#retro_rides

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No big post today, but there'll be more about these cars soon (longtime followers may recognize the Fiat Ritmo 130TC, but you can never have too many of those). In the meantime, we're enjoying the #Radwoodpnw show here at @lemayacm. A little less photographing this time and a little more talking. Are you here? Say hello, and come see the white #Renault (a lot more back story on that to come). Thanks also to @prizmgsi for hosting ladt night's social and to @radwoodofficial for all the hard work! #radwood #lemaymuseum #ig_autos #carshow #renaultfuego #saab9000 #nissanskyline #ig_autoshow #volkswagenscirocco #eighties #totallyrad #80s #1980s #radwoodtacoma #radwoodseattle #retrorides #retro_rides #oldmotors #oldmotorsfrench #carshow #pnwcars (at LeMay - America's Car Museum) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0JfO9aFybh/?igshid=17291rosdhms4

[oldmotors]

With that very fast company gaining in the background, this #Citroen 2CV looks like it just stepped out of "For Your Eyes Only," but #JamesBond is definitely not driving, and keen observers will note the round headlights, as opposed to the square one's on the Bond car. They mark this out as a late 70s 2CV6 Special. The #2CV hung on basically forever but was a niche product by the eighties, mostly a style car like the Mini eventually became - and the last one rolled off the line in Portugal in 1990. By then, the 2CV had outlasted two of its intended “replacements” - the LN and the Visa - and its hatchback derivative, the Dyane. The #DeuxCheveaux was poorly suited to U.S. highways - particularly in early 425-cc form, but remained for sale in the U.S. from about 1956 into 1967, when safety regs forced it off the market (along with a host of other oddball imports). One U.S. spec was prominently featured in George Lucas’ “American Graffiti” - they weren’t popular when new but they did sell. Later on, long after the U.S.-market cars had been forgotten and #Citroën itself had departed the U.S., the 2CV got a second wind, no longer just an economy car but a stylish retro statement at a bargain-bin price. A variety of special editions that were cheap and fun revived interest in the car beyond its original mission, and they became very popular as grey-market cars here. Such a significant number of them arrived that they dwarfed the original U.S. sales of the car, and most stateside 2CVs are later imports. In the 1970s though, the 2CV was still seen as a legit economy car in Europe - and a base model variant was created to give it an even lower price point. That was the 2CV special, which at first came with a solid b-pillar and harkened back to the early 2CVs, although by 1979 it had regained the 6-window look and, honestly, the "luxurious" 2CVs at higher prices from that era aren't so different from the Special.  #PSA #PeugeotCitroën #Frenchcars #frenchclassics #tinsnail #francophile #vivelafrance #retro_rides #carsoffrance #voituresanciennes #Citroën2CV #citroënclassics #classique #citroënoldtimer 

[oldmotors]

Spotted in the wild - it’s a ’41 Buick Super Sport Coupe, known internally as the series 565. This pretty two-tone green (my favorite combo) coupe happened to be passing by while I was on a club drive last Sunday - the driver looked over at our gaggle of unusual foreign cars and we all returned the gawking. 1940 and 1941 were good years for #Buick and #GM as a whole, although part of that may have been that many consumers could see the writing on the wall and that it was possible car production would likely be curtailed at some point because of the war, which is exactly what happened in 1942. Buick, then led by future GM Pres Harlow “Red” Curtice, who had the ear of chief stylist Harley Earl, was especially buoyant in these years - placing fourth in the industry in sales in 1941 thanks to a combination of style, power, and making exactly the kind of car an early 40s customer wanted - quiet, powerful straight eights with style and quality. They also came at a wide range prices - the cheapest Model 40A Special was only a couple hundred dollars more than a Chevy, while the big Limited was in Cadillac territory. Consequently, the brand could appeal to many different consumers; and in the 40s, Buick had exactly the recipe middle-class consumers wanted, just as Pontiac would in the 60s and Olds in the 70s. All ’41 Buicks were powered by “Fireball Eights” - and in ’41 and ’42 they also had  a new innovation - compound carburetion. One Carb worked all the time, the second carb kicked in at high RPMs for passing power. The A and B body Buicks (Special and Super) had 248 cubes, the senior cars (Century, Roadmaster, and the huge Limited) had 320 cubes, but they were all in the family. The #BuickSuper was the nicest of the lower end cars, with the Super Business #Coupe - sans back seat - offering alot of car for only $1,031 before options. It was probably the plushest “Business Coupe” on the market. More common was the Sport coupe, which included a rear seat for $100 more.  #1940s #BuickWorld #Buicks #Americancars #streamlinemoderne #carspotting #BuickEight #ig_autoshow #vintage #oldcars #voituresanciennes #oldmotors #forties #HarleyEarl #style #hemmings #retro_rides  (at Black Diamond, Washington)

[oldmotors]

#Chrysler often bet on the wrong horse in the 60s, creating fantastic cars that missed their intended market - and while the ones best remembered today are Muscle cars, one of Chrysler’s most daring endeavors were the 1969 “Fuselage” cars. Playing off of popular interest in jets, the sleek, clean-looking fuselages were wide at the middle with cropped greenhouses and a severe tuck under, and they were aerodynamic looking and spare in detail. Of all the traditional American cars of this era, those 1969 cars that look the most modern today. But they might’ve been too clean - buyers had a hard time differentiating the Imperial from a humble Plymouth Fury from a distance, and #mopars continued to carry a rep for quality issues, most notably rust on these unibody cars. For 1971-72, styling was further differentiated. Chrysler and Imperial coupes got a more formal looking roof line and more details up front and on the side. The #NewYorker also rolled out a new trim in #1972 that was to become a familiar way of dressing up an already luxurious car - #Brougham. The Brougham (pronounced Brohm, rhymes with ohm) came with most of the options available on the regular New Yorker and the Newport. The name derived from a carriage built by 19th century Scottish lawyer, politician, and abolitionist Henry (later Lord) Brougham - the name was applied to cars as early as 1916 but the modern Broughams had little connection with these. Alas, more formal styling and gilded options lists couldn’t revive the #fuselage fortunes. Only 4,635 #ChryslerNewYorker Brougham coupes were built in 1972, although the division (which only sold Fuselage body cars, unlike Dodge and Plymouth) did moderately well compared to 1971 with the updates. Chrysler had invested alot in these sleek cars, but never really saw a return. And their sparse sides and huge proportions - 4,300 lbs. and 224” lengths - served them poorly when gas became expensive and they were just used cars. It’s too bad there aren’t more survivors, because they certainly are a stylistic standout.  #moparmonday #landyacht #americancars #1970s #broughamsociety #Chryserfuselage #giant #fullsize #retro_rides #ig_autoshow #soloparking #

[oldmotors]

Coming on the heels of Datsun’s 240Z, Toyota’s original #Celica was as much of a landmark car as the Z, it was just aimed at a different, and larger, market. Celica was on sale in time for Christmas of 1970, pitched against cars like the Ford Capri and Fiat 124 Sport Coupe, who’s product planners had also been inspired by the original Mustang - which they scaled down for international markets. Like the Mustang with the Falcon, the Celica used the bones of a sedan - the Toyota Carina, including a multi-link rear suspension. No immediate threat to the likes of the Alfa GTV in the handling department, it was nonetheless well equipped, cheap, and poised for mainstream success. Like the original Mustang, the Celica was a jack of all trades - it did lots of things really well and looked sporty. Unlike #JDM models, U.S. cars had limited engine choices - the 1.9 liter 8R was the only choice in 1971 (this is one of those very early cars), the 2.0 18R for ’72-’73, and finally the 2.2 liter #20R for the rest of the run into #1977. Many of Detroit’s muscle cars, including the Mustang, were appreciably larger and heavier in 1971 than the original pony cars - and the lightweight “international” pony cars offered an experience not dissimilar to the earlier Detroiters, but without V8 torque. These leaner coupes, which could double as economy cars, got much more popular after the fuel crisis, but it was strangely here where the Mustang’s influence over the Celica peaked. For 1976, a fastback hatch body arrived (after having been on sale in Japan since late 1973) with styling seemingly directly cribbed from the 1969-70 Mustang #fastback, right down to the triple vertical taillights on each side. The longer-wheelbase “liftback” weighed about the same as the coupe but offered a whole new style on an aging car, and pushed Celica sales over 100K in the U.S. in ’76, and 160K in ’77. Offered for only two years, the #Liftback is quite rare now, and unfortunately this one is no more. #ToyotaCelica #Japanesenostalgiccar #japanese #CelicaRA29 #classictoyota #ig_autoshow #vintage #1970s #JapaneseClassics #retro #retro_rides #youngtimer #celicaliftback #junkyardtreasures #ig_autoshow

[oldmotors]

The original #Seville might have been the smallest #Cadillac in 50 years - but the division cleverly priced it at the top of it’s lineup. At $12,500 it’s MSRP was topped only by the Fleetwood 75 long-wheelbase sedan and limo. In a market used to “bigger is better,” it was smaller - but exclusivity made it seem far more than the sum of its parts (a fuel-injected Olds 350 mated to an X-body platform with new styling and plush accommodations). It dropped in April, 1975 and was trendy all through its run. Even after 1977’s changes on the big Caddies, Seville was still tres chic. Sales rose every year until 1979, when they trailed off only slightly - and the car still had enough cachet to be the most expensive mid-size car in America. Its cost, however, was light compared with say, the gas-powered Mercedes W123 280E - a few thousand dollars more and a six - though quality was in a different league in those days. The instantly-popular car proved popular and was a very trendy disco-era fashion item, even spawning imitators at Lincoln (Versailles) and Chrysler (LeBaron). During the time it was offered it was a fixture of the glamour set - there was even a Gucci special edition; and a star in Hollywood - most notoriously in 1980’s “Foxes” - but also in lots of contemporary TV shows, usually with wealthy folks riding around in them. In the end Cadillac was not really able to hang on to the younger buyers it wanted when it designed the new car. After the #disco era faded, the original was supplanted by the “razorback” for 1980. Perhaps hampered by it’s polarizing styling (which also spawned imitations at Chrysler and Lincoln) or it’s series of bad engines (it was launched with the #GM 350 Diesel standard, and endured the V-4-6-8 and HT4100 humiliations), sales were never as strong. The original was a much more solid car and a better performer in almost every way. They’re still out there today. #cadillacseville #1977 #classiccadillac #ptk_vehicles #renegade_rides #trb_autozone #ig_autoshow #ig_masterpiece #caddy #patina #dailydriver #americancars #kings_transports #loves_vehicles #1970s #seventies #generalmotors #practicalclassics #youngtimer #classiccar #retro_rides (at Santa Monica, California)