Thriller

Or perhaps a thick slab of dried Spam....

It'll be surrounded by a crowd of people, as usual...actually, look for the trailer with the rear end of the Landau on it looking like there is no back door to the trailer....

Charlotte Auto Fair I'm just guessing....

Thanks Brian, but at present I'm not really looking, and not really interested in cars that are any significant distance away. This car is in the area, and has a Manitoba safety inspection (meaning I could register and drive it immediately). It has some lower road rash, making me believe it is original paint, has the 350, and is currently priced a bit higher than I'd like to see. As it is, I really shouldn't be looking at anything at all right now....

I've been tempted by this '73 for sale in my neck of the woods....

Congratulations and happy anniversary from the Great White North. Been married longer that I've been around...I never would have guessed you'd been married that long.

Perhaps if you searched for Mercury Cougar....

I agree with Ben, although I would take a look at the oil and possibly change it out first before attempting to move it. If it hasn't been touched at all, you would want to remove spark plugs and squirt a bit of oil (motor oil, diesel fuel, Marvel Mystery Oil - different folks have different methods) in each cylinder and let it soak for a day or two. If it is hard / impossible to turn by hand, removing the spark plugs will eliminate compression...I don't recall if I've moved my 248 by hand, so I can't say how hard it should be. What model? Pictures? Does it have compound carburetion (2 carbs)? It's good to hear they are still out there like that....

That is reasonable, but "restore" should not mean, say, putting disc brakes on a drum brake car, or putting in a transmission that wasn't available for the year / make / model of car. Unfortunately, some of our local (I can't speak for other locations) automotive writers have taken to using the word restore or restoration to discuss those types of items. I'm not particularly fussy if say stainless steel brake lines are used in place of steel, even though it is an upgrade in material, but it doesn't really impact the originality of the vehicle overall. Of course, when using materials that aren't authentic, it should be judged accordingly, but if a vehicle is used primarily for driving rather than being judged, upgrades are reasonable. Just don't tell me you "restored" the brakes if you completely changed the character of the system.

The full itinerary hasn't been released yet, but once it is, you can see it here.

I had seen an itinerary, but it was vague - they are going to be in Alberta at least.

Now, not wanting to take this too much further on a tangent, but are we having agreement / disagreement on the statement that the "flashy cars get judged hard"? If the Skylarks aren't judged hard, then why are they separate from class H? There are a few differences from the other models, but not so much that a knowledgeable class H judge would be clueless about. It could be a numbers game in terms of how many typically show up. As soon as you have more than one judging team, you'll get variation in how things are interpreted and judged. I'm tired, so I'm not sure I'm making much sense....

Matt - I think this sums things up very well. Bob - I'll buy you a beer at Broadway's if my boss ever decides he wants to meet me, but I'll have to somewhat disagree on how I feel about driving. I enjoy driving my cars, but when I start to get to the thousand mile range, I seriously have to think about the temporary comforts that Max offers me. Pulling the trailer allows a couple of things - peace of mind that the car is less likely to suffer damage in its travels, same fuel cost give or take, and the creature comforts like a CD changer and A/C. On shorter trips I enjoy driving...three times now I've driven a car about 450 miles to attend the Gopher State spring show (first Sunday of May) in St. Paul, MN. I typically enjoy the trip, but I also typically have some issues on said trip. Generally though, the hauler is for sick cars and long distance trips (and winter storage when you can't get buildings put up in time).

What is it about Iowa and naming places the same as others, but pronouncing it differently? I can't say I've come across that anywhere else.

There are some online value guides such as vmrintl.com and nadaguides.com - these are just guidelines. Value varies a lot depending on model and condition. If it is in show condition, then there are other alternatives, which is effectively paid advertising, but it costs nothing to list it in the Buick classifieds here as Roy suggests. Good luck. Oh yeah, photos are important too. These are great little cars.

As much as I admire really low mileage cars, I don't think I could own one...not that I drive my cars a lot, but at least on a higher mileage unit, it isn't losing a significant amount of value each time you drive it. Our rural property is about an 80 mile round trip from our city place, so just moving it around a bit or exchanging cars would rack up enough mileage in relatively short order to start devaluing the car.

I guess another point in all this is incorrect use of the words "restore" and "restoration". I always understood it to be about bringing back to original condition. If you look at a dictionary online now, the definition will also include something to the effect of making it better than new. I can't say whether my understanding was incorrect or whether the definition has morphed. My pet peeve in all this is automotive writers who use restoration to talk about putting disc brakes on drum brake cars and other "enhancements" which are not restoration, but are modification. From my perspective, to each his own. That is hard to take sometimes. However, when the folks who should know (such as automotive writers) use the words incorrectly, it compounds the errors.

Now you're just making me feel bad. Actually, in 2009 I had 5 drivers...didn't have enough time to give them enough exercise, so in the spring of 2010, I bought the '75 Electra...then this winter bought the Reatta. Now I have much higher insurance costs than I'd like, two cars needing transmission work, and they still don't get enough exercise. At least the wife will probably take over the Reatta once it is on the road and I may get to take it for an occasional spin. I have been one of those before though, where an old Buick comes up for sale in any kind of reasonably price, and I find myself owning it. The last time I bought a car from away, I had enough issues / costs involved in getting it here, that it was a good reminder that I should avoid that if I can. Local cars are the best buys in my opinion. When I look back on my purchases, the happiest deals are the local cars that I got to see with my own eyes and didn't involve significant expense in getting them home.

Lift leaking hydraulic fluid? It's kind of hard to tell with this crick in my neck....

ROFLMAO

There was an updated version of Fortran that came out in '77 - learned that in first year engineering in the late '80s. I know there's at least one more updated version out there since then. Fortran would be less obsolete than that vision of the home computer....

Would you want to be the owner with a team of judges snapping on gloves? Shades of airport security methinks....

I suppose that's a possibility...some of the processed pumpkin is in the freezer. There's a cooked pumpkin pie there too.... At this point, we won't be going in the direction of the country place, so we wouldn't be doing it the same as last time. Maybe we can work in a picnic snack type idea somewhere along the way.

I have to savour this...it doesn't happen very often. :eek::D:D

Jason - good attitude. In case you aren't aware, BCA judging is a points based system against how it would have come off the factory line. The cars don't compete against each other (in theory), but each one is evaluated for authenticity, condition, and workmanship of its components. They are not judged against each other to determine which is best.