Mystery car pix

fintail

An EMW (340?) in the states, must be an enthusiast.

Mr_Shiftright

@fintail---you are tantalizingly close but not quite historically accurate. It is a 340, though.

magnette

That EMW 340 was also known as a 340-2, but I have no idea what differentiates them other than one presumably being the mk 2 or whatever

andys120

Looks like a ca. 1948 EMW 340 but it wears the standard BMW badge. Eisenach Motoren Werke was the which was taken over by the Russian-baked East German regime (DDR)
They produced copies of prewar BMWs. IIRC EMWs wore the standard BMW badge
until legal action by BMW AG Munich forced them to modify it.



That's a BMW 502 next to it.

Mr_Shiftright

Yes, that's right. Until mid 1952, these Eisenbach cars were badged as BMWs, and only after the factory was handed over to the East Germans by the Russkies were they able to work out an agreement with the "real" BMW.

I think one reason for reaching the agreement was so that EMW could export, which they did do, outside the soviet bloc.

So, technically, the 340 in 1951 is as much a "BMW" as the "real" company in Bavaria, because it was built before BMW in Bavaria had built their own first postwar car, the 501.

You can really tell, just sitting in the 340, that this is dramatically different from pre-war BMWs.

The 340 was based on the pre-war BMW 326 but with changes to body and mechanics. In some ways, EMW made improvements. Nonetheless, the car feels a lot more humble inside than a prewar BMW. I doubt any ordinary East German citizen would have been able to afford one, however.

andys120

Those are pretty rare. I saw one years ago at the Scottsdale auctions. EMW also made
some very pretty coupe and cabriolet models that duplicated prewar Bimmer 327s>



if you look really carefully you can spot the red on the emblem. i wonder why the EMW 340s lacked the signature kidney grilles.

Mr_Shiftright

Probably because the Eisenbach factory got cut off from previous BMW suppliers of various parts.

andys120

Mr_Shiftright said:

Probably because the Eisenbach factory got cut off from previous BMW suppliers of various parts.

Makes sense but the 327 above looks exactly like it's BMW counterpart, kidney grilles and all.

Mr_Shiftright

Who knows? The EMW history is more than a bit murky. One thing I do know--if you put a BMW 327 and an EMW 327 next to each other, most people couldn't tell the difference, but if you auctioned them off together, one would bring nearly double the price of the other.

texases

Obvious, but I couldn't resist this pic:

berri

That is kind of funny, a Nash Metropolitan and the checkered flag

Mr_Shiftright

Well you can race a turtle, too, if all your competitors are turtles.

kyfdx

I met a guy at the local Cars N Coffee who races a Chevette Diesel in the LeMons series.

omarman

Famous racing drivers said, "Incredible. You couldn't believe it."

Mr_Shiftright

He's right, I couldn't.

I've driven these. They are super cute and the ladies love them, but it's your basic death trap. I think with some modernization you could make a car out of it.

ab348

A guy who lives down the block owns one and I had a chat with him last summer when I encountered him at the community mailbox. Knows next to nothing about cars but bought it because he thought it would be a cool thing to take his kids for ice cream with in the summer, etc. Seemed to be an older restoration, still quite presentable. I suspect he won't keep it very long.

Mr_Shiftright

It's mostly British in the powertrain, so I could deal with it. But king pins and "trunnions"? What the hell is a "trunnion" anyway? A tuber?

ab348

Mr_Shiftright said:

It's mostly British in the powertrain, so I could deal with it. But king pins and "trunnions"? What the hell is a "trunnion" anyway? A tuber?

They date from medieval times!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trunnion

Mr_Shiftright

I stopped reading at "prone to failure". LOL!

andys120

berri

These are tough for me to distinguish from a side profile, but I'm thinking either a 56 or 57 Lincoln. Don't see many of those these days.

ab348

A '57 Lincoln Premiere I believe. I suspect you didn't even see too many of them back in the day. They were a good-looking car.

andys120

ab348 said:

A '57 Lincoln Premiere I believe. I suspect you didn't even see too many of them back in the day. They were a good-looking car.

You're right. I never saw many of these, like most 50s kids I could tell the make and year of most cars. That said, at first glance these could be mistaken for Chryslers.

stickguy

look at that rear overhang. Majestic.

tjc78

My first thought was Chrysler until I looked closer

thebean

tjc78 said:

My first thought was Chrysler until I looked closer

+1
I never would have thought Lincoln. I really thought it might be De Soto. Certainly screams late 50’s. Nice color, though.

imidazol97

The front and rear views on mb the Lincoln have a lot more drama. The profile is rather normal for the era, other than the air intake at front of each fin. 

tmart

Was that model inspired by the Lincoln Futura, or vice versa? Also, the original Batmobile came from the Futura.

andys120

tmart said:

Was that model inspired by the Lincoln Futura, or vice versa? Also, the original Batmobile came from the Futura.

Since the Futura concept car came first (1954) it seems the inspiration was from the Futura. As was often the case, production cars often used toned down versions of styling features used on the concept/idea cars.

imidazol97 said:

The front and rear views on mb the Lincoln have a lot more drama. The profile is rather normal for the era, other than the air intake at front of each fin. 

Well, except for the stacked headlamps the front treatment was par for the course in MY '57>



It's a wonder they had any chrome left for 1958.

omarman

tmart

Two snakes!

bhill2

I will hazard 1972 as the year, at least of the bronze job up front.

omarman

I'll link to the Mustang Club of Switzerland site where I found this pic of a 1971 Shelby Europa in the foreground. At least I think that's how the caption translates.

andys120

Michaell

Mitsubishi Starion

omarman

Or the Chrysler Conquest variant. Mystery car is missing the diamond logo for Mitsubishi but it has a TSi emblem on the fender which means turbo + intercooler Conquest. I'll guess 1989.

fintail

Likely a late run car with those wheels and fender flares.

omarman

I just looked it up on Wiki which identifies the North America Conquest TSI as widebody 1986-89, intercooled.

1986? In 1986 that TSi would have been a Contender! I remember the "pocket rocket" CRX Si around that time but I don't recall seeing the Conquest TSi until later.

In early 1990 I was at a Chrysler Plymouth dealer in Nerk to test drive a Plymouth Laser. It was non-turbo, automatic, 17 inch wheels and slow. Before I left the salesman asked me if I wanted to test drive a much more responsive car and he walked me over to a leftover Conquest TSi. I remember it was discounted and I don't recall the price but it was a 1988 model year! And it was a dark maroon color that I didn't care for so I left without even sitting in it.

andys120

omarman said:

Or the Chrysler Conquest variant. Mystery car is missing the diamond logo for Mitsubishi but it has a TSi emblem on the fender which means turbo + intercooler Conquest. I'll guess 1989.

Yup, it's an '89 Chrysler Conquest TSI

andys120

It's a fin day in Floriday:

Mr_Shiftright

Emissions be damned...gentlemen, start your engines! That's a lot of cylinders in that photo. I see a Cadillac peeking out on the left side there....

berri

A 60 Buick 4dr sedan next to the Squarebird

andys120

berri said:

A 60 Buick 4dr sedan next to the Squarebird

So far so good.

Mr_Shiftright said:

Emissions be damned...gentlemen, start your engines! That's a lot of cylinders in that photo. I see a Cadillac peeking out on the left side there....

Not sure if you're talking about my "Floriday" pic. Do you mean the car next across the street under the "Sunrse Plaza sign? i guess it's an early 60s caddy.

Mr_Shiftright

Yes, the one 5 cars down from the startled lady.

andys120

Mr_Shiftright said:

Yes, the one 5 cars down from the startled lady.

Five down from the woman in foreground you can see the headlights of an early 60s Cadillac ('59-61). To the left of it is a light colored '63 Chevy two-dr h/t. I think the Chevy is the newest car. The oldest is the two tone ('55 or '56) Ford between the Caddy and the Buick.

fintail

In the row to the R with rear facing the camera, I see a wagon that kind of looks like a ~65 Mopar, with a 61-63 T-Bird beside it.

tmart

Square Bird is a 58 or 59

andys120

Mystery dash>

Mr_Shiftright

Oh that just screams Austin Healey to me. Probably a 3000, with all the deluxe wood.

berri

That steering wheel position is like on a big boat