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

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Comments

  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,655
    edited January 2022
    Looking back, they usually didn't smash up too many imports on "CHiPs". It was usually 60's and pre-downsized 70's domestics. Must have had something to do with resale value, especially in the wake of the first oil embargo.

    I do remember a first-season episode where Rosie Greer was driving some a tiny Honda 600, and got mad and tore it up on the shoulder of the road. Either he got pulled over, or the car left him stranded, I can't remember which...


    And then there was the infamous "M.A.I.T. Team" episode from the second season...at least it left a big impression on my childhood mind, because I think it was the first time people got killed in the car accidents on "CHiPs". It was actually some pretty spectacular stunt-work, for a tv show. One of the casualties of that show was a Mazda RX-2 that went under a tractor trailer...


    That poor RX-2 got beat on in an earlier episode called "Return of the Turks", where its driver pissed off someone in an Olds, and the Olds ran it off the road...


    The Olds ended up having its ignition, steering, and throttle stuck at the same time, and caused some mayhem on the freeway. Among the victims was that red Cougar.


    I'd love to see the original, uncut version of that "Turks" episode of "CHiPs" In those days, a 60 minute tv show was about 48 minutes of program, 12 minutes of commercial. These days, to make room for more commercials it's more like 40-42 minutes. I'm convinced that some of the footage that was cut was from the action scenes involving the car crashes.

    Another thing that I remember from that episode, is that they ended up hitting the same 1970 Catalina three different times. The Olds hit it during the first freeway demolition derby. Or, I seem to recall the Olds hit a '63 Impala wagon that hit the Pontiac. But there was another action scene towards the end, where the same guys got an old Montego and decided to play bumper cars, and they sent it down the embankment, twice!

    Most of the cars they wrecked usually looked like they were a bit beat-up to begin with. But that Catalina looks like it was a nice car! But, by the time this episode was filmed (late '78) it was 9 model years old, so probably still a cheap car to get ahold of and wreck.
  • imidazol97imidazol97 Member Posts: 27,132
    fintail said:

    I saw this on the road again today:

    image

    When I saw this I thought of these inside a restaurant. Took a while to get them posted.
    For your dining pleasure...





    2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,

  • kyfdxkyfdx Moderator Posts: 235,188
    My uncle had a '70 Bonneville. Ugly car.

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  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,056
    The mention of Rosey Grier, above, reminded me that I walked past him sitting in a chair in an airport once.

    For all I travelled with work, he's the only famous person I ever saw in an airport. I was on a plane once from Dallas to Chicago when Alan Hale, Jr., 'Skipper' from "Gilligan's Island", walked down the aisle, in a Hawaiian shirt, his 'Skipper' hat, and a big smile. There was about a twelve-year-old girl sitting next to me on the plane and I said, "Was that 'the Skipper' from Gilligan's Island?" and she replied, "Huh?". I did ask the flight attendant when she was near me and she said "Yes, he flies this flight often and loves it when people talk to him". Good for him, I thought.

    I did have some conversation on two different occasions with Livingston Taylor near here.

    I know these are all B-or-C-list celebrities, but that's all I could muster in all those years of travel.
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  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,056
    RE.: Headlight replacement--daughter's '15 Equinox had the left low-beam out when they left our house after a Christmas visit. I suggested Valvoline as her husband is even less car-handy than me, and one time they quickly replaced a burned-out headlamp bulb in one of my Cobalts once. I typically dislike them as they now charge over $100 for a full-synthetic oil change, which is insane.

    But, daughter says her husband said Valvoline replaced the bulb "...for 25 bucks". If he told her that, and she heard him right, quite cheap I'd say.

    That '70 Pontiac, above, is really making me think about '70 full-size Pontiacs lately, after disliking them when new and for a long time afterwards.

    Totally unrelated, but ever notice on FB pages and other car forums, how many people will post something like, "I have a 65' Impala". Pet peeve. I want to say, "I know that's a big car, but 65 feet?!". I refrain though.
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  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,096
    Looks like someone spent a fortune on that place.

    fintail said:

    I saw this on the road again today:

    image

    When I saw this I thought of these inside a restaurant. Took a while to get them posted.
    For your dining pleasure...


  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,096
    I suspect rotary Mazdas depreciated like pre-downsized domestics, due to their quirky powertrains. A shame, as those cars (and to a lesser extent the Honda 600) are very sought after today. People would fight over that RX-2. And yeah, the barges must have been worth very little even by 1980, if my mom's T-Bird being worth almost nothing by 1985 is any indication. I remember when I was a kid during that era, and nothing seemed more out of style than a big slightly older car - too new to be old in a cool way, too old to be new.

    Seeing the Beetle in that pic, I think those had pretty decent resale compared to MSRP - not far to fall, and although a bit dated to put it nicely, I think they tended to be very well built, and cheap to fix. That was also an era when MBs had stupendous resale. I have KBB and NADA books from 1976, where a ~70 280SL booked at original MSRP and probably could be sold for more, due to inflation and exchange issues pushing up the prices of newer models.


    andre1969 said:

    Looking back, they usually didn't smash up too many imports on "CHiPs". It was usually 60's and pre-downsized 70's domestics. Must have had something to do with resale value, especially in the wake of the first oil embargo.

    I do remember a first-season episode where Rosie Greer was driving some a tiny Honda 600, and got mad and tore it up on the shoulder of the road. Either he got pulled over, or the car left him stranded, I can't remember which...


    And then there was the infamous "M.A.I.T. Team" episode from the second season...at least it left a big impression on my childhood mind, because I think it was the first time people got killed in the car accidents on "CHiPs". It was actually some pretty spectacular stunt-work, for a tv show. One of the casualties of that show was a Mazda RX-2 that went under a tractor trailer...


    That poor RX-2 got beat on in an earlier episode called "Return of the Turks", where its driver pissed off someone in an Olds, and the Olds ran it off the road...


    The Olds ended up having its ignition, steering, and throttle stuck at the same time, and caused some mayhem on the freeway. Among the victims was that red Cougar.


    I'd love to see the original, uncut version of that "Turks" episode of "CHiPs" In those days, a 60 minute tv show was about 48 minutes of program, 12 minutes of commercial. These days, to make room for more commercials it's more like 40-42 minutes. I'm convinced that some of the footage that was cut was from the action scenes involving the car crashes.

    Another thing that I remember from that episode, is that they ended up hitting the same 1970 Catalina three different times. The Olds hit it during the first freeway demolition derby. Or, I seem to recall the Olds hit a '63 Impala wagon that hit the Pontiac. But there was another action scene towards the end, where the same guys got an old Montego and decided to play bumper cars, and they sent it down the embankment, twice!

    Most of the cars they wrecked usually looked like they were a bit beat-up to begin with. But that Catalina looks like it was a nice car! But, by the time this episode was filmed (late '78) it was 9 model years old, so probably still a cheap car to get ahold of and wreck.

  • explorerx4explorerx4 Member Posts: 19,256
    Isn't that white car in the picture where the blue Olds is tailgating the car in front of it another Mazda?
    2023 Ford Explorer ST, 91 Mustang GT vert
  • MichaellMichaell Moderator Posts: 240,121
    A few months back, I bought a book titled "Freewaytopia", which is a history of the freeways in Los Angeles County.

    The chapter on the 210 was interesting, and mentioned "CHiPs", as there was a lot of legal wrangling over a portion of the road being built, which prevented the freeway from opening and allowing the filming to take place.

    Fascinating bit of trivia - how did the city of Tarzana in the San Fernando Valley get its name? The land the city is on was once a sprawling ranch owned by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the author of the book.

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  • kyfdxkyfdx Moderator Posts: 235,188
    Famous people in airports: We saw LL Cool J at DCA, in 2019. He deplaned from the gate we were waiting to board. Nice guy. Took pictures with random fans.

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  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,096
    I think the white car is a Toyota (Corona) Mark II.

    Isn't that white car in the picture where the blue Olds is tailgating the car in front of it another Mazda?

  • explorerx4explorerx4 Member Posts: 19,256
    edited January 2022
    One time, I saw Mack Brown, had been Texas football, on a plane out of Charlotte.
    He seemed pretty happy.
    I thought it was a bit unusual, but didn't think much of it.
    Next thing you know, he's the UNC football coach.
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  • MichaellMichaell Moderator Posts: 240,121
    Spoke with Richard Thomas briefly, at LAX waiting for our luggage.

    Spotted Ben Nighthorse Campbell (former CO senator) at the gate in Dulles.

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  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,056
    I'd have enjoyed meeting Richard Thomas. I watched the show pretty often, but I'd tell him I REALLY liked the pilot movie, "The Homecoming", which he was in but Patricia Neal played the mother.
    2024 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 2LT; 2019 Chevrolet Equinox LT; 2015 Chevrolet Cruze LS
  • ab348ab348 Member Posts: 19,029


    Totally unrelated, but ever notice on FB pages and other car forums, how many people will post something like, "I have a 65' Impala". Pet peeve. I want to say, "I know that's a big car, but 65 feet?!". I refrain though.

    You're showing your advancing age, Bill. ;)

    I'm the same, BTW. :D

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  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,655
    Wow, you really CAN find just about everything on the IMCDB! Here's a closeup of that white car, used later in that "Turks" episode...

    They have it listed as a 1974 Toyota Corona Mark II.

    It showed up a few episodes earlier in that second season, as well...

  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,096
    Mark II was also available as a wagon and a not bad looking hardtop, a real unicorn today:

    image

    There's a custom movement out there, shows the hips:

    image
  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,655
    Here's a '72 Mark II:


    The front makes me think just a bit of a '71 Barracuda with some Pontiac thrown in. Kind of a cute little car
  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,056

    An early Japanese import I thought was good-looking were those first Colt coupes sold at Dodge dealers.

    While I can’t say I thought these were stylish, there was something about Datsun 510’s that I thought looked substantial.

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  • sdasda Member Posts: 6,936
    In '79 my parent's bought a used '72 Corona Mark II for my sisters to drive. It was a 4sp w/ac.


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  • xwesxxwesx Member Posts: 16,759
    AC in a 1972 Toyota?! That's impressive, although it probably robbed a third of the car's power when in operation. :D
    2018 Subaru Crosstrek, 2014 Audi Q7 TDI, 2013 Subaru Forester, 1969 Chevrolet C20, 1969 Ford Econoline 100, 1976 Ford F250
  • ab348ab348 Member Posts: 19,029

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  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,096
    edited January 2022
    Aftermarket conversion, no doubt commissioned by an affluent person as those were never cheap cars, and the conversion cost a bit too. Fascinating documents with that one, appears to have been converted to a wagon in 1976 (no factory built MB wagons until maybe late 1978). Someone will pay up a little for that.

    Amusing that the site calls it a W108, as it is a W109 (assuming it started life as a 6.3). Also has been re-registered plate is from around 1990 (although I think an H suffix would be age-correct for the car).
    ab348 said:
  • explorerx4explorerx4 Member Posts: 19,256
    What is up with the camber on the rear wheels of that wagon?
    2023 Ford Explorer ST, 91 Mustang GT vert
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,096
    Air suspension car, I think it is in the maximum height position for some reason.

    What is up with the camber on the rear wheels of that wagon?

  • xwesxxwesx Member Posts: 16,759
    Eech. Looks too tacked on, which it was, but this looks that way in a bad way. A little more design work would have gone a long way toward a "conversion" rather than looking like it went through bubba's garage.
    2018 Subaru Crosstrek, 2014 Audi Q7 TDI, 2013 Subaru Forester, 1969 Chevrolet C20, 1969 Ford Econoline 100, 1976 Ford F250
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,096
    edited January 2022
    Crayford conversions look like that. Here's a late 70s car, interesting as it is a USDM car, so someone paid a real fortune for this back in the day. Rear side windows make me think of a Ford Cortina/Consul/Granada estate. Like the earlier car, this design is a little weird in that you can still see a little bump where the end of the trunk would be:

    image

    They did BMWs too:

    image

    It also has the bump:

    image
  • Kelly_Hunter23Kelly_Hunter23 Member Posts: 1
    I have seen 1975 Maserati Merak
  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,655
    That red Benz 450 SEL looks decent to me, from that angle, at least. The bump at the rear is a bit odd, but adds character. My only beef with it, is that the rear side window just doesn't quite jive with the rest of the design. It's like they almost got it right, but not quite. Of course, it could look bad from other angles.

    The BMW looks a bit more home-made, in my opinion. I think the biggest problem is that it's hard to work that little jig in lower front of C-pillar into a wagon design. Looking through pics of BMW wagons throughout the years, it looks like BMW themselves decided the same thing, and got rid of it for that body style.

    These two look like they could have worked, with just a little more time and effort (and probably a lot more money), but that Benz 6.3 just seems like they weren't even trying. I know I've mentioned before that my Granddad's first "pickup" was a 1939 or 40 Plymouth sedan that he butchered up, sort of "Beverly Hillbillies" style. I've never seen pictures of it, but that Benz makes me think of what Granddad might have done, if he'd gotten ahold of a car like that, and decided he really wanted a wagon, and did it himself.
  • ab348ab348 Member Posts: 19,029
    When I was a kid in the '60s it was not unusual to see passenger cars converted into homebuilt pickups once they had reached a certain age and level of shabbiness. You don't see that nearly as much today since there aren't many body on frame cars made now. Here is an example I found online of a Packard conversion. Note the handy cargo bed side door!


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  • stickguystickguy Member Posts: 50,435
    I’m surprised no company does that now. Side load door would come in handy. Or the side wall tailgate that old VW van pick ups, and I think corvair vans, had.

    Make it much easier to load the front of the bed!

    2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.

  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,096
    edited January 2022
    Side view of the 450SEL Crayford:

    image

    And that's right, factory BMW wagons lost the Hofmeister kink.

    I remember back in the 90s in the small town where I lived, someone had cut down a big late 70s Buick sedan into a pickup like that, and it was a very "Beverly Hillbillies" kind of job (I think the rear bulkhead area was wood).

    Cutting cars into pickups is something that impacted MBs for some time, going back to Pontons or earlier. Even fintails aren't immune:


  • stickguystickguy Member Posts: 50,435

    Used to be a first gen voyager near me made into a pickup. Cut down right behind the seats with a plywood (appearing) bulkhead. At least they stuck in a window. Didn’t actually look half bad. Probably very practical!

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  • uplanderguyuplanderguy Member Posts: 16,056
    Not my spotting, but younger daughter just texted me from CA where she is visiting her boyfriend. She writes, "Couldn't take a pic fast enough but we are driving to Big Sur for the day and just drove by a Studebaker truck filled with surfboards going to the beach! Looked like a toy car".

    LOL
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  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,096
    I think minivans lend themselves to it - reminds me of the more reasonable sized pickup movement going on right now. A couple years ago I spotted this on the road (dashcam capture at speed, so not the best image):




  • roadburnerroadburner Member Posts: 17,312
    BMW M built 2 M3 pickups, an E46 M3 wagon, and an E36/5 M3 Compact.

    Mine: 1995 318ti Club Sport; 2020 C43; 2021 Sahara 4xe 1996 Speed Triple Challenge Cup Replica Wife's: 2015 X1 xDrive28i Son's: 2009 328i; 2018 330i xDrive

  • stickguystickguy Member Posts: 50,435
    the front one (E30?) looks a lot like a Rabbit PU. Though I guess that is a convertible, so kinda the same thing as those Dakota sports drop tops!

    I like the E46 wagon. I have seen people that have done those on their own. Not sure how accurate they came out.

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  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,655
    Okay, how long does a car have to be sitting, to sink this far into a rock driveway?


    I stumbled across this on Facebook, and the ad only says it's been parked "20+ years". I let a friend store his '52 Benz in my back yard for a bit over 6 years once (March 2004-summer of 2010), and it was just sitting on the dirt, and its tires made just the tiniest of indentations in the ground.

    The seller is asking $5,000 for this, which I think is just a tad...optimistic.
  • explorerx4explorerx4 Member Posts: 19,256
    @andre1969,
    5K too much, so how much are you going to offer?
    2023 Ford Explorer ST, 91 Mustang GT vert
  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,655

    @andre1969,
    5K too much, so how much are you going to offer?

    Umm...gimme fifty bucks and I'll take it off your hands? :p
  • kyfdxkyfdx Moderator Posts: 235,188
    andre1969 said:

    @andre1969,
    5K too much, so how much are you going to offer?

    Umm...gimme fifty bucks and I'll take it off your hands? :p
    Parts car: How much is that windshield worth? ;)

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  • xwesxxwesx Member Posts: 16,759
    Looks like a solid 30 years, maybe more. The thing about that much time is that it isn't necessarily "sunk," as it is that stuff happens around it. Of course, if water tends to puddle in the area after heavy rainfalls (which it could judging by the flatness of the surrounding landscape), then the softened ground would lend it to settle with time. Also, the tires could be flat, gravel could have been added to the area and covered over the flat area of the tires, etc.

    All that said, if the windows on that thing have been down for any substantial timeline, it is surely rusted all to heck. Shame, really, as the car looks like it was in very nice condition with straight, clean body panels, glass, bumpers, etc., when they parked it there.
    2018 Subaru Crosstrek, 2014 Audi Q7 TDI, 2013 Subaru Forester, 1969 Chevrolet C20, 1969 Ford Econoline 100, 1976 Ford F250
  • imidazol97imidazol97 Member Posts: 27,132
    Don't know about the inside floors from open windows, but the rust on the outside
    looks like surface rust due to the breakdown of the paint and primer over the years.
    There doesn't appear to be rust from the inside of body panels.
    The chrome looks good.

    The rock may have been laid on soft ground and there just wasn't enough of a base
    of fine rock that's been compacted to lessen the sinking of the larger rocks with the
    weight of the car wheels on it.

    2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,

  • explorerx4explorerx4 Member Posts: 19,256
    Maybe the car was covered but that was removed for the picture.
    2023 Ford Explorer ST, 91 Mustang GT vert
  • fintailfintail Member Posts: 57,096
    On that sad DeSoto I get a feeling the side windows might not exist.
  • imidazol97imidazol97 Member Posts: 27,132

    Maybe the car was covered but that was removed for the picture.

    Good point.

    2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,

  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,655
    edited January 2022
    Just out of curiosity, I looked around and found that windshield on eBay for $399 plus $190 shipping. I was actually kinda shocked that it popped up! As for pictures, let's just say that one I posted is probably the most flattering, and hides a lot. I can't get an actual link to post, but lemme see if this works...

    https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=457369872550771&set=pcb.3113590492209763

    Looks like this brings up that pic I posted earlier, and you can use the arrows to the left and right of the pic to see the rest of the pics.
  • sdasda Member Posts: 6,936
    Sadly, rust has munched on the DeSoto. Is the floor covering a tight loop carpet or is it a faux carpet rubber covering?

    2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech, 2006 Acura TL w/nav

  • andre1969andre1969 Member Posts: 25,655
    You mean this carpeting?

    That's some kind of carpeting (I guess tight-loop is a good description of it) where it gets sort of a lined pattern. I think it might be original, but I'm not sure. My DeSoto had a similar carpet, although it was sort of a washed-out red. My mechanic told me that what mine had was some kind of aftermarket carpeting, but now I'm not so sure. It's been awhile now, but I'm thinking my carpet might have had a subtle zig-zag pattern to it.

    I'm not sure about '58, but for '57 I believe the Firesweep came standard with a rubber floor mat, like a work truck, and you had to pay extra for carpeting. I don't think I've ever seen one in person though, that just had the mat.

    Despite being the entry level DeSoto, this car was still priced above the Buick Special, Olds Dynamic 88, and the Mercury Monterey. Its base price was $2819; whereas the Special was $2700. Heck, for $2820, you could get into a Special Riviera hardtop sedan! I can't imagine Buick, Olds, or Mercury cost-cutting and making carpeting optional on their base models...but perhaps they did?

    This particular Firesweep looks like it's pretty basic, in some respects. Under the hood, I'm not seeing a power brake booster or power steering pump...unless they've been removed? But then inside, I'm seeing the pushbuttons for the extra-cost 3-speed Torqueflite. A lot of these Firesweeps just had the 2-speed Powerflite.

    **Edit: Now I'm starting to question whether that's actually carpet, or not. In some of the pics, it does look like it's just some kind of textured rubber mat.
  • sdasda Member Posts: 6,936
    Yes, that’s it. I find it interesting that ribbon style speedometers were popular in the medium priced field during the late 50s early 60s. I guess they had some novelty and modern appeal. I think they were failure prone as the car aged as I’ve seen many stuck at a certain speed, often maxed out at 120. My grandmother’s 62 Olds Dynamic 88 had one that changed colors, green, orange, red the faster the speed. As a kid I thought that was so cool.

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