Okay, had to scroll down through a whole lot of comments (including, what, TEN about the DeLorean?) and was amazed that this one didn't get its own, aside from a couple of mentions in replies.
The darkest days for the Corvette were in 1980. All sold in California were saddled with a 305 V8 instead of a 350, backed up by an automatic transmission. (No V8s with manuals on anything in California for most of the Malaise Era, save for maybe the Ferrari 308 and Porsche 928.)
Supposedly the horsepower was salvaged somewhat to be an official "180," but the engine had too much of its 305-ness still in it and was quite a turd. A red-faced GM even gave buyers a monetary credit for not getting the engine everyone else in the country got. Not helping the performance was a rear axle ratio of something like 2.73:1 for fuel economy and/or emissions reasons.
I vaguely remember that GM didn't want magazine editors anywhere near those cars, but one crafty writer procured one from a dealer and ran some rudimentary acceleration tests. It was an absolute dog.
Many newly-divorced, gold-chain-wearing guys bought them anyway, performance (or lack thereof) be damned.
Ah, but it's all got to be put into perspective.
When the 302 returned for '82, the monthlies were all peeing their pants that it put out a "whopping" 157 horsepower. Two barrel carb, single exhaust, and a 4-speed manual.
Actually, I think the hp rating for that car was 180. But guess what? The other choices for a GM G-body were a 305 with something like 145 horsepower, a V6 with around 120, or a turbo V6 that made all of 150.
Believe it or not, that H.O. 305 (it also found its way into the Camaro) was a breath of fresh air as we slowly climbed out of the Malaise Era.
Actually, it was 1980 that the Vettes (ALL of them in California) were equipped with the 305. One year only.
I don't think that was ever intended to be a "performance" engine. (Ford didn't even use any badging on the car to identify it.) It merely was a placeholder to keep a V8 in the car during the depths of the Malaise Era.
Ah, then that explains this.
The ad does say "clean title."
Still, the rear plate could have been damaged in the collision that also resulted in the 540i badge getting damaged and not replaced during the repairs.
I'm not a fan of white BMWs either ("Ice, Ice Baby!" comes to mind whenever I see them from that era), but it looks to be a well cared-for example of a 6-speed manual car....at first glance.
The only thing that keeps me from hitting the NP button is the lack of model badging on the decklid. I've found many examples of both Bimmers and Benzes that were rear-ended, and when the repairs were done, Jackassian's Body and Paint didn't bother with replacing the emblems.
(Add that to the previously-mentioned newer-issue California plates, and it starts looking like this car may have been in a mishap of some sort.)
I had a fair collection of Corgis (1:43 scale) when I was a kid, and I remember always being obsessed with the exhuast systems. Well, I still kind of am obsessed with them...
At one point I even decided to "detail" them by using a Sharpie or Marks-a-Lot to color the pipes and mufflers black.
So if anyone has run across a vintage Corgi Olds Toronado, Chevy Camaro convertible, C3 Corvette (with Golden Jacks, no less!) or the Green Hornet's Black Beauty, and the exhaust systems are colored in, THEY'RE MINE. I'll gladly pay you whatever my parents let them go for at that garage sale they had after I'd moved out of the house.
Given the number of Acura TSX wagons I see on the road (like, um, none) I'm thinking that's a no-go.
Absolutely, yes.
With woodies so played out and insanely expensive (the nice ones, anyway) I think '60s wagons will be the next collector-car-you-can-pile-the-whole-family-in-for-a-cruise-night trend.
This is so interesting looking, nicely equipped (air conditioning!), and relatively easy to own that I''d be on it in a heartbeat.
By the way, someone did mention the Astro, it is right below this thread.
Yes, I know. We were apparently writing our comments at the exact same moment. By the time I hit "submit," his had appeared.
Here in rust-free California, the "puhleeze" doesn't apply. I see perhaps dozens of Astros on the road daily, starting early in the morning at my health club, which looks down on a freeway where many of them are our early for work (plus many, MANY Ford E-Series).
They're also still in a lot of fleets. Kaiser-Permanente has them running around as maintenance vehicles, although likely later production versions.
There are even work vehicle specialty car lots in some of our working-class neighborhoods that always have several on hand, newly refurbished with cheap-o refrigerator white paint. They're still popular with handymen, gardeners, painters and the like.
And they make it look EXACTLY like a Mercedes-Benz!
/laughableseventiesadvertising
/lookitup
Anything Japanese turned back into iron oxide years ago in any region that has seasons.
Yep, I just saw a first-gen Accord parked at Target today. (California has the dual distinction of being both somewhat immune to rusting its cars, and also was more accepting of them back when they were called "foreign" and banned from UAW parking lots.)
Oops...looks like we were posting/nominating at the same time!
I have a "question of the weekend."
Are we ever, EVER going to see an "answer of the weekend" or "answer of last weekend," or are these just here to languish unanswered like a love letter from the pimply-faced nerd to the hottie cheerleader?
Can't believe the thread's been going this long without a mention of the Chevy Astro / GMC Safari (among the repeated comments about the same cars over and over).
Still see them hobbling along in various states of disrepair, although I realize that at least half the production was from the '90s.
It's hard NOT to survive in two layers of bubble wrap, up on jackstands (with protective plastic caps on top of them), and stored in an insulated, climate-and-humidity-controlled garage with a micron dust filter system.
Game...set...match. We have a winner.
Close second would be anything from Marinello.
The one you show is a first-gen Seville ('75-78). By the '80s, GM had really f'd the car up.
