Mystery car pix

andys120

fintail said:

Maserati 3500GT, not worth a whole lot for a long time, now probably worth a bazillion or so, because over-monied speculators.

andys120 said:

The 3500GT has long been a favorite of mine. That one is a late production 1964 3500GTI. The "I" is for inezione reflecting the switch from Weber carbs to fuel injection. Bodywork on all 3500GT coupes was by Touring/Superleggera.

andys120

Brochure art>

bhill2

Ford Cortina. I'll say mid-'60s.

slorenzen

Give me a Cortina GT with the Lotus engine...

andys120

You guys are in the right ballpark, it's a 1964-66 Ford Cortina GT, a mid-range model between the base Cortina and the twin-cam Lotus-Ford. IIRC those sported a stripe along the upper side.

Mr_Shiftright

The Lotus Cortina Mk I (62-66) will bring double the money of the MkII. "67 on up).

grahampeters

G'day

Mum had one of these early Cortinas for some years in the early 70's. Acquired second hand then passed on to my sister. It seemed to have a never ending list of troubles, including rusted welsh plugs which cost a lot to fix, a mysterious reluctance to start (fortunately we lived on top of a very long hill so roll starting was feasible, although we had to park around the corner to get maximum run up) and several other dramas. One of those cars we were all pleased to see the back end of.

Mind you, my sister replaced it with a Datsun 120Y so I am not sure that was a great move.

Cheers

Graham

texases

For those wondering what a Welsh/Welch plug is:

"The Welch plug, (misnomer: Welsh plug), is a thin, domed disc, of a metallic alloy, which is pressed, convex side out, into a casting hole and against an internal shoulder. Alternatively a non-ferrous metal such as brass offers improved corrosion prevention. When struck with a hammer, the dome collapses slightly, expanding it laterally to seal the hole. Other core plugs have a dish design, so that when pressed into the casting hole the tapered sides form the seal.

According to Nevin Hubbard of the M.D. Hubbard Spring Company, the Welch plug was originally designed in the 1900s by the Welch brothers at the Welch Motor Car Company of Pontiac, Michigan. Hubbard claims that "at that time core holes in the engine blocks were fitted with pipe plugs. During one of these run-ins a pipe plug backed out. In order to get back on the road one of the brothers drove a quarter or half dollar into the hole. From this they developed the Welch plug, some with the help of my great grandfather Martin Hubbard. They then patented the plug and the M.D. Hubbard Spring Company become the sole manufacturer of the Welch plug for the life of the patent.""

Mr_Shiftright

Often mislabeled a "freeze plug", which it is not, and no, it does not pop out and save your block from freezing.

These plugs allow the casting sand to be flushed from the new block (the sand is solid during casting but then returns to sand afterwards).

andys120

Mr_Shiftright

Let's see here...is that a Simca Aronde front and center? Then the white wagon I'll leave for someone else, an dark blue Citroen DS but can't tell which type, then a Frenchman in a red shirt, no doubt calling for help.

In the second (far) lane I'll take the little white wagon, which I think is a Renault R4.

fintail

The larger white wagon is a Peugeot 403.

magnette

The grey car behind the 2CV and above the 403 Estate is a Renault 10

Mr_Shiftright

Hey good eye---but yeah, the trunk lid does resemble the 10.

andys120

Yousea re doing good but no one has mentioned the Citroen 2CV ahead of the Renault 10 or the rd car that is definitely not French

stickguy

that red car on the left ahead of the Citroen an Austin marina?

fintail

BMC 1100/1300 of some kind.

andys120

fintail said:

BMC 1100/1300 of some kind.

Could be an Austin Marina, an MG1100 or any one of a number of badge engineered variants of the BMC ADO16, a car as badly constructed as it was brilliant in design.

fintail

I think the "Marina" nameplate didn't exist until into the 70s - the Austin ones were simply 1100/1300. I had a then-20 year old Matchbox MG version as a kid, the design sticks with me.

I like the ADO17 "landcrab", myself.

andys120 said:

Could be an Austin Marina, an MG1100 or any one of a number of badge engineered variants of the BMC ADO16, a car as badly constructed as it was brilliant in design.

alsowik

Please help me identify the car in this picture. Thanks!

bhill2

Strikes me as a pre-WW II Olds, but that's not really my era of interest. 

fintail

I think that's a 41 Pontiac (had to double check it).

alsowik

Thanks Guys!

Mr_Shiftright

Yep, '41 Pontiac looks right to me, too.

andys120

stever

Help in Identifying Two Classic Cars

andys120

No takers for my little red coupe? Hint: The asymmetric hood bump was employed by a later roadster made by the same maker.

andys120 said:

magnette

This is the Triumph Italia - a TR3 with Vignale coachwork styled I believe by Michelotti.

We didn't get this model in the UK and I have only seen one in Germany (Essen car show a few years ago).

magnette

fintail said:

I think the "Marina" nameplate didn't exist until into the 70s - the Austin ones were simply 1100/1300. I had a then-20 year old Matchbox MG version as a kid, the design sticks with me.

I like the ADO17 "landcrab", myself.

andys120 said:

Could be an Austin Marina, an MG1100 or any one of a number of badge engineered variants of the BMC ADO16, a car as badly constructed as it was brilliant in design.

The Red BMC is an 1100because it is quite an early one judging by the trim, and it looks fairly basic so I would say most likely a Morris 1100 or possibly the Austin. The Morris version came along in 1963 and was not joined by the Austin until a year later (although the MG version was out by then) so most 1100's at the time this picture was taken judging by the age of the other cars would have been Morris..

andys120

magnette said:

This is the Triumph Italia - a TR3 with Vignale coachwork styled I believe by Michelotti.

We didn't get this model in the UK and I have only seen one in Germany (Essen car show a few years ago).

That's correct. it is indeed a 1962 Triumph Italia 2000 , one of around 300 built by Vignale between 1959-62. It was as you say a TR-3A with Italian coupe bodywork styled by Giovanni Michelotti who reprised much of the styling for the TR-4/4A (1962-67). While the front is much different (except for the hood bump to clear the twin sidedraft carbs) it is the rear that strongly resembles the later TR-4.>



AFAIK the Italia was never imported to the USA (I've never seen one) so one wonders where they went...Italy perhaps?

As a former '66 TR-4A owner, I count myself among the fans of Michelotti's styling efforts. If they Italia had been exported to the North America I think it might have been very popular.

stever

Another ID request:

Help identify classic car please...

lostwrench1

Ford. 1946 to April 1947.

stickguy

how can you be so specific? Some of the knowledge ingrained in the brains around her is amazing.

lostwrench1

After April 1947 the Ford parking lights were moved to below the headlamps. I'm a .5er so I call those post April '47 Fords 1947.5 Fords.

iluvmysephia1

Hey, andys120 - how reliable was your 1966 Triumph TR-4A? Nice car! I'll bet you loved it.

andys120

iluvmysephia1 said:

Hey, andys120 - how reliable was your 1966 Triumph TR-4A? Nice car! I'll bet you loved it.

It's the least reliable car I've ever owned; almost anything that could go wrong, did. Everything electrical failed at one time or another, the rear fenders rusted out, leather cracked and split, red paint had to be compounded every six months, it burned a quart of oil every 500 miles, twin carbs had to be synced monthly. Brake line broke on a bridge off-ramp while heading for a steel wall @ 40mph.

Sure it was a blast to drive and looked good before the rust got bad and it was a good crash course in auto mechanics but I never trusted it after the bridge incident, so I sold it for $500 and got a new Fiat 124 Spider, a much better car in almost every way.

texases

Wow, that puts some reality to the Brit car reputation. To say that a Fiat was much better..just...wow...

Mr_Shiftright

However, British cars were easier to repair, being mostly 1930s technology throughout. There are tens of thousands of British cars still on the roads in the USA, but you don't see all that many old Fiats.

But it's true that the Fiats were technically years ahead of British iron, with dohc engines, 5 speed transmissions, comfortable ride, good weather protection, and tolerable noise levels.

As for reliability, if you really kept after them, the Fiats ran pretty well (they liked to rust and to overheat).

andys120

Mr_Shiftright said:

However, British cars were easier to repair, being mostly 1930s technology throughout. There are tens of thousands of British cars still on the roads in the USA, but you don't see all that many old Fiats.

But it's true that the Fiats were technically years ahead of British iron, with dohc engines, 5 speed transmissions, comfortable ride, good weather protection, and tolerable noise levels.

As for reliability, if you really kept after them, the Fiats ran pretty well (they liked to rust and to overheat).

That's about the size of it. I'd say that from my experience while Fiats were rust-prone, mine was actually less so than my TR. I sometimes think that had I been able to afford garaging it during the years I first owned it, I might still have it.

I have heard that Fiat used cheap Russian steel because they got it in exchange for Fiat's technical help in setting up the Togliatti factory, once one of the worlds largest, to build copies of the Fiat 124 Sedan (sold as the VAZ in the USSR, as the Lada in Western Europe). I can't even imagine trying to keep a Fiat from rusting after a few Russian winters (not to mention the manual chokes would stick open in cold weather).

magnette

All manual chokes used to stick open in reply cold weather - but greasing the various points on the carb linkages seems to avoid the problem in our more temperate regions.

Most of my cars - all the really poor old bangers - were British and basically our garages could cope with them and all the bits were easily available.

I never know why Lucas electrics were so bad abroad either - we had them on everything BMC and they were no worse than the Ford or Rootes/Chrysler electric _ better than the latter I think.

However what killed our cars was the reliability of Japanese imports - Fiat and Renault would rust or fail like the Brits but Honda / Datsun / Toyota et al would just chug on. Early Japanese cars did rust though...

andys120

Early Japanese cars did rust though.

Truth be told nearly every car made during the 60s and 70s rusted badly in a few years unless driven sparingly and garaged. The big exceptions would be Benzes, Volvos, full-sized Yank tanks and Porsches built after '75 (when they went to galvanized steel IIRC).

andys120

stever

Bad link for me but here's a screen grab:

stickguy

can just see the LR fender of a batmobile chevy, a few cars ahead of the VW bug.

Is the Ford convert a 1964 galaxie?

texases

I think that car ahead of the '57 Chevy isn't a '59 Chevy, it's a 1960 Ford. A 'one-year wonder', styled nothing like a '59 or a '61.

andys120

texases said:

I think that car ahead of the '57 Chevy isn't a '59 Chevy, it's a 1960 Ford. A 'one-year wonder', styled nothing like a '59 or a '61.

I agree, the Chevy had a different shape tailight and different shaped wings>



I think the '60 Ford's styling must have been a direct reaction to the outre design of the '59 Chevy. The heads of Ford styling must have realized there wasn't much future after 1960 in the winged look. Fins and wings became passe almost as quickly as they'd become trendy.


Is the Ford convert a 1964 galaxie?

Sure is..and a mighty spiffy one in that black over red scheme. You can see the cream-colored fender of another '64 Ford parked to the right of it.

stickguy

now that you mention it, I can see the distinctive Ford 1/2 round taillight on the fin car.

Is that a 1964 Malibu (tan) on the left under the coke sign?

bhill2

stickguy said:

now that you mention it, I can see the distinctive Ford 1/2 round taillight on the fin car.

Is that a 1964 Malibu (tan) on the left under the coke sign?

That looks about right to me, as does the Olds in front of it. The Pontiac in front of that looks like a '63 GP to me. This brings up the question "are there any cars later that the '64 Fords?" I can't see any.

andys120

Nope, this photo must have been taken in '64. The Falcon wagon on the right is the second gen design that (IIRC) was intro'ed in '64. I thought the GP might be a '64 but it's probably a '63.

The photo was taken in Ithaca NY, the home of Cornell University and Ithaca College. For an Eastern college town in 1964 the scarcity of imports is odd. I went to college at that time about 60 miles to the west and they had Alfas, MGs, K-Gs, Renaults and a few oddballs running around like a Lancia Appia, a DKW and a clapped-out 356A Speedster. Downtown Ithaca NY with no MG-As, TR-3s or Healeys in 1964-- very odd.

Surprised there are no motorcycles around either. Eurobikes were big on my campus at Alfred U. They had Triumphs, BSAs, Moto-Guzzis and Benellis over my way.

stickguy

Little foreign cars with stick shifts probably didn't have enough torque to get started at the top of Buffalo street if they got stopped there.

My son went to Cornell. Need to send him the picture.