Mystery car pix

andys120

That's right.

andre1969

A favorite: 1960 Dodge Dart Pioneer (mid-level between Seneca and Phoenix).

Thos '60 Dodges have always been a favorite of mine, too. I prefer the bigger Matador and Polara, but like the Darts alot, too. My mechanic has the same fetish, evidently. Between his garage at home and his workshop, and the parking lot out front, I'd estimate he has 10-12 1960 Dodges, in various states of repair. The most oddball one I've noticed was a Polara hardtop wagon with a factory 383 cross-ram!

andys120

urnews

1953 Buick Roadmaster convertible (obviously).

ateixeira

Were the portholes functional back then?

I saw an Accord with faux portholes tacked on - get this - the doors!

urnews

The portholes never were functional, just an appearance thingy.

ateixeira

Meh, that's lame. They could be used to vent hot air from the engine bay, cool the exhaust.

andre1969

Meh, that's lame. They could be used to vent hot air from the engine bay, cool the exhaust.

Well, in the original concept, they wired up lights in each porthole, designed to light up in correspondence to the spark plugs firing. Never made it into production, and would have been useless if it did...but still a nifty little trick.

fintail

I see an old 90s 626 every now and then with a big wing, and portholes on the fenders. Snazzy!

ateixeira

There is an old 929 in our garage, with giant chrome wheels and fake vents. It looks as ridiculous as you'd expect.

texases

And it's got the Buick 215 v8 under the hood.

ateixeira

Wow, what a cool looking car. So clean...

Compare the fender gaps on that with my Miata, and Mazda should be ashamed.

I like the red pinstripe on the wheels, too. Subtle, but cool.

texases

I don't know if I've seen a better-looking engine bay than in that MG. Everything in its place, clean, wires lined up...very sharp. A lot of thought went into that conversion. I just saw it's in Carrollton, TX, probably about a mile from me...small world!

stephen987

Yeah, right down to using the Borg-Warner T5 transmission. Was that the same trans used in the TR8/Rover 3500 SD1? If not, then they'd have to design a custom bellhousing, which is not exactly a quick backyard fix.

ateixeira

Now I love it even more.

I will say, that's in better condition than it was the day it was first sold.

wgrafer

In all, the discussions about portholes, did anyone notice that it's a 1954 Roadmaster, not a '53? Sorry Urnews...
BTW, Roadmasters had 4 portholes while lesser Buicks had only 3! What an upgrade!

andys120

In all, the discussions about portholes, did anyone notice that it's a 1954 Roadmaster, not a '53? Sorry Urnews...
BTW, Roadmasters had 4 portholes while lesser Buicks had only 3! What an upgrade!

Correct on both counts Wgrafer. The wraparound windshields only appeared on Eldorados and Corvettes in 1953. Even the Skylark didn't get it until '54.

andys120

rik4

should be a nash american or rambler american maybe a 1960

stephen987

hudsonthedog

1960 Panhard PL17

stephen987

Yup. The Panhard PL17 was probably one of the most idiosyncratic vehicles of the post-WW2 era (excluding perhaps Tatras and Trabants). Two-cylinder, air-cooled, four-speed column shift manual, and room for six.

Plus, in the upmarket Tigre model, the original seat upholstery was white with black tiger stripes.

Take that, Citroen!

andys120

imidazol97

Speaking of old station wagons. I saw a covey of them the other day.

Full size version

hudsonthedog

Yup. The Panhard PL17 was probably one of the most idiosyncratic vehicles of the post-WW2 era (excluding perhaps Tatras and Trabants). Two-cylinder, air-cooled, four-speed column shift manual, and room for six.

Plus, in the upmarket Tigre model, the original seat upholstery was white with black tiger stripes.

Take that, Citroen!

They did! In 1965, Citroen took (bought) Panhard.

hudsonthedog

Speaking of old station wagons. I saw a covey of them the other day.

A "covey?" That's what you call a bunch of station wagons? Like a giggle of girls?

ateixeira

AM DB5. No idea on the year.

Can't miss that grille.

What country of origin was Panhard? It looks French.

ateixeira

Wagons, lemme have a shot at these, left to right.

Chevy Caprice wagon, early 90s.

I'll need help on the old ones, Chevy Nomad?

4th one is a GM clone, could be a Caprice, Olds Custom Cruiser, something like that. Mid 80s.

Not sure about the rest.

stephen987

Yes, Panhard was French. They were more expensive than the two-cylinder Citroens or the entry-level Renaults, and offered top speeds of 85-100 mph--not bad for an 850 cc sedan. The PL17 would've benefited from a flat-four, but never got one. Probably the most direct successor to the PL17 was the 1015cc air-cooled flat-four Citroen GS of the 1970s:

mandi79

Very nice!!

andys120

AM DB5. No idea on the year. Can't miss that grille

No, you can't miss that grille but you missed the tell-tale that distinguished this model from the DB-5, which it is not, sorry.

stephen987

Pretty sure the exposed headlamps make that one a DB4.

berri

After the Caprice on left, 59 Pontiac, 60 Pontiac, maybe 67 Pontiac, 63 Impala, 64? Chevy, 56 Chevy, 62 Rambler.

andys120

exposed headlamps make that one a DB4.

Yup, that's the tell-tale for the DB4 '58-'63 except for the DB4 Vantage, DB4-GT and DB4-GT Zagato which had covered headlights. It's very difficult to tell a DB-4 Vantage or GT from a DB-5. I was going easy on youse by showing you an exposed h/l car.

andys120

ateixeira

Fiat X1/9 on the left. No idea on the year.

True story - as a kid I fell in love with cars while watching a neighbor slowly restore one of those cars. I just thought it was so cool how he did all the work himself, even paint.

Corvette in the middle, 50 something.

Can't miss the yellow Beetle. No fair to ask me the year, they were still building those brand new in Brazil in 1986.

fintail

Corvette with those side vents is a 63-64.

When I was a kid, a neighbor had a X1/9. It was green. I liked it a lot too, because it was loud. It was some kind of pseudo-racer, and I am pretty sure it had no real exhaust system. I swear, it would make my ears ring. The same guy also had a cool 80s Toyota 4x4 much like the black extra-cab Marty drove in Back to the Future.

I think I see a Granada/Monarch coupe in the background, too.

lemko

Corvette appears to be a 1963 or 1964 model due to the horizontal coves. The silver car is a Fiat X1/9. Yellow Beetle appears to be about a 1972 model. Would only know if I could see the back of it and the parking lights

ateixeira

I guess a lot of enthusiasts had an owner who inspired us.

Last month my brother came to visit from Brazil, and his oldest son is a future "car guy", you can just tell. He kept asking questions about my Miata, wanted to go out for a ride.

You bet I did, too. Gave him the red carpet, showed him everything, popped the hood, lowered the power retractable hard top, took photos with him in the car (in the driver's seats, natch), drove out on the highway with the top down so he could feel the freedom.

It was awesome. I think I enjoyed showing him as much as he enjoyed learning.

My brother called when he got home and said that's all his son could talk about, to all his friends.

The kids came from Brazil to see baseball games, soccer games, a Disney broadway show, and the Statue of Liberty, and he remembers the experience with the car.

I was glad to hear I had invested my time wisely. :shades:

imidazol97

Sounds good. The second car from the right is a '55 Chevy. I'm not sure about the 63 Pontiac

wgrafer

Berri's got 'em right except that the yellow wagon second from right is a '55 Chev, not a '56. :P

fintail

I still remember the interesting cars owned by family, family friends, neighbors etc from when I was a child, so I guess they all inspired me.

That's a good story re: your nephew. Kids really appreciate being taken seriously like that.

imidazol97

The 55 Chev I had in my previous message.

Does anyone know about the 63 Pontiac? I tried to find pictures and don't find a picture that matches. For 63s the taillights look larger vertically.

Anyone have a link.

andys120

nash american or rambler american maybe a 1960

Yup, it's a 1960 Rambler American Custom.

andys120

It's almost impossible to tell '63 Corvette from a '64 from that angle, you'd need to see the front of the hood, if it had a set of horizontal faux grilles it'd be a '63, with just
depressions and no grilles it's a '64.

The Beetle is probably a late '60s MY based on the color and the flat windshield. The X1/9 looks like a post- '73 based on the large bumper.

wgrafer

My friend, I'm not sure what you mean (about a '63 Pontiac wagon). The '63 wagon in the pic is of course a '63 Impala. The two Pontiacs on the left are a '59 and an '60 followed by a '67. What '63? The '63 did have vertical tail lights, and the '64 also did but in a 'frame'. What's the question about a '63 Pontiac wagon?

imidazol97

>two Pontiacs on the left are a '59 and an '60 followed by a '67.

So the fourth car from the left, Impala, 59, 60, 67, is a 67. But the one picture of a 67 I saw has two vertical taillights adjacent to each other on each side. I thought someone had said the fourth from the left was a 64.

wgrafer

Not sure if anyone said differently, but the dark blue 4th wagon from the left (between the '60 Pontiac and the '63 Impala) IS a '67 Pontiac.

imidazol97

Do the taillights match those in this 1967's picture? These are two vertical strips. The storage yard pic has a solid taillight.

http://www.slyagent.com/67cat/f-hatch.jpg

andre1969

Pontiac had two full-sized wagons back then...the Catalina and the Executive. Maybe the Catalina had the twin thin lights and the Executive had the bigger ones? Funny, but in that storage yard pic, the blue wagon almost looks like an intermediate! Compared to the '60 Pontiac on one side, and the '63 Chevy on the other, it just looks smallish. But that's probably just a visual trick, created by the more slab-sided look of the earlier wagons, and the more curved-in look of the blue one.

At first glance, I was going to say it was a '66 intermediate wagon...those taillights make me think of a '66 Tempest.

Considering that I own a '67 Catalina, you'd think I'd be able to identify what that blue one is! But I'm really not that familiar with the wagon rear-ends.