# What's the most interesting car you saw today? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 21, 2014, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889 "2014-05-21T02:35:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 267
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2023, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/5327 "2023-06-02T20:32:35Z")
Studebaker Avanti [![](https://i.imgur.com/wjaLXLb.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/wjaLXLb.jpg) While this is just a run-of-the-mill Eclipse, the guy bought it from his grandma. It’s a 90-something and has like 10k miles. [![](https://i.imgur.com/TPqwzp1.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/TPqwzp1.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2023, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/5328 "2023-06-02T20:43:17Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Studebaker Avanti That is a cool find. I was going to point out that some investors kept the Avanti in production after Studebaker’s demise, but according to [this](https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-1963-studebaker-avanti-remembering-a-mentor/), that emblem on the c-pillar is an easy way to tell that this one is a genuine Studebaker. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2023, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/5329 "2023-06-02T20:54:07Z")
The funny thing is that when I got to my destination, I zoomed in the logo, figured it was a cobra and wrote the car off as a mustang. I noticed the name on the rear on my way back. That car shop always has a bunch of older/classic cars scattered around. When I saw the Studebaker, I also saw this old Ford [![](https://i.imgur.com/BWOJmoC.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/BWOJmoC.jpg) and this Camaro. It’s not often you see an IROC-Z driving around these days. [![](https://i.imgur.com/w1xgWOE.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/w1xgWOE.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/5330 "2023-06-03T19:09:45Z")
I asked my dad what kind of car would either be called “Special” or otherwise have the word Special on it. He didn’t know what I was talking about. Then I showed him this picture, on my phone, probably 5 feet away from him and before I even zoomed it in, he said ‘That’s a Buick Special’ [![](https://i.imgur.com/vS0i5Rg.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/vS0i5Rg.jpg) According to him, this one is a 55 Cadillac [![](https://i.imgur.com/fAG0BAJ.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/fAG0BAJ.jpg) I haven’t asked him about this one yet. I’m not even sure it’s an actual production car and not just a (modern) hot rod. Also, I just noticed the door handles are shaved. Door popper maybe? [![](https://i.imgur.com/8rCHDPJ.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/8rCHDPJ.jpg) [![](https://i.imgur.com/UW7KxyR.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/UW7KxyR.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/5331 "2023-06-03T19:26:39Z")
Google Lens to the rescue: > **[Sectioned, Dropped, Chopped 1950 Mercury Lead Sled Is Not an Average...](https://www.autoevolution.com/news/sectioned-dropped-chopped-1950-mercury-lead-sled-is-not-an-average-gangster-cruiser-171609.html)** > > Shawn Davis and his AutotopiaLA channel on YouTube do not regularly drift off into such particular ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2023, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/5332 "2023-06-04T09:57:45Z")
What does ‘Sectioned’ mean when talking about that '50 Merc? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2023, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/5333 "2023-06-04T13:15:06Z")
Chopping a car is removing part of each of the pillars in order to lower the roof. _Sectioning_ (2 inches in that example) is removing material from the body of the car. In the linked example, they essentially removed a two inch wide strip all the way around the car. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2023, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/5334 "2023-06-04T16:04:35Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > _Sectioning_ (2 inches in that example) is removing material from the body of the car. In the linked example, they essentially removed a two inch wide strip all the way around the car. So all the molding and trim type stuff for sectioning. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2023, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/5335 "2023-06-04T16:35:32Z")
A BMW i8 Protonic Frozen Yellow Edition. The i8 is a plug-in hybrid sports car (PHEV) that was produced 2014-2020. It comes in coupé and roadster body styles. This is the roadster, also called a spider or spyder, and it’s a convertible. It has an EPA range of 330 miles. Its license plate: YA BIMER [![](https://i.imgur.com/pSzwNZ6.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/pSzwNZ6.jpeg) [[Album] BMW i8 Protonic Frozen Yellow Edition ![](https://i.imgur.com/2w0CN5u.jpeg?fb "BMW i8 Protonic Frozen Yellow Edition") ](https://imgur.com/gallery/oHcDLtf) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2023, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/5336 "2023-06-05T00:16:38Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Then I showed him this picture, on my phone, probably 5 feet away from him and before I even zoomed it in, he said ‘That’s a Buick Special’ Without even asking Google, that looks like a '65 to me. ETA: Google says I’m wrong and it’s a '64. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2023, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/5337 "2023-06-05T12:07:11Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > So all the molding and trim type stuff for sectioning. Thanks. Like the actual body. It was confusing (my fault) that I left out the 'and then they weld the two parts back together). IOW, after sectioning, that car was two inches shorter than it was before. Plus 4 inches (is that what it said?) shorter from chopping. There’s also channeling where they remove the entire body. Cut out the floor/mounting points, reattach them to the body, but higher (I’m sure this is over simplifying), then mount the body back on the car, essentially making (the body) ride closer to the ground. > **[Chopping and channeling](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chopping_and_channeling?useskin=vector)** > > Chopping and channeling is a form of automobile customization in the "kustom kulture" and among hot rodders. The procedures are often combined, but can be performed separately. While chopping takes in only a car's pillars and windows, the more involved work of sectioning a car is carried out on the entire lower body. > Chopping a car, known more fully as "chopping the top," goes back to the early days of hot rodding and is an attempt to reduce the frontal profile of a car and increase its speed po... ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2023, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/5338 "2023-06-05T12:12:14Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > A BMW i8 Protonic Frozen Yellow Edition. I keep reading that as Pontiac and my brain thinks ‘must be one of those old Saturns I still see from time to time’. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2023, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/5339 "2023-06-05T12:34:56Z")
Now that you mention it, yes that does now read as Pontiac. What was their jingle? “We build excitement”? ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2023, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/5340 "2023-06-05T12:35:12Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > > [@enipla](#): > > > > So all the molding and trim type stuff for sectioning. Thanks. > > Like the actual body. It was confusing (my fault) that I left out the 'and then they weld the two parts back together). IOW, after sectioning, that car was two inches shorter than it was before. Plus 4 inches (is that what it said?) shorter from chopping. > > There’s also channeling where they remove the entire body. Cut out the floor/mounting points, reattach them to the body, but higher (I’m sure this is over simplifying), then mount the body back on the car, essentially making (the body) ride closer to the ground. > [Chopping and channeling - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chopping_and_channeling?useskin=vector) Not chopped and channeled, but widened and lengthened… That reminds me that, back in 1979 when I was 18, a Road & Track article had me transfixed with a concept that I loved. A German named Guenter Artz had widened and lengthened a VW Rabbit body so that it fit the engine and chassis of a Porsche 928. So you have this sleeper of a car, looking like a common VW Rabbit, able to blow the doors off of many other cars on the road. [![](https://i.imgur.com/BScxoaq.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/BScxoaq.jpg) But it has to be better in the article than in real life, because to fit that Porsche V8 the Rabbit’s body had to be widened a staggering 9 inches. Look at the front end: its grill and the lights being so wide, it didn’t look quite right. I think if he used larger front lights it would look a little better. [![](https://i.imgur.com/fBB7Tpf.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/fBB7Tpf.jpeg) But still, as a kid I thought that would be a fun concept. The ultimate sleeper! [[Album] Guenter Artz’s Porsche 928 in VW Rabbit clothing (from 1979) ![](https://i.imgur.com/k5Pw16t.jpeg?fb "Guenter Artz’s Porsche 928 in VW Rabbit clothing (from 1979)") ](https://imgur.com/gallery/ncNJyOt) > **[Meet the shark in rabbit's clothing: the Golf-bodied 928](https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/classic-cars/news/a24826/super-rabbit/)** > > German madman Guenter Artz wrapped a widened Golf body around a Porsche 928. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2023, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/5341 "2023-06-05T12:42:44Z")
I guess today, the concept would be to put a sleeper body onto a Tesla S underpinnings. Wouldn’t that be cool? But what body could work? I’m thinking possibly a Maserati GranTurismo convertible, but then that wouldn’t exactly be a sleeper, would it? Perhaps a mid-1990s Chevy Impala? [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a7/Chevrolet_Impala_SS_%282440344574%29.jpg/1920px-Chevrolet_Impala_SS_%282440344574%29.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a7/Chevrolet_Impala_SS_%282440344574%29.jpg/1920px-Chevrolet_Impala_SS_%282440344574%29.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2023, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/5342 "2023-06-05T12:54:04Z")
Wow Bullitt. I can’t even imagine how much work went into that. And thanks @JoeyP for the additional description. I knew about chopped cars. Had never heard of sectioning before. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2023, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/5343 "2023-06-05T13:32:26Z")
There are some Porsche-powered Karmann Ghias around. > **[Porsche 912–Powered 1964 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia](https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1964-volkswagen-karmann-ghia-12/)** > > Bid for the chance to own a Porsche 912–Powered 1964 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia at auction with Bring a Trailer, the home of the best vintage and classic cars online. Lot #54,545. > **[Karmann Ghia with a Porsche 993 Engine – Engine Swap Depot](https://engineswapdepot.com/?p=170)** Speaking of interesting things in magazines, I used to have a magazine which featured [this twin-engined Toronado.](https://www.ronsusser.com/inventory/listing/1966-grant-two-engine-olds-toronado-very-rare-find/) Might even be the same issue in that link. NB: that yellow Ghia has been sold. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2023, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/5344 "2023-06-05T13:46:20Z")
Cool. I spotted this in downtown Los Gatos. Meet the Mercedes-Benz model MQ\*. [![](https://i.imgur.com/a52Peff.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/a52Peff.jpg) NATO forces in Europe use the Mercedes G class like we use Jeeps and Hummvees. It was odd and interesting seeing these in olive drab over there years ago. \* — MQ is for Mall Queen. Because this pristine, very capable off-roader will never see trail dirt. Not like this red one tackling the Hell’s Gate obstacle at Moab UT: [G63GOD on Reels |](https://www.facebook.com/reel/2030435843822462) ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2023, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/5345 "2023-06-05T14:06:35Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > But what body could work? I’m thinking possibly a Maserati GranTurismo convertible, but then that wouldn’t exactly be a sleeper, would it? Perhaps a mid-1990s Chevy Impala? Maybe it’s because it’s the first sleeper car I saw (on youtube), but when I think of sleepers, I think of an old beat up (looking) Ford Taurus. OTOH, I remember it being really common for people to get cheap ($3k?) lamborghini body kits and mount them on Fieros. What’s the opposite of a sleeper? It’s odd to see a car that looks like lamborghini but sounds like a sewing machine driving down the road. > [@enipla](#): > > And thanks @JoeyP for the additional description. I knew about chopped cars. Had never heard of sectioning before. Clearly my dad hadn’t either. Just a few minutes ago I showed him that picture and, as usual, he barely glanced at it and said ‘that’s a chopped and dropped Mercury’. Close enough. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2023, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889/5346 "2023-06-05T14:31:25Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Clearly my dad hadn’t either. Just a few minutes ago I showed him that picture and, as usual, he barely glanced at it and said ‘that’s a chopped and dropped Mercury’. Close enough. Close to the chopped '51 Merc used by the Pharohs in American Graffiti. [The Pharohs Merc.](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/1951-mercury-used-in-american-graffiti-by-the-pharohs--547328160933785048/) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889.md?page=266) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-interesting-car-you-saw-today/688889.md?page=268)