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  #16  
Old 02-03-2016, 03:51 PM
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Originally Posted by Sandy G View Post
These cars are all MILD compared to this Caddy my Granddad & Mamaw had back in '68. Avocado-It was "Not Quite" a whole bunch of colors-Not quite green, not quite Gold, & not quite Brown. Actually, it was about the most faithful reproduction of Babyshit I ever saw. Worst thing of all, it was THAT color inside & out, NO relief at all. The Caddy they had before it was a 1960 Sedan De Ville, that was tan, & chrome. THAT car was a Cadillac ! Lotsa chrome, rocketship fins, Are-You-SERIOUS ?!? compound curve windshield. Love it or LOATHE it, you COULDN'T ignore it. They kept the Steaming Pile til '73, when my granddad Fritz pulled a Fast One. He ALWAYS wanted the biggest, nastiest, most OMG Caddy they made, but Miss Izzy-my Granny-NEVER let him get one..Well, they had to go to Louisville on business once every six weeks/2 months. They went up in like April '73, Fritz dropped Miss Izzy off at Rich's Dept Store, & then HE had a couple hours to kill. He drove by Cal Connell Cadillac, there was this gorgeous big 60 Special Brougham sitting in the showroom. Navy blue interior, top, silver body. It started Talkin' to Fritz, & lo & behold, shortly thereafter it was HIS, & the Babyshyte Special was ADIOS. Fritz went to pick up Miss Izzy, & made a DREADFUL mistake-He left the Window sticker layin' on the back seat. It was something like $10,243.79, she saw THAT & blew TWO gaskets ! She was one of these who thought that if you DIDN'T save a dollar & a quarter outta EVERY Dollar you made, you would LIKELY end up Going to H3!!, in a Handbasket. She was SO tight w/money, she SQUEAKED when she walked.. "FRITZ !! Are You Outta yr MIND ?!?... TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR A CAR ?!? It took her about a month to cool off after that. Worst thing was, I guess, poor Fritz only got to drive his junior grade Aircraft Carrier about 18 months, & then my Dad & Uncle Karl took his keys away. It REALLY wasn't safe for him to drive anymore. I still have that Caddy, '73 w/35K ACTUAL on it.. I would be happy to GIVE it to any of you who agree to the following-Keep it Clean, & Keep it FED. It gets 6 MPG in town, & a rousing 8-9 on the Hiway... Took ME going as hard as I could, literally ALL DAY LONG to properly clean it, inside & out...
Babyshyte green....When I was maybe 2-5 years old I used to call the avocado green in my grandma's house garbagey green.

I always LOVED the look of the '59 and '60 BIG fin Caddys...About as cool and audaciously American space age as you could get.

You've gotta give Mr Fritz credit the last car he owned was his dream car!
Mr Fritz's 73' Caddy reminds me of my Grandpa Ed's last truck...Grandpa Ed and grandma Irene had a lot of hard times in their and when they could afford to get another car or truck it was usually used (think they had a VW beetle or two new), Ed was a jack of all trades, an artist (he did some of the wood carvings on Macanac island, and advertising, and diorama work for various companies), and a carpenter. Mom who had her own recruiting business at the time helped Grandpa collect payment on some of his old work, and it was enough that Grandpa was able to buy his first new Truck. He was only able to use it for a year or two before he fell ill and passed away, but he was VERY happy and proud to have it.

I briefly considered a '73 Caddy when I was looking to buy a car. There was one at a used car lot near my workplace, but it was at the edge of my budget and it said 'not-running' on the windshield so I dropped the idea.
They are nice enough cars that I'd agree to those terms for one any day of the week. And you are right those cars are a LOT of work to clean...My '78 Lincoln Mark V is about the same size as that Caddy, and during the warm months I wax it my self every 2-5 weeks....Waxing that boat is usually an all-day affair, and I'm usually kinda sore at the end....The nice part about the wax is washes after it usually only need to consist of a rinse and towel dry to get it back to spotless and shiny.
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Last edited by Electronic M; 02-03-2016 at 03:55 PM.
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  #17  
Old 02-03-2016, 07:28 PM
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I briefly considered a '73 Caddy when I was looking to buy a car...
My father had a '73. Was early in the detuned regular gas years, had lousy power and got about 6 to 8 MPG. The worst performing Caddy out of several he owned in his life. It was plagued with roof rust under the vinyl top too.

I like the new Challenger, best of the 3 reincarnations! Congrats to Charlie! If I was going to buy a Chrysler product that would be it. They had sense to put the damned gas filler on the driver side where it belongs. Big minus for me on the Camaro.
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  #18  
Old 02-03-2016, 10:51 PM
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I like green, but not quite sublime or puke green. The Chrysler 200 has a nice green... I think they call it black forest green. Kinda reminds me of the "pine green" they had back in the mid-70's.

I had to make a drive to Houston today... the new one drove really nice and did really great on gas. Computer was saying I was getting almost 30 mpg at some spots. My 14 model didn't get that good at first.... took it a couple of weeks of driving it before the mileage got really good.

I think it's awesome that we now have these 3, 4, and 5 hundred horsepower engines that get such good gas mileage! Funny to think... my old Duster just barely got 20 years ago, and it was just a 318 - 2bbl configuration! My kid brother just ordered a Charger Scat Pack with the 485 hp 392 engine... and it's rated to get 25 on the hwy... Awesome!
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  #19  
Old 02-04-2016, 10:51 PM
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[QUOTE=Ed in Tx;3155647]My father had a '73. Was early in the detuned regular gas years, had lousy power and got about 6 to 8 MPG. The worst performing Caddy out of several he owned in his life. It was plagued with roof rust under the vinyl top too.

Uh-Huh.. Damn car never HAS run "Right", at least to me. VERY cold-natured on start up. You can "Shire Down" on the gas pedal, & even after its run quite awhile, it stumbles, farts, acts all manner of contrariness, & finally, will decide to GO !. And, yeah, Generous Motors DIDN'T paint under those vinyl tops-And my Cad, the tops all spongy right on the back where it is next to the trunk lid. Paint, GENERALLY, is Poor on it, its metallic-Silver- & I think it must have had an EARLY paint formulation where they'd taken out most/all of the really "Nasty" solvents. Interior parts/trim is installed on the "Close Enuf for Government Work"... In fact, the whole car feels like EVERY bolt/screw could stand another half turn w/a Wrench, or screwdriver... Whole car just feels Loose & Sloppy.
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  #20  
Old 02-14-2016, 02:03 PM
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Great choice Charlie! I've owned two of them myself. I sold the black one because it was just too hard to keep clean. Black isn't my favorite color for these cars anyway. I wanted a '12 in Header Orange, (the lighter shade vs. Hemi Orange) but missed the ordering window. For whatever reason, I think these cars look good in white, so I ordered that and had custom stripes made in orange. Added the proper script logos. Got a lot of compliments.

I know when the improved '15s came out it would hurt my resale, so I sold right before they arrived... Even so, they hold their value so well it cost me very little to "use" it for 2.5 years. I'm going to order the last model year of this current platform and just keep it until I'm toes up. I don't think there will be much in the future that I'll care to own. Get ready for small cars again.



Also went retro at the back with a chrome tailight outline like the originals and added a black-out to what would have been the valance/bumper break, if it weren't just one piece on the new models vs. 1970.

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  #21  
Old 02-16-2016, 08:50 AM
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Get ready for small cars again.
Carmine, I've kinda wondered about this same thing as well. It's often said that history repeats itself! One thing is for sure... we don't have to worry about that with the current price of oil!

I am not a fan of white, black, silver, or grey. I want a color, not a shade. However, that white car looks really sharp with those orange stripes! That orange really makes it pop!

Three weeks after I got my '14 Challenger, they announced they were changing them for '15. Had I known that, I would have likely waited to see what the new one was going to be like. There were many improvements to the new models that I liked. After seeing the new one's inside, I knew I would end up trading in the '14 I bought.

I've had this '16 for nearly two weeks now, and so far, I've been very impressed. I drove to Houston the other day. I was really surprised at getting 31 mpg on Interstate 10 with the cruise set at 69. I love the information center in this new one compared to the old one.

The only thing I don't care for is the electronic shifter. As far as I can tell, you must have the engine running to get it out of park. And, I noticed when I shut the engine off with the gearshift in neutral, the tranny went into park by itself.
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  #22  
Old 02-17-2016, 09:02 AM
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I can't imagine owning a remake of the original challengers/chargers. These new ones have Alot of plastic on them. Just make sure not to get in an accident. The whole front end and rear will fall off. I've seen it happen too many times. If I was gonna own mopar, it would have to be the original detroit steel like Dukes of Hazard. The new ones do look good but they're just simpy clones.
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  #23  
Old 02-17-2016, 05:04 PM
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While you are quite correct, one thing is for sure: All cars are made the same way. They ALL have plastic. Not only that, but no one wants to get in a wreck.

Oddly though, you wouldn't expect these cars to weigh very much. However, it's quite the opposite. What did a 1970 Challenger weigh in at? 3200 pounds? My old 72 Duster had an empty weight of 3000 pounds. My parents' 71 Charger was 3400 pounds. My '67 Ford Galaxie 500 XL was 3800 pounds (and that was Ford's largest car at the time).

These new Challengers have an empty weight of 4200 pounds! Lord knows it isn't in the front fascia, but that's what the car weighs. Still not looking good for a Corolla if I smash into one!
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  #24  
Old 02-18-2016, 12:53 PM
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Originally Posted by pac.attack76 View Post
I can't imagine owning a remake of the original challengers/chargers. These new ones have Alot of plastic on them. Just make sure not to get in an accident. The whole front end and rear will fall off. I've seen it happen too many times. If I was gonna own mopar, it would have to be the original detroit steel like Dukes of Hazard. The new ones do look good but they're just simpy clones.
Metal bumpers are only so good...My 1978 Lincoln Mark V has metal bumpers with plastic rub strips on them. I've hit snow concrete and a light post at low speed while parking it on three separate occasions, and that never left a mark (on the car), but the front bumper is mounted on shocks which add a weak point....Someone hit me from the side (at about 40MPH) catching only the front bumper, and that ruined one of the bumper shocks dropping half the bumper, and bent to other shock mount....Not to mention leaving a big dent in that bumper....I expected better from it, but I would still take it any day over the shitty plastic bumper covers on some cars. For instance my friend's last gen Prelude front end got totaled from a minor low speed crash, and our 02' CRV apparently had NO bumper or sturdy structure under the bumper cover (the cargo area apparently is supposed to absorb impact) and the rear end got DEMOLISHED in a crash that did not deploy the air bags....Still sort of drive able, but way too much metal was bent.

No one wants to get into a crash, but there are too many bad drivers on the road for ones number to not come up eventually, and anything fast like the Charger/Challenger if driven fast like the design begs is at that much more risk.
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  #25  
Old 02-19-2016, 06:11 PM
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Originally Posted by Electronic M View Post
Metal bumpers are only so good...My 1978 Lincoln Mark V has metal bumpers with plastic rub strips on them. I've hit snow concrete and a light post at low speed while parking it on three separate occasions, and that never left a mark (on the car), but the front bumper is mounted on shocks which add a weak point....Someone hit me from the side (at about 40MPH) catching only the front bumper, and that ruined one of the bumper shocks dropping half the bumper, and bent to other shock mount....Not to mention leaving a big dent in that bumper....I expected better from it, but I would still take it any day over the shitty plastic bumper covers on some cars. For instance my friend's last gen Prelude front end got totaled from a minor low speed crash, and our 02' CRV apparently had NO bumper or sturdy structure under the bumper cover (the cargo area apparently is supposed to absorb impact) and the rear end got DEMOLISHED in a crash that did not deploy the air bags....Still sort of drive able, but way too much metal was bent.

No one wants to get into a crash, but there are too many bad drivers on the road for ones number to not come up eventually, and anything fast like the Charger/Challenger if driven fast like the design begs is at that much more risk.
I have a 79 Mark V. I prefer metal to heap junk they have now. Seen way too many problems around here with drivers. I was put in a cement wall at 60 with my 76 Mark IV by an idiot that felt he needed to be first coming off a highway and all I had was minor bumper scuffing. Moderator at the lincoln forum laughed and said was just a bruise. I say that Damn car saved our ass that day. And there were three of us in there. I have a 2000 dodge full size van that another idiot pulled out in front of and I was only doing 40. Had to replace bumper, lights, and fender.
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  #26  
Old 02-19-2016, 07:34 PM
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No one wants to get into a crash, but there are too many bad drivers on the road for ones number to not come up eventually, and anything fast like the Charger/Challenger if driven fast like the design begs is at that much more risk.
Electro M, I'm not from the camp that wets itself in fear if I drive a car without airbags and 1000 pounds of safety sh*t. I have a few cars that never even came with seatbelts and they shall never have them! Anyway you slice it, still safer than a motorcycle. And I've also had huge old boats that demolished ugly modern junk... In fact, every time I watch this; I smile.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRJdHkvIRYw

HOWEVER>>> The Chrysler L-series cars (300, Charger, Challenger) are friggin tanks. Very strong in a crash, not just a bunch of airbags. I sold a 300c to an old man friend (he's 80). He and his wife got hit by a guy who crossed the center lane, near head-on. Not my buddy's fault, his damage began at the door. They both walked away with bruises. Car totally kept its shape. Yes, the plastic fascia crap was ripped away, but that car was tough.

Spare me the '59 Chevy video. Those cars were known for weak X frames when new. Total set-up. And whomever thinks that "crumple zones" began in the 80s; is a moron. More like the marketing began in the 80s. This look like an 80s car?

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  #27  
Old 02-19-2016, 07:35 PM
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"The only thing I don't care for is the electronic shifter. As far as I can tell, you must have the engine running to get it out of park. And, I noticed when I shut the engine off with the gearshift in neutral, the tranny went into park by itself. "

Talk to your government. Personally I don't like that style of e-shifter either, but NHTSA sets those kinds of "rules".
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  #28  
Old 02-20-2016, 09:32 AM
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Originally Posted by Carmine View Post
"The only thing I don't care for is the electronic shifter. As far as I can tell, you must have the engine running to get it out of park. And, I noticed when I shut the engine off with the gearshift in neutral, the tranny went into park by itself. "

Talk to your government. Personally I don't like that style of e-shifter either, but NHTSA sets those kinds of "rules".
Do you follow the "Allpar" website?
They're planning a recall on that issue or something similar.
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  #29  
Old 02-21-2016, 04:07 PM
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Do you follow the "Allpar" website?
They're planning a recall on that issue or something similar.
The rules about must shut off in park or foot on brake to shift, are NHTSA rules.

The "return-to-center" mechanism is a marketing thing... I believe Audi does the same (stupid) thing. Is that a defect? no. Has it caused problems? yes. That's what NHTSA is investigating. These findings could trigger another set of rules, but it's probably a moot point. Chrysler already dumped that shifter for a rotary dial which people seem to prefer (not me).
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  #30  
Old 02-21-2016, 05:47 PM
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The rules about must shut off in park ... are NHTSA rules.
"Shut off in park"? You mean you can't put it in Park and let it idle?
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