Mystery car pix

andys120

That's right Mr. S, it's a '59.

andys120

gsemike

Toyota... I think that Paseo was the name. Never too common in these parts. I guess that it was envisioned as a 'secretary's car' but at least on Long Island they all went for V6 Camaro and Mustang convertibles.

andys120

Well maybe common wasn't the right word but yes it is a Toyota Paseo Convertible. ca. early-mid 90s. Coupes were a lot more prevalent.

ateixeira

That car made my 93 Miata look positively butch. LOL

crkyolfrt

are u sure that's a Gr Prix? I was thinking Buick...Electra maybe?

nevermind, I am recalling a rear end Gr Prix that did sorta look like that, only for what? one model year maybe? I know they were very rare around these parts. Odd for a big GM.

Mr_Shiftright

Didn't Barbie have one of those?

stickguy

I only ever knew 1 person that owned one of these (and heck, may not have seen more than another couple on the road), although it was not the convertible.

perfect demo for the car. mid-20s single professional (but not high paid) female, who also happened to be about 4'10". Perfect size for her!

magnette

We had the Paseo here briefly, although I think only as a coupe, but while I appreciate it is hardly huge, it would have been sold here as competition for the Vauxhall Tigra, Ford Puma or similar.
There are many smaller cars here - try my old (now long gone) Fiat Seicento !

andys120

denvertrakker

Humber Super Snipe, mid-60s.

andys120

That's what I'd have thought too but it's a 1965 Humber Imperial which apparently was a luxed up Super Snipe with a Vinyl roof and some other features.

Wikipedia: Humber Imperial.

I was pretty impressed by the interior-fittings of the Super Snipe I once rode in back in the day.

andre1969

I see Jim Rockford's trailer finally got towed away

andys120

andre1969

Strong Mopar presence there!

Black car up front with the toothy grille is a '55 DeSoto Firedome Sportsman hardtop coupe. Behind it looks like a '53 Buick, but I can't tell the series. Looks like one of the smaller ones, like a Special or Century.

Pink and white car looks like a '55 Dodge, probably either a Royal or Custom Royal. Taxi is a '57 Ford, low-line model, like a 300 or Custom 300. And in front of the Ford is a low-line '57-58 Plymouth, probably a Plaza.

Way in back, the bright yellow taxi looks like a 1960 Dodge Dart to me, but that might be too new. Definitely looks like one of the smaller (for that timeframe) Mopars though...maybe a 1959 Plymouth? And behind it appears to be a light blue '55-ish Mercury? Anything further back and my eyesight is starting to fail me. Might be time for glasses!

wgrafer

Good job Andre! I also think that yellow mopar taxi in back
really is a '60 Dodge. I'll agree with all with one exception:
"Behind it looks like a '53 Buick" -- definitely looks like a '54 to me!

texases

Do my eyes deceive me? Has the photo posting bug been partially fixed in the new web site? Looks like photos are cropped on the right to fit now.

andys120

Has the photo posting bug been partially fixed in the new web site?

Nope, part of the photo is cut off, there is a Plymouth in front of the Ford Taxi, as mentioned by Andre.

The Buick is definitely a '54, you can tell by the treatment below the headlights, the same as this '54 Century>



You can see the top of a red over yellow Checker cab towards the center of the picture, behind the pink/white Dodge. Checkers didn't become the default NYC taxi until the late '60s IIRC.

In the 50s MoPars were dominant, mostly DeSotos especially from the late 40s to mid 50s.

imidazol97

Here's the whole width of the photo. It has been narrowed on the right side.

texases

Yes, that's what I meant by 'partially', at least the 'Reply' link is no longer invisible...

berri

That's a CTA bus so its in Chicago. At first I thought it was the ubiquitous GM model, but on closer inspection I believe it is one of the relatively small fleet of Mack buses the CTA had. I don't recognize the intersection, but the Mack bus tells me it is probably somewhere on the north side.

lostwrench1

The Hotel Victoria and the Brass Rail, that's Times Square, NYC.

andys120

Yep, it's Times Square, I used to work a block away on 6th and 49th St. albeit 20 years later. The bus belongs to what was then known as MABSTOA (Manhattan And Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority). I worked for them briefly in 1966 out of Dey Street where the Twin Towers were from '74-2001.

berri

The Hotel Victoria and the Brass Rail, that's Times Square, NYC

Well, no wonder I don't recognize the intersection! The north side of Chicago has a lot of those angular intersections too. The paint job on that bus is identical to the old CTA when I was growing up. I always thought the NYC buses were blue - you learn something everyday! Did the Times Square area have that slight scent of urine back then? Actually, the last time I was there the area had really cleaned up. As I got older I was able to spend most of my travel time west - a lot less congested in the air and on the ground except for LAX and SFO. Actually, I think that LA has gotten more intense than NYC in the past decade - people are definitely not that laid back there anymore. I think Philly was always a bit more intense than NYC as well, but at least you always knew where they stood on something!

andys120

Oh yes, Times Square did smell bad back then, it was mostly strip joints porno book stores and movie theaters and (being New York) restaurants like Sardi's and Gallagher's as well as Broadway theaters. The smell that most reminds me of the old NY of my kidhood is Diesel exhaust from buses, it was every where back then.

NY Buses are now blue/silver, have been since the 1970s but back in the day they were white/tan over green as in this shot from A Bronx Tale.



(My Dad and his brother used to ride trolleys in Brooklyn the same way.)

NY had both GMC and Mack Coaches as well. Here's a white/green Mack.

andys120

wgrafer

OK, I'll bite on "A Bronx Tale" pic. In front of the Key Foods is a '59 or '60 Studebaker Lark (was there a difference?) followed by a '61 Rambler. Parked on the right of the bus is a '56 Buick.

wgrafer

'58 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz! Needs a little TLC.......

berri

Never saw much hitching a ride on the CTA - the cops would have been on you fast I think. I did see a lot of guys sneak up behind the trolley buses and knock the trolleys off their track - then run! Chicago had a fair number of main streets using trolley buses until the early 70's. I always felt they made a big mistake going to all diesel or propane buses (Chicago actually ran some propane powered buses starting in the early 50's), and of course their timing stunk abandoning them shortly before the first oil embargoes.

The older Chicago buses looked like that picture you attached except they were always green and cream. The CTA didn't go with green and white until sometime in the 60's when they started getting the next generation of more modern looking GM and Flxible buses. The old Marmon trolley buses were kind of neat looking in their days. The CTA was always somewhat a hodgepodge of different makes of buses - probably a combination of erratic funding and Chicago political payola.

berri

I saw the article on that old Eldo and its attempted cross country run in the NY Times. Very interesting and very cool! I always admire the people that are mechanical and willing to take their classic vehicles on sojourns. I know the economics go against it, but it would be neat if an airline would restore an old propliner or early jet and fly it around in its old livery - I'd buy a ticket! Personally, I'm glad I was able to experience living in the 50's and 60's. I know we are probably better off today with the advances in technology and medicines, but there was something about the glitz in everything back in those decades, and really, the greater simplicity and positiveness in life, that I don't think we'll be able to see again. I don't think today's cynicism and over reliance on technology is always such a good thing. People need to talk and joke more, instead of always relying on texts and email in their communications. I think the country would feel better about itself, but maybe I'm just too much of a nostalgic.

berri

I was going to guess a 62 Rambler. The picture of it isn't real clear and I thought the headlights had that brow on them. But as I look closer, I think the greater angularity of the back door probably does mean a 61.

Mr_Shiftright

Oh the NYC cops were on us fast when we hitched rides on the back of buses---so you had to learn to run really fast. Sometimes they'd throw their nightsticks at your ankles, and that really hurt. One of my earliest childhood memories is of a kid getting run over by a bus when he fell off one and got hit by the one following it.

lemko

In West Philly, SEPTA has street cars that go into a tunnel around 38th Street. One time this kid hitched a ride on the side of a street car and went into the tunnel with it. The kid failed to realize there were signals mounted to the walls of the tunnel with mere inches of clearance between the signal and the side of streetcar. Well, you can guess what soon happened!

berri

Didn't Art Linkletter say "kids do the dumbest things"? Oh wait, that was "darndest". I recall some kid jumping onto the back of a subway car, falling off and frying on the third rail once.

andys120

jwilliams2

Nice '57 Ford convertible, don't think it is a Skyliner though, more likely a Fairland 500/Sunliner. The trunk isn't square enough. I had one of those back in the late 50's, fun car. Behind it looks like a '57 Oldsmobile convert, and I see lots of Fords and Chevys behind, with a Karman Ghia across the aisle.

wgrafer

The '57 Olds (behind the Fairlane 500 convert) is actually a 4-door sedan ( the '57 Olsdsmobile sedans had no rear wing windows).
I see a white '57 Plymouth 4-dr sedan back behind the '57 Olds. Looks like a pair of black '50 Fords near the VW Karman Ghia, and I see a '51 Pontiac bringing up the rear. Those Flying Queens were riding in style!

lostwrench1

104 consecutive basketball wins!
I assume there was no glass in that convertible top.

fintail

That Ghia must have been a fairly avant-garde choice then, a rare sight too - assuming the pic is from 57-58 by the cars in the background, it is a very early model.

andys120

Yes, you could call a Ghia avant-garde in the late 50s, especially in Texas where the picture was taken (Wayland Baptist University in Plainview TX celebrating their 1957 victory in Women's AAU basketball).

My cousin, then a student at McGill, acquired a K-G around that time and I remember being pretty impressed. This was around the time that Volkswagen, propelled by a reputation for quality and fuel-efficiency, was beginning to dominate the import market (perhaps 10 % of total car sales IIRC.) previously dominated by British sports cars.

texases

Interesting story, and they really did fly!

"The world of girls' basketball has never, until now, seen anything like this attractive winning crew—the Hutcherson Flying Queens of little Wayland College in Plainview, Texas. Descending from the skies in Beechcraft Bonanzas (hence the "Flying") to meet their hapless opponents, the team has won 104 consecutive games and four straight national women's Amateur Athletic Union titles. To keep to their schedule in the South and West and occasionally in Mexico, the team is ferried in planes provided by Mr. and Mrs. Claude Hutcherson, Plainview ranchers who foot the bills for the Queens' expenses. Headed for more titles, with three replacements for graduated members of last year's champions, the '57-'58 team members are (above, front row, left to right) Jan Wiginton, Patsy Neal, Peggy Alexander, Carla Lowry, Margaret Odom; (back row) Carolyn Miller, Joyce Kite, Louise Short, Judy Bugher, Kaye Garms, Belva Ramsey and Mora Poff. Louise Short and Kaye Garms have been selected for this year's All-America team."

fintail

First year of the Ghia was 56 IIRC...and the general Ghia styling theme was still fresh then, no doubt the owner of that car turned some heads.

Build quality must have been light years ahead of the British.

andys120

berri

Could that be a partially obscured Hudson to the right of the Karman Ghia?

berri

Whatever that yellow beast is, it fits in with its background!

fintail

With a name to match, the Reliant Kitten

At least it isn't trying to be menacing...an honest name for such a car.

And no doubt, most were in the junkyard 20 years ago.

lostwrench1

Wow. Good eye. Probably a 54 Hornet.

magnette

The Reliant Kitten was never a big seller, because it was competing with the Mini and the Ford Fiesta, but it was quite a popular and well turned out little car, and being mostly plastic / fibreglass, it didn't have the rust issues of many of it's competitors.
I still see two locally, one of which is in daily use - we often pass each other on my morning commute - and I would imagine quite a number are still being run by impecunious or elderly owners, not as collectors cars but as cheap transport.
It was a four wheel version of the Reliant Robin three wheeler - and one thing the Kitten did have, which was very useful in towns, was a very tight turning circle - it was less than 25 feet which is in the same league as the Triumph Herald or the London Taxi !
I think the grey car on the heap in the background is a Vauxhall FB Victor, and the rusty little car to the left of that might be an Austin A30/35, if it has a crushed roof - both of which were pretty much off the roads as everyday cars some years ago - although both are well represented as collectors cars...

andys120

Thanks for those insights Mag. I suppose you could say the Kitten was the result of someone at Reliant getting the bright idea that most would prefer that their cars had four, rather than three, wheels.

Jeremy Clarkson had quite a good time pointing out the ease with which a Robin could be tipped over.

Reliant actually made some interesting cars including the Sabre sports car, on which the Israeli Sabra was based and the Scimitar, a kind of shooting brake.

andys120