Mystery car pix

Mr_Shiftright

I have a friend who owns a V8 Porsche 914. Its name is "Howard" and it is beyond scary to drive.

andys120

That's a '73? With those bumpers? I figured it was at least a '74.


Not only is that What they tell me but here's another '73 w the same bumpers>

slorenzen

andys120 said:

That's a '73? With those bumpers? I figured it was at least a '74.


Not only is that What they tell me but here's another '73 w the same bumpers>

I'm told the '73 2.0 is the "sweet spot" for these cars. All of 95 horsepower!

I had a '75 for a while(2.0).

with me sitting in the driver's seat, and a half tank of gas, it weighed 2100 lbs.

I was around 210 at the time(I don't wanna talk about it)...

Fun car. Not fast, but once you got it spooled up, it was a hoot.

slorenzen

slorenzen said:

andys120 said:

That's a '73? With those bumpers? I figured it was at least a '74.


Not only is that What they tell me but here's another '73 w the same bumpers>

I'm told the '73 2.0 is the "sweet spot" for these cars. All of 95 horsepower!

I had a '75 for a while(2.0).

with me sitting in the driver's seat, and a half tank of gas, it weighed 2100 lbs.

I was around 210 at the time(I don't wanna talk about it)...

Fun car. Not fast, but once you got it spooled up, it was a hoot.

Here's mine:

texases

kyfdx said:

I am surprised that only one 1965 model car is in that picture, since it was after Arch completion in fall 1965.

How do you know it's completed? (The full structure is up, but still..)

The 'topping out' ceremony was in Oct '65, so the pic looks like the arch was complete. A looooonnnnggg history to the building of the arch, starting in 1933, design in '47. 

andys120

Michaell

andys120 said:

The new Alpine.

252HP and something like 2400 pounds.

andys120

Yep, that's the new Alpine A110.

andys120

Mr_Shiftright

That looks like an Alvis TE21. Almost but not quite attractive IMO.

andys120

You're close, it's a 1961 Alvis TD21 bodied by Park Ward. Looks like a Park Ward Bentley or a little like an Arnolt-MG

Mr_Shiftright

Ah, well, need to brush up with my Alvis ID flash cards!

Mr_Shiftright

WARNING: Do not show this photograph to small children, as it might scare them:



I actually drove one of these.

berri

Front end jack-o-lantern

fintail

I see a Triumph Herald lurking under there. Plate is from 1965.

Mr_Shiftright

Yes, it does have Heraldic underpinnings, so you know it runs as bad as it looks

andys120

The archaic body-on-frame design of Triumph Heralds/Vitesses and TR-3/4s made putting different bodywork on a simple matter. Most notable were the Italia and the Dove.

Triumph GTR-4 by Dove>


Triumph Italia by Vignale(Michelotti)>


Since most of 'em were actually good-looking I wonder how many of those ugly things you're showing sold.

Mr_Shiftright

4,389 of them! Way more than a Ferrari GTO. Unfortunately only worth about 1/10,000 th as much.

It's called a Bond Equipe GT with fiberglass body and 1,296cc of raging fury under the hood.

I drove one of these perhaps 100 miles in one sitting. It did feel rather home-made, but actually I've driven worse.

andys120

Mr_Shiftright said:

I drove one of these perhaps 100 miles in one sitting. It did feel rather home-made, but actually I've driven worse.

Triumphs tended to feel home-made direct from the factory.

andys120

Michaell

andys120 said:

Gen II CR-X Si

andys120

Boy, that didn't last long! Yup, that's a 1988 Honda Civic CRX Si.

Mr_Shiftright

andys120 said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

I drove one of these perhaps 100 miles in one sitting. It did feel rather home-made, but actually I've driven worse.

Triumphs tended to feel home-made direct from the factory.

You got that right. The TR4 is perhaps the epitome of that old "crate" feeling. Body flex is frightening.

tjc78

andys120 said:

Boy, that didn't last long! Yup, that's a 1988 Honda Civic CRX Si.

They probably go for what I would call "stupid money "

Mr_Shiftright

It's only stupid money if you're the last one to buy it at a too high price. The automobile equivalent of musical chairs.

andys120

Brochure art>

stickguy

71 vega GT. I always liked the, style and interior wise. Especially the Kammback.

This one looks like a hatchback.

andys120

stickguy said:

71 vega GT. I always liked the, style and interior wise. Especially the Kammback.

This one looks like a hatchback.

Keerect, say what you will about the Vega's abysmal build quality but they were very good-looking cars.

Mr_Shiftright

Not sure that any American manufacturer was making a truly decent 4 cylinder motor at that time. The V-6s of the day were somewhat industrial and the V8s would have been a tight fit in there--as well as defeating the purpose of the car, which was price point and MPG.

fintail

You could get a 4 cyl Nova then. Weird.

Mr_Shiftright

True but this was supposed to be an "all-new" car....an "import-fighter" I think was the promo, along with 25 mpg and "little on the outside, big on the inside". The Nova engine was an old, old design--a smaller version of the Chevy 230 - 6. It was used a lot in postal trucks.

stickguy

The old iron duke I think. Later appeared in the Mona.

Mr_Shiftright

I think the Iron Duke came later, in the late 70s.

fintail

I still can't imagine how a Nova would even move with that engine. Diesel fintail, we have a friend for you.

stickguy

True shifty. The old one was similar oar but not same design. Probably a stove bolt with 2 pots lopped off!

Mr_Shiftright

Once you punch out an inline 4 cylinder past 2.5L, it gets tricky to stabilize it. There are very few 3.0L inline 4s in the world.

kyfdx

Mr_Shiftright said:

Once you punch out an inline 4 cylinder past 2.5L, it gets tricky to stabilize it. There are very few 3.0L inline 4s in the world.

Porsche 968

Mr_Shiftright

Yes, and it took Mitsubishi to calm down that engine with balance shafts.

texases

Any others? I can't think of any.

Mr_Shiftright

Not inlines, I can't. I think Tatra had a big 3.0L but that was an opposed 4 cyl. Maybe that Pontiac Tempest engine--that was a real bone shaker.

berri

I believe a 4 cyl was standard on the original Chevy II

stickguy

It was. I thought I saw a reference to it as a "Chevelle" engine, but that can't be right (I hope!). Maybe a typo, or I misread and it said Chevy II

bhill2

berri said:

I believe a 4 cyl was standard on the original Chevy II

And ironically, it was 2.5L.

Mr_Shiftright

Right, that was the chopped off Chevy 230 engine. CID was 153.

texases

Wasn't the "Iron Duke" 1/2 of a Pontiac V8?

Mr_Shiftright

No, it was a rework of the old 153 from the Chevy II--but being used in transverse applications, it had an entirely new crossflow head and of course, other modifications as well. So it's got Chevy genes, not Pontiac genes.

uplanderguy

Chevrolet used to advertise that the Nova was the only car that came with "a standard four, six, or V8", but that was rather a crock as Chevrolet had three different base prices. Top of Chevy window stickers would always say "Nova 6 Coupe", "Nova 8 Coupe", etc., with varying base prices. The advertising made it sound like a 4, 6, or 8 were the same price, LOL.

My Dad was a thrifty Chevy buyer, but I can remember him looking at a new '70 Nova, light green, and when he saw it was a four, even he walked away.

texases

You're right, what little I can find says in addition to the cross flow head, the Chevy engine was modified to have different bore/stroke:
"In 1977 Pontiac started building their own "version" of the four cyl. engine. They obviously "based" their original design on the Chevrolet 153 but with a different bore and stroke (and with rods and pistons like those found in the 301 Pontiac V8). As I recall they, for only the first 2 1/2 years (1977 through mid year 1979 in the Monza and Astra), stayed with the Chevrolet bellhousing bolt pattern, two piece rear main seal crankshaft and the non crossflow head design as the 153 and 181."

uplanderguy

Actually, Vega was touted as having better detail finish than other cars, as its plant was the most automated in the world at the time (supposedly). Its problems were beyond fit-and-finish.

My grandparents bought the very first Vega our hometown dealer got in. Dark green sedan (later called 'notchback'), one-barrel engine; AM radio and white-stripe tires the only options. It was so early it had rubber surrounding the quarter window. Not long after introduction, they came with painted metal around the sedan quarter windows.

Seven years and 3,108 miles later (that number is correct), my uncle bought it. He said he had to change the fuel filter twice to get it the 50 miles to his home, LOL.

As a 12-year old, I remember looking at their Vega when it first came in. On introduction day, it and a lime green hatchback with automatic were in the showroom.

andys120