8E45E

Okay, class! Which of these 1961 Fiats is the oddest? This one in the Petersen Museum? Or this one in the topic (National/Harrah's) museum? Craig

I did like that 1951 Frazer Manhattan convertible. Craig

The February, 1977 issue of Car Classics magazine compared it with Tucker: https://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/forum/your-studebaker-forum/stove-huggers-the-non-studebaker-forum/48183-orphan-of-the-day-12-16-1925-julian It does have a rather opulent interior:

I wonder if they were doing some work on it. That's certainly not were it was parked when I saw it last May!!

What a GREAT idea! To think they were almost, but not quite there!! Craig

This 2006 concept was an interesting one: https://www.motor1.com/news/314264/chrysler-imperial-concept-we-forgot/ Craig

Chrysler's downsized "S-series" was planned as far back as the summer of 1959, for the 1962 model year, which would have included all Chrysler products from Plymouth to Imperial. https://auto.howstuffworks.com/1960-1963-imperial8.htm After a management shakeup in 1960, Tex Colbert was demoted, and Virgil Exner's contract was terminated, and the corporate-wide downsizing plan was canceled for the most part. Only the smaller 1962 Plymouth and Dodge Dart got to see the light of day from the aborted S-series project. Craig

Too bad that Allstate is currently in the corner with its back to the wall. The rear chrome trim is very unique to the Allstate, and impossible to find for anyone restoring one: https://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/forum/your-studebaker-forum/stove-huggers-the-non-studebaker-forum/48043-orphan-of-the-day-12-12-1952-allstate?46900-Orphan-of-the-Day-12-12-1952-Allstate=&highlight=allstate Craig

I would make the 86 mile trip to the northwest and visit the https://www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk/ in Gaydon, Warkwickshire. And if there's still enough time left in the day, Aston Martin's facility. https://www.astonmartinlagonda.com/about-us/locations/gaydon Craig

In the interest of volume, Cadillac, Lincoln, and Imperial went DOWNmarket, not UPmarket like Mercedes Benz, BMW and Audi. I consider the last REAL "Standard of the World" Cadillac is the 1966 Fleetwood. It was an honest-to-goodness Rolls Royce contender. The wood inside was genuine, and there was lots of it! The leather was on the entire seat, not just where you placed your butt. The only thing less exclusive is that there were more of them than there were Rolls Royces. For some dumb reason, instead of keeping it a Standard of the World, the real wood trim diminished to nearly nothing by 1970, and starting in mid-1971, it was replaced by acres of plastic made to look like wood, and continued until the late 90's which didn't help separate it from its lesser GM stablemates. And I believe some of it is still fake on the new models. Cadillac foolishly abandoned the high end market just because of its expected low volume nature. No wonder sales of Mercedes Benz S-series and BMW 7-series went UP, and in the interest of volume, Cadillac didn't care to notice or do anything about it. And by going 'corporate' with the J-car made into a Cadillac, it only ruined the Cadillac image to the point where they are still struggling to recover. Of course, the (mis)fortunes of the parent company havn't helped, either. At the other end of the scale Cadillac was also trying to get away with was building a full-size car in the 90's that handled as well as a 1938 Ford in the corners. Someone forgot to tell management that generation was almost all dead, and GM is still having a difficult time convincing the younger generation that Cadillac is a direct contender to the German brands. Craig

Some are thankful they get to drive their collector car that sits in the garage twice a year. He should be thankful that he gets to interact with his collector clocks twice a year instead of just staring at them. But if he ever does gets tired of changing them, he can always move to Saskatchewan!! Craig

3. 1976 Mercury Marquis 4 & 6. mid-1970's Full-size Ford (LTD & Galaxie) 9. Mod-to-late 70's Chevrolet Caprice 15. Buick Skylark Craig

1926 Studebaker taillight:

Clearly seen in my profile photo. And me in 1977 with a parts car I bought for $100 that I got a full winter's use out of. Craig

Its also the fit & finish. There appeared to be much better quality control in the body construction, and the panel gaps were much better than most other GM products at the time, and even today. Craig

Is anyone here going to attend the annual Muscle Car & Corvette Nationals show in Rosemont (Chicago), IL? According to Bob & Vicki Ashton, there's a great lineup of interesting and rare cars again this year. Craig

This is probably the best looking Buick sedan from the 1990's, though I would take a Roadmaster Estate wagon as first choice. There's a rather nice 1996 Roadmaster wagon which recently sold here: http://www.centralfloridaautomotive.com/web/vehicle/2057658 Craig

A Kenworth or a Peterbilt. Always ready to carry a heavy load! Craig

That Buick in the Nethecutt was rather impressive.

If it was TEN YEAR later, you could have been right, though not sure if the FLQ would have driven something so ostentatious. It would have to have been a special BULLET PROOF model, especially when our current Prime Minister's father instated the War Measures Act to fight them! Craig

I missed that above thread. I can bet the "LS2-13676 Montreal SO21500 - there is mention of one other car to Montreal possibly S021499 and 2 to Toronto SO21450 second number U/K " as stated in the literature is part of the fleet for Queen Elizabeth's & Prince Phillip's Royal Tour which included the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway. A photo of it is shown in the fifth post from the bottom on the previous page. Not sure who owns those Imperials now. Craig

I'm not sure if the 403 had any P. Farina design influence, but the 404 certainly was a PF design. It has a strong resemblance to BMC's range of Farina-body cars; especially the Austin Cambridge and Morris Oxford from 1959. Craig

Agree on that! GM could have learned from BMC/British Leyland's mistakes a generation earlier; especially 'brand dilution'. Very few consider the Farina-body 1959 Mk. IV & later MG Magnette four door sedan to be a true MG. Craig

One will instantly see the SUPERCHARGER when you lift the hood its an R2 engine. Craig

As the U.S. Government funded the interstate highway system in 1956, they also funded passenger railway by establishing Amtrak on May 1st, 1971. From Amtrak's history blog: Amtrak was originally established by the Congressional Rail Passenger Service Act, which consolidated the U.S.’s existing 20 passenger railroads into one. That’s also back when we served 43 states with a total of 21 routes. Today we not only handle traditional interstate passenger rail in 46 states, but also operate high-speed trains along our busiest route, the Northeast Corridor from Washington, D.C., to Boston. With more than 500 destinations throughout a 21,000-mile system, Amtrak has grown to 33 routes across America, thanks to customers like you. Even back in 1971 we were focused on getting you from Point A to Point B safely and swiftly. In fact, in the 1970s we ordered 492 single-level cars–known as Amfleet I to railroad buffs–that had tubular bodies and ridged stainless steel fluting. They could even reach speeds up to 125 mph! Craig