Beautiful Cars Appreciation Thread

[A Horse With No Name]

"Before" picture...

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[A Horse With No Name]

Another interesting 70's Derby car...

Blurry pic, but cool Derby car paint scheme....70's theme for today....

[A Horse With No Name]

The side of this derby car reminds me of the side of a freight train....I see art everywhere I look. 

 

After picture....

[A Horse With No Name]

This model of a Buick demolition derby car was built by one of my Autocross friends, Sean...

derby.avif

Another plastic model, well done...

Neat chasis weathering on this model...

[A Horse With No Name]

Another interesting model...

This model is also well done. 

[A Horse With No Name]

Old Plymouth race car in a junkyard...

Imperial before conversion into a derby car....too bad many of these cars are not financially worth saving. 

[A Horse With No Name]

Back to our theme of Green and old...

[oldshurst442]

 

 

 

Edited November 29, 2024 by oldshurst442

[oldshurst442]

 

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[oldshurst442]

[ccap41]

14 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

You had me until pictures of a modern Camaro... hahaha

[oldshurst442]

3 hours ago, ccap41 said:

You had me until pictures of a modern Camaro... hahaha

 

 

I didnt really have a choice to use a modern Camaro. I didnt want to either but I wanted to do a 2024 version of Simon and Simon. 

I know I know...  I could have cheated...

 

The 2017 ZL1 would be the nicest of ALL mdern Camaros from the 5th and 6th gens.  But I wanted to give the Camaro one last goodbye so I used it to coincide with a modern take of how a current Simon and Simon show would feature. 

 

 

 

[oldshurst442]

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[A Horse With No Name]

 

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[G. David Felt]

@oldshurst442 Thank you for the laugh, I needed it today. Much appreciated the post you did.

[trinacriabob]

I think I'm dreaming ... this vehicle would be the oldest of my handful of favorite "blast from the past" cars.

A Cutlass Salon coupe in perfect condition, the first year I liked the colonnade Cutlass (and it's last year, of 3, with round headlamps in the colonnade), those huge bucket seats, and, oddly, A/C is there, but with manual windows.  It featured the new but not as popular 260 (4.3L) V8.  It also featured the light enamel blue they didn't repeat.  If the exhaust system is tight, this car will be whisper quiet.

1975 Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon (Numbers Matching Drivetrain) for sale: photos, technical specifications, description

See anything odd?  Come on.  Quick.

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It has Buick rally wheels instead of Oldsmobile rally wheels.

* sigh ... I wonder what time frame this ad goes back to *

[oldshurst442]

 

 

 

[trinacriabob]

I'm cleaning up stuff on my computer, figuring what to keep and what to throw out.

I see this and what a wow this is to me.  It's staying.  I once had the brochure.  I couldn't believe the color choices, interior schemes, and stand-alone options they would once offer.

This was what a great America looked like ... look at how dignified the presentation is, too ... things were comparatively benign, people could afford their cars and the roofs over their heads, there was no war that was raging in modern world countries that I can point to, and one of the biggest thorns in people's sides was a newly introduced catalytic converter.  There is no "again" button.

A lady in our neighborhood had one of these.  This color was Persimmon metallic.  Hers had the while vinyl landau roof.  I think it had the Olds rally wheels.  I may ramble, but I could take you on a tour of this car, or a similar one, in no more than 10 minutes, unlike that niche dealership guy in SW Florida whose YouTubes last 30 to 40 minutes.

I once looked at its interior from the windows.  (This hasn't changed.)  She had the electric options, but the steering wheel didn't tilt.  She had a bench seat with the armrest.  Here you see the swivel bucket seats with the reversible cushions.

And, yes, it's a colonnade.  And, with that, I bid @balthazar a happy birthday. 

If only someone could drop a mint colonnade of my choice into my birthday stocking. 

[trinacriabob]

This cherry one is in "cherry" condition, it seems.  There are some 45 photos.  It's somewhere in Massachusetts.  What a boulevardier.  What a beauty.

https://www.edmunds.com/chevrolet/caprice/1995/vin/1G1BL52W1SR117012/?radius=6000

It seems like people are taking to these Caprice Classics posthumously, given the prices on cleaner ones with lower miles.  

This is a base model, given the upholstery, and 200 hp indicates the 4.3 L V8, which is enough to pull this car around and, in 4th gear, return very good highway mileage.  

[Robert Hall]

On 12/23/2024 at 5:39 PM, oldshurst442 said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like those JGC SRTs/Trackhawks...still prefer the WK2 styling to the WL.

On 1/17/2025 at 1:44 AM, trinacriabob said:

This cherry one is in "cherry" condition, it seems.  There are some 45 photos.  It's somewhere in Massachusetts.  What a boulevardier.  What a beauty.

https://www.edmunds.com/chevrolet/caprice/1995/vin/1G1BL52W1SR117012/?radius=6000

It seems like people are taking to these Caprice Classics posthumously, given the prices on cleaner ones with lower miles.  

This is a base model, given the upholstery, and 200 hp indicates the 4.3 L V8, which is enough to pull this car around and, in 4th gear, return very good highway mileage.  

Those are growing on me, rarely ever see them.  I liked the Impala SS versions in burgundy.  Though for Caprices, I prefer the previous generation boxy ones up through '86 ('87 went to the bland composite headlights).  

 

[trinacriabob]

7 hours ago, Robert Hall said:

I like those JGC SRTs/Trackhawks...still prefer the WK2 styling to the WL.

Those are growing on me, rarely ever see them.  I liked the Impala SS versions in burgundy.  Though for Caprices, I prefer the previous generation boxy ones up through '86 ('87 went to the bland composite headlights).  

I do remember the composite lamps.  Ditto for '87 MC and Cutlass Supreme, at the very least. 

From '85 on, for a few years, power for these Chevy full-sizes could be had from a TBI 4.3 Vortec V6, which proved to be indestructible in Astro vans.  After having gotten a crappy 5.0 V8 in a "toy" Camaro, a 5.0 is not to my liking unless Olds is the manufacturer ... where  the debored engine's quality is comparable to that of the Rocket 350 V8.

As for burgundy, the uptown interiors in that color on the last of the notchback Caprice-Impala sedans is something to behold, if malaise sort of excites you ... rather than give you malaise.

Cloth version

Leather version

I appreciate bigger and boxier bucket seats from the last-gen MC and the Buick Verano, but I love what's up above.

[Robert Hall]

2 hours ago, trinacriabob said:

I do remember the composite lamps.  Ditto for '87 MC and Cutlass Supreme, at the very least. 

From '85 on, for a few years, power for these Chevy full-sizes could be had from a TBI 4.3 Vortec V6, which proved to be indestructible in Astro vans.  After having gotten a crappy 5.0 V8 in a "toy" Camaro, a 5.0 is not to my liking unless Olds is the manufacturer ... where  the debored engine's quality is comparable to that of the Rocket 350 V8.

As for burgundy, the uptown interiors in that color on the last of the notchback Caprice-Impala sedans is something to behold, if malaise sort of excites you ... rather than give you malaise.

Cloth version

Leather version

I appreciate bigger and boxier bucket seats from the last-gen MC and the Buick Verano, but I love what's up above.

I love the burgundy interiors, and the dark blue ones.. those 80s seats were quite comfortable IIRC...haven't ridden in one in ages.

This '87 Caddy Fleetwood Brougham interior looks like a great place to sit for a road trip...

 

 

'96 Brougham looks comfortable also.. 

 

Though I'm happy w/ my '19..though the seats aren't as wide as the oldies..

Edited January 20 by Robert Hall

[oldshurst442]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[G. David Felt]

@oldshurst442 Love those old SUVs, but I actually have come to really like the Yukon GT for me in Maroon. I know we will never see a full size 2 door SUV again, but these were AWESOME!!!

[oldshurst442]

 

 

 

 

[oldshurst442]

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a64320707/2025-chevy-corvette-c8-lingefelter-v8-engine/

 

 

 

 

 

[oldshurst442]

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[trinacriabob]

I'm always window shopping for a colonnade and, while I didn't find one, I found this photo and, since I scrutinize the colonnades, some things immediately jumped out.

For one, the magenta color is overpowering.  Not a good look.

Moving along, the front grille is the big difference.  The headlamps are canted, hence the same.  The shovelnose grille, which did look good and modernized the anemic '78 through '80 coupe models is not shown.  Instead, there's a grille that's more related to an 88 or 98, but it's made a little "sportier" by making it more compact and also leaning it back slightly.  Without the shovelnose, the bumper is a traditional chromed one.  This is meant to be an '82, and the "cubes" remain. Personally, I think it looks great.

The second is the opera window.  This doesn't show the curve at the bottom rear corner.  In this manner, it looks much like the Regal colonnade coupes of the same years.  I don't have an opinion.  The curved one was specific to the Cutlass Supreme.

We can't see the taillamps, but notice that the don't go all the way up, suggesting that this design may have had horizontal ones.  But we can't see what they did with it.

I don't know what to say.  I'm just sharing this.  However, I do like this grille treatment!

[Drew Dowdell]

25 minutes ago, trinacriabob said:

I'm always window shopping for a colonnade and, while I didn't find one, I found this photo and, since I scrutinize the colonnades, some things immediately jumped out.

For one, the magenta color is overpowering.  Not a good look.

Moving along, the front grille is the big difference.  The headlamps are canted, hence the same.  The shovelnose grille, which did look good and modernized the anemic '78 through '80 coupe models is not shown.  Instead, there's a grille that's more related to an 88 or 98, but it's made a little "sportier" by making it more compact and also leaning it back slightly.  Without the shovelnose, the bumper is a traditional chromed one.  This is meant to be an '82, and the "cubes" remain. Personally, I think it looks great.

The second is the opera window.  This doesn't show the curve at the bottom rear corner.  In this manner, it looks much like the Regal colonnade coupes of the same years.  I don't have an opinion.  The curved one was specific to the Cutlass Supreme.

We can't see the taillamps, but notice that the don't go all the way up, suggesting that this design may have had horizontal ones.  But we can't see what they did with it.

I don't know what to say.  I'm just sharing this.  However, I do like this grille treatment!

I can't tell if this is AI generated (I suspect it is because of the way the logos are) or if it's a bad illustration.  It looks like a bad mish-mash of a Regal and Cutlass and Grand Prix.   That opera window you mention is from the GP. The front clip looks like a Regal shell with someone's imagination of a Cutlass insert, but they got mixed up and used an 88 instead. The tail lights are horizonal and wrap around slightly like a Regal.  The back glass is too sloped to be any of them and looks more like 77/78 B-Body coupe.  The rear side reflector, when so equipped, would always be red.

[trinacriabob]

7 hours ago, Drew Dowdell said:

I can't tell if this is AI generated (I suspect it is because of the way the logos are) or if it's a bad illustration.  It looks like a bad mish-mash of a Regal and Cutlass and Grand Prix.   That opera window you mention is from the GP. The front clip looks like a Regal shell with someone's imagination of a Cutlass insert, but they got mixed up and used an 88 instead. The tail lights are horizonal and wrap around slightly like a Regal.  The back glass is too sloped to be any of them and looks more like 77/78 B-Body coupe.  The rear side reflector, when so equipped, would always be red.

As for the rear taillamps, yes, more Regal.

As for the opera window, the one on GP angles upward slightly as it goes rearward, so maybe a mix of GP and Regal, which has the most rectangular of all these GM intermediates.

As for the front, it's something worth tinkering with.  It also comes down to space.  Cutlass Supreme/Salon returned to more separated grilles in '87 for its swan song.  I see where you get Regal.  An early '80s Regal coupe's headlights leaned back slightly.  Their front one piece Parthenon-like grille also did so, and also sitting a hair forward.  They had a chrome front bumper. 

If they toyed with the geometries on this one, including the cubes, made the grilles narrower, taller, and leaned them back a minute amount, in addition to working on the emblem and/or hood ornament, this could have turned out interesting, and even appealing.  These don't have the horizontal chrome bar across like at the top of Regal's "Parthenon," so they come off as cleaner.  

There is some sloppiness in the way things are put together, including the lack of side lights up front, too.

Now, in this year, there was Calais instead of Salon, but thicker bucket seats with more recessed seating and back insets would have been sweet.  It goes without saying that the Brougham needed to stay, too.

America had a love affair with this car for a long time and my family was smitten twice.

[G. David Felt]

Wish GM would do concepts and offer a car like the Genesis concepts that I find to be lovely. Way better looking than pretty much any current car out there.