WORLDS MOST POPULAR DJ!

WORLDS MOST POPULAR DJ!

I was heading back from Bed Stuy towards Flatbush Avenue when this little lunchbox caught my eye:

Talk about taking things for granted! These were once so ubiquitous that you could stare at one and not see it. However like so many common things you don't know what's all around you until it fades away. *Cue Don't Know What You Got (Till it's Gone) by Cinderella* 

 What we have here is a 1983 AM General postal delivery vehicle in primer. When it was introduced in 1955 it was known as the Dispatch Jeep. Most people know old Jeeps as CJ or YJ. This was actually the Jeep DJ!

 The reason the vehicle in front of you is an AM General instead of a Jeep is because in 1982 French automaker Renault bought a controlling interest in AMC (the then-owner of Jeep). U.S. regulations forbade defense contracts being given to foreign governments, and Renault by partially owned by the government of France. AMC had earlier made AM General their "General Products Division" which made commercial and military vehicles. This division made both the postal Jeeps like this one as well as the original Hummer known as HMMWV. As a result AM General was sold off to the LTV Aerospace and Defense Company. Boring I know!

In a post-Jeep world AM General continued manufacturing these stolid no-frills worker bees for just one year. AMC built other postal cars for a brief moment as well like these Ambassadors but they are mostly forgotten now.

 This is a tiny vehicle that can hold a lot of mail due to its tall, almost perfectly square shape. An oversize sliding door hanging on tracks allows for stepping in and out with a full box in your hands.

 These rugged little donkeys were used every day of the year (except Sunday) in all types of weather, in every climate, mostly by people who couldn't care less about treating it gently. As a result they are about as rare as old police cars (I'm not talking about the too-shiny "tribute" cop cars where somebody paints the door and puts a light on the roof. I mean real-deal, used 24/7 cruisers that are driven to death and then cannibalized for parts).

Big shout-out to the 1983-only AM General stamping on the rear door!

The DJ was never meant to be an off-road vehicle and as a result it was the 2 wheel drive Jeep. 

 This is the final year for the DJ (or whatever AM General was calling it by then). It also has the dubious claim of being the last light duty automobile to have front drum brakes.

Creature comforts can be summed up with lines like "you're lucky you even have a job" and "go to hell". LOOK BEFORE BACKING is about as much common sense as Employees Must Wash Hands Before returning to Work.

That gearshift is a floor mounted automatic; the legendary cast iron Chrysler Torqueflight. The strength of this transmission is enough to handle the likes of Hemi musclecars of the '60s and '70s. There's only a straight 4 cylinder engine powering this beast it starts and stops constantly for a living.

Well this is a properly beat-down example of a faithful work vehicle. Much like farm tractors only meant to work forever they are beloved by those who know them. Aftermarket parts are unbelievably easy to acquire since this is an old Jeep under the skin. Right hand drive takes a bit of getting used to but you'll have plenty of time to learn as these probably top off at around 55mph. 

Out of curiosity I did some searching and found several for sale in running condition for under $2,000 so it would be an easy, quirky classic should you want one. However keep in mind that this is the only small Jeep that has a fixed roof but rusts just as readily as the CJ. You could drive around with the big doors open in summer I suppose but be ready for them to slam shut when braking hard!

A fierce desert wind descends upon Brooklyn: Scirocco!

A FIERCE DESERT WIND

I was walking down Grand Street in Williamsburg one lovely summer day when I found this little punk. Talk about forgotten rides!

 What we have here is a 1983 Volkswagen Scirocco in the yawn-inducing color Diamond Silver Poly. The name comes from "a fierce desert wind" according to the literature of the day. Scirocco was introduced way back in 1974 as a successor to the Karmann Ghia. This seems blasphemous as the Karmann Ghia was all voluptuous curves and this looks like origami but it did foreshadow the boxy '80s perfectly.  

I didn't get many pics so I'll point out the large single windshield wiper above. This became 2 traditional wipers in 1984 so we know this is earlier.

Our feature car is the 2nd generation Scirocco which is a little larger than the earlier version. Perhaps the easiest way to identify the pre-1981 models is that they had round headlights as opposed to the square units on this ride. Those older Sciroccos look like sporty VW Rabbits (Golfs to you Euro folks, or is it Golves?). The rear seating in this is tight but the 1st gen is absurd!

When this 2nd gen was introduced in 1981 it had the word S C I R O C C O stenciled in white on the rear window below that little spoiler. After 1982 that was discontinued which, along with that big windshield wiper, identifies this as '83.

The drivetrains in these were pretty diminutive with the standard inline 4 cylinder U.S. model putting out a measly 74 horsepower. Due to its low weight and center of gravity it could still translate into a lot of fun with the manual trans, but with the automatic you may as well walk.

I love the styling on these little rides, and you just don't see them anymore. Since the basic guts are similar to the Rabbit/Golf you can easily fit a GTI engine in one of these and create a little rally car. Tone of aftermarket performance parts are available. Thie 2nd generation seen here would continue on through the 1988 model year with few changes before retiring.

This car would be replaced by the more expensive and powerful Corrado. While the Corrado is a mean machine it is about as rare as the Scirocco today. The folks I've known that owned Corrados talked about wiring foibles that made for difficult daily driving (one of those cars suffered a dashboard fire that banished it to the junkyard). For my money acquiring an old Scirocco and upping the performance to Corrado levels would be the most rewarding. Regardless I'm always psyched to see a forgotten '80s VW on the streets. 

MEN IN BLACK edition Crown Vic

MEN IN BLACK EDITION CROWN VIC

On the tony hills of Park Slope I found this throwback. Once ubiquitous as a fleet vehicle for taxis and cops it is becoming more scarce with every year. I hereby present to you: the 1980s!

This is a 1983 Ford LTD Crown Victoria in Dark Blue Poly. This represented Ford downsizing just in time for the '80s and they did so with huge success. This car is built on the Panther platform which provided such hits as the Lincoln Town Car and the Mercury Grand Marquis. The Panther platform was versatile enough that it lasted from 1978-2011.

This is almost identical to the 1987 version that graced the screen in Men in Black.

Under the skin is 100% old technology; V8 engine up front driving the rear wheels. The 1991 version of this ride with the larger 5.8 liter V8 was the very last American car built with a carbureted engine.

The name Crown Victoria harkens back to the 1955 Ford Fairlane Crown Victoria Skyliner. That original car had a chrome band going over the roof from between the front and rear windows just like this one, but the Skyliner had a glass panel replacing the roof from the band forward to the windshield. As lovely a concept as it was the reality was that you couldn't keep the car cool in summer! It lasted only 2 years but the legacy can be seen in that chrome band.

*If you really want to go back the name Victoria was originally given to a type of horse driven passenger carriage with a half roof from 1870.

These pretty cool turbine-style wheels were available on various Ford and Lincoln products over the years and might just be original to the car. The missing centerpiece would hold the clue as it always contained the logo of the division. 

This little crown lets everyone know you're royalty. 

Oh look at that plush padding on the landau vinyl half-roof! Nothing says "I'm around or past retirement age" like this cushy detail. By the way this is Dark Royal Blue vinyl in faux elk grain.

This is such a straightforward cop-car ride.

You can see the third brake light through the back window in this pic. It wasn't a federal requirement until 1989 so this is an early addition. 

In the 1980s domestic auto design tended to be totally squared off crisp lines. One advantage is that those huge bumpers look like they belong on the car rather than being a late addition.

This car is just a collection of rectangles right down to the taillights.

The chrome trim surrounding the wheel wells and running along the rocker panels denotes a passenger model rather than fleet. 1983 is a strange moment in the history of this name as the LTD was also a smaller car based on the Fox platform (like the '80s Mustangs and Fairmonts). However it was still employed in the stand-alone model shown here. Unlimited limiteds? 

We can see this beast is loaded with options from the split front seat to the cruise control buttons on the steering wheel and power windows. However I can't for the life of me figure out what is coming out of the dash just past the 2 o'clock position on the wheel. Whatever it is is installed where the passenger side center vent opening ought to be. I looked into optional CB placement but those were mounted to the left of the radio.

In addition to serving the police departments of the U.S. these were ultra popular as taxis. Checker stopped production right around when this ride was built and even though they drove side by side for years the yellow fleets eventually became Crown Vics or Chevy Caprices.

Well there we have it; an unlikely survivor on the city streets 33 years after it left Detroit. It's always a bit strange to see the luxury edition of what was mostly a fleet vehicle, and this one hails from a blind spot on the classic car timeline. Some 1983 cars are getting a second look (first generation Iroc Camaros and Knight Rider edition Firebirds) but for the most part people couldn't care less. Due to such ambivalence cars like this are almost always destined for the crusher. Give it another 10 years through and while I doubt it will be very valuable this thing will probably turn heads.

Twofer Tuesday returns with a couple of Malaise-era barges

"MY 98 WAS 87 ON THE RECORD YO"

I was ambling along the tony Carrol Gardens neighborhood when this schlub got in the way:

This grubby slab is a 1983 Oldsmobile 98 Regency Brougham in White. It is filthy and beat.

That octagonal hood ornament is nowhere to be seen on every Oldsmobile 98 I can find from '79-'84. My guess is that it was snapped off at some point when the car was somewhat new and that sort of thing was common, only to be replaced with a Pontiac Grand Prix or full-size Buick hood ornament.

This was the full-size pinnacle of luxury for Oldsmobile customers in 1983. Everything about this ride says ancient technology; big carbureted V8 up front, rear wheel drive, body on frame construction, and more thought to cushy plushness than performance.

This beast is a veteran of the Brooklyn streets! You can see that the owner has welded on additional huge bumper guards to augment the smaller factory ones still in place. They've also screwed the thick black rubber to the front of the guards after heavy use.

 There are reasons most cars are some sort of sandy beige gray these days; they tend to hide the everyday grime and wear better than say a white car like this. White cars show every grain of dirt and impending rust just like black cars highlight even the smallest scratch or scuff.
Love the mismatched $15 plastic hubcaps Mr. Luxury Owner Bro.

In between the front and rear door glass you can see a vertical black rectangle. These were the original opera lights typical of Malaise-era luxo barges. When new they would cast a white glow when the headlights of running lights were on. There are no bulbs to replace as they are actually electroluminescent panels; printed layers of phospor onto a surface that conducts electricity. The result is a glow much like a nightlight. Much to my astonishment I found a 10 page tutorial online on how to restore them on your Malaise yacht. Thanks Internet!

Whoa! Up close the roof is NASTY to the point of absurdity. This thick icing treatment might be waterproof but it looks like it was applied by the same little old lady that "touched up" the Jesus portrait on a Spanish church wall a few years ago.

The overall design inspiration for this ride was a brick. Those have to be the biggest reverse light ever put into production.

This corner sums up this ride perfectly; more welded bumper guards, white touch-up paint directly over the pinstripe, and more silly putty filling up the space between the bumper and the body. At least he placed several plastic reflectors to the bumpers in case you were about to miss this beast somehow.

Something that feels strange to type is that this is actually a much more aerodynamic redesign of the 1977-1980 version! That actually was an almost perfect square.

Being a full size American car these still sold very well to everybody accustomed to such things. As hard as it is to imagine now there was still a great deal of animosity towards Japanese and German imports in 1983. My own grandfather flat out rejected a Honda my aunt purchased new until she lead him out to the metal plate on the doorjamb where he could see that it was built in California. If you want a glimpse into the state of domestic auto production I highly recommend the first film by Michael Moore called Roger & Me.

Don't you just love German Black Forest Cake?
This Regency and Brougham emblems denote the highest of gaudy luxury. It included extra plush velour seats, deep carpeting, this sweet formerly-vinyl roof, and of course those opera lamps.

Is this where I should feel bad about pointing out all the home repairs? Naaa.

Now that's a lock! Your puny Club means nothing compared to my armored neckbrace that actually contains the entire ignition switch!
The AM/FM Stereo in the dash has no cassette player that I can see. The year before this one was the last for the 8-track player in Oldsmobile. Amazingly there was the option of having an 8-track player installed by the factory in certain GM trucks all the way through the 1988 model year. Incidentally that was the year the last 8-track commercially produced came out; Fleetwood Macs Greatest Hits.

Well let's just back away from this dirty slab of cream cheese and gaze upon its sibling.

Here we have exactly the same year, make, and model in Black (though it is NOT a mighty Brougham). This one is in great shape!

This is the correct hood ornament for the '83 98.

The lack of a side parking light between the lower edge of the bumper and the wheel is an indicator of the non-Brougham model.

This ride is parked near my shop and is definitely someones pride and joy. These were winter pics when every car gets dusty but this car is usually gleaming.

The Ninety-Eight name originally meant full-size 90 Series with an 8 cylinder engine. The meaning was moot when 6 cylinder engines became available as standard from 1981-1982.

This is the standard placement for the non-Brougham opera lights. Most look like this; faded and cracking from the sun and utterly devoid of lighting ability.

This car has a small handful of aftermarket doodads but it's just short of too much. The fender skirts might have been an option, but the mudflaps and chrome visors over the side windows are add-ons.

We can see a couple of hail-Marys to curry favor from the cop running your license on the bumper; 2 American flags and an NYPD sticker. There were also a couple of police stickers attached to the windshield on the drivers side.

The black wheels look pretty tough on this ride.

There isn't much else to say about this black beast. Chuck D used to brag about driving his Olds 98 on his first couple of albums. Eventually though his "98 was 87 on the record yo, so now (he drove) Bronco". Rolling effortlessly from GM to Ford? Chuck D is a magnanimous customer.

Well there we have it; two of the biggest last-gasps of the Malaise era. The punitive Federal bumper regulations of the '70s were rolled back in '84 meaning that these were the last vehicles with egregiously massive guardrails hanging off the ends. The following year would be the last for rear-wheel drive 98s. It also happened to be the first year for the FWD replacements making it possible to go into a dealership and have the old and new next to each other for sale. Whatever, over and out.