Mystery car pix

andys120

ateixeira

Next door neighbor drove me to the hospital in one of those when my little brother threw a Tonka truck across the room and whacked me in the forehead! 7 stitches.

His was a '73 Datsun so I'll go with that for the year.

andys120

Yup it's a '73 Datsun 620 and it's a good thing your bro couldn't throw that at your head.

andys120

Bonus points if you name the character behind the wheel.

ateixeira

I'm doing my little birthday dance for nailing the year.

Virtually, anyway.

stickguy

Never knew it had a model #.

I thought they were just called l'il hustler.

lostwrench1

1965 Dodge Custom 880.
Illya Kuryakin.

andys120

Yup, that's Ilya Kurakin (Ian MacCallum) in The Man From U.N.C.L.E. driving a '65 Dodge Custom 880.

andys120

grahampeters

G'day

Alfa Romeo GTV (not the original classic 70;s one)

Cheers

Graham

andys120

Yup, it was sold in most markets as the Alfa-Romeo GTV V6 (there was a for cylinder version called the GTV "Twin Spark").

The pictured car is a 1996.

tmart

His first name David not Ian.

bhill2

His first name David not Ian.

Also, he spelled his last name McCallum.

kyfdx

You guys must be NCIS fans..

bhill2

No, I was actually around when the series was originally on, and I have a freakish ability to remember totally useless facts (did you know that the female East African antelope has blue sweat? It's true).

kyfdx

Well.... if you were around when that show was on, then you are smack dab in the demographic for NCIS.. (as am I..lol)

bhill2

Hmmm. I haven't been watching that show. Sounds like I should.

kyfdx

Oh... I'm not recommending it..

bhill2

Thanks for the clarification. I already watch too much mediocre TV for my own good.

lemko

robr2

1973 Ford LTD. I had a buddy with one in that color and roof combo.

fintail

It's Uncle Buck's mid 70s Grand Marquis. I think we've seen it before.

"Ever hear of a tune up?" :shades:

John Hughes didn't just make some classic movies, but he was good at casting cars, too.

michaellno

John Hughes didn't just make some classic movies, but he was good at casting cars, too.

Agreed ...

Today's factoid ... the license plate on Jake's 944 in the movie "Sixteen Candles" is 21850, which happens to be John Hughes' birthday.

lemko

Correct! It's Uncle Buck's (John Candy) 1975 Mercury Marquis.

andys120

michaellno

That's the new Opel Vauxhall Buick Regal convertible.

fezo

Now if THAT comes over we're talking!

magnette

Over here that is going to be the Vauxhall Cascada - I assume it will also be the Opel Cascada. Due here in 2013, I gather.

andys120

Yep, and if it comes to the USA they'll call it the Buick something or other. If I
were them I'd use one of the great old names in Buick stable like "Wildcat" or "Invicta".

qbrozen

Is it for sale?

andys120

Not yet, Buick may add it to their lineup, the Cascada, like the Regal is based on the Opel Insignia.

imidazol97

I like the style. It would add attraction to the Buick line. May not financially feasible with GM's current constraints.

ateixeira

There's no sales in that segment. Eos and C70 convertibles hardly sell at all.

imidazol97

>eos and C70 convertibles hardly sell

That's interesting.

I think I am looking at it differently and seeing it in the same market as the Sebring convertibles that are fairly popular here in the lowly Midwest.

odie6l

Odie

grahampeters

G'day

Is the one in the foreground a TVR?

The one in rear, to the right, is ugly enough to be a William Towns Lagonda, but I cannot place it accurately

Cheers

Graham

grahampeters

G'day

The ugly one in the background is niggling at me. The glass and soft-top look like a Jaguar E type. The William Towns design details make me wonder it is was some sort of prototype or one off built off an E Type chassis by him. The scoop or engine bulge suggests that something had to be cut over the engine. It looks large, so I wonder if it is over a V 12.

Cheers

Graham

grahampeters

G'day

The red soft-top on the left might be Swiss; I think Monteverdi 375 convertible. Looks sort of Ferrari-ish, but not quite.

Still unsure of the TVR. Looks like a Tasmin, but I don't think they did that as a convertible. However the more I look at it, the surer I am that it is a TVR

Cheers

Graham

andys120

grahampeters

G'day

I know this as the same image popped up in our newspaper.

2013 Bentley Continental GT Speed.

The green colour is a bit odd for a Bentley but currently very popular in Australia, for smaller cars, especially the little Mazda 2

Cheers

Graham

andys120

Yes indeed. That is a rather odd color for a brand which usually comes in elegant dark hues. It would be a poor choice for anyone planning to resell their Bentley but it's a trendy color here as well on various econo-boxes from Ford and Hyundai as well as the Porsche Cayman S.

Traditional Bentley buyers would probably think red was a radical color choice.

andys120

wgrafer

1961 Chevy Impala 4-dr hardtop. The Impala was probably the top-seller that year since the competition was pretty weak (remember the crushed '61 Plymouth from last week?). This one probably came with the infamous 170HP 283 with Powerglide 2-spd auto (anyone remember the saying "slip and slide with Powerglide"??).

Not sure about the missiles, but they seem aimed into the ocean...

uplanderguy

The '61 is my favorite Impala of all, depending on the day (other days, it's the '65). I'd like a non-popular color (that light brown or light green would be nice--not red or white or black) in a Sport Coupe.

andys120

Not sure about the missiles, but they seem aimed into the ocean...

Those are Hawk ground-to-air missiles set up during the Cuban Missile Crisis, they can be re-aimed very quickly. The car is definitely a '61 Impala H/T.

andys120

wgrafer

Looks like one of those early 50's French Fords - a Vedette??? I see pieces of '49 Ford and Mercury designs in it.

magnette

The red car on the right is a Grayson E12 - they only built two and I've seen the other one, assuming it wasn't resprayed, because it was a sort of sand yellow. William Towns converted a V12 E-type to create this and the intention was that rusty E-types would get a modern new body and a new lease of life. Hence they only made two.
The blue car looks like a Trident, but not a regular one - is it one of the last Trident Tycoons?
The other red car could almost be an updated AC428 but if it is it must be a rare version.

magnette

This is the original style Ford Vedette from 1950-53 - they changed the grille after that, and actually the shell too because the 53 - 4 model was a notchback rather than having a 'beetle-back', as this one would- even without the grille you can see by the smaller rear window.
I think there was a bit of a facelift at the end of 51, early 52 when they changed some of the badging, but only on the side and tail, I believe - I've hardly ever seen one of these as they weren't available over here but the were a number of derivatives in France and they sold quite well - I think their armed forces used quite a lot as did the police.

andys120

Yes, it's a '51 Ford (France) Vedette. It looks like the love child of a '50 Merc and a '50 US Ford.

I imagine they were quite popular on the Continent as the styling was a decade ahead of the early 1940s rehashes everyone else was making.