| Author | Message | ||
     Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 2945 Registered: 06-2009 |
I know that this is US-centric, but there are almost certainly members here who will have some direct knowledge on the subject after having purchased same in the past. It's reasonably well-known that there are various regions of the US, large parts of the desert southwest and California being two of them, where cars tend to have "easier lives" as far as their bodies go. Conversely, areas like New England, Michigan, Wisconsin, or anywhere in the deep snow belt where salt is thrown for ice control are far less "easy" on a car. There are areas, and I know Florida is one of them, where cars in certain areas (mostly near salt water - but not always) are generally potential money pits as they look good, but are festering within, while others from "the interior" are largely "easy life" cars. What should one look for if one knows a car has originated in Florida. Also, if there are areas of the state that are particularly "trouble prone" in the treatment that even a car body at rest endures, please share those if you would. I have my eye on a 1998 Chrysler Sebring JXi Convertible that appears to have lived all its life in Fernandina Beach, just below the Florida-Georgia line. I once owned a 1996 JXi, loved it, and have the craving for a convertible again, but do not need or want a brand new or even close to brand new one. Brian, who presumes the link will die if/when that car is sold | ||
| Vladimir Ivanovich Kirillov Prolific User Username: soviet Post Number: 1603 Registered: 02-2013 |
Brian Florida has a climate very similar to Queensland coastal areas eg hot, humid with lots of rain. I would try to find out if the Chrysler has been garaged in a climate controlled area during its life because if it has then its bound to be in a much better condition than one that has been parked on the street. Then I would visually inspect the car myself and that would include raising it on a hoist and looking under it for tin worm. Not my cup of tea personally Brian but a smart looking unit nevertheless and at $3k very cheap for a full convertible. This model never came to Australia and I have never seen one privately imported and for sale. No doubt you have already done the tech research. From a mechanics point of view, fwd, computers, electrics in gearbox no thanks but that's perhaps a prejudice on my part, after all fwd Eldorado's up to 1978 seemed very well built. Good luck with the car Brian whatever you decide. Ah the white leather, that will keep you busy but it does look nice. | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 2946 Registered: 06-2009 |
Vlad, Just based on the condition of the front leather seats, this thing almost certainly has to have been garaged its entire life (and the paint looks like it has, too). I don't know what your monitor is doing, but the interior is tan, not white (I'd rather die than buy a car with a white interior not because I don't think that white looks *just faaaaabulous, darling!!** but because I could never keep it that way). I always do a very thorough going over and a very thorough test drive, too. If I go to look at this car I will be carrying my ramps and creeper along with me, too, so as to be able to inspect the underside. This particular model was one of the very last (ignoring the Phantom DHC) nearly full sized convertibles. It definitely seats 4 comfortably, front and back, and a 5th can be squeezed in back if necessary. All they did between 1996 and 2000 was to refine the car a bit in different ways, and I loved my 1996. Prior to that I had a red 1990 Lebaron convertible almost precisely like the one in this photo, but with the Mitsubishi V6, which was fun while it lasted, but the engine was prone to "ring decay" and the thing started smoking like crazy long before it should have based on mileage and maintenance. The only really complex fix I ever did on the 96 was having to take out the dash (unitary) to fix either a solder joint or replace some transistor, I can't remember which, but it was a common enough issue that there were DIY write-ups on the web. Car electronics do not phase me one bit. It has been my overall experience that these are the least likely thing to fail on non-Crewe cars. My current daily driver, the 89 De Ville you hate, has the first generation all-digital dash along with all its original ECUs and they're all still going strong 30 years on. I figure I'm getting near to the end of the ragtop years, and if I want one again I had ought to get it while I can enjoy it! Brian | ||
| Geoff Wootton Grand Master Username: dounraey Post Number: 2145 Registered: 05-2012 |
Hi Brian The Florida climate did not cause any corrosion on my Ford Explorer. It spent a total of 8 years in Tampa and showed not a touch of rust. However, 10 months in Cleveland Ohio, with the salted roads, virtually destroyed it. I personally would not fear a Florida car, per se. | ||
| Geoff Wootton Grand Master Username: dounraey Post Number: 2146 Registered: 05-2012 |
It's a very nice looking car. On this forum you are one of the youngsters of the group, but I'm trying to figure out why any age puts an end to the "ragtop years". | ||
| Vladimir Ivanovich Kirillov Prolific User Username: soviet Post Number: 1605 Registered: 02-2013 |
Well Brian for the price and AFTER inspecting it, if I was you I would buy it. Then again I would probably spend that $3k on a flight to Dubai with a pair of dark sunglasses, a Cuban cigar, Amani suit, Florsheim shoes and force Omar to drive me into the Rolls Royce Dealership, apply for a job selling Phantoms and all for the sole purpose of getting more loot to blow on my hyper hedonistic lifestyle. Recently, I blew $8000 on things and having come out of a dark tunnel at high speed, I simply don't want to look at the bank statements to see what Toad of Toad Hall caperings I got up to. Something's are best left unknown. You could not buy that car here for that price so cannot see how you can go wrong really. | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 2947 Registered: 06-2009 |
Geoff Wootton wrote, in part, ". . . I'm trying to figure out why any age puts an end to the "ragtop years"." As I am no longer young (the late 50s are on the upper tail of the bell curve of middle age, and I will soon be on the lower tail of the bell curve of old age) I never think of myself as a "youngster," period. That's not a bad thing, either. I was, attitudinally, a very old young person and over the years that's transitioned to a relatively young old person. Throwing off the concerns about what others think when what they think doesn't matter was a huge part of my 40s and 50s. That being said, and this one doesn't apply to me, the ragtop years come to a close for many who spent too much time in the sun when young secondary to skin cancer concerns. A friend of mine loves convertibles but, since balding (not a problem I happen to have) and having had lesions removed he's been told that convertibles are really not a good idea. There also can arrive a time, for some of us, where "windswept" is just not a flattering look. Brian | ||
| Mark Aldridge Frequent User Username: mark_aldridge Post Number: 638 Registered: 10-2008 |
Brian, I am older than you, have had MG Midgets / AH Sprites continuously for 44 years and have no intention of not having one until I literally cannot crawl out of it. The day I can't,the recovery truck can drop me off at the crematorium ! Mark | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 2948 Registered: 06-2009 |
Mark Aldridge wrote, in part, "have no intention of not having one until I literally cannot crawl out of it." One of the reasons I decided to part ways with my Jag XJ8L, actually. While I could literally crawl out of it, it's undignified (both for me and the car). Many people, including myself, have (or had) no idea just how low down the seating is in the XJ8 series. Much lower than in many of its direct competitors. My days of cars with seating that causes me to have my knees at chest level when I swing my legs out of the car and have my feet on the ground are over. I'm trying to put off that total knee replacement (or at least it becoming a necessity) for my right knee for as long as possible! Brian | ||
| Mark Aldridge Frequent User Username: mark_aldridge Post Number: 639 Registered: 10-2008 |
Brian, off topic, any sense of dignity for me disappeared the day my wife and I tripped dancing the Viennese waltz in front of 200 people and I landed on top of her ! Embarrassing, so falling out of a midget does not faze me. | ||
| Omar M. Shams Prolific User Username: omar Post Number: 1881 Registered: 04-2009 |
Vlad - come over and lets party..... Brian - don't make yourself older than you are - live and enjoy life. I am the same age as you and I dont really care what it looks like when i enter or leave cars or motrbikes. someone once said to me.... Live like there is no tomorrow - dance like nobody is watching... I also have a Florida car (the one you helped me source a tail light for all those years ago). A great car and i still drive it. And yes its pretty low to the ground too (2002 Ford Thunderbird) | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 2949 Registered: 06-2009 |
Omar, It's not that I care much about "what it looks like" when I do most things, but I do care about what it does to my body. I don't tend to keep doing things that I believe will make continuing to do things I consider more important more difficult are worth doing. I live such that I can continue to live as comfortably as possible with as little fuss as possible. Getting out of low-slung seating positions is hell on my right knee (as is walking down stairs at times, and I change my typical stride when that occurs). Brian, who's not trying to make myself older than I am, but who believes in "reasonable accommodation" to the changes in life rather than wasting energy fighting each and every one of them (and, often, not winning, either) P.S. to Mark: As far as I'm concerned, there is no real "off-topic" contribution to a meandering conversation. That's what Idler Chatter is all about. | ||
| David Gore Moderator Username: david_gore Post Number: 3452 Registered: 04-2003 |
My partner and I are now over the biblical "3 score and ten" age when things are supposed to stop; however, she has her VW Eos hardtop convertible [which I still have never been allowed to drive 10 years later]. We still go out in this car "top down" on a regular basis and will continue to do so until such time as we die. Her grand-daughter [now 14] has laid claim on the Eos and has appointed herself "honorary driver" when she gets her licence at 17 so she can drive us around regardless of whether we are still capable of driving. We are living proof you will never be too old to enjoy top-down driving. I miss having DRH14434 and the pleasure of driving with the top down which was always the case unless it was raining sufficiently hard to make us wet .  . | ||
| Mark Luft Frequent User Username: bentleyman1993 Post Number: 291 Registered: 10-2016 |
Brian, BUY IT! It looks nice and well cared for. Buy it NOW before it is sold. | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 2950 Registered: 06-2009 |
Mark, I'm leaning that way, that's for sure. But it will be at least next week before I could possibly make the 3.5 hour drive to check it out. Will keep the group posted as events do (or do not) progress. Brian | ||
| David Gore Moderator Username: david_gore Post Number: 3455 Registered: 04-2003 |
Brian, It will be there if fate decrees it is meant for you.... Go for it if a test drive doesn't reveal major defects. The price is unreal by Australian standards. . | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 2951 Registered: 06-2009 |
David, That's precisely how I feel about shopping for a car in general. I have never owned a single new automobile. There are a few I wish I'd purchased, but there's always another if one is willing to wait and do one's due diligence. I actually e-mailed the dealership with some questions earlier this evening. This will be only the second car I have ever acquired from a used car dealer, and the first was my first car all the way back in 1985, a Chrysler Cordoba (with rich, Corinthian vinyl, in my case - those familiar with the ads and Ricardo Montalban will get the allusion). Brian | ||
| Patrick Ryan Grand Master Username: patrick_r Post Number: 2145 Registered: 04-2016 |
Do it Brian, The car looks awesome, and you will look (and feel) awesome in it. Of course we expect photos of what Vlad would call “your antics” | ||
| Vladimir Ivanovich Kirillov Prolific User Username: soviet Post Number: 1611 Registered: 02-2013 |
Ah yes but our Brian just has I think zero antics and has to be for certain on the other end of the sane scale to me. | ||
| Mark Luft Frequent User Username: bentleyman1993 Post Number: 292 Registered: 10-2016 |
3.5 hour drive?? I thought you were in VA. | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 2952 Registered: 06-2009 |
Vlad, If you use yourself as the metric, everyone else is "antic-less" and utterly boring by comparison. Some of us just aren't "antics people." (And are perfectly OK with that - Chacun ŕ son goűt) Mark, I am. I suggest you do a web map directions search from Staunton, VA to Lexington, NC, and see what comes up. It's more like 3:45, not 3:30. The USA is a very big place. Brian | ||
| Patrick Ryan Grand Master Username: patrick_r Post Number: 2146 Registered: 04-2016 |
Just some pics of you behind the wheel of that fantastic convertible will do mate. She is a fantastic looking bit of gear. | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 2954 Registered: 06-2009 |
If I get it, there will be a few pictures. Nary a peep out of the dealer today, and they have both a phone number and e-mail address. This is the second car recently that I've had very serious interest and the sellers just don't seem to want to communicate. I just don't get it. When I've had things up for sale anyone who inquired got a very prompt call back or reply e-mail. Brian, who finally gave up on the first one due to lack of ongoing communication and promised photographs | ||
| Mark Luft Frequent User Username: bentleyman1993 Post Number: 293 Registered: 10-2016 |
Sorry Brian, I thought the car was in Florida. | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 2955 Registered: 06-2009 |
Mark, Were that the case, regardless of how much I liked it, it would be off the list!! I'm only willing to drive for a max of around 4 hours, one way, for car shopping purposes and only go that far when I find one I really, really like. It's really interesting how folks from most corners of the world that are not the former USSR, Canada or the USA itself, and some Australians really have no idea of the scale of the USA. My mom once had a pen pal from Donnybrook, Australia, who came to visit us in the early 1970s. We lived in Western PA. She and her son, who was then living in England and came to the USA to continue that trip with his mother, thought they could "take a quick trip" to California by car. Their jaws nearly dropped to the floor when we asked, "Have you actually got the 5 days necessary to drive there?" I was actually surprised, given how wide Australia is, that they didn't have an instinctive sense of the time needed since the USA is not all that much wider. Friends of mine who are or were from the European continent routinely tell me they had absolutely no "gut sense" of just how vast the USA is compared to what they're used to. Brian, who thought you might be living in Europe | ||
| Geoff Wootton Grand Master Username: dounraey Post Number: 2149 Registered: 05-2012 |
Hi Brian Guilty as charged. Although after 15 years in the US the reverse now applies to me - there is no journey in the UK that I will ever again think of as a long journey. London to Edinburgh - it's like taking a trip to the shops (to use an English expression). The other difference is the variation in climate in the US. Since most television exposure of the US (in the UK) is Florida, SoCal or Las Vegas I was under the impression the whole of the US was always warm and sunny. 10 months in Cleveland Ohio cured me of that particular misconception. Remarkable Country. | ||
| Mike Thompson Frequent User Username: vroomrr Post Number: 933 Registered: 04-2019 |
I'm with Geoff Wootton I lived in Miami Beach a few blocks from the ocean and did not notice any rust problems. If anything it was less rust than in the midwest. | ||
| Vladimir Ivanovich Kirillov Prolific User Username: soviet Post Number: 1626 Registered: 02-2013 |
Brian most Soviets and Russians know precisely how big the USA is and how big Australia is. The educational standard of the Soviet Union and Russian Federation is way superior to that of the USA and Australia. | ||
| ross kowalski Prolific User Username: cdfpw Post Number: 1226 Registered: 11-2015 |
Vlad, Americans know things. For instance the Soviet Union is 74,000. So there. | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 2959 Registered: 06-2009 |
Vlad, And what part of what I said previously did not already indicate this? I thought I had that pretty much covered with, "that are not the former USSR, Canada or the USA itself." If you were once part of the USSR then "you know big." And to be clear, I'm talking "know big" at the gut level, which is really what I was trying to describe as lacking on the part of some citizens of the world. If the nation you come from is relatively small, it's far more likely that a gut level "knowing big" will be lacking. And you'll get no argument from me that the educational standards in a very great many nations of the world, regardless of size, are superior to those in the USA in recent decades. We seem to be deep in an era where the following observation by Issac Asimov applies: The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge." By the way, I was in contact with the seller on Friday trying to get a bit more information. The car had been reduced to $2900 on that morning and sold that afternoon locally. So, the search will continue. Brian | ||
| Geoff Wootton Grand Master Username: dounraey Post Number: 2152 Registered: 05-2012 |
That's a really elitist statement. | ||
| David Gore Moderator Username: david_gore Post Number: 3458 Registered: 04-2003 |
Brian, Commiserations but the car didn't have your name on it Always look on the bright side as the old saying goes "As one door shuts, another will open" - the problem is you do not know which one beforehand!!!! | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 2961 Registered: 06-2009 |
David, Oh, I definitely share your outlook! I have not ever felt anguish (other than for, perhaps, 10 seconds) about any automobile I did not acquire. There are none that I am in the position to purchase where other examples will not reveal themselves in time. And I'm picky enough to allow many to just go on by. Brian, who will never own the Plymouth XNR, but wishes he could | ||
| Vladimir Ivanovich Kirillov Prolific User Username: soviet Post Number: 1628 Registered: 02-2013 |
Naughty naughty Brian you missed out on a deal and down here in the middle of nowhere I sensed that was going to happen. As they say "he who hesitates is lost". But Brian the positive angle to blowing the deal is just maybe you will now hatch an evil but calculated plan to get your mitts onto the car that really suits you and which will certainly prove in time to be a kick ass investment: a 1966 Cadillac convertible. That aside Brian the USA has one nasty little thing or things going for it which exceeds educational standards and that is a positive attitude towards entrepreneurship coupled with innovation. Brian in 1979 I visited the US consulate in Brisbane and enquired about a working visa in the USA. I was met by an extremely rude and arrogant US diplomat who told me "there are no working visas for Australians...." Dickhead I thought. Come 1980 I land in LA, and find my way to Manhattan via Charleston and San Juan. There my boss who is paying me cash and twice as much as I can earn anywhere in Australia utters one day in a very Hell's Kitchen accent " You want American citizenship...tell me I will make a phone call." At that time I was attempting to put together another large shipment of 351 Cleveland V8 engines which I knew would sell faster than a pack of stunning nymphomanics down under. Totally the opposite to the Aussie attitude to business, just about everybody I met wanted to be my partner. For me it was mind blowing just like the large cinemas in Times Square showing XXX movies 24/7. My sensory receptors overloaded I returned to Australia to look after a lazy Italian but stunning wife and proceeded to successfully crack University studies in Politics, Philosophy, Medievel and Modern Social History plus two law degrees. Thereafter I am wearing a Captains uniform at a high security army base and I get into a conversation with two US officers who tell me "Oh you can't work in the US... you'll get deported" And I wondered if either of these fools had heard of JAG or if they were so dumb they did not notice I was wearing an Intel lanyard. Shortly thereafter I was in Kumpang Indonesia whooping it up with a well connected brothel owner...but that is another story. Innovation Brian. Just look at the US cars from 1950s to late 1970s Brian and compare that to what was being offered in the Soviet Union. One could offer the excuse that the foul cow droppings being offered as cars in the CCCP were simply because the Kremlin was pouring all available Roubles into the military Brian, but I say NO. The loot Brian was going into to pockets of the unseen. And Brian while slight freedoms may now be had at home in Zhigulovsk nothing has really changed. Go the 1966 Cadillac convertible Brian while you still can. | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 2962 Registered: 06-2009 |
Vlad, A 1966, while would be worth considering (as my grandfather had a 1965/6 Calais) it would not be at the top of my list. If I'm going De Ville convertible it will be the 1967:  or 1968:  , which was the epitome of 1960s "huge, but incredibly sleek" styling in my opinion. If I'm going "huge, but incredibly sleek" convertible, I can also include the Chrysler Imperial convertible from the same two model years. 1967:  1968:  The bumperettes and central light line with crest styling is, to me, to die for! I could also be swayed, very, very easily, to go for the 1968 (and only 1968) Chrysler 300 Convertible:   All of the above put the 1966 De Ville Convertible to shame:   Brian | ||
| Vladimir Ivanovich Kirillov Prolific User Username: soviet Post Number: 1629 Registered: 02-2013 |
Brian the rear of the 1966 is fantastic just like Edith Piaf or Sofia Loren. Brian I really think the 1968 Cadillac which had the 472 engine kicks the 1967 Cadillac to the curb with its 429 engine. That to one side Brian those blasted Chrysler's are totally perfect and I am not going to look at them again - today - because I can smell my evil bank manager's smile and envisage him handing me the pen - again, No Brian I have reformed myself and I am getting quite Camarguish and will be looking up fire blankets and heaters and engine stands as Kelly Ophar's cylinder liner puller has gathered dust for too long and so out the liners will come for me to de-crud the inside hidden coolant galleries of the engine block. It must be done. The Camargue will roll and I have my Amani suit with Florsheim shoes together with a case of Cuban cigars all ready to mount an assault upon the Queensland version of the Riviera. Time to rut. | ||
| Robert J. Sprauer Frequent User Username: wraithman Post Number: 535 Registered: 11-2017 |
Florsheim....nah Italian handmade footwear is considered the finest. Look at Testoni or Crocket & Jones or Stemar. Fine shoes tell the story. | ||
| Vladimir Ivanovich Kirillov Prolific User Username: soviet Post Number: 1631 Registered: 02-2013 |
Good on you To Robert. I knew somebody would come to my rescue and you did. Just the other day I bought a Gibson Custom Shop Electric Guitar now moving straight onto a cranking PA system. Pity the late Bob was not around still. | ||
| Vladimir Ivanovich Kirillov Prolific User Username: soviet Post Number: 1632 Registered: 02-2013 |
Robert, hold the fun, how can Crocket and Jones be Italian made when they sound as English as Winston Churchill? | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 2964 Registered: 06-2009 |
Vlad, A.Testoni and Stemar (the latter made by the Moreschi family in Vigevano Italy) are Italian. Crockett & Jones is handmade British. Brian, who will not be wearing any of the above any time soon | ||
| Vladimir Ivanovich Kirillov Prolific User Username: soviet Post Number: 1633 Registered: 02-2013 |
Brian, perhaps you can advise me. Inside the Camargue on the floor are a brand new pair of white leather Italian shoes worn once by me once. I have a brand new pair of Florsheim Oxford style shoes sitting in a luxury house 3000 miles away waiting for me to go to a wedding which I don't want to attend.(Bikers/Daughters/Jet Planes and security BS) Now as the Camargue is Italian styled but English built and that New York Robert has stuffed my day by introducing me to Crocket and Jones, and given that I really don't give a toss about spending a grand on a pair of shoes(women taught me), I was thinking perhaps I should wear a Testoni on my left foot and a Crocket and Jones on my right foot. Brian I am not really fashion literate as a late Cypriot mate of mine from London (read bloody excellent knife man but not to Romanian standard) said or perhaps reminded me that I did arrive at a party driving a pristine 1969 Gold Cadillac Sedan Deville with Ostrich skin leather with long hair, torn tee-shirt , bare feet and a pair of Levis with the fly closed by a large safety pin. However, Brian I do have ... An Idea apart from a pearl handled Welrod and that is a pair of boots Alligator skinned with a metallic pointers perhaps titanium... I know these boots are made in South America, perhaps Argentina otherwise why did Duval go back to his room in Assassination Tango? Cannot find them on the net ( perhaps banned by GOP ) Yeah man they were cool boots just like Fonda's sunglasses in Easy Rider. I need them because they are essential Rolls Royce protection gear... But Brian I bought a pair of Florsheim sneakers at $200 and I love them after blowing solid cash on Chinese gung Fu shoes that blew out real quick because they were light comfortable but pure garbage. And I looked and I looked and finally I found out the evil truth: Florsheim - made in PORTUGAL! If I land in Dubai with these on Omar will refuse to let me wear the full Arabian Dress and his wife will possibly hiss at me words to the effect: "I know you have parts of a Camargue engine under your kitchen benches....I have seen THE JACKET!" | ||
| Patrick Ryan Grand Master Username: patrick_r Post Number: 2148 Registered: 04-2016 |
I’ll take this model from Crockett & Jones please.  | ||
| Mike Thompson Frequent User Username: vroomrr Post Number: 950 Registered: 04-2019 |
I had a 1967 Gibson SG special, now worth anywhere from $1500 to $8000 on the market. It was at my mother's boy-friend/husband's house when she died. Me and him never saw eye to eye so it is lost. I loved that guitar.  | ||
| Mike Thompson Frequent User Username: vroomrr Post Number: 951 Registered: 04-2019 |
For cars I would like a 1954 Buick (rare). I plain to make something like this someday.  1941 Packard  A custom job  |
