What makes you love the collector car that no one else does?

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Pep C Strebeck
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What makes you love the collector car that no one else does?

Post by Pep C Strebeck » Sat Oct 23, 2021 11:09 pm

Unfortunately my wife had fallen and broken her hip recently and she is currently in a short-term rehab facility at what used to be Henry Ford Village in Dearborn (now Allegria Village), located at the former sight of the Henry Ford birthplace. Looking directly out the window from her room is the service and maintenance garage with a big mural of a field, the Mack Avenue Plant, Henry Ford birthplace and a "stylized" pre-1914 Model T driving down a dirt road.

My wife had mentioned to some of the therapy staff that I own a Model T (and other antique cars) and today one young man (no older than 30) was asking me all sorts of questions about it and how hard it must be to get parts for and keep it going. He was saying that I must have a "way harder time" than he does trying to find parts for his old car, wait for it, you're going to love it, a 1976 Mercury Bobcat. And if that was not the greatest/funniest thing that I had heard in about a month he made it even better, it's a station wagon. I don't think I have had a smile on my face since my wife fell, but that made me grin and chuckle.

He was so happy telling me that it was his Grandfathers car and how he had loved it and took care of it and in the very next breath how is father hated it and was embarrassed by it as a kid. He told me about all the work that he has done and is doing to it and what he wants to do to it, and all I can keep thinking is: WOW! This guy loves a Mercury Bobcat station wagon. This guy is the changing and evolving face of the collector car hobby, he is preserving a car that at any car show how many people would even give it a second look? I love him for his passion and commitment.

He was telling me about going to swap meets, looking on-line constantly trying to find parts and how he couldn't imagine trying to find parts as old as what I need. You should have heard the joy in his voice when he told me that earlier this year he had found a N.O.S. chrome moulding for the right front fender to replace the one that his Grandfather creased decades ago. When I got home this evening I did a quick search on Ebay for Mercury Bobcat parts, they're out there, but geez are we blessed with a plethora of available parts (original used, N.O.S., aftermarket, current and older reproduction). Model T parts are easier than ones for my Dodge Brothers, but I don't think I would want to try and find Bobcat parts.

This young man made me think of being in Traverse City during the Cherry Festival about 6 or 8 years ago and going through the car show that was sponsored by Hagerty Insurance. There were a lot of beautiful and gorgeous cars there, and a very diverse lot as well: Big early touring cars (Cadillacs, Packards, Buicks, even an FWD Battleship), lots of 2 cylinder cars, Pierce-Arrows, a couple of Roosevelts, some REO Flying Clouds, just a great show. But the car that I could not walk away from and impressed me the most was the 1984 Chevrolet Celebrity station wagon, with less than 10,000 miles. This car still had the dealer promotional stickers in the windows for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, as Chevrolet was a sponsor. This car looked as if it had just pulled out of the dealer showroom for the car show. This was not a car that was owned by a car dealer and kept at the dealership, it was just owned by some guy. There is the kind of commitment that I love to see in the "old" car hobby, caring for and preserving a car that most people wouldn't look twice at.

I am not sure what will happen with my cars after I shuffle off this mortal coil, but as long as there is a young guy out there that not only "wants" to preserve a Mercury Bobcat station wagon, but is actively doing so, I feel pretty confident that mine will live on.
"Remember son, there are two ways to do this: The right way, and your way” Thanks Dad, I love you too.

LOOKING FOR A LUFKIN No. 9A Height Gage Attachment.


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Re: What makes you love the collector car that no one else does?

Post by TXGOAT2 » Sat Oct 23, 2021 11:32 pm

I haven't seen a Mercury Bobcat in a very long while, and I don't recall ever seeing a station wagon. Quite a few 70s cars are just about extinct. About 25 years ago, I had my Dad's 1966 Oldmobile Delta 88 four door running. It attracted a lot of attention back then, and would attract a good deal more today, I'd guess. It is a far cry from todays' everyday vehicles. For one thing, even though it was not the biggest Olds, it is huge. It's dripping with chrome trim, inside and out, and it has a 425 CID 315 HP 2V engine ahead of its 3 speed automatic transmission. It's a nice bronze metallic color.


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Re: What makes you love the collector car that no one else does?

Post by Burger in Spokane » Sat Oct 23, 2021 11:34 pm

I feel the same way about weirdos loving unlovable cars. I may think they
are nuts, but gotta smile over the fact that they aren't another brain dead
clone doing the red Corvette worship thing. To that end, I really don't have
much use for ANY Ford or Chevy, myself. I make an exception for the iconic
"Grapes of Wrath" TT flatbed. Love that so many others DO like T's, as it makes
the aftermarket support strong. But if I really had my druthers, I'd rather have
a period cut down Twin Six Packard truck or something similar. But the ease
and minimal expense it takes to own a TT will keep me in one. My interest
began with playing in a well preserved barn relic example as a kid. My other
old cars are a 58 DeSoto, and a 58 Plymouth. Both arrived at after years of
playing with finned cars as about as good as cars got during that period. My
other oldie is a 66 Coronet. The first new car I remember being unloaded off
the trucks at a dealership. I have owned a LOT of old cars over the years. I
can find something to like about almost any pre-70 American car, but these are
my favorites for nostalgic reasons and styling/engineering. And of all of them,
the sputtering old TT truck is the one I enjoy driving and working on the most.
It puts smiles on faces everywhere we go.
More people are doing it today than ever before !

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Re: What makes you love the collector car that no one else does?

Post by CudaMan » Sun Oct 24, 2021 8:15 am

There are lots of cars that I'm glad SOMEONE has an interest in keeping and restoring, so that I can see them at car shows even though I have no interest in ever owning them. :)
Mark Strange
Hillsboro, MO
1924 Cut-off Touring (now a pickup)


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Re: What makes you love the collector car that no one else does?

Post by TXGOAT2 » Sun Oct 24, 2021 10:09 am

I'd be happy to own and drive a '62 Chevrolet Biscayne pillar coupe with a 261 six and 3 speed overdrive. I would want the deluxe heater and the pushbutton AM radio, of course, and I might consider splurging on the nifty rear deck speaker option with fader control . I believe they offered an off-white color that looked good on plain Jane cars. Steel wheels, dog dish hubcaps. To avoid sticking to the vinyl police car seats, I'd keep a set of Kool Kushions in the car.


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Re: What makes you love the collector car that no one else does?

Post by Norman Kling » Sun Oct 24, 2021 11:24 am

I owned two Dodge Dart slant 6 cars. Both were 1967. I thought of them as the "Modern Model A" They were economical to operate. However, the only ones which became collector cars were the V8's.
Norm

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Re: What makes you love the collector car that no one else does?

Post by Ruxstel24 » Sun Oct 24, 2021 11:52 am

Possession is often a good start. ;)


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Re: What makes you love the collector car that no one else does?

Post by TXGOAT2 » Sun Oct 24, 2021 12:31 pm

But... If nobody loves them, are they collector cars? Somewhere, someone is clay-barring a Pontiac Aztec... I wouldn't mind having a '69 Dodge dart Swinger with a slant 6 and a four speed... I believe a number of the slant 6s were aluminum, and some slant 6s had up to around 270 CID. They're very tough, regardless of having a 4 main crankshaft, and they have a 12 port head.

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Re: What makes you love the collector car that no one else does?

Post by Mark Nunn » Sun Oct 24, 2021 5:03 pm

You will always find someone who will love an oddball collector car. This is my 17 year-old niece with her '51 Packard. She loves her car and drives it a lot. You can tell it gets a lot of use by the gravel road dust on it. She drives it to school quite often.
FB_IMG_1634747596453.jpg


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Re: What makes you love the collector car that no one else does?

Post by Burger in Spokane » Sun Oct 24, 2021 6:36 pm

Pat's mention of the stripper 62 Biscayne is similar to the 58 Plaza
that took me 40 years to find. Back in the 1970's, I was more into
finned Buicks than Mopars, and had found a flawless turquoise interior
in a 60 Invicta at Ray's Auto Wrecking. Ray stacked his car as deep
as five high, and at the bottom of a stack, next to the Invicta I was
parting, was a very sad little grocery-gitter 58 Plaza sedan in a mono-
-tone Buzzard Puke Green, with body color wheels, dog dish hubcaps.
and blackwall tires.

Back in those days, no one wanted strippers. Those were for parts
for the upmodel cars with all the chrome slathered on. But this car
had so much charm, it caught my eye, and haunted my penchant for
chasing the cars that nobody else likes.

I was sitting in a Forward Operating Base in AFG one night when I got
an email from a friend in Nova Scotia, telling me that the car I was
looking for was just listed on eBay out of Arizona. I made a few contacts
and purchased the car. It was exactly what I had passed over hundreds
of fancier examples for ....

1958 bottom-of-the-line Plaza 4 door sedan, monotone Buzzard Puke
Green, body colored wheels and dog dishies, no radio, no antenna, no
exterior mirrors .... all the essential elements I wanted. What was
weird about this car was the buyer opted for the el cheapo car, then
loaded it up with driver comfort goodies, like a 4bbl 318, Torqueflite
auto, power steering and brakes, and the deluxe cloth interior. They
even added AC ! So, I got all the ugly of a Forest Service fleet car that
I wanted, but will not suffer the typical driver comfort shortcomings of
a stripper.

While everyone else wants the red and white Christine lookalike clone,
with the sexy roofline, trim, and go-fast under the hood, I will be the
guy with the weird ugly one that everyone wants to chop up for parts,
and scratch their heads, thinking "What kind of idiot would restore a POS
like that ?" :lol:
More people are doing it today than ever before !


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Re: What makes you love the collector car that no one else does?

Post by TXGOAT2 » Sun Oct 24, 2021 7:59 pm

When we were kids, we didn't look twice at the '58 Del Rey Chevy coupe, or those mid 50s Plymouth taxi cab cars with no chrome around the windshield. The Texas Highway Department used to run a fleet of black stripper Plymouths and Dodges. Fleet specials, no frou fou, with a neat little pickup box where the trunk should have been. They likely had the police/export chassis. I'd love to find one of those things today. Not that I wouldn't like a loaded chrome barge, but the base models, ,especially in a 2 door or coupe, or even a 2 door wagon, look pretty good these days. They're easy to paint and they're typically lighter than the fancier cars. A '54 Ford ranch wagon 2 door wagon with a 239 OHV V8, overdrive, and a good radio would make a nice vehicle...
Last edited by TXGOAT2 on Sun Oct 24, 2021 8:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: What makes you love the collector car that no one else does?

Post by Mopar_man » Sun Oct 24, 2021 8:01 pm

I love seeing oddball cars at shows. When I show up in my Imperial people usually say "What is that?"
IMG_3448.jpeg

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Re: What makes you love the collector car that no one else does?

Post by Tadpole » Mon Oct 25, 2021 8:34 am

I bought a '58 Edsel Ranger 2 door stick shift when I was 15 way back in 2014, the man I bought it from said he didn't want to sell it to me because I would get made fun of at school. However the car seems to have outlived most of its bad publicity, I drove it to high school and then college for 7 years and most people didn't bat an eye. I have put 13,000 miles on it and it's going strong. I always admired Edsel Ford and the story of the Edsel car is a wild, complicated story a lot of people like to simplify. I feel blessed to have this one, it's been a lot of fun.
Attachments
Edsel 12.jpg
Edsel 11.jpg


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Re: What makes you love the collector car that no one else does?

Post by Norman Kling » Mon Oct 25, 2021 9:05 am

I always liked the look of the Edsel. It was actually a very good and advanced car, however, the time it came out, people were going for smaller more economical cars such as Volkswagen Beetles and Morris Minors and DKW Autounion etc.
I liked a 55 T Bird and at the time I had a $50 used Model A. I thought I'd wait until the T Bird got down to $50, then I would buy one. I'm still waiting! :lol:
Norm


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Re: What makes you love the collector car that no one else does?

Post by TXGOAT2 » Mon Oct 25, 2021 9:48 am

Changing public taste and a steel strike got the Edsel off to a bad start. If you line up all the major brand '58 cars and compare styling, the Edsel does not look at all out of place to me. I think build quality was a problem across the industry about that time, probably due in part to model year styling changes being carried to excess. The 1959 GM lineup was at least as extreme as the Edsel as far as styling. I'd say it was more so. Chrysler built some really radical looking cars in the early 60's, too.


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Re: What makes you love the collector car that no one else does?

Post by tdump » Thu Feb 24, 2022 2:26 pm

There was a car I had to drive when I was working my first job.
A 1980 Chevy Citation. 4 door,hatchback, looked like a beige turtle. It had a tiny v6 in it.That would NOT blowup. I tried sad to say as I hated that da-- little car.Tough as nails, never broke down,got good mileage but was BUTT ugly.
But now that I am a grey haired,fat old geezer,I would probably buy 1 if 1 came along cheap enough and drive it without a second thought,Because of it's reliability. Collectable? hardly, BUT people collect everything nowadays.
If you can't help em, don't hinder em'


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Re: What makes you love the collector car that no one else does?

Post by Dallas Landers » Thu Feb 24, 2022 2:49 pm

People collect Ford pinto's, Citation is just as collectable. Go for it Mack!


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Re: What makes you love the collector car that no one else does?

Post by Norman Kling » Thu Feb 24, 2022 4:40 pm

A "I think" very strange looking car was the 1949 Nash Ambassador. It looked like an inverted bathtub.
Norm


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Re: What makes you love the collector car that no one else does?

Post by TXGOAT2 » Thu Feb 24, 2022 6:01 pm

For all the jokes about the Edsel front end styling, If you look at Pontiac's offerings from about 1961 -67, they could almost be evolutions of the '58 Edsel look. Pontiac couldn't build them fast enough, and they still look good.


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Re: What makes you love the collector car that no one else does?

Post by Rich P. Bingham » Thu Feb 24, 2022 6:57 pm

Interesting to me, all marques fall in a narrow range of similarity from decade to decade. There's a pattern to most folks' infatuation with a specific automobile - generally the swain of tender years with a freshly minted driver's license falls in desperate unrequited love with the sleekest, fastest and hence unattainable example of the species at that point in his life, and several decades later, having attained financial security and some liesure time, finally consummates the romance. Others follow a similar odyssey to return their automotive yearnings to the touchstone of a happy childhood.

The "outliers" in the hobby inexplicably set their sights (rather like the irrepressible Mr. Toad of "Wind in the Willows" fame) on a particular example of the automotive past without prior experience or the peer pressure of popular opinion to influence their attachment. I'm one of these. I can't explain my attachment to the Model T Ford, which passed from the contemporary scene before I was born. My interest in "cars" abruptly ends with the 1934 models, a year in which I don't believe any manufacturers made an ugly car. It's all downhill from there for me, and the postwar ubiquity of the envelope body assured there will never again be a "horseless carriage" that offers even a scintilla of aesthetic grace.

To anyone who read to the end of this screed, thank you for your patience !
Get a horse !


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Re: What makes you love the collector car that no one else does?

Post by Norman Kling » Thu Feb 24, 2022 9:38 pm

Interestingly, during the 1940's and 1950's there was less difference between the various brands sold by some manufacturers than there is between the cars under the same brand name. I had a 1948 Pontiac which had a good body, but I also had a 1948 Oldsmobile. The Olds had a very bad body, but ran good. The Pontiac had a good body, but the engine was shot. Both were flat head 6 cylinders. I put the Olds engine and transmission in the Pontiac and only thing I remember doing was drilling a new hole in the frame to bolt the rear motor mount. The bolts were spaced a bit differently. It fit right in and ran fine.
Same thing with the late 1930s Dodge and Plymouth. They were almost the same. And the De Soto had a bit larger engine but was built similarly. Also the Ford and Mercury were almost the same. Mechanically they were quite similar. Maybe a little more horsepower. The bodies were also similar, but the Dodge, Oldsmobile, and Mercury were a bit more deluxe bodies.
Norm


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Re: What makes you love the collector car that no one else does?

Post by TXGOAT2 » Sat Feb 26, 2022 9:37 am

Cheverolets had OHV sixes and torque tube drive. Buicks had straight eights with torque tube drive. Pontiac and Oldsmobiles offered excellent L-head sixes and eights with Hotchiss drive. These engines had full pressure lubrication and forged steel crankshafts, among other refinements. Front suspensions differed a lot among the GM family. Chevrolet never got the excellent single coupling Hydramatic, but Olds got it first and Cadillac and Pontiac soon after. Buick never got it, which is a shame. Mercury had a Ford V8 with longer stroke, longer wheelbase, and I believe the bodies were probably Lincoln-based. Chrysler had a similar hierarchy, with Plymouth at the low end, then Dodge, Desoto, and Chrysler at the top. I've seen some post-war Pontiac Torpedos with the Chevrolet Torpedo body, and others with the larger Pontiac/Olds body. All in all, they were more different than alike under the skin. As you moved up-market, the cars had more features available and better quality upholstery, radios, heaters, etc. That began to break down in the 1970s. My aunt drove up one day in a new mid-70's Olds Cutlass. It had what was obviously a Chevrolet 250 six under the hood. They even painted it Chevrolet orange. Mid 1950s GMC pickups could be had with Pontiac V8s and Hydramatic transmissions. Buicks always looked like Buicks, and had Buick characteristics. Chevrolets looks like baby Cadillacs. Pontiacs could be identified a mile away, as could Olds and Cadillac cars. Today, I can walk the Wal Mart parking lot and see 20 "crossovers" in one of 2 colors and of various makes that all look alike except for the badge on the bulbous rump. Each one is driven by a stout young woman with a "cell" and a huge gob/blob of hair atop her head.


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Re: What makes you love the collector car that no one else does?

Post by Jerry VanOoteghem » Mon Feb 28, 2022 4:01 pm

Joseph "Pep",

What a wonderful and well written story. Thanks!

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Re: What makes you love the collector car that no one else does?

Post by ironhorse » Sat Mar 05, 2022 2:10 pm

1946 Plymouth P-15 Coupe Original upholstery (itches when you sit on it wearing shorts) push button A.M. radio that takes 30-45 seconds to warm up and produce sound 218 six(flat head) and 4-60 a/c three speed on the tree makes me think I am a kid again
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