Andy Ochoa in Ferndale, Wa. had a 70 Monte Carlo V-8 3 spd column shift. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself. I had a 67 Fairlane 500 XL convert that was a special order. The guy wanted a GT convert, but liked the 500 XL trim, so ordered the XL convert and added the high performance GT 390 engine, C-6 auto, big discs and 9 inch rear. Also had a bench seat and column shift for the automatic. A buddy in my club had a 67 Chevelle 4-door wagon, 396-4speed with floor shift. My 67 Mustang convert was a 200 6 with a dagenham 4 speed. Pat.
Off the top of my head, one of my oddest was a base '62 Ford Galaxie Tudor Sedan, standard interior, radio delete with a 390 Police Interceptor mill, open air cleaner, cast shorty headers and the whole 9 yards backed by a 3 speed on the tree w/OD. It was faded red, so the only thing that I can figure out is that it may have been a Fire Department car. I bought this one in early '72 for $75 for a work beater and it was definitely stock. Another odd one was a '65 Galaxie 500 Fordor, equipped with all of the toys,...electric windows, dealer A/C and such powered by a 352 with a 3 on the tree. Evidently the original owner like to Row his Own? Jan
back in high school I had a 1967 Mustang 289/271 HP, 3 speed on the floor and a bench seat. I removed the bench seat and replaced the trans with a 4 speed. found out later that it was a rare car.
I can't believe no one has mentioned the Buick Sportwagon's of the late 60's early 70's. Essentially a buick GS in stationwagon form and one of the coolest "new" wagons ever. Of course my dad had one of the oddest cars ever. A 77 Chevy Caprice with a 250 six, no air and no RADIO from the factory. Bought it from a salesman who ordered it bare bones to save money.
A security guard at the hospital had a 68 Plymouth wagon with a Hemi and 4-speed. I know a little old school teacher in Central NY that has a 64 Buick more door with the Super Wildcat under the hood. I'm still trying to get my hands on that one.
My pickup: 65 chevy 1/2 ton pickup 3.73 posi, factory a/c, custom cab, 3 spd tranny, power steering, and a 292 6 cylinder. It was also built at the Fremont plant.
My mom's boyfriend had a 65 Chevelle SS 327/4 speed, factory buckets, etc. We ran the numbers on it and found that it was in fact a real SS four speed car, but had come from the factory with a straight six! I have always heard of up grades on base models, but I thought it was strange to find a down graded top of the line model. Also, in high school I drove a 64 Chevy Biscayne 4 door with every factory option available that year.
I ran across a 64 Buick 4 door hardtop in a scrapyard while looking for throttle linkage one day that had a full stage 1 package on the nailhead, with dual quadws, the air cleaner, valve covers. etc. No one had looked under the hood and it had sat there for a month! The boring brown car became real popular when I asked the yard owner how much for the engine, since he was restoring an early Riv. I never got a price, but I never saw him move so fast either. The engine and trans were hanging from a forklift before i could get out of the yard. Other strange combinations-65 Bonneville convert with a 389 and 3 speed on the column. A 65 Buick wagon with the same dual quad engine package as the 64. A 57 Ford wagon with a factory supercharged 312.
64-65 nova ss w/ 6 cyl in a junkyard here. In another yard there was a 70 chevy station wagon-454 wood grain siding. I think they were both crushed...
I remember an early '80s caddy with a manual trans that would come in our shop once in a while. Also has this old lady with a late '90s T-Bird with the BMW diesel and manual trans, all original. Strange metric rims too. I hated that damn car........
I have seen that car tooling around. He came over to my buddies speed shop several years ago to ask about the best way to flat tow a dart with it! Very cool car.
Here are some of the oddballs I have owned... 66' Pontiac Parisienne Custom Sport Convertable. 327-250hp with a PG. 66' Pontiac GTO convertable - 389-tripower with a PG and 2.56 rear gears (slllowwwww tilll you got rolling, then hang on!) 68' Dodge Dart GTS Convertable - 340, 4 gear, bench seat! 71' Olds F85 - 455, column shift auto, bench seat, 3.90 posi rear end in a four door 73' Plymouth Coronet Wagon - 340, 727, and a 3.23 posi and here is some oddballs people I know have had... 68' Dodge Monoco - 383 4 brl, 4 speed 70' Cuda - 440 auto, that was pink with a pink strobe stripe 67' Belvedere wagon - HEMI with a column shift 66' Sattelite 4 dr - hemi car with auto on the column 70' Charger - /6 auto on the floor! 83' Cougar XR7 - supposedly never made this one, but there it was with paperwork! 66' Pontaic Parisienne hardtop - L72 427 and a 4 speed, with a 4.11 twelve bolt And by far the odded one was... 68' Plymouth valiant 4 dr - factory 340, 4 speed, 2.94 posi rear, bench seat. Wouldn't have believed it, had I not decoded the fender tag. Original owner still has it - with all the paperwork. It was a special order car through fleet and has no other options than required to go fast (heavy duty cooling, suspension, 14x6 steel wheels, etc). Manual drum brakes, manual steering, and a rubber floor matt! Its maroon with a black interior. The guy ordered it because he had to drive all over southern ontario for his job and did lots of highway driving. His work ordered it for him with their fleet order - and he had to choose between a valiant 4 dr, a A100 van, or a A100 pickup. He chose the valiant than worked the order form with the fleet guy until the price was under what the valiant his boss ordered cost so he could slip it through.
A friend of mine used to have a 70-something Camaro Rally Sport with a 6 cylinder and a floor shift. It looked like it was sort of sporty with the rally rims and a few fancy trim things, but it was gutless with that 6. I always thought it was weird that guys were proud to have the "Radio Delete" option. It just sounds like they were too cheap to spend the extra $25 or whatever to have a radio. Big deal, they saved maybe a pound by not having the radio. They could have taken a dump to lose the same pound if that was going to make the car go faster.
Have a friend of a friend deal who had (I'm told they still do!) ordered a 66 Impala Wagon, 425hp/427/4spd/12 bolt 4.11 Posi. He said it was a blast to ride around in. They used it tow their race car.
I used to own a '64 Pontiac Tempest Le Mans station wagon. It came from the factory with a 326HO, 4-speed, posi, cerametallic brakes, buckets, and tach. Neat car; would have been better with a 389. I later looked at a '66 Olds F85 wagon on a used car lot with buckets and a 4-speed. Didn't look like a hot rod at all; I think it was stock that way.
In high school I had a 1971 Pymouth Cuda, 340, 4-speed, leather interior, No AC, No Power Steering, No Power Brakes (But it had front discs), Factory installed cassette player on front of console, Factory installed driving lamps, and it was a billboard car. Always thought it was quite a unique combination of options.
Like this one? You can own it today! except this one has a floor shifter. http://classicoldsmobile.com/forums/cars-sale/1826-1964-olds-jetstar-1-sale.html
I had a girlfriend that had a 1966 Ford Fairlane four door no options except an AM radio and a heater, it didn't even have carpet just those crappy mats, but it had a 428 and automatic on the tree complete with a 28 gallon gas tank. I wonder what happened to her ...... oh and the car also, she had the biggest pair of, ah never mind
I was b.s.ing with my boss the owner of our dealership. When his dad owned the dealership his brother special ordered a 70 nova ss in gold with blue interior. YUCK but at least he got the rest right 350/4 speed/3.73s.
I bought this '63 Ford Country Squire about 3 years ago. It's a factory 4 speed, 390, bench seat, 3:90 rear end, power rear window, 15" hipo wheels/hubcaps car. Dealer-installed under-dash A/C. re the pictures: I've pulled the tired 390 (it's in my garage right now), and dropped a 428 CJ in it (out of a '68 Cougar Eliminator, I believe). I have the hubcaps in my garage (but not the 15" wheels).
I remember a 64 Chevy 409 9 passenger wagon. I think I have seen every kind of GM car with a 4 speed, including a 68 Buick Sport wagon or basically a GS wagon. I had a 64 Olds Cutlass that came with buckets, 3 on the tree and 15 inch wheels. I had a 64 Ford 4 door with econoline type fixed back buckets, column shift auto and a counsol. It was an ex-highway patrolcar with the solid lifter 390 and the shorty headers.
A good friend's 64 SS impala has a very unique color combo, and was pretty well optioned when ordered... Polomar red (maroon) with silver top, and silver interior.. 327-300hp, glide, tinted glass, remote mirror, tilt column, rear antenna and a/c.. The color and trim are very cool..we've never seen the silver interior before.
There used to be an eight door ( yes eight, 8, ocho) '55 Chevy wagon at a church near my house when I was a kid. I would walk by it on my way to high school. They used it as a bus for the church day care. It looked like a regular wagon, except it had four doors per side. Has anyone ever seen another like it?
Lots of them. Those were airport limousines. Custom coach works hav e been knocking those out probably since the 1930s. Some were pretty nice. 1950 Mercs, Checkers, 1960-68 Pontiacs, 1950s and 60s Mopars of all kinds. Just about anything that was suitable for a taxi was converted to 8 door limos.
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