Mystery car pix

andys120

If this picture is any indication Germans really go for practical vehicles. Most of the vehicles on that lot are wagons or minivans. There's only one or two hatchbacks, a convertible two seater and that odd pickup and only a few examples of America's most popular vehiclethe four-door sedan.

I think the two sedans parked at the end of the second row are Asian, perhaps Toyotas, they're next to that oddball Ford F-140/250 There's a light blue hatchback that might be an older Opel Corsa. It's next to a black Volvo Wagon (V70) which is next to a small Renault (Clio?) and then a VW Group wagon and last a Mercedes C-Class.

The third row is really tough because you can only see the rears. On the left there's a VW wagon (Passat or Bora) followed by a white something or other. The silver wagon is definitely a BMW E46 (3 series). 2 cars to its right there is a Volvo wagon.

The only other cars I can id are the Golf at the left end of row 4 and a silver Mercedes (CLK?) at the top.

German drivers apparently share the American aversion to bright expressive colors.

tjc78

Pretty sure the pickup is a current gen Dodge Ram.

andys120

They all look alike to me.

andys120

bhill2

Looks like a Fiat 124 Spider.

au1994

It is a Ram and Holy Smokes I can't imagine footing the fuel bill for that thing over there!

ateixeira

I think the VW van is a Sharan, but the wagon is actually a Passat, note the front grille.

ateixeira

For row 2 I think the first car is a BMW 5 series (Dame Edna edition) then an S class, I think?

ateixeira

Row 3...had to look at the big pic for these...

Passat B4 wagon, W211 E wagon, E46 3 series wagon, Focus wagon, new 5 series wagon, hmmm.

#6, with the vertical tails, is tough to call. You only see the rear and that's it. Could be a Peugoet or a Focus?

Not sure on the white van at the far right.

ateixeira

Row 4. Getting kinda small, but I think I can ID some....

Fiat, maybe Punto?

Dame Edna 5 series wagon.

Seat. Leon? wagon I guess.

Fiesta 5 door.

Another Fiesta? It's cut off so hard to tell.

CLS in the way back, too.

Can't ID the generic looking white 5 door in the back.

Brazil gets a lot of these cars so I've seen a lot of them in person before.

andys120

derek585

Right again Graham, it's a1951 Jaguar Mark V and that's the standard body AFAIK. As for the rear window, that's the first appearance of the C-shaped side window which was seen on subsequent Jag saloons for many years.
Provestra

andys120

Yep that is an early Euro-spec 1967 Fiat 124 Sport Spider/1438. You can tell by the thin strips in the grille. We in the US only got 1438s from '68 to '70 IIRC when they were replaced by the 1608cc version.

Mr_Shiftright

The 124 Spider was a fragile car but light years ahead of British sports cars in terms of suspension and driver comfort---not nearly as rugged, though, and pretty torque-less. The most brilliant aspect of the 124 was how easily the top went up and down---a one-hand affair for the driver, as opposed to needing 4 people and a come-a-long to fasten an MGB top.

uplanderguy

1969 Plymouth GTX.

To my eyes, the '68 and '69 Belvedere/Satellite/Road Runner/GTX was the best-styled Mopar...ever (well, at least in the late sixties). I think there's not a bad line anywhere on those cars.

andys120

I'll cop to torque-less. Even in it's 1600cc form you had to rev the snot out of it but I'm not sure that was a bad thing, I remember it being a lot of fun.

Compared to it's British brethern it wasn't that fragile, it certainly had better structural integrity than the body-on-frame Brits. Mechanical and electrical equipment was generally better and so were exhaust systems. I got seven years of huge fun out of my Sport Spider in NY area driving but I had to ditch my TR4A after four years. It was shot after only 44K miles!

Mr_Shiftright

It had its own areas of fragility---the 124 tended to be fussy to tune and liked to overheat...but yes, compared to a Fiat 124, the suspension of an MGB was like a dog cart. The TR4 was the worst of the worst.

The MGB was a very strong and simple car, as evidenced by the large number still around.

fintail

Good guesses from all - Germans do have a thing for wagons and hatches, and boring silver white and black cars like everyone else. Although the VW Harlequin series was more accepted here than anywhere else. Funny how that works.

I don't know all the cars 100% in that shot either - but the white MB wagon in row 3 is a W202 rather than a W211, and I think the generic white box next to the CLS is a ~1990 Opel Astra. The big black Audi is my rental :shades:

Here's a pic I took this evening, from my hotel room balcony:

ateixeira

It's a little blurry but is that a Seat Cupra?

andys120

The big black Audi is my rental

A8?

fintail

There was a big SEAT product training going on that day. The white cars are the new style Seat Leon, the red one is an Ibiza SC, I think.

fintail

Yep, diesel, fairly well equipped. Nice cruiser, albeit a bit of a barge for European city streets.

andys120

ateixeira

Audi 4000, probably mid 80s.

One of my dad's friends owned one, what an awful, awful car.

People say the sudden acceleration hysteria nearly killed Audi but those cars were so bad they were simply vulnerable and hard to defend. The safety nuts just picked an easy target in this case.

texases

"People say the sudden acceleration hysteria nearly killed Audi but those cars were so bad they were simply vulnerable and hard to defend. "

Evidence for this includes the numerous 'alias' name changes. For example the 100 became the 5000 became the 100/200 became the A6.

ateixeira

I think they finally started getting it right when the A4 came out, when was that? 1997 or so?

I felt that way and the funny thing is I watched WRC back then...

The coupe was cool. :shades:

kyfdx

It was named the 100 in Europe, all along.. The 5000 name was just for the US...

Important to note that the "unintended acceleration" issue was generally found to be driver error... (as they usually are..)

andys120

Yup, it's an '84 Audi 4000, known as the Audi 80 in other markets.

andys120

grahampeters

G'day

Now we are really talking classy.

Iso Rivolta , I think from fairly early 1960's. Given that Iso had been making the Isetta bubble car, before this, you wonder what mind it sprang from.

The design is very Bertone, penned by Giugaro. I think it ran a US (maybe Chev) engine and transmission.

I had a toy model of this when a child and thought it very exotic.

Cheers

Graham

andys120

Yup, it's a 1963 Iso Rivolta GT, the original 327 Chevy motor has been replaced by a 350 and the wheels are the same Campognolos seen on the Miura, Islero and other mid-60s Lambos.

andys120

lemko

VW Rabbit closest to viewer.

Other side of the street:

Banged-up 1971-72 Buick Electra.

Toyota Corona missing a wheel cover.

Low-end 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle sedan with a crude "Starsky and Hutch" stripe.

Mid-1970s Volvo

1974-76 Chevrolet Vega next to the Volvo.

ateixeira

Important to note that the "unintended acceleration" issue was generally found to be driver error... (as they usually are..)

Indeed, and I didn't mean to imply any differently.

My point was, the car was so awful that people actually BELIEVED the hysteria.

ateixeira

Banged-up 1971-72 Buick Electra.

Pop drove a 72 Electra coupe, lime green with white vinyl inside.

With 3 kids - he chose the coupe. LOL

lemko

Your Dad must've thought like mine. There's no rear doors on a coupe for kids to open and fall out.

ateixeira

Yeah, and the Electra's doors stayed on, unlike our rusty Vega.

stickguy

That is a Celica, not a Corona.

andys120

Stickguy is correct, it's the notchback version of the gen 1 Toyota Celica which was better looking in the rarer fastback body.

The mid 70s Volvo was the 242DL IIRC.

andys120

uplanderguy

The Vega is a '74 or '75, as later ones had the tri-level lenses on each side. The '69 Chevelle is a '300 Deluxe', last year they called the cheapo Chevelle that.

fintail

Suzuki Jimny, seen a few the past couple weeks. Don't need a 4x4 quite that bad.

andys120

Suzuki Jimny

Aye, aye.

andys120

texases

1957 Lincoln?

andys120

1957 Lincoln?

Yup, a '57 Lincoln Premiere.

grahampeters

G'day
Obviously sold as a Suzuki Jimmy in USA but slightly different names elsewhere. It goes into the category of "Don't laugh, but..." Along with the Haflinger and original Jeep. Implausible as it looks, a very competent off roader.

Cheers

Graham

andys120

Implausible as it looks, a very competent off roader.

Why not, small size and light weight are beneficial off-road as well as on.

fintail

It's kind of like a car:

Mr_Shiftright

Oh, look, that Lincoln is wallowing.... :P