Mystery car pix

ab348

In 1969 Montreal, I guess if you had lunch in a place like this, and dressed like this, you'd have to drive a car like this. Another huge pic if you expand it.

andys120

Ferrari 275 GTB, Here's what the rest looks like>

stickguy

stunning car

ab348

These are now pushing past $3 million for nice examples. I found this story about one that Sotheby's was offering at auction interesting:

"Built in 1965 by Ferrari as a desirable long-nose, alloy-bodywork 275 GTB with triple Weber carburettors, chassis no. 08069 was finished in Argento Metallizatto (106-E-1) over a Nero (VM 8500) interior, exactly as it is presented today. According to Ferrari historian Marcel Massini, this 275 GTB was delivered new via Ferrari’s official distributor in Milan, M. Gastone Crepaldi S.a.S., to Mr Zaniboni. Zaniboni kept his Alloy 275 for a few years before selling it to its second Italian owner, Mr Ghisa, who was living near Trieste.

Sometime in the early 1970s, the car was imported from Italy to the U.S. and was subsequently purchased by Ronald DeLorenzo of Youngstown, Ohio. DeLorenzo had offered the 275 for sale in the July 1974 issue of Road & Track magazine; the advertisement noted that it was still wearing its original silver over black color scheme, with only 31,000 km on the odometer and commented that DeLorenzo was the car’s only American owner. The advertisement caught the eye of another enthusiast in Ohio, Raymond Boniface, who purchased the car from DeLorenzo for $6,700, and it remained with him for the following four decades."

fintail

Even better than the luckiest generation or three who were able to buy real estate in desirable Seattle areas for prices once affordable to the masses.

I've seen old ads with 300SL gullwings sold as ordinary used cars for ~4K, too.

magnette

Those Morris Oxfords were exported widely in Australia and most of the Commonwealth I think as I have seen pictures of them in places like Kenya and also in Malaya.

I would say, though, that Dinky probably made more than Morris ever did.

I read somewhere that Morris were expecting the Oxford to be a big seller world wide and were taken aback when the Minor was so much more popular - it was the Minor which went on to be the first British car to sell more than a million units by 1961 although it was at its most popular then, and diminished after the ADO16 range appeared - but the convertible was probably the least popular here whereas the Traveller carried on even after the saloons had stopped.

And of course we had pick-ups and especially the vans - including all those Post Office ones.

magnette

Almost forgot - after that MO Oxford went out of production here it was assembled in India, and the Hindustan company later took over the late fifties Oxford as it's Ambassador - selling many thousands there - they are still quite common in any views of India.

fintail

I've seen numerous Morris Minors here with Toyota/Datsun-Nissan engine swaps.

andys120

ab348

Courtesy of Americar, this pic is apparently one of the parking lots at O’Hare in Chicago circa 1962.

stickguy

your 1960 Ford center cut! Looks like a normal convertible, so Sunliner?

andys120

Next to the '60 Ford is a white '61 Chebby Biscayne.
There are significant clues to MY of SquareBirds in the rear, Ive forgotten.I'm going to guess
That one is a 1960.

Lostwrench3

On the left - A '61 Mercury.

bhill2

andys120 said:

Next to the '60 Ford is a white '61 Chebby Biscayne.
There are significant clues to MY of SquareBirds in the rear, Ive forgotten.I'm going to guess
That one is a 1960.

Yup, IIRC the only square bird with three lights per side was the '60. Oh, and on the other side of the '60 Ford is another '61 Chebby, this one an Impala sport coupe.

fintail

59 Caddy "above" the squarebird, looks like it might be a Coupe DeVille.

tmart

58 Ford wagon, 60 Ford, 60 Thunderbird.

andys120

Mostly hidden by the couple getting into the 'Bird, a 1958 Ford wagon, probably a Country Squire.

tmart

The 58 Ford wagon is a County Sedan not the Country Squire, based on the chrome on the side.

ab348

I feel like I am contractually obligated to post any pics containing '60 Fords now even if they are not all that interesting otherwise. This one, though, is a Very Special Model of the 1960 Ford.

stickguy

Real early econoline behind it

omarman

Could be "Fairlane" in block letters on the deck lid so maybe a '60 Ford Fairlane 500?

andys120

1963 Chevy Biscayne ahead of the Ford.

ab348

omarman said:

Could be "Fairlane" in block letters on the deck lid so maybe a '60 Ford Fairlane 500?

Exactly. I did not know what those letters were so I looked at the brochure and discovered that only the Fairlane 500 got those letters. Buy the regular Fairlane model and you were out of luck.

fintail

61 Impala bubbletop pulling up facing left in the middle of the pic.

tmart

omarman said:

Could be "Fairlane" in block letters on the deck lid so maybe a '60 Ford Fairlane 500?

You could be correct based on the chevrons on the rear fender, but the hubcaps are strange. Would think the 500 should come with wheel covers rather than hubcaps.

fintail

My dad's Country Sedan, which was at least moderately optioned for the era, had hubcaps and trim rings.

As it was an older car even then, they may have been changed, but the car was really original, and I can't imagine someone going to the trouble.

tmart said:

You could be correct based on the chevrons on the rear fender, but the hubcaps are strange. Would think the 500 should come with wheel covers rather than hubcaps.

omarman

Another interesting sight looks like a white '63 Monterey convertible next to the red VW bug in the middle of the pic.

andys120

kyfdx

andys120 said:

Some kind of RS3 hatch? Do we get that one?

stickguy

I like it. Probably would not like the price.

ab348

Just to the left of yesterday's photo, Montreal, 1964:

andys120

About middle of pic is a little brown Renault Dauphine left over from the 50s. Next to it the white tail fins of a Peugeot 404.

Black 1964 Pontiac is at curb closest to camera. In the US it would be a Catalina,,,a Laurentian in Canada, IIRC. Narrower track of CDM Ponchos is obvious in that photo.

andys120

kyfdx said:

andys120 said:

Some kind of RS3 hatch? Do we get that one?

It's a 306 HP Audi S3 Sportback due in USA next year in sedan or wagon form. Current price just under $50 thousand Euros so figure $60-65K.

fintail

Over near the center of the pic, under a tree near a building I see that car of cars, a 60 Meteor (maybe a 4 door post) to the right of a 59 Buick. To the left of the Buick appears to be a red Dauphine, and to the left of that, a Beetle. 3 to the right of the 60 Meteor is that piece of Canadiana, a Vauxhall Victor/Envoy. Across from that row, rear ends facing the camera, to the right of a Beetle, appears to be an FB series Victor/Envoy wagon, maybe light yellow and white two tone.

ab348 said:

Just to the left of yesterday's photo, Montreal, 1964:

stickguy

Green falcon, black 59 Chevy and the nose of a 60 Ford. The trifecta covered.

Lostwrench3

And, a 1954 Chevy 210.

tmart

I’ve always liked that color on the Falcon.

bhill2

stickguy said:

Green falcon, black 59 Chevy and the nose of a 60 Ford. The trifecta covered.

My only niggle is that the Chevy is a '60.

andys120

ab348

Sadly (or thankfully I suppose, depending on your POV) I seem to have exhausted the supply of interesting photos with cars of the past from the City of Montreal Archives Flickr page. So to close off that episode, I give you this side-by-side pic of a pair of favorites, from somewhere in Saskatchewan.

omarman

For some reason I like the door trim on the Rideau 500.

The guy is saying, "I like chrome." She laughs.

sda

ab348 said:

Sadly (or thankfully I suppose, depending on your POV) I seem to have exhausted the supply of interesting photos with cars of the past from the City of Montreal Archives Flickr page. So to close off that episode, I give you this side-by-side pic of a pair of favorites, from somewhere in Saskatchewan.

I do not like the twin round tail lights on the green Ford. They don't fit the style of the car.

fintail

Ooh, reverse lights on the Fairlane, posh. Looks like the wheelcover on that Rideau brochure art is the same as a US spec car.

sda

My 62 Galaxie didn't have backup lights. It wasn't in issue when the area was lighted by streetlights and the like, but out in the country where we lived, it was pitch black. The glow of the red tail lights didn't light up much. It made for some nerve racking precarious situations when it was raining and I simply couldn't see anything to the rear of me. Luckily I didn't back into a ditch or worse.

fintail

My dad's 60 didn't have them, but the 66 and 68 did (maybe mandatory by then). The fintail has them too, but they were standard even on the lowest spec models, I am pretty sure.

Old cars seem to have dim tail lights - I followed my friend's lead and put reflective tape in the housings of my car this past weekend - I don't know how long the tape will stay in place though, as I could only get the housings so clean inside. An effort was made, and it took little time - it does make a noticeable difference.

ab348

One thing I was surprised by was that just about every car taillight/backup light housing I have seen is finished in a flat white, not reflective shiny silver/chrome as I would have expected. I wonder if there is something that would be more reflective. What is that tape you mentioned like in terms of finish?

fintail

That's how the fintail is, even more of a grey than silver, not much to help with internal reflectivity.

The tape I used was provided by my friend, it was like this, maybe:

https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S-15881SIL/Specialty-Tape/Metalized-Mylar-Tape-1-x-72-yds-Silver?pricode=WB2028&gadtype=pla&id=S-15881SIL&gclid=CjwKCAjwps75BRAcEiwAEiACMahSkSDWW2DtXO_s0I1fqDI6o6wAJyKJrlw2STsEiZBIufgq5DEJZBoCQHUQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Very thin, very shiny, but it seemed to stick well if you applied pressure. Easy to peel and cut with normal scissors.

tmart

andys120 said:

Well, it’s a Studebaker. That’s all I got.

texases

I think backup lights were required starting in '66. My 64 1/2 Mustang didn't have them, we added a big spotlight activated in reverse, worked great!

ab348

tmart said:

andys120 said:

Well, it’s a Studebaker. That’s all I got.

That's a '49 Champion Starlight coupe. The bullet-nose came in the next year.