Mystery car pix

fintail

This site still exists as well - heavily modified, I can't find a modern angle to compare, but nice assortment in the parking lot:

stickguy

ubiquitous Falcon front and center. And bisected by the pole, center of the lot, is that a Studebaker coupe (the white one), maybe a Lark? Just past that the nose of a black squarebird.

tmart

Two 59 Ford Country Sedans, 57 Ford Country Sedan in background, 49/50 Ford, 60 Thunderbird convertible.

fintail

Lots of wagons, as the specific area is full of stereotypical 50s era middle class subdivisions.

Michaell

Pontiac Tempest on the right?

andys120

fintail said:

Lots of wagons, as the specific area is full of stereotypical 50s era middle class subdivisions.

Somewhere in New England (Market Basket), perhaps suburban Boston? The oldest car I see is the Shoebox('49-'51) Ford near mid pic. The newest? I see the nose of a '61 Buick on lower left.

tmart

The Ford Shoebox is a 49 or 50. My resolution not clear enough to make out the door handles to determine the year. Definitely not a 51 though.

andys120

tmart said:

The Ford Shoebox is a 49 or 50. My resolution not clear enough to make out the door handles to determine the year. Definitely not a 51 though.

I should have mentioned that the GM sedan to the Shoebox's right is about the same age and the Cadillac to its left is nearly as old. Odd that those oldies are clustered like that.

magnette

Ok Fin, I'll have a go at a couple of the shoppers at Market Basket.

Bottom right foreground that is a Mercury Voyager wagon, I believe - 1958?.
Ahead of the Falcon is a Simca Aronde with whitewall tyres. It would be the earlier Aronde before the 1957 or so facelift.
In the left hand aisle next to the puddle is a Rambler American

magnette

Is that a 58 Lincoln immediately beyond the Studebaker Hawk?

magnette

Yes, sda, in the test you had to have your hands at ten-to-two position when driving, and to shuffle the wheel not crossing hands on the wheel. I learned to drive in South Wales where our roads were a mixture of fierce hills and literally acute angle corners so that was fun while shuffling...
Pulling up the handbrake with the ratchet engaged was a fail as you say - and of course we had to do hand signals too. "For the next part of the test proceed without the use of the indicators"
I failed my first test, not on a hill or a sharp bend but failing to stop on a major roundabout when there was traffic coming from the right although it was actually quiet at the time with a car far enough away that it wouldn't have needed to brake and when I was told I failed for that the guy said he would probably have done the same thing but better luck next time.

That was 1973. I certainly wouldn't pass now after all the bad habits I've accumulated although with the Magnette still having semaphore indicators I do still use hand signals as a warning to the driver following when I want to turn right (across the traffic here, of course)

ab348

fintail said:

This site still exists as well - heavily modified, I can't find a modern angle to compare, but nice assortment in the parking lot:

Posted that same pic, only larger back in December.

kyfdx

magnette said:

Yes, sda, in the test you had to have your hands at ten-to-two position when driving, and to shuffle the wheel not crossing hands on the wheel. I learned to drive in South Wales where our roads were a mixture of fierce hills and literally acute angle corners so that was fun while shuffling...
Pulling up the handbrake with the ratchet engaged was a fail as you say - and of course we had to do hand signals too. "For the next part of the test proceed without the use of the indicators"
I failed my first test, not on a hill or a sharp bend but failing to stop on a major roundabout when there was traffic coming from the right although it was actually quiet at the time with a car far enough away that it wouldn't have needed to brake and when I was told I failed for that the guy said he would probably have done the same thing but better luck next time.

That was 1973. I certainly wouldn't pass now after all the bad habits I've accumulated although with the Magnette still having semaphore indicators I do still use hand signals as a warning to the driver following when I want to turn right (across the traffic here, of course)

I love the semaphores!

magnette

The semaphore trafficators, to give them their proper description, tend to get most people over 60 looking nostalgic, and baffle everybody under 40, but when I was driving to work one morning a couple of years ago in suburban traffic (I only took the car about three times a year, as I had a company car anyway) I had a chap driving the other way lean out of the window of his lorry and shout out "Old School" while laughing his head off.

kyfdx

magnette said:

The semaphore trafficators, to give them their proper description, tend to get most people over 60 looking nostalgic, and baffle everybody under 40, but when I was driving to work one morning a couple of years ago in suburban traffic (I only took the car about three times a year, as I had a company car anyway) I had a chap driving the other way lean out of the window of his lorry and shout out "Old School" while laughing his head off.

I've posted the pictures here before... my friend restored a Magnette. That is one of my favorite features.

tjc78

I know the semaphores are a huge thing to have on the old VW buses.

@magnette

I have a similar driving test story. I was coming around an entrance ramp to a two lane road (not a major highway) and gave a quick look and had enough room to make it without stopping (in my mind comfortably). I went and after I merged in, the driving instructor said "wow, aren't you confident already, I almost pulled the handbrake and you would have failed"

fintail

Your memory beats mine!

Location is the site of Crossroads mall in Bellevue. It's an old fashioned lowrise mall, not huge, appearing to be the same building as in the pic, just with different cladding. Pic is from 1963 per the facebook source, a time when this area had a thriving legit middle class.

I should use hand signals in the fintail with the turn signals being on hiatus, but I also live in USA 2020 where nobody signals anyway, so that's it

ab348 said:

Posted that same pic, only larger back in December.

sda

fintail said:

Your memory beats mine!

Location is the site of Crossroads mall in Bellevue. It's an old fashioned lowrise mall, not huge, appearing to be the same building as in the pic, just with different cladding. Pic is from 1963 per the facebook source, a time when this area had a thriving legit middle class.

I should use hand signals in the fintail with the turn signals being on hiatus, but I also live in USA 2020 where nobody signals anyway, so that's it

ab348 said:

Posted that same pic, only larger back in December.

Come on now, you need to lead by example.

andys120

Another odd juxtaposition of same year cars: On the left hafway up is a 1961 Buick. Just beyond it the tail of a '61 Ford and a '61 Chevy. Don't see anything newer than '61.

The fourdoor import facing the Shoebox Ford is definitely a Simca Aronde, the side sculpting is unique.



The Aronde was hugely popular in 1950s France but few ever found their way here or wore whitewall tires. I've never seen one.

As for the many "dirty" cars, it is nearly impossible to keep a car clean during "mud season (Apr/May) in New England.

fintail

Also hard to keep a car clean west of the mountains here during rainy season (October-May).

I see a 62 Dodge 2 door kind of in the middle, straight up from a 4 door Corvair.

What's the convertible facing outwards, 3 to the left of the squarebird convertible at right?

ab348

fintail said:

What's the convertible facing outwards, 3 to the left of the squarebird convertible at right?

Here's a better look:



I'm getting a Mercury kind of vibe based on the apparent brow at the top of the front fender.

magnette

I thought that convertible was a Ford Falcon.

fintail

Aha that's it, looks like a 61 Mercury

sda

Look at how stylish the Buick Skylark and Thunderbird convertible with black top are.

magnette

Now I can see the three MOPAR wagons more clearly are they all 1959 ones - is the nearest one a Dodge and the others Chrysler?

andys120

Michaell

'47 Plymouth?

Total guess on my part, as I'm lousy at identifying old cars.

andys120

Michaell said:

'47 Plymouth?

Total guess on my part, as I'm lousy at identifying old cars.

You're better than you think. The Plymouth part was easy (you can read) but MY is hard because Mopars looked the same from about 1940 to 1948.

ab348

magnette

This is a Wartburg Knight - the model name in the UK when it was sold here from the mid sixties to about 1975. I think it was the Wartburg 353 in its homeland of East Germany.
This one is a British registered one and RHD.
A neighbour in Wales when I lived there used to have one and he had it for years - it was a reliable thing although it did rust a bit - but then so did most of the cars sold there then.
Thee was also an estate version which was called the Tourist.

Michaell

andys120 said:

Michaell said:

'47 Plymouth?

Total guess on my part, as I'm lousy at identifying old cars.

You're better than you think. The Plymouth part was easy (you can read) but MY is hard because Mopars looked the same from about 1940 to 1948.

Correct on how I knew the brand.

As to the year, I was under the assumption that there weren't many cars made from '42 to '45, as all the factories converted over to support the war.

1947 was also the year my mom (aged 9) moved from Tennessee to California with her mom and dad. No, I don't know what kind of car they made the trip in.

ab348

magnette said:

This is a Wartburg Knight - the model name in the UK when it was sold here from the mid sixties to about 1975. I think it was the Wartburg 353 in its homeland of East Germany.
This one is a British registered one and RHD.
A neighbour in Wales when I lived there used to have one and he had it for years - it was a reliable thing although it did rust a bit - but then so did most of the cars sold there then.
Thee was also an estate version which was called the Tourist.

No getting anything past you lately, @magnette , exactly correct.

magnette

Lockdown around here so more time to get on the computer - and I did retire last autumn although haven't travelled much yet and it looks unlikely for a while to come...

fintail

Yep the home market name for that Wartburg was 353. Another one of those weird tinny commiecars that are somehow fascinating.

Take your pick from this lineup during the golden age of the automobile:

stickguy

Now we are talking! Cars of my teens! Tan olds omega center right. First gen accord next to white mustang II. and brown civic along the building.

Red with white top sunbird in the middle.

Dang. Don’t think there has been one of these pics before where I literally could name every car!

texases

"Golden Age" for me is '72 and earlier, pre-battering-ram bumpers.

andys120

fintail said:

Take your pick from this lineup during the golden age of the automobile:

Perhaps you are kidding, for me the Golden age was 1955-1967. The new Federal regulations imposed in 1968 made cars uglier, slower and more expensive. There isn't a single car in that pic that I'd want in my garage.

Pintos, Darts, Mustang IIs ...Ugh! :@

fintail

My "golden age" comment was snark This is from ~1980, peak malaise.

I see a Corolla sedan to the left of the two-tone Chevy downsized B-body facing away from camera.

texases

I was kinda thinking it might be...

Michaell

Civic parked next to the Sunbird, by the building.

And, an Accord next to the white Mustang II.

andys120

Some from the real Golden Age:

texases

Man, they must have sold a TON of those Falcons! They're in just about every photo of that era, usually more than one. That's a '61, I think.

omarman

There's a gold Trans Am with T tops, a red Firebird and a blue Camaro all for free.
Come and get at andys120 "Free F-body" garage!

imidazol97

andys120 said:

There isn't a single car in that pic that I'd want in my garage.


I'd take the 76 or 77 Cutlass #5 in Brown with white vinyl top. Had one. But
only if it has the 350 4 barrel engine by Oldsmobile.

stickguy

Other than the Volvo PV not a car would be interested in.

The ones in Fins picture are overall vastly superior.

kyfdx

I'd take the Honda that is next to the Mustang II

fintail

58 Chevy sedan delivery is somewhat unusual.

andys120 said:

Some from the real Golden Age:

ab348

I will take that gold Trans Am in a heartbeat.

tmart

andys120 said:

Some from the real Golden Age:

I’ll take the 60 Thunderbird and Falcon bringing up the rear.

Michaell

kyfdx said:

I'd take the Honda that is next to the Mustang II

Because you had one just like it?