Mystery car pix

bumpy

First-gen Ford Lightning, 1993-5.

ubbermotor

stickguy

Now, was that a Rambeler or an AMC at that point? I would guess aroun a '67

negative

Rambler Marlin. See nos. 5016 and 5017.

lemko

...1965 or 1966 Rambler Marlin. In 1967 they switched from the Classic platform to the Ambassador platform.

navigator89

Correct, 1993 Ford F-150 Lightning. Until I read the Inside Line article I didnt even know that SVT was that old. Sad how Ford killed it due to their lack of attention and exciting products. Even sadder when you see Chevrolet's SS and Dodge's SRT are doing so well.

bhill2

In either case, it was a six (unless someone removed the badges for some reason). A potent combination; ugly and slow.

ubbermotor

Right you are. It also went from being a Rambler to an AMC with the move.

andys120

stickguy

is that the next generation FIt, the replaces the one we are getting?

andys120

I believe it is the one we're getting.

stickguy

something just looked different. Maybe because it was silver, or had different wheels, but the back corner looked more rounded. Maybe just the angle of the shot.

andys120

imidazol97

1962 Mercury Monterey

stickguy

something that doesn't look like it will fit through the little garage door behind it.

ubbermotor

Looks to me like imidazol97 got it.

andys120

He did get it.

andys120

fintail

About a 63 Pontiac, looks to be a Parisienne by the badge on the fender...

ubbermotor

Was the Parisienne a Canadian model? The trim looks to be identical to the Bonneville.

andys120

Yep, the Parisienne was the Canadian equivalent of the Bonnie.

Why they created separate nameplates for a market not much bigger than Calif, I couldn't tell you.

blh7068

"Was the Parisienne a Canadian model? The trim looks to be identical to the Bonneville."

Except under the hood...Chevy motor/drivetrain (assuming its correct).

andys120

Yep, there would be a 327 under the hood of that Parisienne instead of the Poncho 389 IIRC.

I don't know why this was done either, perhaps for price reasons.

andys120

andre1969

were funny like that because of some kind of import tariff that Canada had back then. Also, GM's hierarchy in Canada was a bit different than in the US. Pontiac was considered an equivalent to a Chevy, instead of a step up. Chevy was paired with Buick, I think, while Pontiac was paired with Oldsmobile in dealer networks, much in the way we used to have Chrysler-Plymouth.

IIRC, Buicks and Oldsmobiles were imported from the US, and even with the high tariffs, it was worth it because people considered them to be an upscale car. Chevies were made in Canada, though. To make the Canadian Pontiacs, they took a Chevy and put in Pontiac interiors and sheetmetal, most of which was a direct bolt-in. American Pontiacs had longer rear quarter panels than Chevies though (that's where the extra length and wheelbase was added) so they had to do some kind of modifying to get a Pontiac quarter panel onto a Chevy frame.

Pontiacs still got hit with a tariff, but because most of the substantial stuff, like the powertrain, frame, floorpan, and internal structure was Chevy, and just the trim and sheetmetal was Pontiac. With smaller cars like the Beaumont and Acadian, there was even less effort put into them. In these cases, they just took a Chevelle or Chevy II and changed the taillights, grilles, some minor trim here and there, and that was it.

Pontiac's lineup got really confusing in the 70's, because evidently there was enough demand to start importing "real" Pontiacs, which they sold along with the Canadian models. In 1976 for example, if you wanted a big 1976 Pontiac, you could buy a Catalina or a Bonneville. If you really wanted to go pimpy, you got a Bonneville Brougham. But in Canada you had a choice of Laurentian, Catalina, Parisienne Brougham, Bonneville, and Bonneville Brougham. By this time though they were all on the Pontiac wheelbase, which was a couple inches longer than the Chevy wheelbase. I think the Catalina/Bonneville ran Pontiac engines while the Laurentian/Parisienne Brougham ran Chevy engines. Seems really silly to be offering that many different trim levels, especially by 1976, when demand for really big cars wasn't all that hot. Plus, if they were still selling them pair with Olds (or Buick, I can't remember who pair with whom) it seems that a Pontiac that was too nice would step on the toes of the upscale brand.

magnette

GSM Flamingo - circa 1962?

magnette

It is always difficult with Escorts, there were so many different variants, but this is a hot one. If that badge says 1.8, which I think it does, then this would be one of the 1975 series RS1800, which was really a road legal rally special - they sold 109 of them in UK, apparently - (I looked it up) - but after that you get the RS2000 which had a fancy sloping grille, but was a more mainstream model - they sold over 10000 of them in UK.... All the RS Escorts were developed and built in Britain - even for the German market, where they made loads of the ordinary ones...
The RS1800 was virtually hand built, and I can't remember ever seeing one in this standard road trim, except perhaps at motor shows - they usually came with numbers on the doors and lots of decals .... The shell was really reinforced for rallying, apparently.
But it wasn't FWD.

magnette

They are quite common in parts of this street too - my Seicento is the slightly hotter Sporting, which they no longer sell here, and recently they've renamed this model the 600 for UK market, just selling a stripped out version as a cheap competitor for the likes of Matiz, etc.. I saw 93mph on the clock last night coming back from Wales on the motorway in mine, but that's probably the clock rather than accuracy, at that speed not all the wheels are neccessarily in contact with the ground at the same time -

magnette

The earliest Alpines had even more pronounced fins, I think they changed to these in about 1962, but the grille on the Tiger that we got (rarely) was a mesh one so I would say this car had an Alpine grille, but the first generation of Tiger wasn't sold in Britain so perhaps they looked like this as well. What killed the Tiger was that it was Ford engined, and when Chrysler took over the company, they stopped it.

andys120

GSM Flamingo - circa 1962?

Correct, it's an odd little car of South African origin with power by Ford and glass bodywork. AFAIK it was never exported to the US.

andys120

What killed the Tiger was that it was Ford engined, and when Chrysler took over the company, they stopped it.

I think they tried to adapt one of the smaller MoPar V8s but found it too wide but IIRC ChryCo did in fact sell the Tiger for a short time with the Mustang/Cobra engine probably to clean out existing stock.

navigator89

andys120

Buick Skylark, late '70s or early '80s.

andys120

blh7068

78 buick skylark.

stickguy

TR 4. Introduced in 1962. Styled by Giovanni Michelotti.

I love this car. To me, it is the ultimate British sports car, and just looks right.

andys120

That's right, Stickguy. It's a first gen TR-4 ('62-'64), the later TR-4As ('65-'67)had a chrome spear running along the side and optional IRS.

I owned a '66 TR-4A (non-IRS) and while it was enjoyable I would've preferred a big Healey except I was afraid of ripping apart the low slung exhaust on NYC roads.
Collectors have certainly decided that the Healey 3000
was the ultimate popular price Brit sports car of the era.

The best British sports car I ever drove was a '67 E-Type
(now worth around $75k in restored cond ). In fact the Jag may be the best car I ever drove. It made my TR feel like the ox cart it was.

navigator89

Close, a 1976 Buick Skylark.

andys120

lemko

1955 or 56 Dodge La Femme - a car marketed toward women. It came with a purse, compact, umbrella, rain coat and rain hat. It was based on the Lancer.

andys120

That didn't last long.

wgrafer

IT'S DEFINITELY A 1955! (last year for the automatic gearshift sticking out from the dashboard). :P
BigW

andys120

T'S DEFINITELY A 1955! (last year for the automatic gearshift sticking out from the dashboard)

Right you are!

andys120

fintail

Bentley Continental S2 ca. 1960

imidazol97

...purse, compact, umbrella, rain coat and rain hat

And if a guy bought it? What does he get?

lemko

A purse, compact, umbrella, rain coat and rain hat for his wife or girlfriend or for himself if he's into that sort of thing!

andys120

Bentley Continental S2 ca. 1960

Absolutely!

ubbermotor

Which he most likely wouldn't mind if he's buying a pink with a large "Le Femme" on the front fender.

ubbermotor