Mystery car pix

kyfdx

That's purty...

andys120

Remember this one?>



The new issue of Automobile sez that a '62 T-Bird Sports Roadster just went for almost $75K at auction in London. I used to think that Euros could tell the difference between a real sports car and a pretend one.

fintail

Well, there are Europeans and there are Britons, not really the same thing. Although there's a chance it went to Sweden, where American cars of that era are beloved. All it takes is two guys with ego, maybe some booze, and more money than sense.

grahampeters

G'day

That raises a question for me. I seem to recall that some of the Thunderbirds were body on frame. That was one of the reasons that such a wide range of bodies could be engineered onto the same basic structure for US cars up to the 1960's. What was the last US car to be built on a frame?

Cheers

Graham

fintail

Maybe Ford Panther platform? Made through 2011.

andys120

fintail said:

Maybe Ford Panther platform? Made through 2011.

The Panthers are a good example of why they don't do the BOF construction any more. Interior room is pretty poor for the massive footprint of those cars.

andys120

grahampeters

andys120 said:

G'day

Recent Toyota Corolla wagon. However looks a bit different to ones I have seen generally in Asia, so possibly a Japanese Domestic Market special. There are some taxing issues which sometimes change what they sell there.

Cheers

Graham

texases

"Toyota Corolla Fielder G" according to the hatch. But I can't make out what's in red script after the "G". It continues the recent Toyota blocky taillights. Not sure why they like them...

stevedebi

texases said:

"Toyota Corolla Fielder G" according to the hatch. But I can't make out what's in red script after the "G". It continues the recent Toyota blocky taillights. Not sure why they like them...

Corolla Fielder, The text to the right of "G" is Aerotourer. I had to blow the picture way up.

lostwrench1

After the G in red - AEROTOURER

andys120

Apparently the Toyota Corolla Fielder is a very popular JDM car.

fintail

I am surprised it wasn't something like this - in my eyes, this defines Toyota for most of the past quarter century or so:

grahampeters

fintail said:

I am surprised it wasn't something like this - in my eyes, this defines Toyota for most of the past quarter century or so:

G'day

Well, those are the tail lights of a Carina. However, the existence of an "Exciting Version" was news to me. Apparently the ED designation refers to Exciting Dressy, a different way of saying Sport Luxury!

Reminds me of the quite remarkable translation of Japanese concepts, expressed in very florid language, into English and applied to T-shirts by some Japanese entrepeneurs. I was truly surprised to read a Japanese cyclist's T Shirt in New Zealand in 1988, discovering, amongst other gems, that he would " ride like the wind through the falling autumn leaves". The shirt ran to about 1,000 words but I was so stunned that I only caught a few phrases! Heavens knows what the earthy New Zealand sheep farmers thought!

Cheers

Graham

fintail

Yep, a later 90s Carina. It sums up Toyota attempts at sport when the brand went beige (and wildly profitable, of course). Most of the market falls for it. Not grounded to the ground yet, but getting there.

There's a term for weirdo Japanese English - "Engrish". There's even a website devoted to it

grahampeters said:

G'day

Well, those are the tail lights of a Carina. However, the existence of an "Exciting Version" was news to me. Apparently the ED designation refers to Exciting Dressy, a different way of saying Sport Luxury!

Reminds me of the quite remarkable translation of Japanese concepts

andys120

Mr_Shiftright

A few more in our continuing tree series:

andys120

Mr_Shiftright said:

A few more in our continuing tree series:

1950-ish Oldsmobile 88 much like the one on the lower right of this poster >

tmart

andys120 said:

67 Ford Fairlane 500XL

Mr_Shiftright

That Olds musta been there a long time--that's a pretty fair size tree!

andys120 said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

A few more in our continuing tree series:

1950-ish Oldsmobile 88 much like the one on the lower right of this poster >

andys120

67 Ford Fairlane 500XL

Prezactly, 238CID V8 powered.

explorerx4

@andys120, How about a 289 V8?

tmart

andys120 said:

67 Ford Fairlane 500XL

Prezactly, 238CID V8 powered.

According to the front fender it has a 289, not a 238.

andys120

You guys can spot a typo a mile away.

andys120

explorerx4

@andys120, Now you went and posted the whole wrong picture. HA HA

stickguy

It's a Pontiac Bonneville. SSE? bad on years but I will guess 1992.

bhill2

explorerx4 said:

@andys120, How about a 289 V8?

That's certainly right, but I would have sworn that 289 badges were blue.

andre1969

Mr_Shiftright said:

A few more in our continuing tree series:

''

I'd love to know the story behind that pic. I think it's fake. For one thing, the tires on that car look like they still have air in them. For another, a tree will NOT grow straight up through it like that and bend the hood back. Rather, it would grow at an angle, working its way around the hood. I guess it's possible though, that someone pulled the hood back so the tree could grow up. And, that looks like a poplar tree...those do grow alarmingly fast.

stever

A friend of mine put the pic into Photoshop and enlarged it 3,000%. He says if it's 'shopped, they did a really good job. He noted that the leaves going over the hood (and rear) of the car are small and blend in with the car well - lot of work to do that plus do it so that no hard edges would be left on those pixels. Perhaps an ad agency paid for those hours (days?) of work.

Maybe they mowed around it and aired up the tires for the photo session?

fintail

I don't think it's a 'shop, but I suspect it isn't accidental, either. Someone maybe had fun with a sapling and an old car.

grahampeters

G'day

Gee,you folk are kind to your squirrels.

Cheers

au1994

andys120 said:

Bonneville SSEi from the era when monochrome made everything euro-cool!

lostwrench1

Right front fender removed.
Car pushed to the side.
Fender replaced.
(Note the diagonal position of the rear wheel indicating the car had movement to the side.)

Mr_Shiftright

Could be staged. The best way to know would be to examine the hood bolts and see if they've been loosened. If not, and if the hood is really crimped that far back like the lid on a tin can--well, that would require quite a bit of force.

andys120

Bonneville SSEi from the era when monochrome made everything euro-cool!


Yup, it's a 1987 Pontiac Bonneville SSEi.

andys120

qbrozen

AMX.

Although I'm an AMC fan, I can't say I know enough to pin a year on it, though.

texases

I'm thinking '68 or '69, the '70 had a different hood...

I remember going to a new car show in '69 or so, AMC had a display with a contest: match the shift points on an audio tape of an AMX accelerating through the gears. They had a half-dozen shifters mounted on a panel, and I won! The practice session...blew a shift on the 'real' session...looking back, I'd think the guy could have given a pre-teen an award...

andys120

You're right Texases, it's a 1969 AMC AMX. You don't see many of those, I'm not particularly an AMX fan but I must say the styling has held up well.

Mr_Shiftright

Ooh, most unfortunate color however. That'll cost a significant loss in resale value.

andys120

texases

I'd go with that color over this "AMX":

andys120

texases said:

I'd go with that color over this "AMX":

I'm a littlefuzzy on late AMCs but IIRC that's a mid-70s rendition of the AMC Javelin which they branded as a "Javelin AMX". It just goes to show that trashing your own nomenclature convention is nothing new.

texases

Close, that photo's of a 1977 Hornet "AMX", a trim pack you could get with the I6...not any different than Pontiac with their "GTO" of that era, I guess.

fintail

It must be Japanese, that's all I can tell.

andys120 said:

Mr_Shiftright

Or you could try on a few different colors and decide later

andys120

Mr_Shiftright said:

Or you could try on a few different colors and decide later

Cute, that's an AMX wearing a variation of the racing livery worn by the Penske Javelins in the Trans-AM Series. Penske's Mark Donohue drove this Javelin SST to the T-A champioship in '71>



The 60s-70s Trans-AM was a high water mark in US manufacturer involvement in road racing.

Mr_Shiftright

Donahue. Now there was a driver.

grahampeters

andys120 said:

G'day

I think one of these popped up a year or two back .While it looks a lot like a Renault, it is the Japanese version, a Hino Contessa 1300

Cheers

Graham