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2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech, 2006 Acura TL w/nav
Olds tried to adopt the Saturn one price and customer experience strategy. This is the window sticker when dad bought new, a 95 Cutlass Ciera. Quite different than his Cadillacs and Grand Marquis he just wanted something easier to park and it
be well equipped and comfortable.
2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech, 2006 Acura TL w/nav
I am surprised button tufting hasn't came back. Makes me think of the non-parallel B-pillar Fleetwood an acquaintance of my dad had when I was a kid. I think the guy was a realtor or something, and wanted/needed a prestigious car. The car was light yellow with white top (I think) and matching button tufted leather. I remember riding in it for a small trip, and it felt very comfortable and special.
I wonder if those late A-bodies could be haggled at the end of the run. Seems cheap, but a nicely equipped Camcord wasn't much more - not as plush I suppose. Going from a Fleetwood to a midsize Ciera makes me think of my uncle who drove a LeSabre for years and now has a Fit - and loves it, for the big/tall interior and ease of parking.
Club historian asked if anyone knew who sold the most Studebaker Avantis new? I first guessed Freeman-Spicer in South Bend, which was wrong. I subsequently guessed, among other guesses made by others, Simonson-Schactmeyer in Santa Monica, only in that it was southern CA and an elegant building. I know your fintail was from there, and also a gorgeously restored Jet Green '64 Gran Turismo Hawk that brought in the $50K's several years ago.
I'm told I was right and asked if I had had 'inside information'! LOL
No total number of cars was reported, so I asked the original poster that.
Supposedly some Hollywood types who had bought them new had them serviced there as well (logical), including Greer Garson.
Paying sticker always strikes me as distasteful, LOL. It looks like Equinoxes are bringing sticker now, yeesh. My wife loves hers and recently recommended one to a friend, but I just don't pay sticker!
I know, now I would.
Fortunately, we lived in the greater LA area and every Friday the LA Times would have an entire section dedicated to automobile ads.
The LX was, I think around $17K MSRP, but every dealer had a "one only at this price" special. Found a dealer fairly close to us, and their "one only" was the color the wife wanted (dark blue). We went out that night and made the deal - I think the discounted price was under $14K, so we added the CD player as a dealer accessory.
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2015 Subaru Outback 3.6R / 2014 MINI Countryman S ALL4
That building might be the ultimate survivor and link in the Studebaker-Packard-MB relationship, still existing as a MB dealer to this day:
Fintail's original owner registered the car to Beverly Hills, but I am not sure if that was a residential address - it isn't anymore. The car then lived in Manhattan Beach before apparently moving north. I have numerous old service documents and stamps from that dealer, along with Downtown LA Motors, which I am not sure if has any Packard/Stude link.
It'll be something to see if deals way under sticker as was common in the past will return.
2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech, 2006 Acura TL w/nav
We split up shortly after that and I moved to Denver, where I picked up a '93 Accord DX.
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Here's a couple of 1973 Chevy Colonnades at Hershey that brought back memories. I was quite enamored of the line then. The SS454 wagon is stupidly rare. The Monte has swivel buckets, the only formal GM Colonnade in '73 to get them. Good to help get in the back seat but I think hard to live with otherwise--they are a one-piece seat.
That's Uplanderguy, Lemko, and me...I'll let y'all guess who's who
Absolute pleasure to meet Andy, Mike, and Greg! Hope we can do it next year!
The men behind our Edmunds aliases! 😀
That red Riviera is my friend Bob’s. I rode in with him and it was a bit surreal…like a parade. Felt like doing a ‘Queen wave’ a couple times!
Digging thru some photos and boy do I have many, I found these. A glamour shot of my 89 Seville in front of a previous neighborhood club house. The 73 Grand Am sporting Dweezel the terror cat. You can see the rear of the 72 Corona Mark II which was later totaled by my youngest sister. I repainted mom's 78 98 in 82. I used an acrylic lacquer, wet sanded and
polished to a wonderful shine. Unfortunately I can't find a picture of the final result.
2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech, 2006 Acura TL w/nav
You had some interesting cars. I like that Seville better now than I did then. Nice size and lines, and not an imitation of anything. And four-door Grand Ams were not seen where I lived.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
Since no one's guessed yet, that's Lemko (Mike) at left, Andre (Andy) center, and Uplanderguy (Bill) at right.
GRBeck (Greg) preferred to take the pic instead of being in it. He was a very nice guy too!
Yes, that's the Turbine wheel. All SS wagons had those wheels. It was also available on Chevelle coupes and sedans, but rarely seen. It took me years to realize that they are a different design than the Turbine wheels on the Monte Carlo Landau, right above. Too lazy to check, but I think I remember that the one style was called "Turbine" and the other, "Turbine I".
Lemko mentioned something about having problems getting into the Edmund's chat forums, ever since the last time they reconfigured it. He's popped in every once in awhile, though.
The Matadors were parked right next to each other.
I don’t think I was seeing double yet. I did have a Yuengling pint after the show though.
Lemko snagged a pic of one of them. I'm in the background, and for whatever reason, look like I'm paying more attention to that Falcon!
https://jackbaruth.com/?p=23449&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=unicorn-sighting-1973-chevrolet-chevelle-ss-station-wagon
I could have sworn we discussed it here a while ago.
2017 Cadillac ATS Performance Premium 3.6
My best high-school friend had a bright green metallic '73 Chevelle SS coupe he bought in '78. I pored over the brochure then, and also had the '73 Showroom Album (given me at the end of the year by my Dad's salesman there, Dick Kremis). The chromed beading around that upper instrument cluster was new for '74 on Chevelles and Monte Carlos, along with that panel being color-keyed instead of black on all interior colors.. This '73 SS wagon had the black cluster but the bright beading around it. I asked the owner where about the car was in production as I didn't remember that beading being on '73's (I was polite). He said, "I paid a guy $600 to do that chroming for me!". If I owned the car, I'd have to take it off somehow for authenticity, LOL.
Wagons seem to have not been available with white-lettered tires, but they do look better--whitewalls on an SS look dumb. I'd leave it that way.
I don't love the color 'Chamois', but there are so few others to look at. I've seen a maroon one online, with whitewalls, that had been bought new by the owner's parents at Gates Chevy in downtown South Bend, right in the middle of the bones of the old Studebaker factory complex. It wasn't a 454 car like this one though.
Where/what was this show that generated all the recent pics, and what is the story behind the fire extinguishers in front of the front left tires?
I'm not an AACA member, so I've never put a car in this show. These cars tend to be the cream of the crop, too, so they'd probably look down through their noses at most of mine!
As for those swivel seats in the Colonades, they're a neat feature, but I sat in one years ago that was for sale at one of the Carlisle swap meets. Definitely not comfortable, in my opinion. The way the lower part is shaped, puts me into a bit of a slouching position. And unless you're umm, well padded back there, it's not easy on the tailbone. I actually find the regular solid bench seat, with fold-down center armrest, like what my LeMans has, to be really comfortable. It's thickly padded, and supports my lower back in just the right spot. I actually find the LeMans's seat to be more comfortable than the one in my '79 5th Ave.
Could you get those swivel seats with a power adjust? I have a feeling you couldn't.
That SS wagon just has a solid bench and not even an armrest, but even it looks like it's still thickly padded, and the backrest bows out at just the right spot...
A stranger on social media sent me this pic he took Friday, of us pulling in. He posted a pic of the turquoise Avanti that was next to us, on a Studebaker FB page. I told him that the car was next to my friend’s red Riviera and he sent me this pic. Nice pic.
AACA requires a fire extinguisher be displayed, for a car to be judged. Studebaker Drivers Club also requires that for judging.
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Interesting pics, with the Mark V beside it - when I was a kid, there was one in town in that exact color combo, and I swear it was an actual convertible conversion.
I usually tire of red, but that red on red really pops.
A bench seat of the '70's that I remember being able to feel lower-back support was these Malibu Classic seats of '74-77. My friend's parents had a '76 sedan and you could feel that lower tuck-and-roll section
Anyway, googling the names of the original owners of the car revealed he was born in 1891 (!), was a pharmacist and owner of the drug store, and his son became a South Dakota state representative.
I love the filling out of the stories of an old car.
2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech, 2006 Acura TL w/nav
For comparison, here's a '57 DeSoto...
They did put a bit more effort into the trunk, though...
Somewhat on a similar subject--it's easy to bag on '61 Plymouths, I do it myself, but I'd take one over a '60. I cannot get past how that front wheel opening is handled!
Nice, original-looking car, EXCEPT: where are the head restraints? Huge demerit!
In 1961 especially, I think the Fords and Chevies are so beautifully styled, that a full-sized Plymouth must have been a really hard sell.
Basically, like this...
I've seen a Carribean in the neighborhood before, so it probably was the same car. At least, I can't imagine too many mid-50's convertibles in a similar color scheme, in the same neighborhood.
You'd think that with 276 built, each one would've been an easy sell, but I remember reading some remained unsold into 1957. This one was built for factory stock. A local doctor traded in a '55 Thunderbird on it.
2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech, 2006 Acura TL w/nav