Mystery car pix

ab348

stickguy said:

through the window of the plymouth cab, back end of a 64ish Falcon wagon.

The cab would be a Dodge according to the trunklid letters, unless the boys on the assembly line at Hamtramck had a really bad day.

Mr_Shiftright

Interesting sidenote. If you look at the buildings in "Chinatown", you'll notice that they are all very traditional American architecture with stuff stuck on them to look exotic.

andys120

Mr_Shiftright said:

Interesting sidenote. If you look at the buildings in "Chinatown", you'll notice that they are all very traditional American architecture with stuff stuck on them to look exotic.

Nothing wrong with putting on a show for the tourists. Phone booths in Chinatown NYC used to have "pagoda"-style roofs.

I can't tell if the Mustang convertible is a '67 or '68.

imidazol97

Not a 67. This is a look alike for the 1967 Mustang I owned. Dark blue. Beautiful.

texases

Pretty sure it's a '68 Mustang. The '69 didn't have that 'dip' in the trunk lip.

ab348

Learn something new every day. I was unaware of that difference in the trunk lids.

texases

I also learned that the rear fender curve on the '69 Mustang has some Camaro in it.

transamsd73

The Mustang, if not a 67 is a 68. The tail lights are the give away, as the 69's were different, they didn't have the chrome surrounds and had a different shape, and the 64-66 were smaller, and I believe were a single lens, not three.

andys120

lostwrench1

Well, it's a Plymouth Valiant, either a 1963 or a 1963.5 depending on the badge on the trunk lid. Do you have a photo of the rear?

andys120

lostwrench1 said:

Well, it's a Plymouth Valiant, either a 1963 or a 1963.5 depending on the badge on the trunk lid. Do you have a photo of the rear?

Ask and you shall recieve>




I don't think badging gets much more minimal than that. IIRC the second gen Valiant was the first to offer a convertible. This particular example looks pretty low-spec.

lostwrench1

Oh, great. Neither example of the trunk's main badging is there. It was removed. However, there is a clue that this car is the later series 1963 Valiant convertible, the 1963.5, that being the lack of the chrome strip between the tail lights (unless that also was removed).

transamsd73

This appears to be a '63 Pltmouth Valiant 200. I have seen one or two photos of this trunk lid on this model, however almost all of them have the chrome symbol in the middle of the lower trunk lid, as well as the chrome strip between the tail lights, so this was probably the base model.

ab348

In traffic today I encountered a restored and very nice Valiant 2-door hardtop in white. The owner helpfully had a personalized license plate on the front that stated "1963 Valiant". While the front end looked like the convertible above, the rear styling was like a '64, with round taillights. It had a bright metal panel on the trunk lid between the taillights. I am confused.

lostwrench1

ab348 said:

In traffic today I encountered a restored and very nice Valiant 2-door hardtop in white. The owner helpfully had a personalized license plate on the front that stated "1963 Valiant". While the front end looked like the convertible above, the rear styling was like a '64, with round taillights. It had a bright metal panel on the trunk lid between the taillights. I am confused.

What you saw was the Valiant made exclusively for the Canadian market sold at both the Chrysler-Plymouth and Dodge dealers in Canada.

andys120

Look what I found!



it turns out the '63 Valiant was fairly popular in convertible form, over 16,000 sold!

kyfdx

andys120 said:

Look what I found!



it turns out the '63 Valiant was fairly popular in convertible form, over 16,000 sold!

I didn't remember the TV show listed at the end of the text. Appears it only ran in the 1962-63 season.
It was a current day Western.

sda

It looks sharp in red/red.

texases

$2,340 for the bare-bones version would be about $20,000 today. Doesn't seem all that cheap, given how much that '63 wouldn't have.

lostwrench1

That's the .5er with the arms sticking out of the circular trunk badge.

andys120

kyfdx said:

andys120 said:

Look what I found!



it turns out the '63 Valiant was fairly popular in convertible form, over 16,000 sold!

I didn't remember the TV show listed at the end of the text. Appears it only ran in the 1962-63 season.
It was a current day Western.

I don't recall Empire on NBC at all but then I can barely remember the Valiant Convertible.
IIRC the Dodge Dart version was fairly popular.

fintail

I'd pay inflation-adjusted car prices spec for spec from 1963 if I could get inflation-adjusted house prices.

magnette

The whole of our Chinatown in Soho is in late Victorian or Edwardian traditional blocks, too and only the signage etc is Chinese. Probably some of the older buildings are listed for Preservation anyway, apart from the ones the Luftwaffe redeveloped

ab348

kyfdx said:

I didn't remember the TV show listed at the end of the text. Appears it only ran in the 1962-63 season.
It was a current day Western.

More than you'd ever care to know about Empire, from imdb:

This ambitious modern day western starred 41-year old Richard Egan ("A Summer Place", "The View from Pompey's Head", "Gog") as Jim Redigo, the hyper masculine, totally decent general manager of the huge Garrett ranch of New Mexico. Redigo was meant to be a mythic character, sort of Matt Dillon with an MBA, and over the run of the show Egan convinced you that Redigo had greatness in him. "Empire" was filmed on location in New Mexico.

Egan was asked if he regretted being tied down to playing the same role over and over, rather than having the variety of going from role to role in films. Egan said the people who became big stars, like Bogart, Cooper, and Gable, all essentially played the same part over and over again. That is how a star's persona is created.

Fifty-three year old Anne Seymour played the elegant owner of the Garret ranch, the widow of the man who built the empire from nothing- with Jim Redigo's help.

Thirty-three year old Terry Moore ("Mighty Joe Young") was Seymour's luscious, curvaceous daughter, who could get any man she wanted-except Redigo.

Twenty-two year old Ryan O'Neal was Seymour's son, who was trying to prove to Redigo that he was a man.

The great Kathleen Hite created this series. She was a terrific writer who did many superb character studies on "Gunsmoke". Hite came up with four good characters here, and they were well cast. Terry Moore was a warm, sexy presence, although she wasn't given anywhere near enough screen time. Ryan O'Neal was extremely vital and likable as Tal Garrett. O'Neal gave the stand out performance of the series.

The producers were Hal Hudson ("Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater") and the great William Sackheim ("The Law").

Each episode had a well written and cast guest star role. Robert Vaughn and Inger Stevens were superb in two separate episodes as paraplegics. Jeremy Slate was also terrific as a likable but mysterious new ranch hand whose competition with Ryan O'Neal ends in a deadly boxing match. Robert Culp played an ambitious man who schemes to marry Terry Moore and fire Redigo. Other guest stars included Richard Jordan, Claude Akins, Ralph Meeker, Telly Savalas, Ray Danton, Joanne Linville and Joanna Barnes.

The delightful Joanna Moore also trekked out to New Mexico to be a guest star. It must have been lonely on location. In a blink, she was married in real life to the charming Ryan O'Neal and was the mother of Tatum O'Neal.

The ratings were mediocre, and Terry Moore and Anne Seymour were fired in the middle of the first season. (Seymour's character was said to die.) The show was still good, but it became much more ordinary without women. Forty-one year old Charles Bronson ("Man With a Camera","The Magnificent Seven") was brought in as tough ranch hand Paul Moreno. This was already Bronson's third series.

For the second season the title was changed to "Redigo", and the length was reduced from 60 minutes to 30 minutes. Ryan O'Neal and Charles Bronson were gone. Jim Redigo bought his own small place. Appealing young Roger Davis ("The Gallant Men") played his ranch hand. The 30-minute format left little time to develop complex characters and stories, and what was once a fine show became unwatchable. "Redigo" was canceled in mid-season.

Mr_Shiftright

magnette said:

The whole of our Chinatown in Soho is in late Victorian or Edwardian traditional blocks, too and only the signage etc is Chinese. Probably some of the older buildings are listed for Preservation anyway, apart from the ones the Luftwaffe redeveloped

Yep, that's "progress" in the 20th century -- you destroy an actual commercial fishing dock and put up a "Ye Old Lobster Shack" franchise.

andys120

tjc78

67 Ford Thunderbird 

stickguy

Of all the iteration of T bird, that was by far the weirdest.

tjc78

@stickguy
Without question! 

texases

Looks like an appropriate car to accompany a hearse.

andys120

stickguy said:

Of all the iteration of T bird, that was by far the weirdest.

Yep, the question is what were they thinking? Apparently since they succeeded in selling a four-seat T-bird, some genius decided it would sell even better if it had four-doors. That might have worked if there weren't dozens of other for-door sedans.

imidazol97

Is that the TBird where the rear doors were hinged at the rear?

Was the thought behind the 4-door TBird that it was premiium but cheaper version of the Lincoln Continental?

lostwrench1

Yes, that '67 Thunderbird shown did have suicide doors (which make great air brakes coming down exit ramps).
Most of that rear roof pillar, forward of the landau bar, was part of the door and moved with it.

ab348

lostwrench1 said:

Yes, that '67 Thunderbird shown did have suicide doors (which make great air brakes coming down exit ramps).
Most of that rear roof pillar, forward of the landau bar, was part of the door and moved with it.

They work well as air brakes until the drag pulls them off their hinges.

andys120

omarman

tmart

68 Mercury Park Lane convertible.

fintail

At the early 60s sports car club meet, the sedan at left is a Lancia Flaminia Berlina, the prewar American sedan towards right appears to be a 35-36 Mopar of some kind, likely Dodge or Chrysler.

ab348

Mercury and Chrysler did the faux-wood paneling look on their convertibles in '68 (and '69 as well for Chrysler). A neat period thing.

omarman

Ding! tmart that was quick. 1968 Mercury yacht-paneled Park Lane convertible according to Hemmings.

andys120

fintail said:

At the early 60s sports car club meet, the sedan at left is a Lancia Flaminia Berlina, the prewar American sedan towards right appears to be a 35-36 Mopar of some kind, likely Dodge or Chrysler.

I think this must be the start or finish of a TSD Rally. A few years after the pic was taken I was active in that area. My first mount was a '66 Triumph TR-4A that looked like the red one in the center of the pic. The Aurelia Flaminia was rarely if ever seen on these shores. It is easily the most exotic vehicle in that shot with no B-post, "suicide" doors and a five speed-transaxle as well as the first production V6.

Under the tree at the top right of the pic is the unique roof shape of a British Ford Anglia 105E which enjoyed brief popularity here in the late 50s until it was replaced by the Cortina and its derivatives.
Still plenty more to call, more Triumphs, an MG, Corvairs, Corvettes and a Porsche. Call 'em if you see 'em.

fintail

I like seeing those early TR4s with wide whites, as pictured. Another rarity is the blue car at the bottom, with a white circle on the roof. While it resembles a 356, I think it is a Deutsch-Bonnet. The 356 cabrio next to the TR4 also appears to be an early example.

The reverse C-pillar car has the shape of a 105E, but I don't think it is an Anglia.

andys120 said:

Under the tree at the top right of the pic is the unique roof shape of a British Ford Anglia 105E which enjoyed brief popularity here in the late 50s until it was replaced by the Cortina and its derivatives.
Still plenty more to call, more Triumphs, an MG, Corvairs, Corvettes and a Porsche. Call 'em if you see 'em.

andys120

My '66 TR came with Goodyear whitewalls but by that time they were no longer wide. Yeah that could be a Deutsch-Bonnet. IIRC those had some success getting class wins in endurance racing.



There are a number of Chevrolet-badged cars in the shot, making it along with Triumph the most numerous badge, see 'em?

Conspicuous by their absence, No Healeys not even a Frog-eye Sprite? Those were quite popular on LI. There's only one MG, the White MG-A with black top on lower right.

Unless it's a trick of the light, the car under the tree has to be an Anglia 105E, the shape, size and colors are right and it's in the right era.

fintail

The greenhouse proportions of the reverse C pillar car are wrong for an Anglia - angles are different, size of rear window compared to front (door) window is much different. I swear I have seen this car before, it is European, but can't recall it.

andys120

fintail said:

The greenhouse proportions of the reverse C pillar car are wrong for an Anglia - angles are different, size of rear window compared to front (door) window is much different. I swear I have seen this car before, it is European, but can't recall it.

We'll have to disagree on the Anglia, I 'm just not seeing any of the differences you see.

A few other remarks but first another look at the photo>



The 1960s were the high tide of the European imports and also of participation in "sports car-oriented hobbies like races, rallies and slaloms/gymkhanas. The picture represents that well but the mixture of cars is off. Perhaps this event is being put on by a Triumph club which might explain the presence of so many of those. I can see only two VWs, both Karmann-Ghias. The Chevies are a pair of late model Vette C1s and two Corvairs.

Next to the "Anglia" is a yellowish Cabrio that looks like it could be a Peugeot 403>

ab348

Some here are obvious but I see several potential mysteries

lostwrench1

On the right, a 1955 Buick Super.

fintail

Smallish dark red 2 door parked in the back appears to be an Opel Rekord.

I can't make out the plates, but by the building style, I am pretty sure this is in Germany or Austria.

stickguy

Nash metropolitan in front. My parents had one before I was born. Rumor is they could park it and the Chevy wagon in tandem in the single car garage.

stickguy

58-60ish rambler wagon next to the 2 tone VW bus.