This is the tuned car.

This is the tuned car.

My friends have been outpacing me drastically with the automotive finds and today is no different! Robin of Omaha recently stumbled upon a brace of beautiful Buicks:

This is a 1966 Buick Riviera in what seems to be an aftermarket two-tone graphite over black with a fearsome red stripe dividing the colors. The reason we know this is a '66 as opposed to the almost-identical '67 is the fact that those angled square lenses on the sides do not have a horizontal bar going down the middle of them. Even though they're large those are just the turn signals on the sides. This ride has 4 headlights hidden concealed in the grill. When they're open they look a bit crowded in there to me.

This ride is largely the same as the Cadillac Eldorado and Oldsmobile Toronado of the same year. However unlike the others the Riviera is a traditional rear wheel drive car. This is the final year for the venerable Buick Nailhead motor, this one a 425 V8.

Obviously the lines on this ride are fantastic and dramatic! The rear roofline swooping down to frame the trunk makes this beast seem like it's moving while standing still.
*Notice the lack of little vent windows! This is the first year since the '30s that a Buick didn't have them.

This is an evil ride with the black bumpers (something I usually frown upon). The vents beneath the back window are where the air exits the cabin as a part of the fresh air system.

Right next to the '66 is this 1967 Riviera with its tell tale horizontal turn signal bars. This is a mild custom like its brethren so the chrome hood trim has been shaved. 

I couldn't find any proof of two-tone Rivieras from the factory but this is a pretty common restoration choice. The mirrors on this ride are later replacements (the other ride has the correct driver-only chrome unit). 

I dig this roofline without the vinyl roof too. The wheels on both rides work really well. Both of these have the optional bucket seat interior essentially making them 4 seaters.

Somebody added a little pin striping to this ride.

1967 saw a new engine for Buick; the 430 V8 good for 360 horsepower and a whopping 475lbs of torque! Even at a weight of over 2 tons it was enough to move this beast around with alacrity. 

Buick (and indeed all of GM) was riding high through the '60s and they were understandably proud of the Riviera. It was touted as the "Tuned car" in their literature. In fact the entire opening paragraph is so assured that I'm going to close it out with this quote:
"We regret to destroy (again) the old theory that great road machines always come from Europe. But this one comes from exotic, far away Flint, Michigan - home of Buick, home of the Tuned car."

The sister of a girl I once knew

THE SISTER OF A GIRL I ONCE KNEW

The following rides was inching along in heavy traffic past my shop recently. I knew it from the smallest glimpse in the distance:

This is a 1967 Oldsmobile 442 in aftermarket-but-looking-good red. The name stems from 4 barrel, 4 speed, dual exhaust (though by this year you could order an automatic). I know this ride front to back and top to bottom because I had a convertible version that was slightly more dusty:

Here is my Spanish Red baby in Dumbo circa 1997. More than bragging that I once had 1 of only 1,130 convertible 442s with a Hurst 4 speed built that year this pic shows a 442-only detail you can't see on the feature car. There are 2 rows of louvers cut into the hood up by the windshield that are unique to this model. Another detail is the 442 badge in the grill bar. If this were a non-442 there would be a grill emblem that says OLDSMOBILE. 

This hardtop is in absolutely perfect shape and with the exception of the wheels looks correct.

Power would come from a 330 or 400 V8 mated to either an automatic, or 3 or 4 speed manual transmission. Both manuals came with Hurst shifters from the factory and a console. Bucket seats were standard.

This was the same intermediate GM platform as the Chevy Chevelle, Pontiac Tempest/GTO, and Buick Special. This is the final year for the 1st generation 442 which was still an option package. In the beginning you could make any trim level of the Cutlass line a 442, even the lowly F-85. By the time this beauty was built you had to start with the top-tier Cutlass Supreme. Starting in 1968 the 442 would be a stand alone model (even though it shared 100% of its body with the Cutlass).

You can see another detail of the 442 in this pic; the taillights consist of all 4 square lenses on the sides, with reverse lights in the bumper. In the regular Cutlass and F-85 the lower squares were the reverse lights. Having 4 big red squares light up when braking makes this look like a spaceship.

This is a 1 year only car as the front and rear were totally different in both '66 and '68 (to be fair the entire car was different in '68).
I delivered a pizza to an auto detailing shop in Providence when I was in school and saw the front end of a 442 peeking out from the depths of their garage. The guy told me it hadn't been started in 9 years and hadn't been on the road in 13. When I asked if he'd sell it he said he'd need to ask at least $1,000 for it (this was 1995). I told him that if I could start it I'd give him his thousand.
After 10 minutes of tinkering and a new battery she fired right up! It had a J-code 455 in it and open headers so it was LOUD. I replaced the exhaust and the original optional front disc brakes and drove it away. I loved that car and it was as rare as can be. After bringing it to Brooklyn and then San Francisco the manual trans finally died heroically by being stuck in reverse. I sold it to a shady tow truck owner and have regretted it since. Maybe someday I'll find another but they have increased in value many many times over at this point.
So long 442!

Mustang up on the autopsy table

MUSTANG UP ON THE AUTOPSY TABLE

I was walking near the headwaters of the mighty Gowanus Canal when this horrific vision presented itself:

This is what's left of a 1967 Ford Mustang convertible in Wimbledon White. There are only 2 ways I know of to visually discern a '67 from a '68. The first is moot because it involves the letters F O R D being on the hood in '67, but there's no hood here at all! The second is that in 1968 they introduced front and read side marker lights of which this has none. 1967 it is!

This was the first redesign of the original Mustang. This is still considered the first generation Mustang but I can't figure why as the overall dimensions increased. For the first time you could fit a massive 390 or 428 big block V8 engine under the hood.

1967 is my favorite year overall for American cars and this is no exception. Of all the Mustangs I find this to be the most well proportioned. The rear bumpers are nicely integrated into the overall look. The concave real panel and taillights are more dynamic to me than the earlier ones that looked glued on.

If this wreck wasn't a convertible there would be zero chance of anyone bothering with it. However it will be worth somebody's while to restore a drop top every time. Since Mustangs were built on a massive scale you could get a disaster like this and a running parts car hardtop without breaking the bank too severely.

For as brutally ravaged as this ride is it looks like the rust happened while it was sitting somewhere as opposed to driving. The quarter panels are some of the nicest parts of the car which almost never happens. Being a convertible (especially once with the top & windows open) water easily gets in and works it's dark magic. The bottoms of the doors are rotted out which means they filled with water. I'm sure the floors are gone too. Everything is available from catalogs for this ride though.

Well that's where I'll leave this for some brave soul to conquer. Given the chance I would love to roll around town in a '67 convertible Mustang. While they're valuable the high performance Shelby versions are priced in the stratosphere with nice examples selling in the hundreds of thousands of dollars! There are currently a couple of nice '67 convertibles on ebay under 20 grand and one "easy restoration" candidate for under $5,000. If you saw one for a reasonable price snatch it up!

400th post Super Hooptie!

JOSEPH AND THE TECHNICOLOR NIGHTMARE COAT

This is my 400th installment of the Hoopties blog and to commemorate I've selected a real beauty. With any luck I'll be cobbling together posts for another few years but for now get the Vision ready:

Blech!
At some point back in history this was a 1967 Pontiac Catalina in (I think) Montreaux Blue Poly. Throughout the decades it has morphed into something more horrific; a patchwork quilt of childrens nightmares. If you squint just right the paint job looks like a deep blue sky with white puffy clouds and the red streaks of the End Times taking hold. Ladies and gentlemen; this car is the last page of Revelation.

Historical indeed! This thing has eyes dangling in broken sockets and scars all over its face. The admittedly huge bumper has earned its keep with evidence of a mighty uppercut and a massive body blow folding in into the fender.

It wears a Dodge hubcap like a serial killer keeping trophies of its victims. There is no side mirror on the door because who cares? When you pilot this wreck you're living in a post-turn signal and mirror society. If the brake lights work at all it's by sheer accident.

There's patina and then there's THIS.
Pontiac got its name from the war chief Pontiac of the Odawa tribe. He fought against the British occupation of the Great Lakes region and was effective enough that the war is known as Pontiac's War (1763-1766). It began when Chief Pontiac lead 300 warriors to take Fort Detroit by surprise. I don't mean to blaspheme too hard but this car: A. Looks like it was in a war, and B. looks like Detroit was caught by surprise mid-build.

This picture hurts me deeply and I took it. That futuristic green wheel looks as if this slab either traveled to space or back to ancient Egypt and brought back a bronze medallion. Ancient Aliens made this car.
*Big shout out to the person holding the black Krylon can when inspiration struck! Continuing the window line down to the wheel well is sweet. By "wheel well" I mean the rough opening where some bear chewed through the body.

Somebody warn that VW in front of it, or maybe it's too late!

These frowning bulldog jowl taillights are a true favorite of mine, lest I forget to add that I love this car. I distinctly remember trailing behind a blue '68 Bonneville convertible on a Rhode Island highway doing 80mph that had these exact taillights. I fell into a multi-year crush on that year make & model that day.

This massive fastback design would only last a few years in full size GM cars. In 1967 there wasn't a single thought to excess so the fact that this is a 2 door coupe on a gargantuan scale was normal.

It's so hard to look directly at the colors of this thing. I feel like I need to adjust the settings.

I've said it before but this thing is YUGE. From the door forward it looks like any big '60s car. Somehow the sloping rear that goes on forever accentuates the grandeur for me.

Fuzzy dice? Really? Is this set up for cruise night or something?
The ashtray being pulled out I get. Hopefully the driver of this goes through a carton of Winstons just getting to the remaining OTB outposts in New Jersey.
This example is outfitted with a bench seat covered in human skin and a column shift transmission. There was a version of this body style called the 2+2 that had front and rear bucket seats as well as a console. Those are rare and plenty sought after.
*I feel the need to point out that this car does not have 2 factory radios even though it looks it. The climate controls were done in a way that makes them seem identical.

Once the silver bullet has pierced the werewolf heart or a wooden stake has claimed the vampire you get a fleeting glimpse of the original person before they expire. I'm reminded of that from this angle where you can just make out the original Catalina trapped inside. 

I feel like I do this every time I post a Pontiac from the bird beak front era, but here goes:

Head of Pontiac design 1966-1982.

Since this post was short on detail and long on hyperbole let me close out by stating that this car came with either a 400 or 428 V8. The base 400 with 2 barrel was rated at 290 Horsepower, but there were various options that would push the hp as high as 376. Even with 6 adults trapped inside this thing could get up and go with the best of them.
As for me I've somehow never owned a Pontiac even though they are my favorite domestic make (or were but let's not bother with the final decade or so before GM pulled the plug). I even like Pontiacs that I should feel foolish about liking such as the early-to-mid '80s 6000, Sunbird, Astre, and Grand Am. Someday when I have a parking spot in my life I'll unlock that achievement but for now I'll be happy finding things like this wreck in the wild.

Crazed Robot Falcon from outer space!

SAM THE EAGLE AS A CAR

My last post was a Grand Prix so I figured I'd feature 2 more GPs as a follow-up. Here's the first; cover your eyes!

What we have here is a 1967 Pontiac Grand Prix that at one point in its life was the color Champagne Poly. Those days are long gone! Rust and filth have ravaged this wreck. However I love the design this year so dearly that I want to feature it regardless.

First of all dig these covered headlights! Every other Pontiac had exposed stacked headlights in '67 except for the GP. The turn signals are awesomely subtle behind those three horizontal slits above the headlight door.

That Pontiac beak had never been so prominent! I always think of these pointy-nosed cars as birds. Check out the resemblance:

Sam the Eagle has never been more needed than today!

This ride is so thoroughly rusted that it seems to be made out of powdered cocoa. Somehow the chrome remains proud and lovely.
The engine choices for this car when new were few and mighty. The standard was a 400 V8 good for 350 horsepower. Optional was a crushingly powerful 428 V8 good for either 360 or 376 hp for the high output version. All GPs had a 4 barrel carb and dual exhaust. With no emissions regulations and the muscle car craze still ramping up these are free breathing healthy engines.

This is the ultimate F.U. of towing; just drag the dead car up onto the flatbed with a winch regardless of if the wheel is jammed up. For whatever reason they dragged this beast up on the truck and parked both where I found them.
You can see the more pronounced for 1967 Coke Bottle styling in this pic.

Zero chrome on the sides and just this one raised style line running the length of the car made for a very clean look. This is a huge car and they weren't trying to hide that fact back then.

These wide horizontal taillights were 1967 only and mimic those on the Firebird. On the lower right corner you can see the now-standard reverse light.

Why is the back panel black? Who knows? What I can tell you is that the *"You've got a friend in Pennsylvania" license plate was issued between 1983-1985. However it was legal to keep this plate on your car while updating your little registration sticker through 2001. Regardless this thing hasn't moved under it's own power in 16 years at the bare minimum and most likely more than that.
*Wikipedia calls this slogan out for being grammatically incorrect.

All these little holes perplexed me when I snapped this pic. At first I thought it was the result of some quick and dirty bodywork where you drill small holes to pull out a dent. Recently I saw detailed photos of a '67 GP restoration and the freshly painted car had the exact same pattern. It turns out that this is where the two emblems spelling GRAND PRIX were mounted.

As with the earlier '60s GPs the rear window was concave while the rest of the Pontiac lineup wasn't.

Anyone attempting to restore this is a maniac.
It was a beautiful Pennsylvania Summer day when I pulled over to ask some gruff mechanics if they minded if I snapped a couple pics. After too long a silence one of them uttered "go ahead" and they turned their backs on me. Thanks bros.
I've always love this year GP and as I detailed in my last post the one-yer-only '67 convertible was my One That Got Away. Some day I'll have one hopefully.

2 cool cars with an identity crisis

NOTICEABLE VERSUS OUTLANDISH

I'm bringing us back to the halcyon days of Summer when I found the following 2 rides roosting in Moosic, Pennsylvania. That's Moosic like "moo-zic" as opposed to moose, ick.

Get a load of this color! What we have here is a 1971-1972 Pontiac Ventura II in Buccaneer Red. This is basically a Pontiac Nova in an early case of badge engineering. The Chevy Nova was so popular that GM introduced almost identical versions in each of their divisions. The Ventura was first, followed by the Buick Apollo and Oldsmobile Omega in '73.

With the quad split grill this is my favorite of the faux Novas. This grill only lasted for the first 2 years. 1973 brought a split grill in 2 larger segments.
The rear side windows come to a point in the rear which means this is a standard coupe with a trunk. Beginning in '73 these were available as a hatchback. You can identify hatchbacks by the rear window being squared off. They even offered a tent that attached to the open hatchback for camping! Those are so rare it's almost like they never existed.

This hood is Ventura-specific and helps to make the trademark Pontiac pointy schnoz look like it belongs on the car. The Nova, Apollo, and Omega all had a single raised line going down the center. Under the hood lurks either the 250 inline 6 or 350 V8. There was a sporty Sprint option that allowed for the 307 V8 as well.

The "II" suffix alluded to the fact that there was an earlier, full size Ventura in the '60s. was dropped after 1972 even though this compact version soldiered on through '77.
Enough with that flashy but correct ride, let's get goofy!

Yeesh!
This sickly looking tough guy is a 1967 Dodge Dart in the unmistakable 1970-only color Sublime Green. The color was one of the High Impact range offered from '69-'72. The High Impact line included Panther Pink, Plum Crazy, Go Mango, and Top Banana as well as others.

I think a 1967 Dart 2 door is a great car on its own. This person obviously wanted a Hemi Dart which was only offered in 1968. However the turn signals are round on the '68 and slightly inset from the location of those above. Who could blame the owner for making a tribute? There were only 80 total Hemi Darts produced and they were reportedly the fastest muscle car of all time. Hemi Darts had the hood with massive scoop as seen above. The hood and fenders were fiberglass, bumpers aluminum, and doors acid dipped to save weight.

Other weight saving details included the omission of a back seat, no arm rests, no window cranking mechanism, and thinner glass. They were sold with no warranty specifically for "supervised acceleration trials" (that's drag racing to you rubes). From the factory the Hemi Dart was good for a 10 second quarter mile at 130 mph!
If you want to be noticed this is a great way to go I suppose. You're setting the bar high though as you'd better have an earth shattering beast of an engine under the hood to back up the look. I have to say the black wheels and blackwall tires look pretty great on this beast.
Well that's that. Summer's coming people just hold on a bit longer!