Mystery car pix

grahampeters

G'day

Flinders Lane, Melbourne 1960.

Cheers

Graham

grahampeters

fintail said:

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

G'day

Spot on! The late 1960's Falcons are all pretty similar although the tail lights differ; I think this is an XW. The Thunderbirds gear is part of a fundraising event, where competitors are invited to enter a "Bash" from some remote place starting with ther letter "B" to somewhere more populated starting with the letter "B". Thunderbird 2 is as good an idea as any!

Cheers

GRaham

andre1969

grahampeters said:

G'day

Flinders Lane, Melbourne 1960.

Cheers

Graham

DeSoto Diplomat, 1953-54?

My stepfather's uncle had a Diplomat for a few years when he was living overseas, ages ago. I think it was a 1949 or 50.

andys120

andre1969 said:

grahampeters said:

DeSoto Diplomat, 1953-54?

I can't say i can recall the "Diplomat" as a DeSoto model name.

Graham's photo is interesting. At first I thought it was Manhattan NY but then I noticed the little Morris Minor camionette and the DeSoto driver sitting on the wrong side.

andre1969

They used the name "Diplomat" for a lot of export model DeSotos, which were usually built on the Plymouth body, just with a DeSoto grille put on. Or, in cases where a proper DeSoto grille wouldn't fit, a DeSoto-esque grille. Here's a '56 Diplomat, for instance...

Plymouth body, but that's a unique grille, designed to somewhat resemble the DeSoto grille, but made to fit a Plymouth.

For 1957-59, the Diplomat was a Plymouth body with a Firesweep front clip. In '57-58, the Firesweep's front clip was actually a Dodge clip, with a DeSoto grille, but for '59 it actually looked like a "real" DeSoto. For '60-61, the Diplomat was a rebadged Dodge Dart, but by that time they didn't make any effort to make it look like a DeSoto. Considering how the '61 DeSoto looked, maybe that's not a bad thing! And, I found a pic of a '60 Diplomat wagon, in two tone, that had a contrast spear on the side similar in shape to the one on my '57 Firedome. So at least they tried a little bit, to give a nod to the DeSoto traditions.

The DeSoto Diplomat actually outlasted the "real" DeSotos, as there was a South African DeSoto Diplomat for 1962, that was essentially a Dodge Dart 440

stever

andys120 said:

Graham's photo is interesting. At first I thought it was Manhattan NY

Me too, thought that was the Empire State or Chrysler Building in the background.

qbrozen

what I also find interesting is that the picture quality seems beyond that of what you typically see in pics of the '60s and even '70s.

grahampeters

G'day

It's funny to think that until only a year or two ago, the image quality of old 35mm images shot on Kodachrome exceeded any digital image. This image is by an amateur photographer, Fred Mitchell whose shots of Melbourne dating from the 1950's are available on line. http://www.redbubble.com/people/failingmemory?ref=breadcrumb

Kodachrome 35mm has an image quality of about 20Mp at A4 size.

Cheers

Graham

andys120

Go for it>

stickguy

Jeep wagon in the middle

And lots if old American cars test all look alike to me

fintail

Early-mid 50s rounded styling, such a stark contrast to a few years later.

Bottom left is I guess a 53-54 Chevy 2 door sedan, maybe a 55 210 wagon in front of it? (also appears to be the newest car there) and a roughly 1950 Dodge Wayfarer or Plymouth variant in front of that.

andys120 said:

Go for it>

grahampeters

G'day

This is so stylized, it's almost funny

Cheers

Graham

Michaell

grahampeters said:

G'day

This is so stylized, it's almost funny

Cheers

Graham

Lamborghini Muira.

andys120

G'day

This is so stylized, it's almost funny

Cheers

Graham

Lamborghini Muira.


I'm not sure what you mean but IMO the Miura to this day may be the best-looking mid-engine car ever built. That's remarkable considering it was one of the first mid-engine road cars.To be sure it was highly styled at the expense of practical considerations but you could say that about most exotics.

andre1969

At a quick glance, I think that Miura looks a bit over-styled, mainly up front. The front-end makes me think a bit of some kind of costume you might see from "H.R. Puff'n'Stuff". But, hey, it's from around the same era, so maybe the stylists were smoking the same stuff as Sid and Marty Krofft! But, considering that timeframe, I think it looks a lot better than many of its contemporaries.

The Miura does have nice proportions, with that long-ish hood. Many mid-engine cars come off looking a bit too cab-forward for my tastes.

texases

The only problem I have with that Miura is the paint + stripes.

Mr_Shiftright

Orange and lime green is a color combination best left to "let's talk about doing that over a few beers" but not actually doing it when sober.

andre1969

Good point about the clashy colors. I actually like the green, though...probably because it's similar to what you might see on a '69 vintage Mopar musclecar. That Miura would probably look better if it was all green, and no stripes.

bhill2

andre1969 said:

Good point about the clashy colors. I actually like the green, though...probably because it's similar to what you might see on a '69 vintage Mopar musclecar. That Miura would probably look better if it was all green, and no stripes.

IMHO it would look better if it was all some other color. That green has some charm on a '69 Roadrunner, but on a Miura not so much.

andys120

I consider that charteusey green the perfect color for a Miura, it's period perfect IMO. Those stripes (or any stripes) just don't work w that design.

andys120

I should mention that the Nov. issue of Road & Track has a good article on the history of the now defunct house of Bertone. It's illustrated w a picture of a Miura in the same color green.

andys120

andys120

I'm not surprised that the little white coupe has everyone stumped. Perhaps this will help>

stever

In case you can't see Andy's photo, try this link.

stickguy

link errored out for me. so no help.

stever

Hm, works for my bud in Texas on his Mac. Beats me, maybe the dashes in the link are messing with you. One more try - http://bit.ly/ZUUzHh. Ah, get a "forbidden" error on the iPad.

Enough of that.

stickguy

got an audi grill. though was that auto union at the time?

grahampeters

G'day

Well that one is hard. I have spent far too much idle weekend time, peering through books and internet images. I'd figures out that the body is probably fibreglass and the design looks 1950's German (lacks a little something on the style front!). The Auto Union rings suggest it is one of their companies, so I was down to DKW or Auto Union, The Monza name eventually gives a lead as a DKW Monza, but I am not sure that I have ever seen one.

Cheers

Graham

andys120

grahampeters said:

G'day

Well that one is hard. I have spent far too much idle weekend time, peering through books and internet images. I'd figures out that the body is probably fibreglass and the design looks 1950's German (lacks a little something on the style front!). The Auto Union rings suggest it is one of their companies, so I was down to DKW or Auto Union, The Monza name eventually gives a lead as a DKW Monza, but I am not sure that I have ever seen one.

Cheers

Graham

That's right Graham, it's a ca.1954 DKW Monza, a fiberglass-bodied sports coupe based on the DKW F89. Power came from Auto Union's two-stroke 3 cylinder displacing all of 648cc.

andys120

New>

993er

What's this?

stickguy

new BMW 4 series. IOW, another confused mish mash since it definitely does not have 2 doors.

grahampeters

G'day

BMW 4 series gran tourer. The exact model is too hard for me, as they look suspiciously like any number of similar designs.

Cheers

Graham

bhill2

stickguy said:

new BMW 4 series. IOW, another confused mish mash since it definitely does not have 2 doors.

I'm with you. I own a 3 series and just don't see the advantage of that fastback roof. Less headroom for more money. Such a deal.

stickguy

I assume it it is another hatchback?

Michaell

stickguy said:

I assume it it is another hatchback?

4-series GC is indeed a hatch

fintail

Reminds me of a Crosstour. I've seen a few 3er GT, I think. Not what I would call good looking.

Michaell said:

stickguy said:

I assume it it is another hatchback?

4-series GC is indeed a hatch

stever

@993er, looks like a military spec Jeep Gladiator - M715 Kaiser Jeep. 1967 to 1969.

Wonder if this was a surplus one given to the fire department there in South Carolina. Check out the Vintage Military Trucks site for similar ones. And welcome to the forums!

andys120

Yup that is the new BMW 428xi Gran Coupe which of course is not really a coupe at all but a five door hatchback. BMW, which used to have the most logical naming convention in the industry, has really screwed the nomenclature up. That said I rather like the car itself but then I 'm a fan of five door hatches and wagons.

andys120

kyfdx

andys120 said:

Yup that is the new BMW 428xi Gran Coupe which of course is not really a coupe at all but a five door hatchback. BMW, which used to have the most logical naming convention in the industry, has really screwed the nomenclature up. That said I rather like the car itself but then I 'm a fan of five door hatches and wagons.

Yeah... the hatchback thing would sell it for me..

texases

But why pick that one over the 3 GT?

Michaell

texases said:

But why pick that one over the 3 GT?

The 3 GT has a stretched wheelbase - presumably set up for the Chinese market.

The proportions are all wrong .. the 4 GC looks much better, IMO.

andys120

The 3 GT has a stretched wheelbase - presumably set up for the Chinese market.

The proportions are all wrong .. the 4 GC looks much better, IMO.


What he said.

Michaell

andys120 said:

The 3 GT has a stretched wheelbase - presumably set up for the Chinese market.

The proportions are all wrong .. the 4 GC looks much better, IMO.

What he said.



If only the 4-series didn't command a hefty price premium over the 3-series....

kyfdx

texases said:

But why pick that one over the 3 GT?

Plus, a raised suspension and AWD only..

andre1969

stickguy said:

new BMW 4 series. IOW, another confused mish mash since it definitely does not have 2 doors.

Yeah, a more proper term for cars like this would be "pillared hardtop", which is what they called them back in the old days, when they were essentially 4-door hardtops, which usually had a more rakish roofline than a 4-door sedan, with a B-pillar grafted on.

It's also a cheaper way to make a car, since the car doesn't have full frames around the windows, and the window glass seals right against the door jamb seal, so it cuts out a few parts. In the old days, frameless windows also gave a car a cleaner look (1980-85 Seville, 1979-81 Mopar R-body) than a sedan with fully framed doors. But, with the way they integrate everything and smooth it out these days, I don't know that it makes much difference anymore.

stickguy

period colors. Won't see these today.

stickguy

pre-SUV days.

stickguy

a profile on that one.