Where to gather good information about classics?

"Oppenheimer - not missing my shitboxes anymore" (reivax-rotciv) 12/04/2019 at 10:56 • Filed to: None

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Hey, I was searching about old American metal these days, and I always end up reading on Wikipedia .

There are some books for sale that seem decent but I’m not that committed to making an investment.

Wikipedia sometimes doesn’t seem reliable, despite being accurate more often than not.

Forum information is GREAT, but really really disorganized.

So I’d like to know: where do you guys go for some classic car masturbation research?

Picture for attention

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Oppenheimer - not missing my shitboxes anymore 12/04/2019 at 11:18

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Are you trying to look up a lot of information in general, or by decade, or by marque, or...?

A lot of the big “design classic” type books are big on pictures but light on details, and their choices aren’t necessarily anything but personal whimsy of the author or trendwhoring. Expect the ‘59 Caddies, the ‘61 Lincolns, the ‘57 Chevies... not necessarily anything fun.

One of my favorite books on cars from the brass era up through ‘74, just to browse, is an old encyclopedia called world of automobiles .

It can be had for like $50 off ebay if you have the shelf space. Has everything from technical articles to marque histories. Doesn’t focus necessarily on american iron, but it’s really wide in scope and has a lot of fun info.

Or you can just read Hemmings a lot and subscribe to their print magazine.

Or you can figure out which designers you like and look up biopics, or look up video pieces on, say, Ford design of the ‘60s. A lot of that kind of thing are up on Youtube.

Oppenheimer - not missing my shitboxes anymore > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 12/04/2019 at 11:30

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Actually is nothing specific. I just get a random fixation in one car at a time and try to learn everything I can. I tend to like chevy’s in general

WilliamsSW > Oppenheimer - not missing my shitboxes anymore 12/04/2019 at 11:35

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What exactly are you looking for? Virtually every make has a club where you can find exhaustive detail on a given car. I joined CORSA (Corvair) and they immediately sent me just about EVERYTHING you could want to buy and maintain a Corvair. They’re better than most, but clubs in general are a treasure trove.

Wikipedia is meh for that stuff. As Ramblin River notes, there are some good encyclopedias out there (and good websites too- automobile-catalog.com is a good reference for specs, for example).

MoCamino > Oppenheimer - not missing my shitboxes anymore 12/04/2019 at 11:37

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Try the GM Heritage Center. They have a ton of historical information on all things GM.

https://www.gmheritagecenter.com/gm-heritage-archive/vehicle-information-kits.html

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Oppenheimer - not missing my shitboxes anymore 12/04/2019 at 11:59

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This might be good:

https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=1DiNAgAAQBAJ

Oppenheimer - not missing my shitboxes anymore > MoCamino 12/04/2019 at 17:36

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My friend  I feel like I've won the lottery!!!

MoCamino > Oppenheimer - not missing my shitboxes anymore 12/04/2019 at 17:52

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That’s how I felt when I first found that site, too.  :)

NojustNo > Oppenheimer - not missing my shitboxes anymore 12/04/2019 at 22:59

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I’ ve got a chilton’ s guide f or a chevette. Does that help?

Found it along with a half dozen other similar oddities ... at a habitat for humanity store of all places.

Oh and this was cool from a garage sale. And ma y even be a relevant reply ! #content  

Oppenheimer - not missing my shitboxes anymore > WilliamsSW 12/05/2019 at 04:10

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That’s a good advice, but there are two caveats on that.

I) As I don’t have a specific car, and am constantly changing my fixation object, it’s a bit strange going to forums, as I don’t have specific questions. IN my case, most of the forum users are not that receptive;

II) Information in forum, as mentioned, are all disorganized in general. Yes, you can find the difference between the 68 and 69 car, but probably is on the 43rd page of the “Swapping big block on my 66" thread....

Oppenheimer - not missing my shitboxes anymore > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 12/05/2019 at 04:10

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And thank you for the encyclopaedia tip. Never heard of them before!

Oppenheimer - not missing my shitboxes anymore > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 12/05/2019 at 04:11

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It looks good, thanks you!

But not willing to invest £25 yet...

Oppenheimer - not missing my shitboxes anymore > NojustNo 12/05/2019 at 04:12

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I love it all, but the highlight was the Std Catalog of American Cars! Will try to find it on ebay! Or you have any intention of parting ways with it?

WilliamsSW > Oppenheimer - not missing my shitboxes anymore 12/05/2019 at 08:13

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Oh I don’t mean the forums, they’re a mess usually. CORSA sent me a book and some other info. It’s actually organized so you can find things. It’s a brilliant reference for buying, maintaining, and repairing any Corvair .

Automobile-catalog is a good reference for specs it seems, and has links to road tests.

Some of the paper encyclopedias should be good for differences between years, and they usually have a fair number of pictures. 

NojustNo > Oppenheimer - not missing my shitboxes anymore 12/05/2019 at 09:24

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The catalog is pretty good.  Has  black and white photos and brief descriptions with t ech specs.

Id consider parting with it if you can’t find one . let me know in this thread if so.

Oppenheimer - not missing my shitboxes anymore > WilliamsSW 12/05/2019 at 09:27

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Oh, I understand. Well, if one day I grow balls to buy a car, guess being a member of a club would help!

WilliamsSW > Oppenheimer - not missing my shitboxes anymore 12/05/2019 at 09:58

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I would add that TTAC and Curbside Classics has some great stuff. I find the latter site a great wormhole to lose some time in - articles tend to be about specific cars. As is ateupwithmotor.

Caveat is that I’m generally an American classic fan - those sites aren’t great for Japanese or European cars, but there must be great sites for them too.  

Oppenheimer - not missing my shitboxes anymore > WilliamsSW 12/05/2019 at 10:52

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Whoa, thanks for this. Now I have material to read until 2020...

WilliamsSW > Oppenheimer - not missing my shitboxes anymore 12/05/2019 at 10:59

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Lol yeah I could easily lose a LOT of time on those sites.

And have...

WilliamsSW > Oppenheimer - not missing my shitboxes anymore 12/05/2019 at 11:02

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I have that book somewhere. Bought it   probably 30 years ago. It’s fantastic, though I seem to have lost it.