Lovers of 'classic' cars born to be mild

USA TODAY ^ | 29 March 2002 | Marco R. della Cava

[Deadeye Division]

PASADENA, Calif.

[Dakmar]

Sorry, I just get carried away sometimes. After posting that Matador picture I had to redeem myself.

[LowOiL]

I'll stick with my 62 Chrysler Newport. It has it all, ugly, big, cool, did I mention ugly... Push button drive..ahhh life is good.

[RangeRatt]

what's under the hood? 413?

[RangeRatt]

authentic or not- it still looks bitchin'!

[martin_fierro]

1979 Subaru Brat. Yes, I drove one for six years.

[martin_fierro]

I'm still tryin' to figure this one out:

[RangeRatt]

and getting extremely hard to find these days...Subaru built a very reliable product, just never very "attractive" to the masses.

[martin_fierro]

Every single time I see an AMC car I think: "What happened? Have I been thrust into a parallel universe, where cars are ... not quite ... right???"
I don't know about them being reliable - just something about their styling was so ... strange.

Behold the AMC Pacer:

SO CLOSE to being a cool-looking ride, and yet ... so far away!

[Dakmar]

Six years must be a new record. Most of those rusted away faster than an off brand steel-wool pad.

[martin_fierro]

I still have mixed feelings about the Brat.

It really did well in 4WD, even getting around icy, hilly SW Pennsylvania streets in winter where huge Ford 4WDs couldn't.

But everything seemed to go to hell after 50,000 miles.

[BluesDuke]

Classic nerd cars:

Ford Falcon, 1960-64. (Before he became Secretary of Defence, Robert McNamara was all but running the show at Ford and the Falcon was his brainchild. Said a critic: "He wears granny glasses and he brings out a granny car.")

Plymouth Valiant, 1961-63. (My mother owned one of these, brand new, before she sold it to my paternal grandparents, who loved the car. Me, the only thing I liked was the baby blue colour of the car.)

Dodge Lancer, 1961-63. (The extremely poor man's Valiant.)

Morris Minor 1000, early 1960s. (Who says the Brits couldn't make a good nerd car? The plus side: The suckers lasted. The minus side: Everything else.)

AMC Matador, 1972-74. (The nerd's version of the Ford Galaxie. High school driver's ed class instructors loved them. If that doesn't say it all, I don't know what does.)

Ford Fairlane 500, 1961-66. (When the Fairlane went compact, it was nerd paradise. Sort of. Though the 1964 Fairlane was actually a handsome little car.)

Chevrolet Nova, 1970s. (Self-explanatory.)

Ford Tempo, 1980s. (The 1980s Fairlane. Wanna fight?)

Mercury Comet, 1960-63. (Someone's idea of hipping up the Falcon. It didn't work.)

Chrysler K Cars, 1980s. (The insouciantly insufferable nerd cars of the 1980s.)

...just for openers...

[BluesDuke]

The early 1960s Chryslers were anything but nerdmobiles. (You want the early 1960s Chrysler Corporation nerdmobiles, the name is spelled D-O-D-G-E. Hard to believe it was the same marque which eventually came up with the Intrepid.) Actually, the 1964 New Yorker was one hell of a handsome beast! Not to mention, the 1964 Imperial Crown Sedan...

[RangeRatt]

good evening, Duke! I sold one of the "new era nerd cars" about six months ago- a '85 Fifth Avenue. 85,000 old lady miles, clean, but nowhere to keep it once I went overseas. BTW, I learned to drive in a '65 Dodge Dart 4dr: slant six, push-button automatic, Am radio with the "Civil Defense frequency" highlights on the dial, and a heater. The color? Boring Beige. But what an indestructable car!

[BluesDuke]

Every single time I see an AMC car I think: "What happened?

We should have seen it coming when Nash merged with Hudson. I mean, two classic old Nerdmobile makers merging? Kind of like grafting a supergroup from among members of the Partridge Family, the Bay City Rollers, the Osmonds and the 1910 Fruitgum Company.

[BluesDuke]

Now, now, I wouldn't exactly call the Fifth Avenue a nerdmobile, if you're talking about the early 1990s or, better yet, the early 1960s. Though I was delighted Chrysler finally underwent a style makeover in the mid-1990s, and the Concorde and LHS today are some slick looking machines for what is basically a semi-luxury car marque.

And here is probably the most underrated car in American history...in its final model year, 1940: the Hupmobile...

[BluesDuke]

Some other Hupmobile beauties...

1911 Model D touring car.



1930 sedan.



1932 roadster.



1933 rumbleseat roadster.

[PRND21]

I was at a friends today and helped him move some stuff for his old lady neighbor.
In her garage sits a 1964(?) Lincoln Continental Mach 5. All original/stock, except for an under dash 8-track player.
Beautiful.

Hey, it's that time of year again...Play Ball!

[RangeRatt]

do you subscribe to Cars And Parts?

[BluesDuke]

I forget its specific premiere, but the Mark V wasn't made in the 1960s. (I think it was an early 1970s coupe.) If it was a 1964 Continental, it would have been one of the classic four-door hardtops with the suicide doors. (The 1961-66 Lincoln Continental was the last known American car to deploy the suicide door style.)

Play ball, indeed!

[RangeRatt]

Mercury Comet, 1960-63.

The Comet was originally to be sold by Edsel dealers as their small car entry, unfortunately, the plug was pulled on Edsel in late 1959, just after the 1960 models were introduced. Interesting factoid: of the 62 Model 76 Edsel convertibles made, over 50 still survive!