Mystery car pix

andys120

imidazol97 said:

Yes, Kaiser Manhatten iirc

Late Kaisers had unusual windsheils with their double arches. The sunshade hides those, her's what they looked like>>>




Perhaps the popularity of the sun visor options in the 50s was due to the bigger single pane front glass. People weren't used to it. Windshield's got even bigger in the late 50s but visors declined in popularity. I'd guess at the height of the take rate ('53-'55) 12-15% of new cars/trucks had 'em.

imidazol97

I remember in my youth a lot of cars had the sunshades AND had a prism device mounted on the dash to let them see traffic lights when waiting because the sunshade blocked their view of traffic lights with the loss of that vertical field of vision.

Then later came the dark green tint at the top of the windshields which seemed to obviate the need for sunshades made of metal on the outside.



This isn't quite the same as the ones that were sitting on the dash. I still love seeing one of the originals in a car at a show.

tjc78

I've never heard of or seen one of those prisms.

stickguy

Thats what the moonroof is for!

fintail

I think eventually single piece windshields must have been a big deal to the average person. My mom is an older run boomer, and when I see an old car or street scene on TV from the year she was born, I point out the fact. She'll react with horror "look at that divided windshield, it looks so old". Where in the late 30s, split windshields popped up on the latest designs, maybe because of glass tech vs curves.

ab348

tjc78 said:

I've never heard of or seen one of those prisms.

You see them fairly often on ‘50s cars at local car shows. Along with spotlights.

imidazol97

Stoplight viewer.



https://www.mooneyesusa.com/product-p/aa5169.htm

andys120

imidazol97

1963 Fairlane 500 Sports Coupe

Lostwrench3

1962 Pontiac. Those wheel covers point to its being a Grand Prix.

tmart

I like the fender skirts on the Fairlane.

andys120

Lostwrench3 said:

1962 Pontiac. Those wheel covers point to its being a Grand Prix.

Those are the optional eight lug alloy wheels that could be had on any full size Poncho and most GPs did not have them. This first year GP has the distinctive grille surround and the silver flash on the left grille and flanks that sez "Grand Prix". At The Old Motor they say the color is exclusive to Grand Prixs.

The Fairlane 500 is likely powered by the "High Performance" K-Code ((271hp) version of the 289 V8 first seen in Cobras and later in performance optioned '65-6 Mustangs.

fintail

Quebec City, ~1965-66 - maybe not surprising, a dearth of Detroit iron. From an old MB promo item printed in 1966:

imidazol97

andys120 said:

Lostwrench3 said:

1962 Pontiac. Those wheel covers point to its being a Grand Prix.

The Fairlane 500 is likely powered by the "High Performance" K-Code ((271hp) version of the 289 V8 first seen in Cobras and later in performance optioned '65-6 Mustangs.

And the third car in the picture? I'd say a 53 Chevy but the proportions aren't quite right.

andys120

Lostwrench3

1950 Lincoln. (Made to resemble President Truman's with the #1 and Capitol building on the license plate?)

ab348

Apparently it is one of the originals that was in service then and has been restored.

Staying close to that era, here's a pic from Germany around 1960 or so. Interesting mix of stuff here.

fintail

I'll pick off the cool open Messerschmitt. By the Beetles this is no older than 1958.

Lostwrench3

I'll grab the '56 Olds.

andys120

That could be my late father-in-law who was posted to France w. the Army Engineers in the late 50s. He shipped over their '56 or '57 Olds with those colors. He found he was better off parking it except for family trips due to pricey gas and narrow roads and streets. He picked up a used Fiat Millicento for local driving and took both cars back to the states in '61 or '62.

ab348

I tweaked the Germany picture a bit. For some reason I just love all the things I see here.

Lostwrench3

I've been trying to match those coats of arms and statue with a German town without success thus far.
On my Army post in Germany in '67-'68, there were only two American cars, a '68 Pontiac Tempest, which my First Sergeant purchased through the PX (!) and a '57 Chevy.

ab348

According to the source, it is Bad Mergentheim.

Lostwrench3

ab348 said:

According to the source, it is Bad Mergentheim.

Thank you! The building with the coats of arms is the town hall and the statue is of Mary and the Christ Child.

fintail

I see a couple of Lloyd cars in the pic too along with what looks like the rear of a Renault to the left of the no parking sign.

andys120

The only non-German cars are the Dauphine and the Olds Yank Tank. Benzes conspicuous by their absence.

bhill2

For some reason my eyes are drawn to that clapped out old VW 'vert in the foreground. Talk about a survivor. Can anyone identify the gray estate(?) seen on the left behind the Rekord?

fintail

The estate parked, facing left? Or the one between two Beetles, on the street? I think the parked one facing left it might be a Lloyd, with another Lloyd beside it to its left.

bhill2 said:

For some reason my eyes are drawn to that clapped out old VW 'vert in the foreground. Talk about a survivor. Can anyone identify the gray estate(?) seen on the left behind the Rekord?

andys120

Brochure art>

stickguy

I love that. Wanted one bad in 1984 when I got out of school, but first job pay didn’t support it. 2x the price of the colt I ended up with. A guy I worked with had a black one. I loved riding it it.

Oh it’s a GTI. 83 or 84

Lostwrench3

I don't know the year of this one but it reminds me of one of my most loved cars, my 1980 non turbo diesel rabbit. On every trip from New London, Ct. to Washington D.C. it used no more than 6.8 gallons of fuel. Final mileage - 289,000.

texases

Let me guess...

ab348

Early 1960s, somewhere in the USA. The supposedly unsuccessful 1960 Ford makes another appearance in this pic, as it it seems to uncannily do in every pic I've found from this era. Guess it wasn't so unsuccessful.

andys120

Lostwrench3 said:

I don't know the year of this one but it reminds me of one of my most loved cars, my 1980 non turbo diesel rabbit. On every trip from New London, Ct. to Washington D.C. it used no more than 6.8 gallons of fuel. Final mileage - 289,000.

It's a 1983 Volkswagen Rabbit GTI, from the first year VW sold these in the USA (Golf GTI in non-US mkts.) I had a red one with stripey red seats instead of the
plaid so associated w the GTI. Those little wheels were 14 inchers and seemed quite huge for this class of car.

The GTI was made for the cut and thrust of urban driving with it's good brakes and ability to zip into traffic holes. It was less suited for highway travel, as the final drive ratio dictated 3800 RPM in High (5th) @ 70mph--pretty buzzy. The interior was cheap looking outside of the wonderful Recaro cloth seats but it was my last car to have full instrumentation including water temp, oil pressure and voltage. It was also my last car with manual steering and my first with air con.

Lostwrench3

Entering, a 1957 Dodge. I wish we could see the front end to see if it was a '57.5 having the 6 verticals on the bumper.
A Newberry store! When I was a kid I thought they had the best toy department.

andys120

ab348 said:

Early 1960s, somewhere in the USA. The supposedly unsuccessful 1960 Ford makes another appearance in this pic, as it it seems to uncannily do in every pic I've found from this era. Guess it wasn't so unsuccessful.


The Porsche 356B exiting is a clue that this is likely somewhere in CA, except where are the VWs? The other import that's visible is a white Renault Dauphine next to your beloved '60 Ford on the right. Peeking out from behind the bench on left is a white/blue '61 Chevy Impala 4dr h/t, the newest car I can spot.

Next to the 'Pala is a two tone Pontiac, a '53 0r '54 I guess which might make it the oldest car visible. Just past the Porsche I see a white '60-'61 Valiant/Dart wagon.

texases

Looks like a Vons is there, so CA for sure.

fintail

I think 1960 was a recession year, so sales were lower than surrounding years, but maybe more importantly, survival rates have to be very low. These cars weren't exactly rust-repellant, and they were also heavy - making them destined for the scrapyard once they wore out and fell out of fashion (which happened faster then).

To the left of that 60 Starliner, I think I see a 60 Chevy, and I can't tell what is to the left of that, somewhat boxy and not huge, perhaps foreign. Also directly above the 61 Impala and what looks like a 62 Comet in motion behind it, I see a Lark.

sda

Look at how open and how well you can see out of the 61Chevy.

bhill2

fintail said:

The estate parked, facing left? Or the one between two Beetles, on the street? I think the parked one facing left it might be a Lloyd, with another Lloyd beside it to its left.

bhill2 said:

For some reason my eyes are drawn to that clapped out old VW 'vert in the foreground. Talk about a survivor. Can anyone identify the gray estate(?) seen on the left behind the Rekord?

Thanks, Fin. I was curious about the one facing left with someone seemingly standing and looking at it but is probably just passing by.

fintail

If we are referencing the same vehicle, I think it is a Lloyd LT series (much more quirky from the front than from the side).

bhill2 said:

Thanks, Fin. I was curious about the one facing left with someone seemingly standing and looking at it but is probably just passing by.

andys120

stickguy

Fiat 124 sport coupe? I will guess it’s a 1969

andys120

stickguy said:

Fiat 124 sport coupe? I will guess it’s a 1969

You're a little off, it's a second gen. Fiat 124 Coupe which debuted in 1971 (IIRC), that one's from MY 1972 and wears the optional Cromodora alloy wheels. The body has been repainted in a non-factory color and I suspect the wheels were originally siver-grey.

Earlier (1966-70) 124 coupes had only two headlights>



The 124 Coupes suffered the fate of nearly every Euro car that comes with two doors in that it was far less popular than its ragtop sibling. A trend that continues to this day in the US. I've noticed
that BMW cabriolets outsell their steel top siblings by tw or three to one.

Lostwrench3

Andy, at 17:30 today the TV show "North Woods Law" had a segment which showed a sad occurrence in Loudon. This episode originally aired in 2018.

andys120

Lostwrench3 said:

Andy, at 17:30 today the TV show "North Woods Law" had a segment which showed a sad occurrence in Loudon. This episode originally aired in 2018.

I don't recall the details but I remember something happened in the woods here, a guy disappeared or something.

andys120

tmart

Chevy Impala Super Sport.

andys120

tmart said:

Chevy Impala Super Sport.

You're correct, does anyone want to take a stab @ model yr?

ab348

That would be a '69.

Surprised that it is on a Custom Coupe bodystyle and not the Sport Coupe, but GM was weird back then.