60FlatTop

That Big Buy Drive-In sign reminded me of a picture I just had to take. Must be the Tahoe hangout. Bernie

Bob Gottleib was a specialist in recognizing and promoting the value of 20 year old luxury cars at a time when $3.00 got a lot of labor. And restorations are labor intensive. Economic climate makes the future for antiques and collector cars. Ask any 30 year old if they have the discretionary money for an extra car as a toy. They are the future. The best stuff I have came from money I got during the Reagan administration. The future of all the cars we Baby Boomers held onto......."pretty bleak". Bernie

In 1965 our Prudential Insurance agent had recently traded his Volvo 122S on a new Pontiac GTO. He got a job as a teacher "in the city" and couldn't keep his old cars. He got $900 for his clean, driving, XK140 OTC. He gave me his freshly painted '56 Studebaker Golden Hawk with a couple of extra hoods (all bent) and the remains of another XK140 DHC that he had pushed into a gully behind his house. Prices have shifted a bit over those intervening years. Bernie

Here is the finish I got on my Buick Riviera frame about 20 years ago: http://brockportinternational.com/xjs/Dir5/Riviera/2011-02-27/008.png http://brockportinternational.com/xjs/Dir5/Riviera/2011-02-27/012.png It looks just as good today. I cleaned it thoroughly before taking it to a sand baster. The used a fine media and applied epoxy primer as soon as the blasting was done. When dry they gave it a coat of the Val Spar satin (semi-gloss) urethane that is still available. I used a closet door shoe rack that still hangs from a rafter in the garage for primering and finishing the small parts with the same technique: http://brockportinternational.com/xjs/Dir5/Riviera/2011-02-27/013.png The Valspar has just the right gloss, looks good for inner fender panels and other chassis type areas. I clean it by wiping it with a clean paper towel sprayed with WD-40. I have been doing that for close to 20 years now. We'll see how it works out in the long run. Bernie

That Cuban car has a real Chrysler product look. Now that the US is allowing limited visitation I hope to get a chance to see a few of those. The AP3 was the car we looked over. It was a gray one with a V8. Bernie

Check the antifreeze. Bernie

I was in Sidney, Australia taking a break after the Pueblo incident. It was AGER-2. I was on AGMR-2. I met an Aussie in a bar who had a 1960 Chrysler. A few of us went out to look it over. It was built with 1953-54 Dodge sedan body panels, had four canted headlights, and a small (318, 326) V8. Another car that was well traveled was the Chevy Chevette. It was an Opel in Germany and Brazil or Argentina for about 8 years before becoming a "new" car in the US. Bernie

It looks like an early '50's Brazilian Chrysler product, maybe a Plymouth. Bernie

I used to have a Twin Ignition Nash Advanced Six. The old boys would come out to the pump and count them sparky plug wires and swear, by the blue chestnuts, she was a 12. Marketing stopped by the engine plant on dyno day just a listening. Well, the rain stopped. I'm heading up the the Bergen Farm Market Family Restaurant in my Electra 221, just 'tother side of the Bergen Swamp. Hey, Jerry, stop by with two cups of coffee and a small woman dressed in an animal print. If you don't spill or spit coffee on your shirt laughing I'll never say you are beginning to look like Mel Brooks again. Bernie

Did you see that speedometer needle hit 70. Wow! I hope that builder wasn't bobble heading and corkscrewing his wrists when he did that. I'd be scared riding. Bernie

Its comedy. This guy from Brooklyn and his friend from Georgia driving around Vegas in a borrowed Riviera. When he said the car had a 445 engine I started smiling. Those '65's did have that small engine didn't they. Bernie

I wonder if I have ever been mistake as the police. On the Interstates I like to find the fastest guy and stay just a little behind him. I have noticed them slow a bit when I drive one of my cars. The same technique works with deer. And if the guy ahead turns my wife either says "Lost your ticket car." or "Lost your deer car." Once a friend told me that if my car was faster I would have got the ticket, yeah. Bernie

Estate planning- what happens to the cars when I die: .Bernie

This topic has a couple of ways to branch out. Here is a little food for thought: http://www.newsday.com/opinion/the-paradox-of-school-speed-cameras-editorial-1.9155908 Bernie

I had to figure out where the car came from: http://www.jrmediation.com/car-collection.htm It looks like Jerry has never seen a '64. He thinks the '65 is the best looking. Bernie

Seller's remorse has ALWAYS been a lot easier for me to get over compared to buyer's remorse. Especially if you carry large amounts in you pocket, just a squeeze makes me smile. If you are under 40 take a tip from the old guys. A lot of us have cars that we bought for the equivalent of $3,000 to $5,000 when they were 15 to 20 years old. When you reach your early 50's, even mid 60's you will have something fairly special. Believe me, the time goes by fast. And the recognition of having an old car comes quickly. I was 30 years old when I paid about $2,000 for my '64 Riviera. It was almost 15 then. Checking the buying power of the US dollar in 1978 I reached. In 2014 money I would have paid a little over $8,000 after taxes or earned close to $12,000. In today's economy that is quite a toy for a 30 year old. I applied the same logic about four years ago when I bought my '94 Impala SS. It was about 16 years old and a really nice example. I paid $9,000 with tax and all at a dealer. It is 20 years old now and already has collector car insurance as well as being a durable and recognizable car. I have spent about $1500 on things like tires and shocks. With a $5,000 budget there are a lot of good deals out there. Be sure to go with "resale" type colors on cars with "eyes". A black 1996 Roadmaster is a keeper, as are Fleetwoods, some older Town Cars, and few others that will endure as collectible Buicks have. If you are tempted to get a more desirable car in project form, don't forget, a part time job netting $100 a week will take about the same amount of time you would spend making some lump drivable again. Consider a part time job to pay for addition money on a three year $5,000 load to double your money and get instant gratification. Pay it off early with a windfall. There are a lot of angles to play. I did good 35 years ago and I'm planning another 40 years more. Bernie

Here's a mix of new and new at the Brockport International Airport. Sorry about the lack of a model, there is just something about the "subtle" differences from the previous picture that caught my eye. Oh, it is called international becuase a guy from Canada made an emergency landing there. Bernie

Thin women and fat cars; been my favorite since I was in my 20's. I guess I understood the gravity of the opposite situation back then. Bernie

Thinking as a 1964 Riviera owner, I can only hope those boys get every nickel they are looking for. Bernie

The common name for those is Corbin clamps. It might help if you are looking through a parts catalog. Bernie

Craigslist is generally a nuisance. When listing an item for sale you can expect at least five scam emails. "I will send payment for your item with extra....." When replying to ads very few will answer a message left. And, a couple of days ago a post on this forum told of a Riviera for sale on Craigslist for $11,000 followed by "what should I pay for it?" I read that and wondered why the seller had miscalculated the value of his car. If a car is listed for too much it is too much. I don't completely rule out the service. In June a 1948 Packard was listed for sale near me. I drove over to his house, looked at the car, and paid the fair price he was asking in the ad. A few years ago I used Craigslist to sell a 1953 Jaguar I had. The buyer came over and gave me a healthy deposit. He said he would be back in a few days to pick it up. I got a call about 20 minutes after he left. He asked how much I had listed the car for; he was excited and forgot the total. Scammers that came before you leave a bad attitude, Chiselers, well, they are are just chiselers. Bernie

One of these is always good to have in the garage: Bernie

Begorrah! I'll try that today. My Grandmother O'Brien will smile down on me from Heaven, for sure. I'll use do it on the Chevy. This one has only made one trip to town for coffee at the diner and ain't had so much as a fly spec on it:

That reminded me of an old timer who told me he always kept a corn cob in a bucket of vinegar for cleaning windshields. Bernie

I have a 1955 Bentley grille assembly complete and in very good condition. It should fit any single headlight Bentley's to 1960. The price is $1700 crated and shipped anywhere in the continental United States. Pick up in western New York and I will take off $200 for the crate and shipping. It is a nice one. Thank you, Bernie