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New home being built across the street from me, 3 40 something guys working in yard installing sprinkler system. Me, just finished putting in Pertronix Igniter II, warming it up, setting timing, take it out for a test ride. As I pull out of the driveway, the 3 guys stop work and stare at my car. After I get home I walk out to mailbox to get the mail, one of the guys walks over and says "Man, that sure is a beautiful GTO, what year is it, a 67?! I said nicely that it isn't a GTO, it is a 66 442. He says, well, it sure is nice, sounds great too! Thank You!
A quote from the Fireman after putting out the engine fire in the 98 , " We got here as fast as we could when someone reported a classic Impala on fire, glad we saved it I love these cars!! "
Me too
Some people say those things to make themselves look important. I think any owner of an older car that is obviously well kept is proud of it and likes compliments and intelligent questions. I don't ask if I don't know, but if I do know I say something like "Isn't that a '67 or '68 Galaxie? I am really not a Ford man but that sure is a nice car." The owner is usually genuinely happy with an honest compliment instead of a mindless statement intended to impress instead of compliment.
Agreed. But I still get questioned by the 20+ crowd at shows and cruise ins, mostly "Oldsmobile? Never heard of it."
That's a prismatic refractive device that allows you to see traffic lights when you're right under them, without craning your neck.
Not really useful these days, or even in the '60s, with fairly well slanted windshields, but in the '20s, '30s, and '40s, when car windshields were more vertical and pillars were fatter, if you stopped a bit too close to the traffic light, you'd have to make like a contortionist to watch the light.
That's a prismatic refractive device that allows you to observe traffic lights when you're right under them, without craning your neck. In the event of craning, please employ the contortionist stance and keep an eye on the face of the refractive device.
That should do it. I'll print it on a card and hand it out. Thanks Eric.
That's a prismatic refractive device that allows you to see traffic lights when you're right under them, without craning your neck.
Not really useful these days, or even in the '60s, with fairly well slanted windshields, but in the '20s, '30s, and '40s, when car windshields were more vertical and pillars were fatter, if you stopped a bit too close to the traffic light, you'd have to make like a contortionist to watch the light.
- Eric
Cool, I could use one of those in my '57 Beetle. Tall driver, low windshield! (Yet another car that everybody has had one just like it but different...)
That car gets a lot of "You know you can soup them up by putting a Porsche engine in it, right?". Uhhhh...yeah, I could. Or I could build a more powerful VW based engine for a fraction of the price...(which means more $$$ for my Cutlass!!!)
I've got a chopped top, customized 55 Olds. At a car show, a guy was showing his friends how much car knowledge he had, with comments on every car in the row. Came to my car, and you could see he was confused. So he goes to the show registration on the windshield to see it's a 55 Olds, tells his friends what it is. Then he says" You don't see many of these, because they had no door handles, and people didn't like that, so they didn't sell many of them!"
I was at a local cruise night with this car when I owned it & a couple walked up and started chatting..... the woman said "we had one just like this a long time ago, except it didn't have the fancy hood, all that fancy stuff under the hood, all those fancy stripes or the 4 speed....." I told her it was probably really nice car.
I stopped for gas coming back from a show, a lad with terminal acne was filling up his lowered fart can equipped Honda Civic at another pump. We both went to pay at the same time, and he said to me;
"Is that an Oldsmobile 88 mister?". I said "You're quite right, how did you know?". It turned out he spent some time in California studying for an engineering degree and loved going to cruise ins and classic car shows.
I asked him why he was driving a Civic, he told me it was insurance and parking that ruled out anything bigger.
There is some hope for future generations it seems.
Drivers age, car make and model, as a rule the bigger the engine the bigger the premium, although some cars are popular with boy racers and command a price hike even with a small engine. Location is a big factor too, in a big city like Manchester or Liverpool insurance will cost much more than in a rural backwater. In inner London a car isn't really viable as a means of transport for many people.
My American cars are covered by a limited mileage classic policy, it helps that I am much older than i care to think about, have a clean driving record and keep them both in a garage which means an annual premium of £130 (About $170) including breakdown recovery per car. My wife pays about £1000 ($1300) for full taxi cover. The lad in question is paying £200 ($260) per month at age 22.
Roger.
Last edited by rustyroger; Sep 11, 2016 at 11:44 AM.
All sounds about the same as here, except that I am not aware of insurers counting engine size in their calculations (in the old days, they did count rated horsepower, though).
If they did count displacement, there would be a LOT fewer full-size pickup trucks being driven as daily drivers.
Displacement gets penalised by an annual road fund duty, linked with emissions, too. Most hybrid cars pay no duty, my dd 1.25 liter Ford costs me £180, a big engined Mercedes or a Range Rover will cost well into four figures.
However older cars have a standard rate, Both my 231ci H Bodies and my son in laws 400ci Trans Am cost £230.
Cars over 40 years old are exempt, regardless of engine size.
Drove my 35 Sport Coupe to a small local show in central Mn Labor Day weekend, guy comes up to me says the door on my combine is hinged in the back like that, what a pain in the as to get in and out of.
In line at the gas station, bunch of guys on the way into work in the morning and an old lady says to me, "My first husband had a 72, beautiful and fast car." Me, " Thanks, Yeah I love it" Then she proceeds to tell me and the other 10 people standing there,"Ya know I lost my virginity in the back of that car. Me still half asleep pause for a second and say, "I hope it wasn't mine..." Guy behind me starts to spit his coffee out everywhere from laughing so hard.
One of the know it all mechanics at work says to me.
"Hey, you like old cars.... you see that white Cadillac up in the parking lot"?
Yeah I saw it... it's an Oldsmobile.
"No, it's a Caddy.
It's mine and it's an Olds.
"I don't think so"
Ok.
Later that day.
"You're right it is an Olds"
Thanks for letting me know.
There is some hope for future generations it seems.
My son (14) & his friends all love my car. I took them out & smoked the tires a bit. One kid said wow this is what I want.
My son was having a car wash with his Track team as a fund raiser. I let them wash it (under my watchful eye) and all the kids were taking pictures with it. Nobody knew what it was but they still loved it.
One of the know it all mechanics at work says to me.
"Hey, you like old cars.... you see that white Cadillac up in the parking lot"?
Yeah I saw it... it's an Oldsmobile.
"No, it's a Caddy.
It's mine and it's an Olds.
"I don't think so"
Ok.
Later that day.
"You're right it is an Olds"
Thanks for letting me know.
As they used to say back in the good old days of National Lampoon:
This one is more lucky than funny, well, its kinda funny...
I finally got a 307 dropped into my '78 Cutlass Brougham on a Sunday, so rather than waiting 'til Monday for DOL to open and renew the tabs, I threw my '66 Toronado plates on it. Yes, I was a little impatient. Well, there were a lot of cops out that day and it wasn't long before I got pulled over and I was really regretting not having waited another day for the tabs. I was sweating the fictitious plates charge I just knew I was going to receive. When all was said and done, the young deputy cited me for faulty equipment on my '66 Toronado/Cutlass (my reverse lights were on when in drive).
Also: when driving any of my Olds from Montana to ANY warmer climate States people 30 years ago would ask if they were electric on account of the engine block heater plug sticking out of the front end.
Last edited by RollinOlds; Sep 25, 2022 at 10:21 PM.
Guy showing off to his girl friend, pointed under the hood of my car and said to her, see it has a 455. Then pointing at the air cleaner said, wow it has the rocket too.
... Tedd
