Curbside Classic Clue

Paul Niedermeyer
by Paul Niedermeyer

No, the rusty pair of pliers is not a hint. Or is it?

Kudos to one of my favorite CC readers geeber for correctly catching the 1962 Ford Fairlane. Sir, your comments inspire me to try harder, and you never fail to notice when I’ve had the inspiration, time or energy to do better than average. For that and your other insightful comments I am most appreciative.

Paul Niedermeyer
Paul Niedermeyer

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  • Sanjay Mehta Sanjay Mehta on Apr 12, 2010

    72-73 Mercury Montego?

  • Dr Lemming Dr Lemming on Apr 12, 2010

    The more I look at the picture the more it appears to be a luxo-midget. If it's American it smells like a GM car. The 1981-82 Buick Skylark doesn't appear to fit because of the raked headlights, but the 1983+ had a flat fascia. The rusted tool would be a useful accessory for this notorious car. However, the chrome surround of the grille area doesn't fit any of the up-close photos I can find. So maybe I'm either dead wrong or haven't quite zeroed in on the right year.

  • Geeber Geeber on Apr 12, 2010

    Paul, thank you for the kind words. I enjoy reading your "Curbside Classic" articles, as you always give fresh insights into cars that we knew and loved, hated or even ignored. Your average articles are superior to almost everyone else's top-notch efforts. You ought to compile these for a book...they are that good. I'll join Dr. Lemming and guess 1983 or later X-body Buick Skylark. Those models had a flat front ensemble. And this color of blue was popular in the early 1980s, particularly on GM cars.

  • Revver Revver on Apr 12, 2010

    I drove a company car for a time that had some galvanized body panels, which GM apparently understood to mean "repels paint" as one of its benefits. The body looked fine, except the hood and trunk, which looked like a snake shedding its skin. Early 80's Buick Century. Edit: Ooops, just saw this was already identified. . . and thanks for the paint explanaition.

    • PrincipalDan PrincipalDan on Apr 12, 2010

      Actually all the manufactures had issues with switching over to unleaded paint in the early 80s. The colors that suffered the most were the blues and silvers for some reason. GM actually paid to repaint many of those cars but it was one of those "hidden warranty" things were your dealer had to be not a total douche-bag.

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