My favorite odd option is the automatic lubing system in the old Lincolns. You push a button on the dash while driving down the road and a system of tubes attached to a container of grease located under the hood sends grease to ball joints, wheel bearings, etc...
Supercharger option on 1957 thunderbird. Just to hear the lump sound of the cam and the whine of the blower. Nuff said.
Bought a 48 chevy that was nicely optioned once , but the wierdes one of them was " Fill Guard" I didnt know about it yet but when i went to put gas in it i had noticed the tank whistling very loudly . and it got higher pithed with the more gas i dumped in . later that evening i was looking at options for a 48 and there it was. it was a little metal tube that went in the tank and would whistle at you as you filled up. The higher pitch meant you were getting close to the top , it was to keep those unsightly gas stains off the fender ha ha ha
------ That was available on the 'top of the line' '58 Edsel Corsair and Citations too, but on Edsels in particular, it was a very rare, seldom ordered option. Mart3406 ================
Maybe not really a rare piece but, I remember my great Aunt (RIP) telling the story about how much she liked the early Mercury Cougar. She went to the local dealer and ordered a typical old lady (her words) car. 1967, olive green, 302, 2 barrel carb, automatic, vinyl top, narrow white walls, full wheel covers. It took something like 6 weeks for the car to come in at the dealership. The dealer called her and told her that the car was in but there was a problem and could she come to the dealership so they could talk about it? When she got there she looked the car over and couldn't see anything wrong and then the dealer told her it had the wrong engine. It came with a 351, 4 barrel (I don't remember her ever saying what trans it had). They told her if she would accept the car, as is, she could have it at the same price. She said that she LOVED to see the look on the faces of "the young kids in their hot rods" when she would smoke 'em at the stop lights. Doc
I was working at a Buick Dealership in 68 when they took in a 65 Buick Wildcat on trade with a factory 4-speed, Air and Power steering. That in itself made it pretty different. What was really odd was that it did not have power brakes. That big sucker needed Power Brakes. According to our Parts Dept Manager power brakes were not offered as an option on this model of car with the 4-speed. We rounded up parts to make the Power brake conversion but had to fabricate a rod from the brake pedal to the Brake booster. I have not seen another 65 4-Speed Wildcat though I have seen a couple advertized in Hemmings over the years. I think it was a me too type option so that Buick would be able to say they also had a big car in there lineup with a 4-speed. It had a very heavy clutch and a high geared rear end. Wasn't much of a Drag car but it had a top end that would "Go On"
A guy I went to high school with (back in '75) said his folks had a 69 two door Chevy Caprice with a 427 and a three on the tree, I called BS and we went to his house and I ate my words, he was right. Another guys folks had a first generation Monte Carlo triple black 454 4 speed with swivel bucket seats, beautiful car....
You mean she took it for the original quoted price and didn't insist they knock a couple of hundred dollars more off the price even, of the original base 302 2-bbl she had ordered, because of their screw up??!! Another "dealer screw up" story too. Several years ago the local Lincoln-Mercury dealer in the rural Southern Ontario town where my parents live, placed an order with FoMoCo for a bunch of new cars to put in stock. When filling out the paint-code option on the order sheet - typically silver, blue, black and other conservative colors typical for dealer-stock cars in a conservative rural town, the sales manager mistyped the paint code for a Lincoln Town Car and a few weeks later, the car came in - painted in special 'fleet-order-only' "Mary Kay Cosmetics" pastel pinK! That car sat on the lot for nearly the whole model year with no takers. They even tried wholesaling the car to other dealers at a loss, but to no avail. Finally, they ended up re-painting the car themselves and selling it at a huge discount. Mart3406 ==========
I went to college with a guy from Kingman Ariz and his parents gave him the old '57 Chevy Convertible that they bought brand new to drive, I am probably missing a couple of options because this thing was loaded but I do remember power windows, steering, seats and brakes, fuel injection and a padded dash. We pulled the auto tranny cut a hole in the floor and put a four speed in...his dad was pissed off.
1957 Studebaker Golden Hawk factory McCullough Supercharger standard and dual antennas mounted between the trunk lid and the fins. Oh and the fastest American production car to boot.
Howza Bruthas- About 1961 Dad had a 1956 Chevrolet 4-dr hardtop sport sedan. It had a good amount of the options and a Power Pack V-8 and Powerglide auto. He was doing some routine maintenance and when he ran the numbers on the engine it was a 283. The car was all original and he figured it was a late production car that the factory guys were out of 265's and installeded the 283 instead.
------- I suppose anything is possible, but it's not likely, because 265 production didn't end with the 1956 model-year and they were still being made and installed in cars, at least as the base V8, right through to the end of the 1957 model-year. Mart3406 ===========
My 59 edsel came with no heater or radio from the factory. The original owner paid an extra 80 bucks to get it taken out would of been cheaper to keep it in
My father's 1959 Lincoln had automatic lub. Pushed button on the dash and it lub'd the suspension pieces, "on the fly" even
How about a 1965 Olds 98, - 'non-stretch' limo that I owned for a few months, back in 1978 or '79. When new, the was originally owned by GM-Canada for the first couple years of it's life and used as some sort of executive VIP transport. That car had several somewhat "oddball" factory options and unique 'special features'. Starting under the hood, notably, a 425 Olds 370 hp "Starfire" engine - with dual exhaust and the "Starfire" chrome air breather and valve covers, instead of the standard 310 or 360 hp 425 engine used in normal production Olds 98s. Now for the real weirdness - the engine also had a GM-Delco "UHV - magnetic breakerless" transistorized ignition. The UHV ignition appeared to be original to the car, so it was probably a pre-production prototype or experimental unit as GM didn't even offer the UHV breakerless ignition as an option on production Oldsmobiles until the 1967 model year. Inside the car, there were some other neat bits of factory weirdness too. Notably on the dash, both a factory cruise control and a factory "speed alert' for the speedometer. Both cruise control and the "speed alert" option were popular and fairly common options on GM luxury cars in the mid-60's, but having both of them in combination on the same car I think, is pretty much unheard of! One other special feature on the car was that it had a sort of 'mini bar' or more aptly a 'factory' booze stash for the rear seat passengers that was built into the back of the front seat. It was sort of like an elongated but shallower 'glove compartment', set into the back of the front seat and covered by a fake woodgrain hinged metal door. Inside, the compartment that lit up when you opened the door was a polished stainless steel whiskey flask with an engraved Oldsmobile crest" and the word "Oldsmobile" engraved in Olds script and three matching polished stainless 'drinking tumblers' also engraved with the "Oldsmobile" script. Mart3406 ============
Had a '58 Buick Roadmaster riviera 75 (all three trim packages on the same car). Had all kinds of doo dads on it, power windows, antenna, seats, tinted glass, factory spotlights, heated seats, power steering, brakes, some kind of automatic parking brake thing, A/C, had the higher powered 364 'nail in it, can't remember what it was called. That car was nuts. Paid $1500 for it form a muscle car d'bag that hated it then sold it to some old man for $5000. Prolly should have just kept it.
------------------ Hmm?? Wasn't that the same "genius" who also invented the magic "200 mpg carburetor"?? You know....the one that "stops everything, while increasing everything else" - and allows you to run your car on water and get 200-plus mpg while making 400 hp with zero pollution - and that GM, Ford or Chrysler and/or the oil companies and/or the government stole from him and that they keep under wraps and hidden from us, even to this day??!!
I once owned a 1967 Mustang convertible...289 w/ 4 bbl and dual exhaust and a 4 speed top loader. It had a factory BENCH seat, no buckets. It also had factory chrome spoke wheels, but the slots were between the spokes, not in them like most Ford accessory rims. Also once owned a 1964 Buick Riviera, In addition to the usual assortment of power options (including front & rear side windows), the vent windows in the doors were electric power operated. Console had 6 switches for all the side glass. Once had a 1964 Olds Cutlass tudor h/top, bucket seats and centre console with factory bullet shaped tach mounted at the front of the console. A friend owned a 1964 Buick Wildcat convertible...425 cu. in. w/ 2 x 4bbl Rochesters, power everything (except vent windows) and full accessories...Autronic Eye headlight dimmer, Air Con, and Blaupunkt foot treadle to change radio stations (just depress it with your foot and the radio would automatically seek the next station signal). When I was a kid, a teenage neighbour inherited his grandfather's 4-door Hudson sedan (1940's vintage?). Besides a window in each door, the huge "C" pillar had windows that wound backwards into the roof. Not sure if the car was a real limousine, or just a monstrous, big sedan. Geeze...such memories...Glen
Have previously owned two '63 impala wagons , both heavily optioned (uncommon in a wagon ). 1st car 283 and glide, power tailgate glass, 1/4 vents and windows, tinted glass, power steer, power brakes, power front seat, tilt column, padded dash , 2 speed wipers, night/day interior mirror and 9 seater. 2nd car 300hp , 'glide all power glass , power steering , power brakes,9 seater, power tailgate, 2 speed wipers ,and factory AC .
Almost forgot...many years ago I was going out with a woman who owned an O/T yellow 1969 Camaro SS, Canadian car...power operated white top, black interior. All the SS trim pieces, auto trans with console and floor shifter, full wheel discs with triple (?) spinner blades...and a SIX CYLINDER motor!!! Not sure how many were produced, but it had to be quite rare?
Most 64 Galaxie 2 dr ht I saw back then had vinyl tops. We were in a bad wreck in my friends 64. It had all the above with exception of swingaway coluum and power windows.
My dad's '63 unibody Ford pickup had zippered storage compartments built into the inner door panels. With those thick doors, there was probably a cubic foot of storage per side.
I currently own a OT '67 Chevelle wagon that has many rare original options. It's loaded with power steering, power seat, power windows, power rear window, tilt wheel, speed warning, cruise control, AM FM with multiplex, tinted glass,and simulated wood wheel. It makes a great cruiser. I've never seen another '67 Chevelle similarly equipped.
I believe back then the heater and for sure the radio were not standard equipment and were a pay for option
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