I have become fascinated with old American cars recently. I am from England and am only 24 so it's all new and novel to me. I've always liked modern and old "everyday" American cars.. those big torquey engines, bench seats, mmmm......
I probably have "rose tinted spectacles" because we don't actually have them in England.

Browsing around the net, I think my favourite era is from 1955-1965 (after that they get into the not-so-good '70s look). I saw a Buick Riviera on the internet and it looks great!

I don't know much about the reality of these cars but hope you US guys can tell me (without shattering my dreams too much!) about them. I am sure they were pretty simple, uneconomical, and rust-prone even back then, and they didn't go round corners too well. So does that mean that these days they would be downright awful and as sensible as regularly driving a 300SL Gullwing? Is there even a slight chance of buying one that's in "OK" condition, driving it on a weekly/monthly basis, parking it sometimes in the road etc, keeping it going and not bringing a whole world of pain and expense? I mean like you could with an R107 Mercedes SL? I don't really care for the fully restored shiny cars you get at shows - they're totally unrealistic and never get used.

I know the Dodge Challenger and Charger are the famous models.. but I'm not so interested in them, maybe because they are the obvious ones. Also of course the Mustang but I see plenty of them at historic racing and they're pretty boring compared to a Riviera or something! I'm not so interested in big power engines because you could never afford the petrol for that in the UK. In fact in an ideal world I would convert to EFi and improve power and economy!

Also which manufacturers come under which brand - Dodge=Chrysler=Buick... GM? Ford?

I have been learning a lot from
http://mapleleafmopars.homestead.com/
but still haven't figured out what's a MOPAR?

Thanks

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Pentoman,

Welcome to the forum!

I grew up with exactly the kind of cars you're describing, building plastic models of them, reading about and dreaming of them. They're from an earlier, simpler time, when Western society was still sane.

The breakdown: General Motors (GM) owned Chevrolet, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick (whence the Riviera), and Cadillac, in that ascending price and luxury order. As you know, Olds is gone (sniff!), but the others are still around. I believe GM's marketing concept was that they'd have a car for you no matter what life stage you were in -- that in his 20s their ideal customer would drive a Chevy, 30s a Pontiac, 40s an Olds, 50s a Buick, and 60s a Cadillac. Somebody check me on this, but I think GM pioneered a lot of engineering items we take for granted now, such as the electric starter and the automatic transmission.

Chrysler (and no, I never knew why its products were called MOPAR either) had Dodge and Plymouth (pretty much working-class-priced cars), and Chrysler. Plymouth is now gone, and except for a few of the muscle cars you mention, pretty much unlamented. Now, of course, Mercedes owns Chrysler, and people make jokes. But your countryman L.J.K. Setright, in one of his articles for "Mercedes Enthusiast," said the wisdom (back in the '20s and '30s) was, you bought a Ford for price, a Chevy for value, but a Chrysler for the engineering.

Ford owned Mercury and Lincoln. Fords were bread-and-butter cars with the exception of the luxurious "personal car" Thunderbird. A Mercury or "Merc" was thought of as a big step up in luxury and power. A Lincoln, esp. the Continental (see the limousine President John Kennedy was riding in when he died), was the tops. The 1961-1965 Lincoln Continental was the only 4-door convertible available in America, came with a longer warranty than any other new vehicle, and was apparently road-tested more thoroughly, too. I'd love one.

Let us know what your favorites were/are!

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Formerly:
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I think the best way to find one is to do a lot of research online, you'll be surprised at how many old cars you can find on the net. As far condition usually most of them are drivable but will defiantly need work and the best way to work on these old wonders is ground up restoration, but parts are a really hard to get a hold of especially if your going as far back as the 50's-60's cars. As far as finding a good one you won't know until you see the car its a hit or a miss with these oldies.

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Russ - my friend Cath has a 1978 Dodge Challenger running a N/A 8.4L V8. Her husbands current best is 10.34 on the quarter mile. This season they're putting in a 9.2L V8. You would be more than welcome to join me at a few runs to experience it and have a look at the other Muscle cars at the shows. Let me know, I'm sure she would be a good source of information on them.

American cars of that era are poorly built, can't turn or stop, all they can do is go real fast straight when you gun them. But don't do that for to long because they start to float if you get into the triple digits. No they are built solely for burn outs and getting to 60 as fast as possible.

But they are cool, personaly I really want a 1969 Mustang Fastback one day.

My Uncle is building a 1962 Impala with an LS1, it's going to rock when its done.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
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2007 Tiara 3200

Actually, a lot of parts can be obtained for the true classics, and even the not-so-classic 50-60's era cars.

There is a huge national warehouse here in Fort Worth that stocks parts for a host of older GM Ford and Chrysler vehicles.

But as posted earler, the baby boomer generation has had a yearning to relive their youthful era, and prime examples are going for house mortgage prices!

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2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcN2DCGyKrM
This is what big block engines are good for, other then burning large amounts of fuel. After a lot of beer the show gets even better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0kTXIj-o20
Even though the doors don't line up, they make all the right sounds.

But the best combinations come when you take a light British car, with disc brakes and a respectable suspension. Then toss out the wussy 4cy lump the Brits put in, and replace it with a Ford V8(rev happy 289, or BB), that puts out more torque then half the cars in Britain.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdDglw8FTfo&mode=related&search=

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1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I sympathise with the gentleman from England. I grew up in South Africa where large American cars were, let's just say, scarce... We were stuck with mostly small horrible European cars, and then small horrible Jappanese cars. The ability to actually fit humans inside in comfort and have such unheard of luxuries as ac, power windows and seats etc was it appeared an exclusively American luxury.

US car's from that era were in my opinion no worse than any European or Jappanese contemporaries, (Mercedes Benz excepted of course). The bad rap they recieve is by osmosis from the later (mid to late 70's) and 80's products which do seem to have been absolute crap. This was after Nader got his paws on the industry and numerous other social problems appeared to have affected design, development and production.

In 1993 when I first visited the USA I picked up a 72 Cadillac Sedan DeVille for a grand and drove it around California and Arizona for three months. It could be argued that the engineering and quality were not quite up to Mercedes Benz standard but I've never owned a car that came as close to an S-Class before or since in terms of comfort, ride and yes, handling. The thing was smooth, powerful, comfortable and a real head turner. Even though I'm a Mercedes fanatic I intend getting another 72 Caddy some day. The only thing you might fault it for would be it's fuel consumption. But if you are an S-Class owner fuel consumption is as much of an irellivancy as with a 7.8 Litre Cadillac.

- Peter.

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Formerly...
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2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels
1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles.
1984 123 200
1979 116 280S
1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1971 108 280S

In terms of the availability of suspension, braking and engine upgrades, as well as repair parts, it is difficult to beat 1960's Chevrolet automobiles and the pre-1971 Ford Mustang. If a very large car interests you, the 1961-1964 Chevrolet Impala is a good selection for the reasons described above. Braking upgrades are a particularly wise investment, as most of these cars were equipped with drum brakes on all four corners, which by the nature of their design, have efficiency issues when hot or when watersoaked after driving through a moderately deep puddle. Front disc brake conversions are readily available, and do much to improve performance. Most full-size Chevrolets of that era were available with some iteration of the Chevrolet small block V8, with displacements ranging from 283 cu. in. to 350 cu. in. (4.6L to 5.7L) These engines were relatively light in weight and fairly efficient, much more so than the nailhead 401 - 425 cu. in. V8 found in the early '60's Buick Riviera. Body style will dictate price to a great degree, with convertibles commanding the highest price, 2 door pillarless hardtops next, and sedans and station wagons the least expensive. The sedan and station wagon offerings often offer the best value, not only in regard to price, but condition as well, as these more conservative body styles were less likely to be raced or badly modified, and were more likely to be purchased by older individuals who drove them more conservatively and less often, enhancing their preservation.

The killer of these automobiles is rust, as US manufacturers paid little attention to rust resistance prior to the mid-1980's. Paying a premium for a car that operated in a dry climate is usually paid back tenfold through the avoidance of labor-intensive rust repair.

MOPAR is an informal name attributed to vehicles made by the Chrysler Corporation. A Mopar vehicle could be a Chrysler, Imperial (once marketed as a separate marque) Dodge or Plymouth.

When I was coming of ( driving ) age in the early '70s, I thought American built cars of the time were crap. Poorly built. Gas guzzling. Poorly engineered. Poor performance (other than straight line acceleration). Cheap materials. The US cars of the 50s and early 60s were pretty decent, but they seemed to be slapped together by the mid to late 60s.

Growing up , I started buying English cars ( Austin America, MGB) ,then Jap cars (3 sucessive Toyotas) and finally bought a then-new 96 Camaro ( it was just OK).

I still just shake my head in amazement at the prices that these 60s Chevys and Mustangs are selling for. They were fairly crappy cars back in the day, and age hasn't improved them, IMO

Rick

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I've owned many cars from the era you're speaking of and currently own a 1957 Cadillac Coupe De Ville. I can tell you the comments about the cars stopping porely is quite true..... if the brakes aren't set up correctly.As far as quality goes, they were built very well by the standards of the day.But you have to remember, most old cars have been molested over the years and have suffered from it. I love nostalga and will always have a soft spot in my heart for old cars and bikes!!!

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Pentoman:

In re: MOPAR,

Originally, this was the parts division of Chrysler. It was Chrysler Motor Parts, shortened to MOPAR. It later came to refer to Chrysler in the broad sense.

GM had their own brand, Delco and Delco-Remy parts, batteries, etc. Delco has since been sold off.

Ford's parts division is/was called FOMOCO, Ford Motor Company.

Voila!

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00 E320 Current
Over 1,000,000 miles in Benzes, Since66

....and a whole passel of BMW 2002 and Tii

Mopar was not an informal name -- it was used by the company itself for the MOtor PARts division.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mopar

http://www.mopar.com/

Nonsense. Mopar means

'Mo-Pawr.. more power.

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