Do you mean like this car???











This is for sale in RI.

Here's the link: http://buzztrader....252RI_149_2081.dat

Spirit of America packages were offered in 1974 on Impala Sport Coupes, Vegas, and Novas...for what reason, I do not know, since the bicentennial was in 76. I don't think they made an actual 73, it was a one year only package for 74 models and not on the Caprice, but they probably got it in 73.
Most people think it was a Caprice because of the unusual roofline those cars had. this is the exact same model as my Impala, only mine is not the special package and it's all bright green.... That's what the front of my car looks like, that was the front end design I was talking about they only used on 74 Impalas. You're right about the Rally wheels too, those are what I want to put on my car, they're essentially 2wd truck Rallys.

That car would be worth a fortune if your parents still had it! They only made around 2-3000 of those vehicles, they didn't even keep records of the actual production. I don't doubt the lemon story, GM actually had a recall that year where everyone got new engines for free because of a possible defect in a few of them. I think mine was rebuilt when the car was new by a dealer just to be on the safe side.

As for the Impala convertible, it's probably a Caprice if it's a 1974, because 1972 was the last year they made an Impala convertible, 73-75 were Caprices. Either way, it's still the same car essentially. And I would really like to see that car...there was a 75 online somewhere with like 120 miles on it. People started buying them up when they heard GM was going to discontinue ragtops, and many sat in garages as investments.

I love these cars.., you are correct that the ride is awesome...haha

Posted by MattTrakker Do you mean like this car??? This is for sale in RI. Here's the link: http://buzztrader....252RI_149_2081.dat Spirit of America packages were offered in 1974 on Impala Sport Coupes, Vegas, and Novas...for what reason, I do not know, since the bicentennial was in 76. I don't think they made an actual 73, it was a one year only package for 74 models and not on the Caprice, but they probably got it in 73. Most people think it was a Caprice because of the unusual roofline those cars had. this is the exact same model as my Impala, only mine is not the special package and it's all bright green.... That's what the front of my car looks like, that was the front end design I was talking about they only used on 74 Impalas. You're right about the Rally wheels too, those are what I want to put on my car, they're essentially 2wd truck Rallys. That car would be worth a fortune if your parents still had it! They only made around 2-3000 of those vehicles, they didn't even keep records of the actual production. I don't doubt the lemon story, GM actually had a recall that year where everyone got new engines for free because of a possible defect in a few of them. I think mine was rebuilt when the car was new by a dealer just to be on the safe side. As for the Impala convertible, it's probably a Caprice if it's a 1974, because 1972 was the last year they made an Impala convertible, 73-75 were Caprices. Either way, it's still the same car essentially. And I would really like to see that car...there was a 75 online somewhere with like 120 miles on it. People started buying them up when they heard GM was going to discontinue ragtops, and many sat in garages as investments. I love these cars.., you are correct that the ride is awesome...haha

that's the one... Mom couldn't remember what year it was, but it was probably a 74... they traded down a year must be for the Gran Torino. I didn't realize how rare that car was until you just said something. As for the convertible, I'll take the Luminator up there tomorrow and see if its still in the garage. I'm not kidding... the car was bought for the grandmother and she quit driving shortly after she got the car. It was purchased in or around White Plains NY... it's like a pale pale green almost cream color with a black interior. As I remember it, it had power everything.

Now with my parents' car, i'm positive it had a console with a floorshift for some reason...

Samurai

Seriously? I have a Mexican Chevrolet brochure for 1974. It only has Impalas. I guess Mexico never got the Caprice, maybe no Monte Carlo or Malibu either. Anyway, the car featured in it is IDENTICAL to my car, save for a white vinyl roof, but same color inside and out...
...with one weird exception, it has a full length center console with a floor shift for an automatic, and swivel buckets like a Monte Carlo would have. LOL

Yet, when you look in the pic, the steering column still had the shifter on it, with the indicator on the dash even though the console had an indicator. And in another pic, the bracket was there for the shifter but the column shift itself was gone.

So I think maybe they offered it in Mexico as an option since maybe you couldn't get anything else with a console. Maybe they cobbled the car together for the photo shoot and did a really crappy job. I wouldn't be surprised, in one of the pics, the car is missing one hubcap in plain view and they didn't even give a shit, took the pics anyway. Then they just went to some ghetto-ass Mexican zoo and had animals sit on the hoods of the cars and shit like that. It's a riot, I really need to scan this in.

That's really bizarre. But then, the GM cars that did have console shifters usually still had the linkage connected to the column. Just for the key lockout and gear position thing.

Matt: That primer ins't an epoxy as far as I know. It etches into the metal, which most epoxy primers like PPG's DP90(the black stuff that GM puts on their sheetmetal) don't do. In fact, the front clip on my Caprice was sprayed earlier in the restoration with DP90, while the body shell was done in the self-etching stuff. It's been sitting in a barn for about 5 years now, and the DP90 is getting surface rust, where the etching stuff is basically fine.

They have some neat clone cars in Mexico, like the "Dodge Dart K", which is a K car, the Dodge "Phantum R/T" (A hard LeBaron coupe) and the Volkswagen Caddy (Old school Rabbit pickup)

Too bad they stopped making rear engined Beetles last year. They still make an aircooled 70's style Microbus though.

Yeah, that's some weird stuff. I was talking to a guy from Laredo a couple years ago that said when the '97 Ford pickups came out, they kept making the earlier style. So they were sold alongside each other in dealers. Really strange. Must just be getting the maximum mileage from their tooling. At least in that case. The air-cooled Beetle thing must've been for different reasons.

I know in Mexico, that when the new Dodge Ram came out in 94, they kept selling the old style RamChargers down there because they were so popular. They had been produced there since the 80s anyway. I think they sold the old ones up until around 1997. Then, when the demand became overwhelming, Dodge started selling a new style RamCharger that was only available as a 2wd. It was only sold in Mexico and used a lot of "parts bin" components from the Caravan and Durango, while from the doors forward it looked like the 94-up Ram. I think they only sold them for 4 or 5 years.

I know up here, the old style Fords were sold until 1997, alongside the new models. They call the trucks a "Lobo" [wolf] down there instead of an F150. The Chevy Tahoe is called a Sonora I believe as well. There's a lot of strange variances on US derived vehicles around the world.

I want one of the mexican ramchargers. I wonder how much it would be to bring one up?

Posted by MattTrakker I know in Mexico, that when the new Dodge Ram came out in 94, they kept selling the old style RamChargers down there because they were so popular. They had been produced there since the 80s anyway. I think they sold the old ones up until around 1997. Then, when the demand became overwhelming, Dodge started selling a new style RamCharger that was only available as a 2wd. It was only sold in Mexico and used a lot of "parts bin" components from the Caravan and Durango, while from the doors forward it looked like the 94-up Ram. I think they only sold them for 4 or 5 years. I know up here, the old style Fords were sold until 1997, alongside the new models. They call the trucks a "Lobo" [wolf] down there instead of an F150. The Chevy Tahoe is called a Sonora I believe as well. There's a lot of strange variances on US derived vehicles around the world.

Question is were the Fords manufactured at the same time old and new? There's always new model vs. old model overlap simply from dealer and manufacturer inventories so you'll see clearance of 2006 models sitting next to new '07's all the time. It's just the nature of the beast as you can't make thousands of new cars of previous model year disappear with a magical wish!

The way I understand it, they were manufactured at the same time. For a few years at least.

I remember reading over on Allpar that for the 1956 Plymouth model year, the demand was so high for those models that people didn't care about the 1957 models coming out and wanted the 1956 models still. So the boys over in Auburn Hills extended the production of the 1956 models to meet the high demand.

Posted by DopeNess Monster Yeah, that's some weird stuff. I was talking to a guy from Laredo a couple years ago that said when the '97 Ford pickups came out, they kept making the earlier style. So they were sold alongside each other in dealers. Really strange. Must just be getting the maximum mileage from their tooling. At least in that case. The air-cooled Beetle thing must've been for different reasons.

the older ford you speak of is the heritage model , basiccally the re vined all of the 95-96 unsold models and sold them as new trucks , just a litle inside info for ya....

Ford sold the old style F150 for a few years for larger fleet customers. Some major companies won't buy a brand new design, and Ford didn't want to lose their position as the best selling pickup. They did the same (although only for a year, and on a smaller scale) with their current style.

GM ran their new and old styles during the 1999 model year and will most likely do the same when they introduce their newest pickup for the 2007 model year.

Yeah they already have, the old style GM truck is called the 2007 "Classic"

Posted by MattTrakker Yeah they already have, the old style GM truck is called the 2007 "Classic"

Chevy did the same thing with the Malibu... even as they launched the new 05 body, they ran the previous body as the 'Classic'. There was something funny about seeing a Malibu Classic running around after all those years.

Samurai

Posted by Samurai Chevy did the same thing with the Malibu... even as they launched the new 05 body, they ran the previous body as the 'Classic'. There was something funny about seeing a Malibu Classic running around after all those years. Samurai

haha yeah, it's even more odd that the car says Malibu pretty much nowhere, just "CLASSIC" on the trunklid...didn't they only sell them to fleet customers?

Most of them were fleet beaters or demo cars, but quite a few made it out into the market. My friend Joe has a Malibu Classic. From what I can see, most of the 'Classic' Malibus were 2.2L Ecotecs.

Samurai

This is what I was driving until there was an "incident"

1995 Volkswagen Golf









I am now driving a 1995 Volkswagen Golf 1.9L TD

My previous vehicles were a 1985 Buick LeSabre, 1996 Dodge Grand Caravan, and a 1994 Park Avenue.

not my ride, but I've driven it, and I've taken a bunch of pics of it.



oh fuck yes you bet

I drove an A8L 4.2T Quattro and an RS4 too. Fuck I love Germans.

The white one is my daily driver. 1998 1.8T. I love that car.

The other car was my ex's. His brother gave it to him after having an accident last December. He ended up repainting the whole car charcoal (toyota color code). Fuck the color was hot. He was going to put a VR6 in it but got a 1990 BMW 325 which be bought and repainted (his grandfather has a body shop).