Seen A Historical Car Today..

[Trav]

Originally Posted By: HerrStig
The Pontiac version of that "car" was called by dealer personel I knew the "ashtray".

The ashtray was a Vega clone the T1000 was the Chevette.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: KGMtech
My wife's family had the Pontiac Acadian version of that POS.

The power brakes on that car did wonders for sphincter control exercises! assuming you could get it over 70km/h.


Dude I knew in high school had one...brakes were fine. His were manual...I have never seen a Chevette with power brakes.

 

[Kruse]

I have a hard time remembering things that happen to me yesterday, but I do remember that during the first year of the Chevette, 1976 MY, the rear seat was an option.
I also remember that there used to be a lady in my small home town that owned one. The lady was probably about 450 lbs., single, somewhat wild, and loved to take her 'Vette out on the icy streets during the winter. She would then drive dangerously fast down the slick street and hit the emergency brake. She purposely had her car do 360s and travel down the street at the same time. There was something about the combination of an extremely large woman driving a small car doing 360s and traveling parallel to the curbs that was so incredibly humorous for my friends and me. I remember that we were on our sides laughing uncontrollably. (Spare me the lecture. It was the 70s and I was a crazy teenager) The lady loved the attention.

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: Warstud
Just seen one of these with Historical plates on it.

How in the [heck] did a Michigan Chevette not dissolve completely like a slug in salt?

My Texas Chevette had rust.

It was also a completely awful car. My mom still had her '76 Rabbit when I had mine. The Rabbit was 3 years older and superior in every aspect....except the seats. The sisal or whatever fiber was poking through the vinyl on the Rabbit's seats by then.

 

[Nick1994]

The POS bmw that whacked his door into mine a few weeks ago had a historical plate too, quite comical.

 

[cbear]

A few friends had these in high school. From what I remember, they were great at doughnuts in the snow.

 

[mjoekingz28]

Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Not ten minutes ago, I saw an absolutely immaculate Lincoln Versailles.


Is that the sedan version of the wagon used in the Griswold's vacation?

 

[Benzadmiral]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Saw one of these with antique plates last summer, some fat chick smoking cigs in the drivers seat.

There's no legal requirement that the cars be "cool".

That was the car I had the longest, 6 years and 9 months: the '84 Escort. Four doors and a hatchback; 1.6L engine that, when you had to go uphill, it helped to turn the A/C off. Something broke down on it nearly every year I had it. I was very glad to jump to an '89 Olds Cutlass coupe in late '91.

 

[fdcg27]

I remember driving a new '76 Chevette and thinking that it wasn't a bad car at all.
A few years later, I repoed a stick Chevette and it was actually fun to drive.
In the context of the time, the Chevette wasn't a bad little car. It was certainly a better car overall than the Vega it effectively replaced. It was less prone to rust than were the Japanese cars of the time.
It may be hard for those not around at the time to believe, but the Chevette was actually the highest volume car sold in this country for a couple of model years.
There was a huge demand for fuel-efficient cars that lasted into the late eighties.
By the mid nineties, everybody wanted some sort of truck.

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: mjoekingz28
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Not ten minutes ago, I saw an absolutely immaculate Lincoln Versailles.


Is that the sedan version of the wagon used in the Griswold's vacation?

No, the Versailles was a heavily stylized version of the Ford Granada. A compact or maybe a midsize.

I don't know if the grill was supposed to be uniquely Lincoln or if they were cribbing Mercedes Benz up front. The "Continental Spare" style trunk was all Lincoln.

To it's credit, Ford did do a LOT of work on the chassis. They were gunning for Mercedes Benz. I remember a commercial with a gemcutter cutting diamonds in the backseat of a moving Versailles. But I think it was double the price of a similarly equipped Mercury Monarch. Not to mention probably more expensive than an actual Mercedes Benz

Many a Versailles live on to this day because it had a disc brake equipped Ford 9" rear axle....okay, well the axles live on in other cars.

 

[whip]

In Ohio, historical plates have driving restrictions. Is that not the case in other states?

Quote:

To qualify, motor vehicles must be at least 25 years old. They are solely collector's items and are used for participation in club activities, exhibitions, tours, parades, etc. They are NOT for general transportation.


http://www.bmv.ohio.gov/sp_historical.stm

 

[fdcg27]

Ford was actually gunning for the Cadillac Seville and missed badly. Having years earlier used the cheap Nova platform to build the sporty Camaro, GM later took the updated platform and developed a premium car that sold very well.
That was okay, since GM would shortly introduce an utterly hideous new Seville that nobody wanted, with the junk diesel as standard equipment.
There was a parody of the diamond cutting ad, might have been on SNL, where a rabbi is depicted as performing a circumcision in the back seat of a moving Versailles.

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: whip
In Ohio, historical plates have driving restrictions. Is that not the case in other states?

Quote:

To qualify, motor vehicles must be at least 25 years old. They are solely collector's items and are used for participation in club activities, exhibitions, tours, parades, etc. They are NOT for general transportation.


http://www.bmv.ohio.gov/sp_historical.stm


Same in Texas. But you can get a Classic vehicle plate that doesn't have those restrictions. You still have to have an annual inspection with Classic plates.

My Honda is getting Classic Motorcycle plates next time I register it. It'll be 29 years old from its production date by then.

 

[fdcg27]

Originally Posted By: whip
In Ohio, historical plates have driving restrictions. Is that not the case in other states?

Quote:

To qualify, motor vehicles must be at least 25 years old. They are solely collector's items and are used for participation in club activities, exhibitions, tours, parades, etc. They are NOT for general transportation.


http://www.bmv.ohio.gov/sp_historical.stm


How rigorously are these restrictions enforced?
I see old beaters from time to time with these plates that are obviously daily drivers and would only be considered collectible by someone collecting scrap metal.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Originally Posted By: whip
In Ohio, historical plates have driving restrictions. Is that not the case in other states?

Quote:

To qualify, motor vehicles must be at least 25 years old. They are solely collector's items and are used for participation in club activities, exhibitions, tours, parades, etc. They are NOT for general transportation.


http://www.bmv.ohio.gov/sp_historical.stm


How rigorously are these restrictions enforced?
I see old beaters from time to time with these plates that are obviously daily drivers and would only be considered collectible by someone collecting scrap metal.


Apparantly my state will send you a nasty letter if you exceed an annual mileage. The loophole I imagined but never put into play is one simply lies at reg renewal-- there's no inspection, so how would they know?

Every few years, a month before plates run out, "bump up" to regular passenger plates for an extra $20, then run up a bazillion miles.

If you get pulled over by the po-po's, and they ask if you're going to a parade, say nothing. They have to prove you aren't. Jedi mind trick.

 

[exranger06]

Originally Posted By: whip
In Ohio, historical plates have driving restrictions. Is that not the case in other states?

Quote:

To qualify, motor vehicles must be at least 25 years old. They are solely collector's items and are used for participation in club activities, exhibitions, tours, parades, etc. They are NOT for general transportation.


http://www.bmv.ohio.gov/sp_historical.stm

The short answer is that every state is different and has its own rules.

Here in CT, there are no restrictions. You can put these plates on your daily driver and drive wherever you want, as much as you want. The states that have restrictions are the ones that have benefits like cheaper registration, no emissions testing, etc. The tradeoff is you have restrictions. In CT, there are no restrictions, but the tradeoff is there are no benefits except for cheaper property taxes.

 

[Jarlaxle]

I am considering those plates for my Caddy...but too many restrictions here.

 

[Spazdog]

I often wonder if the Chevette was intentionally designed to be a terrible car.

Like GM was saying, "No, you really don't want a small car. They are terrible. See? We are GM, the global leader in car design, and that's what we came up with. Just stick with your Malibus and Impalas. This whole Arab oil thing will go away eventually."

I've driven 3KC 1200cc OHV slant 4 Corollas that were quicker than the Chevette. And considerably better gas mileage too.

It should have been better than the VW Rabbit and Honda Civic, after all, they were "wrong wheel drive". They are both vastly better cars.

The Honda was a fun car that begged to be driven hard. I am the car from a motorcycle company! I can do anything in spite of the fact that I have the collision integrity of a balsa wood glider! I am a SuperCub with 4 wheels!"

The (MarkI Golf) Rabbit was just a good design all the way around. I remember a commercial where the Rabbit was just dusting mid-size domestic V8s 0-50 (55mph National Speed Limit - Thanks Nixon...) The domestics were probably Olds 260s Lean Burn 318s...etc... but the little Rabbit was just running away from them.

And the Chevette? Didn't ride well, didn't handle well, was slow, had a huge hump in the floor that squashed any foot room, and was made out of junk.

 

[spackard]

Originally Posted By: eljefino


Apparently my state will send you a nasty letter if you exceed an annual mileage. The loophole I imagined but never put into play is one simply lies at reg renewal-- there's no inspection, so how would they know?

Every few years, a month before plates run out, "bump up" to regular passenger plates for an extra $20, then run up a bazillion miles.

If you get pulled over by the po-po's, and they ask if you're going to a parade, say nothing. They have to prove you aren't. Jedi mind trick.


Insurance. You have to self-report the mileage. You have a big accident, one that puts the vehicle into the tow yard where the odometer's recorded. I imagine an adjuster looks into what you report vs what the vehicle was driven, and denies coverage for lying.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: spackard
Originally Posted By: eljefino


Apparently my state will send you a nasty letter if you exceed an annual mileage. The loophole I imagined but never put into play is one simply lies at reg renewal-- there's no inspection, so how would they know?

Every few years, a month before plates run out, "bump up" to regular passenger plates for an extra $20, then run up a bazillion miles.

If you get pulled over by the po-po's, and they ask if you're going to a parade, say nothing. They have to prove you aren't. Jedi mind trick.


Insurance. You have to self-report the mileage. You have a big accident, one that puts the vehicle into the tow yard where the odometer's recorded. I imagine an adjuster looks into what you report vs what the vehicle was driven, and denies coverage for lying.


What mileage? Heck...the speedometer in my Gremlin didn't work half the time i owned the car!