Sweet car, but it's kinda sad that it sits on the original tires (Ramblin Rover bait inside)

"WilliamsSW" (williamssw) 05/21/2018 at 11:45 • Filed to: Bring A Trailer, Galaxie, R code

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Claiming that it’s got 13k miles and sits on the original tires - shouldn’t those have been disintegrated into smoky burnouts 55 years ago?

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winterlegacy, here 'till the end > WilliamsSW 05/21/2018 at 11:54

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Unless the driver was a grandpa/grandma who thinks touching the throttle would unleash some evil force that would kill everyone.

WilliamsSW > winterlegacy, here 'till the end 05/21/2018 at 11:58

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Kidding aside, I presume that the owner has another set of wheels/tires for actual driving.

I wouldn’t back this thing down the driveway at 3 mph on those old tires.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > WilliamsSW 05/21/2018 at 12:02

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Whoa. That’s actually odd in a couple of ways. First, I have never heard of an R-code with 500XL hubcaps, because I was under the impression that they didn’t fit the 15" wheels. Every R-code I’ve ever seen had the Custom 300 style hubcaps. Not to say this is not an R-code, by no means, but that’s really weird - maybe there’s more than one kind of 15", and the early ones take a hubcap or something...

The interior is also interesting, because I had not realized that the door cards on the two-doors were that different than what I’ve got. Also, it’s a full-vinyl split-bench, and I think by far most R-codes were 500XL.

Detroit district code, 3:50 axle, made in Wayne.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 05/21/2018 at 12:04

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Also, it’s the Champagne that mine is supposed to be, but has been repainted less than perfectly from.

winterlegacy, here 'till the end > WilliamsSW 05/21/2018 at 12:06

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Watch as they don’t and you have to very carefully put it on a trailer lest the tires crack and disintegrate into dust because they squished too much.

WilliamsSW > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 05/21/2018 at 12:07

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I think the trick there is in the original owner - sounds like he was a big shot at Ford Performance, so he would be able to get whatever he wanted. Though you would have thought that he would want the XL?

Is this the same color as your car, BTW? Maybe you can negotiate with the new owner to get the seat belts from it :)

WilliamsSW > winterlegacy, here 'till the end 05/21/2018 at 12:16

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Seller seems to be a collector, and I would expect this to be at least close to a six figure price. For that, I would hope that a set of wheels/tires that aren’t a huge hazard would be included, but who knows.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > WilliamsSW 05/21/2018 at 12:17

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That’s the same color as mine, yes. I ordered ivory colored belts for mine, which given the fadedness and weirdness of the gold belts there, are actually not far off.

Oh, and the date? It’s got to be among the earliest R-codes if it was made in March, I think.

WilliamsSW > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 05/21/2018 at 12:17

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Ah, OK - I thought it was the same color.

WilliamsSW > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 05/21/2018 at 12:27

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Yeah, kidding aside, the seatbelts are actually one of the worst things about that car - not sure if the discoloration is from black vinyl dye bleeding, or driver sweat, or what.

The more I look at this car, the more I get a little suspicious of the mileage claim.

I have owned a car from that period with 24k miles on it, and a couple of cars from that era with 70k++ on them. The keys seem too worn to be from a 13k mile car, actually.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > WilliamsSW 05/21/2018 at 12:40

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Most of the wear is surface wear, and it’s still bright on the actual teeth - which leads me to believe those keys were carried in the pocket of somebody who, for twenty years, carried the keys but barely ever drove it.

The dodgy belts could be from having poor dye, absolutely. I don’t know that I doubt the mileage claim, but it’s definitely a 55 year old car...

BigBlock440 > WilliamsSW 05/21/2018 at 12:47

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The tires are in good enough shape, maybe not to go blasting down the highway at triple digit speeds, but good enough to putt around. They haven’t been outside or subject to the heat and sun that deteriorates tires, so they’ll hold up to anything this car will see (roll around a bit and park in another climate controlled building).

WilliamsSW > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 05/21/2018 at 13:17

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Quite possible on the keys - and I tend to suspect that the belts are just a poor dye job, really.

WilliamsSW > BigBlock440 05/21/2018 at 13:24

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Perhaps, but those tires should be for shows / auctions only, if you ask me.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 05/21/2018 at 14:29

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Built right down the street from me. (My town boarders Wayne)

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 05/21/2018 at 14:35

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...and the factory is currently making the C-max. Huzzah. Probably better than Atlanta Assembly (makers of mine), which ain’t no mo’ at all, but still.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 05/21/2018 at 14:46

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Focus and C-Max, but not for long they aren’t. Ranger/Bronco production is going in there.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner 05/21/2018 at 14:49

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RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > WilliamsSW 05/21/2018 at 15:37

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I had nothing better to do than to screw with the brain of one of the guys at BaT, so I calculated the max tractive force at the contact patch in first gear from torque and trans ratio. Spoiler: even with 3.5 gears, it’s theoretically capable of like .7G acceleration.

WilliamsSW > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 05/21/2018 at 15:41

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Hmm, the Frigidaire thread led me to Google the GM plant that I worked at, and it is long gone, as well - sad/not sad, I hated that job.

WilliamsSW > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 05/21/2018 at 15:43

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Haha - I’ve been reading your comments on BaT but haven’t been over there the last hour or two. My only comment was to the guy who asked whether Chevy or Ford was first with the 427 motor — that one isn’t even close ( 3 years! ) unless you count factory-backed race cars.

WilliamsSW > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 05/21/2018 at 16:18

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I see we have reached the point where we are debating whether or not the data plate is original now...

Given your history digging into these cars, it seems like Ford could easily be using different plates/fonts at different plants, or on different days of the week for that matter. GM wasn’t much better (if at all) at that time, either...

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > WilliamsSW 05/21/2018 at 16:30

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If the question will resolve on “Owner did something weird and dumb” vs. “Ford was drunk, as always”, the answer is very often #2. Even in the demonstrated presence of #1s of various caliber.

WilliamsSW > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 05/21/2018 at 16:38

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Yeah, I’m no expert, but this very much feels like a ‘Ford was drunk, as always’ situation - especially with the other documentation in order.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > WilliamsSW 05/21/2018 at 17:04

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I am quite certain that my Lincoln, Ranchero, and Galaxie are all punched with different number stamps, FWIW.

WilliamsSW > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 05/21/2018 at 17:24

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Yeah, I only know a bit about Oldsmobiles, and they used different tags and formats at different plants, some plants included information, others didn’t, etc. etc etc.

People forget that this was over 50 years ago - Henry Ford may have invented the assembly line, but standardization wasn’t all that standard back then...

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > WilliamsSW 05/21/2018 at 17:32

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The Ford plate format was standard, rigidly so, but what went on the plate, not so much.

For example, not immediately having different trim codes for the same color in different materials. Using the service area field for the special order number if one applied. Different number punches used on the plates which varied in size. Wandering location of punch. Extra letters for “trim code deviation lol” or two letters for multi-color paint jobs. A number not on the standard list getting noted down on the plate anyway, and a car with a color not on the books getting literally no stamp for color whatsoever .

Every single item on that paragraph occurs on one or other of my three FoMoCo products. I am not making this up.

WilliamsSW > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 05/21/2018 at 17:44

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Kinja is being an ass, but here are 3 cowl tags - all from 1965 Oldsmobile Cutlasses, for example- difference is in the producing plant. 1st and 3rd are 442's, middle one is not.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > WilliamsSW 05/21/2018 at 17:49

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See, the arrangement on the Fords is absolutely uniform, because (unlike Olds, apparently?) I guess they were shipping the plate blanks from central out to the plants with a usage guide. It was then up to the guys at the plant to arbitrarily fuck things up according to recipe and not according to Current Standing Silly Plant Tradition.

WilliamsSW > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 05/21/2018 at 17:55

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Keep in mind that in 1965, GM was just getting away from the idea that all of its divisions could design their own *FRAME* to put underneath a standard B- or C-body. Because what better way for Oldsmobile to differentiate itself than by using a ladder frame instead of the X-frame that Chevy used, Buick sort of used, Cadillac mostly used, and Pontiac dabbled around with (but bailed on)?

The first data plate is from Lansing - which seemed to be several years ahead of whatever the hell they were doing in Oshawa (2nd) and Fremont (bottom).

WilliamsSW > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 05/21/2018 at 18:00

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Also - let it not go unnoticed that the ONE body tag that actually says “Lansing, Michigan” on it is from the Fremont, CA plant - not Lansing.

Because reasons, I’m sure.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > WilliamsSW 05/21/2018 at 18:05

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Let it not be forgotten that despite organizing the plants top-down with the semblance of order, individual attacks of Irish democracy at Ford’s plants (today’s trim code deviation has white kick panel vinyl!) didn’t keep things sane, and Ford threw out all their bookkeeping from that era anyway, possibly in an attack of boredom. So, all this order, and it no longer means much of anything. Build sheets? Fuhgeddaboutit.