Mystery car pix

andys120

Yep, it's a '63 Pontiac Acadian, a badge-engineered Chevy II.

andys120

michaellno

Buick Skylark - say, 1977 or so.

This one probably had either the 231 V6 or the 305 V8.

When I was in HS / college, I owned a sibling of this car - 1979 Pontiac Sunbird. Mine only had the 2.5L 4-cyl "Iron Duke" engine with a 4 speed manual.

kyfdx

Isn't that a SkyHawk?

michaellno

Oh yeah. Huh.

You're right .. Skylark was from the 60's.

D'oh!

steelydanfan

I thought the Buick Skyhawk name was used in the early 1980's when the Chevy Cavalier/Pontiac Sunbird/Oldsmobile Omega Platform came out.............This one could still have been called the Skylark.

I say the jury is still hung on this one............. :confuse:

texases

The pics that come up when I Google 'Buick Skyhawk' include both the Monza and Cavalier twins....

kyfdx

I was shopping for my first new car in 1977... It's a SkyHawk..

andys120

No it's not, it's a '78 Chevy Monza.

kyfdx

Ahh.... I guess the big S word down there is Spyder.. :surprise:

andys120

steelydanfan

I know Buick also used the name Skyhawk in the early-mid 1980's for a FWD twin of the Chevy Cavalier/Pontiac Sunbird . Buick has used the name Skylark off and on in the 60's , 70's, and possibly even in the 80's with a FWD 4 door twin of the Chevy Malibu........

I say the jury is still out on this one. I know a Buick Skyhawk from the early 1980's existed as a 2 door coupe . Let's face it, these were confusing times for GM, and here we are confused even today.................... :confuse:

steelydanfan

Renault Alpine Turbo ??? Circa late '70's /early '80s

rcinmd

Lamborghini Espada, without our big bumpers

michaellno

but, the following articles should provide some clarity:

Buick Skyhawk

First generation (1975-1980) was a twin to the Chevy Monza and Oldsmobile Starfire.

Buick Skylark

The Skylark, in the late 1970's, was the two door hatch and coupe sibling to the Chevy Nova. The four door sedan was called the Buick Apollo.

andys120

Yep, it's an Espada, Euro-spec, as implied by the plate in the big F on the rear.

british_rover

No cheating.

andys120

Not a clue but it sure looks dumb! Looks like somebody grafted a Lamborghini on top of a high-rise 4x4 pickup. :sick:

stever

Another one via Straightline (and no spoiler at the link, except maybe in the comments).

andys120

Looks like a Lancia Gamma, late '80s.

andre1969

Buick has used the name Skylark off and on in the 60's , 70's, and possibly even in the 80's with a FWD 4 door twin of the Chevy Malibu........

The Skylark name has been used on a lot of cars over the years. It started off in 1953-54 as a limited production, VERY high priced convertible.

In 1961, the name would return as the top trim level for the Buick Special. In 1964, that platform went midsized, and the Skylark name continued in use until 1972. For 1973, the new Buick intermediates were renamed Century, and the Skylark name disappeared momentarily.

In 1973, Buick got a rebadged Nova, calling it Apollo, and that got them back into the compact market. For 1975, the Skylark name was reapplied here.

In 1980, the Skylark was Buick's version of the Chevy Citation...the notorious X-car. That car got such a bad rap in general that the names Citation, Phoenix, and Omega would never be used again, because of the baggage associated with them. However, the Skylark somehow escaped that rap, and for 1986 the name was applied to the 4-door version of the N-body (Pontiac Grand Am). It was fairly popular for awhile, but an awkward 1992 restyle pretty much killed sales, and it pretty much limped along as a rental car favorite for the rest of its life. In fact, around 1996 or so, they made the car fleet-only, sort of like the Chevy Classic.

stever

A new member asked me to post this unknown family vehicle - they were probably taken some time between 1947 and 1949 so they very well may be pre-WWII.

kyfdx

No real clue... but, it looks similar in size to a Crosley..

carylc

I am the new member - watching responses. I just googled the crosley and it does look very similar, but the grill is different. The goofy paint job matches.

fintail

Yep that's a Crosley Station Wagon, ca. 1946-49

stever

Are these guys good or what.

Hey, I see you figured out how to post to your CarSpace Album and put the other two photos up. Good job!

carylc's Album

texases

" I just googled the crosley and it does look very similar, but the grill is different. "

I think they had numerous styles. Didn't Frank Lloyd Wright use them? Here's a pic of him in one.

andys120

but, it looks similar in size to a Crosley..

It is a Crosley, the popular station wagon variant,I couldn't find a photo of one with that same grille but it's definitely a Crosley.

This is a 1950 Crosley s/w>
.

imidazol97

The Crosley is a 1946-1948



By the odds it's a 1948, because there were many more of the built that year than any other station wagon.

A little history on the name. Powel Crosley had a radio station and was his own disc jockey. By 1936 it had 500,000 watts and is now 700 WLW, used to be Crosley Broadcasting. He built refrigerators with shelves in the door after that--Crosley Shelvador. He saved the Cinci Reds by buying the failing team during the 30s. They played at Crosley Field in honor of him (some of the seats were saved and are in a regular baseball field and can be seen from the eastbound I275 on the north side of town just before the ramp to I71 south--for the baseball buffs!!!). A Crosley sports car won at Sebring in 1950. So we shouldn't laugh at that little car (I did when I saw them as a kid, in a museum of course.)

andys120

magnette

The two Euro-boxes are Talbot Tagoras, Early 80's. and the lighter blue car in the background is a mid-50's Simca Aronde, I think.

magnette

The huge French coupe is a Mega-Track made by Aixam, who are better known for their microcars. Mid-engined Mercedes-Benz 6 litre V12 I can't imagine they have built many, although they were on sale in the late 90's, and probably still available until about 2002/3. Never seen one, I would imagine they are mostly sold in the Middle-East...

british_rover

Yeah you got it. According to the source I got the pic from they only built sixteen or so cars.

magnette

There isn't enough room in Europe for any more....

steelydanfan

andre1969, Thanks for your accurate chronology of the "Skylark" name as used by Buick.

Your info ties in with my recollection perfectly. The name "Skyhawk" was used by Buick only , I believe, in the early to mid '80s for Buick's version of the G-Car Platform that was GM's attempt to resurrect it's FWD stumble with the X Cars. Like the X Car , the G Platform was FWD, but a little smaller, more upscale, and designed to appeal to a younger crowd with names like the Oldsmobile Omega, Buick Skyhawk, and the value leader Chevrolet Cavalier.

texases

That's the 2nd gen. Skyhawk, right? per wikipedia: "The first-generation Buick Skyhawk was a rear-wheel drive subcompact sporty hatchback coupe introduced in the fall of 1974 as a 1975 model, along with its corporate clones, the Chevrolet Monza 2+2 and the Oldsmobile Starfire."

steelydanfan

That's the 2nd generation Skyhawk . They were all based on the G Platform, and I left one more model out on my 1st post. The Cadillac Cimarron . This model gave Cadillac a black eye as not being "Cadillac worthy, " and marked a low point for GM's "badge engineering ." I think Cadillac wanted to steal a few BMW 318/325 sales in the late 80's, optimistic thinking for what was basically a loaded Chevy Cavalier with leather, alloys, sunroof, and a 2.8 V6 shoehorned into the engine bay.........

andys120

british_rover

Supra probably a turbo with the wing removed.

andys120

I dunno if it's a Turbo but it is a late 90's Supra.

andre1969

Well, by the 1980's, the G-platform was what GM called their RWD intermediates. They had intended to replace the Malibu, LeMans, and everything else with the FWD A-body (Celebrity, 6000, etc). However, the RWD cars were still selling fairly well, so GM changed their platform designation to G for 1982.

Now, I can't remember what GM called the platform the 70's Monza, Starfire, Sunbird, and Skyhawk were on, but it was derived from the Vega. The 1982+ version, which included the Cavalier, Sunbird, Firenza, Skyhawk, and Cimarron, was the J-body.

For 1985, GM launched the N-body. It was based on the J-body, but a little larger and plusher, and initially available only as a coupe. It was sold as the Pontiac Grand Am, Buick Somerset Regal, and Olds Calais. This platform was designed in a time when everybody thought gas was going to be scarce and $3.00 per gallon, so this was actually originally intended to be a downsized Monte Carlo, Grand Prix, Cutlass Supreme, and Regal replacement, but once the fuel started flowing freely again and those cars began to sell well again (except the Grand Prix), GM decided to hang onto those older cars, and try to market these things as upscale, yuppie, BMW contenders. They were fairly popular for awhile, especially once the 4-doors launched for 1986, but I doubt if they swayed too many BMW buyers. :shades:

andys120

what the heck is that anonymous blue sedan the celebrity guests drive on Top Gear?

magnette

It's a Chevrolet Epica ( nee Daiwoo)

hudsonthedog

Now, I can't remember what GM called the platform the 70's Monza, Starfire, Sunbird, and Skyhawk were on...

They were H-bodies.

andys120

It's a Chevrolet Epica ( nee Daiwoo)

It's a Daewoo/Chevy all right but not an Epica, it's a Lacetti

texases

magnette

Fair enough - they do look quite similar...

magnette

I think this is a Salmson, at least it looks like one. Not sure of the model, but they stopped production in about 1954.

texases

Yes, a Salmson, one source has it a '54, one a '57.

ateixeira

AKA Suzuki Forenza here in the US.