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Post by chilipepper on Sept 22, 2009 14:30:22 GMT -5
Hubby and I had an '81 Imperial. Loved that car! 'Way ahead of it's time in digital/electronic gadgets. Dash looked like a cockpit of an airplane!
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Post by ricklou on Sept 22, 2009 16:13:46 GMT -5
I have seen a pic of Arrington's Imperial, It was so ugly I refused to copy it ... Arrington did good with the Mirada because it had a better roof line than the Buick Regal's and Pontiac's of the day. The T-Bird had a decent roof also. The GM notchback as it was called became a problem in 1985 when Bill Elliott came out with the super slick Thunderbird and blew doors.
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Post by songsmith1950 on Sept 22, 2009 17:33:14 GMT -5
Awwww. I sold cars in the late 70's when electronics went slack for a while. I enjoyed the Imperial I had as a demo and also the Cordoba. Then I went Ford and loved my Mustangs (not Mustang 2) and Thunderbird demos. Happy electronics came back though as working til 9 most nights and six days a week wasn't fun.
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Post by pmossberg on Sept 22, 2009 17:53:04 GMT -5
Ooooo....with the Corinthian Leather?
Amazing.
Even in a thread as simple as pictures of the Magnum, it doesn't take long to get hi-jacked.
Magnum to Mirada to Imperial to Cordoba to vehicle electronics to Ford Mustangs and T-Birds.
How does that happen?
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Post by songsmith1950 on Sept 22, 2009 18:09:24 GMT -5
To Corinthian Leather, don't forget your guilt my friend! Should I tell Judith we are hijacking threads? ?? Nope, I brought a red crayon home from work and don't want her finding it.
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Post by chilipepper on Sept 22, 2009 18:26:19 GMT -5
Yep, we had a Cordoba, too. And a Thunderbird. And a Corvette. And a Buick Riviera. And an Old Toronado ( I referred to it as the pimp-mobile ). Now we have a Colorado pick up and a E-150 Ford van. Where did we go wrong?!
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Post by apttyfn on Sept 22, 2009 18:34:28 GMT -5
Nice pics as usual Ric. It seemed like the 21 and the 43 always found each other on the track. Great time of racing
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Post by apttyfn on Sept 22, 2009 18:38:18 GMT -5
Yep, we had a Cordoba, too. And a Thunderbird. And a Corvette. And a Buick Riviera. And an Old Toronado ( I referred to it as the pimp-mobile ). Now we have a Colorado pick up and a E-150 Ford van. Where did we go wrong?! Wasnt the Toronado one of the first US front wheel drive cars? I remember seeing a story on tv about them.
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Post by pmossberg on Sept 22, 2009 18:52:57 GMT -5
The 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado was the first U.S. front-wheel drive car after the Cord 810 which was introduced in 1936.
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Post by songsmith1950 on Sept 22, 2009 18:53:33 GMT -5
I think it and the Buick Riviera were the two first front wheel drive cars. I was thirteen when they came out and they surely did cause a stir in the auto world. I think they were actually belt drive too. Beautiful cars for thier time or any time.
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Post by loanshark on Sept 22, 2009 19:13:14 GMT -5
the same guy that designed the corvette (name slips me) designed the Riviera! More history chili. My dad was a car pimp. We had all those vehicles as well, minus the Toronado.
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Post by pmossberg on Sept 22, 2009 19:53:17 GMT -5
The Toronado came first. The Cadillac in 1967. The Buick Riviera remained rear wheel drive until the 1970s.
The V8 was longitudinal.
The transmission was a modified Turbo Hydramatic automatic. The torque converter was mounted on the back of the engine, as usual. The transmission itself was turned 180 degrees and mounted below and to the left of the engine. The torque converter drove the transmission input shaft by means of a short metal chain. The planetary differential was mounted in front of the transmission, driving the front wheels via short half-shafts with CV joints at each end. Except for the differential, CV joints, and the chain drive itself, most of the package was off-the-shelf hardware, even the transmission: although its internals had to be modified to rotate in the opposite direction, most of its major components were shared with the standard, rear-drive TH400. The Toronado's engine, a big 425 cu. in. (7.0L), was identical to other Olds V8s except for the oil pan, which had an opening to allow the right driveshaft to pass through it
Buick balked at the front wheel drive, preferring to retain a conventional front-engine, rear-drive layout for the Riviera.
Cadillac agreed to FWD, although their own front-drive E-body was delayed until 1967.
So, when the new Oldsmobile Toronado came out for the 1966 model year, it was the only front-wheel-drive car made in America.
Another tid-bit, Chevy had registered the Toronado name in 1963 for a show car but had no future use for it. So Bunkie Knudsen, then general manager of Chevrolet, gave the name to Olds.
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Post by loanshark on Sept 22, 2009 20:03:56 GMT -5
to follow up, we had a 1956, 76, 84 & 96 vette. Dad's Riviera was a 1984. Great cars!
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Post by songsmith1950 on Sept 22, 2009 20:21:11 GMT -5
Wow, now those were great cars!!!!!!
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Post by chilipepper on Sept 22, 2009 20:36:03 GMT -5
Maybe I SHOULD order Hot Rod! We had some pretty nifty cars and I didn't even know it! (Does my '57 T-Bird that was my first car count?)
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