Mystery car pix

andys120

andys120

here's a better one>

fintail

Rover 220 coupe. Another Sterling-style melding of Japanese engine and British electrics/build.

robr2

Was that an example of taking a perfectly Honda, adding some Lucas smoke and chip oil and trying to present it as a British car?

andys120

Rover 220 coupe.

Yup, a Civic in a fancy frock, never sold here.

andys120

Michaell

Subaru SVX

michaell
Host, Prices Paid & Buying Experiences

andys120

Subaru SVX

Yep, '92MY

stickguy

I drove one of those when they first came out (actually before release I think). My neighbor was a zone guy for Subaru and had one, and let me drive it. Given the timeframe, and what I was used to driving, it was a rocket ship. nice handling too. but man, was it weird. Subaru back then (remember the XT) must have had designers on ludes or something. Or they were doing Anime in their spare time.

Mr_Shiftright

I almost bought one of these used. I went to the Marin county Subaru guru, Jim Askim of Askim's Motorworks, and asked what he thought of the car. He replied that if I bought it, I was banished from his shop.

Apparently, very pricey parts and very difficult access for mechanics makes this puppy a not-too-popular item in repair shops.

I didn't think it was that fast, come to think of it.

lemko

andys120

Nissan Pulsar, mid '80s IIRC.

Mr_Shiftright

Two..TWO....TWO cars in one !

tmart

Wasn't it actually three? Coupe, convertible and pick-up?

stickguy

it had the coupe back, and a wagon style (I think you could also do that as a tent).

stever

Don't ask me what it is though.

stever

Don't ask me what it is though.

stever

Michaell

I think y'all are talking about this one, not the one in the original pic:

fintail

Yes, the second generation (1987+) Pulsar.

stickguy

about a '75 Ford LTD coupe? Or more accurately, the entire remaining fleet of them.

stickguy

one model, but you bought whatever rear end (hatches) you wanted and swapped them out when you felt like it.

fintail

Yep, I remember the ads. I think I last saw the wagon model way back when I was still a student, late 90s. Rarity.

fintail

~1977 Lincoln Town Coupe.

The herd of LTDs is funny, what's the story behind that?

stever

The site says they are 1976 Ford LTDs. It was a real hoot driving along in the middle of nowhere in SD and spotting them. Had to pull over to the shoulder to snap some pics.

Apparently this town of ~1,000 has a car museum too, and it includes a large collection of model cars.

uplanderguy

Ugh, those Pulsars look like they were built from a kit, IMHO.

andys120

kyfdx

How can you tell it's a '77? I think you have to see the front end to tell for sure.. could be a '76.

andys120

No takers for #37829?

Some clues:

-We featured a hard-topped relative of this car about 40 posts ago

-Don't be fooled by the American look of this car. Many European cars of the immediate postwar era borrowed the streamline styling used by many American cars in the late 30s.

-The license plate indicates that this car was registered in Firenze (Florence).

andys120

#37829 is a !949 Fiat 1100E Cabriolet, a rare softtop version of a poular postwar Fiat sedan. In 1953 Fiat reintroduced the 1100 with modern monocoque (unit) bodies and more modern styling, this version of the Millecento became one of the most popular sedans in Europe during the 50s.

andys120

robr2

84 Mustang SVO.

lemko

A guy I knew had its Thunderbird counterpart.

andys120

Yep, the SVO disappeared quickly because of the popularity of it's 5-liter V8 sibling but I doubt it will be the last Mustang w a blown four.;)

andys120

bhill2

Well I'll pop for that gold Valiant, looks like a '66. May have a different name in that market.

andys120

Yeah, that looks like a Valiant to me, except it seems a little small but unless I hear a better idea I'll go with it. Anyone else?

texases

Two Opels (Kadetts?) on the right, next to a '60s Rover. And a 2CV behind the Valiant.

lostwrench1

The Chrysler Valiant was made in Switzerland (CKD) and with the owner of the Valiant shown displaying the CH in the oval, I'll say it is one of those Swiss Valiants.

andys120

Two Opels (Kadetts?) on the right, next to a '60s Rover. And a 2CV behind the Valiant.

The red Opel looks a little bigger than the blue Kadette, perhaps it is a Rekord.
The Rover is a P6, the same car was sold in the USA as the Rover 2000TC.

andys120

robr2

Opel Adam.

texases

So is Ford coming out with a 'Henry'?

andys120

How 'bout a "Porsche Ferdinand"?

stickguy

Already had the Ferrari Enzo.

that is at least better than something odd like Ferrari LeFerrari.

Oh wait...

texases

I guess Ford's covered with the Edsel...

robr2

Well calling it the Adam was a good idea IMHO. It's a cute, short name for a small car targeted at the youth market. Opel didn't have a legacy 500 or Cooper name to use.

berri

But adding all of these oddball products like this tiny coupe and the Encore leads me to some confusion - just what in the hell is Buick supposed to be now? Doesn't look like a near lux brand anymore - more like a combined lower line Lexus/Scion or something (doesn't make any sense). Of course product segment confusion is likely one of the reasons Saturn didn't really catch on. I think GM has maybe forgotten that Opel doesn't actually have much status in Europe, so why pollute Buick with it? I start to wonder if GM doesn't still have a bunch of numbskulls running it.

robr2

First - the Adam isn't coming to North America until the next iteration and even then it may not come. Second - I wouldn't call the Encore an oddball product. It fits Buick's target market and thus far has been a success - they've sold 20K of them since February.

Buick is targeting young, affluent buyers (35-54 YO, household income of $75K+). The Adam might be a way to draw in even younger buyers to the brand that might then buy an Encore, Regal or Enclave.

The fact that Opel doesn't have status in Europe doesn't matter - Buick is the brand here. The Encore and the Regal are essentially the Mokka and Insignia and GM has decided that Opel and Buick will work together in the future on product development.

berri

Buick may be targeting young, affluent buyers - but so is Lexus, BMW, Audi and Cadillac. I wish them luck, but I think they are more likely to appeal to traditional D3 buyers and unfortunately for this strategy, they tend to equate size with status. The Regal is rather European and seems to have basically flopped. I'm thinking the reality with GM and Opel may actually be the opposite - Opel has financial problems and GM is maybe looking to try and amortize it's cost structure by using sharing with Buick. Hope they don't damage the Buick brand doing this.