My greatest passion after cars is food, and I found this sampling of daily-driven CCs as pleasing to the eye as a Chinese buffet is to the tummy…
I actually took these pictures on January 31st. Thanks to “holiday lite” traffic, I enjoyed the rare luxury of arriving at work early, rather than in my customary Rockford-style, screeching-into-the-parking-lot-just-in-the-nick-of-time fashion. This pristine 1967 Pontiac GTO convertible drew me like a moth to a flame, and I killed a little time before starting my shift meandering the side lot where several other CCs also take shelter.
When I returned to the lot later, the owner of this black beauty was present and generously allowed me to take a TON of pictures–outside, inside, and underneath. The owner spared no expense restoring this thing, as well as making some vital upgrades. With a blueprinted Poncho 400 mill underhood, 17″ billet Rallys, and a full raft of Hotchkiss and Global West suspension goodies, this droptop Goat should go and handle as good as it looks.
I almost ignored this tired-looking 1977-1980 Mercedes 450 sedan, until the telltale badge on the rear deck caught my eye:
This isn’t your standard 4.5 liter, 180-horsepower 450SEL. This is the legendary and rare “6.9” version. With its massive 6.9 liter power plant pumping out nearly 290 horsepower (in Euro-spec tune), this car was the ultimate weapon in the Euro luxury wars of the 1970s. Its price, an eye-watering $50,000 in 1977, placed it firmly in Rolls-Royce territory. Meanwhile, its performance was unmatched by anything else in its class. This car caused a lot of unsuspecting Porsche drivers, as well as even a few Ferrari drivers, an incredible amount of grief. In all, only about 7,000 of these incredible machines were built.
The gentleman who owns this also owns a second one. Given this car’s rarity and many of its equally rare and highly specialized mechanical components, anyone who would dare to own two of these things deserves some kind of medal for bravery, whether it’s at the repair shop or the gas pump. He recently told me that the price he was quoted for a new 6.9 liter water pump was $1100. And that’s just for the part itself, not including labor to install it. Yikes.
I’ve always admired this tasty Eldo, from the first time I spotted it in the lot. Whereas the previous-generation 1971-1978 Eldorados were simply obese and flabby, this generation is like a burly man or voluptuous woman who regularly visits the gym to stay toned up. The owner says it’s a 1980, which means it has the durable 6.0 liter cast iron V8 powerplant rather than the fragile, underpowered 4.1 liter aluminum time bomb that would curse this generation of Eldorado in its final years .
Another signature old-school Cadillac touch–the outside mirror-mounted thermometer:
Believe me, this thing is as mint inside as outside, without the self-disintegrating properties normally found in 80’s GM interiors.
I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t get a few shots of this rare two-door shoebox Panther. Here in the Los Angeles Metro area, four-door Panthers of this vintage are as common as dirt, especially in less affluent areas. Even my best friend’s mom has one (not for long, though). The two-door versions are a rare find- especially in this condition.
I don’t have any info on this wicked ’69 C10 shortbed, but I like it!
Bringing up the rear, just like its engine, is this clean classic Porsche 911. A simple, timeless design with a powertrain that’s fairly bulletproof if maintained properly. I have no knowledge of the car’s exact vintage or specs, but this air-cooled wonder is another one on my automotive bucket list.
So there you have it: a veritable buffet of honest, street driven Curbside Classics to satisfy every taste. Just choose your flavor, pick your side, and Bon Appetit!
Wow. Were these all there on the same day? Where do you work? About the best that I get in million acre 2000 car parking lot at work is an occasional 66 Corvette roadster that gets daily driven to work at least a couple of times a month.
I dunno how to feel about that GTO, I kinda like some of the the upgrades…sort of….but at the same time it looks like a Chip Doouche TV magic resto rod, oh, and tell that guy that Chevrolet Rally Stripes down the middle of the car, have NO BUSINESS on a Pontiac.
I would upgrade the wheels on the Eldo to either the wires or the alloys that were available those years.
+1 on those stripes and wheels on the GTO
One change I do like to the GTO is the installation of a cloth top with what appears to be a glass rear window, unavailable when these cars were built (despite the full-size GM convertibles having them as standard equipment, starting in ’65). A plastic window would extend all the way down to the bright molding.
I noticed that the material was different, but I couldn’t tell if the rear window was glass or not.
I agree that the wheels, low profile tires and stripes cheapen the GTO. When I see dubious choices like this, I often think the owner didn’t ask the opinions of others, who may have helped. Some people are better at such decisions, than others. Looks great otherwise.
I don’t know if the Merc looks tired, so much as neglected.
I remember the first time I heard of such thing as a “restomod”, it sounded really exciting because I imagined people were going to be restoring cars to their factory appearance while adding modern, upgraded suspensions, transmissions, fuel injection, etc. What it actually ended up being is stuff like this, and that bums me out. I can’t say this car looks bad, but it could look so much better with factory or period correct wheels and sans stripes. I even kinda like this wheel design, they’re just way too big and shiny.
the GTO is tasteless
Agreed. The rimz are just redonkulous. “They” even make clown-sized Snowflake rimz that are showing up on “restomod” ’77-’81 Trans Ams (and clones).
Pro-touring -> tasteless.
I find, it’s like giving them a ‘Hot Wheels’ die cast toy car appearance. I generally don’t like the look either. But it rationalizes the style some, giving it some context.
Thank God, it doesn’t have metal flake paint!
Or a SBC…..
That’s always my same exact thought upon seeing cars like this. “Hot Wheels” – but not in a good way. I was always more of a Matchbox fan, so there you go…
+1
+1 on overly large modern wheels on classics. Blecchhhh.
A shame Cali makes everything here but the GTO and Shortbed get smogged. Could the box Panther coupes be a future collectible? The 6.9 W116 looks like it has a bad suspension. Did you almost ignore it because standard Benzes of that era are still common.
Common where? I see one every once in while, I wouldn’t really call it common, but they are kind of bland and anonymous.
Carmine nailed it with the bland and anonymous part.
Anywhere on the West Coast, I’m sure. I see them pretty frequently too, even 6.9s.
They sold lots of these in Miami during the Cocaine Cowboy days, they were like Malibus, our climate is pretty good on old cars and I still only see one on a rare occasion, so theres that.
That does bring up an interesting question though, what is the most common old car you would see on the road? Lets say over 30 years old so, 1983-84 and older?
Last over 30 year old car I saw in traffic was a 79 Monte Carlo Landau about a week ago.
In November, with snow and salt on the roads, I had a ’77 Mercury Cougar wagon drive by me. It looked in excellent shape. I have no idea why it was out.
I still see enough of these functioning to notice
What’s more telling is what you don’t see from around 1983 that you saw a lot of. Anything related to this
I think the reason we don’t see any K-based cars, or many small cars from the 80s, is that modern small cars are so much more pleasant/civilized to own. I live in salt country, and many Tempos, Cavaliers and Shadows could still be on the road here, as some would last a very long time. But people don’t want to drive slow, cramped, depressing cars. Some of these cars were very rugged. A family friend had a 400,000 km. Shadow. But people simply don’t want to drive them anymore. Especially when the cost of repairs exceed their value.
How could I forget the B-bodies of course, and Panthers too. I see an early A-body every once in a while.
Any cars popular with older drivers will stay on the road longer. Older owners will often keep their cars longer, and generally take good care of them. Plus many like traditional cars.
The climate and environment here is horrible for old cars, yet nothing is as common as old Benzes. It’s almost ridiculous how many are still in daily driver usage. If I’m remembering correctly, most German A/C units were fairly substandard and prone to malfunctioning until the late 80s (plus costly to fix), so maybe that’s why they haven’t survived in Florida.
Out of American cars, it’s Mopar A-bodies and big Cadillacs, but their numbers are merely a fraction compared to the M-Bs.
Over here it is Japanese and German mostly that are over 30. Fewer and fewer Aussie cars. Even early Commodores are becoming rare.
The old Mercedes I see frequently here is a handful of W123’s, which I’ve mostly memorized, there are 2 brown diesel ones owned by the same 20 something year old guy, there is a clean light blue one and a bio diesel/bio hazard burgundy one.
Every once in while I will see a Hart to Hart vintage 450SL.
Let’s just say that I’m a civilian employee for a large civil service agency 🙂 . Many of my co-workers, as well as many the uniformed personnel, are car aficionados just like us. That includes a few ladies as well.
I’ve got many more pics in the can and will be submitting a second installment of this article soon.
They’re paying people at the post office way too much………..
Ahhhh, California. Nice variety. Of this batch, that old Benz is speaking to me the loudest. Can’t wait for spring to arrive so that the good stuff can come back out to play around here.
I like the goat though the one I saw at a show recently has it beat no stripes or silly wheels but still nice car, I usually look at old Benzs just to eyeball the engine badge very few 6.9s here but plenty of 4.5s around the cars just blend into traffic very understated which I guess was the original idea.
I bumped into a guy with a 6.9. He said it cost him $1000 in juice to drive Melbourne to Sydney. Perhaps some hyperbole, but definitely a weekend driver only.
Either hyperbole or something seriously wrong with it! That is at least 500L (130 USgal) for ~800km/500mi, or 60L/100km (4 mpUSg). That is more than you would get through in a truck.
Sure wish I still owned my ’64 Goat!
Sheesh, tough crowd today. Nice GTO, I wouldn’t kick it out of my garage for wearing those wheels.
I really like me a nice clean 911 though…. Too bad they’re so nutters expensive.
I’ll take the Goat…but I’d ditch the rims and tires. They just don’t suit the car.
Much prefer the 911s, without the whale tail.
Yeah, what a clean 911 w/o all the boy racer nonsense. I just don’t see them like this very often, and I’m in CA, too.
Amazingly, I like the Eldo as well, especially with the Biarritz glitz brushed metal roof. A set of wires would be nice; maybe it had them once but were stolen. It’s not really my kind of car, but I always liked this body style and used to know someone with an ’83. Nice car and good times. I want it.
That Porsche is damn near perfect. Love the black Fuchs wheels!
The C-10 looks great, Chevy or not. Not 100% on those wheels though. Like the Poncho, the style is right, but the upsizing isn’t. I think the larger diameter mag style wheels look perfect on newer cars, modernizes the muscle car look just perfect. But on old school iron…not so much. Still, WAY better than the usual ‘DUBs” that you see out there…
I want the C10. I’ll take it in orange and white, and if it doesn’t already have one, I’d like an LSx in it too.
Love that box Panther. We had two in the family, and they were A-OK. These days, I prefer sedate comfort to sport, so the Crown Vic coupe would suit me down to my boots, especially in that color combination.
Very late to the party, but I’d take the light yellow Biarritz and the 911. The perfect combination: A sports car for twisty two-lanes, and the Caddy for just loafing along on a lazy Sunday.
I really, really like that two-door LTD Crown Victoria too. Maybe a three-car garage 😉