It's a tank ! No, it's a car !

[skuz]

I was coming back from the city today after doing some job research, At a traffic light I stopped beside a car. And I mean a CAR !

Looked like 2x length of my Toyota.

I'm sure it was at least 18' long. It wasn't even a limo. Man, that was big, ENORMOUS.
At least 6' wide too. The hood and trunk were **** big. On the side was written LeBaron.

At next light, the guy, around 60 years old, saw me staring at his tank and laughed. Rolled down his window and told "Never saw something that big heh young one ?"

Before light turned green I asked him what his car is. Told me it is a 1973 Chrysler Imperial LeBaron.

Looked exactly like this one :
http://www.motorcities.com/contents/01EKD505984499.html

I don't even want to think about how you can possibly park this car in a modern parking lot...

Is that the biggest non-modified car ever built ?

[This message has been edited by skuz (edited 06-20-2001).]

[Kuasimodem]

I think the late 60's vintage Chrysler's were slightly bigger. One of my first cars when I got my license was a 1967 Dodge Monaco. It was a 4 door tank that would hold about 14 people, if you stacked them right (boy, girl, boy, girl...) http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

The really cool thing to me was the big-block 440 police special motor under the hood...I can't count the number of times that I smoked the little rich kids driving their Camaro that mommy & daddy bought them in a stoplight drag.
http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gifya just can't beat cubic inches for power! http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

BTW, curb weight on that thing was about 5700 pounds!

[jad1097]

Uh, my car is 18 or more feet long! I had to remove the work bench I had set up in the garage to get the thing in there.

[madfish]

Ahhh, the boats of yester year, brings a tear to me eye. pontiac cattalina station wagon 9 passenger beast, now that was a boat. it was my first set of wheels in `76, next was a nash rambler.. madfish

[korgul]

I saw a pickup truck the other day that had the crew cab ( 3 full size doors on each side) and also had the extended bed. It was also a dually.

Sorry to say it was a very ugly truck.

korgul

[OuTpaTienT]

For a very short time, I had a 1970 Chrysler Newport. Freakin' HUGE. It looked very similar in body style to this Chrysler you're talking about skuz. 'Cept mine was way uglier. Oxidized blue paint with identical colored blue fabric interior...gag! 383 engine that barely had enough ooomph to get the beast moving. But thanks to the skinny tires it had no problem burning rubber. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

[Barney]

This car is ugly? I think it looks great! 6 meter long, wow. I saw it in a movie a few years ago, btw. That thing probably drives like a bus. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

[BFlurie]

Parents had a '71 Buick Electra 225. Smooth as ice. You go over railroad tracks like an airplace -- didn't feel a thing.

[Ritalin Kid]

Ever since I've had my license when I was sixteen I've driven big cars. Smallest car I ever had was a 1980 Buick Regal and every other car was a Cadillac. They might be big cars but they float on the highways. Like the saying goes "nothing rides like a Caddy"

[alondra]

Beautiful. a real automobile . comfortable full 6 passenger. and a real engine. brings back great memories. as I get into my present, plastic, looks like everything else. toy

[jad1097]

<IMG SRC="http://personal.bna.bellsouth.net/bna/m/d/mdevan/IMAGES/84delta.jpg" border=0>

<IMG SRC="http://personal.bna.bellsouth.net/bna/m/d/mdevan/IMAGES/olds.jpg" border=0>

Hey mine does not shine like that one does! I wonder if the paint is still under warranty? Probably not.


I really need a better pic of my car.

skuz that old Imperial has to be ever bit of twenty feet.



[This message has been edited by jad1097 (edited 06-20-2001).]

[blind to truth]

my brother had a four door 1963 Oldsmobile. HUGE! my god that thing was the biggest car I've ever seen. I want a boat like that

[spuck]

i like my 1987 pontiac safari wagon.loaded but under powered.has a 307 cid.seats 9.will tow my 22 foot 1969 kinskill camper.top speed bout 74mph empty. loaded? i was passed by a 15 speed bicycle going up hill.

i had to parrell park a volvo with a 40 foot trailer to get my cdl.try that some time.


[This message has been edited by spuck (edited 06-21-2001).]

[big_block_buick]

green manalishi

http://www.motorcities.com/contents/01FL9104927512.html

[Ed_S]

Nice sized car, I remember when a LOT of 'em were about that big. Biggest car made now would have been considered a "mid-size" back then. Thankfully, you can still get decent sized trucks!
My trucks, (http://www.geocities.com/ed_s_429/truck.html) old & new. Ford did downsize a little, the '97 is only a 157" wheelbase, the '87 is 158". http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

skuz - parking's not a problem with a big one, really. I just figure that it outweighs, costs more, and is bigger than two compact cars, therefore it's entitled to two spaces if they're too small!! http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

&lt;edit&gt; originally posted a pic rather than a link, but it blew out the borders, hehehe...



[This message has been edited by Ed_S (edited 06-23-2001).]

[johnpaul]

Nice truck, Ed. Here's my '71 Chevy that I dropped a rebuilt 350 into 16 months ago.

<IMG SRC="http://ubbpractice2.homestead.com/files/Chevytoo.jpg" border=0>


The late 1960's were the times when Detroit designed engines like big air pumps. The more air you could pump, the more horsepower you could deliver. skuz's link shows a car with a 440 cubic inch engine that produced 215 bhp. By today's standards, those are archaic figures. With fuel-injection and computer-operated everything, even cars with tiny engines (by comparison) produce more horsepower than yesterday's behemoths.

Subaru has a new model named the Impreza WRX. Here's what the NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/17/automobiles/17AUTO.html) said:

"But this car is an animal. Turbocharged to the teeth, the 2-liter horizontally opposed engine produces 227 horsepower, or 113 horsepower per liter, well above the threshold of 100 that is cherished by the hot-rod cognoscenti. That kind of power-to-displacement ratio puts the Subaru in the heady company of cars like the Ferrari 360 Modena and the Porsche 911 Turbo."

Imagine that - an engine only 2 liters in size that produces more HP than the 7+ liter, 1973 Chrysler Imperial. That, and it gets 27 mpg on the freeway.

JP

[Ed_S]

Good lookin' Chevy there, johnpaul!

There's another thing about the big cars / engines, though. Longevity.

Those high hp tiny things just aren't likely to be around for the long haul, while that Chrysler already has 28 yrs under it's belt and may go another 28...

Also, I've got to wonder what kind of bhp that 2.0L would produce if installed in something as heavy as the Imperial... http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif
...or would it even move???

[johnpaul]

Of course the Chrysler needed a humungous V-8 just to haul its carcass around. Don't forget, too, everything on it was metal, not plastic or composite, like today's models. Gasoline was cheap and everyone expected it to last forever.

You're sure right about longevity, Ed. These old cars and trucks have survived 30+ years. I've owned my truck over 18-years, and my motto is, "Keep it forever."

JP

[jad1097]

Nice truck JP.

[johnpaul]

Thanks, jad.

JP

[justy]

Skuz,

You ever try to cut me up again and I'll drive over you!!!

Joe King.

[skuz]

Hey Justy, I let you go first, didn't I ? http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif