Mystery car pix

magnette · March 28

I hadn't even seen the other Vauxhall / Envoy models but the black car two to the right of that gold Victor is a PA Cresta

Also this white car is a Victor FB equivalent which was also badged there as an Envoy I think.

magnette · March 28

Concerning the Trabant they briefly became fashionable here when the Wall came down but he only ones that were practical were the ones that had a VW polo engine in them as a run off model

In a similar way I saw Moskvitch 427 last summer which had been imported here from Poland by someone in the local filling station

ab348 · March 28

sda said:
68 GTO?

Had to be a '69. No vent windows, which the '68 had.

andys120 · March 28

ab348 said:

sda said:
68 GTO?
Had to be a '69. No vent windows, which the '68 had.

That's correct '69s had no vent windows but neither did 1970s. I owned a 1970 Goat convertible and I can't tell from that photo which MY it is. The differences were in the front end.

Lostwrench3 · March 28

1969 or 1970 GTO?
Check out the big clue, the end of the rear bumper.

sda · March 29

ab348 said:

sda said:
68 GTO?
Had to be a '69. No vent windows, which the '68 had.

Good catch, and I knew that! sheesh 🙄

fintail · March 29

Pick a beast, any beast = zooms ok:

texases · March 29

Grab that Grabber.

explorerx4 · March 29

People were making money on $895 asking prices.

kyfdx · March 30

They all say $895. There is a really good chance that the number is the down payment for most of those cars. Speaking from experience with the small lots.

ab348 · March 30

Not knowing the year of the photo, if it was taken in 1979 those could be the drive-away prices for those gas guzzlers. Resale for those big dinosaurs fell through the floor amid the fuel crisis that year.

kyfdx · March 30

ab348 said:
Not knowing the year of the photo, if it was taken in 1979 those could be the drive-away prices for those gas guzzlers. Resale for those big dinosaurs fell through the floor amid the fuel crisis that year.

September of 1980, so definitely possible. Deep recession, more than gas prices, I think.

laurasdada · March 30

Some McDonald's still look the same!

fintail · March 30

Pic is 1977 at the earliest by the Caddy at McDonalds in the background. No doubt the downsized vehicles also hastened depreciation of the battleships, making them look outdated as well as too thirsty. My parents picked up my mom's big Bird after the disco models debuted, and even then values were sinking - the car looked like some kind of bargain per my dad, costing the same as a much less fancier car (of course they still had to put 2nd gas crunch priced fuel in it).

kyfdx · March 30

fintail said:
Pic is 1977 at the earliest by the Caddy at McDonalds in the background. No doubt the downsized vehicles also hastened depreciation of the battleships, making them look outdated as well as too thirsty. My parents picked up my mom's big Bird after the disco models debuted, and even then values were sinking - the car looked like some kind of bargain per my dad, costing the same as a much less fancier car (of course they still had to put 2nd gas crunch priced fuel in it).

I looked it up. It's a famous photo. September, 1980

fintail · March 30

kyfdx said:

fintail said:
Pic is 1977 at the earliest by the Caddy at McDonalds in the background. No doubt the downsized vehicles also hastened depreciation of the battleships, making them look outdated as well as too thirsty. My parents picked up my mom's big Bird after the disco models debuted, and even then values were sinking - the car looked like some kind of bargain per my dad, costing the same as a much less fancier car (of course they still had to put 2nd gas crunch priced fuel in it).
I looked it up. It's a famous photo. September, 1980

Quick browse of the local newspaper archive, random date in September 1980 (September 20) finds this ad from a couple mom and pop/bhph lots:

ab348 · March 30

kyfdx said:

I looked it up. It's a famous photo. September, 1980

OK, I’ll bite. Why is it famous?

kyfdx · March 30

ab348 said:

kyfdx said:

I looked it up. It's a famous photo. September, 1980
OK, I’ll bite. Why is it famous?

Taken by a famous professional photographer. If you Google "old car lot photos" it shows up.

ab348 · March 30

It didn’t.

kyfdx · March 30

ab348 said:
It didn’t.

Try it with the word "Detroit"

laurasdada · March 30

As in, "Take him to Detroit!"

Now, that's obscure...

ab348 · April 1

Still in the dark about that car lot pic's reason for being famous. I spent too much time searching for the reason a couple of days ago. The pic seemed to pop up on Hemmings in 2019 when the now-departed Dan Strohl posted it there, crediting Jim and Chester's Garage as his source. Unfortunately that is just a picture blog site and there was no additional info on it there to be found. The well went dry after that.

andys120 · April 1

kyfdx · April 1

ab348 said:
Still in the dark about that car lot pic's reason for being famous. I spent too much time searching for the reason a couple of days ago. The pic seemed to pop up on Hemmings in 2019 when the now-departed Dan Strohl posted it there, crediting Jim and Chester's Garage as his source. Unfortunately that is just a picture blog site and there was no additional info on it there to be found. The well went dry after that.

https://www.zphotojournal.com/photo-journal/2014/12/22/jean-pierre-laffont-photographers-paradise

magnette · April 1

@ab348

That is a Matra Djet although it was sometimes known as a Matra Simca and also a Bonnet Djet for a time I think.

Its about 1964-8 I think it was possibly the first mid engine production roar car predating the Lotus Europa among others..

ab348 · April 1

magnette said:
@ab348

That is a Matra Djet although it was sometimes known as a Matra Simca and also a Bonnet Djet for a time I think.

Its about 1964-8 I think it was possibly the first mid engine production roar car predating the Lotus Europa among others..

Not my picture, but thanks for the ID. I had no idea what it was. Hard to believe Matra was once able to field a F1 team that won the world championship in 1969 with Sir Jackie Stewart at the controls.

andys120 · April 2

Yup, that's a 1967 Matra D-Jet, as noted the first production street car with a mid-engine.

magnette · April 2

@andys120

Sorry for the misallocation of my response.

The Matra Djet is really small and ideal for japanese conditions I would imagine judging by the plates (covering original French ones)

I don't think they ever sold them in the UK but I have seen them in continental car shows - especially in Essen.

andys120 · April 3

kyfdx · April 3

Citroen DS?

texases · April 3

'65-ish Panhard 24BT? The PL on the hood emblem was the clue.

andys120 · April 3

texases said:
'65-ish Panhard 24BT? The PL on the hood emblem was the clue.

Close it's a '65 Panhard 24CT.

IIRC PL=Panhard Lavoisier .

andys120 · April 4

laurasdada · April 4

The collector's classic, Chevy Mutation.

sda · April 4

What country are the tags on the Citation from? I assume the amber lights on the grille are a local jurisdiction requirement?

fintail · April 4

sda said:
What country are the tags on the Citation from? I assume the amber lights on the grille are a local jurisdiction requirement?

Dutch plates, lots of American cars there.

sda · April 4

Blue Renault 16 to the left of the Panhard. Dad had a 75 16 TL automatic when we were in France and his company was in a contract with Elf. I found it odd that the 16 did not have self parking wipers. The wipers would stop in the stroke position they were in when the wiper switch was turned off. You would have to catch them in the full downstroke and then turn them off.

andys120 · April 4

I found it odd that the 16 did not have self parking wipers. The wipers would stop in the stroke position they were in when the wiper switch was turned off. You would have to catch them in the full downstroke and then turn them off.

I owned at least one car that had that "feature", I think it was my '66 TR-4A.

explorerx4 · April 4

This one is different. You get a long fade out for the first 2 minutes, then a still around 4:15 after that.
I couldn't figure it out but I was ok listening to the song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJFZLPiU4Dw&list=RD76yctdQST5E&index=2

andys120 · April 5

tmart · April 5

Dodge Polara

bhill2 · April 5

A 1960. Not ChryCo's finest era. This one year, and the next year the science fiction monster known as the 1961 Plymouth.

Lostwrench3 · April 5

bhill2 said:
A 1960. Not ChryCo's finest era. This one year, and the next year the science fiction monster known as the 1961 Plymouth.

The 1961 Plymouth - Car 54 - Toody and Muldoon.

fintail · April 6

bhill2 said:
A 1960. Not ChryCo's finest era. This one year, and the next year the science fiction monster known as the 1961 Plymouth.

Aka the styling mule for new age Lexus.

fintail · April 6

Spokane a few years ago, zooms fine:

andys120 · April 6

Yup, it's a 1960 Dodge Polara coupe. IMO it's a noteable exception to the ugliness of design in the late Exner/tailfin era.

tmart · April 6

55,56, and 59 Fords on right.

bhill2 · April 6

1958-60 Ambassador (I think) beside the International truck. Looks like there's something heavy in the trunk.

explorerx4 · April 6

Not sure if anything is newer than a 59 but don't know what the wagon behind the red truck is.

andys120 · April 9

Mystery car pix

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