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

explorerx4 · December 24

Yesterday, I saw a last Generation Saab 9-3 Wagon.
Kind if a guunmetal blue in great condition.

gsemike · December 24

Hadn't seen a Hyundai Equis in quite a while

gsemike · December 24

@gsemike said:
Hadn't seen a Hyundai Equis in quite a while

Hadn't really seen a Mercury Mariner in some time either

andre1969 · December 25

Merry Christmas everyone, live from Park Avenue!

imidazol97 · December 25

Merry Christmas

roadburner · December 25

Merry Christmas!

fintail · December 25

Out on the road here spotted a facelift Bronco II, Lincoln Mark LT, and a Subaru Outback SUS - the uncommon trunkback sedan variant from the early 00s.

fintail · December 25

Merry Christmas!

uplanderguy · December 26

Got an oil change this morning. We were just talking about S-10’s here recently. This one was a stick and I’d say is at least 40 years old. Original bright metal hub caps. This still has the ‘normal’ dash before they went to that goofy graph/graph paper dash.

Michaell · December 26

Nice survivor!

Those small pickups, from all brands, were ubiquitous in Southern California, where I grew up. Lots of them were customized with fancy paint jobs and wheels.

I learned to drive stick in my friend's early 70's Chevy Luv, which he had painted bright yellow (his dad worked at the body shop of the local Chevrolet dealer).

And my BIL had a late 80's Toyota pickup that he dressed up and loved, until it got stolen from his apartment complex and found, stripped, in a vacant lot in downtown San Diego. He used the insurance proceeds to buy an Acura Integra.

uplanderguy · December 26

In rusty, crusty NE OH, it’s a pleasure to see one like this.

gsemike · December 26

uplanderguy said:
In rusty, crusty NE OH, it’s a pleasure to see one like this.

They are mostly all gone here in lower NY too

uplanderguy · December 26

Merry Dec. 26 from Phillips Motors, South Amboy, NJ. A showroom of ‘65 Studebakers was probably a pretty lonely place. I’d gladly take that red Daytona and disc brakes and transistorized ignition!

andre1969 · December 26

That blue S-10 is giving me a bad flashback. My stepdad used to work for the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, the local water/sewer authority that's quasi-government, and is as corrupt as the best of 'em! They used to drive trucks like that, similar color if not the same, back in the day.

FWIW my stepdad, despite anything bad I've said about him over the years, has one virtue...being honest almost to a fault. Because of that, he was forced into early retirement. He refused to pass shoddy plumbing and other infractions that his superiors tried to coerce him into doing, so they could get their kickbacks.

Oh, on the old car front, today I saw a '73 Coupe DeVille, in sort of a burnt-orange color. Very nice condition. Also a black '70-72 Monte Carlo. Kind of odd seeing them out on a day like today, because it's kind of dreary, and even sleeted a bit.

sda · December 26

Paging @andre1969

https://youtu.be/6cLBzlsSI1E?si=LfQpC8X3Y5ucr5ND

explorerx4 · December 26

Gateway Classic Cars locaton in Indiana is closing next month.
They are primarily a consignment dealer and are accepting offers on their inventory.
About 24 minutes in, a nice Mark V for tjc78.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ff3y6eRzLnI

sda · December 26

No emblem on the front bumper, is the upholstery correct?

andre1969 · 5:22AM

That Catalina's interior looks like mine, right down to the yellowing of the trim on the armrest! So, it's probably correct (just in better shape overall than mine).

stickguy · 5:44AM

saw a Mark V continental (pretty sure I got the right generation). In a very gaudy 3 tone (2 tone body and different padded top). Some browns involved. Looked decent shape, parked outside a mechanics shop of some kind.

ab348 · 6:38AM

When I was 11 years old my father bought a '67 Pontiac Parisienne 4-door HT, white with red cloth interior. You would think it would be the same trim level as this, just on the GM of Canada Chevy chassis, but it is interesting to see the variances. Ours did not have the woodgrain dash, using black textured vinyl there instead. But it did have bright pedal trim which was not standard on Catalinas. It had a different style of steering wheel also. It also had a textured chrome trim piece running the width between the tallights below the trunk lid, similar to but not the same as a US Bonneville, odd. He also had the front end arrow-shaped emblem on the front of the bumper broken and I think it eventually went missing like this one. It came with the Canada-standard 283 Chevy engine. It was a good car for a Cheviac.

The convertible being sold is nice enough, but the black interior would kill it for me. Whyyyyyyyyyyyy???

andre1969 · 10:29AM

My Catalina has a black vinyl interior, and I managed to endure it over the years. However, it just hit me...I can't remember the last time I had to sit in it on a brutally hot day. Nowadays, when I drive it locally, I only do it on nice, but not overly hot days. And when I go to car shows, I'm usually driving it in the morning, and then in the evening, but during the hottest part of the day we're either walking around on the show field, or sitting in lawn chairs behind the car, drinking! Also, I was only 24 when I bought it, and my body would endure extreme temperature ranges better back then. Now, at 55, not so much!

Older cars did seem to "breathe" a bit better, though. I don't think I'd be able to tolerate something like my '76 LeMans with a black vinyl interior. And the dark blue on my '79 New Yorker, even though its mostly cloth, has some vinyl accents that will still scorch you. And on hot days, you can burn your fingers trying to start it!

Part of it, I'm sure, is that cars were sealed tighter in the '70's. Probably why you can throw your back out trying to slam the door on a Colonade with the windows all the way up! But I think other issue, is that cars in the 70's had more side curvature, or "Tumblehome" or whatever they called it. As a result, I don't think the roof gives you quite as much shelter from the sun during the middle of the day. The LeMans also has that big, rakish back window that probably lets in a lot of the sun's rays.

As for the Canadian Parisienne, I was under the impression it was decked out more at a Bonneville, or Caprice-league trim level? The Catalina is a bit on the cheap side. The dash is nice, but when it comes to the door panels and seats, it's what I'd think of as slightly sub-Impala.

Where did the Pontiac Laurentian fit in? Was that more of a Bel Air level of trim, perhaps?

sda · 10:51AM

I found it interesting according to Adam of Rare Classic Cars, on his 65 Catalina it has the optional foam padded front seat. How thinly padded was the standard seat? Dad’s 71 and 73 Catalina had comfortable front seats. The lower portion of the door panels on the 71,73, were made of hard plastic minus the carpeted kick panel looked cheap.

ab348 · 11:32AM

andre1969 said:

As for the Canadian Parisienne, I was under the impression it was decked out more at a Bonneville, or Caprice-league trim level? The Catalina is a bit on the cheap side. The dash is nice, but when it comes to the door panels and seats, it's what I'd think of as slightly sub-Impala.

Where did the Pontiac Laurentian fit in? Was that more of a Bel Air level of trim, perhaps?

I would say it was similar to a BelAir level of trim. The lowest level Strato Chief was the rough equivalent to the Biscayne.

It's not easy to find good pics of '67 Parisienne interiors these days, but it differed from the Catalina. It seems most of the survivors seen online now are either convertibles or 2-door coupes called "2+2" which I believe were a step up from the regular Parisienne. But whereas the Catalina and Executive had seat stitching that ended below the top of the backrest, the Canadian Parisienne continued all the way over the top like this. It also had chrome ornaments attached:

This is what I remember:

thebean · 11:42AM

On the way back from coffee this morning, a scarlet first gen NSX. Couldn’t get a real good view as it was weaving through traffic. But it sure sounded good. A bit of a medium rumble that made me smile.

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

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