Mystery car pix

omarman

Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale. Nice 80's 2 tone paint, all red tail light lens and stolen wheel covers! I'll guess 1983. Some time after that Olds added rear amber turn signal lens. I liked the old, Oldsmobile Delta 88's and had 3 of them from late 70's to the early 80's. One was a 4 door downsized full size GM from 1978, but the others were early 70's 2 door models .

ab348

Olds Delta 88 Royale Brougham coupe, 1980 to 1985. Needs a set of wheel covers, looks like it used to have wire covers..

andys120

You're both right, to be exact it's a MY 1982 Olds Delta 88 Brougham.
It's odd that a car in such nice shape is missing its wheel covers.

The tem Brougham was very popular in the 70s and 80s because it sounded upscale. Webster's online sez a brougham was a light closed horse-drawn carriage with the driver outside in front. I guess it's luxurious to sit in the back out of the weather while some poor soul sits in the weather telling the horse where to go.

andys120

bhill2

I'll hazard a guess at a mid-50s Bentley Park Ward coupe.

fintail

Probably an S1 or S2, maybe called a Continental.

bhill2

Continental sounds right to me.

fintail

And I agree, this looks like a MPW body,

omarman

Not many ordered like this:

ab348

Is that a gear shifter next to the door sill?!?

kyfdx

I hope so. That’s how I want my RHD cars

Mr_Shiftright

I think you guys are right. It looks like a Park Ward body. The S1 was a lot better car than the S2.

The real "cult" car though is the Bentley Continental Type R, which looks a lot like the S1 except in the rear body treatment, where it is considerably more streamlined. The Type R is very rare and very desirable.

andys120

You guys are onto it, it's a 1957 Bentley Continental S1 bodied by Park Ward (caption doesn't mention Mulliner).

andys120

Two more beauties from the Hampton Court show>

omarman

That Bentley is amazing and has an interesting history as well.
The placard shown at the front of the car states: 1956 Bentley S1 Continental Coupe.

If you click back to the velocetoday.com site hosting the pic, the summary includes:
The Countess of Suffolk, a Bentley Continental collector, was well known for driving fast cars and piloting her own helicopter from her Cornish home to Battersea Heliport in London before going onto the Ritz. This superb Bentley S1 Continental by Park Ward was delivered to her home in Florida in January 1957. Born in 1879, Marguerite ‘Daisy’ Hyde was the second daughter of American retail magnate Levi Leiter...She was nearly 80 years old when she ordered this right-hand drive four speed Continental, one of only 3 of the 431 examples built to that specification...

Mr_Shiftright

You could have one today for around $350K. The following S2 used a V8 engine, and thankfully this engine was not used in the earlier Spitfire.

Bentley Saloons of the era also had the right handed gearshift. I've driven them and they made the whole RHD experience easier for a Yank.

andys120

Mr_Shiftright said:

Bentley Saloons of the era also had the right handed gearshift. I've driven them and they made the whole RHD experience easier for a Yank.

Unless the Yank was left-handed.

Mr_Shiftright

Well in that case he has been properly trained beforehand.

andys120

No takers for the cute little ragtop from the Hampton Court Show so here's a better shot with some important visible cues that denote the make.>



The model you'll have to guess, this might help: FWIW this car was delivered to Prince Bertil of Sweden in 1950.

fintail

The big classic in the background looks like a senior 31-32 Lincoln.

stickguy

grill looks like an Aston Martin to me.

Mr_Shiftright

REAL early one---about 1950/ DB2 Vantage?

andys120

Mr_Shiftright said:

REAL early one---about 1950/ DB2 Vantage?

Yup, it's a 1950 Aston-Martin DB-2 Drop Head Coupe. I'm not sure I'd call it an "early" one since they'd been making cars since 1913. OTOH the DB-2 Series was the first postwar AM and the first under the ownership of David Brown. In addition this "Royal Aston" was a "First Sanction" (initial production) version. i don't think they were using the Vantage tag at the time.

Mr_Shiftright

Early DB I meant. The DB1 came out in 1948.

andys120

Mr_Shiftright said:

Early DB I meant. The DB1 came out in 1948.

There was no DB1, David Brown's first offering did come out in '48. it was sold as the Aston Martin 2 Litre Sports.



It was only after the DB2 was introduced that the 1948 car was retrospectively called a "DB1"

Mr_Shiftright

Well, yes, technical foul but c'mon--all the books list a DB1. There was also no Jaguar Mark IV, no 1964 1/2 Mustang, no E-Type Series 1.25, etc etc.

The AM 2 Litre Sports was derived from an earlier post-war AM called the "Atom".

omarman

History is like that. WWI was originally called "The Great War" or the war to end all wars, until the late 1930's with the beginning of the next great war, WWII.

Regarding car history, I don't see anything "incorrect" about referring to "1st gen" Mustangs for example, even if they were not called that in 1965. The only thing that bothers me about the 1964 1/2 Mustang is that it does not exist even now. Or then.

andys120

omarman said:

History is like that. WWI was originally called "The Great War" or the war to end all wars, until the late 1930's with the beginning of the next great war, WWII.

Regarding car history, I don't see anything "incorrect" about referring to "1st gen" Mustangs for example, even if they were not called that in 1965. The only thing that bothers me about the 1964 1/2 Mustang is that it does not exist even now. Or then.

The public introduction of the Mustang took place at the NY World's Fair on April 17, 1964 (the day after my 21st B'day) and they went on sale in fall 1964 which has led some to believe
That there were "1964-1/2" 'Stangs. The cars sold in 1964 were all titled as 1965 models following the common practice in those days of introducing the new models in the fall of the year preceding their putative MY. "First gen Mustangs" includes both '65 and '66MYs as there were only minor changes made in '66.

As for the DB1, yes, I was being a bit pedantic but I wanted to call attention to the fact that I was mistaken in saying the DB2 was the first A-M made after Brown took over.

ab348

Ford liked the results of the April '64 Mustang intro so much that they did the same thing 5 years later with the Maverick. In that case they were clear in calling it a 1970 model right from the start. The extended model year meant they sold a lot of pretty awful 1970 Mavericks that year.

andys120

stickguy

A savoy! Doesn’t that make it a Plymouth? Looks 1952ish to me.

berri

55 Plymouth

imidazol97

ab348 said:

Ford liked the results of the April '64 Mustang intro so much that they did the same thing 5 years later with the Maverick. In that case they were clear in calling it a 1970 model right from the start. The extended model year meant they sold a lot of pretty awful 1970 Mavericks that year.

--And a lot of pretty good ones.

omarman

Interesting that some people have been led to believe "That there were "1964-1/2" 'Stangs" even though they were all titled 1965!
And since the Mustang introduction came on the day after your 21st birthday, then happy belated 21-1/365th birthday!
I was not yet born in 1943-1/2 but I do recall being 21-1/365 years old myself. Good times.

ab348

imidazol97 said:

ab348 said:

Ford liked the results of the April '64 Mustang intro so much that they did the same thing 5 years later with the Maverick. In that case they were clear in calling it a 1970 model right from the start. The extended model year meant they sold a lot of pretty awful 1970 Mavericks that year.

--And a lot of pretty good ones.

I am unaware of any 1970 Mavericks that met that description.

lostwrench1

Ok, Pop Quiz.....
What on that 1955 Plymouth Savoy indicates that it has 6 cylinders?

andys120

stickguy said:

A savoy! Doesn’t that make it a Plymouth? Looks 1952ish to me.

You're correct on MY and make but way off on MY, that there is a 1955 Plymouth Savoy. This particular example is unusual IMO. Low-end models in two-door pillared coupe form are generally cheesy looking but this one shows what you can do with a nice color, whitewalls and full wheel covers and skirts. Here it is from another angle.

BTW-it's a three-speed on the tree/6 cylinder car, the color is Tamiami Green.



1954 may have been the peak year for the "Should've Waited a Year" lament, here's a similar
1954 Savoy.>

berri

Don't really know Lostwrench, maybe the lack of a V8 badge?

texases

Pretty sure the Mustang went on sale in April, or shortly thereafter. The fall models were updated with alternators and no more 170 or 260 cid engines. 

Edit-yep, #1 was sold on April 15, 1964:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/983144002

omarman

Here's a link to a 2013 story about the first Ford Mustang owner
Gail Wise and her 1965 baby blue pony car.

Gail Wise and her 1965 Mustang VIN 5F08F-109896 are also featured in this youtube video.

Great story for all Mustang fans.

andys120

Well at least I got the official intro date right. I'd swear I have read that the first Mustang sold at retail was a white convertible to a Canadian pilot but I can't find the story.

bhill2

lostwrench1 said:

Ok, Pop Quiz.....
What on that 1955 Plymouth Savoy indicates that it has 6 cylinders?

I want to say that on the V-8s the hood ornament is cradled in a V. Is that close?

omarman

andys120 said:

Well at least I got the official intro date right. I'd swear I have read that the first Mustang sold at retail was a white convertible to a Canadian pilot but I can't find the story.

I've read about that Mustang and it had, I think, a very low production number. But I don't remember the details of the story or the name of the pilot.

lostwrench1

bhill2 said:

lostwrench1 said:

Ok, Pop Quiz.....
What on that 1955 Plymouth Savoy indicates that it has 6 cylinders?

I want to say that on the V-8s the hood ornament is cradled in a V. Is that close?

Bingo! Those with 8 cylinders had the "V" nose badge. Those with 6 had the flat, straight across nose badge.

ab348

andys120 said:

Well at least I got the official intro date right. I'd swear I have read that the first Mustang sold at retail was a white convertible to a Canadian pilot but I can't find the story.

No, that was the first Mustang produced, s/n 100001.

http://v8passion.com/en/news-vehicules-v8-passion-magazine/first-mustang-ever-produced-sold-in-canada/

The first one sold was to an Illinois woman who bought it April 15, 1964, two days before the official introduction date, proving again that dealers will break any and all rules to make a sale..

Mr_Shiftright

andys120 said:

Well at least I got the official intro date right. I'd swear I have read that the first Mustang sold at retail was a white convertible to a Canadian pilot but I can't find the story.

Have they actually found Mustang #1, (produced) or does Ford own that one?

omarman

I googled 1965 Ford Mustang Serial Number One...
5F08F100001 is on display at the Henry Ford Museum

stickguy

Wasn’t the 14th the same day the lady in Chicago bought hers?

Mr_Shiftright

IIRC, the search is still on for Corvette #1.

andys120

It's fun to relive the hype and excitement of the unveiling of the first Mustang. There has never been anything like it before or since, and its likely there never will be.