Not sure if these were standard or "options": In some 1950's Buicks you could change the radio station using a foot pedal - kind of like the highbeam pedal - I think they were called something like "Wonderbar" radios. I'm pretty sure I also saw this same set up in a 1956 DeSoto Pace Car once? And some of these 1950's Buicks could be started by placing the key in the ignition, but you didn't have to turn the key - instead you just touched the gas pedal (hands free) and the car would start.
Maybe some of you guys remember those European cars that had no modern type of turn signals on the bumpers, but instead had little "wings" that would pop out of the B-pillars and light up. I remember my dad's Morris had them. I've even seen them on a pre-war Rolls Royce. I think they used to be called something like "Trafficators". .
didnt camaros (69) come with an optional "traction" device that sat in one of the rear wheelwells and dispense liquid traction aid (bleach maybe)?
Graham Brothers ('21- '26) had a heater vent option from the exaust right behind the block that according to an old article "would certainly melt the snow from a drivers feet" ... Maybe not the most outrageous, but its funny considering a lot of the delivery trucks produced did not have doors.
I know about the "dealer installed" hi-po 427's - but that's what they were too - "dealer installed" - not in any way actual 'factory options'. Back in the mid-'70's, I had a buddy who had a '69 or '70 Baldwin-Motion L72 427/425hp Nova - with a bunch of also, B-M installed, 'Phase III' parts - ie - L88 cam, aluminum heads, Hooker headers, Corvette 'chambered exhaust' side-pipes, 1050 cfm Holley 3BBL carb, CD ignition, traction bars, etc. etc., on it as well - that he bought new - ordered through B-M, but delivered to the the Cheyy dealer where he worked. But even these cars all came from the factory with lesser engines installed and Baldwin-Motion and the various other Chevy 'super-car' builder-venders of the day, merely ordered the "good" or "better" hi-hp 427 and 454 engines from GM, 'over the counter'- along with various factory and aftermarket speed parts - and then installed, assembled, modified and tweeked everything in their own shops. The vin and the build-sheet on my buddy's B-M Nova for example, showed that before it was shipped to B-M for conversion, it originally left the factory with a 375hp-396 engine under the hood, which was the biggest and highest hp engine available in a Nova that year, - or in fact, ever - at least as a genuine, factory RPO. Mart3406 ===========
The L88 in 69 is the top dog as the 67-68 were all closed chamber heads. And thats right only in corvettes. The real #1 to own is the 66 prototype that Sonoco raced. Gulstrand flew to St.Louis in Feb. to pick it up and drove it to Traco to have the race motor installed. They gave him a blanket to keep warm as it had no heater.
Your right about the 396/375 hp Novas they had in '69... But in '70 they went with the 402/375 motor.... same block as the 396 but with a .030" overbore...
Thanks! I knew I wasn't dreamin....That car is from one of my earliest childhood memories....thanks again! R~R
My 59 Skyliner could be optioned with a set of 3 fitted suitcases that just filled the trunk tub which is the only place you can put anything with the top retracted.
call BS all you want to Mart... I know the car, I have saw the car and it isn't a buddy, it was my late Uncle Busters car. It may possibly NOT be the L88, but that is what I have in my head. It is a 427 car with the police interceptor package. I know where the car is, I have been in, it is real and it was factory ordered. There are lots of Chevy cars that are rare and special, with numbers matching that actually dont exist, but since you are the end all, be all when it comes to everything, I will let you be right and step away. AND you sir, are a dick....
1955 Dodge La Femme, designed "for women", a pink and white (later orchid and cream) car that came with accessories "for the ladies", such as a leather tote bag, an umbrella, rain hat, and rain coat. A special pocket behind the front seats was designed into the car, so there would be a place to put these accessories. Other cosmetic-type accessories were available.
Then, there are those phantom options with witnesses who will swear on a stack of bibles, they knew a guy who knew a guy who had a special-order-factory-stock car that can't be documented. One I'm constantly running across is the 1956 Studebaker Golden Hawk special ordered with the Packard Caribbean 374" 2x4bbl 305hp engine instead of the stock 352" single 4-bbl 275hp engine. There's zero factory documentation on these, but no shortage of bench racers who will remember having seen one. In fact, fuggediboudit. The stories about these phantom special orders would clog bandwidth here for weeks ;>) jack vines[/QUOTE] along these lines - I wish I had a dollar for every factory 4 speed '57 chevy passanger car I've been told about.....
You can call me dick all you want but you're the one who originally claimed it was a factory L88 car. I'm certainly not going to apologize for being around and involved with these things 'back in the day' when were they were new and for knowing my stuff about them. I don't for a minute, doubt the possibility of it being a 'special-order' '66 Caprice with a 4spd. and a '427 police package'. Rare when new, yes, but they did exist and there's still a few out there. But initially claiming that it was a factory ordered 1966 L88 Caprice - which of course would not have been possible, not in '66 and not in a passenger car body - and secondly not even by buying the engine 'over the counter' back in 1966 - as the L88 in any form wasn't even released until very near the end of the 1967 model-year - that's what got me. If knowing and pointing out those *facts* to you, makes me a "dick" in your mind, so be be it. Myths and old wives tales about impossible engine & car combinations like this spread and circulate around the internet like wildfire until like 'flypaper for the gullible', they become "truth" and "fact" to some people. What the car would have came with in '66, if it was ordered with a 427 as part of a police package - and again, I don't doubt you when you say that it was, because it would have been entirely possible to do so - would been a 385/390/hp-427 L36, which was basically a slightly de-tuned, oval-port head and hydraulic-cammed version of the high-po, 'near all-out race engine', L72 425hp-427. And if the 427 was ordered separately, rather than specifically as part of the police package, it could have even come with the L72 425/hp-427. Neither one would have been slow and either would make the car rare and very desirable today. mart ==============
as far as 427 copo cars go when I was a kid in the 70's I worked at a chevy dealer the owner had a 69 caprice 4 door hard top that was his pride and joy (toy) with hidden headlights bucket seats , console with the auto matic shifter on the floor, tripple black and power everything and oh yea skirts the car was and original 427 car warmed up with all the (dealer installed ) goodies (tri power) dual exaust,posi rear all I remember was being handed the keys and a purchase order to take it down the street to get gas for it ( it would only run on premium fuel) It didnt take long to get there and back and I remeber the boss asking me if I liked his old mans car you bet your ass I did!
The local Ford dealer, mid-'60s, used to get some strange pieces from Ford...cancelled Fleet orders etc. 3 real oddities come to mind: 1) '64 Ford Country Sedan (wagon), and a '64 Fairlane Wagon...both Right Hand Drive! (cancelled British orders)...sold to rural mailmen! 2) '67 LTD 4-dr Hardtop, loaded in Dk. Green with vinyl roof and brocaded interior, with 390 and 6-way Power Seat...and FOUR SPEED (unorderable according to Ford specs). You could put the bench seat in a position that prevented the car from going into 2nd and 4th gears! Tried to get my dad to buy it...heavily discounted at end-of-year production. 3) '69 Fairlane Wagon...with non-Ram Air Q-code CJ 428 and column C6...gotta be a one-of-a-kind!
...and my brother was the 2nd owner of a '69 Nova SS396/375hp...with HD 3-speed on the floor. The original owner custom-ordered the car without poppin' the extra 200 skins for the 4-speed. With 3.55s and J70/14 Thompsons, the car would do 110 mph...in 2nd gear!
Grump probably woulda loved it! Imagine the savings on motel bills when he was followin the circuit. : ) Not to mention, who else could say they had a 10 second camper?...
Not factory but funny, used to work on a 70 boss 302 mustang that had a trailer hitch installed on it.
7300...and they were J70/15s (sorry) on Z28 rims...he broke so many valve springs, the local dealer cut him off from warranty claims. Youth... Re: Vega Tent...I recall the first public display for the Pontiac Aztek at the Phoenix Center in downtown Pontiac during Woodward Dream Cruise 2000. Young college gal-intern bops over to me askin' (almost breathless, she was), "What do you think?!" Tent was attached, hatch open..."I think it's pretty cool, but won't it severely affect FUEL MILEAGE?!"...and walked away...
My 59 El Camino originally came with a 235 6 cylinder and air conditioning, it's definitely factory, no doubt, and I've heard of them existing, I'll post up pics later on tonight.
My 59 El Camino is an original 283/4bbl, Powerglide, power steering and brakes, E-Z-E tinted glass and padded dash car, with factory 2-tone black and white color. Its body number #46, and is one of the first 1500 59's built in Los Angeles in late 1958. I'm guessing it was done as a "demo" and "showroom" vehicle to show off the new body style. Not really rare options, just not normally seen on an El Camino My 57 Nomad was a factory 245hp 2-4's 283 and 3 speed w/od and 4.11 posi. factory black w/silver interior.
My 52 F1 has a locking glove box. I guess it is a really rare option. Bad new is that the latch is broken and I have looked in over 100+ early F1's and havent seen one yet.... Gonna have to fab something up I guess.
All kinds of goofy things are possible. There was a 69 Beaumont here in town when I was a kid that had an aluminum head 427 in it. Original owner still lives here and still has the heads on his speed boat. A buddy of mine has a block that came out of the car - not sure if it was the original or not. The car itself is long gone, but it was a legend around here for many years. I think I'll check out some numbers......
Had a magazine at one time that was talking about rare options. One car they listed was a 1969 Impala 6cyl. with a block heater installed at the factory. One of one
What about it was considered "rare"- the 6-banger or the block heater? A 6 cyl. in an Impala in '69 would be odd - but not so uncommon in the lower-trim level Biscaynes and Bel Airs - and here in Canada, anyway, block heaters were a very common, low-cost option on all models - everything from bare-bones strippers, to loaded luxo-barges, to muscle cars. Mart3406 =================
The Jalopy Journal
