Mystery car pix

ab348

stickguy said:

Yea we got the astra. Only clue from behind other than a name badge is the taillights with a bunch if cross bars.

The Vega in that era had square taillights. The Astre had a more horizontal design.

fintail

In the small town where my mom lives there was an Astre much like that sitting near a shop for several years. Streetview caught it, but has been gone for some time now:

fintail

The Port Mann bridge connecting Coquitlam and Surrey BC, September 1968, zooms well enough to ID several:

Lostwrench3

1957 Buick Special.
1958 Ford Wagon.

stickguy

Chevy II wagon, and a VW squareback.

bhill2

The batwing rear end visible beside the 58 Ford wagon suggests a 59 or 60 GM. I will suggest a 59 or 60 Buick.

The Chevy II wagon looks like a bottom-feeder trim level (100). My father's research facility was provided one by corporate. At least it was a six (they came standard with a four).

tmart

The batwing is a 59 Chevrolet.

sda

I liked the Pontiac styling touches on the Astre-Vega.

fintail

LA/Sunset Blvd I think, around 1983-84 I surmise, a little blurry but zooms enough to ID several:

stickguy

Bumper MGB and a wedge Supra on the left. Alfa Spyder center, and far center looks like a 2 door Colt.

tmart

Ford County Squire

ab348

I’ll ID the building: the (in)famous Chateau Marmont.

Michaell

ab348 said:

I’ll ID the building: the (in)famous Chateau Marmont.

I was thinking that was what that building was, but wasn't 100% sure, so I kept my hands off the keyboard.

tjc78

76? Caddy and is that a first gen Colt behind it?

texases

‘67 Mustang

fintail

At left behind a Beetle maybe a white Audi Fox.

ab348

tjc78 said:

76? Caddy and is that a first gen Colt behind it?

On the street trailing the Caddy is a '65 Pontiac.

fintail

Crescent Beach, Surrey BC, 1960 or thereabouts, zooms fine:

stickguy

60 Ford convertible. 54 and a pair of 55 Chevies. and a bug.

tmart

60 Ford Sunliner (or Canadian equivalent), 53 Ford, 49-51 Ford, a VW Bug.

bhill2

stickguy said:

60 Ford convertible. 54 and a pair of 55 Chevies. and a bug.

One of the 55 Chevies (the one parked at an angle next to the vegetation) is actually a 56.

fintail

Everybody's favorite store that will always be missed, Middletown OH apparently, I guess within a year or so of 1980, zooms well:

stickguy

AMC Matador wagon in the center. Period brown. Next to a baby blue Fairmont Futura.

Lostwrench3

Anyone else old enough to remember Kresge's?

stickguy

old enough to remember most anything! But some of those stores I think were regional, and not in the NYC burbs I grew up in.

oh wait, never mind. you mean the old store name before it became K Mart (which only came into existence in 1977, thought they were older). Still don't remember ever seeing a Kreske. But man, back in the 70s-90s there were a whole lot of catalog and discount department stores that are long gone (Bradlees, Caldors, and others.)

kyfdx

Lostwrench3 said:

Anyone else old enough to remember Kresge's?

Yep

Michaell

I think we only had K-Mart on the west coast; Kresge's was an east coast store, IIRC.

xwesx

Oh, I know that Chevy squarebody pickup! I'm pretty sure it is that pile of rust behind my neighbor's house...

ab348

Lostwrench3 said:

Anyone else old enough to remember Kresge's?

Yep. Oddly, here in little old backwater Halifax we got a Kresge store in 1963 when our first good-sized indoor mall opened up. It seemed to me very similar to Woolworth or J.J. Newberry stores. We also got our first K-Mart not long after that, around 1965. It was a huge hit. The place was always busy and did huge business.

fintail

xwesx said:

Oh, I know that Chevy squarebody pickup! I'm pretty sure it is that pile of rust behind my neighbor's house...

Looks like it was on its way then - and it was likely well under 10 years old. They don't make em like they used to (to be fair, in the rust belt later model pickups still seem to dissolve faster than most cars).

fintail

W. Georgia St, Vancouver, around the time of Expo 86 apparently, a little fuzzy but zooms fine enough to ID several:

sda

Wow, a white Rover obscured by the Ford Granada turning right.

texases

And a white GTI behind them.

stickguy

2nd (I think) gen Prelude behind the GTI. and behind that, a yellow Renault LeCar

texases

I was too quick to call that a GTI. With the round headlights it’s probably just a Rabbit with a trim stripe.

stickguy

I can't get enough resolution for my old eyes to make out the wheels on the VW, which would be the real tell.

fintail

I agree the Rabbit does not appear to be a GTI, maybe some kind of sporty trim package. Driving away next to the Prelude looks like a then-new Tercel, beside it maybe a later 70s Colt or B210?

The Rover is the oddity here, I believe sold only as official imports in 1980-1981 - I doubt it is a grey market car as few likely would bother. Note it has round headlights for DOT compliance. Even by the mid 80s they were hen's teeth.

explorerx4

Yellow Renault LeCar behind the Prelude.

Lostwrench3

I was so surprised the first time I opened the hood of a Renault LeCar to find not only the engine but the spare tire!

roadburner

Subaru did the same thing.

tjc78

No luxo barges in that 80s pic.... wouldn't have been that way in the northeast.

xwesx

roadburner said:

Subaru did the same thing.

Yes! Our 1980 Subaru wagon was like this. IIRC, it had the 1.8L horizontally-opposed engine.

fintail

Rochester MN I think, must be the first half of the 60s, zooms well enough to take your pick:

stickguy

2 early Falcons in the center section. And in the middle of that, nose of a Chevy II (Nova?) behind the VW bus

Lostwrench3

See page 1470.

fintail

Dang it I try to delete images from my machine as I post, guess I forget sometimes.

I don't think this is a rerun, Pacific Palisades in the mid 60s maybe, zooms well:

stickguy

Falcon wagon gassing up.

is the goofy import a DKW?

bhill2

You mean the beat-up Ford Anglia up front?

tmart

Flair Bird approaching.

ab348

Looks like the corner of Sunset Blvd and Via De La Paz.