Mystery car pix

ab348

sda said:

62 Mercury. I was never impressed by Ford’s lack of effort of integrating factory a/c by using a hang on unit instead of having the vents and controls integrated into the dash like similar GM and Chrysler cars.

Similar to how Ford never integrated the shift rod on column shift models into the steering column until the mid-60s. I never could get past that.

fintail

Thinking of those old shows, I recall an episode of Dennis the Menace where Mr. Wilson (mistakenly) thinks he is coming into a windfall inheritance, and buys a fancy foreign sports car (George and Martha cruising in this amuses me):



Then on the Donna Reed show, the son wins a fancy foreign sports car in a contest, and it is a little more extreme, then and definitely now:

andys120

George and Martha Wilson are cruising in an MG-A and Donna Reed's son Jeff's new ride is a Ferrari 250GT Spider California, a car which is worth millions today.

andys120

ab348

1955 Morris Oxford Traveller.

andys120

ab348 said:

1955 Morris Oxford Traveller.

Yup, the same car that I mistook for a Minor Traveler recently. Nice looking car, not as frumpy as most British Saloons of the era.

magnette

Yes - they also made an even larger Traveller - this is the Morris Isis - with a 2.6 litre straight six

texases

Regarding the British car industry, "Never in the field of car marketing was so much owed by so many models to so few chassis."

magnette

There are plenty of Minor Travellers around as they were very popular when new and are preserved as they are both practical and with that woody look which appeals to the nostalgic...

However the number of Oxford Travellers is much lower - they really didn't preserve those until they were nearly all gone, and the Isis is probably even rarer.

The Woodwork is structural for roadworthiness purposes in our MOT test, on the Minor, and I presume also on the bigger sisters, but whilst you can get a complete kit of the correct woodwork for a Minor it isn't the same for the Oxford / Isis

Just to make it even more complex the earlier MO Oxford also had a woody Traveller version which really is the model that inspired the Minor Traveller



And from about 1956 they phased out the wood version of the Oxford and instead brought out the Oxford Traveller Series IV which was all metal - quite a few of these still survive.

magnette

I came across this photo online of a preserved Standard Ten in Australia which appears to be fitted with a Minor Traveller rear end
It is possible this one is a home built special but I think they may have made local versions from van or pick-up / Ute versions in Australia in which case it could be something that was offered to the public

magnette

This is one we didn't get in UK although the name was familiar here at the time - circa 1989 - 93

andys120

I wonder if there's money to be made selling faux-woody siding for current Mini wagons?

andys120

magnette said:

This is one we didn't get in UK although the name was familiar here at the time - circa 1989 - 93

Mercury Capri, a FWD roadster that didn't sell well.

The Capri name has been attached to Lincolns, Mercuries, British Fords and perhaps others I don't know about.

magnette

Yes - this one was sold in Australia as the Ford Capri from 1989 although based on the then current Mazda 323 which I believe was related also to the car you got via Mexico as a Ford Laser.

It was originally intended to sell this Australian version in Europe and being RHD in particular they explored the possibility of importing it for the British market.

I recently came across a 1990 magazine article here which showed at least one with British plates but they decided it was not sporty enough, and didn't proceed with it

magnette

Here's one we prepared (much ) earlier ...

stickguy

Rover. 3500?

fintail

The font on the plates of that SD1 is a clue, it is an obscure Indian-built variant built under the old "Standard" brand, which appears to have been resurrected in India when it left the UK.

Tons of those Aussie-built Capris on period game shows. I suppose it was intended to be a Miata competitor, good luck with that.

magnette

I like the idea of the Capri as a prize on Game shows - it wasn't really a looker though was it?

Perhaps you got one car if you came first, and two if you were the runner-up

magnette

Yes - the Rover SD1 was sold in India from CKD kits from 1985 - 88 as the Standard 2000 using the local engine that was still being made by the old Standard company - they had built the Standard Vanguard in the late forties and more importantly the Standard 20 van which was a reasonable seller in the fifties

Project failed due to it being too expensive for local market and not sturdy enough plus the engine was too sluggish and there were local issues regarding assembly too.

After the plant closed down (made about 1000 cars in total) they actually sent back replacements panels to Leyland in UK for repair sales and in due course they even shipped back SD1 shells so it was possible to virtually rebuild one here which probably accounts for a quite a few preserved UK Sd1s being so well restored.

magnette

And another one

magnette

BMC / BL /Austin Rover cast their offspring widely over the years

This Austin 1100 isn't - it was the Austin De Luxe and sold in Denmark &Greece with a 998cc engine - presumably for fiscal reasons circa 1974



In Japan the Land Rover Discovery was also the first generation of Honda Crossroad - possibly Honda's only V8 car to date. (this one was in New Zealand - presumably they shipped them from Japan for the RHD Pacific market

magnette

And who could forget the Huanda CAC 6430 - better known here as the Morris Ital Estate, etc

magnette

It s a wonder some of these projects ever took off but in some cases they make sense - there was a Morris 1000 Combi in Denmark which was a Morris Traveller with boxed in side windows making it a van - and possibly it was again the 998cc engine even when we had the 1098cc engine by 1962

magnette

We weren't the only ones


This is a 1973 brochure from Turkey -locally they had the Askam truck factory building De Sotos for years

magnette

@andys120 - I haven't seen anybody selling the wood for modern Mini Clubmans but they are now so wide it might be a hazard...

texases

I'm trying to remember the car show where they restored either a mini or Morris Traveller woody, restored the woodwork, then had a wicker-lookalike paint job put on the metal panels.

texases

And that De Soto truck's styling is unique, that's for sure!

stickguy

Looks like it’s either made of Legos, or a character in the Cars movie.

fintail

I've read about that one, the Bulgarian Maestro. Apparently from the mid 90s (BL got a lot of mileage out of that design, same for the Marina/Ital), some cars ended up being sold back in the UK.

This is somewhat on the same idea:

magnette said:

And another one

kyfdx

fintail said:

The font on the plates of that SD1 is a clue, it is an obscure Indian-built variant built under the old "Standard" brand, which appears to have been resurrected in India when it left the UK.

Tons of those Aussie-built Capris on period game shows. I suppose it was intended to be a Miata competitor, good luck with that.

Lotus had a FWD Elan out at the same time...

ab348

texases said:

I'm trying to remember the car show where they restored either a mini or Morris Traveller woody, restored the woodwork, then had a wicker-lookalike paint job put on the metal panels.

That was Salvage Hunters: Classic Cars. I'm not sure I liked the wicker effect.

texases

Yep, that's it. I checked out Wheeler Dealer and Fantomworks, no luck.

I'm OK with it, except for the door, with no wood frame. Inconsistent.

Lostwrench3

magnette said:

And who could forget the Huanda CAC 6430 - better known here as the Morris Ital Estate, etc

I'll take the CAC 1020. Where do I sign?

fintail

Probably about as successful as the Capri, just maybe more visually striking, and thrice the price.

kyfdx said:

Lotus had a FWD Elan out at the same time...

stickguy

Lostwrench3 said:

magnette said:

And who could forget the Huanda CAC 6430 - better known here as the Morris Ital Estate, etc

I'll take the CAC 1020. Where do I sign?

I’ll take one too. I think we need to go to Australia to pick it up.

fintail

Not a Honda, a Huanda. I suspect most didn't survive in the PRC.

Must be sometime in the 70s:

xwesx

fintail said:

Not a Honda, a Huanda. I suspect most didn't survive in the PRC.

Must be sometime in the 70s:

Too much mundane, domestic metal. Next!

andys120

Sports car heaven! + a couple of RR Shadows and a Fintail for Fin. The blue Ferrari is a 330GT

andys120

sda

53 Olds Fiesta?

magnette

@fintail

Your posted Toyota is one I am not familiar with ...

The Bulgarian Maestro and Montego were from before Bulgaria joined the EU and those were different times..

It was a Rodacar Maestro and they sold them in one basic finish but when it went bust after a couple of years they shipped back a lot of the kits and those that were not LHD were then sold here as kit cars (they did not have the legal paperwork to be type approved for sale here) and were assembled by a garage somewhere as the Ledbury Maestro - there are a few around although I have never knowingly seen one

I think the Maestro van and possibly the rare pick-up version may have also been involved -

The Montego had a similar story but those came back assembled and were sold through a company called Apple motors or something - they were the Apple 2000 Montego - again not exactly common...

They also flogged the unused Bulgarian RHD kits for the Montego in India as the Sipani Montego I think

fintail

And at left, for those who don't need excitement, a couple Austin America.

andys120 said:

Sports car heaven! + a couple of RR Shadows and a Fintail for Fin. The blue Ferrari is a 330GT

fintail

The Toyota is a Toyota Cavalier, offered in Japan for a short time in the late 90s. Rebadged Chevy Cavalier, I assume with some extra QC.

Funny that something that became as derided as the Mastro/Montego ended up being built elsewhere - same for the Ital I guess. They (Maestro/Montego, Ital was a particularly cynical refresh of an old car) weren't bad looking cars for the era IMO, but I am suspicious of build quality. GM syndrome - designs get old, sometimes iffy build, but sometimes they will run forever.

magnette said:

@fintail

Your posted Toyota is one I am not familiar with ...

The Bulgarian Maestro and Montego were from before Bulgaria joined the EU and those were different times..

It was a Rodacar Maestro and they sold them in one basic finish but when it went bust after a couple of years they shipped back a lot of the kits and those that were not LHD were then sold here as kit cars (they did not have the legal paperwork to be type approved for sale here) and were assembled by a garage somewhere as the Ledbury Maestro - there are a few around although I have never knowingly seen one

I think the Maestro van and possibly the rare pick-up version may have also been involved -

The Montego had a similar story but those came back assembled and were sold through a company called Apple motors or something - they were the Apple 2000 Montego - again not exactly common...

They also flogged the unused Bulgarian RHD kits for the Montego in India as the Sipani Montego I think

andys120

sda said:

53 Olds Fiesta?

Nope, it's a 1955 Oldsmobile Starfire. The Starfire was the flagship of the Oldsmobile line, an equivalent of the Buick Skylarks and the Cadillac Eldorados.

ab348

Culling the old Mystery Cars picture folder today, here's an interesting shot from Oakland, 1973.

andys120

I see an Airstream trailer on right. Is that a Fintail passing it?Car nearest camera on left is a 1963 Ford Galaxie, next to it a Citroen ID/DS Break (Wagon). Coming up behind it is a Ford F100 towing a trailer

Lostwrench3

Left front - 1963 Ford.

fintail

Sure looks like a fintail passing the Airstream in the outbound lane. DS is 1968+ with the facelift nose.

andys120

stickguy

Lancia Delta