So today the office closed at 1 PM, as usual on Fridays. It was kind of cloudy, so I wasn’t going to camp out on my postage stamp deck and read a novel with a couple gin and tonics. Continue Reading →
Tag: 1973
This Week’s Klockau Lust Object: 1973 Chrysler New Yorker Brougham
Here we go again! Another Brougham Era Brougham, with gargantuan size, room, gas-sucking 440 CID powerplant hitched to a creamy smooth TorqueFlite automatic, and exceedingly plush interior you can sleep eight people in! This week’s find is being sold by my friend Anthony Rose, who sells vintage Broughamage, and not so vintage Broughamage, like a pristine 1993 Sedan de Ville in Taupe with matching interior and factory alloys and whitewalls recently sold to a happy local motorist. Continue Reading →
Sneak Peek: 1973 Pontiac Luxury LeMans
If you remember my buddy in Spokane, Jason Bagge, AKA The Brougham Whisperer, he’s just today acquired yet another ’70s era Detroit cruiser to refurbish and enjoy. A Florentine Red 1973 Luxury LeMans coupe. Continue Reading →
This Week’s Klockau Lust Object: 1973 Chevrolet Caprice Estate
Since I have a lot of free time of late, I have been haunting Marketplace a lot, just looking for anything interesting and land yachtish from the ’70s. And today what did I spot but this green on green ’73 Nimitz-class Caprice wagon in San Diego. Continue Reading →
1973 Buick Electra 225 Coupe: Brougham Whisperer Buick
Note: Today’s Guest Post is by Jason Bagge, AKA The Brougham Whisperer, who most of you may recall from the many ’70s land yachts of his I’ve featured here at RG the past few years. -TK
Well-the ’74 New Yorker sold. Going to a collector in Florida who restores these back to original. Same guy who bought Chris’ 1976 Cadillac Calais in Idaho. So with that-here comes the ’73 455 2 door Buick Deuce and a quarter.
The car, upon arrival.
I’m going to change out the wheels and tires. Back to new whitewalls and hubcaps. I’m going to store the rallyes away with the original tires on them. Planning on going cruising with my Dad next weekend. The whole car is pretty gangster. It just has that vibe. Continue Reading →
1973 Plymouth Fury Gran Coupe: Gran Green
As has frequently been the case this spring and summer, I found myself out on the deck after work, with a gin and tonic, looking at old, gas-guzzling Broughamage online. Today’s subject is a top of the line Fury Gran Coupe. Continue Reading →
1973 Lincoln Continental Mark IV: It Has The Blues
Another Mark? Well, yes. In my defense, I really liked this particular example, especially the metallic blue paint with matching top and interior. So many of these were in the typical early ’70s colors like that light metallic yellow-green, tobacco brown and gold, that one in a non-sepia tone caught my attention, when I was perusing the Finding Future Classic Cars group on fb a couple of weeks ago.
Quick Look: 1973 Imperial LeBaron Coupe
I’ve always loved Imperials. That finest Mopar of them all, they lived as a separate marque a la Cadillac and Lincoln from 1955 to 1975. Though starting in the early ’70s, Chrysler Corporation started sneaking ‘Chrysler’ onto the cars and into advertising, perhaps to brace loyal customers for the inevitable.
Imperials were always rare, plush, giant cars, but by the early 1970s, they were especially scarce, at least when compared to contemporary Cadillacs and Lincolns. After 1975, the Imperial marque was a done deal (unless you count the bustle-back, rebodied Cordoba or EEK restyled, Fifth Avenue-based 1990-93 model). Perhaps the rarest of the rare was the Fuselage body 1969-73 two-door hardtop. With most likely the biggest quarter panels, ever. They’re just about my favorite Imperial. But I’ve only ever seen one in the metal. This one.
Quick Look: 1973 Buick Riviera
Although it hasn’t actually arrived yet, last week my buddy Jason Bagge, AKA The Brougham Whisperer, agreed to acquire the grand set of wheels you see before you: A 1973 Buick Riviera.
The classic boat-tail Rivieras were built from 1971 to 1973, and there’s no mistaking them for anything else. Though they do have a slight resemblance to a middle-aged 1963-67 Corvette coupe. One who has invested well, married well, and drinks Scotch, plays golf and lives in the right neighborhood.
1973 Capri: Imported For Lincoln-Mercury
While Ford of England first marketed a Capri model in the early ’60s, the Consul Classic Capri, the first one offered in the United States appeared in 1970 and was sold by Lincoln-Mercury dealers. Often called a ‘Mercury Capri’, it really wasn’t. It was just the Capri, as borne out in all advertising and brochures. Sporty, affordable little imported coupes were hitting their stride in the early ’70s, and Ford wanted in on it.
By the time the Capri came to the US market, insurance premiums were beginning to have an effect on sales of cars like the Mustang, Javelin, Barracuda and others. In short order, your choices for coupes were down to two basic types: a big, landau roofed cruiser like the Monte Carlo or Grand Prix, or a small, sporty coupe such as the Capri, Opel Manta or Toyota Celica.