Mystery car pix

andys120

bhill2

Oh, yeah. '61 or '62 Lincoln Continental. Got trashed in the movie and turned into the 'deathmobile' for the final scene. The other cars, left to right, are a Corvair droptop, a beat-up Crosley, a trashed hulk I can't identify, a '62 (I think) Corvette, a trashed '57 Plymouth, and an older car that I cannot recognize from the partial picture but looks GM to me.

andys120

The Corvette is not a '61 or '62; if it was it would have the duck-tail. It can't be a '58 either because it has no chrome stripes on the trunk lid. That leaves '55, '56, '57 or '59 and '60. IMCDB says it's a '59 but it's impossible to tell from that photo. An owner once told me that the only differences between a '59 and '60 are the color combinations.

Can you recall the names of the 3 characters seen in that still?

stickguy

Flounder driving and D Day on the bike.

Eric stratten, rush chairman, in the back seat? Hard to see that one.

fintail

The Lincoln is a 64-65, earlier ones had a less angular C-pillar-rear door window area.

lostwrench1

Ahh, one of my favorite trivia questions.
Answer......
1959 Corvette - pleats in seats - side to side.
1960 Corvette - pleats in seats - front to rear.

bhill2

The Lincoln is a 64-65

I can't say you're not right Fin, but if it is it's a movie flub. The movie was set in 1962.

Oh and andys120, you caught me. I was just going on the date of the movie and assuming that the Corvette would be current.

andys120

Yup, Flounder (aka Kent Dorfman-Steven Furst) behind the wheel and Otter (aka Eric Stratten-Tim Mathesen) in back and D-Day(Bruce McGill) on the bike.

stever

andys120

Picture's a little distorted but that looks like a recent vintage Ford Crown Vic.

andys120

wgrafer

Well, the Plymouth is a '58, and the ambulance/hearse looks like a '55 Pontiac to me. And i do believe the Lincoln is a '64.

fintail

Ferrari 288GTO, which I would easily take over a new one.

fintail

Typical Hollywood. Here's a 63 (pretty much the same in 61-63). You can see the pillar is a little softer, and the trim a little different:

stever

Yep, pretty funny video at the link of some guy showing up the Hummers.

Who Needs a Jeep? Crown Vic Goes Crawling at Moab (Straightline)

andys120

I can't say you're not right Fin, but if it is it's a movie flub. The movie was set in 1962.

I noticed a similar boo-boo on the TV-Series Pan-Am a couple of episodes ago.
One of the characters as driving an E-Type roadster with the open headlights even though it's supposed to be 1963. Us E-type obsessives know that before 1968 all of them had the faired in headlights, in fact only a small number of '68s had open headlights.

The Series II introduced in 1969 all had open headlights and other mods that may seem subtle but actually changed the looks considerably. You be the judge>

S1 1961-68-


S2 '69-'71-


The car seen on TV may have been a "Series 1.5" open headlights but no side markers or headrests.

bhill2

I noticed a similar boo-boo on the TV-Series Pan-Am a couple of episodes ago.

Speaking of boo-boos on TV, does it make anyone else crazy how many driving scenes shot through the windshield show the transmission selector in 'Park'? I swear it happens at least half the time. You'd think the crew or cast would catch on.

fintail

I think that kind of thing happens a lot, I can think of a few cases too. Not unrelated from the Hollywood set creation ideal that 90% of the cars on the road in the 50s or 60s were late model wide whitewalled coupes and convertibles.

magnette

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explorerx4

I didn't ask if the picture was from Ronin, I asked if the car was the same one as Ronin.

fintail

Yes, the Ronin car was a W116

jwilliams2

It does look like the Mercedes 450SEL sedan used in Ronin (which was actually a 6.9). Except for the US headlights.

andys120

Uh, oh, it's one of those frumpy austerity-era British middle class sedans. They tend to look alike especially from behind, perhaps a Humber Hawk or Snipe, a Jowett, a Lanchester or something.

andys120

Armstrong-Siddeley Typhoon?

grahampeters

G'day

Mid '50s Alvis TC21/100, probably with a Mulliner body. Gee you are making them hard!

Cheers

Graham

magnette

Yes Graham - it's an Alvis TC21/100 - I have to confess I don't know the coachbuilder.

lemko

My Dad grew up in the 1950s said that most people drove old 1940s cars that decade and very few were flashy coupes or convertibles. Looking at Hollywood movies, you'd think everybody had a red and white top-of-the-line hardtop or convertible.

A few people in my family had new cars back then. One Uncle had a 1956 Mercury Montclair that my cousin "borrowed" and ran into a ditch and had to be rescued by my Dad and some of his friends. My aunt had a new yellow 1954 Studebaker Starlite coupe her husband bought for her. My Grandpop had a very plain black 1953 Plymouth Cambridge before he started buying Chevrolets in the 1960s.

wgrafer

"My Grandpop had a very plain black 1953 Plymouth Cambridge "

My parents bought a very plain maroon 1953 Plymouth Cambridge - its two luxury touches were the optional radio and optional full wheel covers (and they were real beauties!). I wish I still had it!!!

As I recall, it was still not that easy to get on a list to buy a new car back then as there had been such pent-up demand left over from WWII days of no new cars. My parents lived in NYC after the war and had no need for a car until a move to the Jersey suburbs in '52. They made do with a very used '36 Chrysler until they got their hands on the Plymouth.

lemko

After the war, my Grandpop drove a 1942 Hudson until he bought the Plymouth. I remember him telling me that, right after the war, new cars would often have wooden planks in place of the bumpers until the bumpers arrived at the dealer later be installed. My wife's father made do with a 1937 Studebaker until he got a new "bullet-nose" 1951 model.

Mr_Shiftright

Many of the weird cars posted here were born out of the craving people had for new cars after WW II. Everybody and his uncle started little car companies, and the ones that couldn't afford that became the notorious "used car dealers" with the tarnished image we hold today----you could sell practically anything on wheels in 1946-48, no matter how bad the used car was, or how hopeless the new car was. So we got the Davis and the Crosley and the Messerschmidt and the Reliant (pre-war) and the Bond and god knows how many other obscure makes, made of fiberglass, bolt-together sheet metal (King Midget?) , old airplane drop tanks, etc.

kyfdx

I was born in 1958, and the oldest car I can remember being in was my grandfather's 1949 Ford... I'm pretty sure it had zero options.. He was a union carpenter, but farmed on the side, and lived out in the country...

My grandmother said she was going to learn how to drive, so he bought her a brand-new '62 Galaxie 500... but, she never did. That car just sat, unless they were going to the big city to visit... He drove the '49 Ford until they moved to the big city in 1968....

My mother was a very fast driver... but, she was a snail compared to my grandfather in the '49 Ford... I'm pretty sure we were airborne a few times... :surprise:

lemko

This wasn't your grandfather back in the day? :P

andys120

Isn't that from Thunder Road with Robert Mitchum as a 'shine runner outwitting the revenooers? Keeley Smith plays his girlfriend. I first saw it in a drive-in ca. 1957 and have loved it ever since.

berri

IIRC those 49-51 Ford's actually had a bad reputation for going airborne and rolling.

lemko

Yes, the image is from the classic Robert Mitchum movie.

kyfdx

I vaguely recall clipping a mailbox or two, as well..

He lived on one of those roads you don't find much, any more... the kind that flip your stomach when you go over the rise....

andys120

jwilliams2

'63 Chevrolet Impala....

stever

Anybody recognize the body of water? Looks a bit familiar but I can't place it. Looks like a cross between Hetch Hetchy and the Columbia River Gorge.

jwilliams2

I believe you are correct, that sure looks like the Columbia River Gorge. I believe that's the Vista House at Crown Point on the right.

andys120

'63 Chevrolet Impala....

Yup!

stever

Cool thanks. Now that you've identified it, I can just make out the Vista House on the right edge. Don't recall ever driving in that part of the Gorge before; need to go check it out.

Cue "See the USA in your ('63) Chevrolet".

explorerx4

I was focused on the size and color. Glad to be educated what else to look for.

berri

Interesting place. That is kind of on the western end. Go east about an hour and its less trees and more kind of high desert. In between some great waterfalls. Combine your visit with the Oregon coast - you won't be disappointed. Beautiful gardens down a tad from Portland in the Salem and Eugene areas as well.

stever

Yeah, been to the Gorge a few times and camped at Hood River. Been to Multnomah, but we don't remember the Crown Point wayside. We probably headed off on one of the forest service roads on our way to Salem where our best man lives to avoid the Interstate as much as possible. One of these days. :shades:

Don't miss the Otis Cafe heading for the coast. Nice bench out front to sit on while you wait for a table to clear.

stever

texases

A hypermiler and his Honda Del Sol...

stever

Bingo.

au1994

picking nits for sure, but when does hypermiling translate into a ticket? Where I live you have to have at least a drivers side mirror.

stever

The photo was taken on California's 405, so assuming it's a California car, it's supposed to have two mirrors, including one on the left side.

If you blow up the photo though, it indeed appears that the Del Sol has one right in the front glass triangle. Missed it before; just looks like a reflection. Probably a bicycle mirror at that.