Mystery car pix

andys120

Thanks Shifty. Since most VW motors of the 50s were 1200cc (36/40hp), the Denzel 1300 version must've been bored or stroked as well as tuned.

Mr_Shiftright

I'm sure they did something like that. Denzel built a number of cars with custom motors.

andys120

Sure, i've read that most Denzels ended up on racetracks

andys120

tmart

I'll take the 60 Tbird. I think the Ford is a 61, but could be wrong.

texases

That Rambler is around a 1960, my grandma had one. First car I sat in with power windows and reclining seats.

andys120

tmart said:

I'll take the 60 Tbird. I think the Ford is a 61, but could be wrong.

Yeah, I think the Ford is a '61, '62s aren't that different.

andys120

texases said:

That Rambler is around a 1960, my grandma had one. First car I sat it with power windows and reclining seats.

Aah, the infamous reclining seats of of AMC cars! Those caused a lot of unintended pregnancies back in the day.

magnette

Re the Denzel I have actually seen one or two of these - I know there was one at Essen a few years back and I think I saw one at the Brussels auto museum, or possibly one somewhere else about twenty years ago.

I think they won a few rallies too in the mid fifties.

magnette

Flashy, but missing the front hubcap ....

bhill2

andys120 said:

That Rambler is around a 1960, my grandma had one. First car I sat it with power windows and reclining seats.

Aah, the infamous reclining seats of of AMC cars! Those caused a lot of unintended pregnancies back in the day.

Yeah, my folks had a '64 with those. I couldn't get it into a drive-in theater if I had a date. What griped me was that a school mate had no such problem with his bathtub Nash; a pull on the seat back on that one and it turned into a double bed. And he was a horn dog. 

berri

I believe there is a 61 Buick and a 61 Pontiac. Boy, that used car lot with all the lightbulbs strung out takes you back in time

fintail

Just-postwar Alfa with that kind of modern styling, I will guess a 6C 2500 or similarly large engine variant.

magnette said:

Flashy, but missing the front hubcap ....

magnette

Yes Fin it's a 6C 2500 - coachwork by Farina, and this one is apparently 1949 although they probably made a few a year for the period 1946- 52 or so.

andys120

stickguy

Lancia scorpion. Late 70s.

andys120

stickguy said:

Lancia scorpion. Late 70s.

Right, sold outside the US as the Lancia Beta Montecarlo.

Mr_Shiftright

Mid engine car I think--the Montecarlo I mean.

andys120

Mr_Shiftright said:

Mid engine car I think--the Montecarlo I mean.

Yup the Montecarlo/Scorpion used a midship/transverse mounted twin-cam four, the same motor as used in the
Fiat 124 Sports.

Mr_Shiftright

I don't think I've ever seen one. Lots of regular Betas in junkyards. I never liked seeing the once-glorious Lancia name on a car like the Beta.

andys120

This car has been lowered from stock ride height>

magnette

59 Buick Electra ? I used to have a model of one - it was small like a Matchbox toy, but made by a firm called Husky who were owned by Corgi toys and sold, i think, through Woolworths.

berri

I was always surprised how over the top in design the usually conservative Buick went on this one.

andys120

It's a 1959 Buick all right but a leSabre, not an Electra. By 1959 "over-the-top" was practically mandatory with massive tail fins, bat wings, canted headlights,strange shapes and wild color schemes all over the place. There was one notable exception. In 1959 if you wanted conservative you went here>

tmart

Ford Custom 300

fintail

I'm pretty sure that's Mr. Wilson's car.

berri

Oh, the rear end on those 59 Ford's were a little funky But then Chevy had the cantilever or at least rather horizontal fins with cat's-eye lens and many Plymouths had the optional toilet bowl impression on their trunk lid!

I kind of liked the somewhat out there 59 Mercury though.

andys120

Oddly the '59 Merc was a lot more "out there" than the Fords but the real craziness was at the top of FoMoCo's lineup>

tmart

To me, this doesn't look too crazy, but rather very attractive.

andys120

You aren't the only one who liked that look.

berri

Yeah, those 59 Lincoln's were huge land barges. Very different looking. The late 50's was probably Ford's only "bold" design era until maybe the Mercury Sable.

texases

Those old Lincolns' headlights remind me of this vintage Beetle commercial:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4OjDkzpJUA

Mr_Shiftright

I cal lit (lovingly) the Birthday Cake School of Automotive Design.

magnette

andys120 said:

You aren't the only one who liked that look.



Ahh yes - I think this would be a ZIL 114 but the designations were a bit random...

andys120

magnette said:

andys120 said:

You aren't the only one who liked that look.



Ahh yes - I think this would be a ZIL 114 but the designations were a bit random...

Yup, ca. mid 70s I think.

andys120

Mr_Shiftright said:

I cal lit (lovingly) the Birthday Cake School of Automotive Design.

Four headlights were a significant advance in automotive lighting but it was 5-6 years before designers figured out what to do with them.







Eventually they got it right>

fintail

Interesting spotlights on that 60 Edsel. I always thought those big ZILs looked like Chryslers, and they have a MB style interior.

berri

What is that Imperial, a 63?

I remember that in the 60's and early 70's that light yellow on the Continental and light blue were rather popular colors on big GM cars in the south. I always kind of liked those shades.

andys120

That's a 1962 Imperial, by no means the worst example of Chrysler design's inability to adapt to four headlights

berri

That 62 Dodge is a different sort of duck, and the 2 door side profile didn't help. They were supposed to be larger sized, but on an erroneous intel they heard either Chevy or Ford was downsizing, so they ordered Exner to put a knife to the original design. But I'm not sure it would have helped that front end. I believe they quickly put a Dodge front clip on the Chrysler Newport that year and called it a Custom 880 to help dig Dodge out. From what I saw of the original 62 Dodge, DeSoto and Plymouth clay prototypes, they were supposed to kind of have that (still controversial) 63/64 Chrysler greenhouse. As for the 62 Chrysler, it was de-glittered from the 61, but I think it still had that neat backlit art deco dash dome. Interesting times, particularly in an era when GM and Ford had gone rather conservative in most designs.

magnette

Real Estate




It is amazing how much better visibility we had in cars back then...

stickguy

until about 2000. I had a 2001 Acura TL with great visibility, and a nice low trunk level. A current comparable car, you can't see anything out the back.

stickguy

Is that some sort of Renault?

bhill2

I have stared at this for a couple of minutes, and the only guess that I can come up with is an estate version of what was (at least in the US) a Rover 2000.

stever

I always thought that my sister's '05 Forester was pretty good too.

fintail

Close to a Rover 2000 I guess, I think that wagon is a Triumph 2000.

magnette

Indeed it is fin - this is the early version of the Triumph 2000 estate. The saloon was introduced in late 1963 and this version came in late 1965. A good car - quite a few of our police forces used Triumphs - especially the estate - for motorway patrols.

andys120

berri

Maybe a 63 Ford Fairlane

fintail

I think it's 1964 with that scoop style trim on the side.