Christine Spotted!

[swestoyz]

While leaving Menards today (sorry, was not a washer trip, this was a justified purchase run ;-) ), I had forgotten why I had parked near the entrance side. I NEVER park on this side of the store, because you then have to walk back across the parking lot from the exit.

I now see why fate decided to play a little game today. I thought to myself, geez, that sure is a RED Plymouth next to the Tahoe!

 

[swestoyz]

1958 Belvedere

Such a beautiful car. Love-'em or hate-'em - it is best to respect the idea that someone in that store didn't want to be like the rest of the drones driving around in plastic Fords and SUV's.

Okay, that was a bit drastic. But it was certainly cool to see something fresh today.

My original passion is vintage automobiles - late 50's through the 70's and 80's. More of a GM nut - but have plenty of respect for those Mopar brethren.

Growing up I loved the movie Christine. I never really thought of it as a horror flick - but more that of a great story of a kid loving something too much. Plus, the car looked great too.

 

[swestoyz]

I certainly remember the radio from the movie - and the 50's hits to remind predators that Christine meant business.

Notice the lovely push button shifting on the left hand side of the steering wheel - and that the brakes are posting that they are power assisted! And don't mind those rear passengers when looking in the rear-view mirror.

It can be a chore to drive something like this daily with drums and all - but was very cool to see in the parking lot of Menards. I don't usually snap photos when I see an old Corvette or a Camaro - but this was unique.

So - anyone else out there have photos of some old cool cars they've seen this summer?

Ben

FYI - see the link below to a short tid-bit on the movie/car.

http://plymouthcentral.com/christine1.html

 

[jeffg]

My best bud's high school car:

 

[jeffg]

Interior shot:

 

[rickr]

one of my old schools...

I love the 57-58 Plymouths, but they sure rusted!! Glad this example was restored to profection. Too bad it is not a FURY, but only a BELVADERE(sp??) with FURY trim. Still looks great as a Christine.

Here is a pixs of my 61 Oldsmobile Super 88. We drove it several miles today. Took the boyz swimming at my sisters pool, then ran around a bit. Like all large block V8's of this eara, the Olds has a "drinking problem" and premium fuel to boot!! About 10-13 mpg is all one can expect in town. Maybe 15-16 on the highway. They are great to drive, and very fast, but they got that drinking problem... <:

 

[petek]

It looks great. Those were the days when you could actually see the brake pedal and gas pedal from standing outside the car. Can't do that on any of the new ones. There was a classic car show here last month. I wasn't expecting much and didn't take my camera but was really surprised how many cars there were in it.
I'm partial to the "authentic" not-gussied up old 50's and 60's sedans, say like a 65 Custom 500 or such because they're so few and far between now, nobody kept em like they did the hotter cars

 

[58limited]

Didn't get a pic, but I was opening the blinds in my living room and saw a'54 Olds driving by. So nice to see people drive their old cars around town. I need to take my '58 Buick for a spin soon.

 

[hydralique]

Wow, that ‘58 Plymouth is cool. When I was a very small boy, my mother had a similar Plymouth, but it was a black four-door hardtop. Normally my dad would never buy a hardtop. He was a missle engineer, and felt hardtops weren’t as strong as sedans, but he got a deal on the Plymouth used and even he admitted it was a pretty car. I used to stand up on the front seat to see over the dashboard!

This pic here is from the Citroen Club’s Rendezvous 2008, which was held in Ventura CA this past weekend. That’s a really nice ‘72 DS21 Pallas in the foregound.

 

[hydralique]

And another pic

This photo is of a very special Citroen SM with the optional RR (Resin Reinforcee) wheels and European spec swivelling and self-leveling headlamp system - those inner lamps turn with the steering wheel. Unfortunately due to antiquated lighting laws here in the US Citroen was unable to fit these lamps, or the aerodynamic glass covers over them, and so American spec cars all had four fixed round lamps. These lamps and all the associated hardware to make them swivel and level are now very expensive to buy and restore.

The RR wheels look like alloy wheels, but the material is actually painted, reinforced plastic. Michelin invented them for the SM. They are very light (lighter than most alloy wheels) and yet durable enough to withstand the abuse of rallying. They were fitted to the SM which won the Morocco Rally in ‘71 and shortly thereafter became an option for French market cars. Very few RR wheels were made (none made it to the US officially) and they are now highly prized. This car is owned by the proprietor of SM World and very rarely goes out of his shop!

 

[countryford]

mine and my b/f's car with me in it

1962 corvette

 

[whirlcool]

My parents had a 1958 Plymouth Belvadere and it didn't have that aluminum trim on the outside panel of the tail fins. I thought that only came on the Fury model a Rick has said.
They had that car until 1961 when it threw a rod. It was only a 6 cylinder flathead.

Those Citroen SM's were pretty popular her in the US. IN the late 70's early 80's you could buy them pretty cheap. But the technology used in those cars was very leading edge, and a lot could go wrong with them.
I always thought that the Citroen DS's were very strange, typically French. But remember they first came out in 1955. They were WAY ahead of their time. Though they are strange looking cars, they ride wonderfully. Very thick foam seats with a nice velour finish to them. In fact, they were the smoothest riding car I had ever been in!

 

[gizmo]

Citroens

I love Citroens. I used to drive a 74 Citroen GS. They had an air cooled flat four up front, driving the front wheels, hydraulic suspension and brakes. (full power hydraulic brakes, not vacuum boosted like almost all other cars.) When you stand on the brake pedal it opens a valve which lets pressurized fluid from the suspension system into the brakes. It works amazingly well but the pedal barely moves, it reacts to pressure not movement of the pedal. After driving one, every other cars feels sloppy in the brakes. First time you drive one, you generally just about put yourself through the windscreen, it is very sensitive and takes some getting used to. The styling of the GS is gorgeous, but they are appalling to work on. You have to remove the distributor to adjust the points! To change the spark plugs (two on each side, very low down)you remove the headlights. This isn't so bad as they just unclip. Three clips and they lift out. My car wasn't a very good example and it gave me some grief, but after about 20 years the scars have healed and it is one of my most fondly remembered cars.

Was the GS ever sold in USA or Canada?

Chris

http://www.citroenet.org.uk/passenger-cars/michelin/gs/gs-01.html

 

[gizmo]

And Citroens may have disappeared from the US market but they are still selling here. Here is a link to the Citroen Australia website.

My current car is a Peugeot 307 wagon. The Citroen C4 is based on the Peugeot 307, as Citroen is now owned by Peugeot. I bought the Peugeot version mainly because only Pug has a wagon version, also Peugeot have a much wider dealer network in AU that Cit does.

Chris.

http://203.210.122.138/

 

[Brent-Aucoin]

Awesome cars! And links!
Thanks
Brent

 

[hydralique]

Gizmo . . .

Unfortunately the GS was never sold in the US. Citroen discontinued the DS here after '72, for '73 sold only the SM, and in '74 they pulled out altogether. A small series of CXs were brought in privately and converted to meet US laws in the '80s but that wasn't official. Air cooled engines are more difficult to smog than water cooled engines, which may have been one of the reasons the GS never made it here. Even VW had to inject the Beetle in about '74. I think the GS is a wonderful car and would love to have one - most preferably a 1300 five speed. I love the pressure sensitive brakes too - so much nicer than a master cylinder and vacuum booster.

I never worked on a GS but the DS isn't bad at all. A carburetted SM has a much fussier engine but some other items are easier than the DS. It is possible to set the points in an SM without taking the distributer off (which is what the book says to do!), but getting the left-bank points and right bank points properly synchronized does take awhile and the engine will be really spastic if they're not right. This pic here is of the injected SM, which has a much more densely packed engine compartment than the carburetted cars . . . I think it would be enough to send me back to my father's old '65 ID19, with the single barrel Solex and super-simple Ducellier hairpin style points!