Mystery car pix

andys120

"The other nose-in car is a '55 MoPar of some kind. " I just can't see it. Where are you looking???

It's between the '53 (or '54?) Chevy and the '58ish Plymouth. You can see just the headlight and windshield.

berri

Yeah, I think it's an Impala too now. I couldn't get the pix to expand. When the sun was hitting the screen I thought the rear side window was bigger, but now that it's darker I see that it is pillar and not glass.

lostwrench1

I'll go with a 38.
I've seen a 39 with right hand drive. Perhaps they existed in 38 also.

wgrafer

I still don't see a '55 Mopar in there. Looks like another '52-'54 Ford to me... (but pretty hard to tell from onlya glimpse of the headlight and vent window ...)

andys120

Looks like another '52-'54 Ford to me... (but pretty hard to tell from onlya glimpse of the headlight and vent window ...)

Looking again I think are probably right. There really isn't enough curvature in the windshield for it to be a '55 MoPar or a '55 anything.

andys120

robr2

Fiat Strada - popular (and built) in Brazil and now being brought across the pond to Europe.

stickguy

bring it here. I want one!

imidazol97

Look at the shape of the bumper guard. Is that unique enough to ID the car closer?

andys120

kyfdx

BMW Z8...

Celebrity sighting: I spotted Peter Frampton checking one out at my local dealer... In 2003 or 2004, I think..

The Z8 was in the showroom, but I don't think it was the current model year... they didn't seem to sell all that well, when new ($125K), but they sure have held on to their value..

andys120

BMW Z8...

Ja!

andys120

kyfdx

The "Asian 2002"...

fintail

Looks very much like the orange with black vinyl top 1971 example the original owner literally gave me when I was 18. It needed a bit of work - broken windshield, lots of carb problems, I think the braking system needed work, general decay, and it was an automatic. The paper thin sheet metal and doors especially alarmed me. Pretty much no rust anyway. I thought I could clean it up and make something cool out of it, but it just needed too much time, so I sold it on. Barely drove it. I suspect it got parted out.

ateixeira

Move to Brazil.

I think there are 4 options, Fiat, Ford, Chevy, and VW. They tend to hae 500kg payload, which is a not-bad 1100 lbs. Small businesses buy them up.

VW actually has two pickups that are less than full-sized there - the Saveiro and the Amarok.

andys120

Kydx and Fintail didn't say so but they obviously realize it's a Datsun 510 Wagon (1971)

imidazol97

texases

Not sure, but it's similar in some ways to this one, first one I've ever seen on the streets of Dallas:

lemko

The green car is a Nissan Figaro.

texases

Yep, a Figaro, I saw one just like it leaving the neighborhood across the street from me this a.m. I didn't think we could import them, they're not 25 years old yet.

fintail

Fiat Bianchina, which must have influenced the Figaro, during the high Japanese retro period around 1990 or so. You can find Figaros in Canuckistan, which has less restrictive/more sensible private import laws.

andys120

Those were built by a Fiat subsidiary and badged as Autobianci Bianchinas apparently as upscale takes on the Fiat 500 much as Mercurys were upscale Fords.

andys120

michaellno

80's Mitsubishi Sigma.

lemko

I thought they looked pretty futuristic at the time.

ateixeira

Maybe it's the grass, but look how low that seems compared to today's sedans.

magnette

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andys120

80's Mitsubishi Sigma.

Yup, a 1988.

andys120

I had to cheat a little but it looked like a late 60s Rootes Group sedan er.. saloon so I looked at what motorbase.com had for Hillmans and came up w this>

Hillman New Minx (1967-70!)



'Course it could be a Singer or a Sunbeam too.

fintail

Looks like LHD...could it be one of those Iranian models?

ateixeira

Problem is it's so generic looking.

Look how puny the wheels/tires are. Probably for a rough-roads market.

lemko

Maybe it's a Talbot? Late 1960s/early 1970s?

explorerx4

Look at the newspaper on the wall behind it. First word is 'Talbot'.

grahampeters

G'day

It was one of the Rootes Arrow sedans. However which one is a mystery. For the same bodyshell and engine range you could choose the following names:
Chrysler Hunter, Dodge Husky, Hillman Arrow, Hillman Break de Chasse, Hillman GT, Hillman Hunter, Hillman Hustler and Hillman Minx, Humber Sceptre, Singer Gazelle and Singer Vogue, Sunbeam Arrow, Sunbeam Break de Chasse, Sunbeam Hunter, Sunbeam Minx, Sunbeam Sceptre, and Sunbeam Vogue. Peugeot still had it as a model when they acquired the former Rootes Group factory but I do not know if they were ever badged as a Talbot.

They were made in Iran as the Paykan, ultimately having a model life of 40 years.

My childhood best friend's parents owned a Hillman Hunter Royal 660 (the flash model) which I think was assembled by Chrysler in Australia, using Rootes' former factory in Port Melbourne. I particularly remember the embossed green vinyl seats.

I would not regard it as a prime example of motoring brilliance. However my friend's parents car did sterling service, ultimately being passed to him when it was about thirty years old and he had been very efficiently cleaned out of all assets after his first divorce. We always referred to it as "The Grunter" as it was a pig of a thing to drive.

I think that this one is a very low spec model, possibly an Iranian Paykan Hunter. The signboard in the background refers to Talbot and the big sign to the right is probably referring to Ryton, the former Rootes assembly plant near Coventry, subsequently used by Peugeot to make the Peugeot 309 (intended as a Talbot). I wonder if this is the Coventry Museul of Transport, which I never got to when living in England.

Cheers

Graham

au1994

Agree. Good looking car for the time. Have no idea if they were worth a darn or not. Mitsu's were still an oddity during that time period where I lived.

michaellno

Have no idea if they were worth a darn or not. Mitsu's were still an oddity during that time period where I lived.

As I grew up in California, imports were quite common. I remember going to the lot to see the Tredia and the Cordia ... they certainly looked high tech for the day.

magnette

G'day to you too.. Both you and fintail were right - it's an Iranian Peykan, built by Rootes / Chrysler and shipped as CKD kits to Tehran, from 1967 to the mid 70's, and thereafter they actually sold the tooling to the Iranians, and effectively it became a locally made product - I think the engines were still shipped out until the late 70's too, when the engine presses were sent over.
And yes, they did badge the last of the domestic Hunter model as a Talbot, after the Peugeot merger....
Finally, it is indeed Coventry Museum of Transport - I went there about two weeks ago for the first time - worth a visit if in the area, as they had quite a few unusual cars as well as the normal fare from the local producers, most of whom became part of either the Rootes group or the Triumph/Rover wing of the whole British Leyland fiasco...

magnette

Now, to be fair, this is not totally eligible for this forum because this particular version only appeared in really low numbers, but it's a special version of a regular production car, of which they made a couple of hundred....

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lemko

Did they have some of the British-Leyland abortions like the Austin Allegro or Morris Marina at this museum?

lemko

Looks like an Austin A40. Not sure of the year.

magnette

No - Austin-Morris stuff is at Gaydon, a few miles away from Coventry - that is where the British Leyland Heritage Collection ended up. And from memory they do have Allegro and Marina variations....

magnette

This one isn't anything to do with Austin, or even British.

andys120

It looks French, as does the car next to it which might a Pug 203.

bhill2

For some weird reason (probably me) it makes me think 'Volvo'. Am I anywhere close?

magnette

It is French, as indeed is the car beyond it - although that isn't a Peugeot 203.

grahampeters

G'day

I rather envy you the tour of the Coventry Museum. Gaydon has the Leyland cars, but there was a huge raft of obscure Brisitsh marques rolled up into Rootes and other manufacturers around Coventry.

Mind you, I always thought that Coventry was the least appealing of Britain's cities; there was a very apt joke that Hitler's great mistake was failing to fully demolish the place - it can be interpreted for the very positive role of Coventry and the Midlands in the British War Effort, or a testament of just how awful modern Coventry is. Its other claim to fame is Lady Godiva.

Cheers

Graham

andys120

lemko

1980-1985 Cadillac Seville. I imagine this one is a 1980 model as I don't see V-8-6-4 badges on the front fonder which would make it a 1981 model or HT4100 badges that would make it a 1982-85 model.

andys120

1980-1985 Cadillac Seville. I imagine this one is a 1980 model

It is indeed, Lem.