Coolest Older ICE Cars

[Frank Tuesday]

Not sure about that. Go back a generation, and most car were very easy to change the oil by crawling under the car. Most cars today, it's impossible to easily do it if the car isn't on a lift.

They optimize the placement of major components and systems, like engine block, gearbox, steering, suspension. Then they look at what space is left and figure out where to put the ancillary systems. They aren't going to compromise the placement of the gearbox just so that the oil can be changed by a home mechanic. They're not going to mess up the weight distribution just so the starterotor is easy to replace.

Space is at a premium, and home maintenance is never going take any precedence over optimized packaging.

 

[48thStreetCustom]

Nissan is bucking the EV trend and marketing their manual transmissions in 2021.

"You deserve a car that gives you something back when you step on the pedal."

 

[bluesblaster]

They optimize the placement of major components and systems, like engine block, gearbox, steering, suspension. Then they look at what space is left and figure out where to put the ancillary systems. They aren't going to compromise the placement of the gearbox just so that the oil can be changed by a home mechanic. They're not going to mess up the weight distribution just so the starterotor is easy to replace.

Space is at a premium, and home maintenance is never going take any precedence over optimized packaging.

Changing oil is pretty straight forward on most cars, however they have it all figured out so all you can do now is put gas in it and pay the bills. Yeah no thanks, A friend of mines wife has a BMW and it was $300 to change the oil....thats way out of line IMO, they do this on purpose by convincing you the technology dictates such a thing, if there so smart they would design a way for the average person to change there own oil. Its just one more way for them to justify separating you from your hard earned cash. I will never buy a car or truck that I cant change my own oil.

But I guess if your absolutely made of money they have the vehicle for you

 

[bobyoung53]

What are some good value older cars with internal combustion engines?

Since the ICE end is near, I feel like this is my last real hurrah to get a nice big ass luxury daily driver for short distances and enjoy them while they are still here. I know electric doesn't have to mean a slow car but they will NEVER have that sound or feeling.

I just found a 95 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham for a great price that came with an LT1 engine. It's an awesome car, like a room inside, with a nice corvette engine. Like my uncles used to drive. They knew. I think I should get one car like this while I can still enjoy it.

I got a '94 Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon with the same engine, dual exhaust, limited slip (posi), air suspension, it's like driving a Cadillac and it really moves, I've surprised a few kids at stop lights . This is my second one and I've kept it up. My first one was a '95 that I bought in 2007-2008, someone pulled in front of me during a snowstorm and it got totalled, BIG SUV. I then bought this one about 5 years ago. Any big GM '94-'96 what that engine I highly recommend. Plus they got all kinds of room in them. I've fit two SVT cabs in it with an upright easily with room to spare. Not mine but identical including color and in really good shape:

 

[bobyoung53]

With a family of six, my dad was a fan of big cars and over the years he's had all manner of Cadillacs, Buicks, and Oldsmobiles, he even took an Edsel with us to Germany when the army sent us there back in the late fifties. Of all those cars, the biggest most imposing was a 1969 Olds 98 sedan he traded his old Pontiac Bonneville for. We all went to the dealer that day and after test driving a few cars he wanted the Hurst 442, but my mom wanted the 98 and she got her way. It was a fully loaded luxury land yacht in the finest American tradition of, "if big is good, bigger is better". It had genuine leather interior with brocade cloth trim, two tone paint and gigantic fender skirts on the rear wheels. The back seat looked like a Victorian drawing room. A good sized kid could stretch out and take a nap on the package shelf. You could carry a bands worth of equipment in the trunk and five adults comfortably in that thing.

Those things moved too, 455's in them, 365 HP. Beautiful cars.

 

[bobyoung53]

When I was a youngster I had one of each of these: 1962 Oldsmobile Starfire 394 CI 4 barrel, bucket seats, and below it a 1972 Oldsmobile Toronado 455 CI 4 barrel, both these cars used to really suck the gas down especially the way I drove back then:

 

[hbarcat]

I can think of a few vehicles where headlight bulb replacement requires removing the front bumper cover . . .

Interesting coincidence. I just talked to my mechanic friend this morning and he said he'll be working on a Caddy tomorrow and he needs to remove the bumper cover to replace the headlamps. He thinks he can come up with a way to do it without removing the cover and wants to see if it will work. I was thinking about going over there and recording it as a "How to" video for YouTube, if he's successful.

 

[fhm555]

Those things moved too 455's in them, 365 HP. Beautiful cars.

Oh yeah. We lived close enough to the coast we'd day trip to the beach, swim and have a picnic then clean up and go to the Milacle Strip amusement park or Jungle land, then drive back at night. We flew over those farm to market roads in rural Alabama and the Florida panhandle in the night on the way home.

 

[bobyoung53]

Oh yeah. We lived close enough to the coast we'd day trip to the beach seim and have a picnic then clean up and go to the Milacle Strip amusement park or Jungle land, then drive back at night. We flew over those farm to market roads in rural Alabama and the Florida panhandle in the night on the way home.

I remember reading a Tom McCahill review of a 1970 Olds 98 in Mechanics Illustrated and he said it would do a "true and easy 120 mph".

 

[5StringBlues]

 

[Mike N]

Interesting coincidence. I just talked to my mechanic friend this morning and he said he'll be working on a Caddy tomorrow and he needs to remove the bumper cover to replace the headlamps. He thinks he can come up with a way to do it without removing the cover and wants to see if it will work. I was thinking about going over there and recording it as a "How to" video for YouTube, if he's successful.

Sometimes changing the bulbs only is far easier than the lamp assembly itself.

Otoh, if lamp assembly R&R is required to change the bulbs, you may be screwed...... thank you to the engineer that obviously never spent any time in the trenches working on the junk he/she helped design.

 

[Alkali Ike]

Sometimes changing the bulbs only is far easier than the lamp assembly itself.

Otoh, if lamp assembly R&R is required to change the bulbs, you may be screwed...... thank you to the engineer that obviously never spent any time in the trenches working on the junk he/she helped design.

Ease of manufacturing is Priority 1. Ease of service is barely a consideration any more.

 

[SgtHulka]

I got a '94 Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon with the same engine, dual exhaust, limited slip (posi), air suspension, it's like driving a Cadillac and it really moves, I've surprised a few kids at stop lights . This is my second one and I've kept it up. My first one was a '95 that I bought in 2007-2008, someone pulled in front of me during a snowstorm and it got totalled, BIG SUV. I then bought this one about 5 years ago. Any big GM '94-'96 what that engine I highly recommend. Plus they got all kinds of room in them. I've fit two SVT cabs in it with an upright easily with room to spare. Not mine but identical including color and in really good shape:

View attachment 4230791

I wasnt just curious when I started this thread. I had a 86 Buick Century, which I bought from a little, sweet old lady who drove it 5K miles a year for 12 years. 60K miles and I paid $1200. I LOVED it. GF in the back seat? No problem. Suspension was cloud floaty. LOVED the bench seating. And it had a 3.8 liter V6 that was a beast. It also had hydraulic brakes which were fun for pumping at a stop light and making your car bounce up and down.

Anyway - **** efficiency - the comfort was amazing and if you are going short distances, the luxury ride is awesome.

 

[kesslari]

When I was a youngster I had one of each of these: 1962 Oldsmobile Starfire 394 CI 4 barrel, bucket seats, and below it a 1972 Oldsmobile Toronado 455 CI 4 barrel, both these cars used to really suck the gas down especially the way I drove back then:
View attachment 4230808

I thought those Tornados were the epitome of cool.
Imagine one in black with darkly tinted windows...
Now true story.
I grew up in a neighborhood that was ethnically mixed - lots of Jewish, Italian, Polish, Irish... "Mafia" was gangsters in the movies, "Italian" was our next door neighbors and friends, the Carboneras, the Baggianos, etc. I had not (at age 12) realized that there was a connection between "Mafia" and "Italian".
My dad was shopping for a new car, and went to Crisconi Oldsmobile in South Philly. Dad was looking at an Olds 98 (his preferred car) but there was a BEAUTIFUL '72 Tornado, black, tinted, in the showroom. I was in awe of that car, and said "wow, that looks like a MAFIA car..."
My dad made me apologize to Mr. Crisconi, and I did not in any way understand why or what I had said that was offensive until I was a few years older.

 

[bobyoung53]

I thought those Tornados were the epitome of cool.
Imagine one in black with darkly tinted windows...
Now true story.
I grew up in a neighborhood that was ethnically mixed - lots of Jewish, Italian, Polish, Irish... "Mafia" was gangsters in the movies, "Italian" was our next door neighbors and friends, the Carboneras, the Baggianos, etc. I had not (at age 12) realized that there was a connection between "Mafia" and "Italian".
My dad was shopping for a new car, and went to Crisconi Oldsmobile in South Philly. Dad was looking at an Olds 98 (his preferred car) but there was a BEAUTIFUL '72 Tornado, black, tinted, in the showroom. I was in awe of that car, and said "wow, that looks like a MAFIA car..."
My dad made me apologize to Mr. Crisconi, and I did not in any way understand why or what I had said that was offensive until I was a few years older.

. When I had mine it had seen better days, had 140,000 miles on it which was a lot in those days and the AC didn't work. It was HUGE, It was difficult to open the opposite door it was so wide but it was like driving your living room around it was so comfortable and it also really moved, you could burn out with the front tires and there was a lot of weight on the wheels. I would estimate i probably got about 6 - 10 mph in it and usually closer to 6 but that was the way I drove it and who knows when it had last had a tune up? It also handled pretty good for a big car, I was a kid with no money to fix it up, it was only about 6 or 7 years old when i owned it.

 

[Deeper Texan]

Sometimes changing the bulbs only is far easier than the lamp assembly itself.

Otoh, if lamp assembly R&R is required to change the bulbs, you may be screwed...... thank you to the engineer that obviously never spent any time in the trenches working on the junk he/she helped design.

I've always said that engineers, and architects, should be required to spend at least one year working in the field, before they are permitted to get their degrees. I bet there would be a lot fewer, user unfriendly things designed.

On a related note, I owned a 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The electric radiator fan relay went out. Guess where it is located? Under the left headlight assembly. Two ways to access it. Remove entire front bumper assembly, or drill a hole in the headlight assembly floor. It is a small relay with plugs on each end that could easily fit under the hood, but no, lets put an electronic part that will eventually fail, in the most inaccessible place we can find.

 

[Mike N]

I've always said that engineers, and architects, should be required to spend at least one year working in the field, before they are permitted to get their degrees. I bet there would be a lot fewer, user unfriendly things designed.

Agreed.

On a related note, I owned a 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The electric radiator fan relay went out. Guess where it is located? Under the left headlight assembly. Two ways to access it. Remove entire front bumper assembly, or drill a hole in the headlight assembly floor. It is a small relay with plugs on each end that could easily fit under the hood, but no, lets put an electronic part that will eventually fail, in the most inaccessible place we can find.

I've changed hundreds of those modules and I used a whiz wheel or hole saw to access every one. Last one I did, the customer brought his own genuine Mopar part and I noticed the tag read "Revision D" on it...... took 4 or 5 tries before they got it right.

Makes me wonder what was wrong with the mechanical clutch fan that threaded on the water pump.......

 

[Deeper Texan]

Agreed.



I've changed hundreds of those modules and I used a whiz wheel or hole saw to access every one. Last one I did, the customer brought his own genuine Mopar part and I noticed the tag read "Revision D" on it...... took 4 or 5 tries before they got it right.

Makes me wonder what was wrong with the mechanical clutch fan that threaded on the water pump.......

Exactly! Plenty of room for mechanical fan.

 

[mtdkingstonheir]

1963 Buick Riviera:
View attachment 4221795

Those 1963 to 1965 Rivieras were well ahead of their time, styling-wise. I'd love to have a 1965 - still ahead of it's time, 56 years later.

 

[mtdkingstonheir]

When I was a youngster I had one of each of these: 1962 Oldsmobile Starfire 394 CI 4 barrel, bucket seats, and below it a 1972 Oldsmobile Toronado 455 CI 4 barrel, both these cars used to really suck the gas down especially the way I drove back then:


View attachment 4390189

View attachment 4230808

That Olds looks sweet!