Chrysler 300 K - An Arse for Every Seat

Old cars in great shape can be expensive but $28,000 for a Chrysler 300 K? That, friend, is all the money in the world. I can't imagine who in their right mind would pay that kind of money for this thing.  For crying out loud, man, it isn't even a convertible!  Well, as we say in the car biz, "there's an arse for every seat". Please don't attempt to school me on the virtues of this car. C'mon, now. At the end of the day, it's nothing more than big Plymouth.

The Chrysler 300 "letter series" were high-performance luxury cars built in very limited numbers by Chrysler from 1955–1965. Each year's model used a new letter of the alphabet as a suffix (skipping "i"), reaching 300L by 1965. Many consider these cars to be the muscle car's ancestor though much more expensive and exclusive.

 

What would I buy in 1964, my birth year incidentally, if I was of the means to purchase something new and expensive? I can almost certainly tell you it would not be this car. Although it checks boxes on many things I hold near and dear, like a big V8, rear wheel drive, hardtop, and a being coupe for starters, I just think this car too darn ugly to be taken seriously. Allow me to digress for a second...why is it on a lot of older cars the wheels never line up in side the fenders? Look at that. It's like car's wheel base is wrong for it. Weird.

 

 

The weirdness outside flows inside too. A square steering wheel? Really? Chrysler had a round wheel too for columns that tilted. Our "loaded" 300 K apparently lacking the up and down column. Hope you're tall enough to see over this box seeing how you're probably going to sink to the floor pan on these fifty year old seats. This car also does not have a power seat.

 

 

Here's some good stuff; the optional, 360 horsepower, "Cross Ram" 413 Wedge V-8 with two four barrel carburetors. This beauty no doubt helping to push the asking price of the entire car up, over and above what any sane person would or should pay for it. Twenty Eight Thousand. Will that be cash or check?

 

 

Some of the 300's are quite handsome and indeed, some parts of this car are intriguing as well. Take this neat grill in front of that lusty 413. This works. Too bad just about everything else on the car does not.  

 

 

Appreciation of styling is as subjective as anything. The styling and proportions of the 300 K are odd, weird. Something is not quite right. It reminds me of the bizarre designs of American Motors cars of this period and that's not surprising seeing how much cross pollinating the big three did back then (today too) with designers and engineers.

 

More proof in the pudding that back in the 1960's, General Motors, at least stylistically, really had it going on.

 

 

 

 

1971 Ford Torino - The Money Pit

 

A wise managerial consultant once said, "Don't try to motivate people, hire motivated people." He didn't stop there. He also went on to say, with regards to old cars, "Don't buy a car that needs restoration, buy a car that's already restored".  His point being, with regards to cars, it will cost you much less in the long run to have someone else pay for all the restoration work than paying for it yourself. I don't think his quote about hiring motivated people needs any further clarification.
 

This somewhat interesting and at the same time bland, 1971 Ford Torino is for sale with an asking price of $5995. Sheesh. These days, even the cost of entry for a cheap car that needs a lot of work is expensive. And we're talking a Ford Torino here, it's not even a Mustang. Let's start this exercise saying you get this thing for $5000. Feeling good about your negotiating skills?  

 

 

Let's pop the hood. Tough to eyeball what that is in there but judging by the size of the block and those huge valve covers, that could be a "351". Or started life as such. That rusted, old, after market air cleaner, MSD ignition and other miscellaneous after market "go fast" parts tell me this car was "hot rodded" years ago. I'd restore this engine back to factory specs with a comprehensive rebuild. Figure $3500.

 

 

The body appears to be in good shape. The paint seems fresh. Someone saved you at least another $3000 in body work. Hope you like the color. These b-t-s rims have to go. Nice set of factory fresh NOS Ford rims will set you back a solid $2,000. That's probably including tires too. These tires are relatively cheap compared with today's low profile, super high performance monsters. How much we up to already?
 

 



These interior door panels are clean. You'll save around $500 not having to replace these. Just as well since these would be impossible to find. If you're curious, that says, "Brougham".

 

 

Things get interesting in here. The 1970 and 1971 Ford Torino is not exactly a "catalog car" like a Corvette, Camaro, Firebird and many other GM cars so period correct parts, particularly interior parts, will be hard to find. A good upholstery guy will run you for at least $2000 to repad and reskin these seats. And then they're not going to be "factory correct" either. Matters to me, might not matter to you. How much we out now?

 

 

Get rid of this. Don't argue. Just do it. $300 for a NOS (new old stock) steering wheel. Hope to god the wiring works for the horn. If not, add at least another 200 to rewire.

 

 

More evidence this car has been beaten to death. This shifter is after market since with bench seats the transmission shifter would have been on the steering column. If this car had a factory, floor mounted transmission shifter, the front seats would've been buckets and the shifter would've been housed in a console. If you can't do the work yourself, converting this car back to a column shift would set you back at least $2000. And what is with these mats? Look at all those wires hanging out of the dash too. You sure you want to do this? Fresh carpets will run you $750 installed.

 

 

Not only is this after market tach blocking your view of the speed-o-meter, it looks to me like it's not even going to work right. This car is not running, obviously. Or perhaps the engine seized at 7200 rpm? Yank all this cheap speed shop junk and rewire the whole car. Harnesses and labor are going to run $2500.

 

 

Saving grace is the body on this car looks good. Let's hope the frame is solid. This car is an Iowa car so you can't be too sure. We haven't discussed brakes, steering or suspension but judging by everything else, let's throw down at least another $3000.

We've crossed the $20,000 mark and we're still not done. If this car has air conditioning, it probably needs rebuilding at at least $2,500. And, sorry...I left out a transmission rebuild and the rear end too. At least another $2,500 right there.

 

 

 

My crude math skills have us coming in at around $27,000 all in to make this Ford Torino everything it could be. Compared to what new or gently used cars go for these days that might seem like money well spent but only if you're going to use this car as a daily driver. Which is a cool, but...with gas at $3.50 a gallon and that freshly rebuilt 351 getting maybe 11 mpg, I hope your commute is a short one. 

 

In the end, if you must have a this car or any car and you can't find one in better shape, carefully consider your return on investment. Unless you've got money to burn this car makes absolutely no sense. While it's tough to determine what this car would go for if it was in prime condition, it is safe to say that it wouldn't be selling for anywhere near 27 grand. At best, honestly, half that. At worst, a third. And at about $9,000, this car might make sense.

 

Remember, don't try to motivate people; hire motivated people.

 

 

1975 Pontiac Grand LeMans - Dazed and Confused

 

There are several automotive styling touches or details that I absolutely abhor. I'll stop at dropping the "H bomb" but know that I'm just being polite by not doing such. For starters, let's begin with the color green. I have never seen a car in green, regardless of the shade, that does a car any good. What's worse, green cars, especially those from the 1970's, tended to have matching interiors. While I might warm to a Kelly green, milky, sickly, pea soup vomit green, like on today's subject is the worst of the worst.



Secondly, fender skirts, especially on "smaller" cars. While these 1973-1977 GM "A body" colonnades certainly are not small, they are "smaller" than GM full size, "C" and "E bodies" of the same vintage. Fender skirts, the removable panels on the lower part of the rear fender or quarter panel, work to a some degree on full size cars giving them a somewhat streamlined look. The downside of them is increased visual bulk. And if you've ever had to change a flat and had to remove a rusted on skirt, like people who start scanning groceries before you've finished bagging, you want a special place down below for the design staff who came up with this design cue. I blame the design staff because no self respecting engineer would ever say, "hey, y'know...let's put fender skirts on it...".  

 

 

Another faux pas; white walls on "mag wheels", "mags" with white walls and "mags" on a "luxury car. No, please. Just don't do it. Fail. This car should have shiny aluminum wheel covers and not the legendary Pontiac aluminum rims. Black walls and raised white letter tires don't work either; like Crager rims on Cadillac. Again. Please, no. 

 

Finally, vinyl roofs or tops, especially landau or half vinyl tops like what our subject has. I get what vinyl tops where supposed to be; simulated convertible tops. The "pre" '73 A body hardtops could kind of get away with a vinyl top, but the '73-'77 colonnades? Draw your own conclusions. I've already drawn mine. For the record, I've removed vinyl tops from cars because I despise them so.

 

Finally, these big, not a design cue but federally mandated, "5 mph" bumpers. I remember seeing commercials for cars in the early '70's and being in awe of a car's ability to absorb amazing impacts because of the shock absorber protected bumpers and front fascias. Great. However, you would think that with the amount of time that designers and engineers would've had prior to 1973, they would've done a cleaner job of blending the bumpers into the overall design of the car. Some cars of the era do look better than this, especially the similar Grand Am but by and large, like on our Grand LeMans, fail.

 

The mid 1970's where a tough time for the American automobile industry. What with the perfect storm of government mandated safety and emissions regulations and the punch in the face of the first gas crisis, even mighty GM was sent reeling. Reeling around dazed and confused coming up with cars like the Pontiac Grand LeMans. 

 



 

 

Sunday Morning Trespasser

 

 

 

For weeks now we've been hearing rumblings that "The Old House" on Walker Road across from the golf course was going to be torn down.

 

 

Every time we'd drive by it and saw it still standing we'd wonder if the rumors of its demise were true or not. In some strange way, it's stay of execution was comforting, as if, by chance even our own demise wouldn't happen some day.

 

Then one day this week, we were jarred by the fact that the old house was gone. 

 

 

All that remained was the chimney...

 

and fireplace.

 

We know nothing about the home or why it was torn down. We know even less about who may have  been living there last. Best not investigate at the risk of spoiling any mystery.

 

 

The filter on this picture could make one believe that the "Grand Old Army of the Republic" had been through here recently. Mathew Brady's wagon can't be far away. Hope it didn't get stuck in the mud.

Speaking of mud...we don't get many sunny days up here in winter let alone one on a Sunday. It's warmed up a bit recently and the snow has finally begun to die. That dying snow turning this lot into one big bog.  On my way out, the Red Camaro got stuck in it. 

That's what I get for being a Sunday Morning Trespasser.

1974 Pontiac Firebird Trans AM SD 455 - Eastbound and Down

There aren't many cars from the mid to late 1970's that have retained their value or have even appreciated. Corvettes and Porches come to mind. Trans Ams are another.

 

Several things drive the price on T/A's. First, Chevrolet didn't offer anything comparable between 1974 and 1977 1/2 since they chose not to offer a Camaro Z28 then. Even if they did, chances are they would not have offered it with a "big block" engine since, with the exception of 1974, they didn't offer one in the Corvette. Odd enough that GM's best performance car of the era was not a Corvette so why would Chevrolet have a car in their own showrooms that could show up the Corvette? Shows you how much autonomy each of GM's divisions had back then. So, the T/A gets points for being the only thing resembling a performance car from that era. Sorry, Corvette lovers; the T/A, especially a SD 455 like this beast, had you beat. Beat big time.

 

Secondly and perhaps more importantly, starting in 1977, Trans Ams got a sizable amount of marketing with the very popular "Smokey and the Bandit" movies featuring Burt Reynolds, Sally Fields and that marvelous black '77 T/A. You can't discount the power of having one of Hollywood's biggest stars hawking a particular ride in a blockbuster movie. What red blooded American man, of a certain age, doesn't think of himself as The Bandit when they see one of these?

 

Finally, in particular to this T/A as mentioned, it has the much vaunted, 290 horsepower, "SD 455" (Super Duty); the most powerful passenger car engine GM offered in the mid 1970's. That alone commands a considerable premium over "lesser" Trans Ams.

 

Now, aside from all that, its hard to say why T/A's are so desirable, taste being so subjective. Personally, despite the lack of a real power, I've always thought the Camaro of this generation better looking.

 

 

One of many challenges with purchasing a car like this is getting a handle on how much you should pay for it. This particular T/A, for sale at a dealership in Central California, has an asking price of $18,000. That is a lot of beans for a 1974 General Motors product that has a body not made of fiberglass. Doing some mental gymnastics, though, if this was a project car you'd probably still end up paying 9 or 10 grand for it and need at least another 10 to 15G's to make it look this good and perform like new. To that end, this car is a "bargain".  

 

Breaker, breaker...son, you got your ears on? I learned long ago and the hard way that it's best to pay more for an old car in superb condition that buy one that needs work. If it's a restoration piece, let someone else take the financial hit. You'll save a ton of money in the long run. Money you can spend on gas and tractor trailers full of Coors that needs to be shipped from Texarkana to Atlanta.  

 

1974 Pontiac GTO - If Peyton Manning Was A Car

 

If the Peyton Manning we saw in this years Super Bowl was a car, he'd be a 1974 Pontiac GTO.
 

 

That means putting up some good numbers on another team (or car) but ultimately, not getting the job done. This handsome little car, with shaker hood in tact and recycled GTO badges, was a stout street performer but on the big scoreboard, sales, like a recycled Peyton Manning in the Super Bowl, it didn't do well. Peyton Manning put up some impressive numbers in the Super Bowl, even setting a Super Bowl record for completions. However, on that big scoreboard, he didn't do well either. Chances are, though, Peyton will be back for 2014 and at least a couple more years after that. Unlike the 1974 GTO; there was no 1975 GTO.

 

 

By the end of 1973, when this "GTO" trimmed Ventura first saw the light of day, muscle cars where all but dead and buried. Never the strongest sellers in the first place, insurance company surcharges strangling what was left of them. Therefore, putting the venerated "GTO" on a Chevrolet Nova clone didn't seem nearly as wrong then as it does today. A harmless marketing tactic. The 1974 GTO was  the last chance for a GTO. Buyers stayed away. 

 

Peyton Manning is not the first super star QB to take up with another team after his old team had no use for them anymore. Manning has performed better than most in that situation but raw numbers don't always tell the story. For years Manning has dragged around the criticism, like tin cans tied to the back of a high-end car, that he produces more great statistics than great victories. That noise just got louder with that Super Bowl performance he turned in a couple of weeks ago.

No quarterback has won Super Bowls with two different teams, no coach either if you're wondering.   No recycled automobile badge  has ever had the impact of the original.

If the Peyton Manning we saw in this years Super Bowl was a car, he'd be a 1974 Pontiac GTO.

Lake Erie In Winter

 

Lake Erie's lack of depth and relative lack of size is the reason why it freezes regularly in winter time. Despite being the smallest and shallowest of the Great Lakes, Lake Erie is still one of the largest bodies of water on earth. 

 

 

The Great Lakes, while indeed great, with their heavy surf, are more like inland seas like the Black Sea, Dead Sea or Caspian Sea. The Great Lakes form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth, containing 21% of the world's surface fresh water. Incidentally, that's not a snow covered sand dune; it's a snow covered frozen wave.

 

 

Ninety-five percent of Lake Erie's total inflow of water comes from the Detroit River to the west, water from all the "upper lakes" including Superior, Ontario and Huron, the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair and numerous tributaries. The rest comes from precipitation.

 

 

Despite freezing easily in winter, Lake Erie is the warmest and most biologically productive of the Great Lakes. The Lake Erie walleye fishery is widely considered the best in the world. 

 

 

Lake Erie is bounded by Ontario to the north, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York to the south, Michigan to the west. The Lake is 241 miles long and 57 miles width at its largest points.

 

 

Water from Lake Erie drains into the Niagara River which, in turn, flows over Niagara Falls. On average, it takes approximately three years for all of the water in Lake Erie to flow in and out of it.

 

The Lake is named after the Erie tribe who lived along its southern shore. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 1970 Dodge Challenger Is Gone

 

 

Been a while since I've been to the visual tsunami that is the automobile boneyard near my home. 

 

 

The cast of characters has been dwindling steadily over the three years I've been periodically traipsing through the lot. It gets less interesting each time I go.

 

 

Several stalwarts remain, though. Like the odd bevy of Chargers. This '66 appears to have been in some sort of restoration process when it met its unfortunate demise. Like a person who dies of a heart attack on the way home from a plastic surgeon.

 

 

The other two Chargers, roughly 50 feet west of that lone wolf,  sleep peacefully under a blanket of Lake Erie fed snow. 

 

 

Happily, the Cadillac's remain.

 

 

The magnificent '67 Coupe de Ville convertible holding center court.



 

 

You handsome devil. In spite of the brutal winter you're still as charming as ever.  

 

 

The '66 Fleetwood Brougham still doing its best to one up the '66 Continental that sits to its left. Some things never change.

 

 

The snow on this 1977 Thunderbird highlights what this winter has been like up here. Extremely cold, almost too cold to snow but when it does, the snow never melts.   

 

 

Sadly, the crown jewel of the lot, the 1970 Dodge Challenger is gone.