So you say the 60s is the coolest car era?

"JR1" (type35bugatti) 01/30/2015 at 12:29 • Filed to: Photo Dumb, 1930's, Duesenberg, Bugatti, Cadillac

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I respectfully disagree.

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RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > JR1 01/30/2015 at 12:32

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Hmm, yes, quite.

The Plym and the Willys - two of the cheapest cars around. Still ooze class.

Brian Silvestro > JR1 01/30/2015 at 12:40

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disagree

BlurpleToyotaDishwasher > JR1 01/30/2015 at 12:48

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Let's just all hug and agree to laugh at the '70s.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 01/30/2015 at 12:53

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Well pre war cars are awesome, but try living with one. Ever drive one? Purely for looks is an opinion but they are apples and oranges in all categories.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > Brian Silvestro 01/30/2015 at 12:57

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Yeah I love the 60's cars, they have enough to make them usable, but also still pretty rough and mechanical, which I love. They didn't have any regulations that affected the design, they were free! I consider my 71 Z a 60's car, they designed them in the 60's and they really started being sold in 69. Then the regulations came and all the pretty cars were slaughtered by the mid 70's.

Fed(oo=[][]=oo)uken > BlurpleToyotaDishwasher 01/30/2015 at 13:00

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Laugh all you want.

nermal > JR1 01/30/2015 at 13:02

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As much as I hate to drink the kool-aide, I honestly think that the current decade is the coolest one for cars. Even though it's only half over!

Think about the mix of what's available now and coming down the pipeline, and you'd be hard pressed to find another era that offers that much diversity, or excitement.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 01/30/2015 at 13:03

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I've driven a Model T, which is one step further back even than these. In a practical sense, the Land Rover is a near postwar car - modern shocks, but four wheel leaf springs, no sway control, solid axles, single layer body, anemic power, partly-unsynchronized gearbox, power nothing, and a heavy simple build to many pieces. The modernity differences between my Ranchero ('63!) and my Rover ('66) are night and day.

Rock Bottom > JR1 01/30/2015 at 13:03

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I'M ON YOUR TEAM.

I bring an offering of Napier Railton:

BlurpleToyotaDishwasher > Fed(oo=[][]=oo)uken 01/30/2015 at 13:05

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There are some cool '70s cars, but it's vastly outgunned by pretty much every other decade.

youshiftem > JR1 01/30/2015 at 13:05

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Those are beautiful, but as for cool the 60's can't be beat.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 01/30/2015 at 13:08

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Oh yeah. My dads friend has a model T, he showed me how to drive it one time. Its not what I want to do everyday. I would love a pre war car but I think after the Z I will build a steam launch boat, then I'm pretty much set with what I want. I don't have space so getting a Land Rover is not really going to work yet, but a nice old 2 door Land Rover to tow my boat to the ramp would be cool.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 01/30/2015 at 13:17

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Concealed within its woods, the lord of Rover drives all. His treads pierce mud, snow, earth, and sand. You know of what I speak. A great lump, Lucas, wired with shame. Against the power of Rover there can be no victory. You must join with him, 415s30. You must join with Ramblin.

crowmolly > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 01/30/2015 at 13:20

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My feelings too. 60's cars may be technologically crude by today's standards but they were pretty regulation-free.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 01/30/2015 at 13:20

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RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 01/30/2015 at 13:23

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huehuehueheuhue

Fed(oo=[][]=oo)uken > BlurpleToyotaDishwasher 01/30/2015 at 13:27

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Yea, but the diamonds in the rough more than make up for it.

camaroboy68ss > JR1 01/30/2015 at 13:28

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but the 50s and 60s took those 20s and 30s cars and made them even cooler.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 01/30/2015 at 13:29

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I would really love a little one to mess around with and tow my boat after I build it, I met a guy with an Isuzu swapped one, was pretty cool, in SF.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 01/30/2015 at 13:38

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We've got one of these pending a Mercedes I5 turbodiesel and higher ratio axles to make it faster-er. There's a bellhousing adapter and special flywheel to buy, after which a quick notch to the oil pan, custom motor mounts, and the correct choice of radiator get it done:

At this time, the chassis is ready to go as well as portions of the body, but the younger brother that owns it hasn't finished saving up for the engine kit and some of the axle stuff he needs. Target color is Sand, like this:

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 01/30/2015 at 13:40

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So you work on them and sell them?

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 01/30/2015 at 13:42

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Nope, we've just got six in the family and have had... I think all told another 4+ belonging to other family members thither and yon in the past, some before I was born. I know somebody who does work on them for sale, though.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 01/30/2015 at 13:47

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We have had Mercedes diesels in the family like that, I still have the 300D. We have had a couple Land Cruisers, 55 and a 40. I'm getting my tires and rims put on the 240Z today, I will post the result tonight probably.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 01/30/2015 at 13:50

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Oh, we do the Benz thing too. Used to have a '74 240D, currently have an '84 300D, a '78 240D, a '79 240D, an '87 300D, and a '94(?) E300 4MATIC

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 01/30/2015 at 13:56

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Oh nice, My family went through all the models until the 300D. Not my dad though, he just has a truck and a 78' SC 911. He buys trucks at the government auction, drives them for a couple years and sells them for what he paid for them, repeat, repeat... My Mercedes is in for a service now, the wiper motor died and its stuck in there, I couldn't get it out. So I have a good mechanic that used to work for Merc and he said he would try to change it without hurting anything. I'm getting new belts too. Only has about 117K on the car.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 01/30/2015 at 14:00

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I don't think we have a single Benz with less than 50% more than that. Mine racked up 319,640 before the odometer said "haha fuck you" - probably close to 400k at this point.

JR1 > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 01/30/2015 at 14:37

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It is remarkable how in a decade of poverty carmakers were able to make all of their cars classy and desirable.

JR1 > camaroboy68ss 01/30/2015 at 14:39

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I think there is a valid argument to be made that hotrodding started in the 40s on dry California lake beds. Granted I could be wrong I'm not up to snuff on the hot rod history.

JR1 > Rock Bottom 01/30/2015 at 14:40

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I would love to drive an aero engined car before I die. I imagine it is such a brutal and amazing driving experience.

JR1 > youshiftem 01/30/2015 at 14:43

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You call that a personal luxury coupe? I'm sorry my good sir but this 1930s Stutz is the true definition of a personal luxury coupe.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > JR1 01/30/2015 at 14:44

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Well, in a lot of ways it's comparable to now. Things generally dragging with some improvement, and people finally getting back to doing things like buying cars *because there isn't anything else to do*. Some elements of it being a buyer's market due to demand limitations to mostly the upper middle class and purchasers of absolute necessity, and light touches of escapism to society in general - buy a fast car because as fun as it is locally, the world's kind of shit globally, that sort of thing. We're much more rerunning the 30s than the 70s right now.

JR1 > nermal 01/30/2015 at 14:47

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I do love the cars of today but I can't help but think the cars of the 30s were more purpose built. Today one can buy a LaFerrari and it is a "race car for the street." But when was the last time you saw a LaFerrari compete at Le Mans? In the 30s you could buy a Bentley Blower and drive it to the track and actually race.

JR1 > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 01/30/2015 at 14:55

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I can agree with that. Unlike the 1930s however we don't need the military industrial complex to save us from our recession. There does appear to be a general sense of optimism as well which was a much needed emotion of the 1930s

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > JR1 01/30/2015 at 15:01

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I'd comment that it wasn't even that the military spending itself saved things so much as that it forced the recession-prolonging measures stifling industry to knock that shit off to an extent. You can only Keynes so long, and while it's hard to prove a counterfactual, there's every reason to believe that fucking with the economy to "fight" the Depression... didn't have only positive effects and prolonged the shit out of things.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > JR1 01/30/2015 at 15:10

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To amend what I said a bit - I don't think there's actually less optimism or more hope *as such* this time around - because it was optimism that fueled a lot of the things we've selected here. A country without hope doesn't create a Graham Sharknose or a Cadillac V16, but it's a very self-selected kind of hope - putting a brave face on and deciding to soldier on and be the best that one can.

camaroboy68ss > JR1 01/30/2015 at 15:46

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it really started in the late 30s but it didn't explode in populararity untill after the war.

ranwhenparked > JR1 01/30/2015 at 16:05

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This is very true - also worth mentioning, a fairly high percentage of the '60s cars people really like were from GM, whose design was headed by Bill Mitchell. Guess what Bill Mitchell took as inspiration? Yep, 1930s coachbuilt cars. His aesthetic sensibilities were totally informed by the prewar era and he worked to incorporate those ideals into the modern cars he oversaw.

JR1 > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 01/30/2015 at 16:19

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Britain sure learned what happens when you over Keynes something. I would agree that the military industry did manage to hurt the economy as well. On the short term just look at post war Ford. One of the worlds biggest car companies had its darkest days ever due to a lack of innovation and a huge workforce that couldn't work because of the lack of innovation. There are many things I like about the car industry but I will say the rein of Henry Ford is not one of them.

Sometimes the best thing we as a people can do is put on a brave face to weather the storm. We must be inspired however to innovate. If not we are all but lost.

JR1 > camaroboy68ss 01/30/2015 at 16:20

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that would have been a great time to be a car person.

JR1 > ranwhenparked 01/30/2015 at 16:24

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Credit where credit is do Bill Mitchell did an astounding job with the designs he headed. The Mako is a masterpiece as is some of his personal luxury coupes from the era. I may prefer the styling from the 1930s to the 1960s but that's like saying I prefer diamonds to gold. Both are still excellent.

VonBelmont > JR1 01/30/2015 at 16:34

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Oh my god yes, but the '60s cars are the most affordable and practical cool old cars for anyone who's not royalty. Modern-ish engines and layouts, easily available spare parts, low prices, sorta safe, and the ability to do normal car things. Most pre-war cars are really expensive, especially for the super-cool ones like the Cords and the Deusies, and usually aren't too practical/safe on modern roads.

VonBelmont > Fed(oo=[][]=oo)uken 01/30/2015 at 16:54

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I feel like Anerican cars in general just went downhill after 1972. Everything became underpowered, oversized Broughamy crap. I blame the Ford LTD for this, since it brought generic "luxury" features into a midrange sedan, and suddenly everyone else felt a need to tack on vinyl tops and velour seats into even the cheapest cars. It was no longer good enough to be proud of what you could afford, but instead you had to have it all. They went from Marilyn Monroe to Ms. Piggy, both in image and consumer-base.

Combine that with the malaise era, general loss of patriotism after Vietnam and Watergate, recession after recession, and the curve purge of 1971, and you have the reason why imports became so huge in America.

JR1 > VonBelmont 01/30/2015 at 19:22

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Very true. It's just too bad the cars from the 1930s aren't incredibly cheap. I'd own all of them.

GhostZ > JR1 01/31/2015 at 21:12

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Why not Deusenberg?

JR1 > GhostZ 01/31/2015 at 21:35

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There is a Duesey in there. The green one

GhostZ > JR1 01/31/2015 at 22:12

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Inside Joke

Fed(oo=[][]=oo)uken > VonBelmont 02/02/2015 at 09:11

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Very much true, couldn't agree more. I'm just waxing idealistic, picking the cream de creme.