Oh you guys, I can’t help myself. I don’t generally talk about what I paid for stuff except for my $900 vacuum cleaner, that no one ever sees. Guaranteed for life. My mother had only one Kirby in her life so I guess I got it from her.
I take pride in my cars though and if I end up at the dollar store once a year or so, I park way far away from the junkers in the lot. Freedom though is the purpose of money and it can quickly vanish by being stupid. Still when I go to a car show I know some of these guys have several hundred thousand invested and drive trucks daily. Put those Bentley owners to shame. I think a lot of these guys are machinists. Must be money in it.
Hey look… consider the times and what it was designed for. A properly optioned 75 caddie was very advanced for its time and it was designed to be an interstate land yacht. My 1974 Coupe DeVille remains the most comfortable highway vehicle I’ve driven. Its 15 inch optional radial black wall tires and front 12 inch disks and rear drums were better than most cars of the day. And front disks simply were not on most cars. Mine had automatic adjusting rear suspension, a 472 cubic inch V8 could spin the rear wheels despite the severe detuning required so that it ran on regular unleaded (and get marginally better gas mileage than previous years). Still zero to 60 was only 11 seconds, more than adequate in an age of oil shocks and performance robbing pollution controls. Mine was equipped with climate control, AM/FM stereo (with cassette), dual reclining electric 6 way adjustable front seats, variable ratio power steering, electric windows, power locks, and optional AIR BAGS! There were turn signals indicators on the hood and dash in your line of sight. There was an indicator in the dash and above the rear windows that told you if any of your driving and turning lights burned out. Gas mileage was bad by today’s standards: about 14 mpg on the interstate at 55-65.
I stole this thing in 1978 for a couple hundred bucks, at an estate auction, after the reserve price of $500 was waived. When nobody else bid I offered $200. Because I paid cash there were no auction fees.
The next time you think caddies were behind the times, remember that you couldn’t get another car with driver side AND passenger air bags for about 20 years.
George, this post is very timely. Besides my interest in cars, I collect (and use) vintage and modern fountain pens. One of the enthusiast Facebook groups I belong to had a post a couple of days ago showing a Montblanc 149 pen that retails for $1,000 and a Chinese knockoff that usually sells for less than $20.00. The initial post started an interesting debate, with the OP asking, “what is the difference between these pens?” I happen to own both of these pens. I bought the Montblanc for $250.00 in 1977, which was still an outrageous price for a pen over 40 years ago. Frankly, that pen is one of the most finicky that I own. The knockoff is a better writer. The value of the Montblanc came while I was still working. I worked for a large corporation, and when I got dressed in the morning, if I had an important meeting to attend that day, I put the Montblanc in my pocket. When I took that pen out of my pocket in the meeting, it garnered me instant respect and credibility. I believe the analogy would extend to a Bently vs. Camry as well.
@old_mopar_guy At work, I was like Rodney Dangerfield as “I don’t get no respect”. For the last 33 years of my tenure at the university where I was on the faculty, I drove the Oldsmobile Cutlass Salon that I purchased new in 1978. For the last 20 years, it did look rather ratty. I was rather like Lt. Columbo, the detective in the LAPD who drove his old battered Peugeot. I actually had colleagues that told me that, as a professor, I shouldn’t be driving an old heap like that. Well, the old Oldsmobile got me to work and back home as well as a Bentley would. My colleagues with BMWs and Mercedes had a 60 mile trip each way to the nearest dealer. For the repairs I didn’t make myself, my mechanic was a mile from my house.
Don’t get me started on Rolex I collect watches and still won’t buy their overpriced, overrated, over restricted products. But that’s just me. Rant concluded.
News story the other day on the radio, somebody in SF area wearing a Rolex, while exiting their car, got robbed at gunpoint. Maybe Timex isn’t such a bad choice after all … lol … … radio host commenting on story said he has a knock-off Rolex, purchased in Vietnam for $20, but won’t wear it, fear of robbery.
For cheap watches, Timex is like the Camry. They are solid and reliable. The last one I bought at the local KMart just died on me a few months ago. That shows how long that one lasted and I am HARD on things. KMart has been gone for YEARS! I found a couple Casios cheap at Wal-Mart and bought them. The first one is already showing signs of moisture intrusion. I will run it until it dies, then switch to the other one. After that I am back to Timex. I have been through this drill before and always conclude Timex is the way to go for this type of watch. It is the Camry of watches for sure.
Used Timex for years, tough as nails. For dress-up occasions I have a Vacheron-Constatin. Purchased in Thailand flea market for $20. Given the oem goes for $20,000-$40,000, apparently it isn’t the real thing … lol … but it works pretty good.
Now that we are on to watch talk, I wear a seico all the time and have another one in the box. Both for warming a chair for 30 plus years. I also have a good one for dress, name escapes me but it digs into my hand. Of course then my phone is atomic time in a pinch. Reminds me of the l & hardy movie horns. Clocks everywhere. I have 22 to change twice a year,
For the second watch the gave me a list of prizes I could choose from. The least goofy one was a watch but I said I already got a watch five years ago. Could I just take the money. Hr people have no sense of humor. Yeah I studied Maslow and wanted to give them a spiel on what motivates people-not watches or desk sets. But why throw pearls to swine as they say.
Going to combine watchtalk with CarTalk.
Had a Casio watch, solar cell charged the internal battery, watch received the signal from the Atomic Clock in Colorado, automatically updated date and time including leap year date.
The only thing I had to do was set the time zone I was in.
Now why do auto manufactures not incorporate that function in automotive dash board time display? Furthermore time zone could be determined by onboard GPS.
My 2011 Outback has that feature, and I only have to toggle between Standard Time and Daylight Saving Time twice each year in order for it to display the correct time. In fact, it isn’t even possible to manually set the clock on these cars.
And, for the Luddite faction, I will note that this feature (along with all of the other supposedly-troublesome electronic gadgets) is still functioning without flaw after 11 years/121k miles.
I have heard some of the fakes are really not bad. I am on many power tool forums and there are scams and fakes. The scams are claiming to be a name brand at like 5% of MSRP. The fakes make no claim to be a name brand but are obviously a copycat of something legit and it is stated that they are compatible with existing batteries and chargers. These are like 30-40% of MSRP and people say they aren’t bad for homeowners or if you need a spare/extra tool from time to time. I have never owned any as you have to order them from China and wait a month but those who have say they are not bad for the money.
Coincidently, Hoovies Garage (Youtuber) just bought a Bentley…
While having “The Wizard” give it a look-over on the lift, what did they find?
Parts underneath marked “Toyota Manufacturing”…
Bentleys share many parts with Toyotas…
So you get a luxury car with the reliability of a Toyota.
I collect watches and still won’t buy their overpriced, overrated, over restricted products. But that’s just me. Rant concluded.