Mystery car pix

berri

Replying to: andys120 (Jan 01, 2010 8:36 am)

For a car that hit the road for model year 1961, those still look pretty amazing.

I agree. Jaguar put out some beautiful classic designs in the 50's and 60's. Sadly, D3 used to able to do this too. Think original Mustang, Stingray, Riviera, 57 Thunderbird, 57 Chrysler 300, even GM internediates around 1970. Maybe all the regulations and restrictions make it hard to do this in today's world?

fintail

I saw a 64 Riviera the other day. Cool looking car indeed.

The 50s and 60s were easily the pinnacle of automotive styling , no matter the brand. I think a lot of factors contribute to the lackluster design that came later, up until and including today. I think stylists are much less imaginative today, afraid to be innovative because some of the consumer base is afraid of anything new. They also copy each other much more than in the past, Computer-based design also removes some stylistic innovation, I think. And of course the safety regs don't help.

stephen987

Maybe all the regulations and restrictions make it hard to do this in today's world?

Miata.

andys120

nortsr1

test run of the new Honda CRZ????

ateixeira

The regular E-type is to the 2+2 as the 911 is to the Panamera.

You stretch the design and it just doesn't work as well at all. It looks pregnant.

ateixeira

Ditch the Insight's hybrid powertrain and bring back the CRX Si!

kyfdx

I have to disagree with that a little...

The 2+2 is the same car on a stretched wheelbase..

The Panamera has nothing in common with a 911, except a vaguely familiar shape.. It's actually closer in DNA to the Cayenne..

I get the part about neither being very pretty... A closer example (though, still pretty old) would be the Datsun 280Z and 280ZX.. Attractive 2-seaters that looked terrible as 2+2s...

ateixeira

I meant as in "styling derived from".

The Z is a better example, but I was trying to think of a current model.

stephen987

I saw a Panamera in Atlanta last week. It was ungainly from every angle, but I was particularly startled by how incredibly w i d e it looks.

ateixeira

I don't like any of the newcomers - X6, ZDX, Crosstour, Panamera. They all look pregnant. The 5er isn't too bad. Audi actually comes closest with the A5 Sportback, it's the only one that isn't ugly.

Even then it's not pretty.

Mr_Shiftright

The "big wide butt" look has never been too successful---think Crossfire and Porsche 928.

kyfdx

Panamera... ugh..

Crosstour.. not much worse than the Accord, which has waaaayyy too much front overhang, anyway.. but, not pretty

X6... pretty ugly, but not really out of proportion, like the others.. just honestly ugly...

andys120

I went to see the new Panamera and I was quite taken by it's distinctive look and useful capacity. I was fully prepared not to like it but I did...a lot. If only it weren't so bloody expensive.

I think I like it cuz I grew up on cars like this>



..that and I've owned three Saabs. :sick:

lemko

1949 Oldsmobile 88 fastback or "sedanette."

andys120

Ahem, that's Rocket 88!

My Uncle Charlie had one and used to hit the gas when we pleaded with him to "Do the Rocket." We loved how the kick-down and the opening of the secondaries would squash us against the seatbacks.

Funny thing is Uncle Charlie was not a car nut but he unwittingly made one of me! :shades:

dougb10

Seeing that great picture of the '49 Olds brought back memories for me from 1958! My first car in college was a 1947 Olds fastback...witha 6 cylinder engine and a hydramatic auto transmission. Bought it from the original owner for $350....had only 45,000 miles on it.. Big mistake....that car had only been driven around town and once I started driving it on the highway, everything loosened up and I started burning and leaking oil....about a quart every 50 miles! Fortunately the Olds had an oil pressure guage so I kept a 1 gallon can of NuGold oil in the trunk to keep it topped up. The car got me around for almost a year before it bit the dust. Oh yeah, the huge back seat was a wonderful entertainment area. Those were the days!

Doug

magnette

Happy new year! I've got one of those too - it's the Austin Cambridge A55 version- you can tell the Austin by the way the two tone splits along the rear wing - the later A60 had a flash all along the side. All the cars had different grilles - I'll see if I can put together some pictures of the various versions to differentiate them...

I think I have the caravan too - although if I recall correctly (it's in the attic so I can't check just now) the colour of mine is more grey than the one you have here. My Cambridge is the same colour as yours though.. I did have a version of that Fiat too - although I don't think mine had all that luggage like the illustration on the box. Is the red car a Renault?

(Love the way we get the spell check on grey and colour..)

kyfdx

Well...... that explains it, then..

You're not well..

andre1969

I think the Audi looks fairly decent, but even the Porsche doesn't bother me. While the Porsche looks a bit more "pregnant" than the Audi, at least they both still have a low-slung look to them. They look like fastback cars. Those other things...the BMW, Crosstour, etc,? Well I guess the Pontiac Aztek was a bit of an innovator, after all!

fintail

Ah now I have learned something, about the side trim. Maybe that can be my next piece of knowledge, how differentiate BMC Farinas.

The caravan, 23-C, introduced in 1960, is found in many shades of that odd color...sometimes looking grey, tan, green, in the right light sometimes with almost a pinkish tint to it. The Austin was sold only in that color combination (with varying shades) and three types of wheels. It was introduced in 1961, and my example is the most common variety.

As far as I know all of the Fiats had the luggage, but it is easily removed. The red car is a Renault yes, an HO scale car by EKO probably from the late 60s, I am guessing it is a Renault 10.

andys120

Looks like a police car>

stephen987

Late 1980s Ford Sierra Sapphire?

andys120

Late 1980s Ford Sierra Sapphire?

Nope.

michaellno

Looks like an Aussie Ford Falcon.

andys120

Looks like an Aussie Ford Falcon

'At's right Mate, ca. early 2000s.

michaellno

I thought it looked like one of the cars that was blown up in "Mission: Impossible 2".

Wish it was available in the States.

andys120

kyfdx

'89 Lotus Elan?

boomchek

I'll second that, an old Elan from the late 80s, early 90s.

andys120

Yup, that is a FWD, Isuzu-powered 1991 Lotus Elan (M100)

andys120

boomchek

Is this a still from Bullitt?

andys120

Is this a still from Bullitt?

It is, good eye Boomer!

cooterbfd

Well, the green machine is a 1963 Wildcat sedan. A '62 or '63 Falcon across the street. The hidden one almost looks like a '67 Malibu or Chevelle

lemko

Well, the green car appears to be a 1963 Buick Wildcat, the black car that's double-parked appears to be a 1968 Lincoln Continental. The red truck across the street is a 1947-53 Chevrolet. The car near the truck is a 1960 Ford. The small car across the street is a 1962 or 1963 Ford Falcon. I can just about make up a 1961 Pontiac and a Ponton Mercedes in the garage parking lot. The station wagon in front of the Buick appears to be a mid-1960s Oldsmobile midsize wagon.

fintail

If you right click on the image, you can view the full picture, which was made for margins greater than the 1995 style we have here :P

Apart from the mentioned cars, the car in front of the Buick sedan looks like an Olds or Pontiac wagon, a VW fastback in front of it, and what looks like a 65 Chevy wagon in front of that. The hidden car appears to be an intermediate Pontiac or Buick 2-door.

Looks like about a 1950 Chevy pickup behind the Falcon, a full sized 60 Ford driving on the street, what looks like a 67 Chevelle behind it, and a 66 Ford taxi behind that.

At the gas station I see a 61 Pontiac, a W110 fintail beside it (maybe a ponton but I think I see large turn signals below the lights), I can't tell what the red car is but it appears to be an open car, maybe a 64-65 Fairlane sport coupe alongside it, and maybe a fullsize early 60s GM (a Caddy?) convertible at the pumps.

boomchek

I like that movie a lot.

On my recent driving trip to San Fran with my wife we drove through the hilly streets with the Bullitt soundtrack playing in the car. :shades:

andys120

Yikes! :surprise:

im_brentwood

A Jaguar V12. Looks like an HE Engine.

andys120

Yup, that's the awesomely complex Jag V12 as installed in the XJ12C.

andys120

50 years ago Monday (1/4/60) Absurdist French author Albert Camus (The Plague) and his publisher were killed in this wreck>



Do you remember the car or can you tell from the photo?

vcheng

Facel Vega MV400?

Mr_Shiftright

OMG--I just flashed on that photo of the V-12 and immediately jumped back from the keyboard.

I've had some bad days with those engines, fortunately, long gone.

Hey, troops---try to RE-SIZE your photos before you post. This just takes a minute to do.

boomchek

Haha, just read that on Jalopnik yesterday.

kyfdx

A friend of mine used to own a bar named Camus.. :surprise:

andys120

stephen987

Fiat 128SL, ca. 1973. Succeeded by the much smoother and cleaner hatchback 128 3P.

andys120

Yup, it's a 128SL but I don't think the post '73 version (128/3P) was any cleaner and smoother in US trim given the big bumpers>

stephen987

Good point about the bumpers, but to me the 128SL has too much Japanese-style fussiness compared to the more straightforward 3P.