Mystery car pix

fintail

I don't know what it is, but I think I see what I believe is a very interesting prewar Volvo (!) cabrio in the background. Typeface on the plates is also atypical for England, maybe this car lives in Sweden.

oregonboy

And here's the 2005 (European) version:

andys120

Typeface on the plates is also atypical for England, maybe this car lives in Sweden.

If you say so, didn't the used to drive on the Left in Sweden?
The coupe appears to be RHD. Good eye on the Volvo Cabrio.

texases

didn't the used to drive on the Left in Sweden?

I remember some photo with the cars switching sides when the law changed - anyone know when that happened? And why don't we see old RHD Swedish cars?

fintail

Yep, Sweden didn't move to 'keep right' until the late 60s, strangely enough. That mystery car could have been a private import from the UK, I think that was/is common in scandinavia to avoid high taxes.

karsick

.... that whole RHD / LHD must have made for some interesting shenanigans at the Norway/Sweden border :P :sick:

andys120

Interesting thought, it's one thing to have RHD in the British Isles, Australia or Japan, those don't border on anything.

magnette

The car is an AC Greyhound, so about 1960 - 63. And it's registered in Sweden, although whether it is a personal import or was sent there originally I wouldn't know. They didn't build many of these though, so it's quite rare here, never mind there.
I think that several countries in Europe drove on our side of the road prewar - Czechoslovakia, for a start, and I think Portugal at the beginning. Also, in Italy, until the twenties, they drove on one side in certain areas ( mainly towns) and the other side in the countryside, which must have made driving in the sububs interesting....

magnette

Re the plate of beans. that isn't neccessarily that accurate these days - we are all more aware of our carbon footprint.

andys120

Yep, it's an AC Greyhound, only 83 of them were built according to Motorbase.com between '59 and '63.

Power came from Bristol I-6s (2 or 2,2 Litres.)

andys120

rcinmd

I recall the pictures as well. Volvo 140 series in one.

The Swedish automobiles were always LHD, yet drove on the left side...must have made for interesting passing situations. Yet also made for a relatively easy transition to driving on the right.

magnette

I think a few were made with the 2.5 litre Ford straight six, as in the Zodiac as well...

magnette

I think they stopped selling RHD cars in Sweden in the early 50's, presumably when they made the decision to change over to drive on the right and I believe that actually took place in 1965 or 66. I have Motor magazine for the relevant period, and they had an article describing the changeover, which took place at something like 2:00 am on the quietest Sunday of the year, in the hope that there would be no-one on the road. Of course, people came out specially to drive on the night, so it was probably busier than normal.
I know someone from Ghana, and they changed over to drive on the right in the late 70's, I think. He said it was chaos for about a day, then everybody got used to it ...
I saw a letter in the motoring press last week which queried whether we should finally change here, which crops up as a discussion point every few years, but I recall that when our Ministry of Transport looked into this years ago they came to the conclusion that the amount of road alterations that would have been neccessary would be too high - once you build motorways with flyovers and sweeping junctions it is too late to change.
Also I've just remembered that Uruguay was RHD until the war, or thereabouts, so it wasn't just the old British Empire plus Japan...

hudsonthedog

and I believe that actually took place in 1965 or 66. I have Motor magazine for the relevant period, and they had an article describing the changeover, which took place at something like 2:00 am on the quietest Sunday of the year, in the hope that there would be no-one on the road. Of course, people came out specially to drive on the night, so it was probably busier than normal.

As I read about the situation, it was 1967 and it took two or three days to convert. The first day, only emergency vehicles were allowed out. The second day, more traffic was allowed. But again I'm going by memory on what I read.

Mr_Shiftright

hahaha...I stand corrected!

andys120

Still no takers on the junker in 13370?

Here it is again.


Going...going...

Mr_Shiftright

Some kind of Chrysler Corp leaf-blower, 1961-ish??

dougb10

A wild guess from my mispent youth....1960ish Mercury?

Doug

texases

Looks like you're right - I remember those gunsights on the fenders - here's a (slightly) better example

imidazol97

I was looking. But couldn't peg a picture for the year. The reverse C-pillar didn't look right. But it must be a 2-door hardtop.

andys120

Doug, your youth wasn't entirely
misspent, it is a 1960 Merc, can't tell if it's a Monterey or Park Lane. Mercurys of that era offered alternative rooflines. Imidazol, the pillared sedans wore an extended roof while the hardtops (two and four door wore the wraparound seen on both wrecks. Here's an Edsel with the sedan roofline>



Alternate roof styles were much in vogue during the late 50s thru the mid-60s. They made the sedans look so frumpy compared to the H/Ts that even my cost-account father sprang for the 4-dr. H/T twice ('59 Merc and '64 Pontiac).

andys120

ateixeira

You're not getting away from that Lotus Exige in any city environment.

Of course you can forget the PITT manuever.

andys120

Right you are, Juice.

andys120

are full of odd but interesting cars, have at 'em>

ateixeira

On the right in red.

andys120

Good Juice, that leaves five more that I can ID and you should be too, they're not exactly rarities.

I can't quite make out the red car to the extreme left, it looks a bit like a Fiat 2300 but it seems to tall for that.
It's either that or some obscure Simca.

ateixeira

I think I only got in to cars a decade or two after that pic.

Pretty humbling, actually.

fintail

On the left, the red car is (I think) an Opel Kadett B fastback, with a Renault (Dauphine I think) in front of it, a Peugeot 403 in front of that, a Peugeot 504 in front of that, I believe some kind of Simca in front of that, and a 2CV in front of that across the street.

On the right we have a Renault 16, a 2CV in front of that, and something I can't identify in front of that.

andys120

On the left, the red car is (I think) an Opel Kadett B fastback, with a Renault (Dauphine I think) in front of it, a Peugeot 403 in front of that, a Peugeot 504 in front of that, I believe some kind of Simca in front of that, and a 2CV in front of that across the street.

Doh! I knew the red car looked familiar! I think you're right, that explains why it's relatively tall and the black stripe along the side was common on Kadetts. I don't think the car at the head of that row is a Simca, it sure looks like a Fiat 124 to me.

On the right we have a Renault 16, a 2CV in front of that, and something I can't identify in front of that.

Do you see more than one 2CV? I only see the red one ahead of the R16.

fintail

Yes, the car at the head of the row looks very much like a Fiat 124 or maybe a 125.

There's a 2CV across the street in front of that car.

mackabee

Prius undergoing stress tests under extreme heat in Arizona desert. Reported 100mpg EPA rating.


Mackabee
link title

Mr_Shiftright

Let's see...I'll need some Q-tips, a roll of toilet paper, and um.....one XXXXXXXXX battery please.

imidazol97

That battery is not rechargeable.

andys120

karsick

Let's see....

1) rollcage
2) Japanese license
3) roof vent
4) mudflaps
5) knobbly tires
6) 15" un-dubs painted white
7) a crew of two with Peltor intercoms

I'm guessing that this new Lancer Evolution XIMCLV is the "zero car" for the WRC Rally Japan being contested this weekend.

Hmmmmm.... my favorite sport! :P

andys120

I'm not good at Roman numerals but as far as Autoblog.com is concerned it's a Mitsubishi EVO X Group N rally car.

andys120

kyfdx

'67 Camaro..

texases

'68? Side marker lights...

andys120

You're right, Texases, Side Marker lights were legally required on all '68s sold in the USA. That Camaro looks pretty sporty but it's a 6 cylinder w A/T (a lot of 'em were so equipped).

Vinyl roofs were quite popular in that day, I'd say nearly half the Pony cars had 'em, convertibles excepted.

andys120

urnews

1963-64 Plymouth?

andys120

It's a '63 Belvedere.

andys120

subearu

AMC Matador Coupe, 1974 - 1978

-Brian

hudsonthedog

I'm guessing that this new Lancer Evolution XIMCLV...

I'm not good at Roman numerals...

Neither is Karsick.

texases

Not sure I can tell you why, but I think these Matador coupes weren't bad, mid-70s wise. Certainly distinctive, and if they would have dropped the vinyl roof, kinda sleek. Not a big fan of the whitewalls, either...

andys120