Changing of the Guard

Memorial Day, 2010 my parents traded in their '07 Lucerne (Lucy) for a '10 (Lucy II). No bench seat in Lucy II which was sadness all around for my mom, but dual-climate control for my father, and Bluetooth for mom's cell phone make up for that shortcoming. 

The biggest gripe? The new Lucerne just isn't as good of a car. It just doesn't fell as well made as the older one. GM, what did you do? Built in the same plant as the Cadillac DTS, and according to Wikipedia, the factory won quality awards three years running. The '11 has a bigger engine (3900 vs. 3800) for and additional 30 bhp, but it sure doesn't feel any quicker than the old one. 

I'm pushing for a Taurus replacement, and my parents are considering getting rid of it before they're even done paying for it...what does that tell you about how much they like the car?

Chrome Plated Madness

In London a few years ago, I spotted something completely ridiculous:

A chrome plated 911 Turbo. I guess some people have money to burn and no place useful to spend it.

2009 Ford Fiesta

Now wait a minute, you're saying to yourself. There isn't anything out of the ordinary about this car, it's just a Ford Fiesta. 

Take a closer look at the license plates, however. Those are Michigan Manufacturers plates, and when you combine that with the date of the photos (09/09), it becomes a bit more interesting.

What you're seeing here is one of the 50 or so Ford Fiesta cars that were sent out as loaners to artsy, social media types to churn up lots of pre-intro hype as part of the Fiesta Movement campaign. 

My keen eyes spotted this Fiesta in Kingston NY. Most people didn't give it a second glance, but in 2009, there were only a handful on the road. This particular Fiesta belonged to Fiesta "Agents" Zach S. and Paul H. part of an "indie" band based in Upstate NY. 

Notice in the pictures the black dots on the rear door and above the rear arch? Not quite sure what they were there for, but probably to demo one of the sticker packages Ford offers for the Fiesta. On top of it all, this was a five-speed. All in all, pretty cool to see one of these Euro-spec Fiestas. A little late on my part getting it posted to a "social media" venue...

1961 Buick Electra Flxible Professional Car

http://stationwagonforums.com/forums/gallery/showimage.php?i=517&catid=61

http://www.coachbuilt.com/bui/f/flxible/flxible.htm

VW Jetta (?)

On a recent trip to Mt. Washington, I spotted this car. Looks like any other Jetta Mk4, right?

Take a closer tlook at the trunklid. 

Any thoughts on how a Bora got to the US? As far as I know, in the NA market it was always the Jetta. The badge didn't look like it as a retrofit, and I didn't spot anything obvious that would make it a grey-market import into Canada.

It's little things like this that make me happy - spotting something just slightly out of the ordinary. To anyone but a car nut, this sort of thing is meaningless. Not me!

1964/65 Studebaker Commander

A brief post today, but from one of my favorite orphan car companies.

My reference material is of no help with this one. Seems that '64 and '65 Commanders looked pretty much the same, with some having a two-lamp headlight setup, and some having four (in 1964) before having four lights across the board for '65. I'm sure there is some small trim variation that marks differences, but by the mid '60's Studebaker just didn't have the time or money to really make any changes. This car would have been one of the last batch of vehicles made in Hamilton, Ontario. If it was a '64, it would be running a Stude built engine, either a 6 or a V8. In '65, they had made the switch to Chevrolet engines, so it could have either a straight 6 or a 350 V8. Either way, a sad end to the story. 


There is an interest tangential story that accompanies this car. One day several years prior, I was driving home from work on a snowy, blustery winter night. I was on I-195 just outside of Fall River, MA, when I spotted tail-lights that were obviously vintage. I caught up to the vehicle, and who could believe it, it was a snow and ice encrusted mid-60's Studebaker. I never forgot that sight, and when I saw this car at this show in Southern MA, I was sure that it was the same one. Amazingly enough, it was not! It always surprises me the number of old cars that are hidden away.

1973 Oldsmobile Omega

Welcome to another edition of A Car A Day!

As if Oldsmobile wasn't selling enough Cutlasses in the '70's already, GM must have felt that they needed a smaller car to bolster sales and EPA ratings. In what would later become a hallmark of GM engineering, Oldsmobile simply took the Chevy Nova, added a few unique trim pieces, and made an "upscale" smaller car. I find it hard to believe any vehicle that comes standard with an inline 6 and three speed manual transmission "upscale", but people must have bought these cars on badge names alone. 

Could it be anything else but a mid-70's X-body? Not much was done (or could be done) to change that C-pillar shape. At this point, at least Cadillac was spared having one of these shoved onto their dealerships. 

From this angle, it doesn't look half bad, and if you squint, you can even see hints of the '73 Cutlass that was just around the corner. Behind that grille you might have found a Chevrolet sourced inline six putting out an even 100 bhp, or an upgrade to a Olds 350 giving you a healthy 180 bhp. If you coupled it with the standard four-speed, you might have had a somewhat interesting ride. 

The evenly spaced vertical bars mark this as a '73. The grill would be the major change from year to year, at least until a major refresh came down the line in '76. 

Even in Kentucky, rust can appear, although I'm not sure if that speaks more to the weather conditions of the upper South or to GM's build quality.

For 1973, you could have your Omega in three styles: 2 door coupe, 4 door sedan, or a 2 door hatchback. This would be the top of the line, 4 door sedan. Surprisingly, for a four-door Oldsmobile, this model sold the poorest out of the three, at a rate of about 50% of the other two models. 

Don Jacobs is still in business, although as you can surmise no longer selling Oldsmobiles. Now they selling Volkswagens and Hondas. Take a look here for a recent article on Don Jacobs Oldsmobile. An interesting side-note is that the year this car was originally sold, the dealership moved to a larger property on what was then the outskirts of Lexington. If I had to guess, I would say that it wasn't on the strength of Omega sales that prompted the move.

A few interesting Omega links:

Omega owners Registry based on a Pontiac Ventura site

A few original Omega advertisements