The non-muscle American car thread (READ THE OP)
- Thread starter The87Dodge
- 1,543 comments
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- 29,727
- a baby, candy, it's like taking.
- TexRex72
I really like the polycasts used on '75-7 B-bodies like the Cordoba and Charger SE, and while they were phased out by the time the Magnum rolled out (they probably wouldn't have gone on one even if they had stuck around), I think they'd look fantastic on one with the polished volcano caps and blackwalls.Them pancake seats.However, t-tops, bucket seats, floor shifter and covers over the headlights, win. Black/burgundy are never my favorite combos, but the Crags and BFGs offset it. I'll have that one.
I'd also have the Cordoba door skins with the more graceful transition between the front and rear fender bulges of the Magnum.
- 50,915
- Australia
- SpacedustDaddy
Probably chrome dipped as well.I really like the polycasts used on '75-7 B-bodies like the Cordoba and Charger SE, and while they were phased out by the time the Magnum rolled out (they probably wouldn't have gone on one even if they had stuck around), I think they'd look fantastic on one with the polished volcano caps and blackwalls.
I'd also have the Cordoba door skins with the more graceful transition between the front and rear fender bulges of the Magnum.
Trying to remember the Chrysler rallye wheels. They weren't slotted, just a nice deep dish. One of my Aunt's in Long Island had a Duster with thoose wheels. The Cordoba may have come with those wheels. You mentioned the Charger(I know which one you mean). I think it's the earlier Chargers that had the rallye wheels I'm trying to recall.
Edit: These wheels - I see they do have slots; very small slots. I dig 'em.
As for the Cordoba. I liked it because of Ricardo Montalbán. However, I think it was the stack eyed model that look too much like the Monte Carlo(or a Lincoln/Grand Marquis/LTD). I even think the rear lights pretty much made it look like a Grand Prix.
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- 29,727
- a baby, candy, it's like taking.
- TexRex72
The regular Charger of that time would have gotten the 10-hole domed steelies that Chrysler used throughout the '70s.Probably chrome dipped as well.
Trying to remember the Chrysler rallye wheels. They weren't slotted, just a nice deep dish. One of my Aunt's in Long Island had a Duster with thoose wheels. The Cordoba may have come with those wheels. You mentioned the Charger(I know which one you mean). I think it's the earlier Chargers that had the rallye wheels I'm trying to recall.
Edit: These wheels - I see they do have slots; very small slots. I dig 'em.
As for the Cordoba. I liked it because of Ricardo Montalbán. However, I think it was the stack eyed model that look too much like the Monte Carlo(or a Lincoln/Grand Marquis/LTD). I even think the rear lights pretty much made it look like a Grand Prix.
I can't find any decent pictures of a stock Magnum XE GT, but they got those 6-slot steelies used on the sportier Aspen variants like this Super Coupe.
I think all of those '75-up B-bodies need a factory wheel from a '75-up B-body. Aftermarket wheels just don't fit them in any way that I can appreciate. Maybe a turbine style Western or Appliance wheel would be okay, or an Appliance Wire Mag. Shapely spokes just don't do it for me on those cars.
- 29,727
- a baby, candy, it's like taking.
- TexRex72
Where's the coupe? I need a coupe. Of course it'd be far from standard, with a mild marine 283 (though a 302 would be very cool) where the six normally goes. Swap out heads and intake for aluminum and it'd be something like 70lbs heavier than the turbo motor. Late suspension should tame the extra power and weight some, and it'd need a cool period wheel like 4-lug Keystone Kustomags.
- 4,935
- United States
- Stawookie
Those 1960 one year headlight bezels are pretty hard to come by.Here are the coupes. It's fascinating to me how much Bill Mitchell's first-gen Corvair design influenced auto manufacturers around the world, but not here in the US. There is a great article about it here.
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1960-61 Corvairs were also available with an optional gasoline heater.
Corvairs ‘61 and later just had a more conventional air-cooled heating/duct system.
Very rare factory A/C was available in ‘61 and ‘62 for an extra cost of $350 ($3,000 today)
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- 15,165
- Grandville Mi
- Gotbeefboy564
- Got beef boy564
- 1,049
- Grand Rapids,MI
- HaydenFan69
Idk, that van looks pretty cool. But yeah, the coupe is the way to go. Maybe if the wagon went the level of the Nomad and was a two door, it’d be different.
Speaking of Nomad’s.
Speaking of Nomad’s.
- 13,145
- Seattle-ish
What an amazing history this car has. It's a 1923/4 Studebaker Light Six with demi-coupe body by the Shanghai Horse Bazaar and Motor Company. SHB was founded in 1851, one year before Studebaker. They were originally a shop for serving the needs of horses and horse owners, but in the teens when cars started trickling into China, they decided to branch out and become an auto garage, which led to doing body repairs and then to building complete bodies.
Coy Goodrich was a test driver hired by Studebaker to go to China and promote cars in general and Studebakers in particular. He must have been good at it since by the mid-20s Studebaker commanded 10% of the Chinese market. No one is quite sure what the relationship was between Studebaker and SHB, but it's known they supplied several different bodies to Studebaker in China. Only six of these pretty little hardtops (the first hardtop, maybe) were built, but only this one is known to survive. Goodrich fell ill and returned to the States in 1923. He commissioned one of these coupes to be built and shipped to the US where he mounted it on a 1924 Light Six chassis.
Goodrich must have loved that car as he put 100,000 miles on it during the next twenty years. It was finally put away in the 1940s. Sadly it was left outdoors to rot. The good news is the body was made of aluminum and the wood in the interior was made of single carvings of teak. When Goodrich decided to restore the car in the 1970s, it was still in amazing shape. When he died in 2003 (at what must have been a fairly ripe age) he had it donated to the Studebaker Museum where it resides today.
Coy Goodrich was a test driver hired by Studebaker to go to China and promote cars in general and Studebakers in particular. He must have been good at it since by the mid-20s Studebaker commanded 10% of the Chinese market. No one is quite sure what the relationship was between Studebaker and SHB, but it's known they supplied several different bodies to Studebaker in China. Only six of these pretty little hardtops (the first hardtop, maybe) were built, but only this one is known to survive. Goodrich fell ill and returned to the States in 1923. He commissioned one of these coupes to be built and shipped to the US where he mounted it on a 1924 Light Six chassis.
Goodrich must have loved that car as he put 100,000 miles on it during the next twenty years. It was finally put away in the 1940s. Sadly it was left outdoors to rot. The good news is the body was made of aluminum and the wood in the interior was made of single carvings of teak. When Goodrich decided to restore the car in the 1970s, it was still in amazing shape. When he died in 2003 (at what must have been a fairly ripe age) he had it donated to the Studebaker Museum where it resides today.
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- 1,049
- Grand Rapids,MI
- HaydenFan69
Those wheels!!!
I'll argue the notchback Mercury Cougar was the better looking platform car.
I'll argue the notchback Mercury Cougar was the better looking platform car.
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- 11,805
- Marin County
- 1,049
- Grand Rapids,MI
- HaydenFan69
- 11,805
- Marin County
Huh...the more you know. 
I had a Fox body once. '91 Coupe 5.0 Five Speed - kind of the best one. I don't know how I survived that car.
I had a Fox body once. '91 Coupe 5.0 Five Speed - kind of the best one. I don't know how I survived that car.
- 1,049
- Grand Rapids,MI
- HaydenFan69
Huh...the more you know.
I had a Fox body once. '91 Coupe 5.0 Five Speed - kind of the best one. I don't know how I survived that car.
Yeah, I had to look that up as well. Didn't realize the platform went into the early 2000's with the Mustang. So you could say the Cobra Mustang R is just a fast LTD.
- 29,727
- a baby, candy, it's like taking.
- TexRex72
I like those wheels enough, I suppose, but my ideal Turbo Coupe would have the 4-lug Saleen Speedlines from the '93 SC. And bigger brakes would sit inside of those 17" barrels.
[Edit: I should say they're catalog wheels identical in every way to those on the '93 Saleen SC except bolt pattern, since the Saleen cars were 5-lug.]
I never cared for those Cougars. The cars that came before and after were better looking; a guy I work with has a cherry '84 XR7.
Yep. Two of my top three Fox cars are actually Lincolns, with the "un'Mark'ed" Continental VII bustleback taking the top slot and the Mark VII battling it out with the Turbo Coupe for second.
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- 11,805
- Marin County
Who wants some malaise era luxury?
- 11,805
- Marin County
I'll take the Lincoln that "handles like a BMW"
- 17,851
- Florida
- GranTurismo0517
- RandomCarGuy17
The T-bird Turbo Coupe is my 3rd favorite foxbody. The Capri and Mustang are my 2nd and 1st.
- 29,727
- a baby, candy, it's like taking.
- TexRex72
Fairmont Futura and Zephyr Z7 are up there for me. Certainly above a Mustang (though the Mexican "burbuja" Mustangs garner a little more appeal for me) if not a Capri.
Fairmonts and Zephyrs had a turbo Lima option, too, and they got a really cool hood bulge.
Fairmonts and Zephyrs had a turbo Lima option, too, and they got a really cool hood bulge.
- 13,145
- Seattle-ish
This might be pushing the definition of American cars a bit, but these are the first of the Chrysler Corporation's successful collaborations with Italian design house Ghia. The president of Chrysler was looking for a cheaper way to create show cars and prototypes than doing it in house. With the Italian economy still recovering from WWII and a surplus of talent, Chrysler approached both Ghia and Pininfarina to create new sedan bodies on the then current Plymouth sedan, using the original wheelbase of 118.5 inches and the old reliable 97 hp flathead six. While Chrysler liked both designs, they prefered the fit and finish of the Ghia built car (called the XX-500). It turned out Ghia built cars were as much as 1/8th to 1/10th cheaper than doing in house, so Chrysler ended up working with Ghia for more than a decade, leading to the beautiful 1963/4 Chrysler Turbine.
This is the only picture of the Pininfarina I can find. Since all the photos I find are period, I have to assume these cars did not survive. Unfortunately I have no idea what happened to them.
This is the only picture of the Pininfarina I can find. Since all the photos I find are period, I have to assume these cars did not survive. Unfortunately I have no idea what happened to them.
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- 29,727
- a baby, candy, it's like taking.
- TexRex72
Yes, I'm on a bit of a Torino kick.
Sometimes it sucks being on the wrong side of popularity, because my favorite '72 Torino front end belongs to the base model and it's really hard finding decent examples in any bodystyle, be it the two-door formal, pillared four-door or station wagon.
Sometimes it sucks being on the wrong side of popularity, because my favorite '72 Torino front end belongs to the base model and it's really hard finding decent examples in any bodystyle, be it the two-door formal, pillared four-door or station wagon.
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