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

18040 messages,  Last post on Dec 07, 2009 at 9:15 PM

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#15032 of 18040 Re: Ebay time [fintail] by andre1969 Dec 19, 2008 (10:45 pm)
Replying to: fintail (Dec 19, 2008 6:51 pm) I've been watching that '76 Bonneville for awhile, now. That's another one that seems to never meet its reserve, so it pops back up. I notice this time around, the seller deleted a couple pics. It has a lot of rust around the wheel openings, and other lower parts of the car. Shame, because the interior looks like it's in really nice shape. And I like that color scheme, the forest green with the tan interior.   If I was going to get one of these barges, I'd try to get the biggest engine possible, in this case the 455. But maybe the 400 was still enough to move one of these things?
#15033 of 18040 Re: Out of the 50s [Mr_Shiftright] by lemko Dec 20, 2008 (8:00 am)
Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Dec 19, 2008 9:27 am) I was watching an old movie that was made in 1951 where these detectives were looking for a killer. They were examining some tire tracks and the one detective says, "Look at that skinny tread pattern. He must be driving around in some old pre-war wreck!" I recall seeing a picture of a 1957 demolition derby where they were smashing up a couple of rather pristine-looking 1947 Chryslers! Replies to this message: andre1969 (Dec 20, 2008 8:27 am) Mr_Shiftright (Dec 20, 2008 8:45 am) oregonboy (Dec 20, 2008 9:22 am) and 1 more...
#15034 of 18040 by Mr_Shiftright HOST Dec 20, 2008 (8:25 am)
Well no different from the modern 4-door cars that Godzilla steps on regularly in the movies--of course they are only 4 inches long, but still....   Most cars that are "utilitarian" don't survive very well as time goes on.
#15035 of 18040 Re: Out of the 50s [lemko] by andre1969 Dec 20, 2008 (8:27 am)
Replying to: lemko (Dec 20, 2008 8:00 am) I caught an episode of "I Love Lucy" today, the one where they entrust Fred to get them a car to go to California in, and he gives them a bit of a shock with what he pulls up in. One thing that was amusing, was the prevailing attitude about automobiles in those days. At one point, Lucy, Ricky, and Ethel are standing out at the curb, waiting for Fred to show up. Lucy sees a car coming in the distance, and says "Is that Fred?". Ricky responds "Geeze, I hope not. That car must be 7 or 8 years old, it would NEVER make it to California!" And then, right on cue, Fred pulls up behind them, coming from the other direction, in a 1923 Cadillac!   Fred made a comment about the car wasn't like one of those flimsy assembly line jobs you get nowadays. "They don't build 'em like this anymore!" Now this would have been 1955, late 1954 at the earliest. Funny how, even back then there were people convinced that the new cars were getting cheaper and cheaper.   I guess that shows just how far cars have come since then. Back in those days, they'd look at a 7-8 year old car as being on its last legs. In contrast, my Intrepid is 9 years old, and I wouldn't hesitate to take it across country. I might have the mechanic check it out first, and do any maintenance that was coming close to due first, but I'm confident the car would make the trip. Heck, I think even my '76 LeMans, which is about as old today, as that 1923 Cadillac was in the context of that era, would have a good chance of making the trip.   Back then though, it wasn't so easy to just drive cross-country. The interstate highway system hadn't been built yet, so I imagine the trip would have been a lot of two-lane roads that would take you through every small town. And I'm sure those roads weren't as good as they are today. Also back then, there were a lot of really remote areas where you really didn't want to break down! I guess there are still places like that today. I remember going through Wyoming in 1995, and at one point on the interstate, it was about 69 miles between exits!   I guess stuff like belts, hoses, and tires were also more likely to fail...but wouldn't that hold true even on a new car back then? Replies to this message: Mr_Shiftright (Dec 20, 2008 8:45 am) oregonboy (Dec 20, 2008 9:22 am) andre1969 (Dec 20, 2008 9:56 am)
#15036 of 18040 Re: Out of the 50s [andre1969] by Mr_Shiftright HOST Dec 20, 2008 (8:45 am)
Replying to: andre1969 (Dec 20, 2008 8:27 am) A car built in 1955 was pretty much dead at 100,000 miles, probably burned oil, probably had at least one valve job already, and probably rattled like golf balls in a clothes dryer. Replies to this message: oregonboy (Dec 20, 2008 9:22 am) andre1969 (Dec 20, 2008 9:56 am)
#15037 of 18040 Re: Out of the 50s [Mr_Shiftright] by oregonboy Dec 20, 2008 (9:22 am)
Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Dec 20, 2008 8:45 am) But on the positive side, it took much longer to put 100k on a car back then as most "highways" were 2-lane blacktop which ran through the center of a little town every few miles. Replies to this message: andre1969 (Dec 20, 2008 9:56 am)
#15038 of 18040 Re: Ebay time [fintail] by boomchek Dec 20, 2008 (9:35 am)
Replying to: fintail (Dec 19, 2008 6:51 pm) I never knew Honda made such a car, and I thought I knew all about Hondas. I guess they had a lot of oddballs for their JDM market when theyr first started up.   One of the local Toyota dealers in town has/had an original Toyota 2000GT in red, in the showroom. Pretty cool for an early Japanese car too.   As for the "rare" Olds on ebay, maybe he should drop down his starting bid and he'll see some action. Replies to this message: Mr_Shiftright (Dec 20, 2008 9:39 am)
#15039 of 18040 Re: Ebay time [boomchek] by Mr_Shiftright HOST Dec 20, 2008 (9:39 am)
Replying to: boomchek (Dec 20, 2008 9:35 am) The Toyota 2000GT has the distinction of being the ONLY high-dollar Japanese collectible car in history.
#15040 of 18040 GM auctioning off Heritage Collection by boomchek Dec 20, 2008 (9:39 am)
The article is here.   Part of the article reads: On the opposite and less glamorous end of the spectrum, GM is getting rid of the first production Pontiac Aztek, a white 1991 Saturn SL sedan and a blue 1998 Oldsmobile Intrigue.   It would be cool to own a one off customized production car, or a concept car, but I'm not sure if these mainstream cars will ever hold any value as collector cars. I think we discussede the possibility of the Aztek being a collector. As for the Saturn, at least you'll know the body panels will never rust.
#15041 of 18040 Re: Out of the 50s [oregonboy] by andre1969 Dec 20, 2008 (9:56 am)
Replying to: oregonboy (Dec 20, 2008 9:22 am) I think that's a very big component of why cars didn't necessarily make it to higher mileage back then. It's not necessarily that they build them better today (although they do). But the conditions they were subjected to were harsher, on average. Rougher roads, much less highway driving. The cars needed maintenance on much shorter intervals than they do today, but they didn't necessarily get it. Also, garages were much less common in those days, so chances are the car had to sit out 24/7. But then today, many people fill their garage with junk and the car still has to sit outside anyway, so that one may be a moot point!   I think it would be cool if you could somehow transport something like a brand-new 1955 Chevy into today's world, and see how it would hold up in day-to-day use, compared to a modern car. I imagine that, as long as you could keep the road salt and mud off of the vulnerable areas, and kept up on maintenance, it would go for quite a long time in today's driving conditions.

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