Mystery car pix

fintail

Did you ever have carb problems on that 390? My first car, a 66 Galaxie with a 390-4V had endless carb issues, drove me insane. I have never seen a car that was so fussy and cold-blooded. And on top of that, the car was very attractive to my 16 year old eyes, lured me in with its sharp looks, and then broke me with its 8mpg city mileage and constant attempts at making it run right. It had the same hubcaps as that pictured Squire. A lesson learned. I am maybe lucky it got hit (I was uninjured), and put in motion the eventual purchase of the ancient MB that I still own.

stephen987

Hmm, highly stylized dash with lots of chrome (very expensive in Europe, probably 1950s-early '60s), tach with 5500 rpm redline, speedo in km/h, but the shifter looks awfully long for a sports car. No visible logo, which eliminates several well-known possibilities such as M-B.

It's a shot in the dark--maybe a BMW 507?

andys120

Yup!>

andys120

stephen987

Lamborghini Urraco. Road & Track tested one in Sept. 1975 and got 0-60 in about ten seconds.

euphonium

It was a 2 bbl from factory. After one Winter chasing buses up the mountain, I paid a machinist to replace the intake manifold & factory carb with a 4 bbl setup. He installed the parts from a 352 engine and never had any problems with the replacements. The mileage went from 17 to 20 when cruising I-5 at 65 mph because the two primary barrells were more stingy than the former factory 2 bbl carb. The factory 2 bbl was a compromise setup, but not enough poop to pass.

andys120

Yup, it's a '73 Lambo Urraco.

andys120

cooterbfd

1950 Suburban

fintail

As I had my car in the early 90s, with age and meddling by my father and the previous owner being taken into account...maybe it is no surprise I had issues. I could get maybe 12-14 on the highway in that thing, but getting double digits in town was impossible. It liked to run rich too, nice smoke when cold etc. But it was fast, loud, and could smoke the tires easily...I guess that's the price you pay.

magnette

You all start with such large cars as your first drives! Our minimum age for driving cars is 17, not 16, but no teenager here, even back in the 90's would ever get any insurer willing to cover them on a V8, or basically anything bigger than perhaps a 1200/1500cc hatchback.

Back in the 70's my first car - a Morris Minor Traveller - cost about £90 per year to insure when I was the main driver, and that rose to about £130 when I got a Ford Escort 1300. When I was 21/22 I was quoted £350 for an MG Midget - I didn't buy the car anyway, but that was expensive for those days.

Nowadays if someone under 21 wants to insure even a really basic car as their first vehicle -even something like a Fiesta or a Citroen Saxo, they are looking at premiums in the £1200 /£1500 p.a. bracket - just for third party cover, not fully comprehensive..

stephen987

Yes, here in the USofA, parents tend to buy their kids a tank as their first car. They figure that the kid won't be injured as seriously in his first accident that way. Then again, driver training is a joke here, so we KNOW that Junior will have an accident pretty early in his driving career.

I was definitely the exception. My first car was a Fiat 850 Spider, which looked awfully odd in the high school parking lot, stuck as it was most days between a mustard yellow Gran Torino and a beige Impala.

wgrafer

Stephen - I had to laugh when you said "parents tend to buy their kids a tank as their first car". Back in the day a lot of kids 'named' their car, and my first one was called "The Tank"! It was a white '59 Chrysler New Yorker with a 413 (I posted one a while back). I weighed it on a truckstop scale and it came in around 4,500 lbs. And I never did wreck it!

But to be fair, my parents never bought me a car, it was on my dime (or $285 at the time). I did have use of family cars before I got it, so I could wait...

And speaking of driver ed, back in my day it was serious stuff. My road time was spent in a '63 Chevy Biscayne 6 cyl. with 3-speed manual! Now THAT was a real driver education. :shades:

stickguy

I don't think the 4 cyl Contour I got my son when he was learing qualifies as a Tank!

Thn again, I think anything bigger than my 2005 Accord (including the newer model) should eb considered a full size car, and is too big!

fintail

Here, I think insurance for risky drivers is based more on model than engine...a non sporty car with a big engine cost less than a 4cyl Camaro or the like back then, I'd wager. I bet the insurance on a Galaxie was the same no matter if it had a 6 or a 427. I don't remember what insurance cost for that big old thing...but I was able to handle it, and my parents didn't throw too much of a fit. I actually wanted a period Impala, but even then those were out of my price range...the Galaxie was 80% of the style for 25% of the price.

lemko

Wow! Cool first car! Mine was a teal blue 1968 Buick Special Deluxe station wagon with a white roof. Her name was Roxanne. I paid the princely sum of $650 for it back in 1981. My Dad had a 1961 Chevrolet Biscayne with the 6 cylinder and 3-speed manual.

andys120

stickguy

late 70's I guess (or early 80s).

Their version of the Escort EXP. Lynx XR-7 maybe?.

lemko

I believe the EXP clone was called the LN-7. The XR-7 was a Cougar. I guess the Sign of the Cat just ran through all nine of its lives!

omarman

andys120

the EXP clone was called the LN-7

That's it Lemko.

andys120

The car in front is a race-prepped Fiat 850 Spider (pre '68) the one on the right ilooks like a 124 Coupe.

stephen987

Yup--and in the back corner appears to be a Ligier or OTAS.

andys120

stickguy

well, it is a Buick From the '60s. Just don't ask me which one.

A Lesabre? They have those back then?

stephen987

Definitely a Buick Riviera--I'll say 1965.

omarman

Nice car, 850-based Fiat Abarth 1000 OT Spider

andys120

Definitely a Buick Riviera--I'll say 1965.

Close, it's a '63 Riviera/401 >

andys120

if this old dog is frumpy or stately>

Mr_Shiftright

It rather defines "frump" IMO. Looks like a Jaguar.....Mark V...pretty clunky...with 1920s headlights (Pierce Arrow style) and pontoon fenders and running boards in 1950? With a wheezy 2.5L engine? C'mon!

andys120

That's right, it's a 1949 Jag. MkV. and I think it's a little bit of both, frumpy and stately.

andys120

bhill2

OK, I know it's a Rambler, besides you can read it on the glove compartment. It is, I'm sure, a Classic as opposed to an American. Lower trim level due to the lack of chrome on the radio knobs and transmission selector buttons. As far as year, it looks to me like it has the somewhat later steering wheel but the older dash. I will guess early '60s.

imidazol97

I didn't remember that Rambler had the push button gear selector that's on the left corner of the dash! Nice reminder to see that!

lostwrench1

I'll put my chips on a 1962 Rambler Ambassador.

andys120

You're close, it's a 1962 AMC Rambler Custom>

andys120

stephen987

Morgan Plus-Four-Plus?

andys120

Morgan Plus-Four-Plus?

Yup,ca. '64-'67

andys120

tmart

Chrysler Imperial, mid 60's?

wgrafer

Right, I'd say a 1964.

andys120

Good guesses, it's from a 1967 Imperial.

andys120

cooterbfd

'54 Kaiser

lostwrench1

The fin tip on the hood ornament indicates a 55 Kaiser.

cooterbfd

Funny though, the headlight bezels scream '53 Buick!!!

lostwrench1

One of the favorite cars of Kaiser president Edgar Kaiser was the Buick XP-300.

andys120

It's a Kaiser all right but not one of the American made ones sold here 1947-55 it's a
1958 Kaiser Carabela made and sold in Argentina by Kaiser Motor's subsidiary IKA
(Industrias Kaiser Argentina). The Carabela was made there thru 1962.

andys120