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What Classic/Collectible car couldn't someone GIVE to you?

52 messages,  Last post on Sep 24, 2011 at 6:17 PM

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Messages Page 5 of 6

#33 of 52 Re: What Classic/Collectible car couldn't I GIVE to you? [fintail] by garv214

Apr 11, 2011 (4:12 pm)

Replying to: fintail (Apr 11, 2011 3:47 pm)
C L A S S Y
 
The really scary part is that they made 50 of these things...

#34 of 52 Re: What Classic/Collectible car couldn't I GIVE to you? [garv214] by uplanderguy

Apr 11, 2011 (5:32 pm)

Replying to: garv214 (Apr 11, 2011 4:12 pm)
Personally, I wouldn't consider any Nash or Rambler product up through and including 1962. The '63 Classic and Ambassador look a lot better IMHO, but still no hardtops or convertibles, nor a V8 in the Classic at all until midway through the model year.
 
For styling, I never liked the Pinto or Gremlin. Never liked the Maverick or Hornet sedans. Dislike the 1970 Dodge Coronet (although would take a performance version, just to sell it!).
 
Other than that, I think I'd 'take' anything else in good condition.

#35 of 52 Re: What Classic/Collectible car couldn't I GIVE to you? [uplanderguy] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Apr 11, 2011 (7:01 pm)

Replying to: uplanderguy (Apr 11, 2011 5:32 pm)
I don't think I'd take any tremendous gas hog. I mean, some of those old cars would now cost you .40 cents a mile to drive. YIKES!!

#36 of 52 Re: What Classic/Collectible car couldn't I GIVE to you? [isellhondas] by oldbearcat

Apr 11, 2011 (9:02 pm)

Replying to: isellhondas (Apr 11, 2011 10:18 am)
I'm talking about the 4 cylinder model. One of my friends in college had one. It was pretty sorry. Back then, I was driving a Dodge Dart with the 225 in it, and, wanted an Olds 4-4-2. I finally got my Olds in 69 when I graduated from College and scored a decent job.
 
Regards:
Oldbearcat

#37 of 52 Re: What Classic/Collectible car couldn't I GIVE to you? [Mr_Shiftright] by andre1969

Apr 12, 2011 (6:27 am)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Apr 11, 2011 7:01 pm)
I don't think I'd take any tremendous gas hog. I mean, some of those old cars would now cost you .40 cents a mile to drive. YIKES!!
 
Heck, I'd be happy with just 40 cents per mile. My '85 Silverado got about 8.5 mpg on the last tank. And fuel is around $4.00 per gallon now, so I'm looking at around 47 cents per mile for the gas for that thing! Needless to say, it doesn't get driven much, and mostly short-trip driving, which probably helps contribute to that crappy mpg.
 
A lot of those old musclecars are really over-rated as daily drivers though. They usually had no air conditioning, a minimum of other options, short gearing which meant they sounded like they were screaming even when idling along, and those big, powerful engines put off a lot of heat, great for cooking you on a hot summer day when you're stuck in traffic. And, for all that inconvenience, most decent V-6 family cars would still take you in 0-60 or the quarter mile.
 
So, I think I'd rather have, say, a nicely equipped Coronet with a/c and just a 318 or base level 383, than an R/T or Superbee with a 426 or high-output 440.

#38 of 52 Re: What Classic/Collectible car couldn't I GIVE to you? [oldbearcat] by andre1969

Apr 12, 2011 (6:33 am)

Replying to: oldbearcat (Apr 11, 2011 9:02 pm)
I'm talking about the 4 cylinder model. One of my friends in college had one. It was pretty sorry. Back then, I was driving a Dodge Dart with the 225 in it, and, wanted an Olds 4-4-2.
 
I'd imagine that most compacts with the tiniest engines probably sucked back then. A 4-cyl Chevy II is pretty lame, but I don't think I'd want a Valiant or Lancer/Dart with the smaller 170 slant six, either! And the same goes for a Falcon or Comet with the 144 or 170 CID 6-cyl engines.
 
I used to own a 1969 Dodge Dart GT hardtop with the 225 slant six, and I liked it alot. Roomy up front, comfortable, adequate performance, and good gas mileage. It would get around 15-18 mpg around town an 22 or so on the highway, even with the a/c cranked up. When it got wrecked, I bought a '68 that had a 318. Gas mileage sucked...best I ever did was maybe 17.5 on the highway, and local it was more like 12-13, 14 if I was lucky. But the performance of that V-8 more than made up for the mileage loss!

#39 of 52 Re: What Classic/Collectible car couldn't I GIVE to you? [Mr_Shiftright] by isellhondas

Apr 12, 2011 (7:46 am)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Apr 11, 2011 7:01 pm)
Back in the mid 70's I had a very nice 1954 Chevy Bel Air with a Powerglide.
 
It used to get between 12-14 MPG when I bothered to check it.
 
My 1965 Riviera was good for about 10 MPG if I didn't jump on it too much.

#40 of 52 Re: What Classic/Collectible car couldn't I GIVE to you? [isellhondas] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Apr 12, 2011 (8:29 am)

Replying to: isellhondas (Apr 12, 2011 7:46 am)
10 MPG was good for a 60s' Riviera. My '63 got about 8 MPH, and if I did steady highway driving, coasting when possible, I might get 12-14...maybe.
 
I think the 64 Bonneville I had got about 10. I had a '65 Cadillac that I could stretch to about 14. I remember driving cross country in a friends '63 Chrysler New Yorker with 383 and we got 13 mpg all the way.

#41 of 52 Re: What Classic/Collectible car couldn't I GIVE to you? [Mr_Shiftright] by andre1969

Apr 12, 2011 (8:39 am)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Apr 12, 2011 8:29 am)
I remember driving cross country in a friends '63 Chrysler New Yorker with 383 and we got 13 mpg all the way.
 
Not to get too nitpicky, but a '63 NYer should have a ~350 hp 413 standard. Unless it had blown and was replaced with a 383?
 
I briefly had a '67 Newport with a 383-2bbl, a fairly wussy 270 hp unit, I believe. I never drove it enough to get a feel for fuel economy, though.

#42 of 52 Re: What Classic/Collectible car couldn't I GIVE to you? [andre1969] by omarman

Apr 12, 2011 (12:03 pm)

Replying to: andre1969 (Apr 12, 2011 8:39 am)
I never had a chance to drive a 413 Mopar anything, but I do remember the racing coverage for the Max Wedge 413. Huge exhaust manifolds, cross ram dual 4 bbl, etc. Wild thing. Mopar was dominating the race tracks back then.
 
But over time it got kind of tricky to follow the Chrysler/Imperial car line. My uncle Allen drove a Chrysler Imperial in the early 70s with the standard 440/4bbl engine. I've read that it's not proper to call it, "Chrysler" Imperial -- just Imperial. But it was advertised as a Chrysler Imperial back then.
 
By the early 80s my dad was driving a Chrysler LeBaron which used to be the name of an Imperial trim line. I remember it had the Imperial eagle emblem somewhere on it -- maybe hood ornament. Oh yes and a 225 slant six engine under the hood!
 
After my uncle passed away, my older brother bought the Imperial battleship and drove it every day to work. While at the same time my retired dad, raised during the depression era, drove his downsized Imperial-badged LeBaron. That always looked funny to me.
 
Between those two cars, if I had to decide which one would I could NOT accept, keep forever, tow it, repair it, etc...I'd probably turn away the Imperial battleship. It was just too much everything but I suppose that was the intent back then.

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