Mystery car pix

andys120

Just for the record it's a 1959 Simca Aronde Oceane P60 Plien Ciel. The Aronde was the best selling French car of the late 1950s. Of course most were Sedans but even these sported tailfins and two-tone paint jobs.



The Wraparounds and whitewalls were seen only on the convertible and coupe versions of the P60.

bhill2

In the day, Dad was taken by the Vedette. Something about the 2.35 liter V-8 fascinated him. I don't know if any ever made it into this country, certainly none are likely to have made it into suburban Seattle.

fintail

I don't know about the Vedette, but I remember there was a Renault Caravelle in the town where I lived when I was a kid. There's something you don't see every day.

andys120

slorenzen

Early 70's Datsun 510.

magnette

grahampeters said:

G'day

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

Yes - it was an Isuzu-assembled Hillman Minx.

Sorry I don't get back quickly to my computer - I will try to do so a bit more regularly ...

magnette

Try this one - bit more modern this time

fintail

VW K70, must be an early one. Never sold in NA, but I have seen at least one in Germany.

magnette said:

Try this one - bit more modern this time

magnette

fintail said:

VW K70, must be an early one. Never sold in NA, but I have seen at least one in Germany.

Yes - the VW K70 - hardly sold any here either but I can remember seeing one or two about at the time. I've seen a few more in Europe since although not frequently.

grahampeters

magnette said:

Try this one - bit more modern this time

G'day

From that angle you can really see that it was developed as the sibling to the NSU RO80. Try to find an image of the engine as it has very unusual covers over the valve gear, looking like they are held on with spring clips

Cheers

Graham

magnette

grahampeters said:

magnette said:

Try this one - bit more modern this time

G'day

From that angle you can really see that it was developed as the sibling to the NSU RO80. Try to find an image of the engine as it has very unusual covers over the valve gear, looking like they are held on with spring clips

Cheers

Graham

Unlike modern cars visibility was clearly a priority. Whilst most cars now will withstand a terrible crash without harming the occupants, the thick pillars etc. to allow airbags everywhere tend to make the cars more likely to need them, in my view....

Michaell

A little help, please?

http://forums.edmunds.com/discussion/34579/general/x/can-anyone-identify-this-car#latest

Mr_Shiftright

I'm seeing more copying of Italian design of that era. So maybe American filtered through Italy? It would be interesting to know who penned the design.

bhill2 said:

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.

stevedebi

Ok, probably pretty simple for you guys, but I'd never heard of it:

explorerx4

Yup, start with D. Crazy doors.

berri

Some years ago I aw an identical Kaiser Darrin on the old car show platform at a Chicago auto show. That was a low volume car, so I don't know if it was offered in many colors. But kind of neat and unusual for it's time period.

stevedebi

berri said:

Some years ago I aw an identical Kaiser Darrin on the old car show platform at a Chicago auto show. That was a low volume car, so I don't know if it was offered in many colors. But kind of neat and unusual for it's time period.

I should have bookmarked the link. It was offered in four or five colors. This particular one is the car that Mr. Darrin himself owned. I believe it sold at auction for 175K.

When Kaiser went out of business, he bought up all the remaining Darrin chassis and proceeded to build a couple of hundred himself, many of them with additional custom built additions and various engines. They had a fiberglass body and pocket doors.

laurasdada

There was a Darrin on display (same color, iirc) at last year's Greenwich Concourse, owned by the family that owns some high end dealerships. I'm heading to Greenwich this weekend, I'm guessing it will be there again. Leaving my checkbook at home...

andys120

Mr_Shiftright said:

I'm seeing more copying of Italian design of that era. So maybe American filtered through Italy? It would be interesting to know who penned the design.

I agree there is definitely Italian influence there so "American filtered thru Italy" seems like an apt characterization. I looked around the net and could not find who designed it although apparently Facel built the P60 2-door bodies so perhaps they styled it as well as the similar Facel-built Simca Sport models.



Facel started as a carrosserie, building limited edition models for various French makers
before making the famous Facel-Vegas of the 1960s.

The Aronde Oceane Plien Ciel was the product of an era which saw the rapid decline of French body builders in favor of the Italians.

Mr_Shiftright

Seems too pretty for a Facel design somehow. It smacks of Pininfarina but apparently nowhere on these cars does a carrosserie badge appear. Sometimes design houses just did "studies" for automakers, who then might have taken some styling cues and added them to their own in-house designs. I think the MGB fits under that category. This Simca also has a Sunbeam Alpine look about it, and the two cars were contemporaries, and could have been sold at the same dealership.

grahampeters

G'day

Found myself sitting beside this at traffic lights today. I think it might be a 1960 Ford, but cannot recall seeing one.

Cheers

Graham

stickguy

Ford Starliner. I think it is a 1962

lostwrench1

1960 Ford Sunliner

imidazol97

The Starliner was the hardtop version's name at that time.
And the Skyliner was the retractable hardtop from 1957 to 1959, IIRC.

All similar names.

andys120

Here' one for the Euro car lovers>

magnette

andys120 said:

Here' one for the Euro car lovers>

This is in Holland. I'll start us off with the third car from right in the front row - small dark hatchback.

Autobianchi A112 - about 1969/73 - looks like a fairly basic one (they had a Model E I think) as there were sport models with more badges and lights and it isn't one of those.

fintail

Hard to tell, could this be a RHD export model?

I like 60 Fords a lot, my dad had one when I was a kid in the 90s. It was a similar tomato-y red, white top (Country Sedan, almost unknown today). Kind of a weird design, but cool, a definite bridge between the 50s and 60s.

I think technically, the name would be "Galaxie Sunliner".

grahampeters said:

G'day

Found myself sitting beside this at traffic lights today. I think it might be a 1960 Ford, but cannot recall seeing one.

Cheers

Graham

fintail

Lots of cool stuff there!

I will pick a few hard to see odd things. At far left, in front of the bike stands, a MB W114/115 with an Opel GT beside it. To the left of a white Renault 4 in the row behind, is a Datsun Cherry coupe - a rare bird. Citroen GS on the other side of the Renault, would have been a new car then.

I see one definite American car in the pic, maybe 2.

andys120 said:

Here' one for the Euro car lovers>

magnette

The vinyl roof dark car in the distance just above the roof of the Autobianchi is a Ford Granada and it is possibly a Ghia version - the German built one rather than the US namesake.

andys120

fintail said:

Lots of cool stuff there!

I will pick a few hard to see odd things. At far left, in front of the bike stands, a MB W114/115 with an Opel GT beside it. To the left of a white Renault 4 in the row behind, is a Datsun Cherry coupe - a rare bird. Citroen GS on the other side of the Renault, would have been a new car then.

I see one definite American car in the pic, maybe 2.

I can only see one possibly American car. There's a white car half up on the extreme right that could be a Mustang. It's hard to say, you can only see a little slice of the front fender.

fintail

Yup, that white car is one. Look in front of that car, at the cars parked near the building. One of them is longer than the other, and has a distinct rear end.

andys120 said:

I can only see one possibly American car. There's a white car half up on the extreme right that could be a Mustang. It's hard to say, you can only see a little slice of the front fender.

andys120

Sorry Fin, I can see that one of the cars in that row is a little longer but I can't make out what it could be.

I do see a lot of familiar cars in the row nearest the camera which no one has mentioned so far but I am unable to pinpoint the rightmost car in the second row, could it be a Dutch-built Volvo 340?

It's next to a BMW Neue Classe 2-door (1602 or 2002?).

fintail

Here's a quickie zoom-in. Those horizontal tail lights and greenhouse shape make me think 66 Chevy:



I am not sure if the Volvo 340 existed as a trunkback. That rightmost car looks Italian or French to me.

andys120 said:

Sorry Fin, I can see that one of the cars in that row is a little longer but I can't make out what it could be.

I do see a lot of familiar cars in the row nearest the camera which no one has mentioned so far but I am unable to pinpoint the rightmost car in the second row, could it be a Dutch-built Volvo 340?

It's next to a BMW Neue Classe 2-door (1602 or 2002?).

andys120

Okay, I can see it now, it could be a '66 Chebbie. OTOH there were trunkback versions of the Volvo 300 series but they all had smooth rears not the indented segment shown on the car in the pic. It's too good looking to be an old Volvo anyway

I thought it could be an Alfetta but they too had smooth butts so that's not it. I wonder if it's a Datsun or a Corolla??

grahampeters

G'day

Starting from extreme right of row nearest camera, here are my guesses:
Peugeot 504
Alfa Romeo 1600 Junior
Autobianchi
Ford Granada or Taunus (vinyl roof) - not sure but might also be late 60s Opel
Alfa Giulia
Audi
Fiat
Opel GT (not sure as nose looks too sharp)
Mercedes saloon nearest wall

Cheers

Graham

andys120

Good job Graham. As previously mentioned the Autobianchi is an A112. The Audi looks like a 100 but I don't think the car next to it is a Fiat, It sure likes like a small Opel to me (Rekord? Kadette?). OTOH I'm sure that is an Opel GT. They did have sharp noses patterned after those on the Corvette C3.

magnette

The right hand car in the second row is a Peugeot 304. The vinyl roof between the Alfa and the Autobianchi is an Opel Commodore, IMHO.

stever

Undercarriage shot.

The real mystery is the Dutch oven attached at the back.

slorenzen

stever said:

Undercarriage shot.

The real mystery is the Dutch oven attached at the back.

C2 Corvette?

robr2

C2 sounds like a good guess. Side pipes and transverse leaf spring would be common on one.

texases

That's the 'new' Edmunds '66 Corvette. They had the side pipes added, I would have left it with the regular exhaust.

stever

It's the 1966 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray that was recently added to the company fleet.. It was taken to a shop for a safety check.

Mr_Shiftright

Given the looks of the construction, that's not a bad idea.

stever

Could always make a couch of it eh?

andys120

kyfdx

andys120 said:

Porsche 968

andys120

kyfdx said:

andys120 said:

Porsche 968

Yup, basically a 944 w a different front clip suggestive of the 928.

andys120

qbrozen

'53 Roadmaster

andys120

qbrozen said:

'53 Roadmaster

Nope!