LA Times: '70s Japanese "econoboxes" becoming collectable
 

A story in the LA Times last week appeared that should drive Charlie
Nudo absolutely apoplectic! On Page B1, it had an article about the
rising collecting popularity of '70s Japanese cars of all types, most
notably the famous Datsun PL510, the various Z-cars, various Toyota
hatchbacks (notably the Celicas...bad choice,) the original Honda
Civic CVCC, and....TADA...the original HONDA ACCORD! One kid bought
one, similar to mine, for $1500. Time to sell, methinks. Let's
see...new $2100 from Robertson Honda in North Hollywood in 1977, sell
30 years later for $1500...that's $600 depreciation in 30 years on an
economy car, all the while giving 30 MPG and minimal unscheduled
repairs, and a dealer installed Panasonic 8 track/AM/FM! My Honda
parts guy tells me that Internet and mail order demand for old Accord
parts is up 300%...somebody's driving these things, for sure.

Thrrrrrrrrrrrrifty, aye! The only cheaper-to-own car I've ever had
was my Rabbit diesel...now THAT was "ultra-thrifty!" It would be a
good one to have again, now that biodiesel's available right down the
road from me.

Meanwhile, up behind the "gates with no gates," Charlie Noodles
wallows in his junk, unable to properly care for his tiny "family"
with the money left over after wasting his paycheck on even more junk
for more "no bids" eBay auctions at the local Sally Ann. I guess now
that the US dollar is worthless and we're heading into the FOURTH BUSH
II RECESSION, people aren't dumpstering the "good stuff" anymore, eh,
Noodles?

Hey Noodles...what's this I hear about KFW losing another major
customer? Did you **** off someone...again...still?

Hey Noodles! Your pal Giuliani's sinking in the polls! What's up
with that? In fact, the gap between him and Hillary in the general is
widening...fast. Looks like Charlie Noodles and Flush Limpdick will
both be looking for psychiatric help after November, '08!

LA Times: '70s Japanese "econoboxes" becoming collectable
 

On Oct 20, 11:34 am, DeserTBoB wrote:
A story in the LA Times last week appeared that should drive Charlie
Nudo absolutely apoplectic! On Page B1, it had an article about the
rising collecting popularity of '70s Japanese cars of all types, most
notably the famous Datsun PL510, the various Z-cars, various Toyota
hatchbacks (notably the Celicas...bad choice,) the original Honda
Civic CVCC, and....TADA...the original HONDA ACCORD! One kid bought
one, similar to mine, for $1500. Time to sell, methinks. Let's
see...new $2100 from Robertson Honda in North Hollywood in 1977, sell
30 years later for $1500...that's $600 depreciation in 30 years on an
economy car, all the while giving 30 MPG and minimal unscheduled
repairs, and a dealer installed Panasonic 8 track/AM/FM! My Honda
parts guy tells me that Internet and mail order demand for old Accord
parts is up 300%...somebody's driving these things, for sure.

,snip

Why is the Celica a bad choice?

I had a '79, '80 and '94 Corolla. Also an '81 Celica.
On the Honda side I had a '81 Accord, '99 CR-V and 2006 Pilot.
'99 Nissan Quest

LA Times: '70s Japanese "econoboxes" becoming collectable
 

On Oct 20, 11:34 am, DeserTBoB wrote:
A story in the LA Times last week appeared that should drive Charlie
Nudo absolutely apoplectic! On Page B1, it had an article about the
rising collecting popularity of '70s Japanese cars of all types, most
notably the famous Datsun PL510, the various Z-cars, various Toyota
hatchbacks (notably the Celicas...bad choice,) the original Honda
Civic CVCC, and....TADA...the original HONDA ACCORD! One kid bought
one, similar to mine, for $1500. Time to sell, methinks. Let's
see...new $2100 from Robertson Honda in North Hollywood in 1977, sell
30 years later for $1500...that's $600 depreciation in 30 years on an
economy car, all the while giving 30 MPG and minimal unscheduled
repairs, and a dealer installed Panasonic 8 track/AM/FM! My Honda
parts guy tells me that Internet and mail order demand for old Accord
parts is up 300%...somebody's driving these things, for sure.


Here's another vintage Japanese item that gets more valuable each
day.
99¢ 8track tapes are a waste of time when you can make real money.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWA:IT&ih=001

LA Times: '70s Japanese "econoboxes" becoming collectable
 

On Sun, 21 Oct 2007 00:54:21 -0000, Oodles Of Noodles
wrote:


Why is the Celica a bad choice? snip

Early ones, I should have said...the later ones were bulletproof and
universally regarded as great cars.

My dad was captivated by the first Celica in '71, and it was a real
mess, as were all Toyotas of that era. Soft valves were the biggest
problem, as they were on his '73, requiring complete exhaust valve
replacement at 30K miles. But, they weren't done yet, as there was
too much aluminum between the exhaust valve seats and the coolant,
resulting in fried seats a short while later, despite the hardened
valves. So, another set of valves and this time, a new head with
modified casting and hardened seats. That fixed the problem, but
other problems, notably with the Nippon Denso electrics prevailed in
both cars. By around '75, all these problems were ironed out and
Toyota's bad reputation gained early on disappeared as people started
getting trouble free mileage out of them. It should be noted that it
wasn't just the 18R-C engine in the Celica that had this problem...ALL
Toyota engines in the early '70s weren't very good in terms of valve
durability. The same valve problem was notorious even in their "copy
cat" of the Chevy 235 Six in the Land Cruiser, as well as in the 2.0
and 2.4 litre 2M and 4M engines. It should be noted that, in spite of
all these engineering goofs, Toyota stood behind all their products,
and would give owners FREE repairs, even out of warranty. Ever hear
of GM, Ford or Chrysler doing that? No way, José.

Honda has similar problems with Nippon Denso electrics in their early
Civics. A shortage of phosphor bronze alloy, critical to making
reliable connectors and relay contacts, was in short supply in Japan
in the early '70s, and thus wiring harnesses, voltage regulators and
starter motor contactors were a continual source of trouble. By late
'75, ND had solved the problem with a new alloy, and ND electrics
became competitive with all US designs in reliability...no small feat,
considering the good designs from 1960 used by Chrysler in their
starters and alternators for 26 years. Again, Honda would back their
products, even though out of warranty, by offering free repairs to any
electrical problem for any owner of a '73 to '75 Civic. By mid-'75,
the electrical problems were history.

My '77 Accord had some little electrical problems, all relative to
phenolic circuit boards used in the small discrete electronic circuits
used in that car. The problem was cracked solder, something I took
care of myself with a 25 watt iron and about an hour's worth of labor,
so I never bothered the dealer about it. I was curious to find out
what was wrong! The two circuits that failed early on the Accord were
the seat belt warning light and buzzer timer and the electronic dash
light dimmer. They're still working perfectly today. Regarding the
magnetic voltage regulator and harness connectors, as well as the
starter contacts, they've been also as reliable as any US
counterparts.

My grandparents were with my dad when he got his Celica, and got one
of only 101 Toyota Crowns ever sold in the US. This car, although
highly thought of in Japan, was horrid on US roads. 4:11.1 rear end
with 14" rims had the engine spinning at an incredible 4500 RPM at 65
MPH! Toyota also copied GM's early "side gear" power steering unit
for the Crown, seen in GM cars from 1951 to '55. Slop galore, of
course, and the smallish Crown tended to handle like a '55 Buick
Super. The Crown was discontinued that year in US sales, and
worldwide shortly thereafter. However, they'd come back into the
"luxury sedan" market later with a far better product that would give
Detroit the ****s...the Cressida. Nissan, once they phased out their
tired 610 model, would eventually come back to the same market with
the top-selling Altima.

Once Toyota got their act together in the mid-'70s, they cam back with
a vengeance that the fat and lazy US auto management could not fight.
By the time your first Celica came out, they were worlds better a car
than anything the Big 3 could turn out in the same price and size
class. That's why what's left of the Big 3 is now teetering on
bankruptcy now while Toyota has taken their market away from them,
despite what Noodles says.

LA Times: '70s Japanese "econoboxes" becoming collectable
 

durability. The same valve problem was notorious even in their "copy
cat" of the Chevy 235 Six in the Land Cruiser, as well as in the 2.0
I replaced a lot of valve seats in my Tojo in the 70s. If
memory serves, they came cast in place and new ones lasted about as long as
the valves. The machine shops I dropped the head off at invariably (at first
glance) thought it was off a Chev.