The want is.....real

"Dsscats" (dsscats) 10/26/2014 at 22:38 • Filed to: None

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Anyone have experience with these? They're almost silly, but in a cool way. And there's no shortage of good ones since they're only owned by old people.

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My citroen won't start > Dsscats 10/26/2014 at 22:40

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I think of it as a cool american SL

Vimto > Dsscats 10/26/2014 at 22:41

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I was predisposed to avoid like the plague any engine with the 'Northstar' name before I even moved to the States.

Zohaibman72 > Dsscats 10/26/2014 at 22:45

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It looks great but I only know it as being a bad car :(

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > Dsscats 10/26/2014 at 22:46

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No experience, but I always liked them.

BlueMazda2 - Blesses the rains down in Africa, Purveyor of BMW Individual Arctic Metallic, Merci Twingo > Dsscats 10/26/2014 at 22:47

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It's not very well built or reliable. Since South Florida is home to billions of old people, I once counted 17 in a single parking lot out of around 80-ish cars in a Century Village while I was out with my dad selling apartments there.

sm70- why not Duesenberg? > Vimto 10/26/2014 at 22:47

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They're actually known for being quite powerful, reliable, and smooth. Clarkson tested an early STS with one. He hated the car, but waxed poetic about the engine.

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > Vimto 10/26/2014 at 22:48

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Some of them didn't have a Northstar. The early ones had 4.1 V8's. Where are you from originally, by the way?

Dunnik > Dsscats 10/26/2014 at 22:51

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Whelp, it didn't sell well. Over-priced, lack of confidence in GM's reliability, 80's Caddys not seen as prestige enough to compete with the Euros (or Japanese), automatic only. GM was hoping James Bonda wanna-bes would flock to it like a Jag or an Aston but most Allante drivers I saw were rich older ladies.

Nevertheless, I think it's a modern classic and most people don't know it yet. That body was done by Pinninfarina, after all. And, for once with GM, it's unique chassis, the V platform: they designed it just for this car.

The Northstar V8 is probably the one to get, but the early Northstars had serious issues whose nature I forget atm. Auto only, yes, but the 440-T4 is a pretty durable and powerful unit. For example it was also put in the Buick Park Avenue. It should have a long life in the lighter Alante, and GM trannys of this era are relatively easy/cheap to refurbish, and usually take rebuilds well.

If the want is strong and real, I'd say go for it. You can probably find one with low miles and a history for not too much money (like that craigslist find). If you have lots of extra coin, you could do an LS swap or even a manual swap. So what you'd end up with is a RWD LS powered GT cabriolet with Italian bodywork and a manual transmission. What's not to like?

CAcoalminer > Dsscats 10/26/2014 at 22:55

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Buy this before Brian can.

http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/de…

Vimto > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies 10/26/2014 at 22:55

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I spent the first 10 years of my life in Leeds, England, moved to south FL with my parents 10 years ago, moved up to Pensacola myself in April.

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > Vimto 10/26/2014 at 22:57

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Ah, okay. I had noticed you had stated before you moved to the states a couple of times. Now I know. Military or just moved to the states?

Vimto > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies 10/26/2014 at 23:01

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Not military, my dad is from London and my Mom is from Ireland. I was born in Leeds. They won the immigration lottery in late 2004 and we bought a house to move here in June of '05. In case you're curious, the car we owned before we left was a 1.0L 3-cylinder Hyundai Atos.

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > Vimto 10/26/2014 at 23:03

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I think the Panther is a bit of an upgrade, as is the Note. And that is awesome. Usually in Florida, if you aren't originally from the U.S., you're here for the military. I also didn't know there was an actual lottery to move here. How exactly does that work, if you remember?

Dsscats > CAcoalminer 10/26/2014 at 23:03

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Much rather have......

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/cto/470776…

http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/cto/4716237367…

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/cto/472963…

Oh, and money. I want to have money too.

Vimto > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies 10/26/2014 at 23:09

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Oh yeah, my parents currently drive a Kia Forte and a Mazda2 (both 2011s) which are worlds better than the Atos in every imaginable way, as are both of my cars. We actually chose Florida because we had family friends living here already, and they helped us settle in.

As far as I remember, the system basically works like this. If you have some Irish blood in you - you can't be 100% British - you are eligible to enter. Several million people enter every year and they pick a few hundred at random (twice a year I think? not sure) to go to the embassy in London. At which point, you are health screened and do all sorts of paperwork.

After you've been jabbed and your fingers are nearly falling off from signing your name, you hop on the train back to your home and wait until you receive confirmation that you are eligible to be become an Alien.

Then they give you like 6 months to get your butt over there, or you have to re-enter.

^I was hardly a preteen at the time, some of this information may be wildly inaccurate

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > Vimto 10/26/2014 at 23:11

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That is pretty interesting that you can't be 100% British.

Vimto > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies 10/26/2014 at 23:13

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Yeah. I distinctly remember that because my dad's lineage is 100% born in London - him, his parents, his parent's parents, etc., and I was born in Leeds (northern British city), but we could enter because my mother was born in Ireland.

CAcoalminer > Dsscats 10/26/2014 at 23:16

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Those are pretty nice.

Dsscats > CAcoalminer 10/26/2014 at 23:22

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Although, at the $40k price of the one above, I'd rather get an E Type coupe

CAcoalminer > Dsscats 10/26/2014 at 23:23

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You couldn't go wrong with either one.

Dsscats > CAcoalminer 10/26/2014 at 23:24

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I legitimately feel like the value will go up 60% in the next 5 years. They're just so pretty and pretty damn cheap for something so iconic.

CAcoalminer > Dsscats 10/26/2014 at 23:43

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I agree. I especially love the Series I.

Dsscats > CAcoalminer 10/26/2014 at 23:49

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Did you see what I posted the other day? Epic shop was epic

http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/stopped-by-a-s…

I'd honestly like a SII too, but covered headlights make me swoon.

CAcoalminer > Dsscats 10/26/2014 at 23:54

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I guess I didn't. Very cool.

How could someone not love this front end? It's perfection.

I agree. I love covered headlights.

Also, have you seen Eagle's E-Type interiors? Magnificent.

Dsscats > CAcoalminer 10/26/2014 at 23:58

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I was actually chatting with the owner of the shop about the Eagle's. He hadn't heard of them, but he scoffed when I told him the price tag. As for that interior, that craftsmanship is insane. For a very small company, the fitment of everything being that good and the leather being that tight is just amazing. Buuuut, something just kinda throws me off.

Something about the raised shifter is strange, and that radio is too modern for me. Plus, wouldn't it be a bit difficult to use it with the shifter there too?

IMHO, a dash/shifter combo like this would be a bit better.

CAcoalminer > Dsscats 10/27/2014 at 00:03

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I agree terrific quality but the price is definitely steep.

The setup is a bit odd but it's all in the same position as the stock car. Also, I'm sure you could keep the stock radio.

Geez, Spykers are beautiful.

Dsscats > CAcoalminer 10/27/2014 at 00:12

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If I could get this interior in a silver E Type......oh my.........I mean......just so much beauty and simplicity in both designs. It's super sad that we have so many safety regulations today because we'll never ever get simple, smooth, beautiful designs like this again.

On the Spyker note, my 56 year old mother's dream car was a Spyker C12 for the longest time after seeing it at the LA auto show.

A 56 year old woman. In this.

CAcoalminer > Dsscats 10/27/2014 at 00:22

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I couldn't agree more. Also, Ferrari interiors in general were terrific from the '60s.

That's awesome. I'm sure should would look terrific in it.

Dsscats > CAcoalminer 10/27/2014 at 00:34

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That leather......so soft......so shiny......The other great part? The gauge clusters

CAcoalminer > Dsscats 10/27/2014 at 00:40

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True. Nothing quite beats a beautifully made mechanical gauge.

Dsscats > CAcoalminer 10/27/2014 at 00:43

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CAcoalminer > Dsscats 10/27/2014 at 00:55

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Exactly!

Of course, Singer brings up another point. I miss the craftsmanship. Most of those older cars were built by hand and were given love and attention from skilled workers and you just don't see that much anymore. That's a travesty. Also, I'm always in awe of how individuals could beat the aluminum bodies into such beautiful shapes.

Dsscats > CAcoalminer 10/27/2014 at 01:07

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Having seen some of these cars in person, I can attest to the fact that the craftsmanship is absolutely fucking insane. How someone could create such straight lines by hand is just unbelievable. But on an old Fezza note, I've never been a huge fan of knockoff wheels. Never have been.

KatzManDu > Dsscats 10/27/2014 at 07:57

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FWD, crazy electrical systems (USA automaker's first "digital" bus with multiple electrical signals on the same circuit.) Good luck. You figure if it's still running all these years later, those gremlins would be fixed.

CAcoalminer > Dsscats 10/27/2014 at 10:54

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I personally like them a lot but I can understand how others wouldn't.