Mystery car pix

stephen987

Right ho, Fintail! It's a Triumph Mayflower. Unlike its namesake, it did not succeed in colonizing the North American market. Perhaps the photo below offers a clue as to why not:

fintail

It tried to be stylish...but in my eyes is a good example of postwar British austerity. The angles just don't look comfortable.

stephen987

To me it suffers from the same problem as a Henry J. Styling cues from a much larger car (the Triumph Renown in this case, or full-size Kaisers in the case of the Henry J) just didn't scale down properly.

In contrast, I think the austerity-period small Austins and Fords look quite well-styled. Behold the Austin A30 and the Ford Popular:

fintail

I think the curvy Austins of the period pulled off the pseudo-American look pretty well. The Ford is really prewar looking, but the Austins were modern.

When I was a kid I really liked the A40/Devon, kind of a 2/3 scale 40s GM sedan



I have seen a couple of these locally, so they were actually exported in small numbers.

And in cuter form:

andys120

michaellno

2010 Subaru Legacy

andys120

2010 Subaru Legacy

Yup!

andys120

twins>

magnette

Wartburgs - 311 if I'm not mistaken...That could be anytime from about 1960 to the mid 70's, but I think circa 1968 with that chrome.

magnette

The A40 Devon, and the 2-door Dorset, to a lesser degree, were Britain's best selling export in 1948 or so, and many of those went to North America.
As for the Dinky, I have one of those, but it is hand painted (bright scarlet red), and very battered...One of my earlier custom efforts from the mid sixties (if only...)
The nose cone of the plane is a Phantom I think - RAF or ex Royal Navy.
Saw one of those Ford Populars at the weekend.

fintail

Interesting those are wearing the old style plates with the anachronistic prewar suffix convention (IA = Berlin)

fintail

I think a lot of those Austins here met the same fate as similar British Fords - turned into drag racers. I don't think I have ever seen the two door version in person.

andys120

stephen987

It's a Cube. More of a square, actually. With a red X in the middle.

imidazol97

Try right-clicking ont he square and choosing "show picture."

stephen987

tried that--unfortunately still no luck.

stever

Huh, a Nissan Cube with a Kia Soul interior. Never would have guessed. :-)

Right click > Show isn't working here either.

Right click > copy url and paste works. Er, '65 Ford Galaxy? Missing the hood ornament, the side view mirrors, headlights and the side glass? Set up for the track (or the demo derby?).

stephen987

Yeah, gotta be a '65 Galaxie.

stever

lol, I had it spelled right and spaced out and let the spell checker take over.

My family had a white 4 door Galaxie 500 of that vintage, just like the cops did. My brother would cruise around in the evening and pull up behind unsuspecting drunks to make them nervous.

stephen987

When I was a kid in the mid to late '70s my grandmother lived next door to an older woman who had in her carport an utterly immaculate cream-colored '66 Galaxie 500 two-door hardtop with a 390. As far as I saw, she drove it maybe once a week.

What that car would be worth today. . .

stephen987

fintail

My first car was a 66 Galaxie 2 door HT, dark blue with a medium blue interior, 390-4V, drank fuel like an ocean liner.

I don't think mid 60s Fords are worth a fortune, a lot less than their Chevy and Mopar counterparts. A normal Galaxie hardtop in excellent condition can be had for under 10 grand no doubt.

wgrafer

It's been a long, long time since I've seen a 1968 Thunderbird. Where did they all go?

stephen987

Right you are, wgrafer--it's a 1968 Thunderbird Fordor Landau. Judging from my parents' experience with both 1968 and 1970 T-birds, in all likelihood frustrated owners gave up trying to fix the electrical problems and just let the cars go.

Pity, though--the '68 has a nice sophistication to it in my eyes. I think maybe this is what the Olds Aurora was intended to accomplish 30 years later, a powerful, close-coupled four-door luxury tourer.

Here's another, though somewhat different, expression of the concept:

lemko

My girlfriend's first car was a medium blue 1966 Ford Galaxie 500 sedan. It probably had a smaller 289 or 302 V-8 as it previously belonged to her father who was rather conservative. I doubt very much he'd have ordered a 7-Litre.

fintail

I was thinking that's a DeTomaso, but I guess it isn't...I know I have seen it before, and it is from around that same 1968 date.

fintail

A 66 would likely have a 289 or a 352, 302 didn't come around until 68. I think the 7-Litre badged cars were only 2-doors, although the 428 could have been optional on a LTD maybe.

lokki

I can't sort this out. The wheels and the fender vents scream Italian to me, and my lower brain says Ghia design.... but then I noticed how much the front end (in front of the wheels) and the rear end (behind the wheels) look like a 69 Camaro..... and I get all lost again...

So, something from Ghia in the mid 70's and just ignore what looks like a Pininfarina badge on the front fender, please. I would say British Ford of some type but it has the wheel on the correct (American ) side!

stephen987

Getting warm, Fintail. Very warm.

magnette

Iso Fidia - about 1970/4

stephen987

Bingo, Magnette. It's an Iso Fidia S4. I think they were first offered in 1968. The vinyl roof just ruins it for me.

magnette

I think I've seen one of these on the road - no vinyl roof though. They were sold here when new, so I may also have seen one at the London Motor Show, back when we still had one...

andys120

Er, '65 Ford Galaxy? Missing the hood ornament, the side view mirrors, headlights and the side glass? Set up for the track (or the demo derby?).

I guess you're too young to recall when Stock Cars really looked stock, that's Fred Lorenzen's Holman-Moody prepped NASCAR Grand National (predecessor of the Winston/Nextel Cup) race car, it is '65 Galaxie 500-based.

Apologies to those unable to see it.

stever

Oh, I was old enough to drive the family Galaxie 500 in '67. So yeah, old enough to remember, just never was a fan.

andys120

fintail

The Mopar-based Monteverdi Sierra from the mid-late 70s, a Swiss car.

andys120

That's right Fin, I believe they came w a 440 Magnum under the hood.

andys120

stephen987

Nissan Stanza Wagon, 1986 or thereabouts?

andys120

Yep, IIRC it was the Nissan Prarie in some markets.

fintail

I wonder if Andre would like one of those...

fintail

I think even in Canada they had that name, at least with the second version.

That was a very JDM style product for NA at the time.

stephen987

There was also a successor, the Axxess, that had a bit rounder styling but the same basic function.

stever

The Axxess had sliding doors (which is the only reason I remember it) - this one with the suicide doors rang no bells.

stephen987

I think this one had sliding doors too. Looking at the orientation of the rear door handle it doesn't appear that it could open any other way.

stever

It's hard for me to tell from the pic - I couldn't see any slider tracks. If so, it just went up a notch in my estimation. :-)

kyfdx

I think the slider track is along the bottom of the back glass...

stephen987

andys120

Suzuki X90, ca. min-late 90's. Silly car!

lemko