Mystery car pix

texases

1955 Lancia B20?

andys120

You're close it's a '58. The Lancia B20 was sold as the Lancia Aurelia GT and is thought be many to be the first modern Gran turismo design. It also pioneered the use of V6 power.

andys120

fintail

68 Ford Torino (GT?)

imidazol97

That picture looks a little sleeker than I remember the original (having seen them in car shows since that was before my time ). I used to be a Ford fan. Like a lot of ad art in that era, the car has been stylized?

andys120

Like a lot of ad art in that era, the car has been stylized?

Ya think?

andys120

Seat belts were probably not original to this car.

imidazol97

Let's try a 1957 Chevrolet.

wgrafer

My first guess was a 1955 Chevrolet BelAir 2-door Hardtop, but then I realized it could be just about any 1955-1957 GM 2-door hardtop! The seat covers don't appear to be original, so the only clues are the shape of the window (with that curious little '55-57 GM 'dip'), the window crank (looks like Chevy to me), and the lack of a rear speaker grille in the seat (indicates a less expensive model), and the color (if original, works for all 3 years). This is a tough one...

imidazol97

What about the fake rivets in the window trip? Meant to give convertible look?

andre1969

I don't think those are fake rivets...they look like a reflection of the chrome bows in the ceiling. And yeah, that interior has been totally redone, with nothing original that I can identify. There's something about it that wants me to say it's a '55-57 GM A-body (Chevy/Pontiac), rather than a '54-56 B- or C-body (Buick/Olds/Cadillac). The B/C-body was totally redesigned for '57, and would look nothing like that.

Looking at the way the two-toning seems to break right at that dip, I'm inclined to narrow it down to a '55-56 Chevy. The '55-56 Pontiac's 2-toning broke further forward, while the '57 Pontiac had a spear on the side, with no vertical lines in the break. And the '57 Chevy had that anodized aluminum trim on the rear quarter.

andys120

It's a '56 Bel Air. It's not stock underhood either (350CID).

andys120

fintail

Old = Ferrari 275GTB, new = Ferrari 599 GTB

andys120

Yep, the 275 is a GTB/4.

andys120

lemko

1947 or 1948 Chevrolet Fleetmaster two-door sedan. Can't tell exactly what year because the nose is cropped. The 1948 model's grille is split by thick vertical chrome piece

lostwrench

You are correct, it could be a 48, depending on the nose.

andys120

It's a '48 Chevy.

andys120

Limited production coachwork, different from more common factory body >

steelydanfan

I dunno, I'm thinking Italian here.....possibly a Lancia . I have a Matchbox car collection from the 60's , and my little green Lancia (can't remember the model) looked like this beauty. I'm thinking , 1964ish here.

Fun discussion thread here..........Thanks!

andys120

Nope, sorry Don, not a Lancia and not even Italian and you're off by a decade, that is a ca.1955 automobile.

fintail

I also collect Matchbox...I bet this is the car you are thinking of:



That's a Ferrari. I don't think there was a regular wheels Matchbox Lancia.

I cheated for the mystery car, I won't blab it.

kyfdx

Off Topic..

Hey, fintail..

'98 C43 AMG in the paper today... 72K miles.. asking $16,500.. Doesn't say what color..

andys120

I had that same matchbox (Ferrari 250GT Lusso) back in the mid '60s

Here's a clue for #16540: Take a good look at the nose and the grille.

subearu

I had to peek on that pic, thought it was Italian as well. Can't say that I've seen that Spaniard before....whoops...that might be a hint :shades:

don't peek here if you don't want to see the answer

-Brian

karsick

The only 2 Espanish makes I can think of are SEAT and Pegasus, so this is a custom-bodied version of the latter? :confuse:

I like the greenhouse, but the Facel Vega-ish nose doesn't harmonize here.

fintail

Might be good if the car is really pristine...but the values on these things are not holding firm, and they continue to depreciate in light of gas prices. I have seen more worn ones for 10K ish. Early E55s continue to depreciate as well (and I have read W211 E55s are depreciating easily at 1K/month). If everything is sorted, the earlier AMG cars are not a bad buy, lots of bang for the buck

magnette

It's a Pegaso - I've never seen this coachwork before, and as most of the production cars were the Z102 model, I'm guessing Z103.

magnette

The green Matchbox Ferrari looks like a 250GT Lusso, one of the best looking of all Ferraris in my opinion - probably not in that colour though,

andys120

Yep it's a Pegaso, a 1955 Z102 with coachwork by Sauotchik, the French coachbuilder known for it's flamboyant style. Here's the normal factory body, note the nose, with the gunsight theme like a current Dodge that also appears on the Sauotchik car.>

fintail

Yep that's what it is, a Berlinetta Lusso. Always one of my faves as well.

andys120

kyfdx

'90 Mazda 929?

karsick

On this side of the pond, Mazda started selling that curvaceous 929 version for the 1991 model year (also when they intro'd that strange logo).

I really dug those at the time (a reliable, cheaper Jag-u-ar). IIRC they had some gimmicky solar-powered cooling fan built into the moonroof.

andys120

'90 Mazda 929?

Yup.

andys120

lemko

...the beautiful Mazda 929 was supposed to have been the premier car of Mazda's own luxury division called Amati.

andys120

Yep, that's my recollection as well.

steelydanfan

fintail, dude, that is the car I have and was thinking of. I am eternally sorry I do not have the boxes for my little Matchbox collection ........I do however, have the official yellow and blue Matchbox carrying case (holds 72 cars).........

Many thanks for the photo and I will get reacquainted with my collection soon, I obviously have some remedial work to do soon.........

stevedebi

"
Many thanks for the photo and I will get reacquainted with my collection soon, I obviously have some remedial work to do soon........."

Hmmm, maybe a new thread "Mystery Matchbox Cars"?

steelydanfan

lemko, I also recall the never-launched Amati premier division of Mazda. The other vehicle that was to have been an Amati was the Mazda Millenia S , with it's optional Miller cycle (not sure what that meant) supercharger .

subearu

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller_cycle

-Brian

fintail

Cool idea...I'd be as good at that as I am here :P

andys120

I think everyone's forgotten about #16554, how convenient.

Here it is again>

magnette

It looks a bit like a Woodill Wildfire ?

andys120

Atta boy Magnette, it's a series 2 Woodill Wildfire ca. mid 1950's.

andys120

magnette

Is this one of those Canadian badge-engineered Chevy II derivatives - Acadian ?

wgrafer

Looks like a 1963 Pontiac Acadian.