If you own a vintage or classic car, you might already be well versed on vehicles from the past that didn’t fare well for very long. Some classic cars were considered so undesirable that it didn’t take long after rolling off the assembly line for them to be tossed to the junk pile by car enthusiasts and the automobile industry at large. However, these long forgotten vehicles might likely be worth a pretty penny today. Just for kicks, let’s take a look at five of the most underappreciated or forgotten vehicles from the past few decades.
1964 Mercury Super Marauder
This is one of the rarest cars you will hear of, as there were only 42 built, boasting 425-horsepower pumping out of a 427 cubic-inch V8 engine. Just like a beautiful woman might stop traffic, this little baby was a real head turner among stock cars. It held the stock car racing record at Pike’s Peak International Raceway at one time. Unfortunately, the good looks and impressive power of this classic were not enough to make it a huge seller. As beautiful and rare as this car is (only 3 of the Parklane version were known to still exist in 2010), is the first on our list of long-forgotten treasures.
1965 Pontiac 2 + 2
Deriving its name from the rare fact that it could hold two people in both the front and back seats, this car was built for performance. Going from 0 to 60 in 7 seconds was a real feat, but the 376-horsepower version of this beauty could pull it off. It even beat a Ferrari once in a wildly hyped contest. People would compete to be a passenger in it back then. Apparently, not everyone wanted in on the fast fun, because Pontiac didn’t see much in the way of sales from this model.
1969 Ford Torino Talladega
In response to the new rule in the 1969 version of the NASCAR rule book, Ford found a way around the dictate that a car designed solely for racing could not be made eligible for racing unless at least 500 copies of the product were made available to the public. Enter the 1969 Ford Torino Talladega. You can imagine that race car enthusiasts of that time were waiting with bated breath for number 501 to roll off the line. Once it did, this beast began to dominate the race wars that particular year, winning 29 NASCAR races, with two of them being championships. Sadly, even the attraction of the 130 mph top speed could not keep it in production for more than a year.
1970 Oldsmobile Rallye 350
With competition like the Chevy Chevelle and the Dodge Dart, this car was intended to be the common man’s friend. It was a bright yellow number, (all the way down to the bumper) designed to be a performance vehicle at a price a family man could afford. It is said to have been overshadowed by the Oldsmobile 442, and the 3,547 copies the manufacturer released didn’t do well off the production line. It didn’t even sell as well as the aforementioned Chevrolet or Dodge. Thus, it joins other sweet classics on our list of forgotten and underappreciated vehicles.
1989 Pontiac Turbo Trans Am
Jumping forward nearly twenty years to a classic from 1989, the Pontiac Turbo Trans Am tops off our list of forgotten classics. It is, in fact, a classic example of the idea that looks can be deceiving. The 1980s gave us a plethora of sports cars like the Chevy Camaro IROC-Z, the Chevy Corvette, and the Ferrari Testarossa. Well, it’s no wonder the Trans Am just couldn’t hold its own. Although it matched these cars in looks and style, the inner workings left much to be desired. It was actually dubbed as being “underpowered”. Still, it’s interesting to note that Pontiac aficionados claim that this model was the fastest car produced by General Motors in 1989. After all, it had 250 horsepower, and could go from 0-60 mph in 5.5 seconds! Alas, it is considered today to be underappreciated and long-forgotten.
Final thoughts
If you’ve managed to get your hands on one of these classic babies, you know that getting it restored to its former glory might be a tall order. It is, however, almost inevitable that it will need some type of auto body work performed. Any work you have done can turn it into a work of art, or it can relegate it to the junk heap, depending on the quality of the work. Your vintage wheels can appreciate in value if the auto body or mechanical work you desire is done right. That’s why a DIY success in restoring one of them is unlikely. Whether it needs new paint, some under the hood rejuvenation, or just a classic detailing, you want to leave the work to the professionals. Contact Downtown Autobody to find out if we can help turn your classic into a worthy investment.