Mystery car pix

texases

So I was right? Dumb luck!

andys120

Lostwrench3 said:

While all 1961 Dodge Darts were not Senecas, all 1961 Dodge Senecas were Dodge Darts.
It was based on the 1961 Dodge Dart trim levels, the Seneca, Pioneer, and the Phoenix.

Another example of carmakers mis-using their naming conventions to confuse rather than enlighten. :@

andys120

magnette

Lotus Elite - very nice and provided perfect handling at the time according to all contemporary tests - circa 1960-63

andys120

magnette said:

Lotus Elite - very nice and provided perfect handling at the time according to all contemporary tests - circa 1960-63

Yup, MY 1960, Lotus' first road-ready car, previous ones were open two seaters in kit-form.
It was an advanced design w twin-cam (Ford) power, fiberglass body, and backbone chassis w IRS.

stickguy

Pretty car.

magnette

The Lotus Elite is a much sought after car nowadays and worth serious money.
I can remember back in the early 1990s I used to pass a similar car - but dark green - parked in the street near my office sometimes and the guy also had an Elan also parked outside - just in a normal suburban east London street.

andys120

I'm sure that the typical Elite had less than great build quality and constantly needed "remedial" work.

bhill2

What's with the inside pair of headlights? They look like the tail lights from a '56 Ford.

andys120 said:

What's with the inside pair of headlights? They look like the tail lights from a '56 Ford.

stickguy

rocket launchers?

omarman

Looks like it was customized by replacing the inside headlights with the bumper mounted signal lamps.

This is what a stock 1961 Dart Seneca front end should look like:

andys120

ab348

Looks like the VW van got blown onto its side in a strong crosswind at some point.

Lostwrench3

I'll grab the 1960 Pontiac.

andys120

That leaves the bat-wing red convertible which is a 1959 Chevy Impala, just the thing for cruising Miami in the late 50s.

andys120

ab348

As an alternative to IDing the little offroad runabout above, I'll off an alternative mystery: under what other name was this model sold in Canada?

stickguy

it was a Geo tracker down here.

fintail

First gen Suzuki Sidekick, based on the graphics I will guess mid 90s.

Pontiac Sunrunner in Canada.

andys120

fintail said:

First gen Suzuki Sidekick, based on the graphics I will guess mid 90s.

Pontiac Sunrunner in Canada.

Yup, it's a Suzuki Sidekick part of an extended family of on/off roaders. IIRC these were based on the Jimmy and sold as Chevy/Geo Trackers and lord knows what in CDN and other markets. I don't thin they are sold here anymore. Anyone conversant with the family tree of these?

ab348

fintail said:

First gen Suzuki Sidekick, based on the graphics I will guess mid 90s.

Pontiac Sunrunner in Canada.

Not exactly. In their infinite wisdom, GM Canada created a parallel brand to the Geo brand, called Asüna to be sold through Pontiac-Buick dealers. But that only lasted 2 years before GM threw in the towel, at which point it became the Pontiac Sunrunner. God only knows what they were thinking.

andys120

It sez in Wikipedia that it was sold in Canada, Japan and elsewhere as the Suzuki Escudo.

ab348

I am pretty sure it was never sold in Canada under that name. It was always the Suzuki Sidekick.

andys120

sda

andys120 said:

Wonderful car, stunning color.

kyfdx

1987 BMW 325i convertible

andys120

kyfdx said:

1987 BMW 325i convertible

It's MY 1990. The E30 was the first 3 series flip-top to be sold in large numbers so it's a progenitor of my two cars. I'm usually not that keen on metallic red but that one really makes that car. BAT identifies it as Calypso Red so it's prolly a factory color but I don't know if I've ever seen it before.

andys120

An odd duck with an insanely complex history>

stickguy

looks vaguely Yugoish

andys120

stickguy said:

looks vaguely Yugoish

Nope.

Lostwrench3

Nice wheel chock.

fintail

Innocenti Mini or whatever numeric name it might have carried in the 80s, looks to be far away from home in a tract house orchard somewhere in dry Canada.

omarman

stickguy said:

looks vaguely Yugoish

Innocenti Koral was based on the Yugo.

andys120

fintail said:

Innocenti Mini or whatever numeric name it might have carried in the 80s, looks to be far away from home in a tract house orchard somewhere in dry Canada.

Good guess and it does look exactly like the Bertone-designed Innocenti Mini but here's where it gets complicated. Alejandro DeTomaso bought Innocenti from Britisish Leyland in 1976 but his engineers went to work on modifying it to lower production costs. Is it still a Mini if it isn't made by B-L or a subsidiary, doesn't have the unique "hydrolastic" suspension and uses a 3 cylinder Dihatsu motor? Apparently neither B-L or DeTomaso thought so and the oddball result was sold as the Innocenti SE until Fiat bought DeTomaso in 1996.

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

andys120

Muscular beauty>

kyfdx

andys120 said:

Muscular beauty>

'70 Chevelle SS

stickguy

with tires roughly 2x as wide as stock! other than the wheels, sharp looking car. Timeless styling.

andys120

Yep, it's a 1970 Chevelle Malibu SS.

I'm not particularly a Chevy fan but that's one I'd kill for. Not only is it one of the fastest muscle machines ever but IMO it's the best looking Chevy ever made.

Not sure which engine it has, the ad sez an LSA. Could that be a typo; is it the mighty
LS6(454)?

stickguy

based on the wheels, wonder if it also had a modern engine transplant?

texases

Yeah, looks pretty 'resto mod' to me.

andys120

Right it's been modded up with 20" alloy wheels etc. The LSA motor is a current supercharged crate engine/6.2 Liters(378 cid) good for 580hp.

I wonder how much it'll fetch compared to cars running a more original but less powerful configuration ( those are worth north of $100K).

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1970-chevrolet-chevelle-malibu-10/

kyfdx

andys120 said:

Right it's been modded up with 20" alloy wheels etc. The LSA motor is a current supercharged crate engine/6.2 Liters(378 cid) good for 580hp.

I wonder how much it'll fetch compared to cars running a more original but less powerful configuration ( those are worth north of $100K).

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1970-chevrolet-chevelle-malibu-10/

I'm amazed it has a manual transmission. Most resto-mods with that kind of power stick (pun intended) with the automatic.

Michaell

It's in Colorado; I'm happy to exercise my left leg and test drive it for anyone who is interested.

stickguy

manual brakes with bad pistons. So your right leg is going to get a workout too, especially if you explore the 568 HP a bit.

andys120

kyfdx

andys120 said:

Mid '80s Land Cruiser.

I forget the FJ numbers..

stickguy

that looks like an FJ60.

fintail

Yep, FJ60.

By the pic, I will guess it is a preservation piece with a 15K market value that brought 45K on BaT.

andys120

stickguy

64(?) Falcon front and center. Followed by an early 61-62 Corvair. And way in the distance parked at the curb, what looks like the taillights of a 62ish Falcon.