10 collectible classic muscle cars you can afford

[Svnla]

What do you think about these cars? Classic or dud?

I kinda like #6. Hell no on #10, just like a big whale.

http://autos.yahoo.com/news/10-collectible-classic-muscle-cars-you-can-afford-003436577.html

 

[sandorski]

7 is the only one appealing to me.

 

[JMapleton]

Duds. Muscle cars will depreciate in value as the baby boomer generation ages. It's a bubble.

 

[ThatsABigOne]

No thanks.... I would rather take a Jaguar XJ6 4.2 litre series 1.

 

[SearchMaster]

With regard to the 400ci Firebird, isn't it amazing that 6.6L generated 220hp in 1979? My 2.0L Focus ST pushes out 252hp.

My mom had a 1970 Cadillac Fleetwood with a 500ci (8.2L) V8. I think it put out about 400hp but it had to push about 2 and a half tons of metal around.

 

[sandorski]

With regard to the 400ci Firebird, isn't it amazing that 6.6L generated 220hp in 1979? My 2.0L Focus ST pushes out 252hp.

My mom had a 1970 Cadillac Fleetwood with a 500ci (8.2L) V8. I think it put out about 400hp but it had to push about 2 and a half tons of metal around.

Indeed. They also probably got mid-teen MPG on the Highway.

 

[rommelrommel]

The 500 CID caddy got more like 9/11 city/highway. also was 500hp 550tq (old gross ratings.)

 

[thedarkwolf]

With regard to the 400ci Firebird, isn't it amazing that 6.6L generated 220hp in 1979? My 2.0L Focus ST pushes out 252hp.

My mom had a 1970 Cadillac Fleetwood with a 500ci (8.2L) V8. I think it put out about 400hp but it had to push about 2 and a half tons of metal around.

You don't buy the mid 70s - late 80s v8 cars for their stock horsepower. You buy them for their potential horsepower. Well that and you just like them.

There are plenty of cheap 60 cars still out there if you don't mind more odd ball cars, 4 doors, or wagons. Wagons are starting to get pretty pricy though too.

 

[BUTCH1]

The Torino's one of the better looking one's but very few were of the GT variety plus they suffered badly from rusting issues, ( my mom drove one) so unless it was a garage-kept and not driven on salted winter roads chances are it's already been scrapped or it's so rusted it's to expensive to fix. Ours rusted on the frame rails so badly a mechanic advised we scrap it as it was unsafe to drive and my mom didn't want to sell it to someone and wind up hearing about it being involved in a crash if the frame failed while someone was driving it..

 

[soulcougher73]

Nope we already figured out the awesome muscle cars. They are the expensive ones

 

[boomerang]

With regard to the 400ci Firebird, isn't it amazing that 6.6L generated 220hp in 1979? My 2.0L Focus ST pushes out 252hp.

My mom had a 1970 Cadillac Fleetwood with a 500ci (8.2L) V8. I think it put out about 400hp but it had to push about 2 and a half tons of metal around.

Auto makers changed the way they measured horsepower in the early seventies. I can't recall what drove that decision, but I do remember talk of skyrocketing insurance premiums. True or not I don't know. They used to measure it as a bare engine on the dyno and then went to measuring it with all accessories connected. Emission controls factored in also. I took a decade or more to get the performance back. Early on the emphasis was on meeting emission requirements. Later they learned that they could meet those requirements and still have performance.

They went from measuring gross horsepower to net horsepower.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Haha! I owned #2 back in the mid 1980s... good luck finding one.

I'd take #9.

Always liked the 70s Trans-Am too.

 

[SearchMaster]

Haha! I owned #2 back in the mid 1980s... good luck finding one.

I'd take #9.

Always liked the 70s Trans-Am too.

My friend's parents had a 74 Grand Am growing up and he inherited it in college. I never cared for it much and wouldn't really call it a "classic muscle car".

 

[MBentz]

There are plenty of deals on Buick Skylarks and Rivieras, Oldsmobile Cutlasses and Pontiac LeMans to be had before stooping to some of these cars.

 

[JulesMaximus]

My friend's parents had a 74 Grand Am growing up and he inherited it in college. I never cared for it much and wouldn't really call it a "classic muscle car".

I didn't mean it was a classic muscle car... just that they weren't that desirable and you'd be lucky to find one that isn't a complete rust bucket today. I don't think I've seen one in the last 25 years.

Personally, I'd rather have a '71 Buick Centurion convertible.

 

[jaha2000]

Auto makers changed the way they measured horsepower in the early seventies. I can't recall what drove that decision, but I do remember talk of skyrocketing insurance premiums. True or not I don't know. They used to measure it as a bare engine on the dyno and then went to measuring it with all accessories connected. Emission controls factored in also. I took a decade or more to get the performance back. Early on the emphasis was on meeting emission requirements. Later they learned that they could meet those requirements and still have performance.

They went from measuring gross horsepower to net horsepower.

Umm. They went from 10.5 to 1 to 8 to 1 motors.
Oil embargoes and emissions drove that.
Example. My first car was a beat up old 69 Pontic Grand Prix. Full size car with the biggest hood ever put on a car. But it had a Pontic 400 big block with a th400 trans.
Pops had and still has a perfect 76 trans am. A car that probably weighs 30 percent less than my Grand Prix and had the same Pontiac 400 with a th350.
That Grand Prix would destroy that trans am in a stoplight race. Why? It had nearly twice the hp.

 

[MagickMan]

Avoid the Omni GLH-S, I had one briefly (~ a year) and it was in a perpetual state of breaking down, in one way or another. The only good thing about it was being able to sell it for a $5k profit.

Want something relatively inexpensive but fun as hell to drive? Get a `65+ Corvair Monza Spyder or Corsa, turbo Corvairs are the business if you want mid-engined fun on the cheap, beautiful examples are available for $12-15k (though prices are starting to climb). A 4-spd on the floor is a must.

As long as you keep up the service they're solid too, and fuel economy is quite reasonable. No, you won't win many drag races, but with modern tires they handle very well (think classic Porsche), and they're fast enough to make you smile, a lot.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

There are plenty of deals on Buick Skylarks and Rivieras, Oldsmobile Cutlasses and Pontiac LeMans to be had before stooping to some of these cars.

+1 big time. Love to have a nice oldsmoboat drop top. Makes nice noises, pretty to look at, great cruisers, and the ladies love em.