Mystery car pix

stickguy

that generation was out when I got out of college. I wanted one. Bad. Just was too cheap (or poor? maybe both!) and ended up with a colt. Bad mistake.

oh well. But if I found one near me that was not rusted (not likely in the NE) with a stick I would snap it up as a toy to keep around.

Michaell

My folks had an '83 GT lift back. Light blue with light blue interior.

I remember the engine being a bit agricultural, but a nice enough car. Until the timing belt broke while my mom wa doing 60 on the highway. Oops.

stickguy

I wanted a GT-S. that was basically the GT with all the Supra "flash" on it (hidden headlights, big wheels, etc.). Of course, a Supra would be sweet too, but those must be incredibly rare at this point ( I assume they sold a lot less of them at the time).

andys120

fintail

I'll pick off the 87+ Saab 900 behind the "downsized" yacht.

I don't know the name of the film. but it seems familiar.

Michaell

The movie is "Sideways"

explorerx4

Blue car is an Olds Delta 88, probably 83 or 84.

stickguy

very sad when they drove the SAAB into a tree.

andys120

It's a 1980 Oldsmobile Delta 88 parked in front of an '87 Saab 900 Convertible from Sideways, one of the more disappointing movies I ever saw.

andys120

but isn't this a nice picture of it?>

tmart

56 Ford Sunliner. Good looking car! With a T bird engine.

explorerx4

Back in 1990 I bought a new Ford Taurus SHO. The salesman and I had a discussion about the T'Bird engine in a 1956 Ford. I thought it was a 312, but he said it was a 292. After all these years, I'll admit he was probably right.

imidazol97

That's right. The 292 was the Thunderbird engine. The 312 was the Thunderbird Special, also used is some Thunderbird and other cars. There were three varied horsepower versions of the Special engine from what I read.

BTW, the 292 could be faster than a 312 even with the 4-barrel carb. It was proved by a drag race in high school.

uplanderguy

A '56 is my very favorite Ford product.

As the cars got older, I always remember they'd lose their (a) chrome 'banjo' trim on the taillights and (b) their little fender extensions over the headlights.

Of course, '56 Chevys in our area all had holes over the headlights as they got older too.

uplanderguy

BTW, I'm impressed a Ford salesman in 1990 knew anything about a '56 Ford. Maybe he was one of those rare guys who worked selling one make of car for his entire career, certainly a rare thing today.

andys120

berri

'60 El Camino. I like the title!

andys120

Yep, that is one very creaky old '60 EC.

tmart

I see it has the optional external brake system.

andys120

andys120

I see it has the optional external brake system.

LOL;)

qbrozen

looks a helluva lot like an older Vauxhall/Opel/Saturn Astra. I'd imagine some sort of twin to that. Or its just a design ripoff. The grille is different.

Michaell

The light in James May's eyes .. the Dacia Sandero!

andys120

Yup that's James' beloved Dacia Sandero, which I suspect is a twin, or near-twin of the Nissan Versa.

If so one questions the sanity of James May.

explorerx4

It's funny, I kind of felt the pile of wood looked familiar, then your comment about James May.
When I went back and looked at the picture again, I saw the BBC logo.
If I recall correctly, the car didn't look like that much longer after that picture.

Michaell

Correct. Jezza bought the Sandero for May during their super car at trip in Romania.

It wa promptly backed into by a semi. Oops.

au1994

" super car at trip in Romania"

One of the best episodes. The scenery (cars, roads, mountains) is just stunning!

andys120

qbrozen

gotta be the Ghibli (am i spelling that right?)

ateixeira

Only Maserati can take a few odd shapes yet put them together nicely in a handsome package.

uplanderguy

Must be a Buick--it has portholes.

imidazol97

At first glance I thought it was a previous generation LaCrosse with a devil's fork for the grill ornament. The shape of the hip above the rear wheel feeding into the C-pillar that says LaCrosse.

ateixeira

Start with a Buick, stick a fork in it, it's done. LOL

andys120

Yup, that is the new 2014 Maserati Ghibli, pretty sexy until you compare it to the original Ghibli of the 1970s>



You can't tell from the size in that photo, or from the number of portholes but the Ghibli slots below the Quattroporte.

About those portholes. On this side of the ocean they say Buick but back in the early 50s they were a signature of Carrozzerria Vignale, who styled a number of racing and street cars for Ferrari, Maserati, Cisitalia and others.

Usually there were three per side but sometimes a lot more>

Maserati A6G

andys120

magnette

Matra Djet - early / mid 60's....

Originally this was the Rene Bonnet Djet, circa 1962 but Matra took over a couple of years later - there were various models including some hotter versions called Sport Djet, but basically they were fitted with variants of the Renault engine- the hotter ones had Gordini tuned engines.
I think this one is a Matra judging by the badge but as to what model I have no idea. I think they finished mking these about 1967.

Never sold in UK, so generally I've only seen them in mainland Europe.

kyfdx

It reminded me of a Lancia Stratos.... a little bit.

andys120

Yep, that is a Matra Jet from the mid-1960s. I think the "Djet" name was used on earlier versions that were badged Duestche-Bonnet or simply Bonnet (I'm not sure).

These were only seen on racetracks in the US.

imidazol97

>but back in the early 50s they were a signature of Carrozzerria Vignale, who styled a number of racing and street cars for Ferrari, Maserati, Cisitalia and others.

I learn something every day on Edmunds.

Mr_Shiftright

Cisitalia sported portholes in 1946:

andys120

I'd forgotten about the 202, Shifty, looks like they beat Buick to the porthole thing by several years. IIRC Buick didn't get Venti-Ports until '49.

There's a Vignale connection there. The ground-breaking Cisitalia 202, which set the pattern for the great Gran Turismo Berlinettas of the 50s and 60s was of course a Pinin Farina design. Before he went off on his own in 1948, Alfredo Vignale worked for Farina.

andys120

...by TorQue-Thrust (IIIRC) but what are they on?>

lemko

1963 Ford Fairlane?

andys120

Yup, that is indeed a '63 Ford Fairlane/ 260. I mis-spelled TorQ-Thrust.

bhill2

Yup, that is indeed a '63 Ford Fairlane/ 260

It's a '63 Ford Fairlane, but not a 260. It's got the smaller 221 V-8 in it. Fairlanes with the 260 had emblems with '260' across the middle of them.

andys120

You may be right Bhill2, I recall cars that wore 260 badges back in the day and I also recall that the Ford small-block 221 was known as the "Fairlane" engine.

Either this car was re-engined or they let some 260s out withouthe proper badges but the seller says it's a 260>

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=221299613973

bhill2

Very interesting. Either the statement on eBay is wrong or the wrong emblems are on the car, possibly because the engine has been replaced. I can't tell from the picture of the engine if it is a 260. Can anyone else?

uplanderguy

We had a '62 Fairlane when I was a kid, similar styling. It was the car that turned my Dad off from Fords forever.

I always thought it was kind of funny that Ford was still using fins in its styling that late.

lostwrench1

The location of the coil is wrong for a 260.

andys120

Some of you probably remember exactly what year this was.