Mystery car pix

tmart

Ticket alert! Parking next to a fire hydrant!

andys120

fintail said:

Some don't like prewar pics, I will just say there's an awful lot of Mopar in that shot, must be from the "Dodge Plymouth" location at left. I suspect the fancy mansion is long gone.

The mansion is probably a funeral home now. I haven't seen Dodge paired with Plymouth, IIRC DeSoto-Plymouth dealers were paired back in the Groucho Marx era..

kyfdx

Look at how modern the building on the left looks, for 1940

jpp75

fintail said:

Some don't like prewar pics, I will just say there's an awful lot of Mopar in that shot, must be from the "Dodge Plymouth" location at left. I suspect the fancy mansion is long gone.

Ah yeah, I forgot about the "post WWII" thing. And yes, that mansion is long gone, ironically it was torn down in the 50's and a car lot was put in from what I read on the internet. Now some nondescript modern building stands there.

berri

What a shame to lose something that looks so elegant.

fintail

Probably a case of a city growing faster and in different directions than was expected when the house was built. It looks like the neighborhood became commercial/multi unit by the 20s via the surrounding buildings, and the house was becoming a high maintenance relic. I think a lot of places like that were lost in the 50s. Same thing happened in Vancouver and Seattle, when areas developed quickly and neighborhoods that were once more affluent residential became commercial or apartments, and the people who originally lived in those houses moved to new trendy areas.

In that old pic, the most unusual car looks to be a sidemounted late 20s style roadster parked on the street facing up the hill. It's a larger fancier car, maybe a Chrysler due to the nearby garage.

ab348

"Just park over there, next to the Saturn V."



Cape Canaveral, 1991.

sda

With the exception of the two cars in front, hardly a whitewall insight. All wood homes can be maintenance bank account drainers as they age.

tjc78

I’ll pick off the 86 ish Dodge Charger / Plymouth Turismo out front. 

2 different late 80s Fox Body Mustangs

Mid 80s Celica 

fintail

At far left I see a white 78-79 Celica liftback. I was thinking maybe a Supra, but it has the small taillights of a 78-79 normal Celica. I also believe I see a brown 80-81 Celica liftback next to the white Caddy near the center of the pic.

Michaell

Bracketing the F-150 is a K-Car and a Nissan Pulsar.

The round Celicas are very late 70's or early 80's iterations. The square Celica is an '82-'87 (?) vintage.

andys120

jpp75

tjc78 said:

I’ll pick off the 86 ish Dodge Charger / Plymouth Turismo out front. 

2 different late 80s Fox Body Mustangs

Mid 80s Celica 

I'll grab the yellow Cadillac Sedan deVille and the 4 door Reliant (Aries?)

ab348

Hey @andys120 , scroll back a page.

ab348

jpp75 said:

tjc78 said:

I’ll pick off the 86 ish Dodge Charger / Plymouth Turismo out front. 

2 different late 80s Fox Body Mustangs

Mid 80s Celica 

I'll grab the yellow Cadillac Sedan deVille and the 4 door Reliant (Aries?)

That red Fox Mustang liftback has the signature alloy wheels I always liked on those. I believe it is a 5.0. I’d take that one.

ab348

Here are a couple of shots of Webster Ave. in the Bronx, from 1974. Can anyone figure out what is approaching the camera in the second pic?

kyfdx

MGB-GT on the right

Mr_Shiftright

berri said:

What a shame to lose something that looks so elegant.

That was the Silas Palmer House--on Washington and Van Ness. It was demolished and now there's a condo there. Yippee.

lostwrench1

Two chips on - Lookin' cool, cruisin' around the Bronx in a Chevy Chevette or Vega with a trunk lid used as a hood.

Does anyone see a vehicle newer than 1971? The mail drop box color scheme was used before the US Postal Service came into existence in 1971.

andys120

lostwrench1 said:

Two chips on - Lookin' cool, cruisin' around the Bronx in a Chevy Chevette or Vega with a trunk lid used as a hood.

Does anyone see a vehicle newer than 1971? The mail drop box color scheme was used before the US Postal Service came into existence in 1971.

The weird car in the left foreground heading toward the camera is a decade newer than 1971,
It's a Ford EXP or a Mercury LN7, basically "sporty" versions of the Ford Escort/Mercury Tracer
They were sold 1982-88.

andys120

I was unable to download pix using Safari or Firefox, Chrome to the rescue, please fix.

Mr_Shiftright

The stylistic "Kiss of Death" ----the shovel-nose.

kyfdx

I don't think that is it. Doesn't fit with the time period of the photo.

ab348

andys120 said:

lostwrench1 said:

Two chips on - Lookin' cool, cruisin' around the Bronx in a Chevy Chevette or Vega with a trunk lid used as a hood.

Does anyone see a vehicle newer than 1971? The mail drop box color scheme was used before the US Postal Service came into existence in 1971.

The weird car in the left foreground heading toward the camera is a decade newer than 1971,
It's a Ford EXP or a Mercury LN7, basically "sporty" versions of the Ford Escort/Mercury Tracer
They were sold 1982-88.

No, @lostwrench1 has it right I think. It is what looks to me like a late ‘60s Dodge Dart convertible that had its hood and grille replaced by a trunk lid that is sort of the right size. Good luck with cooling, but points for creative body repair. It had me fooled too until he pointed it out.

The picture was definitely from 1974.

andys120

I'm sticking with EXP/LN7. The front end treatment on those was one of the worst ever sold by anyone at anytime but it was distinctive. The idea that it's a car that had its hood replaced by another car's trunk is quite a stretch.

texases

Nah, not an EXP/LN7. Roof's wrong.

lostwrench1

More info on Webster Ave. in the Bronx. - That 3rd Ave. El ended service on April 29, 1973.
Most of the elevated structure was removed in 1974.
A few segments lasted until 1975.
So, that photo could not have been taken beyond 1975. It was probably taken in 1974 as first stated by the poster.

Those recessed headlights with round lenses still point me to the Chevy Chevette.

bhill2

I've looked at that thing till my eyes have crossed. The front end has definitely been modified somehow. What can be seen of the original front (not much) suggests a '65/'66 Mustang to me, but the body doesn't seem quite right. Just throwing it out there.

fintail

I'll wager a lot that the mystery car is not an EXP. It also appears to possibly be a convertible. Something homebuilt, I bet.

ab348

lostwrench1 said:

More info on Webster Ave. in the Bronx. - That 3rd Ave. El ended service on April 29, 1973.
Most of the elevated structure was removed in 1974.
A few segments lasted until 1975.
So, that photo could not have been taken beyond 1975. It was probably taken in 1974 as first stated by the poster.

Those recessed headlights with round lenses still point me to the Chevy Chevette.

Good info on the El and in confirming the date of the photo. Unfortunately that also rules out the Chevette, as it did not come out until the 1976 model year. I’ll stick with my Dart guess.

ab348

lostwrench1 said:

Does anyone see a vehicle newer than 1971? The mail drop box color scheme was used before the US Postal Service came into existence in 1971.

The first photo has a ‘74 Chevy at the curb on the right. The second photo has a ‘73 Chevy parked at the curb on the left.

omarman

andys120 said:

Michaell said:

The caption identifies the people; what about the cars they are sitting on?

Sonny and Cher are relaxing on a pair of customized Pontiac Tempests which somehow got the same plate numbers! The shape of the windshield leads me to think they were originally 1963 Tempest Lemans that looked like this in stock form>

Someone pointed out that the Bronx mystery car may be a modified '66 Mustang convertible and I think that's a very good guess. Not exactly the George Barris level of customization used on the Sonny and Cher Mustangs but still looks like a Mustang under the trunk/hood.

edit-and still my firefox doesn't like the interface. having to exit and return to get some functions working.

andys120

Same problems, can't load pix to Firefox or Safari. Chrome works. What gives??

stickguy

Fiat 850 sport spider. About a 1970 vintage. My sister had a yellow one. Tiny little thing.

Mr_Shiftright

I sent a trouble ticket in on this, so maybe they'll figure it out.

Mr_Shiftright

One Host reports no problem uploading in Safari.

andys120

stickguy said:

Fiat 850 sport spider. About a 1970 vintage. My sister had a yellow one. Tiny little thing.

Yup, they were tiny, that one is '72, I don't recall what year they went with the more upright headlights, probably '68, the same year Jag took the glass fairings off the E-Types. A fellow down the block has the earlier version with the laid back lights. He is tallish so he's quite the sight driving it.

ab348

Mr_Shiftright said:

One Host reports no problem uploading in Safari.

I had a problem with it last night on the iPad, a first. No response to clicking on the picture icon.

andys120

ab348 said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

One Host reports no problem uploading in Safari.

I had a problem with it last night on the iPad, a first. No response to clicking on the picture icon.

Yep, I'll click on the picture icon and nothing happens.

Mr_Shiftright

Actually that same host did report an issue with Safari---had to reload it to get it to work. But then it worked. Not sure what's up. As we know from car repair, intermittent problems are the hardest to solve.

magnette

ab348 said:

Welcome back, Magnette.

Its nice to be back.....

andys120

This pic is from Glen Cove L.I., across the bay from where I went to HS, (It posted fine on Safari but I couldn't post any wording, had to switch back to Firefox to write this!!)

If you can spot the newest cars you'll have a pretty good idea of when it was taken. That nice '57 Bel Air h/t lacks wheel covers which seems rather odd for a late model car in a well-to-do commuter 'Burb. I wonder if they got hit by the "Midnight Auto Supply"?

stickguy

is that a 57 Eldorado 2 in front of the "Camp" truck?

and is the Mopar in front of the hubcapless Chevy newest. Maybe a '60?

andys120

stickguy said:

is that a 57 Eldorado 2 in front of the "Camp" truck?

and is the Mopar in front of the hubcapless Chevy newest. Maybe a '60?

I'm not sure if it's an Eldo but it sure is a mid-50s Caddy, the only "upscale" car. Today that street would be full of high end SUVs and sedan.

The Mopar h/t is a mid 50s Plymouth. Could be any year from '57-'59 but definitely not a Fury or 1960MY. I see one car that is definitely a '58 and another (aside from the Plymouth) that could be a '58 .

The pickup next to the Caddy is a Ford F-100.

fintail

I see a 57 Ford Skyliner

andys120

fintail said:

I see a 57 Ford Skyliner

Yup, it's just ahead of the MoPar hardtop. Just the right of the Ford pickup, we can see the fat butt of a mid-50s Nash, or Rambler

bhill2

Actually, my best guess is a mid-50s Packard.

Mr_Shiftright

Early 50s maybe. Mid-50s would have those "finny" tail lights.

Mr_Shiftright

Glen Cove--birthplace of novelist Thomas Pynchon.

bhill2

You're right. I forgot how early they ejected the bathtub ones and how early they adopted those little finlets.