You're close enough - it's an AWZ (Automobilwerke Zwickau)/Saschenring P70. The company and some tech from the car later became Trabant. No doubt it inspired the Figaro.
Yes - they only built about a thousand of these coupes between 1957/59 but something like twenty thousand of the 2-door saloon. That evolved into the Trabant. I think the Figaro would have been influenced by all these mainly German 2 door coupes (the Gutbrod and the Maico Champion are similar)...
Zundapp Janus, and apart from being illustrated way larger than real life (or those are supposed to be tiny people), the passengers would sit back to back, it had a front and rear door.
I think one of these was a bad guy in a "Cars" movie.
That's essentially correct, Graham. It's called the Maserati Bellagio Estate and exactly 4 were built by Touring Superleggera, the coachbuilder that provided the bodywork for many classic Maseratis and Aston-Martins.
Yikes. I hate that middle ICE pod in the new car, looks like a toy designed for a 3 year old. I wouldn't be able to stand that thing staring back at me.
I took a long look again at the Camaro dash Saturday at a large cruise-in. A dealer had a 2014 Impala and Camaro convertible side by side.
The dash in the Camaro is not cheese-looking nor is it cheap. In fact, it seems better than the competitor Mustang's dash that I looked at at the show.
In fact, the original Camaro's dash was quite similar to the 1968 Corvette's. I did like how the GM dashes of that period that sloped away from you near the bottom, increasing knee-room.
2024 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 2LT; 2019 Chevrolet Equinox LT; 2015 Chevrolet Cruze LS
Chrysler must have been cheaping out by then, because I have a couple of those same hubcaps! They came off a 1971 Town and Country wagon that my grandparents briefly had in the early 80's. Oh, the blasphemy, using the same hubcaps on a might Chrysler and a lowly Plymouth! :-P
Still, they came in handy as a temporary replacement when my '79 New Yorker threw a hupcap a few years back.
When it first came out, I thought it was vastly superior in looks to a Sting Ray. I still am not crazy at all about the Sting Ray's styling, except in certain colors/wheels, but the C3 does nothing for me either. The '68 is probably the cleanest styling of that iteration, but also supposedly the worst-assembled.
2024 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 2LT; 2019 Chevrolet Equinox LT; 2015 Chevrolet Cruze LS
This one is a real challenge. I am thinkning mid 50's coachbuilt off a Fiat chassis. The only red and yellow logo I can think of is Abarth. However grille looks entirely wrong.
There are hints of the larger Lancia Aurelia Coupe.
I understand. Back in the day I liked these hubcaps so much that I went to a 'Hubcap Store' in Miami and purchased a full set of these '71 Plymouth ones for my '64 Ford Custom Cab 1/2 ton pickup! And it looked great! Sadly, I believe the hubcap store might have been an early kind of source of stolen merchandise (fence??) as it no longer exists. Oh well...
Sorry - I was away from my computer since posting this. You are right - its a coachbuilt Fiat, and from 1956. And its not an Abarth, although the badge looks similar at that size. Despite the grille this is rear-engined....
Went back and looked harder and stance reminded me of that of an 850, which ultimately took me back to a Fiat 600. Then searched through various coachbuiders who modified 600s to find its a Fiat 600 Vignale "Rendez Vous" from about 1956-59. Apparently frequently tuned by Abarth so I might be on the right track for the logo.
Yes- Fiat 600 Vignale "Rendez Vous" - this one was from 1956 and I think was the actual car at the Turin show of that year but they did make a number of others until 1959. If it has an Abarth engine then that made it even better...
Apparently Michelotti designed this car while at Vignale, but my source for that is in Italian and I don't parle Italiano.
The 2.4 or more likely 3.4 litre retrospectively known as the "Mark I" (not actually called that by Jaguar, of course, but they called the next one the "Mark II" from late 1959).
"Built in Lelystad, Netherlands, by Joop Donkervoort, the GTO is the ultimate expression of the Dutch carmaker's minimalist ethos, which old Joop has been refining since 1978. At only 1,543 pounds and packing 380 horsepower, the D8 GTO is (on paper at least) easily in supercar territory. In practice the D8 will hit 62 mph in only 2.8 seconds, according to Joop."
Comments
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
Maybe East German from mid 1950s.
Badge on front grille divider seems to be P 70 but I do not recognize the round badge on the bonnet.
There are elements which remind me of Karrmann Ghia but wheels look too small for the wheel-arches.
The similarity to the Nissan Retro is striking. It actually looks rather pretty
Cheers
Graham
I think the Figaro would have been influenced by all these mainly German 2 door coupes (the Gutbrod and the Maico Champion are similar)...
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
Bonus: What movie is it in?
I think it's from The Adventures of TinTin.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
Exactly
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
I think one of these was a bad guy in a "Cars" movie.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
2020 Acura RDX tech SH-AWD, 2023 Maverick hybrid Lariat luxury package.
The badge on the rear flank is a Maserati and front end looks like Quattroporte. However rear lamps remind me of a Daewoo Nubira.
Cannot recall Maserati ever making an estate
Coachbuilt Shooting Brake body on Maserati underpinnings?
Cheers
Graham
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
I found a picture of the steering wheel, which confirms it.
The Camaro dash had similar shapes but IMO was very cheap looking>
Unfortunately designers of the current Camaro have retained the cheap 'n cheesy look of the earlier dash>
[insert emoticon for barfing]
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
The dash in the Camaro is not cheese-looking nor is it cheap. In fact, it seems better than the competitor Mustang's dash that I looked at at the show.
I'd sure like to have one in my garage.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Still, they came in handy as a temporary replacement when my '79 New Yorker threw a hupcap a few years back.
There wasn't anything about the C3 that I liked, then or now.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
This one is a real challenge. I am thinkning mid 50's coachbuilt off a Fiat chassis. The only red and yellow logo I can think of is Abarth. However grille looks entirely wrong.
There are hints of the larger Lancia Aurelia Coupe.
The crossed flag logo is nagging at my memory
Any more hints?
Cheers
Graham
Sadly, I believe the hubcap store might have been an early kind of source of stolen merchandise (fence??) as it no longer exists. Oh well...
Mine too but I just can't place it. The back from that angle reminds me of a Sunbeam Harrington LeMans Coupe.
Is it related somehow to an early Austin Princess?
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
Not sure what it is but looks like the latest interpretation of the Lotus 7 as reimagined by Judge Dread.
Cheers
Graham
Went back and looked harder and stance reminded me of that of an 850, which ultimately took me back to a Fiat 600. Then searched through various coachbuiders who modified 600s to find its a Fiat 600 Vignale "Rendez Vous" from about 1956-59. Apparently frequently tuned by Abarth so I might be on the right track for the logo.
Very pretty.
Cheers
Graham
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
Apparently Michelotti designed this car while at Vignale, but my source for that is in Italian and I don't parle Italiano.
I saw it at Essen in March.
"Built in Lelystad, Netherlands, by Joop Donkervoort, the GTO is the ultimate expression of the Dutch carmaker's minimalist ethos, which old Joop has been refining since 1978. At only 1,543 pounds and packing 380 horsepower, the D8 GTO is (on paper at least) easily in supercar territory. In practice the D8 will hit 62 mph in only 2.8 seconds, according to Joop."
Donkervoort on the 'Ring
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
That's very conservative for a Vignale Abarth, no wonder I thought it was British. They usually ended up looking like this>
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
Interesting that two Wagoneers appear to be visible - one the 4th car in on the street, another parked at left, 6 cars back.
How about that 1970-ish BMW 2002 to the left of the pedestrian?
I can't find one. I can't find a car I would want either; it wasn't a good time to be a car nut.
2009 BMW 335i, 2003 Corvette cnv. (RIP 2001 Jaguar XK8 cnv and 1985 MB 380SE [the best of the lot])
That may not be your type of car either, though.