Mystery car pix

magnette

Yes - a Nisan Cedric Brougham - imported to UK second-hand from Japan, but the registration plate indicates 1987/8 as year of manufacture. Here's the rear view">

grahampeters

G'day

The reference to the Nissan Cedric reminds me of a story I have told before.

When Nissan first started importing the Cedric to Australia, a motoring journalist (slightly inebriated) baled up the Japanese MD of the Australian Nissan Datsun importer at the launch eventwith the query; "Don't you think Cedric is a bit of a Poofy Name?"

The Managing Director was somewhat non-plussed by the blunt Australianism and had to get a translation from his questioner; "This word "Poof"; what does it mean?"

When it was explained that it is the colloquial Australian word for a homosexual, the MD asked a very sensible question; "Do you have many homosexuals in Australia?"

He was assured that, indeed, Australia does have many homosexuals, leading him to the obvious statement "If there are many homosexuals, we will sell many cars!"

Touche to the redneck!

Cheers

Graham

Mr_Shiftright

I think it was an attempt by the Japanese to be more "posh" than "poof". Or perhaps they watched too many Sir Cedric Hardwicke films back in Japan. (a very famous English actor).

magnette

Well, they didn't import the Cedric to the UK - apart from a couple for the Japanese embassy, I think. All the ones we have now - and they are actually quite rare - were grey imports.

Mr_Shiftright

Well we DO know that "Cedric" is not a Japanese name

magnette

Yes - I think it's probably a name like Algernon or Ernest - most of them died on the Somme in 1916 or somewhere, and it died out shortly thereafter...

Mr_Shiftright

It's not even on the top 100 most popular boys' names in England and Wales

("Jack" is #1 for 14 years running).

I don't suppose a Nissan Jack would be a very good name. :shades:

andys120

I don't suppose a Nissan Jack would be a very good name

Why not, there's already a Nissan Juke?

grahampeters

G'day

Not sure how most of you chose your kids' names, but Judy and I worked on the basis that the names should be easy to spell, not have featured in the top 100 names for the past century (we were in England at the time) and be suitable whether the kid chose to be a Merchant Banker or a Garbage Man; hence Tamsin and Angus.

Cedric did not feature!

Cheers

Graham

andys120

lostwrench1

1964 Ford Galaxie 500.

Let me throw this trivia question out there.

Why is it that police cars over the decades had hub caps and not full wheel covers?

kyfdx

Brake cooling?

wgrafer

Besides cooler brakes, I believe the full wheel covers ran about $35 -- perhaps seen as an unnecessary expense.

BTW, never saw a Galaxie 500 cop car back in the day - cop cars were all stripped down low-level models (except for the power train, brakes, suspension, HD battery, etc. that were part of the 'police package').

andys120

BTW, never saw a Galaxie 500 cop car back in the day - cop cars were all stripped down low-level models

That's generally true and the ad notes that the emblems are for the "Mayberry P.D." This car was obviously "converted" from a civilian Galaxie 500/352.

andys120

texases

The reason I heard was to eliminate the possibility that losing a hubcap could also take the valve stem with it, causing a flat in the heat of pursuit.

mac24

That's the reason I understood it to be also. It was a common practice on both sides of the Atlantic until alloy wheels became more common.

Mr_Shiftright

I think you're reading too much into this story---it's because dog dish hubcaps are what come on stripped down models. With those old boats, you lost your brakes after a few hard stops no matter what.

tjc78

I've noticed in Jersey that all the marked "standard issue" P71 Vics have the steelies w/small center cap. The ones they try and pass off as unmarked have cheapie full plastic wheel covers.

I don't know who they fool, because the car still has the PI grill and says "police interceptor" on the back. :confuse:

Mr_Shiftright

Well at least they didn't have "Unmarked Police Car" lettered on the trunk! :P

andys120

Same deal here in NH, not only for the CVs but also for Dodge Chargers they use.

lostwrench1

Bravo, texases and mac24.

Eliminating the use of full wheel covers greatly reduced the chance of the valve stem being severed.

jwilliams2

Used to be the SHP had some cool cars. I remember the Missouri State Highway Patrol cars used in the early 60’s included 390 ci Ford Galaxie sedans, 413 ci Chrysler Enforcer four-door sedans, 401 ci Buick LeSabre four-door sedans, 383 ci Dodge 440 four-door, 413 ci Dodge 880 four-door sedans, 394 ci Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 four-door sedans, and 409 ci Chevrolet BelAir four-door sedans. Those cars were a lot less boring than the cars of today.

explorerx4

You overlooked the Buick Grand Nationals the CT state police used to have.

How about 2 mode pursuit?

andys120

We've had no answers for the boxy camper van posted in #30458. ?Here it is again>



Going...going...

jwilliams2

Looks like a Mazda Bongo conversion van....

lemko

uplanderguy

'71 Chevrolet Brookwood or Townsman wagon...can't tell; nameplate on rear quarter is missing and external trim on both were identical. Whichever this is, it has the optional roof drip molding.

'69 Ford Country Sedan (Galaxie 500 trim)

andys120

Yep, that is a Mazda Bongo camper version.

What a great name, Bongo!

andys120

tmart

Buick Electra

robr2

I believe in the 80's and 90's all the big Buick wagons were called Roadmaster Estates. Is this a 1990 or so??

As kids we called all big station wagons "beach wagons" because we would load 'em up and head to the beach.

andys120

You guys have the right idea but the nomenclature got a bit fuzzy by 1986, the car shown could be either an '86 Buick LeSabre Estate wagon or an '86 Electra Estate Wagon. The looked the same but were built on different chassis and had differing levels of equipment.

Here are the details.

andys120

ateixeira

Badge-engineered twin of the Caprice Estate and Old Custom Cruiser wagons.

We had the Olds version. Nothing like a gas guzzling V8 that's also on the slow side. Plus the trans had trouble finding first gear after coming to a full stop. Gas smell issues, alignment issues, it was such a beater.

It had enough room for the kitchen sink, but my kids are about 100% better off in our modern minivan.

robr2

1989 Toro Lawn Tractor??

Mr_Shiftright

OHHHH...that looks horribly familiar...a ghost from my past...but what? but what? Is it a Fiat? Maybe a 650 or 850? :confuse:

tjc78

The looked the same but were built on different chassis and had differing levels of equipment.

I think what the article was trying to say is that the wagon and sedan were on different chassis (sedan FWD, wagon RWD). Both the Electra and LeSabre wagons were functionally the same AFAIK.

What I find funny is according to the article the pricier Electra was the better seller.

lemko

Correct. Picture is of a Philadelphia street back in the 1970s.

andys120

Nope, not a Fiat. but it could be related to them in some way, I really don't know. It's from a 1969 MY car but I suspect the motor dates back 10-15 years before that.

jwilliams2

Looks like a Skoda to me....maybe a 1000MB ....

andys120

Right you are Jwilliams2!

andys120

wgrafer

Red '71 Ford Torino GT, red '70 Pontiac GTO, orange '70-'71 Dodge Demon. Up front (and slightly out-of-place) '64-'65 Studebaker Lark. Hard to tell the year of the black Pontiac Tempest/GTO from this angle.

stickguy

finally, something not from the early 50s!

the partial rear shots in front look like a chevelle and a white studebacker (or is it a Rambler?)

next row is a torino, GTO (both around 1970) and a Demon (some variant of a dart, the grille to me says Demon!). That orange one is my favorite of the bunch.

behind them, a 68ish Chevelle with hood up, and in the far corner under the tree you can see the headlight for a white avanti.

And a lot of old farts standing around.

andys120

Good job on those Wgrafer but Stickguy is correct on the Black car in front of the '70 GTO. It's a '70-'72 Chevy (Chevelle or Malibu) not a Poncho, The Lark could be an R2 (muscle-car variant).

andys120

Good eye on the Avanti and the Chevelle in back, I missed those.

a lot of old farts standing around.

I resemble that remark!

uplanderguy

That white Lark is a '63 Lark Regal two-door sedan. If it's the car I'm thinking of that has been there before, it's an Avanti-powered R1 engine.

I went to that event once, only four days after 9/11/01, and had a great time. Really takes one back. There are a lot of Studes that go there, and a couple in particular embarrass some of the smug Big Three guys (although most are friendly and complimentary to what the later Studes with Avanti power can do). One guy pulled out of a race and was overheard saying "I'm not going to lose to a Studebaker". What a spoiled so-and-so.

It's a real smorgasbord of cars there, and not just muscle cars like 'Vettes, Mustangs, Chevelles, and GTO's. The year I was there, I was lusting after a silver '66 Bonneville Sports Coupe with 421 and 4-speed. The cars have to be as factory-built. It's a good time. Maybe some of us should link up there next year.

andys120

jwilliams2

Looks like a Triumph....Spitfire or GT6 maybe?