Jump to content

Can we have a Yank thread?


The Reverend Bluejeans

Recommended Posts

A lot of the top drawer stuff like the 1970 Hemi Barracuda are now serious money, and rightly so. I think the best ones are north of $250'000 now.

 

I don’t know how true this is, but I’ve been told even in the US the supply of really good cars is drying up so they’ve actually started buying exported cars back and importing them back to the US. Apparently many of the best condition collectible cars aren’t in the US anymore.

Obviously that won’t apply to cars such as mine but top end muscle cars, fins ‘n chrome cars and older collectible models.

 

Might be bollocks mind.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've never fancied a Yank but after reading this thread (and watching Vanishing Point the other day) I suddenly really do.

 

Before I went to the 'states I was an armchair critic of their (car) size, thirst and dislike of corners.  After driving them (1990s models), I loved most of them, to the extent that I objected if an airport car hire company tried to palm me off with a Camry or other Japanese full size sedans which had no character.  The Cadillac coupe that I mentioned was a mistake though.  Arriving at Seatac airport after a longer than usual flight in a 767 (they are slow!), the hire place offered me an upgrade, hence the Caddy.  It was a mistake because it was not a free upgrade and exceeded my travel claim limit.  2 days later I swapped it for a Luminar.  When I found the Caddy in the airport parking lot, I opened the boot and threw my case in, then spent 5 minutes getting annoyed because the boot (trunk) would not stay closed.  It kept bouncing open again.  An old lady, probably used to seeing frustrated Englishmen trying to close trunks, came over from her Caddy, opened the door in mine and pressed a button. Trunk gently powered closed.  I don't think she said anything, just smiled.  Next, I had to raise my leg to knock the parking brake off, tricky with my arthritic hip joints.  Once started, the engine sound made me forgive its irritations.  I gingerly wafted out of the car park and on to the I 5 heading for Everett.  At slow speeds, the experience was akin to navigating a cruise liner out of dock.  Rearward visibility was poor.  Motorway style driving was superb as this thing purred along with hardly any obvious connection to the road, feel-less steering included.  It made me smile, as did most of the other yank cars hired on numerous other trips.

 

Try one if you can!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have mixed feelings about them. I like the 50's to early 70's land yacht big horse power cars and some of the newer stuff (impala's, crown vic's) but a lot of the smog era stuff and the 90's-2000 stuff makes me sick in my mouth..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have mixed feelings about them. I like the 50's to early 70's land yacht big horse power cars and some of the newer stuff (impala's, crown vic's) but a lot of the smog era stuff and the 90's-2000 stuff makes me sick in my mouth..

They're only the yanks that you could call autoshite nowadays though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My uncle is into American cars, the first one he had would have been an early C4 Corvette in the late nineties, when I was about 13 - I used to mow his lawn on the basis I got picked up and dropped back in it. He now has a '37 Buick, a '56 Chevrolet, a '63 Thunderbird, a '65 Mustang and a '69 Charger. Thunderbird for me please.

 

Z1VHj1I.jpg

PxbWfrS.jpg

RZMbekP.jpg

IXTYtUT.jpg

kRk7zKn.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Embarrassing to admit (cos I live here) but the only ‘Merican car I’ve owned was a 2001 Dodge Viper Coupe that had been Hennessy modded.

post-20944-0-51358200-1546365890_thumb.jpeg

Identical to this one but with nicer wheels.

 

You never knew if the car was going to fling you forward at great speed, or sideways into the barrier...

Probably the reason so many Corvettes have been sold!

 

That said, if I hadn’t just bought another German ‘classic’, this would have been thoroughly researched!

https://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/cto/6774242090.html

post-20944-0-86384500-1546366144_thumb.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fucks sake massive post lost by the computer.   Less is more for me with American cars for me. 


 


Like Murilee Martins Impala,  


 


6ygkye.jpg


 


k565c1.jpg


 


25r2lhk.jpg


 


Down at heel Comet in  the French Connection.


 


2u965iv.jpg


 


Base spec Henry J 


 


2wqxvl3.jpg


 


Once you start adding pish like white walls, chromed wheels, gasser stance, stripes everywhere, tyres with Hoosier on them, engines poking out of the bonnet they look like cartoony clown cars. Hateful


 


A lot of em are hardly engineers cars. More accountant and salesmen driven designs but still potentially better transport than something that breaks due to complexity.


 


Their car scene sometimes seems to be an exercise in insularity.  


 


Pre war cars some of the best in the world before post WW2 craze for making their cars pastiches of military technology as it was apparently no longer good enough for them to be just cars.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not mad keen on US stuff to be honest, I don't hate on it, just that mostly, it's not 'me'.

 

Having said that, my choice would be a 60's Ford Falcon (ie: what the Mustang was built on) or a late Impala without the huge fins (a 2 door bubbletop pref).

 

Also, as I've admitted before, I do really like pick-ups/utes, but I simply don't have the stones to roll around in, say, an F150 or the like (or even a 60's/70's one) in the UK. If I were in the states for any length of time, I'd buy on in a heartbeat. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

attachicon.gif1200px-Buick_Roadmaster_Wagon.jpg

 

These are lovely.......

 

This all day long. I came close to bidding on a '96 (so with the LT1) that was on Ebay a few months ago. The interior looked spotless but whatever moron owned it before parked it in a field for years, most likely ruining the underside of the car. It was only a grand which would be a bargain if there wasn't the worry of a complete lack of a floor... Real shame, one of these is a real dream car for me, pure Americana in a sleek, fairly modern shape that pulls like a train and doesn't cry for attention 3 times a day because some shit is about to break again. Plenty of people realize that stuff like this is never going to be built again, so values are actually on the rise. Good luck finding a clean, low mileage example with the LT1 for cheap money...

 

Obviously I'm a huge fan of American cars as well, in fact they are one of the reasons I got into cars in the first place. You can probably ask me questions about the most obscure shitbox at this point and I'll tell you a 2-hour story about it. I bought my first Mark VIII 9 months after buying my first car (1.4 Civic lol), unfortunately bald tires and lack of experience don't mix well and it turned into a part donor at the end of a very long, dry summer years ago, in fact on my way to the UK! Pretty devastating considering how clean it was...

 

45669298765_92b7f33d6b_h.jpg

 

Then it took a few months before I bought my Mark VIII LSC here in the UK. Exactly the opposite of my previous Mark VIII, badly neglected by the previous owners I spent what was necessary (lots) and years to bring it back on the road, you can watch our own Mr. Hubnut give us his opinions about exactly this car:

 

 

And then there is my 1995 Oldsmobile Aurora, the only one in the country, and probably less than a dozen is Europe (excluding Poland...). It's always  been one of my favorite designs of the 90s, unmistakable, sleek, its just an incredible car in my opinion. It's a Canadian import that was rotting away in some hoarder's driveway/backyard down in London. I've seen photos of it on Flickr before and decided that I need to own it one day. It took about 2 weeks before it showed up on Ebay and I bought it sight unseen lol. Its a Canadian spec car, must have come over by someone working in the Canadian Airforce (or related company). Due to it standing for years (last tax expired sometime in 2001) it needs a ton of work and I haven't quite figured out why it doesn't start yet. Its stored in a barn away from my house so progress has been slow, but I plan to get it over to my place this year and finally get shit done on it.

 

37337481530_abbab5a2f9_o.jpg

 

Obviously there's an endless list of other American market stuff (Japanese as well, hence my Celsior/LS400) that I'd love to own. But time, money and space are limited so I really need to concentrate on the stuff that is a must have for me. Both the Mark VIII and Aurora are two of those, but things like the Roadmaster/Caprice/ImpalaSS/Fleetwood or more obscure stuff like the first gen Q45 are always on my radar.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Funnily enough, that was my photo on Flickr that led you to that Aurora. Glad to see you've still got it...wonder if the previous owner still has that Taurus wagon parked around the back of their house?

Ha, brilliant! I still have the owner's phone number I think. He also has a Saudi Caprice SS on his drive, next to a US Impala SS. I'd really love to save one one of the two but I have the feeling that he wouldn't wanna sell them, not for a price thats in relation to their state anyway. I remember a Taurus wagon showing up on Ebay around the same time, pretty sure it sold so who knows where it is now. You can check out his house on Streetview, there are tons of other interesting cars on and around his property.

 

EDIT: Holy crap there are new images from March this year. The Impala is still there but the Caprice SS is gone. I hope Im not too late.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love 80s and 90s Yank tat. It's always been a source of steep desire/interest for me, and I've been lucky to spot some proper crud over the years:

 

34352177263_b9701bd529_c.jpg1989 Chevrolet Caprice Auto. by Sam Osbon, on Flickr

 

22314132496_5ce4cb3a60_c.jpg1991 Chevrolet Caprice Classic. by Sam Osbon, on Flickr

 

18657785033_08c2a02942_c.jpg1985 Chevrolet Cavalier RS. by Sam Osbon, on Flickr

 

7175685187_76d66b9b85_c.jpg1995 Chevrolet Caprice 5.7 Estate. by Sam Osbon, on Flickr

 

6753957175_ed71f6f52f_z.jpg1981 Chevrolet Chevette 1.8 Hatchback. by Sam Osbon, on Flickr

 

6250668703_a53d6da4d5_b.jpg1980 Chevrolet Monte Carlo 5.0 Coupe. by Sam Osbon, on Flickr

 

9987343475_29090abf1c_c.jpg1990s Buick Park Avenue. by Sam Osbon, on Flickr

 

7098290759_e1cdbe7b8c_c.jpg1992 Buick Roadmaster 5.7 Saloon. by Sam Osbon, on Flickr

 

6655654525_e314858824_b.jpg1993 Buick Le Sabre 3.8 Saloon. by Sam Osbon, on Flickr

 

6136472301_b1100de0df_b.jpg1991 Buick Regal 3.8 V6 GS. by Sam Osbon, on Flickr

 

5762450287_48665fff1a_b.jpg1995 Buick Riviera 3.8 V6 Coupe. by Sam Osbon, on Flickr

 

5662511704_ffe0b77963_z.jpg1996 Buick Roadmaster 5.7 V8 Station Wagon. by Sam Osbon, on Flickr

 

8599951153_cece641169_c.jpg1987 Oldsmobile Delta 88. by Sam Osbon, on Flickr

 

8600549777_3f11324e6c_c.jpg1991 Oldsmobile Cutlass. by Sam Osbon, on Flickr

 

7679503644_432cfe0f7f_c.jpg1989 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. by Sam Osbon, on Flickr

 

6902016399_1bfb298e46_b.jpg1990 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. by Sam Osbon, on Flickr

 

6660897631_c00e1540db_b.jpg1992 Pontiac Bonneville 3.8 SSE Saloon. by Sam Osbon, on Flickr

 

6870938184_d4232c1d8f_c.jpg1992 Pontiac LeMans 2.0 Saloon. by Sam Osbon, on Flickr

 

5509200365_4b978fe557_b.jpg1990 Pontiac Bonneville 3.8 V6 Saloon. by Sam Osbon, on Flickr

 

7360959694_041d43572a_c.jpg1988 Ford Taurus 3.0 V6 Estate. by Sam Osbon, on Flickr

 

21766735372_cefcf798b2_c.jpg1983 Chrysler LeBaron. by Sam Osbon, on Flickr

 

5677930132_93d7e7e75a_z.jpg1990s Chrysler Vision 3.5 Saloon. by Sam Osbon, on Flickr

 

5680905771_366e5bf72b_b.jpg1993-97 Chrysler LHS 3.5 V6 Saloon. by Sam Osbon, on Flickr

 

16225528268_a01c312442_c.jpg1977 Plymouth Volaré Station Wagon. by Sam Osbon, on Flickr

 

14912678597_2074fd14a7_c.jpg1993 Mercury Villager. by Sam Osbon, on Flickr

 

6915583594_2518537c4a_c.jpg1980s Cadillac Seville Saloon. by Sam Osbon, on Flickr

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...