Mystery car pix

andys120

ab348 said:

andys120 said:

I was also struck by the number of choices for interior colors for a low-end car. That doesn't exist any more.

Or even a high-end car in many cases. We have an epidemic of black interiors. That must change eventually.

Quite true, my 2015 Mustang had a black interior so I bought fitted seat covers that are red w black edging which improved things nicely and also disguised the lumpiness of the driver's side.

imidazol97

andys120 said:

I was also struck by the number of choices for interior colors for a low-end car. That doesn't exist any more.

On the interior colors, I assume that only certain colors could be ordered with a particular exterior color. I recall
that when we were ordering Buicks through the 80s and 90s. And the higher line models got more choices.

andys120

imidazol97 said:

andys120 said:

I was also struck by the number of choices for interior colors for a low-end car. That doesn't exist any more.

On the interior colors, I assume that only certain colors could be ordered with a particular exterior color. I recall
that when we were ordering Buicks through the 80s and 90s. And the higher line models got more choices.

I think that's always been the case. My nephew just bought a 2015 BMW 535i that's dark blue with a brown interior. A weird combo IMHO,

fintail

Mystery car looks like an ASC McLaren Capri. I saw one of these on the road locally not too long ago.

Regarding black interiors, the Germans have been into it for awhile, so the industry is all for it, given the lack of independent thought in the automotive design/styling realm.

ab348

Being an old-school kind of guy, what bothers me as much if not more is that in most cars today, even if they offer a red or brown or near-white choice, the interior is still mostly black. Black door panels, rears of front seatbacks, etc are usually black in such cases. At least my ATS has a smear of Kona Brown on the door panels, but there is still a lot of black inside. Others like Mazda are even worse with only partial seat facings being non-black. I miss the days when you could get a blue interior where just about everything was that color.

ab348

I think we saw the front of the Bricker Lincoln-Mercury dealership on Hollywood Blvd in 1973 here previously, but I think I missed this part of their used car lot. Quite the selection of trade-ins for a Lincoln-Mercury store back then! Pic expands to a decent size. Courtesy of the Getty Museum's Ruscha collection.

stickguy

Opel kadett center front. Makes sense there. Toyota corona a few over from that. Looks like a gremlin in the road hiding behind the mailbox.

texases

'65/'66 mustang behind the 911.

andys120

The E-type on platform appears to have side marker but is a Series 1, so probably a '68 or '69 4.2.

imidazol97

Saw a beautiful blue specimen 3 weeks ago: made my trip to the distant cruise in worth the time.
Everything is beautiful blue.

andys120

Nice, color! I've never seen one that color. I hated the Batwing '59s for many years but recently I've come to appreciate it.

A shout out to that red 1970 Chevelle Malibu SS, perhaps the best Chevrolet ever made.

texases

And no fender skirts or continental kit -

imidazol97

texases said:

And no fender skirts or continental kit -

I know! I like cars mostly the way they were when originally sold.
It made my drive to check out that cruise-in worthwhile.

The dual antennas were on some Chevies of that era in the area where I was
growing up at the time.

ab348

stickguy said:

Opel kadett center front. Makes sense there.

Maybe not so much. Opels were sold at Buick dealers, not L-M.

fintail

For the E-Type, doesn't the headlights lacking covers make it a Series II?

andys120

fintail said:

For the E-Type, doesn't the headlights lacking covers make it a Series II?

Good eye and good question. IIRC the glass fairings came off for the 1968MY. '68 was the last year for S1 production. Because of differences w the '61-'67 cars they were
sometimes called "S1-1/2s". Series II cars intro'ed in late '1968 got much larger turn signals>




The Porsche 911/912 is likely a '68 or '69. The wider chrome headlight surrounds were the result of removing the glass fairings used in prior years as per new NHTSA rules.

andys120

Lots of nice old iron in this photo>



I'll call out the Leadsled '49-'51 Mercury parked on right with an unusual two-tone scheme. I wonder if it's custom.

Lostwrench3

Turning right - 1952 Pontiac.

andys120

Newest cars are both '58 Buicks parked in front of drug stores on left a white hardtop wagon is ahead of a two or three tone blue sedan.

ab348

Mid-1960s, Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. Bonus points if you can ID the lady (j/k):

Lostwrench3

Found it! Searching, I found the car on the right is not a custom job but a 1950 Lincoln Cosmopolitan Sport Sedan.

magnette

Something about the white and dark blue sedan parked in front of the Buick wagon makes me think of the Austin A95 (or maybe A55)

magnette

At the Flamingo the 59 Cadillac is between a 60 Cadillac 2-door and a Plymouth Suburban which I would guess as a 58

stickguy

Yellow rambler 4 door, parked in front of a steel blue Pontiac grand Prix.

fintail

I'm thinking 53-54 Ford or Mercury sedan.

magnette said:

Something about the white and dark blue sedan parked in front of the Buick wagon makes me think of the Austin A95 (or maybe A55)

fintail

Checker cab under the Jimmy Dean sign maybe a 62-63 Comet.

ab348 said:

Mid-1960s, Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. Bonus points if you can ID the lady (j/k):

Lostwrench3

I knew a comet checker. He taught 7th grade.

tmart

ab348 said:

Mid-1960s, Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. Bonus points if you can ID the lady (j/k):

I think I spy a 60 Ford behind the Pontiac! Ford wagon in the back under the “go”.

texases

If that's a '60 Ford, shouldn't the trim strip extend to the front door?

Lostwrench3

Not on the 1960 Ford Fairlane 500.

texases

All the pics I can find of the Fairlane 500 have it.

Lostwrench3

Hmmm. Try search engine Bing. On their first page they show more than 40 of them.

fintail

Maybe the base Fairlane didn't have it but the Fairlane 500 did? I think there was a distinction then.

fintail

Seattle, 1963 - zooms in a little blurry, but several unusual shapes are lurking in the mix:

tmart

55/56 Ford, 57 Ford County Sedan.

ab348

I see a couple of Dauphines in the parking lot. Those must have been fun on that hill. In the far upper right corner of the lot there is a small car with an oddly-shaped almost dome-like roof I cannot ID. In the parking area above the lot where the hole in the ground is I see what I believe to be a postwar MG of some sort, a TD or TF, though I suppose it could be a similar car of another make.

That is quite the hill from the looks of it.

andys120

Not much of any real interest there because they're too small to see much about, I can make out an MG in the small group in right middle of pic and a couple of Beetles on the crossroad @ right upper.

andys120

magnette

That Seattle shot gives us a few old favourites - two Hillman Minxes - one by the parking shed and another beyond a Volvo 544 in the top left corner of the parking lot.

As well as the MG TD there is another in front of the VW2 Bus - although the rear bumper makes me think of a Morgan rather than an MG when I look at it.

On the road to the cabins there is a sign near a Jeep, and behind that sign it looks like an Opel Rekord Combi

By the parking hut there is even a Fintail - by two circa 1948/ 51 GM two-door fast backs

The Dauphines might have been ok on hills - Gordini had no problem getting them to do well in rallies so even normal ones could go uphill, and they wouldn't have handled the slope any worse than a VW.

magnette

That shot in the desert is something which is shocking in hindsight but I know these things were seen from Las Vegas etc in those days in much the same way as a launch from Cape Kennedy can be watched from a large area of Florida..

Nearest car is an Oldsmobile - about 1957? Rest of that row 54/6 Fords I think

texases

I wonder if their radios are active...

fintail

I think the car with the dome-like roof might be a Porsche?

The hills of Seattle can be annoying, and a real adventure when there's snow and ice.

ab348 said:

I see a couple of Dauphines in the parking lot. Those must have been fun on that hill. In the far upper right corner of the lot there is a small car with an oddly-shaped almost dome-like roof I cannot ID. In the parking area above the lot where the hole in the ground is I see what I believe to be a postwar MG of some sort, a TD or TF, though I suppose it could be a similar car of another make.

That is quite the hill from the looks of it.

fintail

Good spotting. I was thinking Morgan with the "other" MG, too. That would have been a fun time for cars - plenty of 50s and even older material still around, but modern 60s models too.

And notice near the (W110) fintail, perpendicular, I am pretty sure the large car is a 60 Ford wagon, with two people standing in front of it. Maybe a Country Squire. A fintail and 60 Ford wagon next to each other, that'll be tough to duplicate.

magnette said:

That Seattle shot gives us a few old favourites - two Hillman Minxes - one by the parking shed and another beyond a Volvo 544 in the top left corner of the parking lot.

As well as the MG TD there is another in front of the VW2 Bus - although the rear bumper makes me think of a Morgan rather than an MG when I look at it.

On the road to the cabins there is a sign near a Jeep, and behind that sign it looks like an Opel Rekord Combi

By the parking hut there is even a Fintail - by two circa 1948/ 51 GM two-door fast backs

The Dauphines might have been ok on hills - Gordini had no problem getting them to do well in rallies so even normal ones could go uphill, and they wouldn't have handled the slope any worse than a VW.

fintail

In the desert shot, is that a very low yield nuke, or a rocket launch?

Car with its trunk open appears to be a 57 Plymouth sedan.

texases

Nuke.

tmart

magnette said:

That shot in the desert is something which is shocking in hindsight but I know these things were seen from Las Vegas etc in those days in much the same way as a launch from Cape Kennedy can be watched from a large area of Florida..

Nearest car is an Oldsmobile - about 1957? Rest of that row 54/6 Fords I think

Believe the Ford at left is a 52, not a 54. 56 Ford wagon, 55 Ford Tudor sedan. A 55/56 Ford wagon in the second row. Can’t see the taillights well enough to determine which one.

andys120

IIRC most of those above ground nuke tests were conducted @ a place called Yucca Flat NV
which was 50 or 60 miles N of Las Vegas. Tests were moved underground in the later 50s
perhaps soon after that photo was taken (1957?).

Michaell

andys120 said:

IIRC most of those above ground nuke tests were conducted @ a place called Yucca Flat NV
which was 50 or 60 miles N of Las Vegas. Tests were moved underground in the later 50s
perhaps soon after that photo was taken (1957?).

My daughter in law was born and raised in St. George, UT. Her grandfather was a firefighter at the test sites, and died of cancer.

Folks in St. George call themselves "down winders" as the fallout was blown into town and permeated the town's ecosystem.

7 years ago, my DIL was diagnosed with brain cancer, likely due to this. Through an aggressive treatment of chemotherapy, she survived the cancer and is leading a pretty normal life now.

andys120

I've been to St.George, nice town with lots to do and plenty of Nat'l Parks nearby. I was surprised to find so many bars in a Mormon town.

fintail

Very crisp when zoomed in, clear date: