This sounds remotely similar to something a car of ours had once.  In
that case it was dirt inside the gas tank.  Sometimes the inner walls of
the tank corrode if the tank is not kept full over longer periods of
time and the rust then clogs fuel flow.

HTH

    robert

I had that happens to me too... It is the fuel pump relay. Check the date
stamped on the side of it... if it is the same year as your car... you are
way overdue.

It will say like 05 89... which is fifth week of 1989.

Fuel starvation; replace the fuel filter.

As a follow-up. I got under the old girl and found the fuel filter. For
those uninformed, it's large and is part of the pump assembly just forward
of the gas tank.. This model has two pump motors and the filter sits just
above them.

I took a hammer to the filter, trying to dislodge any foreign matter that
may have gummed the works. It WORKED!

The plan now is to run the car up on ramps and replace the filter.

PS the car radiator let loose a blast of steam. It's cracked where the upper
radiator attaches. OH well!