“1981 2door running need comedic work good running motor runs and drives great”
craigslist sent in by AGuyInVancouver
Craigslist Find: 1981 Parisienne $400 – Stand Up Pontiac Seeks Employment
– Posted on January 22, 2016
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Curbside Classics Archives
“….needs comedic work”.
Calling Chris Rock?
Ad is already a joke, there’s no contact info in ad. Hope the seller doesn’t need the money.
From limited experience with Craigslist, my opinion is that it’s smarter to let buyers contact you through the link on the listing, rather than to post your actual phone number or email on the site.
One of my coworkers now uses “disposable” phone numbers and email addresses after selling his car for full price – cash in hand- to the second guy who came to look at it. The first guy who looked at it then started repeatedly calling and texting him with harassment and threats, because my coworker didn’t wait “a few days” to allow him to get the cash together from who-knows-where.
Not to mention that posting your actual email address or phone number is practically guaranteed to get you spammed into oblivion…
Comedic, huh? Wonder how long that’s been sinking into the mud and grass. Put rear fender skirts on it, and this would be a slick-looking car. It’s another one of those cars that I find appealing, but my wife would be mortified if I parked it in front of the house.
I AM the wife (in my household) and I’d love to see this parked out front. If it were only a couple hours away instead of on the other side of the continent and across an international border on an island, I’d look into it. Me boyo likes big old diesel trucks, I like old cars, and we both have crossover interest. We need to get him a deuce and a half and me a pimpmobile like that Pontiac.
I’d give it a home minus the dorky K mart hubcaps.
Unfortunately, many of these were born with such hubcaps. Yet I agree, these need to go away from something different.
Those are factory wheel covers.
And here’s proof!
I thought it was the LeMans that Pontiac turned into a clown car
Wow glass factory sunroof, it looks like…..if it were close to me I’d buy it in heartbeat but my wife and kids too would be mortified…..
I once had a Wife who was ‘ mortified ‘ by every old jalopy I drug home , instead of being like most Mechanics who drink up the rent check or AWOL .
She ran off , my jalopies and our Sun remain , we’re both deliriously happy , I don’t think she ever will be .
-Nate
Your “sun” remains?
lol, I think you read that ad copy too many times. 😉
Oops =8-) .
It’s right though .
His is my sun .
-Nate
I am your father!
I adore my wife, she just doesn’t see the beauty in older cars…if she had her way the whole family would be driving brand new Hondas. There’s actually some logic in people with no mechanical aptitude driving new, reliable cars with factory warranty…I have had too many situations where one of the kids ignored a dripping fluid, or a noise, until the damn thing broke, and new Hondas don’t tend to do any of that stuff. I listen to the car, and as I back out of parking spaces, look for puddles, and do preventive maintenance, so I can get a lot of miles out of an old POS. Sometimes it’s worthwhile to just spend the $199 a month to lease Civics for the kids and be done with it.
I think of driving an old car as an adventure…
Same with my hubby and I – adventure is the spice of life!
Oooo, cornering lamps! Y’all, this is clearly the good side of the car. What does the bad side look like?
I completely understand the person who does not see the beauty in older cars. If you had a tool which broke all the time, you’d probably throw it away at a certain point also. Many of us old car fans have a dependable daily driver which is new(ish) plus a fun hobby car just so we don’t spend most of our days thinking, “what’s that smell? what’s that noise? Do you think I can find that part on ebay? Is it x, which costs some reasonable part of a week’s wages, or is it going to be y, which is going to make Dave Ramsey call ME?” Sometimes, the stress isn’t worth it. There are plenty of cars which I admire, but would never want to own personally.
Trying to think of cars that actually did comedic work. Mainly small cars. Jack Benny’s Maxwell; Bantams and Crosleys served as clown cars in circuses; VWs were the subject of jokes for a while, as were the early Ramblers. The last car that actually TRIED for comedy was probably the Gremlin, intentionally released on April Fools Day. Unfortunately it ended up being funny without trying.
No Pontiacs. Went from old lady’s car to young buck’s car without ever passing through potentially funny territory.
Check out My Mother the Car:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058830/
Nash Metropolitan, as seen on Weird Al Yankovic’s movie UHF, and others… That’s a comical car! Crosleys are pretty funny too
Maybe the seller meant co-medic; as in this car needs a medic; or more likely needs _cosmetic_ help.
Jack Benny’s Maxwell was not a small car; here is a screen shot of it in “It’s a Mad,*,*,* world” from IMCDB:
Don’t forget Edsels! Though they usually played the straight man.
One can only wonder what the interior looks like. It looks to be a very loaded example, too…cornering lamps, factory wire wheel hubcaps, possibly a factory moonroof? These cars are beautiful – this one might deserve that second look.
Well if it is a factory roof I am reminded of my Grandmother’s fairly loaded 1978 Oldsmobile 98 with astroroof. The electric motors that operated it would die every 30,000 miles like clockwork.
Funny, my Mom’s ’79 Riviera had issues with the motor on her astroroof, too. I think it was replaced twice in the six years she had that car.
Moonroof, cornering lamps, wire hubcaps, and in true Canadian style probably no a/c!
Not Canadian style, west coast style. AC on the prairies was very common by this time. My parents had it in their ’72 Comet LDO.
Ah, first year LDO. I’m impressed. I currently own 6 Mavericks and 1 Comet. No LDO’s except for a couple of parts cars I bought several years ago that are stripped and gone now. I had a chance back in 2000 to buy a truly clean 72 Maverick LDO with $500 on it, but when the loud mouth bitch answered the door literally yelling at me, I forgot about it and left. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been so sensitive. It really was in mint shape. I kid you not.
Not too long ago there was an under 1000 mile, showroom new, black 1977 Caprice Classic sedan on E-Bay Canada, loaded with every possible option you could put into that car EXCEPT A/C!! I had to keep looking at the picture of the dashboard to confirm. The side air vents weren’t there and it had the infamous basic heater controls. Still surprised at that one!
A Parissienne coupe is something I’ve kept an eye out for for several years, though I’ve never seen one. We do have a handful of sedans fumbling around, none in great shape. I’m with you, SavageATL. I love old cars but having a reliable primary is a huge priority, especially if you live beyond the reach of public transit.
The Parisienne coupe was Canada-only, as far as I know, and I imagine they’re pretty rare up there. Not sure if the last year was ’81 or 82 but it was gone by ’83 (unless the Canadian and American Parisiennes differed that year…)
That last sentence feels way too international for that car!
That Pontiac needs a better agent if it wants work. The publicity stills leave a lot to be desired.
I always wonder why sellers don’t take the time to at least wash and vacuum a vehicle, move the car to an attractive location and take a decent set of photos. If it runs and drives so well, a little marketing work should bring three to four times the asking price without breaking a sweat.
Ah the pacific Northwest, where even cars left in the weeds with the hood ajar are rust free. I’m convinced people who live there will never accept how lucky they are. I’ve been looking for a cheap W124, since even pricey ones will need expensive “maintenance” every so often, but only the pricey ones are rust free.
It’s true, look at the bumper fillers, still intact!
Rust free maybe, mold though….
A few years back one of my company’s pickups was stolen from northern Vancouver Island. It was found a few months later near Powell River, where this car resides. The drivers window had been left about an inch down and the interior looked like a chia pet on steroids.
Those fogged upped windows don’t bode well for the inevitable red velour interior.
Beware fogged windows. It is nearly impossible to get the musty stench out of an old bench seat.
I thought this was worthy of CC as these big Pontiac coupes would have been rare even when new. Only made in 1980-81, and add in the fact this is a true Parisienne, not the later Capricienne sold 1983-86 in four door and wagon only. Plus it’s a nice colour, not one of the usual dated tans or browns. For US buyers, remember $400 CAD is only $285 USD and Powell River is not that far from vancouver, and the border.
Now tell ’em about the ferry rides…
The “Capriceienne” was initially available as a coupe in Canada. The ’80-’81 didn’t seem that uncommon, but these later ones most definitely were.
That looks both so wrong and so right all at the same time.
The Canadians seem to love the coupe 2 doors versions more than the Americans. Not only in the domestic cars realm but Im the imports as well, I see a whole lot of 2 doors Accords, Altimas, Civics around here in Winnipeg.
Oh Gosh…. The only good thing that happened during the 80s was music…. The cars…. We’re the lamest…
*STRONGLY* disagree ! .
I think this car looks O.K. , nothing special . the full size Chevies of this era looked nicer to me .
I like many of the 1980’s cars , I own three right now .
-Nate
Ah this one is just one short ferry ride away from me
Be _careful_ ~ I went out to an island in my Washington vacation , in the pouring rain and bought a Ural Moto…..
ere I anywhere near this car i’d snatch it up because it’s cheap and if not rusty , would be a fun hobby car for Summer .
-Nate
Someone needs to pony up the $400 stat or else this one is probably going to end up in a demo derby. And that would be a shame…rare, in apparently good shape, and great-looking (in an 80’s way). Come on, Canadian CCers! Someone give this car a good home!
SAVE IT SOMEBODY!!!! PLEASE SAVE IT!!!!!!
Seems like of all the ’77-’90 B’s, the earlier Pontiacs up through 1981 are the hardest to come across. I spotted a 1981 Safari wagon on CL last summer that looked good on first glance- until I read that it had the Olds Diesel powerplant and decided to stay away. Considering the arrangement of the headlights and grille extending into the bumper, the 80 and 81 Bonneville (in the US) front end styling is somewhat reminiscent of the 1977 Grand Prix, if not more squared off. They also still had the Pontiac only instrument panel that was introduced for 1977. To me, those details make them stand out from the mid 80’s Parisiennes that looked too much like a Chevy, both inside and out. . .
Now that’s my kind of price and my kind of car. Remember I have a 79 Lincoln I paid $750 for back in 2001 and found receipts in the glove box for $4200 from work done in the previous 5 years before I bought it. So I LOVE cheap. Except for my few new cars, I’ve never paid more than $1200 for any ride.
Hopefully it has one of the Pontiac V8 options and not the lame under powered V6. That would be the starting point. If it is rust free then some easy cosmetic adjustments like proper Pontiac Snowflake alloys or Rally’s would be a massive appearance improvement as would a good buff job and the rear fender skirts are hopefully still kicking around. If not a good set of Catalina wheel opening moldings would be in order. This could be one of those cars that you could turn into a fine looking sled worth far more than it’s asking price with some easy mods.