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Lots of VW’s. There is a small VW show here in town tomorrow.
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Icon I6L Golf Cart
My Duster had those hood scoops and a slant 6. All show, no go…
The only car I've owned that wasn't equipped with a/c is my '57 DeSoto. Back then, I think a/c was about $500, and the base MSRP of my car was something like $3,085, so a/c would've been like 20% of the base MSRP! Now I've had plenty of cars with non-functioning a/c, but that's a different story.
My Mom's first new car was a '66 Catalina convertible, that she bought when she was a senior in high school. She saved up 1/3 of the money waiting tables at the Hot Shoppes, borrowed 1/3 from an aunt, and 1/3 from Grandmom and Granddad. I can remember years ago, asking her if it had a/c and without missing a beat, was like "Why would it have air conditioning? It was a convertible!"
Both my '68 and '69 Dart hardtops had a/c. I imagine it was still pretty rare in a compact.
Rare, my first Stude had factory A/C, Avanti power, Twin Traction, tinted glass in all windows, reclining seats, and a sunroof. Of course, the car was ordered to cover a flooring bill for the Studebaker dealer!
I'd venture that factory A/C was unusual in a '67 Catalina convertible...maybe more-seen in a Grand Prix or Bonneville convertible that year, only a guess.
At the cruise-in I was at last Thursday, there was a light turquoise metallic '67 Catalina two-door hardtop with matching cloth and vinyl interior. Stock, low-mileage car. I thought I took pics but I didn't. I've seen it there in past years. Nice car. No A/C.
It's easy to tell at a glance on big '67 Pontiacs if they have A/C or not. If the model nameplate is on the glovebox door, it has A/C! If not, the nameplate is at the top center of the instrument panel.
2021 VW Arteon SEL 4-motion, 2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech
2021 VW Arteon SEL 4-motion, 2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech
The '63 and later Studes completely disguised that, with a full-length piece of trim in the center section of the dash which lined up and matched the trim piece on the glovebox.
andre, my memory is that on the '67's (well, the '66's were this way so I'll assume the '67's were too), there were no nameplates inside the car that said "Ventura" or "2+2". In those cars, the nameplate was "Pontiac". Apparently not the volume of either to do that.
Very rare up here in Canada.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
Something I've noticed on a number of '68's over the years, was that some have the nameplates on the glovebox, some GP's and Bonne's have the handle, but seems to me that most don't. Must've been a midyear change, or specific to assembly plant. My friend's parents' '68 Bonneville Brougham had the identical dash a Catalina would--no nameplate, no handle--and most I've seen were like this.
My '76 Grand LeMans has the pull strap on the dash, but I warn people that it's only for show...DON'T grab it!
**Edit, something that the pic of that '76 Grand LeMans, with the split seat, reminded me of...what would be the point of putting the armrest on the passenger side of the split? My philosophy has always been that the driver's comfort comes first. Well, unless it's a limousine, I guess. So, it would seem to me it would be more important to make the armrest move, with the driver's seat, rather than the passenger's. My '79 5th Ave has the split seat with an armrest, but the armrest is on the driver's seat. My grandmother's '85 LeSabre was a 50/50 split, with a small armrest for both the driver and passenger seat. My 2012 Ram is a 40/20/40 split, where the armrest doubles as the backrest. The center spot is stationary, but the armrest itself is big enough that if you move the seat forward, there's still enough of it to be comfortable.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
2021 VW Arteon SEL 4-motion, 2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech
I just always thought the handle on the '67 looked like an afterthought. It looked smaller than prior years, and didn't seem centered horizontally in the design of the panel like the earlier handles were.
The '65 Bonneville and Grand Prix panel are just magnificent IMHO. Buick and Olds of the same year weren't as nice IMO.
Although those handles looked luxurious, they didn't seem all that practical....holding on straight ahead of you. In the '70's, when door pulls as part of armrests were angled up and natural for your hand to fall right in place there, those really seemed more useful as 'assist grips'.
even rarer, on the same road, got passed by a (I assume) 1960s vintage IH panal van, but raised up so I think 4x4. body kinda looked like a milk truck. very odd.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
The last trip I took sans A/C was our "Meet the Folks" trip in July of 1999 when we took the 1969 C20 on our first now-traditional 11,000 mile transit of the continent. There were a few days where we would just need to pull off the road, find a shady area, and take a nap for a couple hours during the hottest parts of the day.
ditto for the house. I hate walking around shivering. I would be fine with just a small room unit in our bedroom since sleeping in sweat is a bit of a drag, but none in the rest of the house.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
I'll only roll down windows and/or open the roof when I'm doing local, in-town driving. I really don't like the noisy wind anymore.
2021 VW Arteon SEL 4-motion, 2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech
I drive with the window down in the fintail often, not so much in the wagon or other modern cars - beltlines are too high, I like to put my arm/elbow out the window.
Back at the old homestead, I used to run three window units, until I got central air. The central air was a side benefit of having the place converted from oil heat, to an all-electric heat pump, in 2008 when oil prices hit something like $5.62/gal. I still had to run one window unit upstairs though, as air flow was a bit weak up there. Electric usage stayed about the same, though. And there was the added bonus of not overloading the circuits in that old house. I can remember as a kid, sometimes if you used the microwave while the a/c was on, and the refrigerator motor happened to kick on, it would often trip a breaker. Even when I was there as an adult in the 2000's, and I'm sure our microwave didn't use nearly as much power, every once in awhile it would still trip.
I don't think I'd want a house without it, nowadays. One thing I've noticed, as I'm getting older, I'm more sensitive to humidity than I was when I was younger. Right now, it's only 68 degrees outside, but like 88% humidity. Once upon a time, I would've turned the a/c off and opened up the windows. But, I still have the a/c on, and set for 74 degrees.
When it comes to cars, if it's a car that I know doesn't have working a/c, it seems like my body and mind just sort of subconsciously adjust, so if it gets hot it doesn't bother me. But, with working a/c, I'm pretty quick to turn it on. Every once in awhile, when I'm in the Regal or the Ram and it's one of those "borderline" days, sometimes I'll turn off the a/c, roll down the windows, and then it's like NOPE, crank that a/c back up and roll 'em up!
I had almost forgotten about that resonance. Until one day opened a back window in the Regal, without opening a front, while driving, and the resonance came back, same as it ever was.
In my '17 Cruze, I even get it when only my driver's glass is down and all other windows are up.
Oh, on facebook marketplace, I just stumbled across this '80 Electra... https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/5362742210439438/
Is this the same green as your parents' '80 Monte Carlo, and that '80 Malibu you posted earlier?
I'd almost be tempted, and it's not *too* far away from me, in Jersey. But looking under the hood, I think that's a Buick 4.1/252 I can at least tell it's a Buick engine (distributor in front). And it looks too stubby to be a V8, although that could be because of the camera angle/distortion.
**Edit: I don't know if this is something to be proud of, or ashamed of, but I just got an email saying I just earned a "25,000 comments" badge from Edmund's!
The cars are not sealed up like a bottle is. There are vents with soft plastic vanes in the trunk at the sides usually. Some cars used to have these openings on the rear door frame that was open to the trunk. The effect of the air over the window is like blowing air over the top of a pop bottle and getting a musical tone.
My 98 leSabre had a terrible resonance on the rear windows. It was like torture until another window was cracked open.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Here's my parents' '80 Monte Carlo. I mind the styling less now than when I first saw the '78 (admittedly I was shocked when I first saw a four-door Malibu Classic and a Grand Prix that model year, too). An example perhaps of 'volume normalizes bad styling'. I do think the 205-70 tires fill the wheel openings, and the belt and sill moldings dress the car up. I still don't like how they tacked that side marker light on the front fenders that year. I think the Regal added that too. I'd still take it over an '80 Thunderbird.
In '80 and '81 the Monte was available with the Buick Turbo, but not seen often then or now. Dad's was the 229 V6, 115 hp.
The sounds the six made didn't match the rest of the car IMHO, and that made me search for a V8 in my '81 Monte Carlo less than a year later. The 267 was slow, but it was smooth and quiet like a V8.
This car had no A/C, but it (mistakenly) had the plastichromed A/C vent on the right side of the dash, which looked miles better than the green plastic filler block that belonged there. I had to show my Dad that zero air ever came out of that vent, LOL.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
Time for a tune up!
2021 VW Arteon SEL 4-motion, 2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech
In most vehicles, with the driver's window open I've found lowering the right rear window about two inches or so reduces or eliminates that annoying buffeting.
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In HS a friends father had one of this vintage. I remember those gauges.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
This doesn't fit the 'it happens because of the smoothed aero' explanation I've heard - it was more like a brick.
So at least with the Ninety-Eight, every single one in 1980 at least left the factory with a respectable engine. Well, unless you got the Diesel! The 307, while overmatched in these cars, was durable at least. But with the Electra, the 252 was trouble, and so was the 301. So you had to go all the way to the 350 if you wanted a decent engine. And I have a feeling that, by the time '80 rolled around, with fuel concerns and such, a 350 might have been somewhat rare in these cars.
As for the buffeting thing, the next time I take my '79 5th Ave out for a drive, I'm doing to drop a rear window, and see if I get any of that buffeting/resonance. One interesting "feature" of the R-body, is that if you roll down a front window at highway speeds, the window will actually get sucked outward just a bit, so when you go to roll it back up, it ends up outside of the little guide at the top edge of the doorframe, so it won't fully seal. The joys of thin glass and frameless windows, I guess.
Not sure I could do that much green, but that’s a nice Electra.
A/C ? Will never own a home without central and I use it in my car all the time. I thought I’d miss having a sunroof in the truck, but so far I do not. I really only used it on an early morning drive down the shore if it wasn’t ultra humid.
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Icon I6L Golf Cart
2021 VW Arteon SEL 4-motion, 2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech
2021 VW Arteon SEL 4-motion, 2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech
Overall very happy. Just about ready to cross 600 miles and the computer is saying 15.2. I can’t say I’ve been easy on it either.
All in all the whole family loves it. If I had one negative thing to say is that the transmission gets a little jerky sometimes when downshifting on deceleration. That may be something a software update can help.
Funny story about me not being used to the size. Wife wanted me to meet her at dinner last night in downtown Philly and I took the truck. Just made it height wise into the parking garage. Guys didn’t even bother to park it. They just left it in the entry area until we got back.
2025 Ram 1500 Laramie 4x4 / 2023 Mercedes EQE 350 4Matic / 2022 Icon I6L Golf Cart
https://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/cto/d/new-bedford-1964-oldsmobile-dynamic88/7527979066.html
Wonder if that round shift knob was factory--my guess it was replaced, but only guessing.
Unusual for sure.
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
I doubt that transmission lever is original. Though unusual to have a manual it was probably a better choice over the clunky and fragile Slim Jim hydramatc.
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