Mystery car pix

jlbl

Wow!! Exactly. I was not confident it would take so little time to have it recognized. Magnette, you are a real connoisseur.

It looks like an Autonacional Biscuter

It is a Biscuter Zapatilla, 1953. 197 cc., 1 cyl. Chain transmission, but only to the frontal right wheel. No back gear. It was made following the design of the French Gabriel Voisin, who sold it to Autonacional Co. in Barcelona.

Here are some more pictures.









Although the Biscuter (from biscuit) was not exactly popular, they sold quite a number of them. 'You are as ugly as a Biscuter', people used to say at the epoque.

Regards,
Jose

andys120

It looks like across between a golf cart and a 2CV.

jlbl

At that time even having a Biscuter was luxurious. No other national car was made. All cars in the streets were either imported or leftovers from the Civil War. SEAT 600, which was made in Barcelona under FIAT license from 1957 onwards, was the first really popular car, although in fact only middle class families could buy one of them.

Regards,
Jose

magnette

Actually, there is a photo of one of these beasts, from the front admittedly, on the cover of a magazine I subscribe to - RUMCar news (the magazine of the Register of Unusual Microcars). I only looked at the magazine yesterday, looking for something else, so it was fresh in my mind.
Also, I think I read somewhere - but can't find the reference - that the Biscuter was assembled in its later ears in the factory in Barcelona which had built the Pegaso car, (a link to the previous vehicle, the Iveco, because that was involved with Pegaso trucks)

andys120

jlbl

I've been browsing through the Register of Unusual Microcars website and I've found it very interesting. There is a nice collection of cards picturing post-war European microcars. There was even one made by Messerschmitt! Thanks for the link.

Also, I think I read somewhere - but can't find the reference - that the Biscuter was assembled in its later ears in the factory in Barcelona which had built the Pegaso car, (a link to the previous vehicle, the Iveco, because that was involved with Pegaso trucks)

I'm not aware of that. Pegaso was built in Barcelona but in ENASA ('Empresa Nacional de Autocamiones') factory. ENASA was a post-war, government-owned corporation devoted to make trucks ('Pegaso' trucks).

Shortly before 1950 a Minister of Industry of Franco's dictatorial regime promoted the building of luxury sedans and sport cars just to polish the Dictatorship image. The sport cars were intended to race in Le Mans and other places. Those cars were the Pegaso (Pegasus), named like the trucks.

For that purpose, ENASA took advantage of the Spanish remnants of the prestigious pre-war carmaker Hispano-Suiza (which really was a French-Spanish corporation), which at the end of the Civil War and the WWII become divided between France and Spain. Under the direction of a young and competent Spanish engineer, Mr. Ricart, a former Alfa-Romeo engineer, they built a developing center that eventually built only Pegaso sport cars.

So, ENASA eventually made about one hundred Pegaso Z-102 sport cars between 1951-1957. They had a light alloy V8 engine of 2,5 liters. In 1957 someone in the government decided the line had to be dismantled. Only trucks, quite good in fact, were built again by ENASA afterwards. With the advent of democracy to Spain, ENASA was de-nationalized and the truck brand Pegaso sold to IVECO instead of MB as I've explained in a former post.

Biscuter was made by Autonacional S.A. Autonacional S.A. was also based in Barcelona but was privately owned.

Here are pictures of the Pegaso Z-102.





Regards,
Jose

PS to all: You may find these images at my CarSpace site. I invite all of you to visit it.

stephen987

Porsche 356 America.

andys120

Yep, it's the little known Porsche 356 America Roadster (1950-52). Like the later 356A Speedster, the ARs were designed as lightweight alternatives to the regular 356 Series, many saw competition in production sports car racing.

kyfdx

1950-1952?

andys120

magnette

Aston Martin - DB4?

magnette

stephen987

Austin 3-Litre sedan, 1968-69?

magnette

Yes - that was quick. Launched in 1967, but dropped in 71, the Austin 3 Litre was a flop - about 10000 were built, but it never caught on.
Based on the FWD Austin 1800 body shell, the 3 litre had a straight six engine, but was RWD, and too bulky and clumsy to sell - it was aimed at the Austin Westminster market, but apart from a few police forces nobody wanted it...

stephen987

It is sort of goofy-looking. But I can see it as a police car, very easily. Was it as expensive as the Rovers and Volvos of the day?

magnette

It would have been comparable to the basic Rover 2000, or the Volvo 144, I suppose, although the latter wouldn't have been a natural choice then as a police car - being foreign.

bumpy

stephen987

'63 Dodge Dart?

wgrafer

I agree - it's a 1963 Dodge Dart - I think it's a "270' model by the side ornament.

andys120

Potpourri from Hoffa(1992)>

wgrafer

Good movie! On the ramp going away looks like a '56 Chevrolet. Coming at us: green 1960 Chevrolet, red 1954 Hudson, blue 1955 Chevrolet, next visible is a 1957 Chevrolet followed by a dark shadow then a pink '55 Chevrolet and an aqua '55 Chevrolet bringing up the rear. I can't quite make out the smaller white one (maybe a '60 Corvette?) or the blue roof in front of it, and I'm no good with buses. :shades:

andys120

Nice job, wgrafer, I think you got all of them. The white Corvette is a late C1, could be anything from '58 to '62. That bus is the old GMC split window style that was common in the late 40s and 50s. IIRC it was around the mid '60s that it was replaced by the newer style with larger windows and unpainted corrugated metal siding.

This photo must represent a date between 1960 (newest cars visible) and early 1964 when the sign for "IDLEWILD AIRPORT" would have been changed to "JFK AIRPORT."

andys120

stephen987

I believe that's a German Ford Taunus (17M?), mid-1960s, parked between a '55 Chevy Pickup and a black Moskvich 412. But I'm just guessing here. . . no caffeine yet.

The museum wouldn't happen to be the Lane Motor Museum in Nashville, would it?

andys120

Good guess, it's a 1965 Ford Taunus 40M. I can only guess at the other two but you could be right.

The Museum is the Transport Museum in Ysataffel Iceland, Here's another goodie from the Museum Ystaffel>

magnette

The truck looks like an ancient Unimog, or a relative of one...?
The car to the left is a bit of a puzzle... I think it's a Kewet Buddy - an electric car made in Denmark from the early 1990's, and latterly in Germany and Norway. If so it's an earlier one, not one of the later ones, as they have different headlights. Iceland probably has a preferential trade link of some sort with Denmark, etc, so I think that's what it is.
The red 4x4 a Nissan Patrol of some sort ?

andys120

It is indeed an ancient (1955) Unimog, early ones didn't wear the M-B Tris-Star for some reason. The other is a 1991 Kewet El-Jet, you know more about it than I do.

Nice going, Mag.

andys120

stephen987

Ford Tempo, ca. 1989-92. Rare for a reason.

andys120

Yep.

andys120

kyfdx

Fiat 850
'68 Mustang
Audi 100LS? '69-'71?

andys120

It's not the clearest shot but you need a better monitor. The Mustang is a first Gen ('65 or '66) coupe, the grille opening is too small for a '68. I think it's a '66 as it seems to lake the prominent horizontal grille bars of the '65s

You're right about the other two.

stephen987

It's a '66 Mustang. The '65 had diagonal cross-hatch mesh in the grille, while the '66 had the rectangular mesh visible here. If by "prominent horizontal bars" you mean the single horizontal light bar in the middle of the grille, that was a feature of the GT model in both '65 and '66. And I believe the Fiat is a '72 model--earlier ones, at least in the US market, had a single bar bumper rather than the loop style shown here.

Just my dumb luck--my folks brought me home from the neonatal ward in their then-new '65 Mustang hardtop, and my own first car was a '70 850 Sport Spider. 903 cc, rated at 58 hp, and allegedly capable of 7000 rpm with pushrods. Not for long, however.

The Audi is an early 100 LS or 100 GL--I think '71 was the first year they were sold in the US. They squared up the nose around '73.

andre1969

Here's a shot from an old early 70's movie called "Slither":


Does anybody know what brand that RV is? It's evil looking. I want one. :shades:

boomchek

It looks like a one off made for the movie, but I'll guess it's based off a Dodge Ram van from the early 70s.

andre1969

Wow, the internet is an amazing thing. I did a little digging around and found this blurb. I swear I've seen one or two in real life, so I was sure they had to be real. Plus, for that movie, they actually had two of them, and they seemed to be too high-quality to be one-offs. I'd always suspected they were real motorhomes, just painted black to look more menacing.

About 7-8 years ago, there was a similar looking rig that showed up at a local park-and-sell lot. It was based on a Chevy platform though, rather than Dodge. Neat looking rig. It would've been a cool thing to salvage, but I guess old motorhomes are kind alike combining the problems of old houses with old cars!

andys120

If by "prominent horizontal bars" you mean the single horizontal light bar in the middle of the grille,that was a feature of the GT model in both '65 and '66

No, I was referencing the horizontal portion of the "gunsight bars" as seen in this non-GT '65 Coupe>


No such bars existed on the '66 cars, making it the easiest way to tell them apart
from any distance>

stephen987

I bow before your superior knowledge, Andy. Good spotting--I hadn't remembered that the '65 had those. Guess I'm getting forgetful. . .

boomchek

Neat. I like identifying various mass production car parts on motorhomes, such as headlight assemblies, tailights, and sometimes grilles.

oregonboy

Whoo-eeh, I wouldn't want to be anywhere near that thing when the "Thermosan" was in operation! Incinerating excrement, now there's a pleasant thought! :P

James

wgrafer

And behind the Mustang is a '65 or '66 Ford F100 pickup, and clearly recognizeable behind the truck is a '63 Chevrolet Wagon. But nobody commented on the gas prices! How about that 34.9 for regular!!! Ah, those were the days...

andys120

lemko

That's a 1956 Cadillac Series 62 coupe. My best friend's cousin has a turquoise blue one with a white roof. Trivia: The year "Nineteen Fifty-Six" is spelled out in gold script on the dashboard.

hudsonthedog

Neat. I like identifying various mass production car parts on motorhomes, such as headlight assemblies, tailights, and sometimes grilles.
Then you'll love this one...we couldn't stand these things when we sold them new.

andre1969

Now that is just WRONG! I've seen one of those things in person at Carlisle. It wasn't for sale though, but was owned by a parts vendor.

qbrozen

That is some fine aerodynamic engineering!
Perfect candidate for hybridization!

;P

boomchek

pretty poor fit and finish on this superbloated lincoln mark vii

the minivan that lincoln never built :P

hudsonthedog

the minivan that lincoln never built

Yes...MINIvan. Actually, this is the smaller version. The 31' version has tandem rear axles and sold for $70k+ in the late 1980s.

boomchek

I can imagine a Texas oil cowboy millionarie having one parked next to his Excalibur.