Mystery car pix

kyfdx

texases said:

Per wiki:

"The BMW New Class coupé range, which comprised the BMW 2000 C and BMW 2000 CS, was a coupé body style built by Karmann for BMW from the summer of 1965[1](p141)[2](pp66–67) to 1969. In 1965, BMW ended production of their Bertone-bodied 3200 CS coupé, the last of their line of V8 powered luxury cars from the 1950s. BMW decided to continue with a coachbuilt coupé. Based on the New Class platform, the 2000 C and 2000 CS introduced the 2.0 L version of the M10 4-cylinder engine and replaced the 3200 CS as BMW's flagship model in 1965.[2](p66). The New Class coupes were replaced by the E9 coupés, which were based on a stretched 2000CS chassis and use a 6-cylinder engine."

Thanks!

andys120

stickguy

well, definitely a pontiac. I will guess 1955 star chief.

andys120

Good guess, it is a '55 and the next to last year for the chrome stripes on front and back.
I don't think this car looks nearly as nice as the contemporary '55s from Chevy but back then people would have thought of it as looking more upscale (more chrome and a more complex front end).

fintail

Those gills above the headlights have always been off-putting to me, and I suspect were rust traps. 55 Pontiacs also make me think of a TV show:

Lostwrench3

fintail said:

Those gills above the headlights have always been off-putting to me, and I suspect were rust traps. 55 Pontiacs also make me think of a TV show:

Note the removal of the windshield which was often done in indoor studios.
The "Beav's" father, Ward Cleaver, had no rear glass in his 1962 Plymouth Savoy.

magnette

This was the BMW that evolved from the Glas

magnette

Back a couple of days ago you had aBritish car park with a small silver hatchback beyond a red Lada.

I think that was an early Toyota Starlet - we had that model from about 1980 and it was replaced in about 83 but the earliest version looked pretty much like the one in the picture.

Sorry I have been away from site for a bit but back now.

texases

Lostwrench3 said:

fintail said:

Those gills above the headlights have always been off-putting to me, and I suspect were rust traps. 55 Pontiacs also make me think of a TV show:

Note the removal of the windshield which was often done in indoor studios.
The "Beav's" father, Ward Cleaver, had no rear glass in his 1962 Plymouth Savoy.

The whole car has a 'matte' look to it...

ab348

fintail said:

Those gills above the headlights have always been off-putting to me, and I suspect were rust traps.

I never liked the design either. Always looked googly-eyed to me, like something was missing.

andys120

magnette said:

This was the BMW that evolved from the Glas

Not exactly, it's a Glas 2600/V8 before they were rebadged as BMW-Glas 3000 (bigger motor).
What looks a bit like an "S" in that badge is actually a stylized "G". BMW needed extra production capacity as the Neue Klass cars began to sell well in the mid-60s so they acquired Glas and it's plant in Dingolfing which today is their biggest and where my Fivers were made

It wasn't long before the Glas models were dropped from production.

fintail

I see the same thing, the I Love Lucy Pontiac is entirely in matte, I suppose to avoid glare from studio lighting. I remember that episode clearly, they took a cross country trip in it, likely some product placement. I also remember Fred Mertz bought a Cadillac he was proud of, it ended up being a ~1920 touring car - a laughable relic then, quite rare today.

imidazol97

The location looks nothing like that now. Watts Rd and Donald Lee Hollowell Pkway, Atlanta, GA

texases said:

Lostwrench3 said:

fintail said:

Those gills above the headlights have always been off-putting to me, and I suspect were rust traps. 55 Pontiacs also make me think of a TV show:

Note the removal of the windshield which was often done in indoor studios.
The "Beav's" father, Ward Cleaver, had no rear glass in his 1962 Plymouth Savoy.

The whole car has a 'matte' look to it...

Nice point. Everything except the inner part of the wheel covers below the fake wires, where there's a definite shine from the studio lights.

andys120

stickguy

Looks like a Karman Ghia on steroids.

ab348

This can only be 1970's L.A., right click/view to enlarge (courtesy Vintage Los Angeles):

stickguy

Lime green FIAT 850 Spyder. I like it. And the orange 240z. Nose of a 70 Monte Carlo poking out behind the white rolls Royce.

texases

That '72 Cougar is in the 'personal luxury' category.

tjc78

There is a black Mark IV, guessing a 74

stickguy

71 Plymouth next to the Cougar. Surprising how similar the rear end design is

andys120

stickguy said:

Looks like a Karman Ghia on steroids.

it shares nothing w the K-G except country of origin.

fintail

Cool pic. MB behind the Fiat appears to be a LWB W108. Just beyond a Beetle behind a guy walking behind the Monte Carlo looks like a Toyota Corona hardtop coupe. The Z and the big Fomoco coupes look like they were nearly new. Rolls-Royce is a Silver Cloud I/II (virtually impossible to distinguish from the exterior)

omarman

'72 Ford pickup coming toward the camera.

ab348

fintail said:

Just beyond a Beetle behind a guy walking behind the Monte Carlo looks like a Toyota Corona hardtop coupe.

The white over gold car behind the red Corona hardtop reads as a Mopar to me, I think I'll guess a Dodge Charger.

andys120

Still no ID for this car>

andys120 said:

Here's another angle>



I've been in one (late 1950s). Anyone?

ab348

That's a Borgward, an Isabella coupe from the looks of it. Not a bad looking car.

I remember going with my dad on a test drive of a used Isabella sedan when I was a tyke. I can't remember now what car he had at the time nor why he thought this would be a good candidate. The only thing I remember was that he stopped at an uphill stop sign and in trying to slip the clutch to move forward it stalled and began rolling backwards back down the hill. What a thrill.

fintail

I recall my dad commenting he thought those coupes were attractive. Other Borgward cars weren't as flashy:



They also made a fintail-esque larger sedan:



The name has been revived by a Chinese group (of course) to be used on another lookalike soft roader:

andys120

Back in the day the Isabella was thought of as Aspirational, a way station on the road to a Benz. The styling isn't particularly appealing to me perhaps because of the excessive uninspired styling; like many Euro designs it shows American styling influences.

andys120

I should have said the styling is not very inspiring and like many Euro cars of that era it reflected American styling influences but not in a particularly good way..

fintail

I see the Borgward as typical late 50s pan-European styling, kind of Ghia-derived, with a lot of American cues and details.

Back to Blighty:

stickguy

yellow one an Austin Marina?

andys120

Blue Austin or Morris 1100 next to it

fintail

Nope on the Marina, yep on the BMC ADO16

andys120

The red car on right is a Ford, perhaps a Cortina.

andys120

A cute version of a cute little car>

fintail

Yep, think of Onslow's car on Keeping Up Appearances.

Yellow car at left is a Ford Escort MK II

Any takers on the wide car next to the ADO16? Hint: related to the Cortina.

andys120 said:

The red car on right is a Ford, perhaps a Cortina.

fintail

Autobianchi Panoramica, definitely never sold here when new.

andys120 said:

A cute version of a cute little car>

ab348

We had a similar picture to this from almost this exact same location a while ago, but this one is from 1972. Lots to see here:

texases

I'll take the '70-'71 Duster on the near right.

omarman

Half vinyl roof makes me wonder if it could be the "gold duster" trim.

fintail

I won't hog em all - I see a basic white ~70 Ford wagon at center (a final run Country Sedan, perhaps), and another ~70 Ford wagon a few cars to the right of the bus, this one possibly a Squire. Also to the right of the bus appears to be a white 61 Ford with its rear end raised a little, and to the immediate right of that and just ahead, an old car, possibly early 50s GM.

I also see 2x VW Squarebacks.

omarman

Car in the crosswalk looks like '63 Dodge Dart sedan.

stickguy

Far right on the curb, behind the 68 Chevrolet, is a Datsun 510. Another foreign car behind it. Maybe a corolla.

Muddle, a dark 1970 Camaro turning.

ab348

I'll snag the Corvan in the parking lot on the far left.

Just head of the Duster and '63 Chevy wagon in front of the crosswalk is what could be a '63 Olds Starfire.

andys120

Behind the bus in center, wearing double white racing stripes-a 1970-ish Chevelle, probably a Malibu and possibly a Malibu SS.

andys120

fintail said:

Autobianchi Panoramica, definitely never sold here when new.

I don't think any of the Autobianchis were ever sold in the US. The Panoramica (Panorama in some markets) was the station wagon variant of the Bianchina which was itself a variant of the Fiat 500.

stickguy

VW squareback under the light on the left.d

right behind the bus with the white stripes is some sort of Mopar cab.

fintail

At Sainsbury's, the wide car is a Mk II Ford Granada - just as the US Granada aped MB styling a little, so did this Euro version.

I think I see a couple more Cortinas in the next row, along with a Datsun just behind the red Cortina to the right.

fintail

Some rear ends to ID:

stickguy

looks like a tan Renault 5 (Le Car) under the 59 sign, and a white Fiesta back row center. Dark blue car near right is the Euro version of the OmniRizon. Was that a Simca?