A Hot 4th and Electrical Circuits

[BobPalma]

Which one of them cars have you done a burnout in?

I don't think any of them could do a burnout, Andrew. The three cars on the lawn all have the base V8 and automatic transmission, hardly burn-out capable! BP

[Bob Andrews]

Same, exact thing happens to the '63-65 Lincolns. They don't have rim blow, but they have three sensitive buttons with tiny springs between two contact strips each. They were a quality design worthy of a Lincoln, but 40-plus years on the springs tire out and anything can trigger them- turning, bumps, and yes, temperature extremes.

Embarrassing, yes; but it's extra-embarrassing on a fancy-pants classy luxury car

[StudeRich]

Wow Bob, the '58 Bel Air 2 Door POST! That could even excite a Stude. guy!
Well maybe WITHOUT the 348 Engine option, and certainly NOT a Turbo-Glide!

They have to be quite rare in Bel Air trim.

[BobPalma]

Wow Bob, the '58 Bel Air 2 Door POST! That could even excite a Stude. guy!
Well maybe WITHOUT the 348 Engine option, and certainly NOT a Turbo-Glide!

They have to be quite rare in Bel Air trim.

AAARRRGGGHHH! You really know how to get under my skin, don't you, Rich? Well, I am going to overlook it THIS time, deferring to the proper term of 2-DOOR SEDAN.

I "hear" you on the 348 and Turboglide; this Bel-Air, as you see, was a simple Stovebolt Six, and had Powerglide.

'Hard telling on the rarity, but agree it would be unusual in Bel-Air trim. The Standard Catalog of American Cars, Fourth Edition, lists 1958 Chevrolet automobile production only by body style total, with no trim level breakdown. According to them, Chevrolet built 256,182 1958 two-door sedans. Of course, the vast majority would have been Del Rays and Biscaynes, with few Bel-Airs.

Ironically, I was at "my" trim shop in Franklin IN last week picking up the rear seat cushion for the '72 LeSabre convertible after some minor repair. The trim shop was putting a full interior kit in a 1958 Biscayne 2-door sedan...but it was solid Silver Blue Poly, not the pretty Cay Coral and Arctic White two-tone that "makes" a 1958 Chevrolet of any series, as far as I'm concerned. BP

[ivorydan]

Bob, I remember your 58: a really sweet car! But next thing I remember-you'd gotten rid of it and were driving a new Pacer!!?? Dan

[62champ]

At one point my wife owned a 1992 brand-X. In 1997 she woke up one night to find the car blowing its horn - a very nice neighbor who knew enough about cars unplugged the horn for her. Seems the Texas sun had broken down the foam in the middle of the steering wheel to the point the contacts were touching. The dealer had the horn pad in stock - guy said it was a pretty common problem. Had to replace it once more before it was sold in 2003...

[BobPalma]

Bob, I remember your 58: a really sweet car! But next thing I remember-you'd gotten rid of it and were driving a new Pacer!!?? Dan

'Good memory, Dan; 'off by a couple months at the most. (I should be so fortunate!)

I'd already owned the new Pacer a few weeks when Howe Clark and his father and I all left for the Texas SDC National Meet and I came back with the '58 Bel-Air.

'Actually sold the Bel-Air to buy an AMC collector car, though, this 1968 Rebel SST convertible:



Early 1968 production with the hottest drive train available until the AMX 390 became available mid-year: This was a 343 / 4-bbl / duals / 4-speed / Twin-Grip, all factory and all present and accounted for.

'Kept the Rebel dry and operational for several years but decided I'd never restore it, so sold it in the early 1980s. It was fully and beautifully restored by the AMC family from Detroit to whom I sold it. They did a thorough color change to Matador Red, so if you see it at an AMC Meet, it's no longer Hialeah Yellow. BP

[packardHawk58]

Hey Bob, is that a Buick La Sabre of about a 73 vintage, how do you find it as a car, I have been watching them slowly rise in price and you can find some really low milege examples for reasonable money. Love your 71 Cuda Convertible, I have a hardtop here.

[Bish]

Bob, OMG!!! That Rebel convertible was a rare piece with ANY powertrain, let alone a 343 4 speed! WOW! My Uncle was head of leasing for AMC and he always took us for rides in his office's new models. I remember vividly the 1st AMXs and riding in the back with no seat as Uncle Ed laid rubber. On another note, when I was in college, I had a '73 Barracuda, 318 slapstick 904 that Would burn the tires as was demonstrated quite a few times at the local burger place. It also would get 20+ mpg with the a/c on. Now I have the '65 Barracuda I bought at 16 in 1977, except it has discs and a warmed over 340 now. Great fun. Thanks for posting.
Bish

[BobPalma]

Hey Bob, is that a Buick La Sabre of about a 73 vintage, how do you find it as a car, I have been watching them slowly rise in price and you can find some really low milege examples for reasonable money. Love your 71 Cuda Convertible, I have a hardtop here.

'Close, Brian: It is a 1972 LeSabre Custom convertible. It's the lowest-production of any 1972 Buick model of any series, any size: 2,037 units built. It is unbelievably smooth and comfortable; I really enjoy driving it.

I don't know about bumper standards and configurations outside the United States, but I bought the car because 1972 was the last year those cars had "normal" bumpers that hugged the car with proper contours. For 1973, they got ugly bumpers front and a little bigger rear...and for 1974 and the final year of convertibles, 1975, they got butt-ugly bumpers front and rear!

Like the Barracuda, I bought the Buick in December: December 11, 1996, to be exact. Winter was closing in and the owner needed to sell before Christmas as family matters were pressing.

I had to have the original top replaced right away, and I bought it a set of the optional chrome Buick road wheels and new radial tires. It has 96,000-odd actual miles on it and is still almost all original paint. It's seen an easy life, fortunately. Here's the build sheet:



I have been to the original selling dealer building in downtown Greencastle IN, about 60 miles SW of Brownsburg, although it is no longer a new-car dealership because they built a new building on the edge of town, and the franchise is now York in Greencastle.

It was sold new there at the build sheet location and traded back in by the original owner in 1986. The fellow from whom I bought it, bought it there in 1986 and owned it until 1996, when I bought it from him. So I am the third owner.

Here's where it lives in my Morton Building (off to the right in the opening-post photo), surrounded by three Astra White 1964 Studebaker Daytonas: sedan, front; hardtop, rear; and convertible, and side!



'Nice to hear of your '71 Barracuda hardtop. Color? Engine & Trans? BP

[BobPalma]

Bob, OMG!!! That Rebel convertible was a rare piece with ANY powertrain, let alone a 343 4 speed! WOW! My Uncle was head of leasing for AMC and he always took us for rides in his office's new models. I remember vividly the 1st AMXs and riding in the back with no seat as Uncle Ed laid rubber. On another note, when I was in college, I had a '73 Barracuda, 318 slapstick 904 that Would burn the tires as was demonstrated quite a few times at the local burger place. It also would get 20+ mpg with the a/c on. Now I have the '65 Barracuda I bought at 16 in 1977, except it has discs and a warmed over 340 now. Great fun. Thanks for posting.
Bish

You're welcome, Robert. I've had slight buyer remorse about that Rebel SST from time to time, as rare as it was. If I could have any two cars back, the Rebel would be a distant #2 after the '58 Bel-Air. All the others along the way, no regrets; no desire to own them again.

The Rebel did get a fine, deserving home and is being preserved and enjoyed at least as well, if not better, than I would have been able to care for it. I'm not too keen on color changes, but the new owners / restorers did a wonderful job changing it....and since it had a black top and black interior, you could make it any color you wanted with no OEM trim conflict.

Note the date on the edge of the photo: July 1977. That's the year I bought it.

'Good to hear of your Barracuda, too! We've sure got a few Barracuda guys among us, it would appear! BP

[packardHawk58]

Bob, I see what you mean about the 72 being a bit cleaner than the 73, interesting car and very original.
This is the Buick I have, a 68 sport Wagon, I bought it from the original owner, i am just in the throws of replacing the lower green paint section with the original woodgrain applaque and fitting a 69 GS Ram Air hood to it.
Great car drives like new and heaps of torque from the 400.

[packardHawk58]

Bob, I just noticed as the pics went up, our two Buicks are not unlike in colour!

[BobPalma]

Bob, I just noticed as the pics went up, our two Buicks are not unlike in colour!

Indeed, Brian....so close, in fact, that I just checked my Sherwin-Williams 1968 and 1972 Automotive Color Books to see if the two colors might have the same formula. They do not.

'Nice looking Sport Wagon! BP

[qsanford]

Thanks, Ed. I bought the Barracuda stuck in a snow drift in front of the seller's house on a cul-de-sac in east Indianapolis December 13, 1976. I knew what it was at the time, but I sure didn't know what it would become. MoPar people jokingly tell me it is rare because it is one of the few 318 cars that haven't been converted to a hemi clone!

The car was stuck so thoroughly, the snow was so deep, that I had to come back the next day and dig it out to get it home. I went ahead and paid the seller, a curbstone dealer, without driving it. I told him I'd be back if there were any transmission or drivetrain issues. He said there weren't and there weren't.

I have not heard of the Graveyard Carz show. Is that on Speed Channel? BP

That's one of the reasons I have kept my 1971 Challenger convertible- it's a 318,too! The cloners are circling!