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

uplanderguy · August 2022

I would've missed the wraparound rear window on the Chevy coupes had that car been introduced. When the '80 came out, I thought they blanded-out on both the rear window and pretty uninspired coupe quarter windows. Some magazine said "The car has lost the crisp, chiseled look it was born with".

We had a bright red '77 Impala coupe that Dad bought in early Nov. '76, but I did like then being told by people "It resembles a Seville". Wheel openings and general profile I think.

andre1969 · August 2022

I wonder, during the design phase of the downsized GM B-bodies, if they ever tossed about the idea of putting the coupe on a shorter wheelbase than the sedan, which was all the rage with the existing midsized coupes of the time. The more I look at it, something about the design of that '77 coupe makes me think they might have considered going that route. Of course, it's just a sketch, so it might not be perfectly proportionate.

fintail · August 2022

Wagon price, wow. More than double original MSRP for sure. For those renders, the coupe is much better looking than the sedan.

fintail · August 2022

From a fintail group this amused me - fintail under restoration (they do that in other countries but seldom here yet), and a RHD 59 Chevy, same owner, unusual mix. South Africa.

uplanderguy · August 2022

As you know I grew up Chevy but the fintail has stood the test of time much better, as simple styling and size always does.

andre1969 · August 2022

I ran that $44K number through an inflation calculator yesterday, and in 1987, dollars, it came out to around $16,800. According to my old car book, the base price of a Caprice wagon that year was $12,586. I'd imagine it would've been easy to option it up to around $16-17K, though.

So even though that $44K is a lot of money, perhaps it still serves as a good cautionary tale for anyone who aspires to simply buy a car and put it away, hoping it'll be worth "big bucks" someday. Sure, some cars, a select few, will be. But, most won't.

uplanderguy · August 2022

Even with the low mileage, hopefully someone enjoyed owning the car, which is also some intangible value.

andre1969 · August 2022

Yeah, there is that, and it's hard to place a dollar value on enjoyment. If I was to sell any of my cars, from a purely financial standpoint I'm sure I'd lose money. But, I've also enjoyed owning them...even if I do gripe about them from time to time.

andre1969 · August 2022

okay everyone, useless trivia time. Can anyone point out what's wrong with this pic?

uplanderguy · August 2022

Looks like he's sitting in the middle of the front seat. Does look like an early-sixties Ford rear-door window. No inside mirror of course.

fintail · August 2022

Funny thing, when the fintail was introduced in 1959, the MB fanbase was largely displeased, upset that the company followed a fad. Then MB doubled down on it and kept the car in production as a lower line model until January 1968, when fins were beyond passe. I guess the general size of the car and the front ends aged well enough for them to get away with it.

uplanderguy said:
As you know I grew up Chevy but the fintail has stood the test of time much better, as simple styling and size always does.

fintail · August 2022

Or if one is going to speculate, don't do it with a relatively normal new car. I can think of at least a few cars (MB 280SL pagoda, vintage 911s, etc) that one could easily buy nice examples of for ~18K in 1987 that could get into 6 figures today.

And on that note, I could easily turn 75K in 1987 into maybe 600K in 2022 with a house in Spokane, or into seven figures in some areas in the Seattle metro.

I am in the same boat, counting maintenance and repairs I would never get my money back, but that's not the point. In terms of enjoyment, the old car has been a bargain.

andre1969 said:
I ran that $44K number through an inflation calculator yesterday, and in 1987, dollars, it came out to around $16,800. According to my old car book, the base price of a Caprice wagon that year was $12,586. I'd imagine it would've been easy to option it up to around $16-17K, though.

So even though that $44K is a lot of money, perhaps it still serves as a good cautionary tale for anyone who aspires to simply buy a car and put it away, hoping it'll be worth "big bucks" someday. Sure, some cars, a select few, will be. But, most won't.

xwesx · August 2022

fintail said:
Funny thing, when the fintail was introduced in 1959, the MB fanbase was largely displeased, upset that the company followed a fad. Then MB doubled down on it and kept the car in production as a lower line model until January 1968, when fins were beyond passe. I guess the general size of the car and the front ends aged well enough for them to get away with it.

uplanderguy said:
As you know I grew up Chevy but the fintail has stood the test of time much better, as simple styling and size always does.

As far as fins go, MB did it quite subtly. I think that served them well both at the time and in time.

tjc78 · August 2022

@xwesx said:
As far as fins go, MB did it quite subtly. I think that served them well both at the time and in time.

Yeah, if you didn’t know it was the “fin era” you would just think it was the design they went with.

uplanderguy · August 2022

It's funny to think of all the years that Chevy would've been worth less than the original selling price, before it began to go the other direction....although, I guess that's the case with any car that has had the good fortune of being owned by someone who's kept it in good shape for a period of decades.

When I first bought an old car, my '63 Lark Daytona Skytop R1, a friend suggested I buy a hardback journal book and keep track of all expenses. At some point I couldn't bear to keep doing that so stopped, LOL.

Even in periods when I'm not using my current Cruiser very much, I'd be lying if I didn't say there are times I like to just soak it in, outside and interior, just sitting in my garage. I think most of us are like that.

uplanderguy · August 2022

Back to old sitcoms for a minute--as a kid, this was definitely my favorite show. I mostly remember the color episodes. They had a new Catalina Safari every year for a few IIRC.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_p_aQbJ1T4

andre1969 · August 2022

As a follow up to my Andy Griffith pic above, here's a similar gaffe in "Leave it to Beaver" ...

In a way, this Beaver goof is just the opposite, of the Andy Griffith one.

fintail · August 2022

Aha, I see the Andy Griffith gaffe - Barney isn't in a Ford. Maybe a full sized Dodge or Plymouth with that window line and rear windshield shape.

I notice in the Leave it to Beaver pic, along with the fun wheel, they also tried to make a higher back driver's seat, so an attempt was made anyway.

texases · August 2022

Saw a Honda Acty Kei van, TINY. First one I’ve seen on the road.

andre1969 · August 2022

fintail said:
Aha, I see the Andy Griffith gaffe - Barney isn't in a Ford. Maybe a full sized Dodge or Plymouth with that window line and rear windshield shape.

I notice in the Leave it to Beaver pic, along with the fun wheel, they also tried to make a higher back driver's seat, so an attempt was made anyway.

Yep, that's it! I'm convinced that interior of the squad car is of a 4-door pillared Mopar, that style that started with basically all of them except Imperial for 1960, and ended with the 1964 Dodge 880. FWIW, here's what they had used for the establishing shot of that squad car in that episode...

I've seen that Beaver episode a million times, but I think, in later years, what initially tipped me off that something wasn't quite right was that diagonal pattern on the door panel vinyl. Definitely looks Ford-ish to me. Plymouth's door pattern was more of a swoopy, 50's-futuristic (but probably considered out of touch by '61) horizontal pattern, like this...

But yeah, I do like the fact they at least made the attempt, with using that high-back driver's seat.

Years ago, I forget the forum, I made the joke, about the one time Mayberry put Andy and Barney in a Mopar, but I remember someone getting huffy about it, even though I explained the "joke"...about putting them in a Mopar for an interior shot. Someone kept swearing up and down to me that it didn't happen, but now, I feel vindicated, that I'm not the only one that sees it

fintail · August 2022

Small world, I saw a 64 Ford 4 door post on the road today - light blue and white two tone, vintage style mags, mild exhaust, not a bad look although I generally like stock.

Also spotted this 64 Impala on the road:

Although I took this pic last year, it was maybe 6 blocks from where I spotted it last year - had to be the same car.

uplanderguy · August 2022

Years ago, I forget the forum, I made the joke, about the one time Mayberry put Andy and Barney in a Mopar, but I remember someone getting huffy about it, even though I explained the "joke"...about putting them in a Mopar for an interior shot. Someone kept swearing up and down to me that it didn't happen, but now, I feel vindicated, that I'm not the only one that sees it

I joined the Andy Griffith Memorial Page on FB. I'm about done. If anyone mentions enjoying a color episode (and many recently have said so), or is happy that TVLand is showing the color episodes, there are daily, multiple posts of exactly the same thing, "I hate the color episodes. I've messaged TVLand that I've stopped watching until the B&W ones come back on". Tiring. Then, next is "I hate Helen Crump", followed by 50 similar posts.

People have actually strong-armed TVLand into stopping playing the color episodes. Sheesh, talk about 'get a life'.

Honestly, I dislike hick-ish Andy, Ernest T., and the Darlings in the first couple seasons. The laughs may be fewer but the writing is generally better in the color--more pathos, maybe. I would exclude Goober's talking dog and Aunt Bee learns to fly episodes in my opinion, LOL. A couple 'jump the shark' episodes there for sure.

benjaminh · August 2022

On my big car trip this summer I stopped by the "National Transportation Museum" in St. Louis. It's a private collection of trains, autos, and other things. It's a bit eccentric and small compared to some car museums, but it does have some interesting things, and from my pov is worth a visit if you are in the area. Something that caught my eye was the "Bobby Darin Dream Car," which I had never heard of before. Here is the text that goes with it, and then the pix I took of it. It had ropes around it and a guard right near it, and so I couldn't get close to take a photo of the interesting looking dashboard controls.

https://tnmot.org/the-collection/?auto

"Andy Di Dia
MAKE
Custom Build
MODEL
The Bobby Darin “Dream Car” is a one-of-a-kind custom car designed by Detroit clothing designer Andy Di Dia in 1953 and completed in 1960. Mr. Di Dia apparently did not care for the design of automobiles in the early 1950’s. The Di Dia 150 was hand-built by four workers in Detroit, Michigan between 1953 and 1960 at a cost of over $93,000 dollars. The original Cadillac V8 engine was replaced by a Ford 427/365 hp V8 engine. The body and chassis are hand-formed in aluminum with an aluminum alloy welded tube frame. The car has hidden windshield wipers, retracting headlights, swiveling turn signals, and doors that opened with a push on a panel outside of the car (there are no door handles) and a trunk that was hinged from the driver’s side. The Dream Car was also equipped with the first backseat-mounted radio speakers. The interior is rust-colored to contrast with the ruby colored exterior. The car has 30 coats of paint with ground industrial diamond dust to add sparkle. Bobby Darin, a well-known singer, purchased the car from Mr. Di Dia, and as a result, it became forever known as Bobby Darin’s Dream Car."

andre1969 · August 2022

Funny thing is, for all the hatred over the color episodes, I think Andy Griffith finished out its last season as the number one tv show for '67-68. Supposedly even "Mayberry R.F.D." was pretty popular, but then succumbed to the "Rural Purge".

I'll confess I prefer the black and white episodes, but I still enjoy them all. And hell, I wish they'd throw the Mayberry R.F.D. episodes into the rotation! One episode of the color episodes of Andy Griffith I always enjoyed, was when Opie became friends with a rich kid and went over to their house, but then when the rich kid came to his house, Andy and Aunt Bee were kind of embarrassed by their own social standing, and tried to put on airs. I remember Andy going to the country club, and borrowing Aunt Bee's convertible, because he didn't want to be seen driving the squad car. Although, I don't think that you would've impressed anybody at the country club by showing up in a '55 (or was it a '56?) For convertible, in the mid/late '60's!

That new deputy they got though, Warren or whatever his name was...now he definitely was NOT a selling point of the color episodes!

One advantage though, I think, of the black and white episodes, for me at least, is that sometimes they could almost fool you into thinking they actually WERE in North Carolina. But when they went to color, that magic just seemed to be lost, and it just had that "California backlot / Griffith Park" look to it.

uplanderguy · August 2022

Yes, the only other sitcoms that finished #1 in the ratings their final year, besides 'The Andy Griffith Show', were 'Seinfeld' and 'I Love Lucy'.

'Warren' was the deputy. He was only in eleven episodes in season 6, then mysteriously disappeared. By the bandwagon complaints on the FB page, one would think he was in every episode the last three seasons, LOL. They shouldn't really have even tried to replace Barney. Can't be done. Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh?

My very favorite episode of the whole run was in season 7, called "Barney Comes to Mayberry". He's back at the same time as a movie starlet from town, who's on the same train as he is, to have her new movie's premiere in Mayberry. It's actually moving. At the end--and a reviewer on some site said he thought it was the best epilogue in the entire series--Andy is reading a letter from Barney after he returned home to Raleigh, to Aunt Bee. Afterwards, Aunt Bee says, "You know, I miss Barney". Andy says, "I do too. I guess there's just the one Barney Fife". It's as if they were admitting 'Warren' was a mistake. This was the last episode Don Knotts won an Emmy as 'Barney Fife', for.

I did see one episode called 'The Legend of Barney Fife' recently. Barney was back visiting and had a big hand in apprehending a criminal. At the end, Barney says to Andy, as they wait for the newspaper editor to come over and take pictures and get the story, "Push most of the credit over to Warren. It's his town now, not mine". Warren walks in later and says, "That Barney is sure a great guy isn't he Andy?". Andy replies, "He sure is".

fintail · August 2022

Bobby Darrin's dream car looks like the inspiration for the "Homer" (price: $82000):

roadburner · August 2022

My wife and I enjoyed the "Return to Mayberry" tv movie from 1986. These reunion style shows usually fall flat but we thought this one was quite good.

uplanderguy · August 2022

I enjoyed the movie. It was a blend of the characters of the B&W and color seasons. It was moving in places, like the show was. I thought it was good of Ron Howard to do it. He could've easily said 'no' at that point in his career.

andre1969 · August 2022

I liked the movie, as well. I remember watching it when it first aired. MeTV ran it just this past May. Admittedly, it seems a bit "off", seeing Andy driving an '81-85 Impala, and the squad car being an '81 Malibu, but I still remember it being an enjoyable enough nostalgia romp.

andre1969 · August 2022

Here's a cool little behind-the-scenes nostalgia trip...

tjc78 · August 2022

That’s awesome!

Michaell · August 2022

The full size shots of that scene were filmed in my hometown in CA

stickguy · August 2022

Parked at lowes, a nice looking white 240z. Not sure what year. Odd seeing that. No rust visible, riding on 80s vintage looking turbine style wheels.

fintail · August 2022

Michaell said:
The full size shots of that scene were filmed in my hometown in CA

Hill Valley?

fintail · August 2022

On the road today, a no-grille 92 Crown Vic.

Michaell · August 2022

fintail said:

Michaell said:
The full size shots of that scene were filmed in my hometown in CA
Hill Valley?

Exactly. Damn clock tower still doesn’t work.

tjc78 · August 2022

@fintail said:
On the road today, a no-grille 92 Crown Vic.

I see more box Panthers than early aero models. Couldn’t tell you the last time I saw a 92. They are getting scarce. 98+ are still everywhere here.

tjc78 · August 2022

Oh and for the non-Panther geeks..

Box - 79-91 (89 for Town Car)
Aero - 92-97 (90 for TC)
Whale - 98+

andre1969 · August 2022

I know there was a slight update to the Panther's style for 2006. It's really obvious with the Grand Marquis...the grille manages to look bolder, yet cheaper, at the same time. I think it's because the grille surround is too thick for my tastes, but something about the whole front end makes me think a bit of a Hyundai or Kia. I can't remember if the Crown Vic got any styling tweaks that year or not. Looking at pics of, say, a '98 versus an '11, they look the same to me, at a quick glance at least.

I really liked the look of the '98-05 Grand Marquis. I'm not that crazy about the later ones, but I wouldn't swear one off, if I found a nice one I liked.

The grille-less '92 Crown Vic was really sharp looking as well, I thought, but the design was a bit polarizing. Ford tried to put a grille on it in later years, but it never quite worked right, in my opinion.

With the older aero models, I still seem to see a fairly good number of the '95-97 Grand Marquis, but not so much of the '92-94. The Crown Vic from that era seems pretty rare, though. With the older box models, I'll see an occasional later model, which I called the "aero-brick"...the style with the slightly rounded front and rear. Earlier ones seem pretty rare on the street, but are getting common at car shows.

texases · August 2022

When the Town Car went from '89 to '90, it lost a lot of 'presence' IMO.

tjc78 · August 2022

andre1969 said:
I know there was a slight update to the Panther's style for 2006. It's really obvious with the Grand Marquis...the grille manages to look bolder, yet cheaper, at the same time. I think it's because the grille surround is too thick for my tastes, but something about the whole front end makes me think a bit of a Hyundai or Kia. I can't remember if the Crown Vic got any styling tweaks that year or not. Looking at pics of, say, a '98 versus an '11, they look the same to me, at a quick glance at least.

I really liked the look of the '98-05 Grand Marquis. I'm not that crazy about the later ones, but I wouldn't swear one off, if I found a nice one I liked.

The grille-less '92 Crown Vic was really sharp looking as well, I thought, but the design was a bit polarizing. Ford tried to put a grille on it in later years, but it never quite worked right, in my opinion.

With the older aero models, I still seem to see a fairly good number of the '95-97 Grand Marquis, but not so much of the '92-94. The Crown Vic from that era seems pretty rare, though. With the older box models, I'll see an occasional later model, which I called the "aero-brick"...the style with the slightly rounded front and rear. Earlier ones seem pretty rare on the street, but are getting common at car shows.

Yeah I was never a fan of the last grille update for the MGM. You are correct, the Vic didn’t change.

The 92 Vic was a great design but the fleet models had a tendency to overheat so they went back to a regular grille for 93.

If you were to really rank the late run Panthers 2004 was the pick of the litter. The plastic intake manifold was gone, they fixed the soft axle bearing from 03 and the decontenting wasn’t too noticeable yet. 2005 was Ok but for some reason they went back to a real antenna (instead of in the glass) and it was the first year of DBW and they don’t have great throttle response.

@texases I agree with you on that. At least from 91 on the TC got the 4.6 which bumped the power up significantly. The 4.6 wasn’t ready in time for the 90 re-design so the 5.0 remained. What I’ll never understand is why for that one year they didn’t install the HO version of the 5.0 from the Mark VII.

sda · August 2022

I saw a beat up, being used as a painter's work vehicle, Ford Freestar. Didn't they have the dreaded CVT?

fintail · August 2022

For the 90s TC, I think the 95 facelift made it look pretty nice.

On the road today, a 67-68 Caprice or Impala 2 door HT, and a 56 Chevy 4 door post, couldn't tell exact models as some distance away in traffic. Surprising to see them as it was 97 when I was out.

uplanderguy · August 2022

Wife and I went to swap cars with my daughter in New Haven. We swung by Woodstock in Bethel, NY to go through the museum, which I'd never done. At the original site, a guy was painting a mural (this past Tuesday) and was driving this GMC van:

uplanderguy · August 2022

On I-80 in PA on the way home yesterday, passed this very nice 1962 Galaxie 500. I don't know if it's an XL or not. But, it sat very nicely at all four corners on the truck. Second pic is lousy as I had set my phone to zero in, duh. Nice car even with the non-correct wide whitewalls.

I always wished they'd have done a Starliner (fastback) in '62, but this one really caught my eye as-is.

kyfdx · August 2022

My grandfather bought a new one. Black with red vinyl interior. He drove a '49 Ford, but bought this for my grandmother, who said she wanted to learn to drive. She never did.

He didn't start driving it regularly until they moved to the city in 1968. When he died in '71, it only had around 30K miles on it. My grandmother sold it for $500.

texases · August 2022

First gen NSX (pop up headlights) at Walmart parking lot just now, clean, not a fan of the aftermarket wheels.

fintail · August 2022

1984 Jeep Renegade (on YOM plates, which makes it easy) with fun period graphics, Crossfire convertible.

explorerx4 · August 2022

On a summer Saturday, too many to mention.
Last few all with in about a mile or so, 1966 Fairlane convertible white with red interior and for sale.
Immaculate 1966 beigey Charger, white and orangey red 1955 Chevy shoebox, and light yellow late 70's big Bronco with top removed.

laurasdada · August 2022

At a nice outdoor mall on the Cape, a Range Rover Evoque convertible. Beautiful day for a 'vert.

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

Comments

Helpful Tools

Most popular vehicles