Mystery car pix

andys120

magnette

Well, this looks like a real "old lady only used it to go to church" type of car.

Fiat-Abarth ( or Abarth-Fiat ) but which model - there are loads of varieties...

I would guess it's a 1000TCR, but it might be an 850TCR, or almost any combination of letters and numbers between 600 and 1300. Basic shell is of course a 600, but the engine will be bored-out, and probably with a red-line somewhere in the 9000's....Great fun, though I would imagine it might make you deaf if driven flat out...

lemko

I was shopping for a new car, which one's me?
A cool convertible or an SUV?
Too bad I didn't know my credit was whack
So I'm driving off the lot in a used subcompact!

F-R-E-E, that spells "free" Credit Report dot com, baby!
Saw their ads on my TV
Thought about going but was too lazy

So instead of lookin' fly and rollin' phat
My legs are sticking to the vinyl and my posse's getting laughed at!
F-R-E-E, that spells "free" Credit Report dot com, baby!

lemko

My girlfriend's first new car was a blue 1986 Chevrolet Sprint with the neck-snapping 1.0 litre three-cylinder. Prior to that, she was driving a 1966 Ford Galaxie 500.

andys120

Given current gas prices the dopey kid in the FreeCreditReport.com ad is lucky he couldn't buy an SUV.

andys120

Yep, it's a Fiat-Abarth 850, late '60s, essentially a 600 shell, with a heavily reworked engine. If TSR stands for Twin-Cam Racing, it's prolly one of those. These were fun to watch at the track screaming around w their decklids wide open to facilitate cooling. :shades:

andys120

This beauty is from AMC's Mad Men, a big favorite of mine:

magnette

Well, I think this is a 1959 Buick - as to the model I don't know if there was an Electra drophead, but if not is it a LeSabre ?

hudsonthedog

The car in the commercial is a FIRST generation Geo Metro. And I think the same thing as Andys whenever the commercial comes on TV...he's lucky!

ateixeira

My girlfriend's first new car was a blue 1986 Chevrolet Sprint with the neck-snapping 1.0 litre three-cylinder

48 furious horses!

Later models got up to 55 hp, now there's a rocket!

The Suzuki Swift GT, though, wasn't too bad. It was a tin can, but I think it had 90hp and it was pulling almost no weight, so it managed to be fun.

fezo

Prior to that, she was driving a 1966 Ford Galaxie 500.

I remember those! My dad had one and I put a lot of miles on it. It was actually pretty decent for what it was but I hated the power steering on it. One sneeze and you could be off the road. Very touchy. OTOH he had a 70 Ford Custom without the power steering. That was the hardest steering car I think I ever dealt with.

subearu

I had an '87 Sprint Metro, which was just like the '86 really. There was also a Sprint Turbo with something like 75hp...probably a 50% boost of power.

-Brian

andys120

You're off by a year Mag, '59 and '60 Buicks were very similar from any distance but the rounded leading edges on the fenders indicate that's a 1960 model, an Invicta.

Mad Men's producers go to great lengths to recapture the look, feel and language of Madison Avenue in 1960, it's like a time warp.

michaellno

IIRC, the Swift GT had 100 neck-snapping HP. At the time it was available, I thought it was weak, but in retrospect, it probably didn't weigh all that much, so it probably had decent giddy-up for the time.

Same is true with the early 90's Civic Si .. 110HP, I believe. I almost bought one.

andre1969

My 1985 Consumer Guide has a test of a Chevy Sprint, with the 1.0/stick. They tended to like it overall, and while they didn't publish a 0-60 time, they said that Chevy claimed about 12 seconds for 0-60. Which, for that era, ain't half bad. Heck, they tested a BMW 3-series at something like 11.4, with a stick.

hotrod_vw

care to guess the year?

andys120

That VW has either been modified or is a non US Spec car. All US Spec cars had fender-top mounted turn signals after 1958 AFAIK, before that they were just above the bumper on the lower edge of the fender. This car has turn signals in the bumpers which I do not think US Spec cars had, nor do I recall any VW Bug with stock wheels painted to match. The wide whitewalls are a 1950s style that was seldom seen on Volkswagens.

Edit:I found a pic of a similar '78 VW 1700 from Ecuador that has the flat windshield and bumper mounted signals, no doubt it was built at VW do Brasil.>

lemko

Wow, I gotta watch that show. I remember a great show from the 1980s called Crime Story that replicated 1963 Chicago pretty well.

andys120

I rented Crime Story recently, it's a blast.

The new season of MM starts July 2 on AMC.

hudsonthedog

The Suzuki Swift GT/GTi had 100hp and weighed 1,800lbs or so (I still have one). It's great fun to drive, but so were the smaller Swifts (US models had 70hp 1.3L fours) and Sprint/Metros (48-55hp threes, 70hp turbo three, 70hp four). Someone once said that it's more fun to drive a slow car to 90-95% than to drive a fast car to 40%.

hudsonthedog

I'm going to say that this is a 2003 Volkswagen Sedan Ultima Edicion.

andys120

nortsr1

Lincoln MKS (autoblog!!!!)

bumpy

Lincoln MK S.O.S.

andys120

Yep, it's '09 MKS.

andys120

fintail

Some kind of early 60s Lancia

hotrod_vw

The bug is a 2003 mexican "Ultima Edition". Built to commemorate the final run.

andys120

The bug is a 2003 mexican "Ultima Edition"

Do you suppose they were still using the turn signals that flip out of the B-pillar in Mexico??

guss

subearu

Is that the new Mazda6? It looks like it from the front pieces I can see (comparing to pics I've seen recently in the auto 'rags). Haven't seen a pure side shot of the '6 though.

-Brian

guss

You got it Brian. This is the US version, you may have seen pics of the European version that came out a few months ago. We get a larger version in August.

andys120

british_rover

Honda CRX looks like a 1991 but can't tell for sure. I can't see enough of the back or the side to see what trim level it is but I do not think it is a Si.

guss

should dig up the blueprints for that CRX, I bet they would sell 100k units per year. Simple can be timeless.

british_rover

Too bad it would weigh 3,000 lbs now.

andys120

Some kind of early 60s Lancia

Can anybody be more specific re: Post #17005?

andys120

Too late! It's a 1962-3 Lancia Flavia Vignale Convertible, perhaps the first FWD convertible of the post-war era.

bumpy

I think it is an Si. The tiny little red blob in the lower right corner of the peekaboo hatch glass, the twin exhaust tips, and the fancy rims equals not-your-average-CRX.

steelydanfan

I agree Bumpy, I think it is an Si also. Honda is very proud of those dual exhaust tips......

andys120

Yep it's an Si, a 1991.

andys120

subearu

The year was easy (nothing like big bold numbers on the front plate), but I believe that is a '77 Pontiac Firebird Esprit.

-Brian

andre1969

Good Lord, I'm hearing the "Universal Telephone ring" right now...the same one they've used since probably before "Leave it to Beaver", and seems to get more warbled with age!

I know most people consider cars to have gotten uglier looking as the 70's went on, but I've always thought the '77-78 Firebiird/TA was pretty attractive. I didn't really care so much for the '79-81, the one where the grille openings were down in the bumper.

andys120

Well I agree that the '77-'78 F-birds were attractive but not so much compared to the '70-'71 which was IMO the best year for Firebird styling,

andys120

guss

Fiat 124 Spider about 1972?

hudsonthedog

With all of those Fiats, should we assume that this picture was taken in Italy?

andys120

It is indeed a Fiat 124 Sport Spider, almost identical to the '71 Positano Yellow 1608cc Spider I owned. The movie it's from is a 1968 flic so it it's the earlier 1966-'69 1438cc
car. I note the apparent absence of the head rests and side marker fitted to US Spec cars.

andys120

With all of those Fiats, should we assume that this picture was taken in Italy?

It's from an Italian movie, Amanti but I'm not sure the white sedans are both Fiats. Anyone?