Race, Daily, Restore: The Class of '65

rdr01-1965

NEW FEATURE!



Welcome to Hooniverse’s new weekly feature, “Race, Daily, Restore.” Each Monday, I’ll present you with three vehicles that have some detail in common: it could be brand, configuration, or engine. In the case of this inaugural week, it’s model year. We start off with three cars, very different but all dating from 1965: Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham, Renault 10, and Rambler Marlin.
Your job is to tell me which of the three you would:

  • RACE – build into some sort of dedicated racing machine (not street legal) for your choice of competition — any legitimate, sanctioned form of motorsport: road course, rally, drag, LSR, Baja, etc.;
  • DAILY – have as your sole street-registered car, for all your commuting and general transportation needs.
  • RESTORE – do a museum-quality, factory-correct, frame-off restoration, then add to your collection, but not drive on the street.

And be sure to provide any logical arguments/justifications/thought process you have on why you chose what you did.
GROUND RULES:

  1. Assume that you’re given these three vehicles outright, so there’s no acquisition cost, but the cost of race-prepping, maintaining, insuring and restoring them will be on you.
  2. These are your ONLY three cars. You cannot factor in any other cars you might actually own, e.g., “I’ll daily the MR2 because I have a van I can take the kids in…” Likewise, you can’t sell the restored car to buy another vehicle.
  3. You must assign one of the cars to each category. You can’t say, “I’ll race my street car,” or “I’ll drive that one for a season then restore it.”
  4. You can’t half-ass a car you don’t like, such as theoretically racing Lemons or doing a “20-footer” cosmetic restoration.

(The Hooniverse Classic Captions Contest was arguably past its sell-by date, so we’re mixing it up with something new with its time slot. It might come back again someday, or it might not.)

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26 responses to “Race, Daily, Restore: The Class of '65”

  1. Jofes2 Avatar
    Jofes2

    Cool game! I’m looking forward to more of this. Here’s my take:
    The Cadillac is undeniably a cool looking car on the road, but it would be very impractical in daily life. First, it’s obviously enormous and will anger my neighbors as it pushes up the petrol price in my area through demand. Second, it comes with a certain image and would attract way to much attention for me to be comfortable with. Racing it could be fun as a wacky thing to try once, but it would be a waste. I will restore it and possibly make some money by renting it to wedding services or similar.
    I barely know a thing about the Rambler, but it looks sporty and a little too clumsy for

  2. Sjalabais Avatar
    Sjalabais

    Anyone here ready to go for “but not drive on the street“? 🙂
    I’d race the Renault, restore the Rambler, and daily the Cadillac. The most style needs to be applied in everyday driving, the Renault is probably light enough to do some half-decent slow-car-fast-racing, and the Rambler…dunno what to do with a three door car.

    1. Peter Tanshanomi Avatar

      Marlin’s a two-door coupe, with a conventional trunk.
      Well, fairly conventional, anyway.
      http://assets.blog.hemmings.com/wp-content/uploads//2013/05/1965RamblerMarlin_04_700.jpg

      1. Sjalabais Avatar
        Sjalabais

        Interesting – tiny opening, cavernous trunk.

      2. outback_ute Avatar
        outback_ute

        Speaking of “3-door” cars that aren’t, I recently saw the Wheeler Dealers episode on a Ford Escort Mk1, which Mike Brewer called a 3-door. I’d like him to show me the third door opening into the cabin!
        Probably something that becomes so commonplace that people forget there is anything else, like all the Ford Falcon V6’s that are advertised (which presumably anyone reading this would know they have an inline 6)

    2. Maymar Avatar
      Maymar

      I kind of thought the same thing – plus, saying the race car can’t be street legal means you need a tow vehicle, and the Cadillac towing the Renault is the most appealing way that plays out.
      Although, racing the Cadillac wins mega troll points.

    3. Guest Avatar
      Guest

      My choices are the exact same, as are the reasons, except for the Rambler.

      I’d restore it to use as a piece of artwork, because I actually do enjoy the looks of it.

  3. Jofes2 Avatar
    Jofes2

    Cool game! I’m looking forward to more of this. Here’s my take:
    The Cadillac is undeniably a cool looking car on the road, but it would be very impractical in daily life. First, it’s obviously enormous and will anger my neighbors as it pushes up the petrol price in my area through demand. Second, it comes with a certain image and would attract way to much attention for me to be comfortable with. Racing it could be fun as a wacky thing to try once, but it would be a waste. I will restore it and possibly make some money by renting it to wedding services or similar.
    I barely know a thing about the Rambler, but it looks fast and a little too clumsy for the streets and country roads here, so I’ll race it.
    The Renault will be my daily driver as it’s the most economical and has the most practical proportions. It’s basically like any normal car today, except old and very different. It clearly stands out from a crowd, but in a good way without being vulgar. Parts can probably be shipped in from Germany or something.

    1. Toaster Avatar
      Toaster

      Ah, somebody exspecting to find parts for old french cars in Germany. How cute.
      At the end of that Renault restoration, at least you’ll speak half decent French or Romanian (produced under license as a Dacia).
      Although this is rear engined so you could turn this into something like a baja Bug if you wanted to. A weird looking, rapidly overheating Baja Bug.

  4. Monkey10is Avatar
    Monkey10is

    I’d snog the Renault, marry the Cadillac and avoid the Marlin.
    …oh wait; should I have read the rules more thoroughly?

  5. Andrew_theS2kBore Avatar
    Andrew_theS2kBore

    Race: the Renault. Light and slow is my kind of race class.
    Daily: the Marlin. Eternally stylish, powerful enough to be fun and not get flattened on freeway ramps, and available with a manual.
    Restore: the Cadillac. It’s a great looking car but I’d never want to actually drive it, and parts availability for a period correct restoration is probably the best of the three.

  6. GTXcellent Avatar
    GTXcellent

    Ugh, I don’t any of them – especially if one of the caveats is that I have to spend my own money on this endeavor.
    Race – I’ll throw a built, blown SBC in that ugly little Renault, call it “French Fried” and drag race it.
    Daily – well, considering AMC restoration parts are pretty much unobtainable, I guess I’ll have to daily drive this. Maybe with a set of Cragar SS wheels and some loud glass packs it’d be tolerable
    Restore – the Caddy I guess, simply due to the cost.

  7. XRSevin Avatar
    XRSevin

    Daily-drive the Caddy, because I am an American. Also, it will tow the race car.
    Drag-race the Marlin. 11 second bracket car, any engine you want.
    Restore the Renault and hide it in the back of the garage. It’s a slow deathtrap with lousy parts availability in today’s world.

    1. P161911 Avatar
      P161911

      My sentiments exactly. Plus I want my daily ride to be comfortable. Maybe drop a CTS-V drivetrain in the Caddy to make it interesting.

  8. mdharrell Avatar

    I don’t much care for the suggestion that there’s something half-assed about LeMons, although I am struggling to decide whether to take offense at that estimate for being too low or for being too high.

  9. ptschett Avatar
    ptschett

    Daily the Cadillac (people daily vehicles that big all the time – they just have pickup boxes now), race the Marlin, restore the Renault (…I guess, if I must.)

  10. Batshitbox Avatar
    Batshitbox

    Does good parts availability mean daily it or restore it? Hmmm…
    I’m with Sjalabais. DD the Caddy, because low maintenance costs and less down time waiting for parts. No tears shed if someone sideswipes it, it’s just a big old Cadillac. (All of these cars are deathtraps in a crash, especially after 50 years.)
    Race the Renault in some capacity, but not supermodified drag racing. Hill climbs? King Of The Hammers?
    Restore the Marlin. I really like Marlins, and never see them around. More should be preserved. I’d put a bumper sticker on it that said, “Nice Barracuda. There, I said it for you. Now shut up.”

    1. bv911 Avatar
      bv911

      IMHO, you win…

  11. Fuhrman16 Avatar
    Fuhrman16

    I would daily the Renault, it would be the most engaging to drive and would be the most fuel efficient. It’s lack of power wouldn’t matter all that much on my traffic-less roads. I would race the Marlin, probably turn it into a Bonneville salt flats car. I think it would look pretty cool lowered with a big blower sticking out the hood. The Caddy would get restored.

  12. 0A5599 Avatar
    0A5599

    Daily the Cadillac. It rides like a Cadillac. It’s also the Cadillac of 60’s cars, a time when that meant something excellent.
    Race the Marlin. The original pony car was named for a fish.
    Restore the Renault. The rule of thumb in auto restoration is that going up a step in condition (going from a #3 car to a #2, or a #2 to a #1, for example) costs twice as much as just buying the better condition car outright. If I’m going to take a bath on the resto costs, might as well do it to a relatively worthless car. It can sit in a climate controlled cocoon when I cruise my Caddy or race my fishcar.

  13. Alff Avatar
    Alff

    DD Cadillac because big plush cruiser.
    Restore Marlin because unusual and stylish orphan equals collectible.
    Race Renault because restoring would be a waste of time and money and I’m sure not gonna drive that penalty box every day.

  14. discontinuuity Avatar
    discontinuuity

    Well, I’ve already raced the Marlin, so I guess I’d restore the Caddy and daily the Renault.
    http://blog.caranddriver.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/11-BS-Inspections-at-BFE-GP-24-Hours-of-LeMons-626×426.jpg

  15. SlowJoeCrow Avatar
    SlowJoeCrow

    Out of sheer perversity, race the Caddy, restore the Renault and daily the Marlin. More realistically, race the Marlin, daily the Renault and restore the Caddy.

  16. Manxman Avatar

    I’ve owned and driven Renault rear engines and believe me, an R10 would be much safer as race car than a daily driver. The caddy would be the daily driver and tow vehicle for the racing Renault. Plus rent it to movie studios for period wise-guy movies. The Marlin – it would be a very long term restoration project as in a couple a hundred dollars a year until finished.

  17. Spridget Avatar
    Spridget

    DD- Caddy, because it’s probably best suited to my needs.
    Race- Renault, because I think it’d be fun/terrifying to rally.
    Restore- Marlin, because I want to be the guy who brings a Marlin to a Concours.

  18. Krautwursten Avatar
    Krautwursten

    Realistically I can’t afford to own any of them in any category apart from a Renault 10 raily driver (I’d rather not).
    Hypothetically however the Caddy and Marlin are unraceable around corners, making the Renault my dedicated race car – amateur rally or club slalom (also known as autocross) maybe. The Caddy is simply too big to daily drive (needed a spotter the last time I had to get a Mercedes Sprinter down my driveway), leaving the Marlin for that function and the Caddy as a museum piece.