Mystery car pix

andys120

I am not aware of any official US imports, in fact I've never laid eyes on an actual
Ro80. Perhaps Shifty's friend bought a grey market car, wittingly or unwittingly.

fintail

I have seen a few photos of Ro80s with US-spec headlight assemblies. They might have just sold in the dozens or less.

There's one shown in this 'Project Car Hell' installment

And the same car here

Mr_Shiftright

I think you could buy them here. They were bought out by VW in 1969, so it's possible they were marketed that way. My friend bought his new, I know that, because he had the engine replaced under warranty.

andys120

imidazol97

1962 Ford Fairlane 500 Town Sedan
260 cu in V8 145 horsepower

andys120

1962 Ford Fairlane 500 Town Sedan
260 cu in V8 145 horsepowe

Works for me.

andys120

wgrafer

Looks like a 1972 Mercury - maybe a Colony Park?? The wheel covers
just don't seem right...

tmart

I agree. They look like Fords.

lemko

They are from a late '70s Ford truck, hence the centers. A similar wheel cover was used on 1971-72 full-sized Fords. My Dad's 1972 Ford LTD had them.

bhill2

1962 Ford Fairlane 500 Town Sedan
260 cu in V8 145 horsepower

Works for me.

Almost works for me. The V8 in this one is the 221 cu in one. I think that the 145 horsepower is right. IIRC, the 260 had 164 horses.

andys120

The V8 in this one is the 221 cu in one.

Right, the small block 221 was originally known as the "Fairlane engine". It was later enlarged to the 260/289/302 sizes used in everything from Falcons to trucks.

imidazol97

Was there a different emblem on the side for the 260 cu in engine? Both were offered during 1962.

andys120

Was there a different emblem on the side for the 260 cu in engine? Both were offered during 1962.

There was an emblem for the 260 which was an elongated Vee with checkers in the crook of the Vee and "260"above it but I don't know if it came out in '62. It was prevalent on Mustangs and Falcons so equipped as well as Fairlanes but I don't know when it first appeared. The same emblem was used with appropriate numerals for 289 V8s with the words "High-Performance" appearing on cars with the Hi-Po version (271 HP.) 302 cars got different emblems.

euphonium

For '62 my book does not list the 260, but it does include the 352, 390, & 406 for the Galaxie models.

For '63 the 260 IS listed for the Galaxie, but perhaps a very late '62 could of had one of the 260's.

andys120

For '62 my book does not list the 260, but it does include the 352, 390, & 406 for the Galaxie models.

For '63 the 260 IS listed for the Galaxie, but perhaps a very late '62 could of had one of the 260's.

145nhp is not a lot of motor for a big tank like a '63 Galaxie but I s'pose it could have been the base motor for no frills cars. Cars equipped with 390/406 and later 427 motors got a stylized black Thunderbird fender badge with the appropos numbers on it.

I can't seem to find a good source for these fender emblems that were common in the 60s to indicate which motor a car had but I do have a small personal collection.

In those days you kept a sharp eye out for them because the most innocuous looking Dodge could be packing a 413 Hemi or the stripper Biscayne could have a 409 etc Fast car types back then were well aware that stripper sedans and coupes were considerably lighter than their fancy hardtop brethern and therefore faster off the line.

Mr_Shiftright

Did you know that all Mopar 426 Hemi coupes are actually convertible bodies with a roof welded on?

The regular coupe bodies could not take the torque.

imidazol97

>In those days you kept a sharp eye out for them because the most innocuous looking Dodge

Is there a web site that documents these badges? I had a 260 '62 Fairlane that we bought used.

imidazol97

>actually convertible bodies with a roof welded on

Interesting fact.

andys120

Is there a web site that documents these badges?

If there is I couldn't find it.

andys120

kyfdx

'69 Ford Ranchero?

berri

I'm going to guess 72 Ranchero because the front end looks like the one on the 72 fastback I really liked. Of course, I liked it so it was toast in a couple of years replaced by the Starsky & Hutch notchback design.

andys120

Sorry Kyfdx, Berri has the correct year, It's a 1972 Ford Ranchero GT-351

andys120

kyfdx

'68 Mercedes 230 (250?).. (total guess on the year, but I think I'm in the right ballpark..)

fintail

Yeah it's some kind of W114/115 - as it is a Euro spec car it's tough to guess a year as we can't use the DOT tacked-on crap to make a guess.

stephen987

Mercedes-Benz W114/115, could be anywhere between 1968 and 1975. Could be a 200/220/230/250/280, though it appears to be low-spec (no fog lights or alloys), which somewhat increases the likelihood of a smaller engine and thus a smaller numeric designation.

wgrafer

Kind of reminds me of a taxi in the Bahamas in the mid 70's. I remember being really impressed when I saw the very highly polished Mercedes Taxi pull up, but as we drove along it was a real let-down with the plainest interior I'd seen in a while. It got worse with no AC and the somewhat sticky 'leatherette' seats. Not a good combo in the Tropics But it's probably still in service...

andys120

It's a 1974 Mercedes 230/4. My Dad had a '72 Merc 240 that looked just like it. Nice looking car but slow, ponderous and ergonomically cockeyed. I think the A/C worked though.

The example shown is from South Africa (I don't know if they have local plants.)

stever

Can you shrink your black limo? Thanks.

andys120

texases

70-ish Maserati Ghibli Spyder?

stephen987

Could be--definitely something from Frua--my guess is a Monteverdi.

andys120

Frua, like most Italian coachbuilders of the era tended to copy/repeat himself a lot.
The Monteverdi 375 was very similar to the Ghibli, especially from the side but the giveaway that the car shown is a Maser comes from the wheels (Abarth Elecktron alloys?) and the relatively shot amount of bodywork forward of the front wheels.

Monteverdi 375 Spider by Frua.

andys120

stephen987

AC ME3000

andys120

You nailed it Stephen, ca. 1979-'84.

andys120

bhill2

It looks to me like a 1960 Falcon stuffed a 1966 Dodge Coronet, pushing it into a 1964 Chevy (Impala?)

andys120

Pretty close, the Falcon's a '61 and the Chevy's a Bel Air according to imcdb.com.

andys120

tmart

AMC AMX?

explorerx4

AMC Javelin. i like those front half vinyl roofs better than the back half ones most cars had.

stickguy

70-3 era. Could be an AMX since I think it was just a trim package mostly at that point.

andys120

You guys have the right idea, it's a '72 AMC Javelin AMX.

andys120

kyfdx

It's an Alfa!

No idea which model, though.. Is that one supposed to come here?

Is it a 4-door hatch?

wgrafer

It's the new 2011 Alfa Romeo Giullieta 5-door hatchback. I hope it comes here as it looks pretty good! But how do you open the back doors????

michaellno

But how do you open the back doors????

I'll bet the door handles are in the C-pillar - can't see them because they're black.