Car Collector Chronicles 03-10.pdf by Dave Yaros

Car Collector ® Chronicles Volume III, Issue 3

Exploring:

One Thing Leads To Another

• Car collecting today • Classic rides

One thing does lead to another, when it comes to ownership of old rides. The recent acquisition of Auntie Pearl,, our ‘92 Cadillac Allante, has generated a buying spree.

• Reports from the field • Oldsmobile • Cadillac

She came with only 1 set of keys, which is never good. Getting another set was not as simple as one might think. This is because the Allanté is equipped with a VATS (Vehicle Anti-Theft System) system. That means, if you do not have the right key, the car, plain and simple, will not start.

• Corvair

IN THIS ISSUE:

One Thing Leads To Another

GDYNets® On the Web

Allanté Quirks

Reach of CCC®

The ignition key has a resistor built into it. The VATS system reads the resistance of the key in the switch to determine if it is the proper key. Cadillac used 15, count ‘em, 15, different resistors for these ignition keys. Consequently, I had to find out what the resistance was of the key for our car. From ferreting around on the net I found

Cuban Classic Cars

Coming Next Issue

Dave’s Den http://GDYNets.WEBNG.com Saved 62 http://www.freewebs.com/ jeandaveyaros The Gray Lady - 55 Cad de Ville

OldsD88@gmail.com

out I could measure the resistance with an ohm meter. I did, and was ultimately able to acquire some spare keys which will in fact start the car. Of course, one may not simply hang a gold plated ignition key on a metal ring. That meant a proper key ring had to be found. A stainless steel and gold plated one with a cloisonné Caddy logo was located. It also has engraving on the back, reading “Jean’s Allanté” On arrival, Auntie Pearl was in need of floor mats. For a $60,000 car, naturally, not just any mats would do. She now sports a set of custom embroidered mats sporting the multicolored Cadillac Crest & Wreath logo above silver thread script reading Allanté. The mat edges are bound with serging, instead of a sewn on cloth strip; top drawer.

Auntie Pearl simply cannot be

seen out and about without a Cadillac Heritage of Ownership grille badge. As The Gray Lady sports such a badge, bearing roman numeral I, Auntie Pearl needed one too, preferably bearing roman numeral II. She now has it! — Continued on p. 2.

GDYNets® on the Web WHERE YOU WILL FIND GDYNets (me) on the WWW:

EMAIL:

March 2010

Car Collector Chronicles

Car Collector Chronicles -

DAVE’S DEN:

A website devoted to a myriad of interests. Foremost is extensive information on the “Steel City” of Gary, IN. There are also offerings on steel making, U.S. Steel-Gary Works, U.S. Marine Corps, M14 assault rifle, of course Oldsmobile, and the tragic story of the murder of Gary, IN Police Lt. Geo. Yaros.

SAVED 62: A website devoted

to our 1962 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 convertible. The site also has a lot of information on Oldsmobiles and its founder, Ransom Eli Olds. THE GRAY LADY: This website features our 1955 Cadillac Coupé de Ville and Caddy information.

Car Collector Chronicles

Page 2

ONE THING LEADS TO ANOTHER—Continued I managed to break a seatback release. Luckily, an Allanté handle has been located/purchased. The vanity mirrors need replacement, at a cost of about $100 each. I have been told the headlight units for the Allanté cost about $300 to replace. So, I am actively seeking protective covers for the outer glass. I have spotted a set that look like they will a) work, and b) not detract from the design of the car. They go for around $49. Still thinking on that one? One thing leads to another ….

ALLANTÉ QUIRKS An interesting aside about the Allanté headlights. Each and every time the car is started, the driver side headlight flashes on and off. Not only does it do this, it is supposed to. This is an integral step in the computer check of the electrical system.

“Whenever a turn signal is actuated, both arrows flash on the dashboard.”

Last month I did mention that both the convertible and hard tops are raised/lowered, removed/installed manually. That is more than a quirk. It is outright strange when one remembers the $60,000 MSRP back in 1992. What were they thinking? The Allanté was intended to compete with the Mercedes Benz SL 300 series. MB did not have an automatic, power top for its customers, so why would Cadillac? I guess that is the result of sizing up one’s competition? The car does have both an ashtray and a cigarette lighter. Those are rare options indeed, when it comes to the cars of today. What it does not have are cup holders. Neither did Benz! Another strange quirk is the turn signal indicator. Whenever a turn signal is actuated, both arrows flash on the dashboard. When I first observed this, I immediately thought, “Oh, oh, Houston, we have a problem here!” I subsequently learned that is exactly the way they were designed to work. Why? It turns out that there were only so many electrical connection points behind the dash, competing for too many components to be connected. Some electrical engineer resolved the problem by plugging both turn signal arrows into the same socket, and using the freed up plug for another electrical device. You gotta love GM! Perhaps the strangest quirk has to do with the speed sensing shocks. They firm up as the speed of the car increases. To disable the speed sensing aspect of the shock absorbers it is necessary to disconnect an electrical line going to the spare tire? This sure makes sense, as the donut spare does a lot of rotating in the trunk!

Car Collector Chronicles

Page 3

THE REACH OF CAR COLLECTOR CHRONICLES I am beginning to realize that people are in fact reading Car Collector Chronicles®. I say this as, some of you are actually reaching out and contacting me. I heard from a fellow ‘62 Olds owner in New Zealand. He was seeking info on the correct part # for a complete engine gasket set. I was able to assist him in that effort. The info he was being given in NZ was in fact wrong, and could have caused major headaches for him. He did end up getting the right gasket set. It cost almost as much to ship the set to him in NZ, as it did to buy it: Rock Auto charged $128 for the gasket set, and $70 for shipping. You have to have the passion to keep a classic American car on the road on an island in the middle of the western Pacific Ocean! I also heard from a chap in the U.K. He had read about my dealing with SMS for door panels on SAVED 62. His advice was to keep on them, as his experience was nothing short of a horror story. It seems SMS had kept his panels for nearly 2 years, before returning them. While I am sure there are two sides to every story, I am heeding his advice. I communicate monthly with SMS by email on the status of my order. I am beginning to feel like an expediter (a logistics manager in a manufacturing plant). I am promptly, and repeatedly, assured everything is on track, and the promised delivery date shall be met. They have had my panels since October. We shall see? — Ed. Note: They arrived timely on 22 Jan! I find these exchanges interesting, and helpful. Hopefully, so do the folks on the other end of the communications. As I am want to do, permit me to take this opportunity to entreat all our readers to feel free to reach out and send me your comments, questions, ideas, and most of all, article contributions. None will be ignored, I promise you. Who knows, you may find yourself appearing on, or being mentioned in, the pages of Car Collector Chronicles®? That, coupled with about $2.29, may get you a latté at Mickey D’s?

Cuban Classic Cars It should not be surprising that Cuba is a virtual haven for classic automobile iron. After all, Fidel Castro was an Olds man! A historic moment in Cuban history is that of Fidel Castro purportedly riding to the Bay of Pigs in an Oldsmobile. Contemporary reporting also depicted Castro as a swinger, an extrovert who enjoyed gunning around town in a souped-up Oldsmobile. Fidel even spoke of Oldsmobiles in

“People are actually reading Car Collector Chronicles®. I say this, as some of you are actually reaching out and contacting me.

Car Collector Chronicles

Page 4;;

Cuban Classic Cars-Cont’d. some of his official pronouncements. In a 1990 speech he reminisced: I was exploited once. [Audience laughs] There were some Oldsmobiles among the cars abandoned after the triumph of the revolution. I recall that in the early days of the revolution, I drove an Oldsmobile. One day I saw a General Motors advertisement that read: ‘Castro drives an Oldsmobile.‘ Packard, Studebaker, Edsel, De Soto: cars long extinct in the U.S. can be seen at work every day on Cuban streets. Per Reuter's, Havana and Santiago de Cuba today are home to some 60,000 North American cars, all dating back to at least 1959, the year of the Cuban Revolution. Though hardly a new part has arrived in Cuba since 1960, the cars are still on the road, held together with mechanical ingenuity and willpower. Per NY Times Reporter T. Cotter (12/31/09), auto repair for the island’s vintage cars becomes a creative endeavor: shampoo is used for brake fluid; iron pipes are cut up for piston rings; Coca-Cola is used to loosen rusty bolts; and cars are painted with sponges, then buffed with toothpaste. “It is the Cuban way,” Abel Contreras de la Guardia said. “We do anything to keep our cars running.” Most are in states of tune that would make the cars' original engineers scratch their heads in wonder. Given a 50+ year trade embargo with the U.S., modern vehicles are essentially unavailable, so many American classics have been pressed into service as cabs (see the 1956 Oldsmobile pictured on the next page. The yellow window placard indicates it is a taxi.) and private transports. Cuba has declared the entire stock of vintage iron to be a national historic treasure. Cuban law prohibits the cars from being exported. As has been astutely pointed out to me by friend and CCC® reader, David Langford: Fidel and Co. may have an ulterior motive for claiming old cars are historical artifacts. I suspect if collectors drain Cuba of its old cars, there might not be many cars left, and the average Cuban is too poor to import a new or used car. I doubt there are any automobile factories in Cuba. [Fords and Oldsmobiles were assembled on the island pre-revolution./Ed.] Without those "historical artifacts," they'd be back to using horses and buggies and resorting to pleading "Giddy-up Dobbin," or perhaps I should say caballo. Ok, I have had my say for this month. Now it is your turn! I invite/encourage submission of your comments, opinions and contributions, and ask that you do help spread the word about our pub. Everything sent shall indeed be reviewed by me. Submissions should be sent to: OldsD88@gmail.com _________________________________________________

— RESTORE 'EM, AND DRIVE 'EM!

Car Collector Chronicles

Page 5;

CUBA PASEOS CLÁSICOS

Amphicars?

As the above pictures show, Cubans are damn good, if not outright ingenious, in not only a) keeping vintage iron on the road, but also b) keeping it afloat on the high seas! COMING NEXT ISSUE: • • •

Caravan Touring 1962 Olds Dual Exhaust Web Activity