Mystery car pix

bumpy

boomchek

I have no idea was the Esperao was based on. I know the styling was done by Bertone but I can't5 think of any other car that shares it's platform.

boomchek

No, an early 90s Honda Beat sold I think everyhwere but N.A.

This one looks to have NSX tailight conversion, as they didn't come like that originally.

chuck1959

It's amazing to me to see so many of these still. Especially the sedans. The coupe is my fav.

bumpy

NSX nose conversion, too.

bumpy

boomchek

Picture not showing

andys120

It's amazing when you think that 25 years after that Cutlass was America's best seller, there is no more Oldsmobile and no one can sell a big two-door.

Most of the Cutlasses I've seen are/were two-door coupes by at least 2:1 over 4-doors.

andys120

kyfdx

Mercury Zephyr? I'd say Ford Fairmont, but I think the Merc had the hood ornament.

andys120

It's a Zephyr all right.

andys120

This one's from Jean-Luc Godard's Weekend (1967) which probably had more wrecks than The Blues Brothers: :surprise:

derrado1

The GM J Platform. Well, it was closer to a second-gen Vauxhall Cavalier than it was to a Chevy Cavalier, but it's still a J-car. And it lasted 'till 1997.

bumpy

Try this one:

andys120

The cars from Weekend are (right to left) a '62 (German) Ford Taunus 12M. followed by a similar vintage NSU Sport Prinz. A ca. 1960 Facel-Vega Facellia can be seen just beyond the NSU.

andys120

derrado1

Is that the revised Toyota Landcruiser 70 Series? First I heard of it was in the Brisbane Motor Show pamphlett that came in the mail yesterday.

I never see any 70 Series Landcruisers but I presume they're a dime a dozen in rural areas. And thankfully, I'm seeing less and less soccer moms in new Landcruisers and Landcruiser Prados. I think they're slowly gravitating towards new crossovers. Thank goodness.

boomchek

Looks like an Opel Rekord/Vauxhall Carlton, early 80s. And looks like it's wearing an Irmscher body kit.

The company made many styling products for Opels, not sure if they're still popular or even around.

I'm thinking the front end has been changed or this is a very early 80s model as the Rekords/Carltons had composite one piece flush halogen headlamps instead of the quad square ones.

bumpy

The front end is different because it's an Isuzu Aska, their rendition of the old J-body. Irmscher did a turbo 2.0 version of the Aska in 1985, hence the body kit.

andys120

Yep, that's the pickup version of the LC/70. I wonder why they don't sell the 70 series in the USA?

andys120

magnette

Sorry, been away from the computer for days, time to catch up a bit...

The red rocket is a Mini De Tomaso, circa 1977-82. DeTomaso took control of Innocenti when Leyland pulled the plug in 1976, and sold out to Fiat in 82.

magnette

The red MG Magnette which was posted a few days ago is a ZB Varitone, which was usually offered with two-tone paint. I think they offered it with single colours towards the end of production, late 58 into 59. The Varitone with it's wider back window and chrome strip right along the side was actually sold at the same time as the regular ZB which had a smaller back window, as on the ZA. I can never understand why they did that, as it must have cost them something to produce two basically identical cars, with only trim to seperate them, unless they had a surplus of original bodyshells or something.
My Magnette, which is still languishing in Wales as a habitat for spiders, is a ZA, similar but with trim differences from the ZB.

The Honda Beat, which you showed in modified form, was never offered in UK by Honda, but there are a fair number here as grey imports.

Finally, the Austin A40 sports which you showed a day or two back, alongside the Singer Roadster, was bodied by Jensen - it even has scaled down styling similar to the contemporary Jensen Interceptor, which used an Austin Princess A135 engine.

magnette

I think the 62 Taunus 12M was the first front wheel drive Ford, anywhere.

andys120

Thanks for that Magnette, I had no idea it was FWD.

bumpy

Chicken tax mostly, and the Tacoma and FJ Cruiser are built off the LC Prado platform anyway.

andys120

Mr_Shiftright

Alors! I see the Lion of Belfort!

oregonboy

Strange wiper configuration on the Peugeot (what is it, like a 604, maybe late 70s... I'm purely guessing)

Those wipers leave large unwiped areas in both upper corners, but the plus side is that most of the wiped area gets double wiped!! :confuse:

james

fintail

Yep, 604, a French Mercedes without much of what makes a Mercedes good

andys120

Not a bad guess, it's a 1979 Pug 604.

andys120

brooster54

I'm late plugging in - I think it's a 1966 Buick Lesabre. I owned one once, 4 door hardtop. Couldn't kill the drive train; body fell off though...

fintail

Rover 2000 or 3500...I would guess 2000 somehow

andys120

Yup, Rover 2000TC ca. 1967. IIRC the Rover 3500 wore styled wheels rather than wheel covers.

andys120

From L.A. Confidential (1997):

Mr_Shiftright

Lessee...Jaguar XK120 and a '41 or '46 Packard.

andys120

Yep, that's a pretty easy one for us old timers, eh Shifty.

andys120

british_rover

Here you go...

lemko

Can't tell if that's a side marker light on the front or a nameplate. The car's either a 1967 or 1968 Marlin. They switched from the Classic platform to the Ambassador platform in 1967.

bumpy

Probably a side marker since there's another blob on the rear quarter panel, and something that looks like a badge behind the front wheel.

Mr_Shiftright

Well it was real easy for me because I owned a Jaguar like that and my dad used to work for Packard, so yeah, it was a slam dunk. But I can identify most years and eras except the 1980s, when my eyelids just glaze over---just like they did when those cars FIRST came out! (I didn't notice them then and so I guess I don't now---makes sense).

british_rover

But I can identify most years and eras except the 1980s, when my eyelids just glaze over---just like they did when those cars FIRST came out! (I didn't notice them then and so I guess I don't now---makes sense).

Just like that 'unloved when new unloved when old' saying.

Mr_Shiftright

There you go---I'm living proof of that theorem. I'd no sooner restore an 80s car than I would a dead seagull.

british_rover

Oh but there are a handful of good 80's cars.

The GNX is one...

Err There must be others right? :confuse:

andys120

ateixeira

Don't think anyone replied to that one.

Corolla GT-S, first generation that went FWD.

The prior models (AE86 IIRC) are popular on the drift scene and have become valuable all of the sudden.

-juice

fintail

Matra Murena?

andre1969

was also when Detroit quit making year-to-year styling changes, so that makes it harder to pinpoint the exact year of a car. While the changes were often less drastic in the 70's, they still often made minor corrections here and there. For example, the Chevy Caprice had a different grille in '77, 78, 79, and 80. But then the 1981-85 Caprices were indistinguishable from each other. The '86-90 would have been too, except that the '86 still had quad headlights, while the rest had composites.

And since then, I guess it's only gotten worse trying to narrow a car down to a specific year. Now I can usually pick out a 2000 Intrepid base model, simply because the 1998-99 had 15" wheels with a different wheelcover. The 2000 went to a 16" wheel. For 2001, they started calling the base model "SE" and stuck that label on the little black spacer behind the rear door window.

But the only reason I know that is because I have a 2000 Intrepid. If I'd never bought one, I probably wouldn't notice the differences on any of them.