Mystery car pix

tmart

Must be Euro, since no required side markers are shown.

Michaell

Local paper did a photo collage of hailstorms - anyone care to guess the year of this one, based on the cars in the picture?

stickguy

looks like a 77 Celica toward us. Right behind a first generation Prelude.

the key might be the little black hatchback on the right, 2 back from the Ranchero.

explorerx4

The is a Chevy Citation on the right, so 82 or 83?

stickguy

definitely a Citation. They came out in 1980, so that is the earliest it could be.

berri

I liked those Celica's even though I really didn't fit well in them. The Citation, despite all the negative press, really wasn't that bad of a rental car back then stacked up against its competitors.

andys120

fintail said:

E34 M5, 1993 ish I will guess.</blockquote

Nailed it exactly! I figured someone would think it was an E39 (they're very similar). The E39 was an improvement in almost every way but E34s were damn good cars.

Michaell

stickguy said:

looks like a 77 Celica toward us. Right behind a first generation Prelude.

the key might be the little black hatchback on the right, 2 back from the Ranchero.

Looking at it closely, I think that "little black hatchback" may actually be an Audi 4000.

And, the picture is from 1984, so pretty close.

Anything else that can be identified?

explorerx4

Lots of Ford pickup trucks!
I'm also thinking Mercury Marquis in the lower right and El Camino behind the pickup with the white roof.
Xwesx's Econoline van to the right of that same pickup truck.
I got mixed up Cavalier came out in 82 or so.

fintail

Some fun stuff there kind of hard to see. I think in front of the Prelude is an older Toyota, maybe early 70s Corolla. In front of that looks like a Buick from the same point in time. 3 cars ahead of that looks like a big Dukes of Hazzard style Charger, with maybe a vinyl top. And a few cars ahead of that, a then-current style El Camino.

On the other side there's definitely that Audi 4000, in front of that perhaps a Granada or Monarch coupe. At the top in front of the old Econoline looks like an early 70s Camaro.

Michaell

Awful lot of RWD for Denver!

andys120

tmart

57 AC Bristol. Still looking good after all these years!

Mr_Shiftright

Somebody should have put a V8 in that thing.

Michaell

Mr_Shiftright said:

Somebody should have put a V8 in that thing.

Oh, wait ....

andys120

tmart said:

57 AC Bristol. Still looking good after all these years!

Yup, how could you tell that it was a '57? Versions of the AC-Ace were made from 1953-63 and though they used different motors they looked alike.

tmart

andys120 said:

tmart said:

57 AC Bristol. Still looking good after all these years!

Yup, how could you tell that it was a '57? Versions of the AC-Ace were made from 1953-63 and though they used different motors they looked alike.

Lucky WAG!

explorerx4

@lostwrench1,
When originally posted the 'Puzzler' comment, I did a search, but came up with nothing.
I see you rewrote the entry since then.
I guess that is part of the puzzle?
Not trying to pry, just a little confused about the whole thing.

lostwrench1

"Car Talk" was a very popular weekly nationwide radio show consisting of listeners' calling in with their car problems. The hosts, Tom and Ray (Click and Clack), answered and diagnosed with wit and humor. After Ray passed on, the show ended but reruns can still be heard on many FM radio stations.

The show included "The Puzzler" which was a difficult question given to listeners to answer. Doing so resulted in one's getting a moment of nationwide fame.

At first I included in my post here at Mystery Car Pix the Puzzler question, my correct answer, and the year of my moment of fame. But later, considering the fact that all the Puzzlers, the answers, the winners' names, home towns, and states can be found on line, I edited that info to remove it because of the sick mail I received from around the country.

andys120

lostwrench1

1952 Desoto Custom.
That hood ornament indicates 6 cylinder engine.

andys120

You nailed it Lostwrench! It's a '52 DeSoto Custom /6

berri

I like that color

lostwrench1

berri said:

I like that color

The '52 and '53 DeSotos' French Blue.
Hmmm, the seller's ad describes it as Dusk Gray. Ok then, Dusk Gray.

berri

French? Now that's making me think red as in lipstick and kiss - just kidding

I've always had a bit of a thing for Desoto and Oldsmobile. I think their respective companies used them to try out or introduce new features and the like sometimes back in the old days. Both were true mid priced brands.

Mr_Shiftright

Pretty rare car if you ever spot one--they only made, in a two-year run, 3,950 of those convertible 6s....and of course even far fewer 8 cylinder models. So with say a 5% survival rate, and subtracting the ones that don't run, can't be more than a few dozen on the road.

lostwrench1

I have the V8 models as 850 made.
I like the air scoop hood ornaments of those V8s.

andys120

Michaell

andys120 said:

Austin Healy - I'd say 3000, but I'm likely wrong.

fintail

Today is the 37th anniversary of the eruption of Mt. St. Helens. Here are some cars to identify, each with some ash, some easier than others. I tried to avoid pics with known or suspected casualties:





























And one I tried to see a couple times, but it was never on display:

Mr_Shiftright

Michaell said:

andys120 said:

Austin Healy - I'd say 3000, but I'm likely wrong.

Terribly wrong old chap.

It's an Austin Healey 100-4

Michaell

Mr_Shiftright said:

Michaell said:

andys120 said:

Austin Healy - I'd say 3000, but I'm likely wrong.

Terribly wrong old chap.

It's an Austin Healey 100-4

Figured as much. I only know the 3000. But, I'm a young whipper-snapper.

Mr_Shiftright

Well that car was probably made 61 years ago, so maybe before your time? All I'll tell you is back then I wasn't old enough to drive.

berri

I liked those post St. Helens shots. Kind of eerie in a way. Kinda looks like snow, but not really. Are the helicopters out taking aerial views of Seattle these days for when that earthquake hits? I remember many years ago there was a bunch of helicopters screwing up air traffic patterns while doing the TV network pre earthquake videos when everyone was predicting the big one was going to hit LA. La-La-Land is still going strong!

fintail

That's the fun bit about the big one - it could happen in 5 minutes, it might not happen for 5000 years. You can have it that way, or deal with a guaranteed risk of tornadoes and/or hurricanes depending on location, and other issues. Every place has a risk.

I have a theory that recent population growth is weighing down the tectonic plates and making things more stable. All of the trust fund hipsters/Californicators/money laundering "investors" are still piling on, and maybe making the place safer

andys120

Michaell said:

andys120 said:

Austin Healy - I'd say 3000, but I'm likely wrong.

It's a big Healey but not a 3000.

andys120

This one looks like a Volkswagen Quantum.

fintail

Same original model line as the Quantum, but those didn't exist until MY 1982

stickguy

So it is a Dasher?

fintail

Yep, it's a Dasher, aka Passat.

Michaell

fintail said:

That's the fun bit about the big one - it could happen in 5 minutes, it might not happen for 5000 years. You can have it that way, or deal with a guaranteed risk of tornadoes and/or hurricanes depending on location, and other issues. Every place has a risk.

I have a theory that recent population growth is weighing down the tectonic plates and making things more stable. All of the trust fund hipsters/Californicators/money laundering "investors" are still piling on, and maybe making the place safer

The volcano under Yellowstone erupts, on average, every 600,000 years.

Last eruption? 660,000 years.

Everybody in the Midwest is living on borrowed time.

bhill2

Michaell said:

fintail said:

That's the fun bit about the big one - it could happen in 5 minutes, it might not happen for 5000 years. You can have it that way, or deal with a guaranteed risk of tornadoes and/or hurricanes depending on location, and other issues. Every place has a risk.

I have a theory that recent population growth is weighing down the tectonic plates and making things more stable. All of the trust fund hipsters/Californicators/money laundering "investors" are still piling on, and maybe making the place safer

The volcano under Yellowstone erupts, on average, every 600,000 years.

Last eruption? 660,000 years.

Everybody in the Midwest is living on borrowed time.

Oh Lordy. If that one goes, North America is going to have a very bad day.

andys120

bhill2 said:

Michaell said:

fintail said:

That's the fun bit about the big one - it could happen in 5 minutes, it might not happen for 5000 years. You can have it that way, or deal with a guaranteed risk of tornadoes and/or hurricanes depending on location, and other issues. Every place has a risk.

I have a theory that recent population growth is weighing down the tectonic plates and making things more stable. All of the trust fund hipsters/Californicators/money laundering "investors" are still piling on, and maybe making the place safer

The volcano under Yellowstone erupts, on average, every 600,000 years.

Last eruption? 660,000 years.

Everybody in the Midwest is living on borrowed time.

Oh Lordy. If that one goes, North America is going to have a very bad day.

More like a bad milennia. Most of the US would be uninhabitable for many centuries.

qbrozen

Michaell said:

That's the fun bit about the big one - it could happen in 5 minutes, it might not happen for 5000 years. You can have it that way, or deal with a guaranteed risk of tornadoes and/or hurricanes depending on location, and other issues. Every place has a risk.

I have a theory that recent population growth is weighing down the tectonic plates and making things more stable. All of the trust fund hipsters/Californicators/money laundering "investors" are still piling on, and maybe making the place safer

The volcano under Yellowstone erupts, on average, every 600,000 years.

Last eruption? 660,000 years.

Everybody in the Midwest is living on borrowed time.

I'm curious how they figured that out. 

qbrozen

I was curious enough to at least skim wikipedia.

Going by what is there, the average of the last 3 supereryptions is more like 735k years, with the last being 630k ago. I would never rely on just 3 events to produce usable data, however. There have also been far more recent less devastating eruptions.

imidazol97

fintail said:

I have a theory that recent population growth is weighing down the tectonic plates and making things more stable. All of the trust fund hipsters/Californicators/money laundering "investors" are still piling on, and maybe making the place safer

As long as they don't add too much weight and make the whole plate flip upside down in the way the one representative predicted the Isle of Guam might flip over due to all the weight on it. LOL

fintail

LOL good point. Every garish mcmansion/mcmodern built on the site of a mid century rambler here might be one step closer to pushing us over the edge.

re: Yellowstone, it too could go tomorrow, or it might not go for 250000 years.

imidazol97 said:

As long as they don't add too much weight and make the whole plate flip upside down in the way the one representative predicted the Isle of Guam might flip over due to all the weight on it. LOL

texases

That Yellowstone caldera is pretty fascinating. The eruptions didn't all occur there; North America has been moving during that time over the 'hot spot'. The Snake River Valley shows the location of the prior many eruptions. Basically, that caldera has blown a gap in the Rocky Mountains!

Mr_Shiftright

Michaell said:

fintail said:

That's the fun bit about the big one - it could happen in 5 minutes, it might not happen for 5000 years. You can have it that way, or deal with a guaranteed risk of tornadoes and/or hurricanes depending on location, and other issues. Every place has a risk.

I have a theory that recent population growth is weighing down the tectonic plates and making things more stable. All of the trust fund hipsters/Californicators/money laundering "investors" are still piling on, and maybe making the place safer

The volcano under Yellowstone erupts, on average, every 600,000 years.

Last eruption? 660,000 years.

Everybody in the Midwest is living on borrowed time.

Ol Man Universe, he jes' keep rollin'....a planet blowing up here and there...no biggie...we got plenty

The early Healey 100 is about as pure an example of a British sports cars that you can buy...torquey engine, dog-cart suspension, throaty exhaust, requisite fumes and smells, no windows, a top better suited to a baby carriage, and a heater that feels like a mouse panting on your foot. Fun, fun car to drive!

berri

So the Volcano takes out the eastern portion of the US, earthquakes drop the west into the Pacific and Hurricanes wipe out Florida, eastern Texas and much of the Southeast, while tornados wipe out the rest of Texas and much of the southwest. China must be chompin' at the bit