First American Retro?

[qwerty]

I quite fancy a Fox body Mustang. The more I look at that Chevy Malibu Classic the more I love it. Its awesome! Love the rear tyres love the yellow steels love the paint love the engine love the whole thing!

[MWF]

Fox Body 5.0 Mustang with a turbo conversion will see you all the power you'd ever need.

www.turbomustangs.com < some awesome stuff on here that's been built on a budget.

[Ratdat]

I've got a '69 AMC Javelin. Not much bigger than a Granada and mine has a 390ci V8 although I believe they come with anything from a 304 right up to a 401. Not really a popular car so prices are pretty reasonable but they don't come up for sale here often. Pre '70 are the best looking IMO. Virtually everything is available for them mail order from the States. One day I'll get round to restoring mine to it's former glory




-Ed

[qwerty]

what are the 81-89 Ford Cougars like??

[Ministrone]

ratdat said:

-Ed

“Your that secret agent! That English secret agent from England!”

[SkoCan]

qwerty said:

what are the 81-89 Ford Cougars like??

curse word

Next question?


Late 70's early 80's Malibu. Not overly large, 2 or 4 door, V6 or V8, RWD, parts shouldn't be hard to get, hauls ass in a straight line without help and can be made to corner like a scared cat on a rug.

I had one ;D
Googled

[BenzBoy]

How about an AMC Gremlin?! V8, weirdly proportioned thing, but V8....

[reanimation]

Think its been mentioned but Party on! how retro do you want it!

[jizzy gillespie]

ive got a real want for one of these as my first yank motor, any idea on prices over here?

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Hey Ratdat that thing is cool.

I'lm not at all into yank tanks, but admittedly there are a few where it is difficult to disagree with the styling.

[Paul H]

seth said:

admin said:

Didn't know you knew Julian Balme ... love his car

Which one?! He's a top bloke. I got to know him through Lance McCormack at Romance of Rust (I've worked there a bit)

He's the only person I know that I bumped into at Harpenden too!

Ah - Julio Balmez That '50s Lincoln of his is soo cool!!!

BTW, Seth - I keep meaning to visit Lance, to have a chat about / get a quote for Amazon bodywork....

[tonycocacola]

if i were to buy a yank it would be something like this.
chrysler new yorker.



or a mk5 lincoln continental.



or ultimately a 67/ 68 coupe deVille.



totally the opposite of what you want, and not much good on some of the winding lanes in our locale, but who gives a stuff. ;D

[bazza2541]

69 Chevy Camaro. Not that wild big, was an article in PPC acouple of months back. They are rolling orgasms!!!!

[Mr_Bo11ox]

What about this for a total horror?


cgi.ebay.co.uk/OLDSMOBILE-TORONADO-TROFEO_W0QQitemZ110010436974

[seantoole5]

skocan said:

qwerty said:

what are the 81-89 Ford Cougars like??

curse word

Next question?


Late 70's early 80's Malibu. Not overly large, 2 or 4 door, V6 or V8, RWD, parts shouldn't be hard to get, hauls ass in a straight line without help and can be made to corner like a scared cat on a rug.

I had one ;D
Googled

Theres a '79 Buick Regal turbo in the for sale section. I think this will be on the same chassis? Also assume that its a fore runner to the Grand National/GNX. Just going to have a google session

(Chants "If you buy any more cars, you will end up divorced, If you buy any more cars, you will end up divorced")

[SkoCan]

seantoole5 said:

skocan said:

curse word

Next question?


Late 70's early 80's Malibu. Not overly large, 2 or 4 door, V6 or V8, RWD, parts shouldn't be hard to get, hauls ass in a straight line without help and can be made to corner like a scared cat on a rug.

I had one ;D
Googled

Theres a '79 Buick Regal turbo in the for sale section. I think this will be on the same chassis? Also assume that its a fore runner to the Grand National/GNX. Just going to have a google session

Yes and, ah, Yes ;D

They're actually classified as being part of the Chevelle chassis line

[akku]

Cougars aren't curse word. They are basically just a Ford Thunderbird with a restyle. '81 and I think '82 models were still based on something like a modified Monarch platform but the '83 and up are Fox based and all the Mustang underpinnings and doo-dads fit up. I'd need to check years for definite but if its square its the old platform and if its got the "areo" front its on the Fox platform. I'm fairly sure the Cougar XR7 in some years gets the 5.0HO motor, '87 '88 and possibly later models get forged pistons, forged steel rods, steel crank and a better EFI, roller cams and such.



The Turbo Regal and the GN / GNX have quite different motors. I enquired on a Buick forum what was needed to make a Turbo Regal into a GN and I was told I'd pretty much need a rotten GN as a donor for all the bits I'd need. That '79 would make a good car. If it were closer / closer to being MOT'd I'd have probably taken it and sold off the Ventora. Yes they are G bodies. Some (earlier) Chevelles are A bodies, but then so were the earlier Regals etc...

I was tempted by that Trofeo. They have quite a following in the US now. They will probably end up a pukka collectors car. That one looks quite nice. One of the reasons Oldsmobile failed was that they designed interesting cars without thinking about who would buy them. The Trofeo tries to bridge the gap between a lardy luxury coupe and a well handling sports coupe. There was a market for each but not much of a market for something "in between". Could be a very good car for the UK roads. I'd worry about parts availability though as lots of stuff on them is model specific.

'69 Camaro is a good car if you have £20K for a nice one.

I used to work with someone who's hubby went through apprenticeship with Lance at Bentley, he still works there. Odd link of the day.

Decent yank stuff is getting expensive now. Its harder to find bargains in the US as the prices are getting silly there now. Also shipping is more expensive and the import duty has recently gone up loads with the closure of the collectors car BTI tax exemption.

late 70s stuff is still fairly cheap, 80s stuff can be give-away money. There was a really nice 80s Oldsmobile Cutlass 4 door V6 which went for a few hundred and it was really tidy. There was also a slightly scruffy 70s Cultass 2 door went for £600 or £700 with a V8 and MOT.

I'd say you can't go wrong with a G body. Especially the later ones with the Chevy engine, parts are so easy to get and cheap.

Off brand stuff the parts get more expensive and harder to get, they may be easy to get in the US but then you are adding a lead time to all your repairs. I'm still waiting on a Buick starter motor to get mine back on the road.

Decent 2nd gen F bodies are now getting pricey.

Corvettes seem decent value at the moment.

[akku]

I had a ride in a prostreet Gremlin years ago. Too cool.

The Javelin could be had right down to a 290. I had a Javelin 290 in my Ambassador. The Javelin is the last muscle car bargain. They can be made to handle really nice too.

I saw that turbo Chevelle and like it in a way but the 4.9 Turbo motor is not renowned for being any good. It could be "arm chair experts" talk, but few people have anything nice to say about them and you hardly ever seen tuned ones about (either on the net, shows, or in the magazines). So makes me wonder. The 3rd Gen Turbo Trans Am was a far better beast, but its a whole different engine.

I'd avoid the 305 Chevy if you want a road burner. Good slogger but the 350 is a far better motor if you want performance.

The late Caprice/Impala wagons turn up occasionally over here and usually at really inflated prices IMO.

[akku]

Niether Falcons nor Darts are cheap any more. Falcons haven't been cheap for a while.

That Fury is on a similar platform to mine, it will be HHHHEEEUUGE. Its even bigger than mine is. Gorgeous car, love that one.

That white Chevelle is a beaut and quite a good price. Bag that for £5K you're doing well IMO if its as good as it looks.

[mercmad]

alistairk said:

Niether Falcons nor Darts are cheap any more. Falcons haven't been cheap for a while.

That Fury is on a similar platform to mine, it will be HHHHEEEUUGE. Its even bigger than mine is. Gorgeous car, love that one.

That white Chevelle is a beaut and quite a good price. Bag that for £5K you're doing well IMO if its as good as it looks.

Instead go for other Mopars such as plymouth Valiants....same car as a dart ( "A body" in mopar talk) and all parts available Cheap from the first in 1960 to the last in the late 70's.
Same goes for most Mopars actually.
This is my '63 Fury whicjh i sold in moment of weakness in 1999,my wife insisted it be sold,Wife has long gone and I can never afford to buy it back...



Yes ,Falcons fetch big money,I don't know why as they're curse word on wheels .