Plymouth was only killed off about 10 years ago, so I doubt that the number of people who don’t know anything about the car maker is terribly small.
Studebaker, Packard, AMC, Willys, White (they started out making cars before they switched to trucks), Kaizer-Frazer, Crosley, Nash, Hudson, Playboy, Allstate, Sears, Pierce-Arrow, Oakland, Stanley, and Edsel are all decent sized car companies that are no longer around, that I’d expect most Dopers to not know much, if anything about, since they’ve all been gone for 20 or more years now.
Pacer, Gremlin, Eagle (or the variant of the Eagle without 4wd), Matador or Jeep? Personally, I like most AMC cars. Lots of innovative engineering that didn’t get any respect because of them not being one of the Big Three. (Alex Tremulis [who helped design the Tucker and the precursor to the space shuttle] worked for them for awhile, BTW.) Also, they tended to not do stupid mistakes with their designs (like Ford did with the 86 1/2 Ranger I owned where Ford’s own instructions required the use of a hacksaw to remove the rear brake calipers [and damned near every part on the 1/2 model was different than what was on the full year model] or GM did with the Chevette having the engine fastners be metric, while the rest were inch).
My first car was a 1950 Plymouth with a frozen engine; it had a LOT of miles on it although I’ve forgotten the exact number. I was fourteen when I got it and about fifteen when I finally had it running and road worthy. It had been a fleet car for the company my father worked for and it had the most god awful green paint you can imagine. It was cheap, though, and a lot of my friends and even my father’s friends helped me with it----my father refused to be involved. I believe I encountered and repaired 99% of the problems listed in previous threads but the experience I gained was invaluable. In later life, I completely (from the ground up) rebuilt a 1948 Ford pickup and repeated everything I had done with that old Plymouth and more. I’d love to have that truck back again; if ever there was a labor of love, that 48 Ford truck was it.
I love old cars. yes, getting parts might be a problem-JC Whitney stopped selling parts for pre-1970’s cars years ago. Howeer, there are countless places around the USA that have oodles of NOS parts-even for really old makes (like Packard and Studebaker). I agree with the earlier posts-driving a 1950’s car reuires an attitude adjustment-the brakes on these cars are not good, and stopping distancesd are looong!. However, with good care, a 50’s car can be ver y driveable.
82 AMC Spirit in line 6 cyl 4.2? liter engine. The engine in this car is bigger than my neighbors Jeep Cherokee! Should come in handy when I start towing small camping trailers or small boats.
I like it for the tough body and great ground clearance, even though its just the 2WD version.
I like to do lots of rough backwoods exploring, and this car will be perfect once its back up to par.
But gawd o gawd, I’ll never paint a car again, I’ll tell you that much!
Sanded down to as a bare a metal as possible. 2 coats of rust convertor. 2 coats of rust encapsulator. 2 coats of epoxy primer. 2 coats of urethane primer and a shitload of sanding. Only thing left is the 2 or 3 coats of color top coat.
The thing is built like a brick shithouse. I can barely lift the hatchback or side doors now that they are removed for painting.
The starter is bigger than most SUV starters. Heck, the windshield wiper motor is bigger than some starters.
All this heavy ass stuff and guess what one really stupid thing they did? The valve cover was flimsy plastic. Leaked from day one pretty much. Finally got a heavy metal aftermarket one.
75 (extended length, heavy Duty, Professional Use)
Hearse.
I’m learning the vagaries of 4-Jet Rochester Carburetor rebuilding as we speak. I’ve already learned that there’s largely NO rebuild knowledge for Cadillac Limited Slip differentials (luckily, it didn’t need it.)
As far as Hearses are concerned, a little additional money bought a LOT better car. There were TONS of basket cases (all owned by fledgling rock bands) for $5k, likewise, there were several $6k Hearses with chopped up interiors and Big Blocks with blowers pokin’ up through the hood.
We paid $8k for an unmolested car with all the bits and pieces and $50k on the odometer. (about $0.75/lb.)
You’ll be able to find $3000 cars with holes in the floor and ‘it ran last we checked’ and you’l be able to find $30,000 cars with 0 miles on the clock. What do you want?
Buddy of mine much into cars of all vintages says early 50s Chevys are very nice. Reasonably priced, easy to work on, and easy to get parts. I don’t know, just reporting what I heard.
My daily driver (when not raining) is a '67 Mustang.
Parts are easy to get, and swapping something out does NOT require removing the entire engine (like my old Honda). I can keep the Mustang with 300k miles running for LESS than it was taking to keep my Accord running with 150k miles.
There are also LOTS of parts for my car to “upgrade it.” I have power front disc brakes (kept the drums in the back - better that way IMHO). I have power steering with modern parts. I had an AC unit, but when the condenser died I just put on a different belt and took it out of the line.
I put in a radio that looks original, but in fact has inputs for my iPhone.
Now - mileage does stink a bit and I am happy to only have a 5 mile (one way) commute.
If you are buying for a daily driver - find out who makes parts for the car, and what can be done with it. 60s era Mustangs swap a lot of parts with other Fords, Lincolns and Mercurys of the era - making it a good market for parts manufacturers.
