Mystery car pix

andys120

ab348 said:

I wonder if that is a cargo rack on the roof of the Mustang or an home-design roll bar.

Pretty sure its for cargo. The Mustang is likely a '67, hard to tell from a '68 at that angle.

Has anyone called the red VW Squareback going by the Falcon wagon.

andys120

Simca again! I was struck by this because I have never seen a Simca dealership, nor had I ever seen an Aronde. Site doesn't say when/where this was taken but I believe "Jax" is colloquilism for Jacksonville FL.

A couple of interesting cars in the side lot, neither is a Simca. Who wants to call 'em?

fintail

Nice stance on that 544.

fintail

Dark car with white top near building, Lloyd Alexander?

andys120 said:

A couple of interesting cars in the side lot, neither is a Simca. Who wants to call 'em?

andys120

fintail said:

Dark car with white top near building, Lloyd Alexander?

andys120 said:

I imagine you're right, who's got the red one?

ab348

I believe the red microcar is an Isetta.

The dark blue/white top one - could it be a Goggomobil?

kyfdx

andys120 said:

Simca again! I was struck by this because I have never seen a Simca dealership, nor had I ever seen an Aronde. Site doesn't say when/where this was taken but I believe "Jax" is colloquilism for Jacksonville FL.

A couple of interesting cars in the side lot, neither is a Simca. Who wants to call 'em?

I think there is a US Navy airbase near Jacksonville (at least there used to be). Those would be potential buyers exposed to European vehicles (and, the means to buy them).

andys120

ab348 said:

I believe the red microcar is an Isetta.

The dark blue/white top one - could it be a Goggomobil?

Could be, IIRC there was a relationship betwwen Lloyd and Goggomobil.

andys120

The history of Simca is an interesting one, it began in 1934 as a joint venture between Itlian maker Fiat and French interests. It served essentially as Fiat's French arm, making and selling various Fiats including the famous 500 Topolino. Prior to 1938 the cars wore Simca-Fiat badges.

A push from the French government lead to a postwar move away from Fiat and in 1951 Simca began the manufacture of the Aronde their first product not designed by Fiat.
The engine and other mechanical features of the car were still basically Fiat designs.

The Aronde was hugely successful and a best seller during the 50s. Ford of France bought one of Simcas plants but the Nanterre factory followed the Aronde with the small boxy 1000
but it was not successful enough to avert a takeover by Chrsler Corp after Ford sold its French subsidiary to Chryco.

imidazol97

andys120 said:

ab348 said:

I wonder if that is a cargo rack on the roof of the Mustang or an home-design roll bar.

Pretty sure its for cargo. The Mustang is likely a '67, hard to tell from a '68 at that angle.

Has anyone called the red VW Squareback going by the Falcon wagon.

The 67 had the horizontal bar in the grill like wings on the Mustang logo. The 68 has only the logo.
And this Mustang has the recessed lights in the hood for the driver to see which turn signal was flashing. They are two fairly long shadows in this picture. I don't know if that was an option on the 68 Mustang or not.

ab348

LA County Museum of Art opening, 1965:



Image courtesy Vintage Los Angeles on FB.

Lostwrench3

I'll grab the 1955 Chrysler New Yorker.

Michaell

ab348 said:

LA County Museum of Art opening, 1965:



Image courtesy Vintage Los Angeles on FB.

That building just got torn down, I believe.

stickguy

Today’s falcon looks rumpled up. Looks a lot nicer rebodied as the 65 mustang behind it.

ab348

Michaell said:

That building just got torn down, I believe.

Yes, that's why Alison posted the pics. She's pretty bummed about it.

andys120

stickguy said:

Today’s falcon looks rumpled up. Looks a lot nicer rebodied as the 65 mustang behind it.

The 'Stang could be a '66, I can't tell from that angle. It's interesting to me that post-99 Mustangs with the retro styling only come as fastback coupes or converts given that for the first two generations the most popular body style were the notch-back coupes like the one in the photo.

My recollection is that the fastbacks were the least popular.

andys120

Going out of frame on right is a black 1961 Thunderbird.

Michaell

ab348 said:

Michaell said:

That building just got torn down, I believe.

Yes, that's why Alison posted the pics. She's pretty bummed about it.

I read that. Another cultural icon sacrificed to the gods of redevelopment.

fintail

Chevy II hardtop in front of the people.

Building to be replaced by "luxury" condos intended for residency-purchasing offshore-based speculators, a facelifess office tower, or strip mall?

andys120

ab348

fintail said:

Chevy II hardtop in front of the people.

Building to be replaced by "luxury" condos intended for residency-purchasing offshore-based speculators, a facelifess office tower, or strip mall?

Even worse apparently - a new museum building, because either the old one was now deemed inadequate, or was subjected to substandard maintenance.

fintail

Assuming its a public sector building, sounds right for a maintenance schedule. I am sure the mcmodern box or amorphic blob that replaces it will be spectacular.

ab348 said:

Even worse apparently - a new museum building, because either the old one was now deemed inadequate, or was subjected to substandard maintenance.

Michaell

@andys120 - your pic is a 1984 Mustang SVO, with the turbo 2.3 in it.

texases

I’m guessing that Mustang is a ‘66 because the hubcaps don’t have the spinners that my ‘65 had.

andys120

Michaell said:

@andys120 - your pic is a 1984 Mustang SVO, with the turbo 2.3 in it.

That's right its an 86 Mustang SVO. It's 2.3 Liter turbo 4 put out 200hp in 86 trim which was considered pretty strong but it didn't sell well because buyers preferred the cheap and punchy 5 liter V8.

I haven't seen sales figures for the current 2.3 EcoBoost turbo 4 (I own a 300hp 2015 version)
but from whatIsee on the streets, about half the current gen Mustangs are Turbo 4s. As far as I'm concerned mine has more than adequate power but lacks the beautiful sounds of the V8s.

magnette

It's frequently cheaper to demolish a public building like a museum or an arts venue - unless its listed and deemed therefore to be worth preserving architecturally etc - mainly to update it for technology and probably also for disabled access, health & safety etc.

fintail

Seattle, 1970: perhaps the zenith of the American working class, and when this area was known for living wage blue collar jobs and affordable housing. How things have changed!

stickguy

Nice fair lane ranchero. Probably a 69? Corvair van next to the white Stude. And the obligatory falcon.

stickguy

And Wes’s Econoline!

andys120

I think the white Stude is a Lark.

andys120

fintail

Black 63 (and a half as sometimes claimed) Galaxie fastback upper right.

andys120

fintail said:

Black 63 (and a half as sometimes claimed) Galaxie fastback upper right.

Yes that was known as the NASCAR Roof. Since the big stockers had to look like the street cars back then, Ford introduced the slipperier fastback for their big bruiser.

sda

It’s interesting to look at the Impala and Cadillac. They appear to share the same windshield and front door glass, though the windshield wiper set up is different. Were overlapping wipers on the Cadillac perceived to be more sophisticated? Pontiac, Olds did the same with their upper level models.

omarman

1963 Fairlane beside the Galaxie.

andys120

sda said:

It’s interesting to look at the Impala and Cadillac. They appear to share the same windshield and front door glass, though the windshield wiper set up is different. Were overlapping wipers on the Cadillac perceived to be more sophisticated? Pontiac, Olds did the same with their upper level models.

Interesting observation. I was a big fan of the semi-wrapound front glass on the early 60s

andys120

The 62 Chevy convertible up front wears an engine badge which is hard to read, it could be one of the fabled 409s but perhaps it was one of the hotter versions of the 327. I think that is SS (Super Sport) badging behind the Impala script on the rear fender.

The red four door in the middle is a '63 or '64 Dodge

ab348

sda said:

It’s interesting to look at the Impala and Cadillac. They appear to share the same windshield and front door glass, though the windshield wiper set up is different. Were overlapping wipers on the Cadillac perceived to be more sophisticated? Pontiac, Olds did the same with their upper level models.

GM shared more than most people realize, even back then. The 1963 Caddy that appeared a year or two after the one shown had something else it shared with Chevy:

The two 1963 Cadillac two-door hard-tops had noticeably longer rear decks as a result of the adoption of shorter roof sail panels. "We started working on the 1963 models by first doing the Coupe de Ville. Well, I had an idea one day when I saw this new four-door hardtop they were working on at Chevrolet," explains Chuck Jordan.

"I said to myself, 'Hey, why not put the Chevrolet four-door hardtop roof on the Coupe de Ville ... mount it physically on the Cadillac lower and see, because of the Cadillac's extra length, if the Chevy sedan roof doesn't make a good Cadillac coupe.' And boy, that was it. That was it. We couldn't afford another upper, but with that shorter four-door Chevrolet roof, nobody ever caught us. And it looked great."

fintail

Cool, I didn't know that about the shared roof components.

A long defunct chain that was once in every town around here. Color scheme is definitely of the era:

stickguy

Stripes remind me of Caldor's that we had here in NY/NJ back in that era.

Nice early k10 Blazer up front. Not sure I ever saw one with that kind of full soft top. I am sure that was a pain to install and lousy on the highway!

Front right, the nose of a gen 1 Celica. Rare bird these days. And I think it is pointing at the back of a Datsun 310 hatch. Next to the barge brown Cordoba.

ab348

Man, is that a poor '66/'67 Skylark that took a hit to the rear? Ouch. Surprised it was still allowed on the road.

Looks like a Dodge Challenger poking it's nose into the frame bottom right.

fintail

Effectively no inspections or standards in WA - drive what you brung.

I'm voting Celica for lower right, although the first ones were such a mishmash of American styling themes that I can see Challenger in it too, just doesn't look big enough to me.

Brown wagon at the left of the line appears to be a Toyota Corona, but could be a Datsun 810 - I suspect Toyota though.

There's a real chance that Blazer still exists, along with the Toyota PU.

ab348

Ah yeah, I think you and stick are right on the Celica.

magnette

The parked white Ford Econoline van in that picture in Seattle was presumably aimed at the same market as the Corvair van. I have a model of the Econoline and it has a Falcon badge on the rear - I assume that it was sold as part of the Falcon range at that time?

andys120

There's a white VW Rabbit under the "A" in "Pak". It could be a GTI but the wheels don't look big enough.

stickguy

I thought the same about the rabbit. resolution just not good enough to tell.

Beige Granada next to the brown Toyota PU.

ab348

magnette said:

The parked white Ford Econoline van in that picture in Seattle was presumably aimed at the same market as the Corvair van. I have a model of the Econoline and it has a Falcon badge on the rear - I assume that it was sold as part of the Falcon range at that time?

Yes, although it seemed that it might not have been done that way consistently. Here is a page of the '67 Falcon brochure that includes it.

fintail

Wally World:

stickguy

Monza hatch front and center. IMO one of the best looking cars of the 70's. Next to a first Gen Ford Escort. Not one of the best looking.

and Kramer's Caprice over on the right.


and many PUs, but I like the 53ish Ford top right by the building, and the blue LUV in front of the doors.

texases

That white Rabbit's not a GTI, it doesn't have the black surround on the rear window.