regular full-sized luxury cars. The DeVille usually outsold the Continental sedans and coupes by a wide margin. But when it came to personal luxury coupes, the Mark tended to blow the Eldorado away as I recall. I guess you could argue that the Eldorado might have had some sales siphoned off by the Toronado and Riviera. But, at Ford you had the Thunderbird (through '76 at least). And I think those big T-birds were closer to a Mark IV in price than a Toro/Riv was, to an Eldorado.

With the Eldorado, I prefer the '75-78 to the '71-74 models. I don't know if it's the fender skirts on the earlier models, or what, but they just look fat to me, and the decklid looks too stubby. The '75-78 seems to have a better-balanced rear, and looks a bit slimmer.

It's been ages since I've been in an Eldorado of that generation, but I remember them being pretty comfy, and not bad with regards to interior room, for a car that sold more on style than space efficiency. In contrast, I remember my buddy's Mark V being a bit tight inside. Headroom was the main culprit. Legroom was good up front, but you sat almost on the floor, like a sports car. And even then, my head brushed the ceiling. In back, I had enough legroom, but that was mainly because the seat was so low that I was in somewhat of a fetal position, rather than having my legs more straight-out, as they would be in a car with a higher seat.

tjc78 · June 2021

The Mark V for as huge as it is has a pretty small interior other than width.

The Mark VI in some color combos can look pretty sharp and for the time was a much better/modern car than the V.

I wouldn’t mind having an 81 Givenchy because my Grandfather had one, and the burgundy signature series models are really nice too.

In the brochure picture they clearly made the car look lower than it really is.

kyfdx · June 2021

I like the IV a lot better. The V looks like they took a Town Car, and grafted on Mark bits.
Of course, I started driving in the mid-70s, so it's what you grow up with.

The early IVs, before the giant bumpers, are pretty sweet.

uplanderguy · June 2021

I don't think those fender vents add a damn thing to the design, but I'm a [non-permissible content removed] about decoration below the C-pillar, of stuff like that.

I like the finned (vaned?) aluminum wheels on the maroon car. The brochure photo shows why I think Ford's wire wheelcovers of that general period looked like J.C. Whitney pieces.

sda · June 2021

I thought the 72 Mark IV was good looking. Once the 5mph battering rams were added in 73 it really made the car look heavy and awkward. I do like the crisp lines of the Mark V much better than the 73-76 Mark IV.

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

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