Mystery car pix

stickguy

Early CUV?

Man that think looks like it is on stilts.

fintail

Hudson Italia, must be sans drivetrain

ab348

Here's a rare sight:

andys120

fintail said:

Hudson Italia, must be sans drivetrain

Sans drivetrain? Because it sits so high? You're probably right. In other photos you can see much less of the front wheel>



The Italia was a limited production coupe built on the chassis of the compact new Hudson Jet by Carrozerria Touring in Milan. It's interesting on a couple of levels. It was part a spate of US models with Italian styling including the Dual-Ghia and the Nash-Healey (styled by Pininfarina) that came out in the 50s and 60s.

I believe it was a four-place coupe which eventually became an important segment of the US market including the big T-bird, the Riviera and the Toronado. It could also be considered a progenitor of the Mustang and other Pony cars. Unfortunately Hudson had little success with it and sold only 26 copies.

The Italia, introduced in 1954, was also one of first production cars to feature wraparound
front glass (the other was the '54 Caddy El Dorado.) I know I seem little fixated on the subject of 50s windshields but if you came of age when I did you can remember a time when all cars had dual-pane front glass and then in a few years they went to one-piece windshields, then to wraparounds. It all happened in the years between 1952 and 1955. Wraparounds became nearly universal until '61 or so, then they were cast aside and by '63 were gone.

There's a couple of things I'm not sure of about the Italia. Was it a four-seater or just two?
Were those cool-looking fender-mounted tailpipes functional? Doubtful IMO or they would've been copied. One source suggested that they all came in tan with red interiors but I've seen enough pics of other colors to discount that.

ab348

andys120 said:

There's a couple of things I'm not sure of about the Italia. Was it a four-seater or just two?
Were those cool-looking fender-mounted tailpipes functional? Doubtful IMO or they would've been copied. One source suggested that they all came in tan with red interiors but I've seen enough pics of other colors to discount that.

Can't comment on the color offerings but those jet tubes on the rear fenders were tail/brake light housings. The exhaust was conventional style, under the car. The area that would be a rear seat was apparently deemed too small for that purpose so it was trimmed as a cargo/luggage storage area.

My source is this:

https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/hudson/italia/1880618.html

Yours for a cool $400K.

andys120

Wow, cost to build, $28K, MSRP $4.8K, no wonder Hudson busted. I'm a big fan of Hudson and all but those Italias just aren't special enough to justify $400,000. That kind of dough would buy you a classic Maserati or Aston Martin.

thebean

@ab348, is that a Lada?

ab348

thebean said:

@ab348, is that a Lada?

No, though now that you mention it, I can see why you might think so.

fintail

The non-Lada mystery car looks like a BMC ADO17 with a nose I am not familiar with. RHD and 1968 plates put it in the UK.

ab348

You're getting closer, fin, which is part of the mystery.

omarman

The non Lada with the unfamiliar nose has an Austin grill emblem, but it looks too big/long for a 4cyl front drive.

ab348

I'll give up the answer: It's an Austin 3-Litre, introduced in 1968, and with just under 10,000 produced until it was discontinued in 1971 it was hardly a roaring success.

It replaced the Farina-design Austin Westminister as their "executive car" offering. In yet another of the bizarre development decisions of the late-BMC era, to save money it was decided to use the bodyshell of the FWD Austin 1800 - as Fin mentioned, the ADO17 - and adapt it for RWD. They designed a longer nose and a longer tail for the car, the nose to allow their 3-litre six-cylinder to fit, the tail to try to help balance the design, changed the floorpan to allow for a transmission tunnel and a driveshaft, trimmed it with real wood and leather inside, and there you have it.

This came after a potential BMC/Rolls-Royce joint venture entry-level Bentley (!) based on that same bodyshell was abandoned, thankfully.

omarman

ab348 said:

I'll give up the answer: It's an Austin 3-Litre, introduced in 1968, and with just under 10,000 produced until it was discontinued in 1971 it was hardly a roaring success.

It replaced the Farina-design Austin Westminister as their "executive car" offering. In yet another of the bizarre development decisions of the late-BMC era, to save money it was decided to use the bodyshell of the FWD Austin 1800 - as Fin mentioned, the ADO17 - and adapt it for RWD. They designed a longer nose and a longer tail for the car, the nose to allow their 3-litre six-cylinder to fit, the tail to try to help balance the design, changed the floorpan to allow for a transmission tunnel and a driveshaft, trimmed it with real wood and leather inside, and there you have it.

This came after a potential BMC/Rolls-Royce joint venture entry-level Bentley (!) based on that same bodyshell was abandoned, thankfully.

Lol! Good stuff! I never heard of the budget Bentley Burma before. Burma!

texases

That was a close shave...

fintail

I didn't notice the rear is longer, interesting. Quad lights like that so high up never look right.

stickguy

Looks like a matchbox version of a rolls Royce from the 70s

Mr_Shiftright

stickguy said:

Looks like a matchbox version of a rolls Royce from the 70s

Many Rolls owners from the 70s could have used a matchbox.

ab348

There were a whole bunch of joint BMC/Rolls Royce concepts back then. None of them ever came to fruition.

https://www.aronline.co.uk/concepts/concepts-and-prototypes/rolls-roycebentley-collaboration-with-bmc/

andys120

Odd couple>

thebean

You'd think they could afford a hotel room. Maybe the maintenance costs took that money away.

fintail

Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso with French plates

andys120

fintail said:

Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso with French plates

Correct, it's beautiful even when dirty.

andys120

andys120

Looks like I struck gold with the little yellow coupe. Here's a hint, the body was by Facel Vega.

Mr_Shiftright

Oh, in that case---I know Facel did design work for Simca, and now that I look at that little coupe, the grille does remind me of the Simca Aronde and the curve of the roofline is certainly Facel Vega-ish.

andys120

That's right before they made cars with their brand on them, FV was a body-builder for French makers. The yellow coupe is a 1953 Simca 9 Sport. Simca was the top-selling brand in France during the 1950s and built a number of different s"Sport" variations on their sedan chassis.

Mr_Shiftright

Simca had a troubled life.

andys120

tmart

Not a clue, but I like it.

stickguy

looks like a modern mini moke.

andys120

stickguy said:

looks like a modern mini moke.

There's nothing modern about it, it's a 1972 Leyland Mini-Moke (Australian market spec).

stickguy

Interesting. Something about it just looked brand new. Guess it was restored.

andys120

Going shopping>

stickguy

T birds looked so small back then.

Is that a 57 ford poking its eyebrows out behind her?

andys120

stickguy said:

T birds looked so small back then.

Yup, that one is a '57, judging by the fins.

Is that a 57 ford poking its eyebrows out behind her?

It sure is, practically every car in the pic is a '56 or '57.

The oldest car is either the white over green one on the left( can't tell if it's a '53/'54 Chevy/Pontiac or possibly a "step-down" Hudson) or the MoPar in front of the Third ('53'54 Dodge?).

tmart

Yes it is a 57 Ford beside the 57 blue Bird. Interestingly, the girl’s dress coordinates with both!

fintail

57 Ford is a Fairlane 2 door HT, I assume.

I'll pick off the 55 Chevy at far left.

lostwrench1

On the right - 1953 Chrysler Windsor.

andys120

lostwrench1 said:

On the right - 1953 Chrysler Windsor.

That's it!>



It's the oldest car if the white/green on the left isn't a Hudson which could be older.

imidazol97

stickguy said:

T birds looked so small back then.

Is that a 57 ford poking its eyebrows out behind her?

Yes. 1957 Club Hardtop Fairlane 500. I had a Fairlane 500 two-door sedan in those same colors. I
still like it when I see one in that color.

There's a 57 Fairlane 500 Town Hardtop in the third row next to the 55 Ford Mainliner in brown.

andys120

No one has mentioned the pair of 1957 Pontiacs to the left of the blue/white Fairlane 500. The leftmost Poncho (dark blue?) has a chrome strip on the fender which probably indicates
a top-of-the-line model (Star Chief?)

andys120

andys120

stickguy said:

Interesting. Something about it just looked brand new. Guess it was restored.

It looked different to me as well. I thought it might have a longer wheelbase but it looks just like the one in The Prisoner.

lostwrench1

andys120 said:

No one has mentioned the pair of 1957 Pontiacs to the left of the blue/white Fairlane 500. The leftmost Poncho (dark blue?) has a chrome strip on the fender which probably indicates
a top-of-the-line model (Star Chief?)

The dark blue Pontiac with that C pillar and "winged" trunk badge indicates the Chieftan.
The gold Pontiac with that C pillar and lack of the "winged" trunk badge indicates the Star Chief.
The mixing of the gold's C pillar with the dark blue's "winged" trunk badge indicates the Super Chief.

andys120

Did someone say "Super Chief"?

lostwrench1

Nice. Those were the days.
Big fan of the old trains here.

tjc78

Me too.  We take our kids on one of those a couple of time a year for different events they do. 

https://www.877trainride.com/

imidazol97

We did several trains while our some was young. I liked trains; he liked trains. I remember being thrilled when I saw a steam engine pulling through our town where the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central railroad tracks crossed (Union City IN).

The greatest was an early July trip to Sioux St Marie for the Agawa Canyon Railroad one day excursion north and back. Beautiful. Next day took a tour boat through the locks. It was almost freezing in early July. We barely had warm enough clothing. I was glad to get back home to warm Ohio later that night.

http://www.agawatrain.com/the-train/

andys120

I'm going to call the dark Jaguar XK-150 DHC in the middle lane. It could be the oldest car, depending on the age of the VW near it (the stopped making the 150 in 1959 IIRC, the Beetle looks 1960s to me).

There's a small wagon in the far right lane next to a big Chevy wagon. Anybody that can ID the little one?

andys120

imidazol97 said:

I remember being thrilled when I saw a steam engine pulling through our town where the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central railroad tracks crossed (Union City IN).

You're showing your age. I went to grade school near a LIRR line. The LIRR then as now was mostly electric but they did have steamers go through now and then. A steam engine at work is something to see.

Little did I know, I was seeing the end of an era.