Mystery car pix

andys120

ateixeira

I owned a 210 briefly. Should have gotten a 510 but I was broke.

ateixeira

Porsche Cash Cow.

Sorry, I mean Macan.

fintail

Yay, something new for the botox-and-huge-sunglasses set.

lemko

These ladies seem to be pleased with it!

Mr_Shiftright

Oh, the Stepford wives---LOL!

fintail

It'll be a cute car for Buffy to drive to school, while junior gets his Range Rover.

Michaell

Not to be a downer or anything, but the profits from the Macan and Cayenne are what allow Porsche to fund continuing development on the 911, Boxter and Cayman.

Besides, doesn't it make sense for Porsche to have a competitor in the X1 / Q5 / Evoque class?

fintail

Not that the trophy wife vehicles don't help the bottom line, as they must have enormous profit margins - but would the company really be hurting without them? Is the money being put back into development, or just banked? It's not like Porsche was dying before 2004.

I'd say X3 is more comparable than X1 in this class.

andys120

Yay, something new for the botox-and-huge-sunglasses set.

Perhaps but isn't it a bit small for them. Methinks they don't like anything smaller than an X5.

andys120

Mr_Shiftright

By the length of the door handles (yeah, it's that picky) I'm going to guess a Triumph TR3 "B", 1962. Nifty "fog" light on the back there, or whatever it is.

robr2

...but would the company really be hurting without them? It's not like Porsche was dying before 2004.

According to then Porsche CEO, that's what would have happened or at the very least they would have been gobbled up by somebody else:

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/porsche-cayenne-history.htm

The answer, in a word, was survival. Sports-car sales fall first and farthest when economic conditions sour, but Porsche didn't much suffer that until the early 1990s, when it almost died...Shaken to its core, the company installed a new CEO, the no-nonsense Wendelin Wiedeking, who understood that the world had changed and Porsche had to branch out. As he told reporters in late 2002: "For Porsche to remain independent, it can't be dependent on the most fickle segment in the market...We don't want to become just a marketing department of some giant [automaker]...We have to make sure we're profitable enough to pay for future development ourselves."

Yes, eventually they were bought but it wasn't because of poor product - it was because of poor financial decisions.

fintail

Newest car in the shot appears to be the MB W123 at right, so the roadster was getting old even then.

fintail

I don't know, I still see it as increased profit vs avoiding actual death. During the most recent crisis, the upper end of the market has prospered - even more so due to the soft road set, no doubt. But at least it is admitted that the soft roaders are a profit making tool to fund the traditional cars, rather than the end all be all.

andys120

My source did not specify but it does look like an early 60s BDM version of the TR-3. The rear lamp is aftermarket, looks like a Lucas to me. I'm sure it serves as a "back-up light" since those cars didn't come with 'em.

Anyone for the blue car or the silver car past the blonde's head?

fintail

Blue car - Renault 12 , small silver car looks like an Innocenti variant.

berri

I always had a soft spot for the TR-3. They were somewhat popular in the Chicago area growing up back in the 60's. I believe I actually saw more of them than MG's back then. I wonder if they were less expensive used?

andys120

Blue car - Renault 12 , small silver car looks like an Innocenti variant

You're right on the Renault 12 but I'm pretty sure the silver car is one of these>

Mr_Shiftright

I think MGs and TRs were priced about the same. The TRs were faster but the MGs much better built. This is one reason you might see so many more MGs on the road today.

qbrozen

nobody has been able to figure this out, huh? I'm really surprised. Thought it would happen quick.

andys120

stickguy

well, someone has to take the obvious one. The beetle in the middle.

I guess this picture is about from 1970-71, thanks to the Benz on the right, just ahead of the FS Chevy (a '67? big American iron is not really my thing!)

and on the left, is that a 1970 or 71 Dodge Polara? I know they used that model for the GTX.

lostwrench1

I'll grab the 62 Meteor in Vermont.

explorerx4

To the right of the Bug is a 1970 Impala. Also a 67 Mustang just cresting the rise behind the Comet.

lostwrench1

After looking more closely at the grille, you are correct. I'll switch from Meteor to Comet.

uplanderguy

'66 Chrysler on the right. '70 Dodge Coronet on the left.

andys120

I don't think that's a Mercedes on the right, it's much too small. It's a Renault 10 like this one>



The Beetle is a '66-'67 based on the script across the engine lid.

The big Chevy on the right looks like a '69 or '70.

Cresting the hill on the left I see a '65-'66 Mustang.

andys120

explorerx4

Try to ignore the big orange letters on the rear quarter panel.

andys120

Try to ignore the big orange letters on the rear quarter panel

..or for that matter the script on the fender behind the headlights. They still don't tell you the year or model or why this is one of the most famous of its kind.

jwilliams2

1954 Lincoln Capri that won the stock car class in the final La Carrera Panamerica race in Mexico. Driven by Ray Crawford and Enrique Iglesias.

andys120

Now you're talking. I remember Lincoln-Mercury making a big deal of that '54 win in the commercials they ran in the Ed Sullivan Show.

The Carrera Panamericana was a very hairy race, one year Phil Hill and Richie Ginther flipped their Ferrari and almost got killed.

andys120

magnette

Nah - those two look like they are waiting to sink a few pints of Best Bitter and then start a fight...

grahampeters

G'day

No, no, no! Surely it's a Pimms No 1 cup! as any lady of the era would drink

I think it is a ZA or ZB MG Magnette from the mid 1950"s

Cheers (or "Bottoms Up!" as the drinkers would say)

Graham

magnette

Yes, its a ZB - the ZA like mine has chrome on the front wing which curves down to meet the end of the bumpers, but the ZB has this straight section instead.

Later the ZB was also available as a Varitone model with duo tone paint and a wider wrap round window - but they carried on making this one alongside it which must have been very inefficient.

It is possible one or both of these ladies are about to meet an unpleasant end - something about it feels like a Miss Marple story...

andys120

Yup, it's a 1957 MG Magnette ZB, no doubt the two ladies are posing for brochure art.

andys120

lemko

Porsche 928? That's a terrible choice of color for that car.

uplanderguy

You'll laugh, but I was always reminded of the '73 GM Colonnade coupes when I saw the roofline of those Porsches in direct profile!

Mr_Shiftright

Ewwwww....a Porsche 928 in baby-diaper brown. That should have been a criminal offense.

Great GT car the 928...big, heavy....the "German Corvette" it was often called. My only complaint about the ones I owned was the claustrophobic cockpit. They did make a sunroof model, but due to the roofline, it was such a small opening that Porsche people call it the "mail slot".

andys120

Yes, that's a 1978 Porsche 928S and yeah that is an awful color which I have never seen on any Porsche.

Mr_Shiftright

Some 356 Porsches came in that color. I suppose if you were a cockroach in a previous lifetime, you might order one like that just to feel at home.

fintail

I see the 928 GTS is starting to gain a little traction among collectors/speculators (often same difference)

Mr_Shiftright

The GTS is the one 928 to have. Not sure about speculators at this point...the 928 is a car that can burn your checkbook up mighty fast, so you'd better know what the hell you're doin' if you're trying to flip one for profit.

The GTS has always outpriced its 928 underlings by a factor of 4 at least. it's been on the radar a long time, but no reason why it can't go higher. It's a real supercar of sorts.

andys120

stever

1962 Ford Ranchero.

andys120

Yes and it looks better in tan than that 928.

andys120