Invicta for the win! - Old Cars Weekly Newsletter

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Invicta Victory This road-worthy 1962 Buick Invicta was a long time coming—but worth it! Old Cars Reader Story - Story and photos by Rolland Rahr In the fall of 1990, my husband Peter and I embarked on a driving tour from our home in Waukegan, Ill., to Bar Harbor, Maine. We would be in the eastern United States during the week of the peak fall colors, making it a spectacular time for a road trip. On the way, I mentioned I was considering trading in my '89 Acura Integra, the car we were driving, for a new Chrysler LeBaron convertible. Peter's reaction wasn't favorable. He described the LeBaron as "driving like a pillow on wheels." He made the throwaway comment, "an old convertible would be a lot more fun." Like that tune you can't stop hearing, for the rest of the trip I couldn't get thoughts about an old convertible out of my head. Just outside of Ithaca, N.Y., we stopped for gas. I went inside to pay (there were no gas pump credit card readers back then), and on my way out I passed a magazine rack where I saw my first issue of Auto Hunter. Magazine in hand, I returned to the car. We completed the last leg of the trip and arrived at our motel at bedtime. Though exhausted, I couldn't resist picking up the Auto Hunter before turning out the lights. I was absolutely gob-smacked at what I saw! Prior to that moment, if and when I saw an old car, I believed it was a thrilling fluke of nature. I had no clue an old car hobby even existed! See More Make your car our "Car of the Week"  If you've got an old car you really love, we want to hear about it! Click here to submit your ride! From Hurst/Olds to 4-4-2 A high school Hurst dream resulted in a 4-4-2 find. Old Cars Reader Story - Story and photos by Chris Strasburg It all started in the winter of 1980. On a boring Saturday afternoon, I accompanied my mom to the grocery store in the nearby city of Fort Atkinson, Wis. Luckily, next to the grocery store was Pfafflin Motors that sold Oldsmobile, Buick and Cadillac. I went to look at the cars and on the showroom floor there was a brand-new, leftover 1979 Hurst/Olds in white and gold. I instantly fell in love with that car. I really wanted to own it, but I was 15 and a sophomore in high school with a paper route. The car certainly was way out of my budget, but it left an impression on me and I knew someday I wanted one. About two weeks later, as I was leaving school for the day, that same 1979 Hurst/Olds was sitting in our high school parking lot! I learned some lucky kid who was a junior in our high school got it. In February 1980, about the same time I was dreaming about the '79 Hurst/Olds, the 1980 Olds 4-4-2 I now own was rolling down the assembly line in Lansing, Mich. From there, it made its way to Lokey Oldsmobile in Clearwater, Fla., where Mr. Max Hopewell was waiting to take delivery. Max, an Oldsmobile salesman for more than 30 years, ordered the car as his personal demo when, as he put it, "we heard it would be the last of the 350-powered Cutlasses." He used the car as his personal demo, then bought the car outright when it was taken out of demonstrative service. He said he had planned to keep the car forever, but, of course, life got in Max's way and his wife eventually wanted a different car. So, Max sold the 1980 4-4-2 in the late '90s with 9,000 miles on the odometer. See More Did the Plymouth Arrow miss the mark? A look at the 1976 Plymouth Arrow's history As some readers may recall, several years ago I wrote about the unfortunate Plymouth Cricket. A so-called "captive import," it was sold by Plymouth dealers here in America in an effort to capture small car sales then being grabbed by various Japanese and European brands. Produced in the United Kingdom by Chrysler United Kingdom Ltd., one of Chrysler's overseas affiliates at the time, the homely and lackluster Cricket was essentially a re-badged Hillman Avenger four-door sedan. After a moderately successful first year in America, sales dropped by half the following year. Before the end of 1973, the car was gone from the U.S. market and is barely remembered today. Chrysler's Dodge division had a much different experience with its own captive import, the Dodge Colt. Produced by Mitsubishi of Japan, the Colts were much better designed and built and were perkier to drive. Their styling was crisp and pleasant, unlike the Cricket's bland, forgettable looks. Dodge dealers had decent success with the Colt line-up and much fewer complaints about quality, reliability and drivability. Since Plymouth dealers still wanted a captive import to compete against Datsun and Toyota, Chrysler management eventually approved the importation of a Mitsubishi-built small Plymouth for its U.S. dealers. The new car arrived for the 1976 model year as the Plymouth Arrow. See More Now You Can Look 'Em Up Online! How much is your vintage ride worth? You can now join the Old Cars Price Guide Membership and find out online. Pricing right at your fingertips. Join Now! Subscribe Now to the Highest Frequency Publication for Die-Hard Car Lovers!  Your subscription to  Old Cars includes: All the recent news from around the old car hobby Coverage of all the important collector car auctions and shows Classifieds including expert advice SUBSCRIBE NOW Active Interest Media 2143 Grand Ave. Des Moines, IA 50312 United States View online  You received this email because you are subscribed to newsletters from Old Cars Weekly. Update your email preferences to choose the types of emails you receive.