Mystery car pix

Mr_Shiftright

Yes! It's a 1969 Adams Brothers Probe 16. Same guys who designed the Marcos. The cars sits only 34" high! It's mid-engine, powered by an 1800 Austin engine. The front wheels are 10", the rears 13".

Mr_Shiftright

This is a mild custom of a one-year-only Ford. Can you tell the year, the model name and which GM car it was built to compete with? Engine is from a T-Bird

stickguy

55, Nomad, no clue about the name.

Mr_Shiftright

You got Nomad right but not the year of the Ford.

stickguy

hey, cut me some slack. I wasn't even born when that was made!

tmart

It's a 56 Ford Parklane.

lostwrench1

It's the one year only 1956 Parklane Wagon.

Mr_Shiftright

stickguy said:

hey, cut me some slack. I wasn't even born when that was made!

stickguy said:

hey, cut me some slack. I wasn't even born when that was made!

Normally I'd accept that excuse but tmart and lostwrench made you look bad.

berri

I never really understood 2 dr station wagons since they take away a lot of the utility of the wagon. But I suppose back in those days door latch issues were still around, and since there generally weren't seat belts or other safety features, I guess that may be a point for them if you had kids.

I don't think GM sold a lot of those Nomad's, or Pontiac's equivalent Safari, because of price. But they were a neat looking vehicle for the times. I still like them today really. Now the Ford Parklane; I can understand why it was only a one year car - it was a gussied up Ranch Wagon and Ranch Wagons were considered a rather austere vehicle in their days. I believe the short lived Chevy Yeoman was a GM response to the Ford Ranch Wagon in 58, as well as an extension of the short lived stripper Chevy Delray. In 59 the extension of the Impala line seemed to kind of shift the Chevy line up making the Biscayne the base model. But since it had been around awhile they didn't go as extreme cheap as the Delray. I forget the Biscayne equivalent wagon back then, maybe the Brookwood?

Mr_Shiftright

There were 22,375 Nomads built 1955-57. (number varies depending on source, but "around 20,000"), There were about 9,000 Safaris made 1955-57, although the name lived on as trim levels for other wagons. So 2 Chevy Nomads for each Pontiac Safari, give or take.

Not exactly "rare" but the Safari is "rare-ish" to be sure.

andys120

lostwrench1

A cheap Chevy.
The 1955 Utility Sedan. (150)
Sold new with no back seat and rear windows which could not be lowered.
$1593.

kyfdx

Calling @magnette

stickguy

Is that what an MG Magnette looks like?

kyfdx

stickguy said:

Is that what an MG Magnette looks like?

Yes.. 1958 model. My friend, who is an MG guy, bought that in 1996 to restore it.. just finished it.

He also has a '62 MGA, which he has owned for 45 years. He has completely restored that one, twice.
He and his wife have driven the MGA to Key West and back, three and a half times.

andys120

I saw one today! They're very rare, it was like seeing a Moon Rover LEM>

stickguy

1970ish Rover of some sort?

fintail

Rover 3500. A handful were sold in NA around 1970.

Mr_Shiftright

I believe that was the model that Grace Kelly was killed in.

Mr_Shiftright

kyfdx said:

stickguy said:

Is that what an MG Magnette looks like?

Yes.. 1958 model. My friend, who is an MG guy, bought that in 1996 to restore it.. just finished it.

He also has a '62 MGA, which he has owned for 45 years. He has completely restored that one, twice.
He and his wife have driven the MGA to Key West and back, three and a half times.

That would be a Magnette ZB then, if it was 1958. Don't think they came with wire wheels, and IMO they don't look right on the car. The stock wheels are very nice.

kyfdx

Mr_Shiftright said:

kyfdx said:

stickguy said:

Is that what an MG Magnette looks like?

Yes.. 1958 model. My friend, who is an MG guy, bought that in 1996 to restore it.. just finished it.

He also has a '62 MGA, which he has owned for 45 years. He has completely restored that one, twice.
He and his wife have driven the MGA to Key West and back, three and a half times.

That would be a Magnette ZB then, if it was 1958. Don't think they came with wire wheels, and IMO they don't look right on the car. The stock wheels are very nice.

He got a deal on the wire wheels, and couldn't pass them up. The originals weren't in good shape. He isn't a big wire wheel fan, he has originals on his MGA. It appears you don't like wire wheels on any car.

It also has an early MGB 1800 engine installed, with some modifications. He says the original put out 47 HP, and he thinks he might be pushing 100 HP, though that seems awfully optimistic. Maybe 75-80..

Mr_Shiftright

I like wire wheels on British sports cars (no chrome, please) and on certain prewar cars with large wheels and elegant lines.

The 1.8 MGB engine was a good idea. That's a rugged unit. You can get up to 130HP out of an MGB but you're really asking for trouble.

kyfdx

Mr_Shiftright said:

I like wire wheels on British sports cars (no chrome, please) and on certain prewar cars with large wheels and elegant lines.

The 1.8 MGB engine was a good idea. That's a rugged unit. You can get up to 130HP out of an MGB but you're really asking for trouble.

He says it's bored .30 over. I haven't driven it yet, though. He just brought it by the house, yesterday.

andys120

fintail said:

Rover 3500. A handful were sold in NA around 1970.

It's an earlier version of the car that became the Rover 3500, a mid-60s Rover 2000TC which as the name implies was powered by a 2 liter DOHC four. If things had been a little different the little Rover P6 might have been one of the premiere sports sedans of it's era but it wasn't nearly as well made as the BMW 2002.

In the late 60s Rover stepped up their game by putting the aluminum Buick V8 under the hood of the Rover P6 to create the Rover 3500. A later version used a completely different body the SD1 but neither was very successful in American or overseas markets.

The P6 2000TC did sell well for a few years in the mid-60s but poor build quality insured very few survived the 60s and I think the one I saw today might be the first I've seen in several decades. Curiously it was in very good condition, not perfect but as good as it would have been in 1965 or '66.

andys120

Brochure art>

texases

1956-ish Lancia Appia C10 panel van?

andys120

texases said:

1956-ish Lancia Appia C10 panel van?

Yes! It turns out that Lancia once made all sorts of trucks and buses.

texases

You'd pretty much be guaranteed to be in a class of one at any car show...

andys120

stickguy

63 bonneville?

uplanderguy

'62 Grand Prix, first of the line.

andys120

stickguy said:

63 bonneville?

Nope, wrong year, wrong model.

stickguy

I got Pontiac right at least.

andys120

uplanderguy said:

'62 Grand Prix, first of the line.

Yup!

lostwrench1

It must be living in cold weather territory with its having a plug in coolant heater.
And my annual question,
anyone going to the NY Auto Show next week?

kyfdx

I knew it was a '62, because my mother had a '62 Star Chief. First car I can remember in our family.

andys120

lostwrench1

I'll grab the 1951 Plymouth.

fintail

I like how 2 Beetles (one an oval, older even then) and a Corvair congregate around each other, must be some cool air in that spot.

I'll pick off the Karmann-Ghia in a background row.

kyfdx

What year is that Pontiac, next to the Falcon?

berri

I think that Pontiac is a 62

andys120

berri said:

I think that Pontiac is a 62

Yup, those are definitely '62 Tailights. That chrome band sez it's a Grand Prix.

andys120

How odd that no one has mentioned the brace of Shelby AC Cobras sitting in the foreground. They appear to be brand new, well-optioned 289CID models ca. 1963-4. The small air vents in the fenders did not appear on the original 260 CID Cobras (1962-3). The vent wings attached to the windshield, sun visors, whitewalls and chromed wires were all optional extras as are the bars protecting the grille.

The small white roadster w the curveless windshield is a "Spridget" (Austin-Healey Sprite MK.III or MG Midget MK. II). The Mid-1960s were the high water marks of sports car sales but even then it would have been unusual to see four of Shelby's Snakes at once

Mr_Shiftright

They made just under 600 of the 289 version. Not sure why 4 are parked together but you're looking at $4 million dollars worth of cars.

andys120

I'm not sure why the four are parked together but since they look brand new and ready for sale or delivery, I'm guessing they're on the edge of a dealership that's adjacent to a large parking lot. The caption sez it was taken at 901 No. Sepulveda Blvd. in El Segundo CA.
Perhaps someone familiar with SoCal can remember a Ford dealership in that location. Shelbys were generally sold thru regular Ford dealers that catered to performance-minded customers.

I've seen small-blocks go for 2 or 3 million at auction in recent years. A few years ago I was getting onto I-93 in NH when what appeared to be a competition model went flashing by. MY first thought was that it must be a replica but I took after it to have a better look and it had everything a Comp 289 should have, all the fender extenders, rollover bars and air intakes were there. Some nut job was driving this million dollar car on a cool autumn day with justa ski parka and wool hat. There was no windshield or side windows, just a small motorcycle style screen.

It's a sight I won't forget very quickly.

andys120

Am I the only one who can't get image urls to load? Techies please fix!

Mr_Shiftright

Yes, it's just you

What are you trying to do? Send me a PM and I'll try to help you.

Mr_Shiftright

NOT a Ford Thunderbird

tmart

That's really cute!

Mr_Shiftright

Getting them to pose was quite difficult