Mystery car pix

andys120

stephen987

1979-80 AMC Spirit DL. From that angle it looks a lot like a super-sized '79 Pinto.

fezo

Doesn't it though?

fintail

Were those the wheels on the General Lee?

A high school friend of mine had a 65 Galaxie that had similar wheels put on it by a previous owner.

stephen987

Doesn't it though?

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Yup.

lemko

The 1970 Riviera looks like a Skylark on steroids. It looks even worse with the optional sweepspear with vinyl insert.

andys120

kyfdx

'73 Mercury Comet..

Maverick twin..

stephen987

Good spotting--the '73 was the only one with those bumpers.

kyfdx

Yeah... for the year, I always try to think of the Corvette... '73 had energy absorbing in the front, little metal bumper in the back...

andys120

73 Mercury Comet..

Yep, that one's a Comet GT (302 V8).

andys120

not the car, the NYC Street, have at 'em>

stephen987

Left: '76 Honda Accord, '84-86 Jeep Cherokee Sport, white Chevy Caprice Classic Estate wagon. Next lane over, Rolls Royce Silver Spirit? about to be creamed by a Checker Marathon taxi. Next lane over, ca. 1986 Audi 80 (4000) Quattro, Chevy Impala Taxi, some species of silverish Oldsmobile.

Beyond that, no distance vision.

fintail

Sounds about right, and the Olds is an 87-88 Ciera (it appears to have flush headlights)

boomchek

I agree on the Olds, it's a Ciera from late 80s.

On the right bottom corner you can see a bit of a Jeep Wagoneer, and beside it, the tail end of a 4 door Rabbit.

andys120

stephen987

'70 Pontiac GTO droptop. Beautiful, unlike #20254.

stephen987

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andys120

Thanks, Stephen987, I owned that car from '81-83. It was Carousel Red with 400CID/4bb under the hood and the Muncie 4-Speed. Other than Rally II wheels and a power top it had few options unlike most '70 Goat convertibles, which were usually automatics and loaded with options.

As you can see from the top in the photo it had some needs.

andys120

AMC Rambler Marlin ca. 1967

lostwrench1

1965 Marlin.

andre1969

LOL, I didn't even notice the top until you pointed it out. That looks about the same spot where my '67 Catalina had a tear. I was able to keep it together for 14 years, with a needle and thread, and some Goop or whatever they called that stuff. Didn't look too pretty, but I usually had the top down, anyway! :shades:

A power top wouldn't have been optional on a '70 LeMans or GTO, would it? I couldn't imagine putting something like that up and down manually, unless you had two people. The power top on my Catalina didn't work, and I always had to do it by hand. Real pain to get it up, because you'd have to reach toward the center to grab it, otherwise one side would bind against the other. I'm tall enough to reach it, but it can be a real back breaker!

Now I know the top on my Catalina is bigger, but probably not THAT much bigger!

fezo

I've grown to the point where I'll put up with almost anything on a convertible top as long as it doesn't leak. I did have to replace the rear curtain on the Celica but that because my youngest poked her finger in a spot she saw light coming through and a minor leak turned into what likely would have been a major leak. Rather than wait for proof I taped it up until the top guy could fix it.

Now I know the top has shrunk and there's a bit more wind noise than before but, hey, it's a convertible. That's part og the game.

Loved that the Park Avenue pic had a Checker Marathon. it was the second car i spotted after that first gen Accord.

stephen987

Yep, it's a '65, the one with the same nose as a Rambler Classic. The later ones used the front clip from an Ambassador IIRC.

andys120

Loved that the Park Avenue pic had a Checker Marathon. it was the second car i spotted after that first gen Accord.

That pic was taken in the twilight of the Checker era. The Chevy Caprice was the dominant cab in NY for most of the 80s and early 90s but when GM scrubbed the RWDs the less roomy Crown Vics inherited the entire market until some genius figured out the Minivans had a lot more passenger spce.

lostwrench1

And, the 65 was the only Marlin having all three of:
A round gas filler door
"Rambler" on the rear
A round medallion on the rear deck.

andys120

stephen987

Ginetta?

andys120

Good guess, it does look like a Ginetta and conceptually it's close but no.

stephen987

Well, the Brits were heavily into small-bore front-engined sports/racer types in the '60s (see Ginetta, Lotus, et al), but the wheels on this one, and the rather flamboyant style, say "Italian" to me.

Some sort of Abarth then?

andys120

Sorry, nope. It's more akin to a Lotus than anything Italian.

Some hints: there's a 351CID V8 under the hood and it comes from Down Under.

texases

(hint...)

andys120

It's wearing VW-logo hubcaps and has turn signal indicators from a Porsche 356 as well as a front bumper straight off an earlier 356.

I'm going to guess it's a re-bodied VW Beetle Type 1, possibly a one-off which is probably just as well since it's not very attractive. :P

There's a BMW 501 behind it and an 80s era Porsche 911/964 next to it

fintail

I wanted to say Rometsch but I googled it and nothing looks like that.

It's German, of course.

texases

Nope, it's not a one-off (200 made), or a VW rebody - it's a real car....here's an interior shot:

stephen987

Is the little red beastie a Deutsch-Bonnet?

Still no clue on the Aussie sportster.

texases

"Is the little red beastie a Deutsch-Bonnet? "
Nope. Here are another couple of shots (note that those aren't VW hubcaps).

stephen987

Hmmm. Gets more interesting each time you post: three cylinders, possibly a two-stroke, but rear mounted.

The "S" on the hubcaps makes me wonder: some forgotten effort from the good folks at Sachsenring? It would make sense, perhaps with a DKW-based engine. . .

andys120

Stephen, I think you are onto something. That is almost certainly a DKW-based engine. I recall a couple of Karmann-Ghia style sportsters were based on DKW componentry but I can't recall the names.

IFA/Sachsenring is another strong possibility since they made a copies of the DKW known as the IFA/Zwickau F8 and F9.

Are we getting warm here Texases? :confuse:

texases

A bit - I don't know if it's DKW-based, the info I have says the motor's a Heinkel 667cc 3-cyl. 2-stroke.

stephen987

Hmmm. That's even more curious, since I associate Heinkel (and Messerschmitt) with the "bubble cars."

Whatever it is, I'd love to see it up close.

texases

One more hint - it's related to the Amphicar (hence my 'no props on this one...').

jlbl

The BMW 501 behind has Dutch plates. Should be this a clue?

Regards,
Jose

stephen987

Hmm. It wouldn't be a Troll, would it?

texases

"The BMW 501 behind has Dutch plates. Should be this a clue?"

Nope, it's a German car, photo from a US museum...

texases

"Hmm. It wouldn't be a Troll, would it? "

VERY hot...but not quite...

fintail

An office-mate of mine has that car on a daily calendar...so now I know it, but I won't cheat and give it away

texases

"An office-mate of mine has that car on a daily calendar"

Where do you think I found it?

texases

I've run out of hints - that Troll was close, it's a '57 (or '59, depending on where you look) Weidner Condor. That's one of two known remaining, it's in the Lane museum in Nashville: This looks like a must-see if you're in Nashville. Designed by the Amphicar and Troll designer:

"Hans Trippel is known as the man who designed the Amphicar. Before the Amphicar, he designed the Weidner Condor. The Condor was presented to the public at the 1957 Geneva Auto Show. It was built by farm equipment manufacturers Fritz and Reinhold Weidner. The body, provided by the Binz factory, is made of the most expensive material available in the 1950s - fiberglass integrated onto a steel chassis. It has a three cylinder, two-stroke, water cooled Heinkel engine. The public admired the streamline design and technical conception, but the selling price was too high when compared to its competitors - NSU Prinz or Volkswagen Karmann Ghia. A similar design (the Troll) was to be the first car made in Norway but only six were built. The Weidner Condor is one of only two known to exist."

andys120

Hans Trippel is known as the man who designed the Amphicar. Before the Amphicar, he designed the Weidner Condor.

I guess that explains why one is as ugly as the other. :P

The Lane Museum looks like huge fun.