Mystery car pix

andys120

stickguy

Janice sitting on a Porsche 356. With that paint job, don't ask me which model (not that I can tell them apart anyway...)

fintail

That must be it...I just about jumped out of my chair when I saw a kei car on my street.

Looks like an electric variant was sold by a firm called "Miles", that's what I must have seenn.

andys120

I think that's a Singer Gazelle, maybe 1960?

Yup, a 1957 Singer Gazelle, a badge engineered clone of the Hillman Minx which for a time was a popular import in the US. I doubt there's much difference between a '57 and a '59.

andys120

Janice sitting on a Porsche 356.

Yup, that's Joplin's Porsche, probably the most famous 356C Cabriolet in the world. The shape of the bumpers and hubcaps indicate that it's a "C" (356A models had "moon"-style hubcaps and lower bumpers, B models had hubcaps with raised centers).

andre1969

"Oh Lord won't buy me a Mercedes-Benz"

Considering the paintjob inflicted on that Porsche, my guess is God said NO!

ateixeira

I finally got one, whew!

Mr_Shiftright

Well you know, you drink a lot of Southern Comfort in the morning and smoke billy-club-sized joints all day, you're gonna do stuff like that.

andys120

Better version

jwilliams2

Early 60's MGB and a '58 Plymouth, probably a Plaza or a Savoy....

andys120

Yup, I think I can make out the word "Plaza" on the tailfin. Actually the MGB could be mid 60s. My '66 TR-4A was delivered on whitewalls; so was my buddy's '67 E-Type (I tried to talk him into blackwalls.)

Those Bs were pretty cars in the right colors, the bright red/black looks great.

jwilliams2

I bought a new MGB as a birthday surprise for my then wife back in the 70's, green with a tan interior and a black top. I think it was the best looking combination.

The motor was somewhat agricultural sounding, and it wasn't a fast car by any means, but still fun.

andys120

Bigger Version

tmart

L ot R: Cadillac, Cadillac, Cadillac, Cadillac, Cadillac, Cadillac, Cadillac, Cadillac.

lostwrench1

Some with F-15 engines.

jwilliams2

You guys are too funny.... :shades:

andys120

Aw c'mon, isn't someone going to name the year each set of fins belongs to?

going...going...

berri

I'm thinking I see 58, 59 and 60's including maybe a 58 El Dorado
Biarritz?

grahampeters

G'day

I'd always thought the '70s were the "Decade That Taste Forgot"

Cheers

Graham

lemko

1961 Cadillac
1960 Cadillac
1959 Cadillac
1959 Cadillac
1958 Cadillac Eldorado Seville
1962 Cadillac
1959 Cadillac
1960 Cadillac Coupe DeVille
1958 Cadillac

The picture is from the movie "Tin Men" with Danny DeVito and Richard Dreyfuss.

ateixeira

I knew '59 has the biggest fins!

Did you know that in the Pixar movie Cars, the mountain range in the background was modeled after those tail fins, ordered by model year?

I'm sure lemko did.

lemko

You mean this one? I'd say it was inspired by the Cadillac Ranch sculture in Amarillo, Texas

jwilliams2

Cool. I've watched that movie with my Grandson many times, and didn't realize that. Thanks for the info.....

Mr_Shiftright

There were a few bright bulbs within a long, long string of burned out 70s Automotive Christmas lights. One might call the '77 Impala, for instance, a forerunner of the new downsized American sedan.

But alas, that is faint praise in a way. Some of the European cars weren't too bad back then.

ateixeira

Perhaps, but are the cars in the sculpture arranged by model year?

I believe the Cars mountains include, from left to right, a '58, '59, '60, and '61.

andys120

Right on all counts. Tin Men is a great little movie.

andys120

texases

'72 Ford Maverick with the 'Grabber' trim?

tmart

71 Maverick. IIRC the orange was called Grabber Orange.

ateixeira

Ford Maverick...I will guess around '72 or so.

Edit: let's see who got the year, I wasn't first either way.

andys120

Yup it's a '71 Ford Maverick Grabber, I can't confirm the color as "Grabber Orange" since the seller describes it as "Bright Red".

It looks orange to me but I owned an Orange '70 GTO that GM called "Carousel Red".

andys120

ateixeira

I just watched the video on Jay Leno's garage...Hennessey Venom GT!

And I thought Venom meant Viper! Strange name for it.

kyfdx

I would have guessed that it was a Lotus...

texases

Or a hopped up Tesla :P

andys120

Yup, that's the 2011 Hennessey Venom GT, essentially a Lotus Exige reworked to take a twin-turbo Corvette motor. I don't think you could call it a Lotus since it's in a whole other league .

BTW- "venom" is the toxin injected via animal bites or insect stings, including but hardly limited to snakes.

ateixeira

De-electrified!

The world's least efficient Tesla.

andys120

mac24

Looks like a Triumph of some sort, maybe a Spitfire or GT6, but the door panel and shelf look wrong as well as the radio.

From the type of wood I'd guess it's a late model as the earlier models had a high gloss laquer finish and a different gauge layout.

jwilliams2

I agree. Spitfire, with some changes made and some trim missing. My brother had one of these and later a TR-4.

andys120

Very observant guys! It's a late (1976) Triumph Spitfire.

andys120

jwilliams2

Funny looking little car, looks like a Panhard Junior....

mac24

Are those VW wheel rims?

andys120

Funny looking little car, looks like a Panhard Junior....

You know, just about any French car made after 1950 could be described as "funny looking" but I guess the 1954 Panhard Dyna Junior could be about the funniest looking.

Those do not look like VW rims to me.

andys120

andre1969

Olds Toronado, of the 1986 to 1989 or so generation. I think that might be that "Trofeo" trim level. I forget now what year it was they made the Toronado longer again...either 1990 or 1991?

I think it's actually a good looking car, on its own. But the problem is that the Calais had come out the year before, looked about the same, but cost about half as much. And buyers who wanted a car like this really wanted more power, substance, and RWD. IIRC, sales of the Lincoln Mark VII started to take off once the Eldo/Toro/Seville got downsized, and really weren't direct competition anymore.

The dashboards were also overly complicated as I recall, with lots of high-tech that's now old fashioned, and probably impossible to repair when it breaks.

fintail

I remember the "Tro-fey-o" commercial with Harry Belafonte. Or something like that.

Back around 2004 or so a good friend of mine's needy spoiled now-ex gf was given a 90 or 91 Trofeo as a gift from her enabling parents after she destroyed about car #4 they had gifted her - the Olds had belonged to her grandmother who bought something new. I visited him when she had the car delivered to her, and got to check it out. It was immaculate, that common red-burgundy of the period, and was loaded - leather, sunroof, wheels, digital dash, etc. It was pretty awesome, for what it was. The spoiled girl pretty much had a crying fit about how she didn't want the car. I wanted to punch her. :shades: :lemon:

andre1969

I remember the "Tro-fey-o" commercial with Harry Belafonte. Or something like that.

Oh crap, it's coming back to me now...

"This Olds-mobile, is not, our Faaa-ther's
Noo Gen-eration, for de sons and daauu-ters!"

Make it stop, please? :P

And yeah, that girl sounded like she needed to be slapped. I'm guessing she trashed the Toronado, too?

ateixeira

That whole ad campaign alienated their own customers. It was awful.