Mystery car pix

thebean

I spy a white '60-61 Valiant in front of the Hillman/Volvo wagon.

andys120

Odd thing about that photo, where're all the imports?

I mean this is a major Northeastern city and a big college/university center in the mid 1960s (the height of Euro car sales) . Only one VW, and a Hillman? No Volvos, no Saabs, no MGs or Triumphs? Weird.

Mr_Shiftright

Not so common in the early 1960s. The imports really didn't come on strong until the game changer---the Honda CVCC. Even Renault outsold VW in the early 60s. (briefly).

omarman

Well that pic only shows one row of cars in a big parking lot. Might be harder to spot an MG or Triumph parked in between all the Detroit iron.

edit to add: I think the Galaxie 500 XL grill star was a '62 thing. One of my brothers had a Galaxie 500 XL which had a hood release Ford emblem in the grill and I'm pretty sure it was a '63. He didn't have it long before trading up to a '69 Impala Custom coupe.

fintail

I suspect the dechromed car is a custom - I have never seen one with a lack of upper side chrome, and the wire wheels are a red alert that things might be modified.

andys120 said:

The more I look at it, the more I seen that you're right. The chrome thingie at center of the grille is the tell. It wasn't on the '61s, in fact it wasn't on all '62s.

Some had it>


Some didn't>
Dn't know why, perhaps this distinguished a 500XL from a mere XL.

andys120

Oh yes the white car w wires was a mild custom but it is not hard to find '62s missing the centerpiece. This one for example looks dead-stock>

fintail

I think the key in the blue car is the side trim. I think all convertibles would have the chrome trim on the side, at least when new. I think all 61 convertibles had rear quarter aluminum trim similar to a 60.

omarman

fintail said:

I think the key in the blue car is the side trim. I think all convertibles would have the chrome trim on the side, at least when new. I think all 61 convertibles had rear quarter aluminum trim similar to a 60.

Another funny thing about 1961 Ford Galaxie/Starliner/Sunliner models is that they all seem to share the same bifurcated (?) grill.

lostwrench1

andys120 said:

Oh yes the white car w wires was a mild custom but it is not hard to find '62s missing the centerpiece. This one for example looks dead-stock>

Yes, but check out that side badge. 405 HP Thunderbird engine. I'll take it. Where do I sign?
As to the grille centerpiece, the 1962 Galaxie 500 and 500 XL had it.

fintail

That could be the key. Even the more run of the mill 61 Fairlane had the bifurcated grille:

omarman said:

Another funny thing about 1961 Ford Galaxie/Starliner/Sunliner models is that they all seem to share the same bifurcated (?) grill.

andys120

IIRC the big block Ford V8 for '62 was 406 CID.

I find the 1961 and '62 big Fords look very much alike. From the front if they have the two-part grill they're '61s otherwise they're '62s.

From behind, they're a bit different>



(Note the emblem on the C-post, it got moved to the center of the grille for '62)

1962s had squared off rears.

ab348

I always thought those '61/'62 Fords looked very big and heavy.

omarman

The black one looks like a Galaxie Town Victoria. Even the wheel covers look stock - or close to it.

andys120

ab348 said:

I always thought those '61/'62 Fords looked very big and heavy.

Probably cuz they were!

omarman said:

Even the wheel covers look stock - or close to it.

Probably cuz they are.

Can't say I've ever heard of a Galxie Crown Vic.

fintail

Yep, that's a Town Victoria, quite uncommon. A 60 Town Victoria is one of those oddball cars I sometimes think I'd like to find. They must be extremely rare today, hard to find a modern day pic of one:

omarman said:

The black one looks like a Galaxie Town Victoria. Even the wheel covers look stock - or close to it.

lostwrench1

1961 Galaxie Town Victoria. Those wheel covers are not correct.

andys120

Another Ford from that era>

lostwrench1

1960 Ford Galaxie. (Hmmm, but that trunk script looks too small.)

andys120

lostwrench1 said:

1960 Ford Galaxie. (Hmmm, but that trunk script looks too small.)

It's more or less normal size and it does say "Galaxie"

This car is advertised as a "Galaxie Town Car" although I don't see that wording anywhere.
>

The styling of the 1960 Ford is interesting to me because it apes (somewhat) the bat wing styling of the '59 Chevy. I wonder how Ford was able to do this so quickly given the lead times required for styling in the analog age. They must've had a spy in the GM Design studios.

stickguy

Man cars back then were so low compared to now. But so much better visibility

lostwrench1

The seller should have listed it as "Town Sedan".
We had one in the fleet at Fort Lewis. It was the oldest car in the motor pool. The 3 on the tree linkage would lock up in first gear causing many "strong comments".

andys120

kyfdx

andys120 said:

600 SEC (or some other engine) Looks like a V12 emblem.

I'll say early '90s

fintail

The "Town Sedan" and "Town Victoria" names were used in promo literature, but didn't appear on the car. The two door post Galaxie was called a "Club Sedan", also not appearing on the car. Fairlanes had the same naming in sales material.

I suspect the fins might have had some concurrent evolution - as was said, they entered production at roughly the same time, a short lead for copying. I notice that white sedan (white seems to have been very popular on 60 Fords) has optional reverse lights.

fintail

Yep that's an early run C140 600SEC, debuting for the 1992 model year in North America

kyfdx said:

<
600 SEC (or some other engine) Looks like a V12 emblem.

I'll say early '90s

kyfdx

fintail said:

Yep that's an early run C140 600SEC, debuting for the 1992 model year in North America

kyfdx said:

<
600 SEC (or some other engine) Looks like a V12 emblem.

I'll say early '90s

I knew I had to be quick...

When Boomer Esiason was QB for the Bengals, he drove the previous generation coupe. Seems like it had a bigger grill emblem, though.

fintail

Might be something about the angle, this is a 1991 model 560SEC (no V12 126 cars):

kyfdx

Yeah.. more upright grille.

His would have been ‘87-‘89, I think

fintail

We had the 560SEC for model years 86-91, with no real exterior changes. The later ones were passing 70K in those dollars. The C140s kick the pricing up a notch, I think a 600SEC was 120-130K or so in 1992.

andys120

fintail said:

We had the 560SEC for model years 86-91, with no real exterior changes. The later ones were passing 70K in those dollars. The C140s kick the pricing up a notch, I think a 600SEC was 120-130K or so in 1992.

Methinks the 600SEC may have been the last true hardtop sold in the USA, anyone know for sure?

texases

Don't all current MB coupes (the REAL coupes) qualify as hardtops?

fintail

andys120 said:

Methinks the 600SEC may have been the last true hardtop sold in the USA, anyone know for sure?

All subsequent S-coupes have been true hardtops.

C215:



C216:



C217:



E/CLK coupes since MY 2004 are also hardtops. MB has continuously had at least one true hardtop in the range since the 1961 model year.

ab348

I'm not a fan of the styling of the 217, particularly the greenhouse.

berri

The styling of the 1960 Ford is interesting to me because it apes (somewhat) the bat wing styling of the '59 Chevy.
I recall in its day that some Chevy fans referred to it as an aborted 59 Chevy

berri

I think MB is trying to find a combo of sporty and formal luxury. Not sure that is feasible really.

fintail

217 has a high beltline and narrow windows, as seems to be the thing today.

andys120

It's interesting to me that Mercedes is the only one still doing hardtops, it belies their reputation for maximum safety and structural strength.

omarman

Maximum car safety and strength? Be careful what you wish for.

magnette

This was called the Aurora I think and was supposed to be completely safe. It was designed by a clergyman in the US but having seen pictures of it before I always imagined if it went at all it was likely to have been dangerous to drive due to the distorted view through the weird windscreen.

EDIT - sorry - I didn't appreciate you had already provided a link to the details

fintail

I notice that MB has had numerous hardtop coupes, but never a hardtop sedan. I suspect it is easier to have a stronger structure with only two doors - the area behind the door on one of those coupes is pretty rugged. I suspect they are as safe as possible, and safer than many if not most mainstream cars.

omarman

magnette said:

This was called the Aurora I think and was supposed to be completely safe. It was designed by a clergyman in the US but having seen pictures of it before I always imagined if it went at all it was likely to have been dangerous to drive due to the distorted view through the weird windscreen.

There's a lot of strange things about that car, but the windscreen really "pops!" And no wipers.
Safety first.

omarman

I'm not really sure what this is but the site at this link states: “Adenauer Mercedes” olarak adlandırılmış bir klasik.

fintail

Ah yeah I forgot about those. In the range from 1958-63, definitely developed with American tastes in mind.

texases

Here's some info on it:

"Production lasted from 1951 to 1962. All in all four versions of the Mercedes 300 Adenauer have been produced: While the first three models differed mostly in technical and a few optical aspects, the last version 300d was not only larger and offered a more powerful fuel injected engine, it was also somewhat similar to American luxury cars of that time. It was the first Mercedes-Benz sedan with a hardtop roof. All four side windows could be lowered with their chromed frames, there was no B-pillar and even the rear quarter lights could be removed and stored in small pockets in the trunk. When a Webasto sunroof had been ordered, the car could almost pass as a cabriolet. Although four-door cabriolets were available for all versions of the Mercedes 300 Adenauer, they were very expensive and only a few have been produced. The last cabriolet, based on the 300d, was even more expensive than the 300SL."

omarman

I like it but don't ever recall seeing one before. It was sold in US? Looks very Richie Rich!
Definitely bir klasik.

ab348

I wonder how they did in a rollover.

fintail

The hardtop model was the second gen car, here for model years 1958-63. The later year cars are pretty rare, as the design was quite old looking by then, and quite expensive, probably around 10K at the time. I wonder if any were even driven hard enough to roll.

Mr_Shiftright

ab348 said:

I'm not a fan of the styling of the 217, particularly the greenhouse.

Throw-back to the original Audi TT.

omarman

texases said:

Here's some info on it:

"Production lasted from 1951 to 1962. All in all four versions of the Mercedes 300 Adenauer have been produced: While the first three models differed mostly in technical and a few optical aspects, the last version 300d was not only larger and offered a more powerful fuel injected engine, it was also somewhat similar to American luxury cars of that time. It was the first Mercedes-Benz sedan with a hardtop roof. All four side windows could be lowered with their chromed frames, there was no B-pillar and even the rear quarter lights could be removed and stored in small pockets in the trunk. When a Webasto sunroof had been ordered, the car could almost pass as a cabriolet. Although four-door cabriolets were available for all versions of the Mercedes 300 Adenauer, they were very expensive and only a few have been produced. The last cabriolet, based on the 300d, was even more expensive than the 300SL."

More than a 300SL? Wow I thought it looked expensive but the pic I found wasn't even the cabriolet version.

omarman

fintail said:

The hardtop model was the second gen car, here for model years 1958-63. The later year cars are pretty rare, as the design was quite old looking by then, and quite expensive, probably around 10K at the time. I wonder if any were even driven hard enough to roll.

Some cars get rolled over before they make it to the dealership. This can't only happen in China, but...