Mystery car pix

magnette

fintail said:

Yep Kingdome, appears to be in the final stages of construction. I know it opened in the spring of 76.

Not just a lack of foreign cars, but a lack of Japanese cars - I see a few Germans in the pic, but only one or two that could possibly be Japanese, and they are so far away it's hard to tell.

Sorry - I didn't mean to post this - once you start a quote I don't know how to cancel it - it just stays there until you post it. I was trying to reply on the green British car to say I think I have a photo of that exact car taken at a similar damp field - typical British car show.

kyfdx

magnette said:

fintail said:

Yep Kingdome, appears to be in the final stages of construction. I know it opened in the spring of 76.

Not just a lack of foreign cars, but a lack of Japanese cars - I see a few Germans in the pic, but only one or two that could possibly be Japanese, and they are so far away it's hard to tell.

Sorry - I didn't mean to post this - once you start a quote I don't know how to cancel it - it just stays there until you post it. I was trying to reply on the green British car to say I think I have a photo of that exact car taken at a similar damp field - typical British car show.

If you quote something mistakenly, you can highlight and delete it, then go back up and quote a different post..

magnette

kyfdx said:

magnette said:

fintail said:

Yep Kingdome, appears to be in the final stages of construction. I know it opened in the spring of 76.

Not just a lack of foreign cars, but a lack of Japanese cars - I see a few Germans in the pic, but only one or two that could possibly be Japanese, and they are so far away it's hard to tell.

Sorry - I didn't mean to post this - once you start a quote I don't know how to cancel it - it just stays there until you post it. I was trying to reply on the green British car to say I think I have a photo of that exact car taken at a similar damp field - typical British car show.

If you quote something mistakenly, you can highlight and delete it, then go back up and quote a different post..

Thanks - I seem to have got stuck when I tried earlier but it was probably me....

magnette

Mr_Shiftright said:

Well, the estate car to the left is a Ford Granada - built in Germany. Also you can see a white Morris 1000 Minor beyond it and the corner of a Triumph Stag to the right.

I'll leave the actual subject car as it is known over here but probably unheard of abroad.

Suffice it to say if you drove it you would probably be shaken but not stirred.

andys120

Augggh, my eyes!

fintail

That gives it away - Bond Equipe, or some variant of it.

The Ford wagon looks much like the one from the underrated "European Vacation"



"I've had that bump for ages, now I've got an excuse to get it fixed"

magnette said:

Well, the estate car to the left is a Ford Granada - built in Germany. Also you can see a white Morris 1000 Minor beyond it and the corner of a Triumph Stag to the right.

I'll leave the actual subject car as it is known over here but probably unheard of abroad.

Suffice it to say if you drove it you would probably be shaken but not stirred.

magnette

fintail said:

That gives it away - Bond Equipe, or some variant of it.

The Ford wagon looks much like the one from the underrated "European Vacation"



"I've had that bump for ages, now I've got an excuse to get it fixed"











That film was on TV here last night...

magnette

Try this one




Goodnight

fintail

Alfa Romeo Arna, a puzzling car based on a Nissan Sunny, I think.

magnette said:

Try this one



Goodnight

grahampeters

G'day

I think this one may have appeared on these pages in the past. Spearmint is not an attractive colour on any car, and certainly not here. The windscreen frame and the bonnet catches on the forward opening bonnet, give it away as Triumph Herald derived.

This is a Bond Equipe GT4S from mid 1960's. Bond are more famous for a very peculiar thing called the Bond Bug, although this was actually made by Reliant, which had acquired the Bond name in the late 1960's.

Cheers

GRaham

stever

First posted in 2005 (image link is unfortunately dead). Other posts in most odd numbered years (appropriately enough?).

magnette

fintail said:

Alfa Romeo Arna, a puzzling car based on a Nissan Sunny, I think.

magnette said:

Try this one



Goodnight

Yes, the Arna was a strange beast but it was based on what we had as a Nissan Cherry (in some markets it would have been a Nissan Pulsar I believe) - there was also a Nissan Cherry Europa which was the Nissan car but with an Alfa engine.

I think I read somewhere that there are no Arnas left on the road in Britain and there will be few elsewhere in Europe and I hardly saw any when they were on sale. As for the Nissan Cherry Europa I imagine that went years ago too - I can only remember seeing a few when they were new - all that differed externally was the badges. .

magnette

Another one

fintail

In NA, we only had 2 versions of the Pulsar. First, this thing:



Which I kind of liked when I was a kid - although unpretty, the pop up lights and sharp angles made it unique. A mainstay in high school parking lots here into the 90s.

And then this one, which was also kind of cool:



As it had modular rear sections:



These are extremely rare today.

magnette said:

Yes, the Arna was a strange beast but it was based on what we had as a Nissan Cherry (in some markets it would have been a Nissan Pulsar I believe) - there was also a Nissan Cherry Europa which was the Nissan car but with an Alfa engine.

I think I read somewhere that there are no Arnas left on the road in Britain and there will be few elsewhere in Europe and I hardly saw any when they were on sale. As for the Nissan Cherry Europa I imagine that went years ago too - I can only remember seeing a few when they were new - all that differed externally was the badges. .

fintail

Based on the mirrors, I will guess Isuzu Gemini.

Sold in the US as an Isuzu I-Mark and a Buick-Opel, maybe.

magnette said:

Another one

magnette

fintail said:

Based on the mirrors, I will guess Isuzu Gemini.

Sold in the US as an Isuzu I-Mark and a Buick-Opel, maybe.

magnette said:

Another one

That didn't take long - Isuzu Bellett Gemini - I think this one is JDM

magnette

This one is postwar despite appearances to the contrary...

fintail

Renault Juvaquatre, kind of like the Ford Pop or similar of France, I think in production for 20+ years

magnette said:

This one is postwar despite appearances to the contrary...

explorerx4

I thought Magnette was referring to the Porsche.

andys120

It's obviously a racer but it raced in Production Sport classes (AP). Not many saw steet use but a few did.

stewardrobbins

It's a Cheetah!

andys120

Steward is correct, that is a mid-60s Thomas Cheetah using Corvette Stingray mechanicals and an Aluminum body/chassis.
It was designed by a guy named Bill Thomas to try and beat the Shelby Cobra-Fords which it did on several occasions but not consistently due to various design problems including tendencies to overheat both drivers and motors

magnette

fintail said:

Renault Juvaquatre, kind of like the Ford Pop or similar of France, I think in production for 20+ years

magnette said:

This one is postwar despite appearances to the contrary...

Sorry - I have been away from the computer for days.

This is indeed a Renault Juvaquatre - this estate version was known as the Dauphinoise (or something similar) and outlived the saloon by a number of years. I think that it lasted so long because the equivalent Renault saloons - initially the 4CV / 750 and later the Dauphine were rear engined with a vertical block and hence had problems with providing a suitable layout for a van or commercial. So the pre-war Juvaquatre, which had bee based on a copy of an Opel Kadett or something, soldiered on for years.

It went by about 1960, but its true successor would have been the Renault 4 which provided similar accommodation but with far better performance.

Mr_Shiftright

andys120 said:

Steward is correct, that is a mid-60s Thomas Cheetah using Corvette Stingray mechanicals and an Aluminum body/chassis.
It was designed by a guy named Bill Thomas to try and beat the Shelby Cobra-Fords which it did on several occasions but not consistently due to various design problems including tendencies to overheat both drivers and motors

If I remember correctly, the Cheetah was unique in that there was no driveshaft. The transmission was hooked up directly to the differential. Seems plausible, when you look at the thing. It has Death Wish written all over it, doesn't it?

texases

And folks thought a Shelby Cobra had squirrely handling!

texases

Saw one last week in Pittsburgh-

robr2

Ahh - a visitor from Canadia. That's a Chevy Orlando.

stever

@Mr_Shiftright, Wiki said the "driveshaft" was so short, it was essentially a universal joint.

Looks a bit scary with the gas filler behind the driver and having to contort yourself to get out of the cockpit (shoot, you had to straddle the engine to drive it). Doesn't look like a Nomex kind of suit that the driver is wearing either.

@texases, let me guess - that's a Dawn shot?

texases

I was going to ask if 'Tony' owned one, but no need for a clue, obviously! I never new the Orlando existed until I saw it...

magnette

texases said:

I was going to ask if 'Tony' owned one, but no need for a clue, obviously! I never new the Orlando existed until I saw it...

We get the Orlando here too...

magnette

This one appears obvious but it is a bit different

fintail

Hillman Minx with maybe a Japanese connection?

magnette said:

This one appears obvious but it is a bit different

magnette

fintail said:

Hillman Minx with maybe a Japanese connection?

magnette said:

This one appears obvious but it is a bit different

Yes - but which company was the connection?

andys120

magnette said:

This one appears obvious but it is a bit different

It's gotta be an early 60s Hillman Minx; I can make out the word Minx on the flank. This particular iteration of the Minx was sold as a Sunbeam Minx and a Humber 60 outside the USA. a

Rootes Group cars enjoyed a short-lived spate of popularity during the heyday of Euro imports (late 60s-mid 60s). The Minx was fairly popular where I grew up, usually as a second car to back up the big wagon or sedan..

grahampeters

G'day

Rootes Audax body but the setting looks wrong, so I am guessing Japan. Raymond Loewy had some influence on the design which has hints of Studebaker to it.

Somewhere I have read a book about the Japanese concept of copying, which in later years cascaded into Korea and China. I assume that the Rootes Audax body style was licensed.

Cheers

Graham

Mr_Shiftright

andys120

You are onto something Graham. I'd never noticed the resemblance to Studes before but now I can see it and I checked the Wikipedia entry which says that Raymond Loewy influenced the design. Wikipedia also notes that Japan was one of the several countries where the Minx was assermbled.

The tennis players look vaguely Asian and the car is wrong-hand drive

andys120

Shifty's station wagon is a Skoda Octavia Combi. These were made from 1959-71 according to Wikipedia.

andys120

texases

A very hotted-up 1967 Ranchero. A roll cage and BIG rear tires - I'd like to see what's under the hood!

explorerx4

@Texases, Good powers of observation.
I find it kind of funny it has Oregon plates.

grahampeters

G'day

The Hillman Minx in the wrong setting is explained by the following 1953 article in The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA) Tuesday 12 May 1953

Japan Assembly
Of Hillmans
Britain's car concern, the
Rootes Group, has signed a
technical tie-up with the
Isuzu Motor Co. for thfi
issembly and eventual ?
manufacture in Japan of,1
Hillman Minx cars, says
Richard Hughes in Tokio.
Under the agreement, ap
proved by the Japanese Gov
ernment, Isuzu will import i
the cars completely knocked
down and assemble them at
the big Omori works.
Arrangements have been
made for Isuzu to manufac
ture component parts and for
Isuzu engineers to go to
England to study at Rootes
Group plants, schools and
service stations. Rootes and
Isuzu have also entered into
partnership for sales, distri
bution and servicing of the
cars assembled by Isuzu.
Rootes thus becomes the
second major British auto
mobile firm to announce the
assembly of cars in Japan:
Austins are being assembled
already by the Nissan Motor
Co.

The end of the relationship is described in an article in The Canberra Times Previous of Wednesday 18 November 1964


Japanese
end Rootes
link
TOKYO, Tuesday (A.A.
P.-Rcutcr). — The Isiizii
Motor Company Lid.,
Japanese manufacturers
of lhe ItcIIcK car, plans lo
(crminalc its tie-up with
I lie Rootes Group of
Britain, it Announced to
day.
The move, to be taken
next March when the pre
sent contract for technical
assistance from Rootes ends,
represents the final step in
the Japanese automobile
industry's movement to
wards technical indepen
dence of foreign firms.
An Isuzu spokesman said
his firm had assembled
about 60,000 Millman cars
since 1953 under a liccncc
from the Rootes Company,
at a cost of about £618,750
in royalties.
The technical tie-up was
no longer required, he said,
as his firm had learned
most of the British tech
niques and was now making
passenger cars with its own
methods. |i

The Isuzu Bellett was introduced (in Australia) in 1964. They were a radically better car than the Rootes Audax.

andys120

A lot of Yank styling influence on this little car>

stickguy

That's a nice looking car.

Mr_Shiftright

That reminds me of the Renault Floride. I don't see too much Yankee about it...more Italian to my eye in design, but probably a Peugeot or Simca.

andys120

Mr_Shiftright said:

That reminds me of the Renault Floride. I don't see too much Yankee about it...more Italian to my eye in design, but probably a Peugeot or Simca.

White wall tires, chromed full wheel covers and tailfins; that says "50s Yank" to me but is indeed a Simca. Anyone want to say which model?

Mr_Shiftright

where are the tailfins? Maybe we need a rear view. The only "yank" thing I see immediately is the windshield but yeah, I think you're right----wide whites are definitely an American invention---pretty much extinct here by the early 60s however. White walls go way back in time, probably 100 years.

tmart

Mr_Shiftright said:

where are the tailfins? Maybe we need a rear view. The only "yank" thing I see immediately is the windshield but yeah, I think you're right----wide whites are definitely an American invention---pretty much extinct here by the early 60s however. White walls go way back in time, probably 100 years.

The front end screams 57 Tbird as does the windshield!

andys120

Mr_Shiftright said:

where are the tailfins? Maybe we need a rear view.

It's no '59 Caddy but it's as "finny" as Eurocars get.>

bhill2

tmart said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

where are the tailfins? Maybe we need a rear view. The only "yank" thing I see immediately is the windshield but yeah, I think you're right----wide whites are definitely an American invention---pretty much extinct here by the early 60s however. White walls go way back in time, probably 100 years.

The front end screams 57 Tbird as does the windshield!

In these somewhat aged eyes, the front end looks enough like a '56 Chrysler to trigger a law suit. Specifically a New Yorker. Just my $0.02 worth.