Mystery car pix

andys120

Still a couple of imports that haven't been named. Hint: they're in rows nearest the camera.

fintail

In the 2nd row from L, between a couple Corvair, is a Jaguar Mark 2/S-type, by the age of the surrounding cars, probably brand new at the time.

Wagon next to the 55 Chevy convertible in the far left row, foreground, looks like maybe a 60 Pontiac, possibly something like a MGA beside it, and then the Beetle.

andys120 said:

fintail said:

Maybe even 4 foreign cars - way in the background right, parked near a building, I am pretty sure I see a white Volvo 444/544. Right and a little closer to the camera, a white 60 Cadillac convertible.

Yup there's a white 544/444 in the way back. 3 more to go.

magnette

White Volvo 544 in distance
black Jaguar two back from 54 Buick
black VW of course but there's a white sports car - maybe an MGA - beyond that maroon Pontiac (?) wagon

tmart

54 Ford, 59 Ford

andys120

You can make out a sporty looking white fender next to a maroon 1960 Pontiac Safari. It could ne a lot of things. I think it's too big for an MG-A (longer than the Beetle it's next to). Perhaps it's a big Healy or a Jag XK.

As for the black Jag sed...er Saloon between the Corvairs in the second row. I think it's either a Mk.1 or a 3.4 (a version of the Mk.1 sold just before the Mk.2 was introduced). The B-post lacks the chrome trim of the Mk.2 version

andys120

kyfdx

andys120 said:

Alfa Milano

Mid-'80s?

sda

kyfdx said:

andys120 said:

Alfa Milano

Mid-'80s?

I understand that Alfa was a great and fun driving car. I never liked the kick up of the rear quarter panel. It looks awkward, almost as if the car had been rear ended in a wreck.

kyfdx

@sda I'm not sure those attributes extended to this model. It was a typical car of the mid-'80s (not good)

andys120

Yup that's an Alfa-Romeo Milano, the USDM version of the car sold elsewhere as the Alfa 75. The awkward styling was unfortunate but the 4-bangers had 50% of weight over the front wheels.

andys120

tjc78

48 Caddy ?

fintail

46-47, 48 was the new design with vestigal fins.

Lostwrench3

Cadillac on side with block letters - 1946
Cadillac on side with script letters - 1947.
1947.

andys120

Yup, it's a '47

andys120

bhill2

Arrgh! I've seen that car before, but I can't bring it back. Is it by any chance a Talbot Lago?

andys120

Right bhill2, it is indeed a '51 Talbot-Lago Grand Sport with a body by Stabilimenti Farina. It was an example of French leadership in GT and high end sports cars in the postwar era. It was also something of a United Nations on wheels. Tony Lago was a Briton of ItalianTalbot-Lago ancestry who made cars in France and sometimes put Italian coachwork on them.

Giovanni Farina founded Syabilimenti Farina in 1930, his brother Battista Farina founded Pinninfarina the leding carrozzeria of the 50s and 60s. Giovanni's son Nino Farina was the first World Driving Champion (1950).

magnette

Never seen that Talbot Lago before...

texases

I'd never have guessed, that one has styling much calmer than all the rest I see when I google Talbot Lago.

ab348

I believe those Talbot-Lago Grand Sports were all bespoke-bodied. That one is a very handsome design.

andys120

texases said:

I'd never have guessed, that one has styling much calmer than all the rest I see when I google Talbot Lago.

The degreeof strangeness has a lot to do with the stylists. French designers like Saotchik, Franay
and Figoni at Falaschi would come up with strange>

( 1947 Bentley Mk.VI)

...but they'd give you restaint if that's what you wanted>




This Bentley could have been done by Hooper or Muliner Park Ward but like the other it's from Franay of Paris. (1951 Type R)

.

magnette

I've been looking through file of 50's and 60's photos taken by Manchester City Council from various council offices - these are mostly from the City planners, highways dept and planning - which in the case of much of Manchester equated then with slum clearance and war damage removal.

None of these areTalbot Lagos, I'm afraid - this was 1963...


this one expands a lot

ab348

That's a Ford Consul Classic angled to the left. I thought at first the car next to it might have been a GM product but I couldn't find anything close.

andys120

I'm thinking along the lines of AB348. I could tell the one on the left was a Ford but that's all. White car next to it, a mid '70s Vauxhall (Cresta? Victor?)

fintail

Car to the left of the Ford Classic looks like an Anglia or Pop. Car at far right appears to be an AC 2 litre.

ab348

andys120 said:

I'm thinking along the lines of AB348. I could tell the one on the left was a Ford but that's all. White car next to it, a mid '70s Vauxhall (Cresta? Victor?)

That would be a neat trick for a 1963 picture.

magnette

You three cleared the lot quickly there!
The Ford is probably a Pop but the previous Anglia was identical apart from details not visible here
That white Vauxhall is a PB series Cresta / Velox from the period 1962-65 - badges would have told which although the deluxe Cresta had twin headlights - it's registered in March 1963 so was brand new then - local too as RJ was for neighbouring town Salford
I think the pick-up behind the wall is an A40 like this one - these are really atmospheric photos in this set

ab348

A 1973 (?) parking lot, location unknown. Decent-sized picture.

Lostwrench3

1967 Pontiac.
1973 Pontiac. (Had one. What a tank. 400 cubes.)

magnette

Renault 12 foreground - also R8 one row back from the two men below sign 23 - another R12 just above them
68 ? Rambler in front of your 73 Pontiac
Those two men are behind 70 Torino GT
Also - no trucks SUVs Vans or older cars either

ab348

magnette said:

Renault 12 foreground - also R8 one row back from the two men below sign 23 - another R12 just above them
68 ? Rambler in front of your 73 Pontiac
Those two men are behind 70 Torino GT
Also - no trucks SUVs Vans or older cars either

I noticed the surprising number of Renaults, which made me wonder if it was taken in Quebec.

No SUVs but I count at least 3 large station wagons with roof racks, which were that era's equivalent.

stickguy

Volvo 142 next to the Torino. Dart GT with nostrils next to an LTD wagon.

Nice 73 (72?) mustang Mach I

magnette

I'm still trawling Manchester for od cars - this is from 1964, and is a picture from the City Surveyors office - photographing repairs to the pavement -

A surprising passer by stands out from the rest...

Lostwrench3

1958 Oldsmobile Holiday. (On holiday a long way from home?)

fintail

Looks like a coupe of Bedford CA vans parked on the street behind the Olds.

In the parking lot, second row back, behind one of the Renaults, looks like a big 66 Mercury 2 door HT.

magnette

@Lostwrench3 - I've seen about ten American cars in these files, some prewar but there were some about and although these bits of Manchester were run down and poor housing, it is a large and rich city and even then some would have the money for big cars

This one is another example - note the funny "foreign" plate - foreign here I mean.


None of this was be a surprise now in Manchester or Liverpool because there are areas where the wealth from footballers alone would account for Ferrari, Mclaren et al having a dealers in the Cheshire suburbs
Even in 1960 there were extensive TV studios in Salford too

andys120

Wow, a '55/56 Caddy convertible in Manchester UK!

Lostwrench3

'56.

ab348

Interesting pic, undated but seems to be early '80s, Daytona Beach, FL. Lots of future rusted-out hulks here, nice variety.

andys120

Datsun Z-car (240/260) in center, a blue BMW 320i. yellow Chevette behind Z-car

magnette

@andys120
Yes - the plate on that Cadillac isn't from the UK - it's from Jersey in the Channel Islands - one of the offshore islands which is a tax haven outside British tax authority control...

texases

I wonder if that Z car made it off the beach before disintegrating?

stickguy

Black car in front, is that a yugo or a fiat?

andys120

stickguy said:

Black car in front, is that a yugo or a fiat?

Most likely a Fiat 128. Its Yugo cousin didn't get here until 1985.

magnette

That black car doesn't look like a Fiat or Yugo to me - my first thought was a Toyota - what would the smallest model be on the US market at that time?

magnette

Actually that would be the Toyota Starlet KP61 model with RWD - I think you got that around 1981/4

sda

An easy one.

sda

These were always neat.

sda

Top picture, our neighbor had. The leather seats were super comfortable. Bottom picture, dad had (same color) as a company car. Both cars used the same engine. Quiz: What other car(s) used that engine?