hello,

first i wanna say sorry about my english,i'm living in switzerland and i learned english just in the school,well,i give my best...my name is marco ,i'm 35years old and love us-cars...my first one was a pickup,a chevrolet s10,then a silverado pickup,a bandit pontiac firebird 1981...i sold every of them,2 years ago i found a oldsmobile cutlass supreme sx package,455 rocket engine 1970...i love this car,i think it is a rare car here in switzerland...the colour is gold,but i'm not sure,if this was original...i try to send a picture of it...


marco...

 

Welcome

Nice Cutlass, I would have to agree that has to be a rare sight in your part of the world.

 

Welcome aboard

Very nice car and don't worry about your English, It's better than mine.

 

Welcome. Yery nice Cutlass you have. The wheels really set it off.

 

Welcome to the site. Your car is beautiful. If you want to check the original color of the car, use the codes on the cowl and decode using one of the sites like 442.com (I think). If it's not the original color, it sure is close to one of the original colors I remember from the '70 Cutlass. Post more pics.

 

Marco,
Welcome to CO. Great looking car. I bet you get MANY looks when you drive it. I had mine out the other day and the wife says "Everyone is looking at your car". I told her it was because there is a beautiful girl riding in it......I need to make some points with her as I need to buy some more parts

 

Great looking car. Your english is fine,

 

Nice car marco , I love those wheels! I was in switzerland once when I was like 6 years old. not sure of where I was but I remember a really windy road going up and up towards the border of austria. have fun with your new toy and I am sure you won't see a lot of them there.

 

Welcome to CO Marco. You car is in very good condition, the color looks like an Oldsmobile color to me.

 

Welcome!! Shes a beauty!

 

Sweet SX. I love the Nugget Gold color (my best guess). You should register the car this website http://www.sx455.com/.

 

thanks for the warm welcome ,it's very interessting to "talk" to people who live in the country i felt in love with (was this sentence correct? )...i was in the usa for just 3 weeks this year,it was absolutely great...we started in san francisco,then los angeles,through the death valley to las vegas,flagstaff and back to san francisco...the landscape,the nature and of course the cars,everything was great...i really like the us-cars,almost all of them,it doesn't matter if new or old...i never was really a friend of europene-cars ...i have my olds for nice-weather-days,and for daily driving a jeep grand cherokee 1998,5.9litre...a powerful machine...but something i was wondering,i didn't see old us-cars as many as i expected when i was in the states...


nice regards from switzerland...

 

Marco,
You did not see many "old" cars as many states in the US have very strong standards regarding automobile emissions and California is the worst (I use to live there). The emission standards are for all cars from 1975 to the present. Most of the older cars can not pass the emission tests. Cars prior to 1975 are classified as "Classic Cars" and emission standards do not apply to them. But most of the owners of classic cars do not drive them as daily drivers and only use them for special events. You missed some of those events when you went through Los Angeles. One of the oldest car drive-ins is in Burbank, CA at Bob's Big Boy restaurant on Friday nights. Since 1954 car guys have been meeting there and there are always (unless it rains) 200 to 300 classic cars there. In fact Jay Leno usually shows up with one of his cars after he tapes his show as NBC studios which is just a mile down the street. Also, once a month on a Wednesday night there is a cruise on Van Nuys Blvd in Van Nuys CA that draws about 1000 classic cars.
Here are a few videos of those events.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNuivmgvGRE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cjc_lxuu2Ds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Uytc0h2SNU

 

thanks for sending the videos...really nice cars...we have here in switzerland a strong standard too,if the car is older than 30years,it's an classic car,that means they check the car every 6year,if everything is ok and the car must be absolutely original...if there are not original parts,it's not a classic car for them,and they check it every 2years...well,every year we have a lot of us-car meetings,but there is a really big one,this year there were 2500 cars at this place,from year 1945 to present...the us-car scene here is not bad,and thats good for me...


marco...

 

It isn't quite this clear-cut with regard to what's a "classic car" and what isn't as well as what the laws are regarding emissions standards and testing. Motor vehicles are one aspect of American life that is regulated at the state level, and each state is different.

In Ohio, where I live, emissions testing is done only in the larger cities, and it's done county by county. If the smog level in the county you live in exceeds a certain level, the state requires the emission check (called "e-check"), and you have to have the test performed, and your car has to pass it, in order to register and legally drive it. Otherwise, it's not required. I live in a rural county in Ohio, and in the 20 years I've been here, I've never once had an emission test perfomed on any vehicle I own, old or new.

Many states that DO have emission testing don't require it for cars older than a certain age, but I'm guessing that the particular cut-off year differs from state to state. I don't think any state that has a cut-off year has one as far back as 1975. Some would not require it if the car is 25 years old or older. Others might choose a year like 1980 or 1985 and go with that for a while and then change it to a later year as time passes.

Many states use 25 years old as a cutoff for what they would call an "antique" car. This means the car could be eligible for lower vehicle registration costs as long as the car is driven as a collector vehicle, meaning only in parades, to and from car shows, and touring. No regular use, such as to and from work, shopping, school, etc, is allowed. To use Ohio as an example again, in my county, it costs about $50 per year to register a regular passenger car. To register my '67 Delta 88 as a collector car costs $30 ONCE. I never have to pay to register the car again. The registration card actually has an expiration date of July 1, 2050. By that time, the car will be 83 years old, and I'll be 93. I hope were both still around, because I'd gladly pay another $30 to register it for another 41 years!

 

California use to go by the 25 year rule but was changed many years ago to the 1975 year rule (this way they have less old cars on the road). California has the most stringent emission laws in the US as it is the most polluted state in the US.

 

Wolfman was making his hit movie 'The Sound of Music'...

 

You guys talking 'bout Switzerland made me hungry for Raclette

 

One of the very first movies I saw in a theater Luckily I live in a province where they don't do the e-test but I think they do on the other coast in B.C. Here it is considered a classic or antique if it is 30 years old. it used to be 25 years but there were so many people collecting and restoring antiques they changed it. I wonder if they will up it to 35 years old in the future? My 69 nighty-eight has antique plates and it does not need an annual vehicle inspection sticker , only a one time mechanical fitness check.

 

Again, you're generalizing broadly here, making sweeping statements that don't hold up to scrutiny. California has the most stringent emission laws for many reasons. Yes, the Los Angeles basin has had a long history of smog problems, but this is due largely to its geography. Many parts of the state are clean. The state government there, in spite of its problems, has recognized that California is a large state geographically (three times the size of Thailand) that also has a large population, and they have tried to reconcile the need to allow for economic growth while at the same time preserving the environment. It is not always an easy balance to establish.

But I would not say that "it is the most polluted state in the US." How do you even define this? By many standards, New Jersey might be considered the most polluted state because it has much industry and oil refining and processing operations confined to a much smaller geographic area, and it has an almost six times larger population density than California. Other northern industrial states have pollution issues as well owing largely to the long-standing presence of heavy industry (oil, coal, autos, steel, rubber). Many of these industries have been in decline in recent decades, and while that is a bad thing as far as jobs and economic strength go, a side effect has been that pollution has undoubtedly been reduced.

A couple of years ago, Forbes magazine ran an article claiming that West Virginia, a state 1/6 the size of California with a population 1/19 the size, is the most polluted state due to the long-standing effects of a heavy reliance on coal mining over most of its history.

Now no state is trying to win a contest to be the most polluted one. My point is that there is no single way to measure how "polluted" a state is. To claim that California "is the most polluted state" is to sound like you're reading a stereotype about the U.S. that might have appeared in a Bangkok newspaper.

 

I would have to agree with this assessment. When I was in california I found that while the Los Angeles area had a haze in the air, San Fransisco was refreshingly clear and somewhat cool for August. I stayed in Rancho Bernardo south of L.A and while it was not as bad there was some haze if the weather was hot and winds calm. you can find the same brown haze in Toronto on hot summer days and it is considered a clean city.

 

I lived in the LA basin from 1971 (when I got out of the service) to 2005 when I moved to Thailand so I do know how polluted the state is. On a good note it has gotten better as there was only 2 or 3 stage 3 alerts (where kids and the elderly can not go outside) in the year I left. Years before there were a couple a month during the summer. This is a car forum so I am talking in generalities unless it comes to cars so please lighten up.

 

I understand. But talking in generalities is one thing. Talking in inaccurate generalities is something else.

 

Mmmmm, me too ya big cheese. Order me a round too. Switzerland's where I first found that delightful dish.

Mind you, for supper we also had horse steak (didn't know it until it was gone. Gotta say, it was tasty)

 

I should add that I was in CA in 1987 and it was probably worse then than it is now. If you want to see smog then I suggest you go to Mexico City Now that is bad.