Mystery car pix

qbrozen

Badge on it just said Vitara. Seemed to be smaller than the Grand version in the US. No 3rd row would fit in this one.

andys120

qbrozen said:

Badge on it just said Vitara. Seemed to be smaller than the Grand version in the US. No 3rd row would fit in this one.

If the US spec Grand Vizier has a 3rd row it must be pretty tight back there!

Mr_Shiftright

andys120 said:

Triumph GT-6 , Yup it's a 1970 Triumph GT6, on paper a pretty neat car and a good six cylinder alternative to the many 4-banger open roadsters of the era but a commercial failure that didn't sell nearly as well as it' siblings, the TR-4/5/250/6 or the MGB-GT. The coupe de grace was administered by the Datsun 240-Z which also featured six cylinders and practical closed bodywork.

Once voted "The world's best worst car"! Fun little car really, but the operative word is "little" as applies to the interior. If you are much over 5' 8", you aren't driving this thing more than a block.

Mr_Shiftright

Actually a car of some significance:

qbrozen

andys120 said:

Badge on it just said Vitara. Seemed to be smaller than the Grand version in the US. No 3rd row would fit in this one.

If the US spec Grand Vizier has a 3rd row it must be pretty tight back there!

Oh, my bad. Apparently we had the Grand Vitara and Grand Vitara XL7. The latter being 1 foot longer to accomodate a 3rd row.

texases

Mr_Shiftright said:

Actually a car of some significance:

1972-ish Subaru Leone, first of their cars with AWD?

Mr_Shiftright

Very good--"they" say it's a '71 but who's counting? I would have said '72 myself.

Apparently, this is the world's first mass production AWD car.

andys120

I think AWD was an option. US-spec Leones looked more like this>

fintail

We got the early Leone (badged GL and similar), but 4WD is virtually never seen outside of a wagon or BRAT:





There was even a now virtually extinct hardtop:

texases

andys120 said:

I think AWD was an option. US-spec Leones looked more like this>

That's the third gen, introduced in '84. We started getting the 1st gen in '72.

Mr_Shiftright

I think that might be right---that only the Leone station wagon offered 4WD at first. And yes ,it seems like 1971 was the first year for the Leone model in general.

andys120

texases

Mr_Shiftright said:

I think that might be right---that only the Leone station wagon offered 4WD at first. And yes ,it seems like 1971 was the first year for the Leone model in general.

Friend had a 1st gen Leone 4WD wagon in Anchorage. Unfortunately his (pregnant!) wife thought it could handle any situation, including turning left in front of traffic on an icy road. "I kept giving it more gas, but I didn't go anywhere!" she said. And no, it didn't have snow tires. Luckily she wasn't injured.

p.s. - another 1st gen 4WD wagon was the vehicle of choice for the 'Subaru bandit', a guy who robbed (I think) convenience stores and got away in a snow-tire equipped Leone. Cops couldn't keep up with him.

berri

Ah, a top of the line 58 Buick all chromed up and a favorite of mine, a 59 Impala flat top. Lot of nice ones in this pix!

fintail

I think I see a Dauphine sandwiched in the main row near the building, a 60 Impala on the road heading away from the "Car Hop", and the newest car I see is a 62.

andys120

fintail said:

I think I see a Dauphine sandwiched in the main row near the building, a 60 Impala ona vonvertible the road heading away from the "Car Hop", and the newest car I see is a 62.

Yep that's a Dauphine (dark car directly under the "PIZZA" sign). I see the nose of a '62 Chevy on the right parked next to a '62 Olds Starfire. I think the oldest car is sandwiched between the 1957 Chevy and a Rambler wagon...possibly a '53/'54 Chevy.

berri

I always thought the 62 Olds was a good looking and styled car. I see a couple of early Valiant's, I think the one by the Olds is a coupe. The Rambler wagon is a 62 (taillights) with a 60 either Chrysler or Desoto next to it. What year is the Comet, maybe a 62 also?

fintail

I think that's a 61 Olds.

berri

You know, you could be right. I can't see the front well enough to see if it has that kinda protruding grill of the 62. I think the Starfire was more popular in the 61.

andys120

berri said:

I always thought the 62 Olds was a good looking and styled car. I see a couple of early Valiant's, I think the one by the Olds is a coupe. The Rambler wagon is a 62 (taillights) with a 60 either Chrysler or Desoto next to it. What year is the Comet, maybe a 62 also?

Good eye Berri! didn't recall there being a first gen Valiant hardtop but I found out via Wikipedia that there was one, as well as a two-door sedan and a wagon. I do remember being quite smitten by the Valiant's styling as a kid.

andys120

fintail said:

I think that's a 61 Olds.

I think you're right Fin. If it was a '62 the grille would extend beyond the fenders

61>

62>

FWIW that makes the newest car, the '62 Rambler (and possibly the Comet). The first gen American "compacts" are well represented but no Falcons or Corvairs. I believe the Falcon was the best seller of the class of '60 compacts

andys120

texases

Pic is too good- a BMW Glas 3000, 1966 or so, AKA the 'Glaserati' because Frua designed both it and the Quattroporte. 

andys120

texases said:

Pic is too good- a BMW Glas 3000, 1966 or so, AKA the 'Glaserati' because Frua designed both it and the Quattroporte. 

Yup, it's a 1967 BMW Glas 3000GT, it has a 3 liter V8 of Glas (not BMW) design. It's pretty easy to read the script on back but at least you knew it was a Frua body.

magnette

Big & Bland

qbrozen

Took this shot on the road from Puntarenas, Costa Rica to the airport today. I cropped it significantly to not give away the name. I thought it was a pretty good looking little trucklet thing.

magnette

qbrozen said:

Took this shot on the road from Puntarenas, Costa Rica to the airport today. I cropped it significantly to not give away the name. I thought it was a pretty good looking little trucklet thing.

Yes - these sell well in UK too. Not to give the game away but it shares its model name with a 70s Mopar model.

andys120

magnette said:

qbrozen said:

Took this shot on the road from Puntarenas, Costa Rica to the airport today. I cropped it significantly to not give away the name. I thought it was a pretty good looking little trucklet thing.

Yes - these sell well in UK too. Not to give the game away but it shares its model name with a 70s Mopar model.

Dacia Duster.

Dacia is a Renault subsidiary which makes cars suitable for second and third world markets.
Thanks for the clue Magnette.

Mr_Shiftright

I must add one to my Romanian car collection

qbrozen

This one in costa rica was badged a Renault Duster.

qbrozen

qbrozen

BTW, that country holds an amazing collection of old Landcruisers and Land Rovers.

magnette

Yes - the Dacia Duster is sold in UK as a Dacia but I think in some markets it is badged by Renault.

Anybody identify my Big & Bland cream car yet?

fintail

Leyland P76, an attempt to compete in Oz, didn't last long.

magnette

Yes - it was a big car just as they wanted smaller, and it was a Leyland just as they didn't want those either. There were a couple imported as they explored the possibility of sending them to us but the project went bust by then. It would have been a bigger car than anything Ford or Vauxhall had here.

I think the P76 was the only modern car actually sold as a Leyland anywhere - all the products of British Leyland held on to the old BMC or whatever names although of course trucks , buses and light vans were sold as Leylands here.

There had been a Leyland car back in the twenties from the truck company but they made only a handful and those were luxury cars.

andys120

Mr_Shiftright

Hmmm....oval rear window, so I'm guessin' 1956 or so.

iluvmysephia1

Have ta study that oval rear window. I prefer the '67 Bug overall. About 4 years ago a good specimen of a '67 Bug was available in Alamogordo for $3,000.

andys120

Mr_Shiftright said:

Hmmm....oval rear window, so I'm guessin' 1956 or so.

Yer exactly right Mr. S, it's a 1956 Volkswagen Bug/Beetle complete w tiny rear oval window and semaphore turn signals. IIRC they went to the larger window in 1958.

bhill2

When did they go from semaphores to blinkers? If they still had semaphores in '56 they must have changed in '57.

fintail

I think for US cars it was by MY 58 at the latest - although I think they could be spec'd in Europe until around 1960.

andys120

bhill2 said:

When did they go from semaphores to blinkers? If they still had semaphores in '56 they must have changed in '57.

I couldn't find a good pic of a '57 V-Dub but the '58s definitely had the fender mounted blinkers


An even more intriguing mystery, how did the Cabrios signal turns before getting the fender blinkers?

'56 Cabrio:

bhill2

I actually know that one. The semaphores were in the post behind the door.

andys120

bhill2 said:

I actually know that one. The semaphores were in the post behind the door.

I wouldn't call it a post but if you look carefully you can make out the semaphore in the body behind the door.

Mr_Shiftright

Speaking of which, I actually found one of these last week:

Mr_Shiftright

The one I found had fender skirts on it:

fintail

White on white, must be a very late run car.

Can't live with skirts on one that new. Even on gussied up 50s ones, they are a bit much.

qbrozen

I never understood the Bug following.

Michaell

qbrozen said:

I never understood the Bug following.

It's a rite of passage.

My family owned a numbers of VW's over the years. A Bug from the early 60's, around the time I was born.

Then, a '67 Squareback when my sister came along. That was the family vehicle for 7 years until my folks bought a '73 Toyota Corona to replace it.

Lastly, my folks bought a '65 Bug (with a Baja kit) when I was in HS - I drove it as a junior and most of my senior year. Wasn't terribly reliable. Got stranded in Solvang (about 70 miles from home) with my girlfriend. Finally was able to bump-start it. Stranded again on the way home from the same girfriends house late one night. Had to have mom pick me up. The car was towed and retrieved the next day. White with brown vinyl seats.

After I got my '79 Sunbird, Baja Bug was handed down to my sister. At that time, my dad, uncle and cousin converted it from a 6-volt system to 12-volt. Was much more reliable after that.

My current wife drove one with the diabolical semi-automatic transmission when she was in HS.

berri

I never understood the Bug following

Donuts on snow covered roads man