Mystery car pix

magnette

So the Ford Econoline minibus was also marketed as the Falcon Club Wagon as shown on that brochure.

andys120

texases said:

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

Yup, I shoulda remembered.

andys120

tmart

A 1950 Kurtis Sports Car. Very nice looking! To me, those hubcaps remind me of early 50s Fords.

texases

Isn’t that a Muntz Jet?

andys120

tmart said:

A 1950 Kurtis Sports Car. Very nice looking! To me, those hubcaps remind me of early 50s Fords.

texases said:

Isn’t that a Muntz Jet?

You guys are close, but no cigar, it's a 1949 Muntz Sports Car. It was desgned by Frank Kurtis who sold it to Earl "Madman" Muntz. The Muntz Jet was a later desgn that was a bit larger IIRC.

tmart

BUT it says Kurtis on the hood!? It was renamed later to the Munoz when it was enlarged to a four seater, IIRC.

andys120

tmart said:

BUT it says Kurtis on the hood!? It was renamed later to the Munoz when it was enlarged to a four seater, IIRC.

My bad! I must have read the article backwards, that is indeed a '49 Kurtis Sports Car, later renamed after Muntz bought the company.

andys120

You'll know what the roadster is if you can read but the cars seen thru the windows might be a littler harder.



The Jag is a very early XK-E (1960?), it's wearing wide whitewall tires. They were seen that way in initial ads but not many came thru with them.

transamsd73

In the pic of the 70's Pontiac lot, the 78 Gold T/A is nice, my first choice. The red Firebird is my second choice.

fintail

Didn't this Jag show up a week or two ago? With a Hillman Minx on the street.

These debuted as MY 1961 cars, not sure when production started.

ab348

fintail said:

Didn't this Jag show up a week or two ago? With a Hillman Minx on the street.

These debuted as MY 1961 cars, not sure when production started.

Yes it did, but I believe it may have been in another topic here.

ab348

Found on FB, San Francisco, 1973. I believe this is Clay St., just above Grant Ave. Blows up nicely with a right-click/view.

omarman

Looks like a '59 Suburban parked between the 2 box trucks.

stickguy

I like the plum crazy 'Cuda behind the white Econoline.

and looks like full sized domestic wagons where quite popular there back then. The SUV of the day!

omarman

That may be a Challenger with the 4 headlights. Very cool and hope it's still around today.

stickguy

could be. I am no expert on telling them apart from that distance!

ab348

It is difficult to tell but I would tag it as a Challenger.

tjc78

What’s the green wagon behind the (71 I think) Ford? Can’t quite make it out

stickguy

definitely a chevy but I can't tell what year. maybe a 67?

Lostwrench3

tjc78 said:

What’s the green wagon behind the (71 I think) Ford? Can’t quite make it out

1968 Pontiac.

omarman

1969 Chevy.

Lostwrench3

You are correct. Oblong front side marker. Chevy.

tjc78

Thanks, I figured it was GM.

andys120

stickguy

Jensen interceptor?

andys120

stickguy said:

Jensen interceptor?

Keerect, it's a 1974 Jensen Interceptor III, AWD and Hemi Power.

cars didn't get much cooler in the 70s.

andys120

tjc78

1960 Chrysler New Yorker

Nice car and good color combo for a 'Vert

andys120

tjc78 said:

1960 Chrysler New Yorker

Nice car and good color combo for a 'Vert

Right on all counts. I'll bet they had to give that car a good shove by several people to get itboff that beach. Sand and big,heavy RWDers aren't a good combo.

andys120

A pair of greats>

fintail

Must be Stirling Moss with a Ferrari 250GT SWB variant.

andys120

fintail said:

Must be Stirling Moss with a Ferrari 250GT SWB variant.

That's correct Fin, it's Sir Stirling Moss, my first racing hero) posing with Rob Walker's Ferrari 250GT SWB Competizione which he drove to victory in the RAC Tourist Trophy race of 1961. Legend has it he listened to music on the radio while driving to his win.

RIP Sir Stirling.

magnette

I actually saw him in that Ferrari once being photographed driving in the street along Piccadilly - just round the corner from Mayfair where he lived. They were photographing him from the pavement as he went past. I heard the car, and looked round to see him driving it. I think there was some connection with a celebration in connection with the Queens Jubilee - probably the golden jubilee of 2002.

Truly one of the greatest drivers...

magnette

Moss won the Mille Miglia in 1955 driving for Mercedes Benz, and the co driver for that race, Denis Jenkinson, I think, said he was driving so fast that he had no idea how the car stayed in the road. Through the mountains they were overtaking downhill in top flat out.

Later the same season he won the Targa Florio for Mercedes too.

He came second in Le Mans for Aston Martin I think in 1959 and in the fifties he also came second in the Monte Carlo rally in a Sunbeam Talbot.

Never won the Formula 1 World championship although Fangio said when Moss beat him at the Nurneburgring he had never seen finer driving.

Allegedly if the police stop someone driving too fast they are probably more likely to say "who do think you are - Stirling Moss?"

ab348

His crash at Goodwood in 1962 not only ended his career - it is remarkable that he wasn't injured far worse or killed outright - but also led to the end of that facility as a racing venue until it was brought back as a revival track for classics.

magnette

Yes, he was in a coma for a long time after that crash in 1962. I remember being told about it and it was the first item of news I can remember hearing about - I was six.

ab348

Nice pic today from The Old Motor, should blow up well with a right-click:

andys120

Nice photo from ca.1963-4. I think the gray van following the trolley too closely is a Ford Econoline, a nice '63 Catalina to it's right

stickguy

Gray and white econoline behind the trolley. And is the white Pontiac next to it a 63 GP?

fintail

I'm thinking 1965 or so due to the Olds 88 billboard next to the turreted building at left, and a light blue 65 Ford at lower left. Also appears to be a 65 Country Squire at far right.

ab348

fintail said:

I'm thinking 1965 or so due to the Olds 88 billboard next to the turreted building at left, and a light blue 65 Ford at lower left. Also appears to be a 65 Country Squire at far right.

I'd agree with that date. It is remarkable to look at the cars seen here from the latter half of the '50s (Buick, Olds and Chevy) and compare them to the newer models. Talk about feeling that new-car fever! You must have felt way behind the times if one of those '50s models was yours.

fintail

Obsolescence was fast then. I think that year my grandpa traded a 59 Galaxie for a new Chrysler, and the Ford would have seemed somewhat like an "old" car too. Today, a 2014 model doesn't seem old at all, and even 10-15 year old cars only seem "old" because they usually lack modern connectivity and nannies - the designs don't seem ancient.

ab348 said:

I'd agree with that date. It is remarkable to look at the cars seen here from the latter half of the '50s (Buick, Olds and Chevy) and compare them to the newer models. Talk about feeling that new-car fever! You must have felt way behind the times if one of those '50s models was yours.

magnette

Blue Studebaker Lark outside the Police station, facing outwards four beyond the parked patrol car.

andys120

stickguy said:

Gray and white econoline behind the trolley. And is the white Pontiac next to it a 63 GP?

I don't think it's a GP because there's a chrome flash going partway down mid-side. GPs had very clean sides and a pair of small lights @ corner of grille.

The black and white police unit facing police station is a 62 Ford (Custom?)

Two cars parked a left bottom are a 1955-ish green/white Olds, it's behind a tan '62 Chevy
Biscayne (I can only make out 4 t/ls). Off to the right passing a Step-van I see a red Karmann-Ghia cabrio, it's way smaller than anything else.

ab348

Just ahead of the Karmann Ghia, is that a ‘66 Caprice Custom Coupe? Also a ‘61 Olds nearby going away from the camera. The Karrmann has just passed a gray VW Van going in the opposite direction.

stickguy

I thought that was a Karman Ghia at first but something looked slightly off, almost like it had a grill. And I can't blow up the picture without it getting fuzzy, so my old eyes don't want to bet on it.

andys120

stickguy said:

I thought that was a Karman Ghia at first but something looked slightly off, almost like it had a grill. And I can't blow up the picture without it getting fuzzy, so my old eyes don't want to bet on it.

I agree that it could be something else but there's something that makes my think there should be more chrome higher up to besomething else.

fintail

I have doubts the red sportscar is a Karmann-Ghia as well, front end looks too flat. Big convertible in front of it makes me think higher model Buick.

magnette

I thought the red sports car might be a Triumph Spitfire, but it's just to blurry on my screen to make it clear.