Mystery car pix

ateixeira

Cabbie in Jamaica said LADA stood for "Life and Death Association" and proceeded to laugh at his own joke for what seemed like an hour.

Mr_Shiftright

I hear tell that Canadians swear by their old LADA 4X4s.

ateixeira

The Niva was sold in Brazil for a while, but most are gone, presumably rust.

I can't imagine they did too well in areas that salt their roads to melt snow...

fintail

The Niva has a little cult following in Europe, too. Maybe because it is so simple and old fashioned, but I have to imagined it has old fashioned metal durability too.

andys120

Rust was not only the downside of the Ladas but also had a role in the downfall of Fiat in the USA . Here's the connection, when the Soviets decided that they needed more cars they made a deal with Fiat to design and build the Togliatti auto factory in Russia (named after an Italian Communist) and license VAZ/Lada to build the 124 there. In exchange the Fiat Group got a big discount on Russian steel.

If it hadn't been for cheap but rust-prone Russian steel I'd probably still have my 124 Sport Spider. :mad:

andys120

stickguy

looks like an early 70's Fiat (Ferrari) Dino. In a color you don't usually see on one of those.

andys120

That most definitely is not a Fiat Dino.

andys120

It's the original Ferrari version of the Dino, the 206GT. It's visually distinguished from the later 246GT/GTS versions with a bigger V6 only by the exposed gas cap on the C post.

stickguy

I thought there was never an official badged ferrari version? Just labelled as a Dino (not Fiat either). Just referred to it that way since Fiat built them for Ferrari.

So it is a Dino, no F.

andys120

That's correct AFAIK, the motors were a Ferrari design but were built by Fiat and the bodies were built by Pininfarina, as were those of the Fiat versions.

The 206/246 GT/GTS did not carry a Ferrari badge (though it was common for owners to add one themselves) but were sold in Ferrari dealerships. Of course those were mid-engine designs as compared to the front engine design of the Fiat Dino.

The Dino coupes and spiders were among Ferraris best looking cars but the Fiat Dino Spider was even better looking IMO>

grahampeters

G'day

My pick as one of the ten prettiest cars of all time. Perhaps not in purple, though!

Fiat used the same engine in their Fiat Dino and hence confusion reigns. However, that was a front engined rear drive, whilst the Dino from Ferrari (no Ferrari label) was a transverse mounted mid engined car. Either are appealing.

Cheers

Graham

Mr_Shiftright

You really want the 2.4L motor though. The 2.0 engine is kind of a dog.

andys120

jwilliams2

They all wear boxers.....Jowett Jupiter, Toyota sports 800, and Subaru BRZ....

andys120

Yup, they're all RWD cars powered by flat 4s. The blue car is the Scion FR-S, Toyo's clone of the BRZ

lemko

wgrafer

The newest is the great looking '57 Plymouth Belvedere in front of the office. Looks like a black '49 or '50 Plymouth on the right, a '55 Dodge Custom Royal at the pumps, a '55 Oldsmobile, a white '55 Chrysler Imperial, and the ubiquitous VW Beetle parked on the left. Great pic!!

lostwrench1

In bay #2, a 59 Chevy? An illusion?

lemko

I can see it too, just barely.

ateixeira

Toyo's clone

I can't believe Toyota gets the one with the boxer logo on the fender...

andys120

Boy they sure liked their MoPars in Philly back then.

andys120

ateixeira

69 Mustang.

fintail

It looks like "SS" to me :shades:

Surprised it isn't offered with a gold package, knowing Toyota...

Mr_Shiftright

That's because the Toyota is better looking :P

ateixeira

I agree. The front bumper insert is more tasteful.

Then again, supposedly Subaru engineered the platform while Toyota did the styling, so if they had the lead, maybe they called dibs on the opposing pistons.

Mr_Shiftright

Style never has been Subaru's forte. I don't think they've ever made a pretty car actually. But you DO notice them on the highway, that's true (left-handed compliment) :P

ateixeira

I always joke, Subarus are supposed to be ugly, purposeful.

The BRZ was too attractive so they had to remove some of the better looking details.

XV Crosstrek is more like what you would expect from them. :shades:

Edit: rusty orange:

http://www.insideline.com/subaru/xv-crosstrek/2013/2013-subaru-xv-crosstrek-firs- t-drive.html

andys120

69 Mustang.

Yup.

andys120

The trolley suggests San Francisco (not many places still had'em in 1956-click on "view image") and the Horn & Hardart suggests NYC but it doesn't look like either. :confuse:

stickguy

could be philly. they had a lot of that type of streetcar running around at that time. Still have a few today, but not as many lines.

stever

From Wiki:

"Inspired by the Quisiana Automat in Berlin, the first automat in the U.S. was opened June 12, 1902, at 818 Chestnut St. in Philadelphia by Horn & Hardart."

Hard to see, but it says Automat below the Restaurant sign, to the left.

But Horn & Hardart was a chain and they were in NYC.

texases

I would have guessed either Philly or Boston, just because of the store sign "The House of Liberty"...

andys120

Yup, I can see the Automat sign. It's news to me that they started in Philly, when I was a kid in NYC my Pop took me to the Automat on E 42 St all the time and I loved every minute of it and naturally thought of it was the quintessential New York experience.

Make mine liverwurst on rye with a slice of lemon meringue pie and a glass of chocolate milk.

berri

I remember seeing features on the automats when I was a kid. The TV show Candid Camera used them for skits once in awhile too. But in Chicago there wasn't much of that. Cafeteria's and cheap priced steak joints seemed to dominate the quick lunch crowds. Your lunch sounds good, but the food police will be all over you!

explorerx4

Another case of the big 3 making some nice looking 'steelies'.

andys120

kyfdx

Looks like the '90-'93 Accord.. not familiar enough with the differences to tell which one..

Those look like motorized belts, so I'm going with 1990.. (did the Accord ever have those?)

wgrafer

I remember the Automat too - not great food, but a lot of fun picking it out and getting it. I preferred Schrafft's...

Let's not forget the cars: on left a '53 Buick followed by a '56 Buick. On right a '56 Chevy following a '56 Ford taxi. Can't make out the white one behind the trolley....

wgrafer

It's a '90 or '91 Accord EX. They did have motorized shoulder belts-kind of a PITA. BUT, this was probably one of the best cars ever. Had a '91, totally trouble-free for 200k (except the AC), and the cloth seats were indestructible. It's still rolling around as a Pizza delivery car!!

robr2

Looks like the '90-'93 Accord.. not familiar enough with the differences to tell which one..

Must be a 92-93. It's an EX - I had a 91 in that color. The 90-91 had all red tail lights. The 92-93 had amber.

Those look like motorized belts, so I'm going with 1990.. (did the Accord ever have those?)

Yes they had them. IIRC, airbags were required starting in 1994.

robr2

It's NYC - Loft's was only in NYC according to wiki.

stever

Good sleuthing! None of the street view images matched with Philly, but it looks like a lot of stuff was torn down and rebuilt.

wgrafer

"Must be a 92-93. It's an EX - I had a 91 in that color. The 90-91 had all red tail lights. The 92-93 had amber. "

'90 and '91 had amber lenses on top (like this one); '92 and '93 had the amber on the bottom.

You're right about the airbags - '94 was the first year for Honda to use them.

robr2

'90 and '91 had amber lenses on top (like this one); '92 and '93 had the amber on the bottom.

Hmm - I could've sworn red then amber. Then again, many, many brain cells have expired in the past 15 years since I got rid of that Accord.

kyfdx

You're right about the airbags - '94 was the first year for Honda to use them.

I'm pretty sure my friend's '92 Civic (owned since new) has airbags.... at least it doesn't have motorized belts...

Unless you speak only of the Accord..

(Our '92 Legend has a driver's airbag, as well..)

lostwrench1

The House of Variety.

imidazol97

>Good sleuthing! None of the street view images matched with Philly,

I too had tried to match it up with Philly based on the cafeteria name... didn't look like the same block.

lostwrench1

Based on the trolley car being on trolley route 32 and matching the streets which the current NYC bus route Q32 passes with the former NYC locations of Loft's Candies, I'll put two chips on 39th st.