Mystery car pix

andys120

Different photo of the same car>>>

strek

1961 Willys Jeep Wagon

strek

Nope - not Compound Vortex Combustion Chamber

Compound Vortex Controlled Combustion

andys120

Nope, that sucker was not made by Willys Corp.

fintail

Looks like it has some kind of Spanish looking writing on it...maybe a South American variant like the South American Willys Aero

andys120

That's essentially it, but this Jeep wagon wasn't made by Willys, it was made by an Argentine subsidiary of Kaiser IKA (Industrias Kaiser Argentina) and it was known as the IKA Estanciera. The first color shot for those who can see it is of a 1965 Estancciera 2wd model and the second is a 1958. A big ranch in the Argentine is called an Estancia hence my clue in #3219 (Meanwhile..back at the ranch :P )

IKA had a colorful history manufacturing variants of Willys, AMC and Renault automobiles.

andys120

fintail

"manufacturing variants of Willys, AMC and Renault automobile"

Not MY first choices to build under license...I am guessing their success was through lack of competition...especially with Renault

The red roadster is a Sunbeam Alpine Mk I

andys120

You're right, it's a 1953.

andys120

navigator89

Renault Megane convertible I think.

Mr_Shiftright

HINT: Look very careful, think of something special!

lemmer

I will guess Yenko Corvair

strek

Corvair - 1965 or later?

strek

1965 Corvair Fitch Sprint

Mr_Shiftright

Gold Star for mr. strek!

Great cars the Fitch Corvair. If you EVER see one, call me.

andys120

Yep it's a Megane Carbriolet, another of the retractable HT convertibles offered in Europe.

Not only was Fitch's Corvair Sprint a special , the closest thing to an American Porsche,
but so is it's inventor. John Fitch, a descendant of the steamboat pioneer Robert Fitch
was a highly rated sports and formula car racer during the 50s and the inventor of the sand-filled barrels that have saved many from injury on our highways.

andys120

Mr_Shiftright

My brother had a Fitch Corvair. Basically all Fitch did was clean up the stupid, bean counter defects in the car. He tightened the steering (closer ratio), put on Michelin tires instead of the $3 tires GM provided, used Koni shocks, tightened up the shifter so that it didn't feel like you were rowing an oar in a barrel and did some carburetion work I believe. Quite a difference as you can imagine for not a whole lot of $$$. I bet GM could have done this for a couple hundred bucks extra MSRP...and I think it would have given a 1965 Porsche 911 fits, as the early 911s were squirrelly and with small motors. Had they done that and given the car to an Italian for a little sexier trim work, and I think GM would have had a winner as big as the Mustang.

fintail

Is it a just-postwar International? A rig my dad would love.

andys120

Actually I cheated a little 'cuz it's one of a handful of International p'ups that were made in late 1945 for civilian use. Technically it's post WWII but just barely.

andys120

Mr_Shiftright

Ah, took me a minute. I always mess this up. That is a Maserati Indy--an unloved model.

andys120

You got it Shiftright, it's the mid-70s Maserati Indy.

andys120

Here's a good photo of a car that is unknown to most of us>>

navigator89

Is that post WWII?

kyfdx

Looking at the tires and wheels, it almost has to be post WWII.. I'm guessing '50s or even later... but, I have no clue..

andys120

Yes, the car in the picture is from MY 1953, believe it or not.

Mr_Shiftright

I have no idea whatsoever but I'm going to make an observation that it reminds me of something a former British colony would create. A wild speculation and probably wrong but it just struck me like that...

andys120

No it's not from a former British colony but is is RHD (hint )

Mr_Shiftright

Oh Japan maybe? See I should have refined my guess...what I was driving at was some foreign country copying British style because they were used to building British cars under license.

You'll see that happening. As a country emerges industrially, it still has a memory of its old trading partners.

But really I don't know what this car is.

andys120

I certainly didn't know it til I stumbled across it on the net.
It's a Datsun DC-3, the first Japanese sports roadster, here are some details

andys120

fintail

A Ferrari 250 variant of some kind, I can never keep them straight

The Datsun looks like a MGTD knockoff, maybe setting the stage for Lexus/Toyota copying Mercedes...

Mr_Shiftright

Ah....good...I was sorta thinking right about it anyway...The Japanese did, after all, also copy the British Navy.

andys120

I'm surprised you don't know that one Fintail, it is in fact the most popular of the Ferrari 250s, about 950 were made.

Who knows it?

Mr_Shiftright

I'd like to suggest that you should say "most popuLOUS" not most popuLAR of the 250s on that one Andy. They're probably the least loved of all the 250 variants and the prices show that I think.

andys120

Whatever, I was simply acknowledging the fact that the Ferrari 250GT 2+2
was the best selling car in the 250 series, it was Ferraris first production four-seater
and is today probably the lowest priced of all 12 cylinder F-cars.

For this reason a number have been "converted" to California Spiders and even GTOs.

The 2+2s are also known as GTEs.

andys120

fintail

I don't know what the wagon is.

I am no expert in Ferraris - not as versed in them as I am in Mercedes, and with so many 250 variations I get confused. I know of a 250GTE...so that's good enough for me. All I know is that the 250GT Berlinetta Lusso is my pick of the line, it just has such an elegance to it, and fine proportions.

andys120

The Lusso is a favorite of mine but I really like all of the 250 models. There's no doubt that the SWB, the California Spider and the GTO are the top performers and the most valuable of the 3 liter Ferraris but the 2+2/GTE and the Lusso have definite appeal to me as well.

As for the wagon, perhaps Navi89 will recognize it.

Mr_Shiftright

The GTE just doesn't look right in real life. The photo flatters it.

One problem is that it's a full 12 inches longer than the other 250s and wider, too by a couple of inches. The back seats aren't worth the trouble unless you are ten years old and then you might get in there. Also you can't even chop one up, as the the GTE engine won't fit in the two seaters--it's got a different casting, so fakes aren't going to work either in the engine or chassis department. And for that extra weight you don't get any more HP, so it's the slowest of the 250s as well. It couldn't go too much over maybe 120 mph, and 0-60 was cut down to 8 seconds, which is, all in all, pretty sad for 12 cylinders. A 250GT short wheelbase could do it in 6.5 seconds and run up to maybe 155 mph.

So you see, all those compromises for two useless seats was a real bad idea.

Not my fave Ferrari as you might have guessed :P But still, nice to see one and nice to know that someone loves them. If you like 'em they're a hell of a lot cheaper than a Lusso!

yoribe2

The front end looks like an Opel Corsa but I don't remember seeing any Corsa station wagons in Europe, so my guess is that it's a Brazilian (Chevrolet) or Australian (Holden) variant. I'm curious about this one. :confuse:

andys120

It's neither Brazilian nor Aussie but it'is in the GM family so undoubtedly there's equivalent models in those places/

yoribe2

After some poking around, I came up with Buick Sail (Chinese).

andys120

That's it, the Buick Sail is a pretty big seller for GM in China where they recently surpassed VW to become the country largest automaker. Most of the cars they sell there are smaller than the Sail.

Next up>>

imidazol97

1950 Cadillac

andys120

It's a '49 Series 60 Fleetwood.

Mr_Shiftright

Can you find me a photo of the nifty '49 (??) Caddy Fastback with the rear windshield wiper? I love that car.

PF_Flyer