AM Blog:
November 2009 (Archived)

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Sunday, November 29, 2009 8:32:31 AM

2009 Holiday Greetings! Our 2009 Holiday Greeting is now online. This year, we wanted to give you something peaceful and soothing, to take your mind off the myriad issues we all face today. So, we thought something tropical might be nice. Our retro aqua theme this year was inspired by the sights of mid-fifties Miami Beach. The center of attraction, a new Continental Mark II, performed its duty up north in cold and snowy New England, but it made Christmas shopping fun even if the snow made getting around a bit difficult.

Then the Mark II delivered you, your family, and all of the gifts safely down south for the holiday, where the cool aqua waters, soft warm breezes, swaying palm trees, and warm sunshine can comfort you and inspire you.

From everyone here at Automotive Mileposts, our best wishes to you and yours for a happy, healthy, and peaceful holiday season.

Just published: a new article in AUTO BREVITY takes a look at Cadillac's rather odd "torpedo" front arm rest. Offered only during late 1974 Eldorado production and early 1975 Eldorado production, this tubular-shaped arm rest was attached to the front seat with straps and D-rings, and was removable. The 1974-1975 Cadillac Eldorado Tubular Arm Rest was truly a one of a kind item, and cars that still include this pillow can be somewhat startling at first. Often seen on cars with brightly-colored plaid upholstery, these mid-seventies interiors are truly a testament to the time they were built!

Thursday, November 26, 2009 7:49:16 AM

We'd like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. May the day find you in the comfort of friends and family, with lots of good food and good times. And when you're ready to start shopping on Friday, we hope you'll think of us this season and come to AM and support the site and our advertisers by clicking through to their sites when you're ready to buy. Enjoy your day, and we'll have more updates soon.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009 5:05:00 PM

Automotive Mileposts' Thunderbird Sunroof Registry has reached a milepost today with the registration of its 250th car! We recently began accepting the 1960 Thunderbird Hardtop cars with the optional sunroof, which we originally didn't include because others were tracking them. After repeated requests to add them to the registry, WE DID! We have almost 300 1960 cars to add, so the registry will grow rapidly over the next few weeks. In fact, we may redo that page to make it easier to navigate, and we're considering adding images of the cars to the page. Stay tuned, we'll keep you advised. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming... :)

Friday, November 20, 2009 7:12:14 AM

Today we've published a new article, Rare Option: Ford Thunderbird Autolamp and Automatic Headlamp Dimmer which takes a look at the availability and authenticity of the automatic headlamp dimmer option for the T-bird during 1964-1969. Some T-bird self-proclaimed experts say such a system was not offered by the factory, and we say they are wrong.

The experts state that their basis for this option not being available is that they've never seen one with this option. So, if you haven't seen something, it must not exist, right? Right. (Insert rolling eye smilie here.) So despite the fact that personal car rival Buick Riviera offered an automatic dimmer system during these years, Ford didn't even though they had the systems available for installation on the Lincoln Continentals. OK.

In case you can't tell for sure, we're being sarcastic here. There is little doubt that at the very least, an automatic headlamp dimmer was a factory authorized dealer installation on the Thunderbird during these years. And most clubs and organizations recognize dealer accessories that are correct for the year as authentic, with no points deductions during judging. So, if you want to add this option to your T-bird, it can be done fairly easily, and if you drive much at night it is a fun and useful item to have.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009 7:46:38 AM

The Thanksgiving Thunderbird returns again for 2009 with 1969 trivia and statistics. Did you know a gallon of milk cost $1.10 in 1969? Each year, AM updates this page with something new. It's a snapshot in time of Thanksgiving 1969. Celebrate the 40th anniversary by checking out popular movies, television shows, music, and more.

Saturday, November 14, 2009 10:18:48 AM

The last full-sized Cadillac Eldorado rolled off the assembly line in 1978. To commemorate this event, Cadillac Division teamed up with American Sunroof Corporation to create the 1978 Cadillac Fleetwood Eldorado Custom Biarritz Classic. Just 2,000 were built and featured a duo-tone exterior paint treatment in Arizona Beige and Demitasse Brown with a matching duo-tone pillowed-style leather interior in Light Beige and Dark Saddle. At the time, some felt Cadillac pushed good taste with this bold duo-tone color scheme, yet many loved it.

Many nice examples still survive today, and each is a testament to the time in which they were built. We've added this particular car to the site early, before the rest of the 1978 Cadillac Eldorado section, since many have requested information about the special edition cars, of which often very little is known. We are going to continue doing this in the months to come, with special pages on the last Cadillac drop top, the 1976 Fleetwood Eldorado Convertible, as well as the Custom Biarritz models for 1976-1977. The 1974-1976 Cadillac Fleetwood Talisman page is already online. We hope you enjoy this information on a few of the special edition Cadillacs, and have a great fall weekend!

Friday, November 13, 2009 6:53:42 AM

We've added a video of the 1970 Lincoln Continental Model Introduction Film to the site. Prepared by Lincoln to introduce all of its new models to the public, this video has lost some of its color over the years, but is still worth watching. It shows brand new 1970 models being driven and the announcer points out the new features of each car.

Thursday, November 12, 2009 7:21:32 AM

The first altogether new Lincoln Continental in nearly a decade, the 1970 Lincoln Continental was the beginning of a period of time in which Lincoln would truly challenge Cadillac for the top spot in the luxury car field. Lincoln's stylists sought to create a contemporary, modern look for the car while maintaining styling that immediately said "Lincoln" to onlookers. We think they did a pretty good job. Despite its new styling, sales of the 1970 models fell from 1969, which had to cause concern at Lincoln.

Quality control at this time was very good, the ride was superb, and the interior noise levels were very low. Many new standard features and options were offered, and this was the first year for body on frame construction for Lincoln since 1957.

These are truly remarkable automobiles, with a commanding presence on the road, and we hope you enjoy this section. The Golden Anniversary 1971 Lincolns are next in line for publication.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009 7:26:41 AM

The Oldsmobile Division of General Motors Corporation celebrated its 75th Anniversary in 1972. Little did anyone suspect at the time, by 2004 Oldsmobile would be gone. In 1972, Oldsmobile was riding high and some of its best sales years ever were just ahead. To honor its anniversary, Olds built a Limited Edition 1972 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight Regency. Available in an exclusive color scheme, it featured a timepiece designed by Tiffany & Company especially for this model. The Regency would become a full-production model for 1973, but its production was limited to just 5,000 units for 1972.

Saturday, November 07, 2009 10:55:25 AM

In the Classic Car Showroom: 1969 Ford Thunderbird Fordor Landau with RARE Brougham Cloth Flight Bucket Seats and Console interior. Just 1,983 were built with this configuration, amounting to 12.6% of total production for the year. Click the image for more details.

In other news, we've had several more issues with software, which have put us about a week behind schedule. We had to update a couple of things, and we abandoned one program and bought a new one to replace it. Now we're trying to figure out how to use it, which will take a little time! What's the saying? If we didn't have bad luck, we'd have no luck at all? LOL!

Work will now begin on the last couple of pages for the 1970 Lincoln Continental section, which we hope to have online within the next week. Enjoy your weekend everyone, and thanks for your support.