That's a tough one - I was thinking it had to be Opel too, but the side trim matches nothing I know of. It kind of looks British to me too, maybe something Rootes group.
Actually looking at it again I can see why you mention the Rootes group similarity - that roof looks very much like a Humber Super Snipe Estate, but this car was introduced a couple of years earlier.
Now you are there - this is a Simca Marly which is the estate version of the Simca Versailles - the car was introduced as a (French) Ford Vedette Versailles, to replace the old Vedette in 1954 and then Simca took over the factory and the Versailles was rebadged. I think there was an estate launched just before the merger, but it only reached production as a Simca. The estate is called a Marly, and the only proper pictures I have seen of those (brochures etc) show a coloured panel on the roof which is slightly different from this one, but it might have been resprayed anyway.
I don't think there was an estate version of the later lower powered Ariane.
They lost the Versailles name and became Vedette Marlys, I think , and there are trim changes from about the end of 57 so I think this is one of the earlier versions.
Although they were listed for sale here in the late 50s, I have never seen a Simca Vedette in Britain, and only a couple in France - certainly I've never seen an estate.
Those are new 1970 Chevy Vegas being loaded for vertical shipment via rail to unsuspecting buyers who think they'll be buying the most technically advanced small car of the era. :P
Long-term durability of early ones was bad, but most people forget that they were absolutely, positively the darlings of the motoring press the first few years they were out...almost always edging out anything they were tested against.
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Well the competition in 1971 wasn't very good at the Vega price level. I'm sure it ran pretty good against a circa 1948-era VW bug, the awesome Ford Pinto, or the staggering remains of the British auto empire.
I had a friend who was bought one of these early Vega's. It was that bad! I think Ed Cole was involved in that engine and design which is kind of sad because he accomplished so many great engineering feats during his career including the 265 V8 for the 55 Chevy. If it hadn't had all of those problems, the Vega would actually have been ahead of a lot of it's competitors in that segment. Unfortunately, just like the original Corvair, GM tried to tack too many advancements in a vehicle that then had to be cost cut to a price point. Not a successful formula. I always wonder if GM had made it an Oldsmobile with a fatter price tag to accommodate what needed to be done right, whether it might have been a different story. But then back in those days Olds was about 88's and Cutlass I suppose.
Detroit's move into subcompacts was kind of interesting. IIRC, GM had a bit more success selling Opel at Buick dealers and Vauxhall at Pontiac dealers in the latter 50's than did the British Ford's, at least in the Chicago area market. It seemed to me that GM's early efforts at a domestic entry like Corvair and Vega had a little more European influence in their design than Ford. Ford talked Europe, but seemed in reality to just plunk a German or British Ford engine into a total US design like Pinto back then. Plymouth simply brought over the Cricket from England. Then they all seemed to look to Asian, or a few European models shipped over here with a US moniker slapped on the hood. Today a lot of US models are becoming rather global. Ford has a big lead in that, but GM is using Opel a lot and Fiat appears to becoming a Mopar influence. Many writers talk about Opel and the LaCrosse. However, I think the GM model that in actuality reflects it best is the lambda triplets. Smooth, quiet and comfortable on the highway, but decent handling vehicles on curvy and hilly roads as well despite their heft.
That looks like the 200 block of State Street in Madison, very close to the Capitol, which would be behind the photographer. The street seems a bit too wide though, but surely that's the Orpheum Theatre on the right. Guess they've put in some traffic calming amenities.
There was a jeweler in the 300 block who has since moved a few miles away, but that's where my wife and I picked out her wedding ring 29 years ago tomorrow. :shades:
I'll guess '67 for the VW Bug four blocks down.
It that some sort of early Cushman metermaid Truckster on the right against the curb?
That would explain the lack of a cab, although some early Cushmans were cabless. The Harleys weren't "typical" when I was growing up, but my "city" was just 12,000 back then. Mostly I remember cops walking the downtown and checking the doorknobs, although we did have parking meters.
i think the '61 Chevy in the oncoming lane (behind the '57 Ford and '58 Chevy) is the newest car, and probably dates the photo.
The '61s are the newest, besides the Chevy, there's a Ford wagon going the other way near it a Pontiac approaching halfway up the road and the compact Buick Special parked on the right. If you look behind the bus in the lane going away you can just make out another '61 Chevy.
At Hemmings.com they think the old Hudson and the Ford near it are the oldest cars (ca. '52-'53).
I'm struck by the lack of imports, aside from the lone VW. Madison is a big college town, where are the VeeDubs, Volvos, Sprites or MGs. It's also odd that there aren't any motorcycles. In my (much smaller) college town Triumphs, BSAs, Moto Guzzis and Nortons were all the rage in the early 60s.
I'm struck by the lack of imports, aside from the lone VW.
Well, if Madison was like Chicago and Milwaukee in 1961, you were much more likely to see a Rambler American than an import. Oddly, I recall from my youth back then that an import that was relatively popular in the Chicago area was the TR-3. I saw more of them than MG's or Austin Healey's. There were some VW's of course, but they really seemed more common later in the 60's in that area. Another unusual thing, at least in the suburbs, was that the more popular motorcycles seemed to be Asian crotch rocker models as the 60's progressed.
you were much more likely to see a Rambler American than an import.
I have no doubt of that, since they were made in Kenosha WI but I don't see any Ramblers in that Madison photo either. :confuse:
My college town was in Western NY State, so halfway between the import heavy East Coast and the Mid West but it featured an amazing variety of imports both two and four wheeled. One kid had a badly beat up Porsche Speedster and my roomie had a TR-3, another roomie had a hardtop (FHC) MG-A Of course there were lots of VWs and Ghias but we even had such oddities as a Lancia Appia, some DKWs, Volvos, Saabs and an Alfa Giulietta Spider that got traded in for a Mustang in '64. It was the Golden Age of Euro imports, I remember it fondly.
I guess we'd have to define the rather mushy word "outperform". Are we talking 0-60? Brakes?
If we're talking TOTAL car, including braking, handling, the heater, the durability of the engine, etc, then the VW Bug would be right down there with the Fiats and English Fords.
If you meant 'build quality" of the body and materials used in the interior, I'd give the nod to the VW.
the 1971 Corolla was a NICE little car. I wouldn't mind having one today!
Comments
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
Yep, site says it's a '58.
Actually looking at it again I can see why you mention the Rootes group similarity - that roof looks very much like a Humber Super Snipe Estate, but this car was introduced a couple of years earlier.
Odie
I don't think there was an estate version of the later lower powered Ariane.
They lost the Versailles name and became Vedette Marlys, I think , and there are trim changes from about the end of 57 so I think this is one of the earlier versions.
Although they were listed for sale here in the late 50s, I have never seen a Simca Vedette in Britain, and only a couple in France - certainly I've never seen an estate.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
Long-term durability of early ones was bad, but most people forget that they were absolutely, positively the darlings of the motoring press the first few years they were out...almost always edging out anything they were tested against.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
BIGGER
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
There was a jeweler in the 300 block who has since moved a few miles away, but that's where my wife and I picked out her wedding ring 29 years ago tomorrow. :shades:
I'll guess '67 for the VW Bug four blocks down.
It that some sort of early Cushman metermaid Truckster on the right against the curb?
Oops, this isn't Mystery Movie Pix.
2009 BMW 335i, 2003 Corvette cnv. (RIP 2001 Jaguar XK8 cnv and 1985 MB 380SE [the best of the lot])
I also see what looks like a 61 Ford wagon just behind the same man.
Looks like the typical early 60s Harley Davidson police 3-wheeler. I remember Hackensack NJ had a fleet of these when I was a kid.
I also see several '61s, including the white Pontiac in the next block.
a 510/2002 was a class above at that point I would assume (and certainly more expensive!)
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The '61s are the newest, besides the Chevy, there's a Ford wagon going the other way near it a Pontiac approaching halfway up the road and the compact Buick Special parked on the right. If you look behind the bus in the lane going away you can just make out another '61 Chevy.
At Hemmings.com they think the old Hudson and the Ford near it are the oldest cars (ca. '52-'53).
I'm struck by the lack of imports, aside from the lone VW. Madison is a big college town, where are the VeeDubs, Volvos, Sprites or MGs. It's also odd that there aren't any motorcycles. In my (much smaller) college town Triumphs, BSAs, Moto Guzzis and Nortons were all the rage in the early 60s.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
Um...in its price class?
Not rewriting history...check out some old C&D, MT, R&T articles that are probably online someplace.
Well, if Madison was like Chicago and Milwaukee in 1961, you were much more likely to see a Rambler American than an import. Oddly, I recall from my youth back then that an import that was relatively popular in the Chicago area was the TR-3. I saw more of them than MG's or Austin Healey's. There were some VW's of course, but they really seemed more common later in the 60's in that area. Another unusual thing, at least in the suburbs, was that the more popular motorcycles seemed to be Asian crotch rocker models as the 60's progressed.
I have no doubt of that, since they were made in Kenosha WI but I don't see any Ramblers in that Madison photo either. :confuse:
My college town was in Western NY State, so halfway between the import heavy East Coast and the Mid West but it featured an amazing variety of imports both two and four wheeled. One kid had a badly beat up Porsche Speedster and my roomie had a TR-3, another roomie had a hardtop (FHC) MG-A
Of course there were lots of VWs and Ghias but we even had such oddities as a Lancia Appia, some DKWs, Volvos, Saabs and an Alfa Giulietta Spider that got traded in for a Mustang in '64. It was the Golden Age of Euro imports, I remember it fondly.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
If we're talking TOTAL car, including braking, handling, the heater, the durability of the engine, etc, then the VW Bug would be right down there with the Fiats and English Fords.
If you meant 'build quality" of the body and materials used in the interior, I'd give the nod to the VW.
the 1971 Corolla was a NICE little car. I wouldn't mind having one today!
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93