Mystery car pix

iluvmysephia1

1960 Oldsmobile Starfire.

andys120

berri said:

1960 Oldsmobile

Yesiree, it's a '60 Olds Super 88 "Bubbletop" coupe.

iluvmysephia1

But it ain't no Rocket 88. Is it?

andys120

andys120

Looks like we've got a real mystery car here, no takers all day for this one. Hint: it looks sportier than it is, power came from a 30 HP Four.

Mr_Shiftright

Looks very Panhard to me--early 50s, maybe a Dyna Junior? Just a WAG here.

tmart

Don't recall the name, but think it was spotlighted on Jay Leno's Garage last week. Is based on a VW and has a long German name.

fintail

I think it is a VW-based Rometsch from the early 50s.

Mr_Shiftright

Yeah, that's probably right. The eyebrows over the fenders and the grille bar and the painted window surround.

Resemblance to the Panhard is strong, at least in memory. One wonders if there was some collusion. The Rometsch is prettier, I think. Those wheels should have tipped me off--they are very German.

andys120

tmart said:

Don't recall the name, but think it was spotlighted on Jay Leno's Garage last week. Is based on a VW and has a long German name.

fintail said:

I think it is a VW-based Rometsch from the early 50s.

Bingo, this is a 1951 Rometsch Beeskow, basically a rebodied VW Beetle on a longer wheelbase. Rometsch was a small West Berlin-based Karosserie that sold a small number of Besskows for roughly three times the cost of a Beetle as well as a few other VW and Porsche-based specials.

Johannes Beeskow was the design engineer for Rometsch. He later worked for Karmann and you can see the resemblance between the Karmann-Ghia and his Rometsch.

According to Jay Leno's classic car guy a Beeskow in good shape is worth big bucks ($300k+)

andys120

Michaell

Renault Mehari

I'm sure they built it just like that for a quarter century or more, so no idea of what model year it is.

Mr_Shiftright

andys120 said:

tmart said:

Don't recall the name, but think it was spotlighted on Jay Leno's Garage last week. Is based on a VW and has a long German name.

fintail said:

I think it is a VW-based Rometsch from the early 50s.

Bingo, this is a 1951 Rometsch Beeskow, basically a rebodied VW Beetle on a longer wheelbase. Rometsch was a small West Berlin-based Karosserie that sold a small number of Besskows for roughly three times the cost of a Beetle as well as a few other VW and Porsche-based specials.

Johannes Beeskow was the design engineer for Rometsch. He later worked for Karmann and you can see the resemblance between the Karmann-Ghia and his Rometsch.

According to Jay Leno's classic car guy a Beeskow in good shape is worth big bucks ($300k+)

Nonsense. I found one for $75 bucks!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Volkswagen-Rometsch-Beeskow-Coupe-1951-NEO46177-1-43-Neo-scale-models-/282088851953

texases

Michaell said:

Renault Mehari

I'm sure they built it just like that for a quarter century or more, so no idea of what model year it is.

Isn't that the Citroen logo?

tmart

Mr_Shiftright said:

andys120 said:

tmart said:

Don't recall the name, but think it was spotlighted on Jay Leno's Garage last week. Is based on a VW and has a long German name.

fintail said:

I think it is a VW-based Rometsch from the early 50s.

Bingo, this is a 1951 Rometsch Beeskow, basically a rebodied VW Beetle on a longer wheelbase. Rometsch was a small West Berlin-based Karosserie that sold a small number of Besskows for roughly three times the cost of a Beetle as well as a few other VW and Porsche-based specials.

Johannes Beeskow was the design engineer for Rometsch. He later worked for Karmann and you can see the resemblance between the Karmann-Ghia and his Rometsch.

According to Jay Leno's classic car guy a Beeskow in good shape is worth big bucks ($300k+)

Nonsense. I found one for $75 bucks!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Volkswagen-Rometsch-Beeskow-Coupe-1951-NEO46177-1-43-Neo-scale-models-/282088851953

True, but $75 is for the compact, full size is six figures!

Mr_Shiftright

Oh, you're right. I just noticed it is rather small.

Michaell

texases said:

Michaell said:

Renault Mehari

I'm sure they built it just like that for a quarter century or more, so no idea of what model year it is.

Isn't that the Citroen logo?

Whoops - you're right

Citroen Mehari?

texases

tmart said:

Mr_Shiftright said:

andys120 said:

tmart said:

Don't recall the name, but think it was spotlighted on Jay Leno's Garage last week. Is based on a VW and has a long German name.

fintail said:

I think it is a VW-based Rometsch from the early 50s.

Bingo, this is a 1951 Rometsch Beeskow, basically a rebodied VW Beetle on a longer wheelbase. Rometsch was a small West Berlin-based Karosserie that sold a small number of Besskows for roughly three times the cost of a Beetle as well as a few other VW and Porsche-based specials.

Johannes Beeskow was the design engineer for Rometsch. He later worked for Karmann and you can see the resemblance between the Karmann-Ghia and his Rometsch.

According to Jay Leno's classic car guy a Beeskow in good shape is worth big bucks ($300k+)

Nonsense. I found one for $75 bucks!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Volkswagen-Rometsch-Beeskow-Coupe-1951-NEO46177-1-43-Neo-scale-models-/282088851953

True, but $75 is for the compact, full size is six figures!

Nah, $75 divided by 1/43 = $3,225, right?

andys120

texases said:

Michaell said:

Renault Mehari

I'm sure they built it just like that for a quarter century or more, so no idea of what model year it is.

Isn't that the Citroen logo?

Yes it is, That's a 1979 Citroen Mehari . AFAIK Renault had nothing to do w the Mehari.

andys120

The Queen of Chrome

fintail

1958 Buick Limited - automotive equivalent of a Victorian house.

Mr_Shiftright

When good designers go bad.

berri

I like that Buick. I think it had more chrome than a Cadillac and probably cost as much. But I always thought it was a fitting example of the Harley Earl Art & Color years coming to an end as the 60's brought back more conservative styling. Well except perhaps for some of the latter Virgil Exner designs out of Chrysler and a few other examples like the 61 (I think) shovel nosed Rambler Ambassador. There used to be a similar, but maybe a bit more blue Buick just like that that parked in the same spot frequently at the Orlando Airport garage in the mid 80's. I was never able to run down its story or who owned it though. I wonder what something like that brings today, although it probably peaked with collectors awhile back I suppose. I remember when I was a kid that the father of one of my classmates had a 49 Buick Woodie that he used as his carpenter's work car. He would stuff a bunch of us kids into it and drop us off at school on bad winter days. That thing always started right up regardless of the weather. No one wanted those Woodies in the old days except perhaps a few California surfers. I saw one of those for over $100K at a car show a few years back.

Mr_Shiftright

Clean "driver" in the high teens--fully restored around $30K if you can find a buyer at that price. The 50s crowd is dying off.

magnette

Re the Citroen Mehari, Renault did have a competitor which was the Renault Rodeo based on either the R4 or R6 floorpan.

Mr_Shiftright

Looks like this:

andys120

fintail said:

1958 Buick Limited - automotive equivalent of a Victorian house.

Buick model names back then were confusing, that's a Riviera by virtue of being a four door h/t but it may also be a Century, a Limited or a Special (or pick your model name). No Ventiports that year(?)

The comparison to a Victorian house is apt I guess since Victorians were generally large and ornate and the Buick is certainly those but Victorians are also charming and IMO over- chromed '58 Buicks are not. 1958 Oldsmobiles were just as bad. Oddly, by comparison 1958 Cadillacs were restrained (they waited til '59 to lose it).

lostwrench1

"Limited" was revived by Buick in 1958 and used for the car shown. It was simply a Buick Limited.
Beginning in 1959, "Limited" was attached to other Buick Models such as Limited Riviera, Electra Limited, etc.
In '58, the Limited stood by itself, the Buick Limited.

fintail

I think in terms of kitsch, a 58 Buick has it as much as anything else that year (maybe save for an Edsel) - it is just so overdone. If it was a house, it would have a turret, several gables, gingerbread trim, stained glass, etc. I think we are racing towards the modern equivalent of 1958 with recent car "design".

magnette

Yes Fin thats the one...

magnette

It's funny how words mean different things. In America you have a meeting of 'Limited' as exclusive, etc - like the Twentieth Century Limited train (North by North West) which I assume came from Limited Stop trains etc but here it is most usually taken to mean either something to do with liabilities -hence most companies in Britain are suffixed Ltd meant Limited (liability) - or otherwise of reduced ability or usefulness..

magnette

magnette said:

Yes Fin thats the one...

Sorry - that was Mr Shiftright, wasn't it....

andys120

tmart

70 Ford Torino GT convertible. Good looking car. I've always liked them in Lime Gold.

andys120

70 Ford Torino GT convertible.

Yes it is, the wheels are Magnum 500s, a stamped steel wheel cleverly designed to look like alloys. They were optional on everything from Rivieras to Mustangs.

andys120

texases

No fair guessing if you saw the tv show:

lostwrench1

andys120 said:

The side trim appears to be Canadian.

texases

What's the magic word?

fintail

Coupe. Rover P5B Coupe. People complain about the gratuitous use of "coupe" like it is a new thing.

Rover

texases said:

What's the magic word?

texases

Yes, I didn't know using "Coupe" for a 4-door went back that far.

berri

Whatever the blue car is (I'm not familiar with Canadian models) it is based on a 59 Plymouth. Funny how Plymouth was the conservatively styled entry car that year, but that was about to change Another nice color on that coupe though and judging by the side trim and toilet bowl embossing on the trunk, it was an upscale model similar to Fury.

fintail

Something else that's often nice about old cars, the fonts/lettering used for model identification - often stylish or whimsical, none of the faux sport or aggression as seen on modern cars. Here it is on that Rover Coupe:

andys120

lostwrench1 said:

andys120 said:

The side trim appears to be Canadian.

I don't think so, it's advertised as a '59 Plymouth Belvedere and the side trim is consistent with others I've looked at. The Belvedere was demoted in the 1959 as the Fury took over as the top-line Plymouth. This example shows what you could do to "class up" a car with nice colors, white walls and a hardtop roof. Our family '59 Monterey looked as good as the Montclair for similar reasons.

The Forward Look cars were IMO by far the best looking Yank Iron of 1959 with their cleanly sculptured lines. Unfortunately they weren't well-built and acquired a rep as notorious rusters.

berri

Like the Bel Air back then, the Belvedere was still pretty nicely equipped and trimmed (but the toilet bowl trunk was probably an option on that model). Now the 60 Plymouth was kind of take it or leave it, while the 61 was one of those what the heck...and the 62 was honey I shrunk the trunk

andys120

Michaell

Late 70's Accord hatch on the left
Citroen 2CV in the middle distance

texases

Hint on the "plumbers" truck-most were RHD

fintail

I'll pick off cars facing away from the camera. To the left of the 2CV is a BL Marina 2 door, to the right - a Fiat 500, sporty Ford Cortina, and first gen Fiesta.

andys120

Michaell said:

Late 70's Accord hatch on the left
Citroen 2CV in the middle distance

My 1979 Accord looked identical down to the color except for the USDOT required side marker lights. Interesting to see that UK-Spec Accords had what appear to be the same 5 mph bumpers the US cars had.