Mystery car pix

berri

But where's "da plane"?

texases

#1 is a Crosley Hot Shot pickup, '48?

Mr_Shiftright

@ Texases---bingo on that one, chocolate bunny for you! It's a rather rare 1948 Crosley "Hotshot" pickup. Yours for $8000. A Hotshot actually ran at Lemans (with a different body and souped up engine) and was doing very well in its class when the add-on French generator disintegrated.

@stever -- Nein! It is a Thing but not a '77 and you didn't guess the actual name it was marketed under. Think tropical. Think "down ol' Mexico way..." No bunny for you!

bhill2

Mr_Shiftright said:

Not just ANY Cadillac, this one!

OK, no one has given the year and model of this, so I will say 1955 Cadillac Sedan de Ville. I only claim the smaller bunny for that, but would ask for an upgrade to the larger one by noting that it was air conditioned.

jwilliams2

Volkswagen Thing Acapulco version...Type 181...probably from around '74-'75 or so...

stever

Mr_Shiftright said:

@stever - Think tropical. Think "down ol' Mexico way..." No bunny for you!

Just as well. My Hershey bars are already melting here in Las Cruces, much less Mexico.

Mr_Shiftright

Yep! The VW "Apapulco---and the year is 1974. Very good. Here's your bunny. Don't bite the ears off first.

Mr_Shiftright

Oh, you spotted those little vents on the back fenders?

bhill2 said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

Not just ANY Cadillac, this one!

OK, no one has given the year and model of this, so I will say 1955 Cadillac Sedan de Ville. I only claim the smaller bunny for that, but would ask for an upgrade to the larger one by noting that it was air conditioned.

jwilliams2

"Very good. Here's your bunny. Don't bite the ears off first. "

Bunny says "Did you say something?"

bhill2

Mr_Shiftright said:

Oh, you spotted those little vents on the back fenders?

Yep. That brings up a question. What was the first auto maker to put the entire system under the hood and eliminate those little vents?

Mr_Shiftright

Hmmm...that's a good question....I'm going to take a stab at it and say Nash. If that's wrong then Chrysler. I do know that there was a long pause in automotive AC after Packard and Cadillac first experimented with it just before WW II.

texases

Shifty's instincts prove correct, per wiki:
"In 1954, the Nash Ambassador was the first American automobile to have a front-end, fully integrated heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning system. The Nash-Kelvinator corporation used its experience in refrigeration to introduce the automobile industry's first compact and affordable, single-unit heating and air conditioning system optional for its Nash models. This was the first mass market system with controls on the dash and an electric clutch. This system was also compact and easily serviceable with all of its components installed under the hood or in the cowl area."

stever

texases said:

#1 is a Crosley Hot Shot pickup, '48?

Two Crosleys showed up on the Las Cruces craigslist today, a '48 sedan and a '47 wagon.

tmart

Where I grew up #2 was called the VW Thing, no special name, just the Thing.

andys120

stickguy

1970 road runner convertible?

stevedebi

That reminds me of a Roadrunner story. It was 1971 and we were living in Fayetteville NC. The guy next to use brought home one of those bright yellow models with the huge tail spoiler. I asked him how fast it went and he said he didn't know - the speedo only went to 160 (I think it was 160, that was a long time ago). I was rather impressed at the time.

bhill2

texases said:

Shifty's instincts prove correct, per wiki:
"In 1954, the Nash Ambassador was the first American automobile to have a front-end, fully integrated heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning system. The Nash-Kelvinator corporation used its experience in refrigeration to introduce the automobile industry's first compact and affordable, single-unit heating and air conditioning system optional for its Nash models. This was the first mass market system with controls on the dash and an electric clutch. This system was also compact and easily serviceable with all of its components installed under the hood or in the cowl area."

Shifty and Texases. Thanks. I wanted to say that was the case, but I am somewhat of a Nash/AMC fanboy, so I thought I might be fooling myself.

iluvmysephia1

4-doors are sweet on this 'ole '60 Ford Falcon. Nice! I'd paint it as soon as I could afford it.

And, no, I didn't know that Canada got their own version of Falcon.

bhill2

iluvmysephia1 said:

4-doors are sweet on this 'ole '60 Ford Falcon. Nice! I'd paint it as soon as I could afford it.

And, no, I didn't know that Canada got their own version of Falcon.

I spent a lot of time in the back (and later front) seat of a '60 Falcon. My folks bought it new in '60 and it was the family car until '64. Then in '66 I inherited it to drive to college and drove it until I got a used '61 Corvair in '68. Somewhere during that period it got hit by a garbage truck and still got me home. My folks got it fixed and drove it as a second car for a couple of years. They then bought another car and gave the Falcon to my best friend who was by this time married with children. It served them for several years at which point my friend swapped it with a family member for a mid-60s Chevelle that had payments left on it. I lost track of it after that, but it was doing daily duty at that point. A side note, my friend was a mechanic and did some mechanical work for a person who ran a restoration shop, and who in return cosmetically restored the Falcon. It came back looking at least as good as new. Blew me away.

Anyway, I developed considerable respect for that car. Contrary to the reputation of these Falcons it was an ox. It just kept plodding along slowly but surely. I should, however, emphasized the word slowly. It was good training for driving a Mercedes 240D.

grahampeters

G'day

The 1960 Falcon also made it to Australia and was initially well received. However, that lasted for just as long as it remained on smooth bitumen. We have a lot of that here, but also a lot of outback gravel roads. The Falcon's front ball joints were a weak point, as were adjusting shims in the front suspension which fell out, each producing impressive camber changes.

It quickly gained the unfavorable description of "the Foul Can". The 1961 used suspension lifted from the Fairlane and saw some improvements but the damage to its reputation took many years to overcome. I am one of many who would not willingly drive one, if avoidable, even 54 years later.

Cheers

Graham

grahampeters

Gday

https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CC0QFjAD&url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/russellcharters/6232559781/&ei=FuIrVOefKomD8gXeo4KoBg&usg=AFQjCNGgWCgAGVpBnW3xnT-chIyTRaPCmQ&sig2=P42WQHW2cbtYdR-sjD9HNA

andys120

andys120

Hey Graham, those drivers in your photo are sitting on the WRONG SIDE of the cars!

The car in the center of the pic is an Aussie Ford Falcon, obviously closely related to the original 1960 US version as well as the Canadian Frontenac seen earlier. Later Australian Falcons diverged quite a bit from their American counterparts. To the Falcon's left is what appears to be either a Volvo Amazon (120 Series) or some sort of Oz version of the AMC Rambler.

On the Falcon's right is a Ford Cortina or Granada apparently similar to it's UK counterparts. Seen behind it and moving in the opposite direction on the WRONG SIDE of the road is a Holden estate that's probably based on the Opel/Vauxhall Kadette/Astra.

Man I am getting dizzy looking at that picture, I can't figure out the lane patterns. The rest of you just click on Graham's URL and you'll get the picture.

I hope I never have to drive in Sydney.

grahampeters

G'day

The Sydney Harbour Bridge is actually even trickier than it looks. It was constructed in the early 1930's with two rail tracks (left side of image) and two tram tracks, together with six traffic lanes. When trams stopped operating in Sydney in the 1950's the two rightmost lanes were converted to road lanes, giving a total eight traffic lanes. During peak hours a contra flow operates which gives up to six lanes in the direction of maximum traffic flow.

Bizarrely, it works, albeit with some terror if you have not negotiated it recently. I drive in Sydney about once per month. The drivers are markedly more aggressive than Melbourne and traffic jams are frequent and angst ridden. I have to consciously turn up the aggression level when driving there, reminding myself that you do have to push into queues and so on.

Whilst the guesses on the cars seem logical, in fact, virtually all the other cars are Holdens of varied vintages, the significance of the image being the single forlorn Ford Falcon in a sea of Holdens. In the early 1960s, more than half the cars sold in Australia were Holdens.

The one on the immediate left of the image is an HR Holden from about 1966-67. The other ones near the Falcon are all Holdens from the late 1950's and early 1960's, when Holden styling was pretty much lifted from US designs, slightly shrunk to Australian standards.

I keep having problems posting photos to these pages. Is there an FAQ page somewhere to remind me how to do it?

Cheers

Graham

andys120

grahampeters said:

G'day

. I have to consciously turn up the aggression level when driving there, reminding myself that you do have to push into queues and so on.

I do the same thing when I drive to Boston. You have to drive like a Masshole or you're dead meat.

andys120

grahampeters said:

G'day


I keep having problems posting photos to these pages. Is there an FAQ page somewhere to remind me how to do it?

Cheers

Graham

After you've copied the url of your pic click on the black square that looks like a turned down pageat the top and you'll see a slot for "image url" at the bottom of the pop-up. Paste the url there and hit ENTER on your key board, then click on Post Comment @ bottom. It's simple once you get used to it but really obtuse. There are certainly better ways to do it (such as the simple one-click set-up we had before the great makeover.)

andys120

stickguy

Mid 80s Toyota tercel AWD. Complete with it's very own ATM on the back door

stever

My neighbor always insisted her wagon was a Toyota Corolla Tercel, to distinguish it from my plebeian four door Tercel sedan (as seen in my profile pic).

texases

Oooh - a Toyota Corolla Tercel...NOW I'm impressed...

stever

@grahampeters, in theory all you have to do is grab the photo and drag it into the post. That rarely works for me though.

Check out Getting Started in Edmunds Forums, especially the How to Post a Photo comment by KarenS.

robr2

andys120 said:

grahampeters said:

G'day

. I have to consciously turn up the aggression level when driving there, reminding myself that you do have to push into queues and so on.

I do the same thing when I drive to Boston. You have to drive like a Masshole or you're dead meat.

Hey hey hey - only we Massholes can call ourselves that!!

stever

texases said:

Oooh - a Toyota Corolla Tercel...NOW I'm impressed...

lol, we always had fun ribbing each other about that. Here's a shot of part of it on the left the day we moved. We'd sold the '82 Tercel a month before (ha, drag and drop actually worked this time, go figure).

andre1969

andys120 said:

I think that thing is a Dual Ghia? I'm probably wrong on the specifics here, but I believe it was an Italian body on a '57 Dodge frame, with a 315 '56 Dodge Hemi under the hood? I think Lucille Ball had one.

andys120

andre1969 said:

andys120 said:

I think that thing is a Dual Ghia? I'm probably wrong on the specifics here, but I believe it was an Italian body on a '57 Dodge frame, with a 315 '56 Dodge Hemi under the hood? I think Lucille Ball had one.

a '57 Dual Ghia

Yup, it's a 1957 Dual Ghia. Wikipedia sez you're correct about the Dodge chassis which was acquired by Dual Motors in Detroit and shipped to Ghia in Turin for installation of the Exner-designed body.

Power was via 315 CID Dodge Hemi. Lots of American prominenti had one of the 117 built including Nixon, several members of The Rat Pack including The Chairman
of the Board and Desi Arnaz.

Urban legends abound including one about Ronnie Reagan losing his to LBJ in a poker game.

For a car owned by so many A list celebs, the Dual-Ghia is not well known in either automotive or tabloid circles.

lostwrench1

robr2 said:

andys120 said:

grahampeters said:

G'day

. I have to consciously turn up the aggression level when driving there, reminding myself that you do have to push into queues and so on.

I do the same thing when I drive to Boston. You have to drive like a Masshole or you're dead meat.

Hey hey hey - only we Massholes can call ourselves that!!

When I drive in Boston, I have to go into "fighter pilot mode".

andre1969

robr2 said:

Hey hey hey - only we Massholes can call ourselves that!!

LOL, I learned that phrase from a transplant from, of all places, New Hampshire!

grahampeters

grahampeters

andys120

So that's what we get for teaching you how to post pics; obscure Aussie iron that we'll never figure out!

The garage scene shows two versions of the BMC Maxi (ADO 14), the red car being an earlier version.

The befinned blue job has Ford-like tailights but I think it's a 1960s Skoda Felicia or Octavia.

fintail

An Austin Maxi rally car, never seen one of those before. A car made famous in a goofy yet underrated movie:



The trunkback car alongside it is a BMC "landcrab" - they must have been sold in small numbers in the NA, maybe mostly Canuckistan, as I have seen one here with LHD.

grahampeters said:

fintail

Definitely a BMC greenhouse - resembles a Morris Oxford, but I am unfamiliar with the fins, which at rear resemble a 55-56 Ford.

grahampeters said:

bhill2

fintail said:

Definitely a BMC greenhouse - resembles a Morris Oxford, but I am unfamiliar with the fins, which at rear resemble a 55-56 Ford.

grahampeters said:

I'm shooting in the dark here but doesn't that fin paint scheme look like they're trying to do a '57 Chevy thing? Maybe it's something out of a GM subsidiary.

andre1969

fintail said:

An Austin Maxi rally car, never seen one of those before. A car made famous in a goofy yet underrated movie:

To this day, when I go around a traffic circle, I'll sometimes say "Look kids! There's Big Ben! Parliament!" Some of my friends get it and laugh. Others roll their eyes...

grahampeters

Searching for Tracy Island

grahampeters

bhill2 said:

fintail said:

Definitely a BMC greenhouse - resembles a Morris Oxford, but I am unfamiliar with the fins, which at rear resemble a 55-56 Ford.

grahampeters said:

I'm shooting in the dark here but doesn't that fin paint scheme look like they're trying to do a '57 Chevy thing? Maybe it's something out of a GM subsidiary.

G'day

The BMC guess is correct. BMC developed an idea from the Wolseley 1500 and Riley 1.5 from the mid 1950's. That was intended to be a replacement for the Morris Minor, using much of the same mechanicals in a larger body. However the idea was expanded once it reached Australia, where the basic 1.5 litre small saloon idea morphed into the Austin Lancer and Morris Major (ie bigger than a Morris Minor). The fins were lifted from the Pininfarina designs used for the Austrin Cambridge and its clones.

The result was a surprisingly sporty car which seemed designed for middle aged ladies but was promptly modified by various motor racing enthusiasts, The Morris Major saw a refresh in about 1960 when the "Rocket" flashes were added to the fins and renamed as the Morris Major Elite. For the time, that looked pretty stylish.

As a very bored country boy boarding at a city secondary school (I lived about 90 miles from the school and had to live-in through each term), I was grateful that someone had the insight to donate a cast-off Austin Lancer, which we partially disassembled and repaired; it provided an unexpected side to my education.

Cheers

Graham

grahampeters

fintail said:

An Austin Maxi rally car, never seen one of those before. A car made famous in a goofy yet underrated movie:

The trunkback car alongside it is a BMC "landcrab" - they must have been sold in small numbers in the NA, maybe mostly Canuckistan, as I have seen one here with LHD.

grahampeters said:

G'day

The Austin 1800 (red car on right) was a biggish seller here in Australia and was remarkably capable on rough roads, with its hydrolastic suspension and very rigid body. The interior was as large as many lounge rooms (well, almost) and it was a real pleasure to drive at speed. Not so flash at slow speed as a heavyish front wheel drive required a lot of muscle. Dad had one, passed on to Mum and I drove it a lot for some years when I first got a license.

The white car beside it is an Austin Maxi, the first 5 door, 5 speed British car. Intended to compete with the Renault 16, it was no match. The design required a new engine from BMC and was never properly executed. The basic ideas were developments from other BMC cars of the late 1950s and 1960's but the Maxi got caught in the machinations of the merger with Leyland and became something of an orphan. The Maxi never made it to Australia but I saw some when living in the UK. Again it had hydrolastic suspension.

Weirdly, the Maxi was supposed to be a much smaller car than the Austin 1800 but ends up looking very similar, not least because it recycled the 1800's doors, which also popped up on Rolls Royce and Bentley prototypes.

Cheers

Graham

fintail

"I cannot get left!"

Tons of good lines from that one. Now that it's old, kind of cool for car spotting too, as a lot on the road then is almost extinct now.

andre1969 said:

To this day, when I go around a traffic circle, I'll sometimes say "Look kids! There's Big Ben! Parliament!" Some of my friends get it and laugh. Others roll their eyes...

fintail

A later ~1970 Aussie Falcon, with a "Thunderbirds" theme.

grahampeters said:

Searching for Tracy Island