Mystery car pix

tjc78

It has portholes, must be a Buick

stickguy

Is that an Allard J2?

ab348

I see it has portholes, so it must be a Buick.

omarman

Mahindra Allardo J/K II

andys120

stickguy said:

Is that an Allard J2?

Sure looks like one, doesn't it? It is in fact a replica Allard J2X made in the USA by a Canadian named Roger Allard who isn't actually related to the late Sidney Allard.

Sidney's relations make J2 and J2X replicas of their own in Gloucester UK. Not surprisingly legal actions are pending.

It's expensive and complicated but in my book there is no car cooler than the Allard J cars.

Mr_Shiftright

That's an Allard, all gussied up to hell. Here's a proper one, before the Hollywood restorers got to it.

andys120

Mr_Shiftright said:

That's an Allard, all gussied up to hell. Here's a proper one, before the Hollywood restorers got to it.

Except for the chromed wires (I don't like 'em either) and side pipes I don't see much difference. I'm sure either of the Messrs. Allard would build an ungussied one for you.

Bring a tractor trailer full of cash.

Mr_Shiftright

Yeah, the pimpy wheels and chromed mud guards and silly side pipes (ever drive around with those in an open car?) and chromy roll bars and, I presume, obligatory front bumper.

I'm pleased that it's a fake. I would hate to see someone do that to a real one. Now I feel better!

tjc78

ab348 said:

I see it has portholes, so it must be a Buick.

Ha ha great minds... see two posts above yours!

andys120

lostwrench1

1955 Plymouth Belvedere. (6 cyl)

andys120

lostwrench1 said:

1955 Plymouth Belvedere. (6 cyl)

Correct on all counts. Was the Belvedere the top of the line Plymouth for '55?

lostwrench1

andys120 said:

lostwrench1 said:

1955 Plymouth Belvedere. (6 cyl)

Correct on all counts. Was the Belvedere the top of the line Plymouth for '55?

Yes, top of the line.
That year one could still get a (Plaza) Business Coupe - no back seat and no roll down rear windows. Note the hotel names, Plaza, Savoy, and Belvedere.
Ok, a homework assignment if anyone wants it. That year, what was the thinking behind the gas filler pipe's being on the passenger side of the car?

ab348

I read that with the gas filler on the passenger side it had less chance of being damaged and contributing to a fire in a sideswipe collision.

andys120

Practically every car I've owned has had the filler on the right/passenger side.

andys120

Mr_Shiftright

Trivia: This car had to change its name when it was first introduced.

lostwrench1

Ok, as to that 1955 Plymouth, when it was being designed the thinking behind moving the gas filler pipe to the passenger side of the car was that since the spare tire was to be on the right side of the trunk, running the filler pipe behind the spare tire would protect the pipe from being jarred by cargo in the trunk.

andys120

Mr_Shiftright said:

Trivia: This car had to change its name when it was first introduced.

Are you referring to the white two-seater I posted? I believe they did have to change the name. There's a lot of interesting wrinkles in its story.

Mr_Shiftright

Yes, the two-seater. It originally had a name that ran into copyright problems.

lostwrench1

Mr_Shiftright said:

Trivia: This car had to change its name when it was first introduced.

It has Rhode Island license plates, can I get a point for that?

stickguy

Daimler SP250?

lostwrench1

Turned out the R.I. plates were a big clue. I won't reveal what the car is because I had no idea before the detective work. Interesting that the London Police had at least 26 black ones to catch speeders!

boomchek

I see a Pegasus type decal on the front fender but never heard of the brand.

Mr_Shiftright

stickguy said:

Daimler SP250?

Gold star for Stick. It was originally called the Daimler Dart but Chrysler objected for obvious reasons.

2548cc V-8 engine and 4-wheel disk brakes. Fiberglass body, which on earlier models often cracked due to a very weak frame. Later corrected, the SP250 was raced quite successfully in the USA, although never did much in Europe. Ugly but respected, they often sell for over $50K today.

andys120

boomchek said:

I see a Pegasus type decal on the front fender but never heard of the brand.

The red Pegasus was the emblem of Mobilgas, before it merged with Exxon. Sports cars and racers of the 1950s often displayed it for the simple reason that it looked cool.

stickguy said:

Daimler SP250?

That's right it's a Daimler SP-250 made by Daimler Company LTD. in Coventry, the same town Jaguar was based in. Daimler was a subsidiary of the Birmingham Small Arms Ltd. until Jaguar Cars LTD bought it in 1961

Some interesting things about the SP-250:

-It was powered by a small 2.5 Liter V8 producing about 140hp, not much today but huge for a 2000 lb sports car (fiberglass bodies).

-Daimler expected 2/3 of sales to go to America, a reasonable expectation given that the USA was in the middle of a Sports Car craze, buying up 4 and six cylinder cars from MG, Tripmph, Austin-Healey, Lotus, Morgan and others. Unfortunately it never sold well here despite the fact that those of us pushing four-banger roadsters would have killed for a small V8. Aside from the drawback of being expensive it was ghastly to look at but you knew that.

-Bumpers, a heater and other normal equipment was optional
because of a quirk in tariff rules. US Customs did not include the cost of installed options
in calculating tariffs.

-Jaguar's owners were dismayed to discover that an SP-250 cost more to make than an E-Type and discontinued production accordingly. After 1964 Daimler car production
was restricted to rebadged Jaguar MKII Saloons using the Daimler V8 and versions of subsequent Jag sedans as well as a line of stately limos which were at one time favored by the royal family.

-Another division of Daimler produced buses including double-deckers.

I've left off the story of why the little roadster had it's pre-production name changed. perhaps someone else would like that honor..er...honour.

Mr_Shiftright

I think I mentioned that a few posts back.

andys120

Mr_Shiftright said:

I think I mentioned that a few posts back.

Oops, missed that one. Daimler Dart had alliteration but legal problems meant it not making it to any production cars. However it seems as if the name game was played a little more loosely at one time.


For example, these cars had the same model name

lostwrench1

Suburban.

andys120

lostwrench1 said:

Suburban.

Yup, those were all called "Suburbans" mostly as an appendage to another model name

The one on top is a 1953 Chevy Suburban, a name Chevy has used continually since 1935.

The woody sedan is a '47 Nash Ambassador Suburban.. Nash used the name from '46 to 1948.

The Plymouth is a 1958 Custom Suburban. Plymouth's first steel bodied wagon in 1950, was the first Plymouth Suburban. Last of the line was the 1978
Plymouth Grand Fury Suburban.

The Wikipedia entry credits the Plymouth as the first steel bodied wagon in the US--It wasn't
the Willys Jeep All-Steel wagon debuted in 1946 and Crosley followed in 1947.

There may have been others.

fintail

There was also the DeSoto Suburban. Some may remember it as the Cunningham's family car on "Happy Days":



I remember watching the show with my dad when I was a kid, and him remarking that such a car would have been just a bit stodgy or nerdy in the 50s, so it wasn't a bad choice for Mr. C.

omarman

The Chevy Suburban was "the industry’s first steel-bodied, eight-passenger truck-based wagon back in 1935" according to this CD article from February 26, 2018.

edit: Ha, I remember that car from Happy Days. Not exactly the same words but my dad laughed at the sight of that car more than the antics of Richie, Fonzie and Mister C.

Mr_Shiftright

You should correct that Wiki entry!

ab348

fintail said:

I remember watching the show with my dad when I was a kid, and him remarking that such a car would have been just a bit stodgy or nerdy in the 50s, so it wasn't a bad choice for Mr. C.

I remember another episode of Happy Days where they made a reference to Richie going on a date in a car with "Nash seats" (nudge nudge wink wink) and figured it would have gone over the heads of a lot of the people watching.

andys120

ab348 said:

fintail said:

e>

I remember another episode of Happy Days where they made a reference to Richie going on a date in a car with "Nash seats" (nudge nudge wink wink) and figured it would have gone over the heads of a lot of the people watching.

There's no end of things like that. No one born in this century would get "They'll hold my funeral in a phone booth."

texases

ab348 said:

fintail said:

I remember watching the show with my dad when I was a kid, and him remarking that such a car would have been just a bit stodgy or nerdy in the 50s, so it wasn't a bad choice for Mr. C.

I remember another episode of Happy Days where they made a reference to Richie going on a date in a car with "Nash seats" (nudge nudge wink wink) and figured it would have gone over the heads of a lot of the people watching.

When my Grandma came over with her early '60s Rambler, I got a big kick playing with the seat recliner and electric windows. Never had seen them before!

andys120

stickguy

67 charger?

lostwrench1

My favorite Happy Days' car episode was the one in which Richie wanted to buy a '53 Ford from Fonzie. The car had a name, "Love Bandit", which was stenciled on the rear fender. Mr. C went nuts when he saw the car and didn't want Richie to buy it. But he gave in and Richie bought it. Then it was learned the car was stolen...….
Funny episode.

andys120

stickguy said:

67 charger?

Yup, it's a 1967 Dodge Charger/318. The light yellow paint and vinyl top belie the badass nature of Dodge's Muscle Car. Vinyl tops usually aren't seen on slope back cars because...look at it.

andys120

stickguy

Handsome car.

texases

'65-ish Lancia Flamina Touring Converible?

andys120

stickguy said:

Handsome car.

texases said:

'65-ish Lancia Flamina Touring Converible?

Yup, it's a 1963 Lancia Flaminia convertible, body by Touring Superleggerra. The Flaminias replaced the Aurelias as the top-of-the line Lancia cars and should be thought of as Italian equivalents of Mercedes cars.

Things haven't been the same since Fiat took over.

andys120

Extra points if you name the big liner>

tjc78

The ship is the SS France, later name changed to the SS Norway (Part of NCL’s fleet).  A very well loved ship among the cruising community.  

lostwrench1

I'll grab the '62 Rambler American.

stickguy

Looks a lot like the USS United States, currently docked, decaying, in philly.

ab348

As @tjc78 said, that looks like the France. The wings on the funnels are quite distinctive.

tjc78

Sadly it's been scrapped.