Mystery car pix

stevedebi

stickguy said:

$660K. wow. For a 4 door.

But, I don't count that. That is more like a base stippo Tempast with the biggest motor, but nothing else.

reminds me of when I was in HS. a kid my age (son of people my parents knew) was visiting other kids that lived across the street, and had his mom's car. So, of course he had to show off when he left, by burning rubber for an extended time at the corner.

getting to the point, the car was a plain early 70s Plymouth (like something the Brady's would have) 4 door. Dog dish caps, etc. But they towed a trailer with it, and it had the biggest motor you could get (not sure if it was a 440). That thing was a 4 door Barracuda, and was way overpowered for the tires. Seemed to have no problem moving a trailer though!

Did have to lie to mom though, claiming to have no idea who did the burnout!

Also a matter of transmission and final gearing. I had a '72 Gremlin. Only a 232 cu in engine, but I had to be careful when pulling out at a stop sign or I'd spin the wheels.

tmart

I agree, it looks like a Beetle.

andys120

Looks like a VW Beetle to me as well, by the early 60s when this was likely taken, these were getting pretty commonplace.

BTW, the Nugget Lodge is not in Vegas, the photo was taken in Sparks, Nevada, next to Reno. It's a little cooler up there. I'd guess there aren't more than a half dozen air-conditioned cars in that picture. The Caddies, and the T-Bird sure but probably only a couple of others.

Newest car- '62 T-Bird (unless the Corvair is a '63or '64). This is a reminder of how dominant GM was back then, selling around 50% of new cars (looks like 80% in that photo.)

andys120

NSH>

stever

andys120 said:

BTW, the Nugget Lodge is not in Vegas, the photo was taken in Sparks, Nevada, next to Reno.

Didn't recognize it. Guess John Ascuaga's family finally sold it off a couple of years ago.

Mr_Shiftright

I actually know what this is, but I'm not sayin'.

andys120 said:

NSH>

berri

Hey a 59 Chevy 4dr sedan and a 59 Olds 4 dr flat top. I must be living right today

Mr_Shiftright

two cars you don't often see anymore, at least not the 4 doors. It's sort of ironic, but the 4D sedans were often produced in far larger numbers than any other body style, and yet seem to have the lowest survival rate.

stever

andys120

Mr_Shiftright said:

I actually know what this is, but I'm not sayin'.

andys120 said:

NSH>

Might as well spill it Shifty, doesn't look like anyone knows it.

berri

So what's that., a Toyota Yaris with a Cadillac crest?

I like seeing 4 doors and wagons because they are actually the cars most of us grew up with. Not taking anything away from coupes or convertibles, but I like the variety. While the 59/60 GM flat tops may have been a little unique, I always felt their mid 50's 4 dr hardtops were quite nice looking. The late 50's were definitely out there a bit with most everyone's styling, but growing up in that era it all made sense at the time - it was all about new transistors, space satellites and jet aircraft. Even the airlines were beginning to replace their propliners with jets. Now 1960 always seemed like a bit of a strange transition year to the cleaner 60's styling. Many cars in 1960 to me appeared odd or incomplete in their styling. Take the 60 Ford which looked fine until you got to the rear. The lesser Fairlane models had this big, bulbous rear window and the half moon tail lights below some weirdly chopped fins. I believe some Chevy fans called them "stillborn". I never saw that the 60 Pontiac or Olds was an improvement over the 59's and the 60 Plymouth was strange with it's odd styling and toilet seat trunk lids (not sure how Plymouth took that wrong turn in 61 compared to it's competitors).

texases

Looks like a Prius with a Caddy crest. Wonder why...

stever

You guys are good. Went to the Saturday market downtown and found the Caddy logo on the curb.

Then went to Enterprise to pick up a rental and wound up with a 2014 Prius.

Mr_Shiftright

That is an Audi 100S Fastback coupe---never imported into the USA--circa early 1970s. Not a bad looking car.

andys120 said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

I actually know what this is, but I'm not sayin'.

andys120 said:

NSH>

Might as well spill it Shifty, doesn't look like anyone knows it.

andys120

Mr_Shiftright

Not what'd you think. I've never seen one of these in person. They are quite rare.

stickguy

first guess was some kind of O.S.C.A. coupe. But I doubt that is right.

Something about it (front fenders, wheels, tailpipes) make me think Porsche too, so if not that, an obscure VW K-G variant?

andys120

stickguy said:

first guess was some kind of O.S.C.A. coupe. But I doubt that is right.

Something about it (front fenders, wheels, tailpipes) make me think Porsche too, so if not that, an obscure VW K-G variant?

You are actually on the right track, it is VW-based but with a Porsche 356 1600cc drivetrain. Shifty is correct about it being extremely rare, only 150 were made.
I'll leave it up for a while to see if anyone gets it. Personally I'd never heard of it until a few days ago when I came across it on the web and I'm familiar with a lot of VW and Porsche variants.

andys120

OK, the red coupe with the obviously VW/Porsche wheels is a Belgian-made APAL ca. 1964. APAL (Application Polyester Armee d'Liege) put the sleek fiberglass atop a VW Beetle chassis to create a kind of Belgian Karmann-Ghia with a distinct resemblance to the Abarth-bodied Porsche 356B Carrera a small number including the pictured car received the 1600cc Porsche flat 4 and 4-speed transaxle.

Petrolicious has the details and more pix.

http://petrolicious.com/articles/the-market/the-apal-is-belgium-s-idea-of-the-ultimate-german-sports-car

magnette

What's this?

Mr_Shiftright

A rather innovative car actually.

magnette

Indeed it was...

texases

British?

stickguy

Looks like a DB3 with gull wing fenders tacked on

magnette

It is British, and it isn't a DB3 or indeed any other Aston Martin.

texases

Ah-ha - a late '50s Jensen 541r!

Mr_Shiftright

Indeed. 4-wheel disc brakes! Rack and pinion steering! Seat belts! Automatic transmission (some of them)! Not bad for 1960.

magnette

texases said:

Ah-ha - a late '50s Jensen 541r!

It is a Jensen 541 - this is the slightly later version -the 541S -which was 4inches wider than the 541R and had this modified grille.

The 541 was in limited production production from 1954, with the improved 541R from 1957 but this 541S was introduced in 1960 and made to early 1963 - although by then the CV8, with a Chrysler V8 engine was already available and outselling it.

The 541 was fitted with a 3993cc Austin engine, disc brakes from late 1956, and the body shell was fibreglass.

Mr_Shiftright

I think the 541 was a pioneer in fiberglass for a production car, along with Corvette, in 1953.

magnette

Yes, certainly innovative. This one is, I think, the first 541S - and you can always tell an old Jensen registered by the factory or at least locally to it by the code EA on the number plate - EA was West Bromwich, a suburb of Birmingham, which was where the works were situated.

(on this plate it was 925 AEA)

magnette

Not quite so glamorous....

andys120

It's a mid-50s Jensen (CV-8?).

bhill2

magnette said:

Not quite so glamorous....

I'll take a flyer and say a Peel 

magnette

Not a Peel.

andys120

Robin Reliant

andys120

The Reliant was made infamous by Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear, who noted that they weren't very stable in turns.

magnette

It's a Reliant, but not the Robin, which was a much later version (1970's).

This one is a Reliant Regal Mk VI introduced in 1960, but an evolution of the previous five versions from 1952. This one would be distinguished from the mk V by the shape of the rear wings, but you can't see the in this shot. (I have seen others of this very car - it was in the brochure I think).

The Regal was completely redesigned in 1962, to a more contemporary shape (the rear window was angled lie the Ford Anglia / Lincoln ) and that shape carried on to 1973 when replaced by the Robin.

They made over 4000 of these mk VI's in two years - it was always popular in Britain because it was cheap to run, and you could drive it on a motorbike licence - a lot of men had such licences because it was more common to be able to afford a bike than a car and the Driving Test was rudimentary for bikes - and it was also cheaper in terms of road tax.

747cc engine - derived from the one fitted before the war to the Austin Seven - and it produced 18bhp by the time this version came out..

grahampeters

magnette said:

Not quite so glamorous....

G'day

I had dreamed that these had disappeared from this universe, but in the 1990's they were still common. Reliant manufactured a succession of horribly unstable three wheeled cars in Britain, For some reason, associated with taxation and licensing rules, they were cheap to register and hence appealing to the less well-healed. At the time, I was driving a VW Golf GTi mk II and remember the terror of being overtaken by one down a hill between Brighton and London in about 1992. I backed off hard as I was convinced that I would watch the destruction of this fibreglass monstrosity at the next curve (it did lift an inside rear wheel at more than 70mph). It is hard to explain why they existed, except to cull the working classes.

The British comedy, "Only Fools and Horses" featured a van version called, I think, a Reliant Regal. I hope that none escaped Britain.

Cheers

Graham

magnette

Yeah - that was the Regal van - they also made an estate version of that later Regal.

They were notable if driven with any visor, but most owners were pensioners or other impecunious folk who just toddled around at low speed. There is a thriving microcar scene in UK and a Bond / Reliant club too.

I knew someone until recently who had one of the later Regals, but they got rid of it - to an enthusiast, when they had to give up driving ( old age).

Also, someone I worked with said their Mum & Dad went on holiday to France every year in a Robin without any problems for years.

magnette

You can guess the year on this one, but the car is probably a bit more obscure.....

andys120

It looks like a big fancy Morris Minor so I'm guessing it's an Austin, Morris or Woolseley. Let's guess it's a Morris Oxford.

magnette

No, it's not British.

slorenzen

Strong resemblance to a Volvo 122 series, but I don't recognize the grill.

magnette

It does look like a Volvo, but isn't.

andys120

Is it a Holden of some sort?

magnette

No - not Australian..

Try to work out what the body shell looks like - it was made by a different firm before this car took it over, in a different country.

andys120

Simca?

magnette

not Simca - in fact, not French

fintail

There's an American connection, I think. I cheated a little.

grahampeters

G'day

Definitely not Australian and I don't think it is European. Blocking the upper grille section, the bonnet and centre body look like early to mid 1950s USA but the Ponton mudguards look like they have European influence, maybe Peugeot. I'm guessing some bodyshell re-used in a foreign market, probably South American.

Cheers

Graham