BillyD

Go for it, Buicks are HOT right now. You'll be one of the cool kids.

Mojo31

You are probably right. What was I thinking - recaulking, scraping off flaking paint, and recoating it the same color using a highly regarded painting contractor without permission first?

genejockey 

Oh, I dunno. There's something about the outrageous excess of that era. It was like the exuberance of youth, compared to the caution of middle age.

big john

I had several of those barges bitd. I had a 1965 Cadillac convertible that I bought for $50 from a fellow drunk. He beat up the body and it needed mechanical work but after I spent a little time on it I loved driving it with the top down, especially on a warm night. The thing just floated over the road and it was super quiet and smooth. Gas was a concern, for sure.

LesterOfPuppets

I used to love fins, but now I prefer mid 40s to the early 50s. I should've bought one of these in the 80s...

genejockey 

Back in 1969, I think my Dad had risen enough in the company where he worked, plus the older kids were through with college, so he felt like he deserved something more luxurious than another Ford station wagon. We went in to the Oldsmobile dealer in Gettysburg to see what they had. We looked at two cars. One was a 1966 LIncoln Continental sedan - light metallic blue, light blue leather upholstery, suicide doors... I fell in love with that car! I was about 11 at the time and that car seemed like the very pinnacle of desirable! But Dad went with a 1968 Oldsmobile 98 - huge thing! 455 engine, black vinyl roof, black vinyl upholstery (imagine sitting on that on a hot summer day, wearing shorts!). He kept that for 2 years before trading it in for a 1971 Citroen DS21 Pallas.

The Olds had the floaty ride, which works great cruising boulevards and freeways, but isn't so great on the narrow, sometimes rollercoaster roads where we lived. There's one road that to this day we call "The Sick Bump Road", because of the rollercoaster effect where the road drops out under you. The Olds was so long it felt like you went over every bump twice, and so softly sprung and underdamped that it bounced a bit. I never thought about it at the time, but that huge Olds must have been a handful on those roads, and not especially enjoyable. By contrast, the Cit just absorbed everything. No pitching, no heaving, just rolled over everything with no bouncing. And it cornered without making you feel like it would just run off the road! A lot of body roll, but the tires stayed stuck to the road.

Velo Vol 

Not very neighbourly.

LAJ

Last Page Lock Out only on Google. Any other browser is fine.

LesterOfPuppets

Only happens on the phone for me lately. I can even tap "view desktop site" to view the locked page on my phone.

Mojo31

The rif raf is real.

Velo Vol 

'70s monstrosities > cars with fins

BillyD

I'm never getting another house that requires painting. Ever. I knew better too, but somebody I know wanted an old house with "character".

MoAlpha

Did you read the Braille version of the ad?

big john

The fin era was the late 50s.

Velo Vol 

You can't fully appreciate '80s cars unless you consider the rusting, 12-mpg benchmobiles that preceded them.

genejockey 

I think he meant 70s monstrosities are better than cars with fins, which is really an aesthetic judgement. Personally, cars with fins convey confidence, swagger, optimism, etc. 70s monstrosities convey laziness and the sense that everyone at the Big Three was just phoning it in, from the managers, to the engineers and designers, and on down to the guy on the assembly line. Like nobody gave a s*** how bad the cars were, because Americans would just buy them anyway.

Eric F 

That's one hell of a lot of metal right there. You could picnic on the trunk.

MoAlpha

Hey, what happened to the 59 Olds convertible coup pic I posted an hour ago? Here it is again: My dad’s first new car except his had all red upholstery. I remember the day he brought it home.

big john

Yeah I got that after I posted. To me, the cars of the very late 70s and early 80s sucked the most. They were forced to deal with tightening emission laws and the CAFE.

Velo Vol 

Correct. It took a generation of Hondas, Toyotas, other, to make them care.

MoAlpha

And figure out transaxles, injectors, disc brakes, and the like.

big john

Don't forget computers. Tight lipped computers that don't want to spill the beans about what's going on with the car. 40 years of computers for me. I even had dreams about the stupid things.

rjones28 

Are you running a fever?

rjones28 

Still no pics of your bike with the new saddle and bar tape. Sad.

rjones28 

You need to go all in on this one.