Mystery car pix

texases

So what do you make of this?
Best of both worlds?

hudsonthedog

"As for the Toyota p/up rebadge job, the logo sorta looks like a SSangyong, but I don't think it si as they usually knock off MB."

It's definitely not a Ssangyong, and Ssangyong doesn't "knock off MB." Daimler-Benz owned part of Ssangyong back in the 1990s and helped the Korean company start car production with an old E-Class renamed Chairman. It was not a knock off but a licensed product.

The rest of the Ssangyong line up is unique to Ssangyong but had been powered by a Mercedes-Benz licensed diesel engine.

Mr_Shiftright

Just kill me now so I don't have to witness the result.

andys120

seminole_kev

70's Maserati of some sort?

jbollt

I believe it is an early 70s, say 1972 or 73, Maserati Ghibli

Mr_Shiftright

That driving position can ONLY be Italian--LOL! Legs stretched all the way out, arms hunched up like a gorilla!

andre1969

Actually, that's the kind of driving position I prefer, one where I can stretch my legs out, but not have too far of a reach with my arms. Judging from the way the carpeting on the transmission hump is worn, I'd say that footroom down in that well is pretty tight.

ateixeira

That made me LOL.

Mr_Shiftright

I also like that driving position. There's no reason to have your foot jammed in that car. The driver must have been huge.

andys120

Exactly!

andys120

ateixeira

No idea. No logo to even give us a hint.

boomchek

I thought it might be some kind of a DKW, as it has similiar lines, but they never made angular boxy looking things like this iirc.

Maybe some kind of a Trabant prototype?

It doesn't look American because of the style, or the location of the mirrors.

For some reason I think the picture is shot on the shores of the Mediterrenean sea. So could it be Greek? (don't think they made any cars), Israeli? (not much of an auto industry there either though), or Italian? (too ugly for Italy).

Ok so I narrow it down to either France, or Germany as the country of origin.

But I'm stumped on this one.

fintail

I'm getting the Israeli vibe too, it has no styling at all.

Mr_Shiftright

Looks like something they'd drop to paratroopers as ground transport.

I'm going to guess some obscure European, limited production thingie---maybe Spain.

andys120

Israeli? (not much of an auto industry there either though)

No there's not much of an auto industry in Israel but in the early 60s the Autocars Co. Ltd. of Haifa made a line of "Sabra cars (with technical assistance from Reliant Ltd).
The blocky sedan is a 1963 Sabra Carmel. If you think that looks bad you should see the wagon. :P

imidazol97

There's something about those headlights and their size and position...

urnews

Interesting link.

fintail

"with technical assistance from Reliant Ltd"

Famous last words, maybe

andys120

should be easy but how 'bout the year?

imidazol97

1965. The prettiest style of all, IMHO.

andys120

Nope, it's not a '65.

imidazol97

I'll go with 1966.

andys120

Sorry, it's a 1967. :shades:

andys120

texases

Hmm...Wikipedia says those should have 5-louver fenders:

fintail

Lancia...Appia?

imidazol97

All these convertibles are pretty.

1967


1966


1965

andys120

Lancia...Appia?

Keerect, that's a 1956 Lancia Appia C10 S2.

andys120

My bad Imidazol, apparently the dude in the NYT
doesn't know what year his car is :sick but you are correct, the blue convertible is a '65 or '66.

Corvettes of the C1 and C2 years generally saw slight changes in grillework or trim from one year to another. I was told by an owner that it's impossible to differentiate between a '59 and a '60 w/o recourse to the VIN unless you're knowledgeable about factory color options. Perhaps this is the case with '65 and '66, I sure can't tell one from another.

oregonboy

Matt's car




james

texases

'66 Valiant?

bumpy

This thing was apparently buried in a pile of junk cars being scrapped out.

andys120

My first guess was '57 Imperial (nothin' says 50's Imperial like those gunsight tailights )
but a quick round of Google revealed that it is in fact a '62 'Perial, like this Imperial Le Baron.>

texases

Funny how Imperials just never quite clicked with people, compared to Cadillacs and Lincolns.

andys120

Well there were a bunch of reasons for that. When I was growing up in the 50s they were marketed as Chrysler Imperials which is kind of like saying Mercury Lincoln or Buick Cadillac.

Here's some guys who REALLY love Imperials.

Mr_Shiftright

Contrast and compare to a '62 Cadillac or Lincoln and we can plainly see why the Imperial was not popular.

However, grotesque as it is, in its defense it had a helluva good powertrain.

andys120

fintail

Ford Prefect I think

Mr_Shiftright

Those Prefects have the cutest little engine. You can just pick it up and hug it.

stever

The mystery is just how bad of shape it's in.



link

Mr_Shiftright

I'll take "disasters" for $100, Steve!

karsick

Guessing here....

1957 Plymouth Fury?

texases

Yes, just funny how some outrageous stuff ages better than others:

stever

Pretty good guess - right year and make, but it's a Belvedere.



updated story

andys120

Ford Prefect I think

Nope but no doubt it's related, it's a '57 English Ford Squire.

andys120

It's a '59 Caddy, probably an Eldorado. I know lots of people like them but IMO it epitomizes the worst in 1950's wretched over-chromed excess.

british_rover

It's a '59 Caddy, probably an Eldorado. I know lots of people like them but IMO it epitomizes the worst in 1950's wretched over-chromed excess.

True but that is whats great about them.

texases

You two summed it up - there's something in the Caddy's style that makes the wretched excess great, while the Imperial's is more, well, wierd.