Well, Bruce left himself wide open with this one. <g>
Hope no one takes umbrage (esp Bruce) at the "car"nage here, but I couldn't
resist
> Folks,
>
> We have faced the facts, the Clough ranch needs another big car. Just
one
> big (well, it's a Chevy Blazer, so it's kinda big, relative to a TR7)
vehicle
> is not enough since Alice drives it and I usually can't stick my
purchases in
> the TR4 or TR7s. But...it just can't be any big car, it must be unique.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
OK, your criteria....
> So...we went out this weekend looking for cars that were easy to
maintain,
> low mileage, relatively inexpensive, original, and somewhat unique.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
At least we get consistency...
Here's
> the wheet we culled from the chaff:
wheet indeed, not what we call these types of cars around here
> 1970 Impala 4-door sedan. Your typical little old lady car.
<snip>
Boy you said it...not me. Around here that car would be fodder for the 4th
of July Demolition Derby
>
> 1965 Impala. 327 V8 w/auto trannie.
<snip>
In Kalifornia, that car would have come factory equipped with hydraulics
,
> minimal rust in trunk. Runs like a top. 54K miles, $4200.
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Was rust an option that year ? Why didn't the owner
ever put it on ?
> 1949 Ford 4-door sedan.
<snip> First car with potential here (see above under "somewhat unique")
..
> Used to be owned buy the Knoxville (TN) Police Chief,
With or without gumball lights and Broderick Crawford chrome Wurlitzer
Police Radio ?
> 1967 Chysler Newport. Four door, big V8 & auto trannie. Exterior good
with
> slight surface rust on corners (but no rust through). Underneath it's
> excellent. Runs fine. Been stored in a barn, and smells like it. Green
> w/black interior. Everything works including the air conditioning.
Alice's
> comment was "this is big and ugly without any unique features". I
commented
> that it had an excellent tow hitch! 48K miles, $2600.
Certainly fits the "large" criteria. For cryin out loud man, LISTEN to your
wife on this one.
>
> 1967 Pontiac Executive (Tempest?). 4-door, 400 ci w/ automatic (of
course),
> blue w/ blue interior. Originally from North Carolina. No rust
whatsoever,
Maybe you could make a deal on that rust the guy has been keeping
in the Impala trunk...
> never been undercoated. Another "little old man" car.
Are you listenin to yourself here ?
> 1960 Chevy Impala. 4-door, 283 ci w/auto trannie. Blue w/blue interior.
> Original exterior paint, original interior. Some minimal rust in bottom
of
> rear door back corners, been repaired in quarter panels, but they did a
good
> job. Sound frame. Some surface rust starting to show near/under trim
strips.
> Excellent interior, everything works. Drives nice, but will need new
exhaust.
> 73K miles, $5000.
>
Might have been "somewhat unique" with the W block motor and the grade
retard tranny...
> 1960 Buick LeSabre. 2-door, 384 ci w/auto trannie. Dark green w/light
green
> interior. Original everything, even tires. Runs fine, no rust on body,
never
> undercoated. Will need seat upholstery work and exhaust. 32K miles,
$6000.
>
> I'm leaning toward the LeSabre - what a beaut! I'm a bit scared about
the
> drive system. It looks like the drive shaft is enclosed from the trannie
to
> the diff. Any problems with these units? My second choice would be the
60
> Chevy due to its looks (I can deal with the rust). The Pontiac would be
an
> excellent car for someone needing a ride, but it, and the other Impalas
are
> just too normal for me.
OK, I'll try to be serious here for a moment if you are.
I think that the motor is really the 364 cubic inch beauty. That motor was
commonly referred to as the "nailhead" motor and came on all Buicks up
until 59, when all the other models got the 401, except the LeSabre. For
some reason that model carried on with the old engine. There's nothing
really wrong with the motor (other than a mild propensity to burn valves
more often than some others), but it was not the same as the more robust
(and way more powerful) 401. The real disadvantage to this car is the
tranny. I can't remember when they finally dropped the DynaFlow (59 had it
for sure), but I do recall that the LaSabre was the last model to use it.
The corporate hydro was OK, but if the car has the infamous "DynaFlow" in
it, run away. I think the term "slushbox" was invented for that tranny.
Whatever horsepower range that tranny was designed to take (and it wasn't
much), you couldn't put one more through it. And don't even think about
towing anything with one. I personally took it as a personal crusade to get
a DynaFlow to hold a little power, but after many a night with the ATF
running down my arms as I pulled another one out, I gave up. I modified
just about every part of those beauties, but to no avail. It's just a weak
design. (I did finally have one of only a few 3 speed, floor shifted Buicks
around)
> WARNING: If I get one of these both our TR7s will be going up for sale
> since I'll need the room to berth these land barges. The one is my daily
> driver '81, the other is that green '79 coupe that I bought from an old
> Leyland dealer with 200 miles on it just last year. Now it has 5300
miles
> on it, but they were pampered miles! I'll post more info after I make up
my
> mind.
>
> Ciao,
>
> Bruce Clough
The sixties were not kind to me...
Nick in Nor Cal
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