Mystery car pix

magnette

This one must now be rare here



Not sure what's happening with the rear wheel

andys120

transamsd73 said:

The GTO on page 1293 is a 1970. Nice car, great color, too!

You're correct, I owned a similar car that had been repainted an orangy red w black interior, 400CID/4speed (rare in convertible Goats that MY). Mine was in kinda rough shape .

Lostwrench3

I like the Ben-Hur wheel.

ab348

That looks like an approx 1969 Toyota Crown station wagon.

In Japan and possibly other markets, this was available as a pickup or ute style as well.

xwesx

Looks like a dually with the outer wheel removed.

explorerx4

@xwesx,
I thought the same thing. Maybe they attach another wheel to run something like a saw or a pump.

magnette

The Toyota was a 1969 2300 Crown Estate and it was different from hte contemporary saloon in Britain as that had a revised grille whereas this version was an earlier model. It was sold here rather than a grey import though pretty rare and probably extinct by now

The person who took the picture commented below it that it was taken in 1980 something and that the wheel hubs on both sides appeared to be off a double wheeled axle - presumably it was patched up to keep an old banger running.

fintail

Old beater then, incredibly rare car today. The Crown of that era was actually sold in the USDM too, but I have no clear memory of ever having seen one in person.

andys120

What's wrong with this picture?



Hint: It doesn't look like what it's supposed to be.

tmart

Well, it looks like a 2002 Impala. Beyond that, I don’t have a clue, unless it’s a perspective shot of a model, or has a non Chevy engine.

stickguy

That an SS?

tjc78

Only thing I can think of is it is a police version with a street appearance package. 9C3 I believe is the GM lingo.

Ford kept it simple with the Vic … they were SAPs.

ab348

fintail said:

Old beater then, incredibly rare car today. The Crown of that era was actually sold in the USDM too, but I have no clear memory of ever having seen one in person.

I remember seeing a few up here. The one that seemed more rare then and now was the subsequent generation with the futuristic front end. I assume it was not well-received by buyers.

andys120

tmart said:

Well, it looks like a 2002 Impala. Beyond that, I don’t have a clue, unless it’s a perspective shot of a model, or has a non Chevy engine.

Right it is a 2002 Impala but if it's an Impala why only four round tailights? Are they so ignorant at GM styling that they don't know four t/ls signify a lower line car?? I think they lost the plot around the mid 70s when they stopped using round tailights and went to rectangular ones. Now they use rectangulars that light up (4)round ones. I can't prove it but I'd bet they lost many sales from old timers because they didn't look like a "real" Impala.

ab348

Oh... well, let me tell you a story.

I think that generation of Impala debuted for the 2000 model year. When they first arrived at the nearest dealer, my car buddy and I happened to see some parked out front for the first time and stopped to take a look.

A more unhappy design would be hard to do. I remember the cheap wheel covers, the crummy cloth seat upholstery, the black-eyed headlights, and especially those rear lights. We both had a similar comment about how an Impala was supposed to have 3 taillights if you were going to use individual round units. It was just a very disappointing effort, even for GM at the time which wasn't turning out compelling product.

As we were walking around them, a sales guy came out to talk to us. An older fellow, and we told him we were just curious to see the new model. He asked what we thought of it, and either myself or my buddy said how disappointing it was. The sales guy nodded and said, "Yep. Look at this," pointing to the rear lights. "Shoulda called it a Biscayne."

ab348

Main Street small-town USA, unknown location, 1969 or thereabouts.

tmart

58 Ford in front of the gold Barracuda.

fintail

If the weirdo model was sold in the USDM, it was briefly. Most I see of that style for sale on this side of the pond are in Canada, I have seen a few for sale in BC. There was a hardtop coupe in Kelowna or Kamloops that the owner was trying to sell for a batty number, and it would pop up on CL now and then. Kind of a guilty pleasure car.

ab348 said:

fintail said:

Old beater then, incredibly rare car today. The Crown of that era was actually sold in the USDM too, but I have no clear memory of ever having seen one in person.

I remember seeing a few up here. The one that seemed more rare then and now was the subsequent generation with the futuristic front end. I assume it was not well-received by buyers.

fintail

Travelall near the "keep right" sign, I see a 58 Ford in the rightmost lane, and 5 cars ahead of it, a Pinto.

Designs aged quickly then too, maybe not as sharply as 1950-60, but still a rapid progression. Add the inconsistent rustproofing and durability of some period cars, and the time around 1970 being the probable zenith of working/middle class purchasing power, and I'd expect a lot of people could justify new cars for the sake of it.

ab348 said:

Main Street small-town USA, unknown location, 1969 or thereabouts.

Lostwrench3

Something I liked about those Impalas of the early 2000s was that they were made with a cable connection going from the accelerator pedal to the butterfly. I liked that responsive acceleration much better than the later Impala's fly by wire.

explorerx4

I had a loaner 200x Impala for 3 weeks. Seat had no lower back support and it had strange handling.
There was one corner on the interstate where I had to make a noticeable mid corner correction.
Never had to do that in any other cars. I tried changing speeds and lanes, but made no difference.
Swapped it for a Saab 9-5, which was much better.

stickguy

my FIL had one of that generation Impala. A relatively base model I think. I took it once to drive some people to the airport. I hated it. just not comfortable, and drove lousy. And of course pretty big.

stickguy

Light blue falcon front and center.

magnette

Bonus point for the location on this one....

andys120

Interesing pic, the car is the Komb (wagon) version of the Borgward Isabella (c. late 50s.early 60s). Here it is from the front>




My WAG for location: Gibraltar!

magnette

Yes - it was registered in Gibraltar...

At one time GB meant cars registered in UK, but there are a few odd islands - and Gibraltar -which have a three letter code

Gibraltar is not part of the UK legally but its also not allowed to be a separate state - this goes back to the treaty when Spain lost it in the 1700s

For the Channel Islands just off the west coast of Normandy, they are not part of the UK but are directly subject to the Crown - they have their own parliaments and each of the islands has a separate code - GBJ is Jersey GBG is Guernsey and there is a third one - GBA for Alderney but I've never seen one of those.
In the Irish Sea there is the Isle of Man - GBM - which also has its own parliament.

Until the sixties Malta also had a code - GBY but got its own code - M - when it got full independence - it's a republic now.

Since February 2021 UK cars are now required to have a sticker showing UK instead of GB - this is mainly because the situation in Northern Ireland is complex for many reasons and as that is part of the UK there are pressures in some communities not to have GB - and the other communities there are similarly keen to have UK shown for their preference.

For a number of years British cars had a blue band on the left side of the plate showing the EU circle of stars and the letters GB but now new cars get the same blue band but instead they will show a British flag and the letters UK

This was agreed at the time of Brexit negotiations and the whole issue of customs access from the EU to Northern Ireland has become complex - and even more so from continental EU nations across to the Republic of Ireland which is of course a full member of the EU - it also means that for the first time the UK now has a full land border with the EU - which is pretty much open apart from some checks on agricultural products.

(there is of course a land border below the English Channel but that is in the tunnel -and not exactly something you can walk across...)

andys120

Gibraltar was really a guess, based on a thought of what GBX could possibly mean.

andys120

kyfdx

andys120 said:

Lancia?

Looks too long for a Beta

stickguy

I thought it was an Alfa. Version of the Alfasud?

ab348

The crew is slow off the mark this morning. That's an '80s Alfa Romeo GTV6. Here's a Harry's Garage review:

https://youtu.be/I9yhdKeUbwQ

Michaell

Made famous in the Bond classic Octopussy.

andys120

ab348 said:

The crew is slow off the mark this morning. That's an '80s Alfa Romeo GTV6. Here's a Harry's Garage review:

https://youtu.be/I9yhdKeUbwQ

What he said.

andys120

explorerx4

Can you believe they were able to arrest the suspect in a convenience store robbery by identifying the get away car?

sda

andys120 said:

75-76 Olds Omega

andys120

Close it's a '77 Olds F-85 Omega

ab348

Curious, that. I do see the F-85 badge on the fender bottom. But it also has bright side window moldings. The F-85 model was a strippo special and the brochure specifically notes that it did not have those moldings. Curious.

sda

I didn't know the F-85 name had been resurrected. The base Omega wasn't fancy, so the F-85 must be really basic. Another way Olds diluted its desirability.

fintail

Dick's, a Seattle institution, Capital Hill - this location is relatively the same today, but the surroundings have changed a bit.

texases

Kind of looks like you got those pics from some proto-google maps!

Lostwrench3

1953 Oldsmobile.
1956 Oldsmobile.

stickguy

Looks like early toilet seat trunk lid valiant next to the Canada Dry panel van

Is the roadster an MGA?

kyfdx

stickguy said:

Looks like early toilet seat trunk lid valiant next to the Canada Dry panel van

Is the roadster an MGA?

With the cutaway door, I'll guess it's a Triumph, not an MG

fintail

I see MGA in that roadster, too.

Modern day Google street view:

tmart

PT Cruiser, Fiât 600.

sda

fintail said:

I see MGA in that roadster, too.

Modern day Google street view:

Drat, no more 19c burgers.

xwesx

yeah, what's up with that?! Hahah

It's impressive that they have managed to keep so much history on the site in that area.

imidazol97

I like seeing the modern day location pictures.

I recall going to McDonalds in downtown Muncie, Indiana, for a 25 cent hamburger as a break from college studying.

explorerx4

Hasn't completely dried out from the original pics either.