balthazar

Great find, tho 1st gen GPs are not rare. I own a '64 and tho it's in long-term storage, I love this model dearly. Correct on the engine: either the Trophy 389 or 421, tho 98% were seemingly 389s. Great, great motor- you'll have no problems with it, there's loads of aftermarket support & parts (tho not on the order of -say- Chevy), and it's a strong mill. No way in hell would I go thru the bother of an R&R for an anonymous SB FI, for more reasons than merely that the 389 is a vey good motor. No PowerGlide in f/S Pontiacs of this era- trans options were 3-spd manual, HD 3-spd manual, 4-spd manual or the 3-spd Roto-HydraMatic automatic. That trans has it's detractors, but I drove a RHM '64 Cat daily for 2+ years and adjusted correct (easily via linkage), it performs well (but differently). Don't hold you breath for a manula trans tho, you're only looking at a 5% installation rate. Another issue in swapping for a non-Pontiac motor is that if you wish to go with an automatic, a THM-400 will not fit without 'persuasion' on the trans tunnel. How this would affect the console's fit, I don't know. I don't have the relative sizes of a -say- 700R4 handy- but bear in mind the performance level/driving style vs. trans capabilities. I wanted an OD trans for my '59 but the only one that'll handle the power/traction is $5K (4L80E). Manuals would be no problem, but it is not cheap to locate the complete circa-'64 clutch pedal assembly. I have all the codes and factory info for big Pontiacs of the '60s- let me know whatever numbers you want decoded. I'm interested in this project- my files are at your disposal. Describe the headlights/taillights and I can ID the year.... or of course you could google '63s and '64s- the differences are clear.

There's a railroad museum not too far from me- been there once. A 1 mile walk to see 8 miles of layout. They have a running engine outside with some track (wasn't open when I was there and I don't recall the engine config.) www.northlandz.com I used to model railroad and it still appeals to me, but I don't have the time for it anymore.

>>"I've read that the average bike sold in Wal Mart/Target/Toys-R-Us or any other department store is typically ridden 75 miles before it is junked. "<< I have an '80s Ross 10-speed; it got a speedo/odo some years after it was new- currently reads 516 miles and there's not a single thing wrong with it.

Umm wow; a 3-, 5- and 7-series. How strikingly original. Pic is really small, but looks like 3 different brands from up here. 'British'? yeah; right. That's some awfully squiggly English on the background banner. Wonder if the famous MG reliability & quality is going to be 'authentic', too.

Harley- what the hell have you been up to lately, or have I just been moving in different threads than you? Sixty- that '77 nissan is a loaded diaper. Could be a circa '70 intermediate from AMC. I love the SC/Ramblers- I've seen a few over the years- the American is a nice little car to start with.

Sixty8- the father of the guy who we talked to about the Hurrican Floyd B-59 has a sweet '59 Imperial Crown 2-dr hardtop. Another guy I sold a car to a while back owns a '60 300-F 2-dr hardtop with both long- and short-tube Ram Induction set-ups. Burgandy with a white 4-bucket interior. I told him he needed to sell it to me, but he just laughed and said he's going to be buried in it.

My brother has a New Holland skid steer and it has a sticker with a graphic along the lines of what's shown above (the bucket coming down on a bent-up operator), but the warning is 'AVOID DEATH'. I always thought a more fitting graphic would show a guy hiding around a corner from a hooded figure with a scythe.

I have trouble with slogans that are grammatically incorrect. Which "Drive Beautiful" is insurmountably for me.

Hydraulic sounds appealing IMO- properly engineered it's a very repeatable and controllable science, but the complexity & weight involved is a tremendous penalty. I could see the theoretical need for Pneumatic activation in the realm of ultra high RPMs if mechanical means are insufficient (they would be in this case) and it sounds like it should entail a much smaller weight penalty, but I still question the demonstratable advantages in a typical 'street' engine that merely sees 6000-7000 RPM.

Can't you just hear the aristocratic snobs squirming and poo-pooing? The previous automobile record-holder (not thru e-Bay) was $11 million for a bugatti. This auction was for a Dodge. You gotta love it. yee-haw!

Nice "2-door sedan deVille"! Need an extra set of wire caps- they're yours for shipping cost. I have a soft spot for the interiors of these- my grandfather had a '78 SDV and my other grandfather had a '76 Seville. Have to say the 'banana yellow' would be a deal-breaker for me. One of the last (until then) great Cadillac motors, tho. Question- why another after you already had & sold one? Or was Big Red XP's? BTW: I saw your grey Maxi-Pad... I had no idea 'tolerance' could be surpasssed to the point of "love affair".

>>"is it just me or isn't the 1961 DeSoto flattering the '59 Buick by immitation? ...I think more so than any other one single car it borrowed many styling features & themes"<< Well, the late '50s were years of great experimentation with headlights, what with quads only becoming legal in '57 in some states. Lincoln had canted quads '58-60, Chysler had them '61-62 and DeSoto in '61. The B-59 was the ONLY canted headlight GM vehicle. Nash had stacked quads in '57. But if you've ever seen some of the Pontiac sketches for the '59s; hoo-whee! Did DeSoto (in turn after Chrysler) ape Buick? I have no inside info. The lead times for this era were still about 2 years between finished clays & the dealer floor. The GM '59s were started in the fall of '56... the infamous 'course-change' was in March '57 and production jobs hit the dealer floor in Sept '58... that's 1.5 years there, but to be accurate- you'd have to go back to -conservatively- Dec '56... that's 21 months. Assuming ChryCo had similar lead times: 21 months prior to the Sept 1960 '61 DeSoto unveiling would be oh waitaminnit: Dec '58... enough time to 'get inspired' by the '59 Buick. Hmmmm......... I still tend to think it was moreso just the brief fashion of the time, tho Exner was in mid-flight over the shark by '60. The one car from this era that always DID make me think 'rip-off' was the '60 Edsel (of the '59 Pontiac). I love the '61 DeSoto- stumbled onto a 2-dr hardtop (911 built) maybe 20 years back, black w/ a red interior, but it wasn't in the cards for me. Haven't seen one since.

Are we sure this is the same guy? This was in the opinion section, and says neil writes 'Rumbleseat' for 'Highway 1'. I read the whole article... there were circumstances that pushed the decision, but the opening still comes off distasteful, callous & flippant.

>>"...a few of the Japan Inc defenders have said that Toyota's recent drop in quality is probably because more of their parts are American-sourced."<< Good- perhaps it'll snowball and a large-scale rejection of American-assembled toyotas will occur, hopefully cumulating in plant closures. Hey, I can daydream.

Real nice collage, S8, tho I have to point out you snuck a 4-dr sedan in there: Fleetwood Broughams went to a longer wheelbase for '64 (133") and became sedans from then on. I am going to assume it was because of structural reasons, but I have no evidence either way.

We would love it. How the doors open is immaterial; in fact, make all 4 sliders! What concept is this tho, I don't recall it. ...EDIT: ahh: Opel. It's nice, tho there are strong other-make elements to my eye (Lexus rear quarter line, mercedes-esque frontal elements). Also never been fond of the 'no rear door handles- look! it's a coupe' charade.

Nah- deck's far too long. Can't tell what it is from that far, tho.

toyota = unbiased: haha.

yea- but was it a 'piece of junk' at year 1... and what will the new one be like at year 15? Remember: apples-to-apples...

Not sure major appliances are cheaper overall. Sure there are more '3rd-world' units, but the average price must be notably higher- you can spend near $6K for a fridge now! There are far more 'hi-tech = hi-tag' units, and with that hi-tag should come increased longevity... but it sure doesn't look that way. I also have no reason to suspect that appliances have 'increased daily usage'- if anything, claimed 'improvements' in energy efficiency would reduce the run time for refridgerators, water heaters & washing machines, if anything.

Contrary to the firm-held belief from the New=powned! Club that 'everything is getting better because we've been told so'.... the National Association of Home Builders has released another survey showing the life expectancy of major home appliances. The last time this survey was compiled was 1993. As competition and the cost of doing business continually creeps upwards with no end in sight, undoubtedly all avenues of 'bringing home the bacon' are being discussed, including that old bugaboo; planned obsolescence. Whether that alone, or some combination of that, corner-cutting and substandard quality control from 3rd world assemblers is involved (and I supposed increased complexity must be acknowledged here, too, but that smacks loudly of an excuse)- most major appliances have notably shorter lifespan expectations than they did a short dozen years ago: Product life : 1993 / 2006 trash compactor : 10 / 6 refridgerator : 17 / 13 gas range : 19 / 15 microwave : 11 / 9 dishwasher : 10 / 9 washer : 13 / 10 dryer : 14 / 13 electric water heater : 14 / 11 gas water heater : 13 / 10 My '92 gas water heater took a dump at year 11.... washer & dryer both kicked at year 13. I suppose I should start shopping for a fridge (coming up on 15) and the 15-yr old dishwasher is already peeing on the floor with every cycle, plus it makes noises like those old haunted house records. On our 3rd TV since '92. I thought 'technology' was supposed to make things "better" ?? I think about this occasionally when I'm standing for a short eternity at the bank or the cashier in the supermarket and the terminals are down.... and remembering when they weren't computerized and I never had to stand there feeling like an idiot wasting his life trapped in the mundane. Do you think someday this Pavlovian consumerism will become unfashionable and we'll ever be able to think for ourselves again?

It certainly could be converted, and appear 'factory', but it would cost far more than a 'couple of hundred'.

192x Ford Model T, channeled T-bucket, no motor, for sale. 1954 Cadillac Coupe deVille, white, solid project car, on flatbed. 1958 Chevy Corvette, blue, perfect, cruisin' topless. 1959 Cadillac deVille convertible, black, perfect, cruisin top-up. 1962 Ford Galaxie 500 convertible, red, parked, for sale.

>>"I remeber back at Conners stamping (Caddilac) when you had to drive the cars off the line we would break torque across the parking lot into the semi trailors."<< Well, for the vast majority of Cadillac's history (up thru the 425?), there never was a recommended break-in interval for Cadillacs, due to very high precision manufacturing and high nickel-content iron used. Start 'er up and do 130. The '72 Coupe deVille that placed 2nd in the Cannonball Run that year was taken straight off the dealership floor. All other divisions had specific break-in recommendations as I'm sure most other makes did, too.

Nope. Also fairly certain it would earn you a ticket today. Better fall back before the dead Buick drops into L, too.