Mystery car pix

hudsonthedog · January 2008

The car: Tata Nano
The man: Ratan Tata

texases · January 2008

Bingo, although this is a pic of the 'Luxury Version', not the $2,500 'Standard Version'. Quite a range, Nano to Jag...

edit: You can read more about it here:Interview w/Tata

ateixeira · January 2008

Funny thing, the $2500 car.

I'll ask my wife to go to market, "Honey, please grab some milk, eggs, cheese, and a couple of those $2500 cars".

At first I was gonna write "grab a couple of Tatas".

texases · January 2008

I was worried what would pop up when I Googled Tata on my work machine :surprise:

andys120 · January 2008

That thing has about 10hp less than my '65 Volkswagen! It appears to be just as basic but it's probably fun to drive with the skinny tires and no power assists or electronic nannies. :shades: .

texases · January 2008

it's probably fun to drive with the skinny tires and no power assists or electronic nannies
Yes, I have a lot more fun driving a small, slow car at 100% than a fast car at 10%.

andys120 · January 2008

hudsonthedog · January 2008

Yes, I have a lot more fun driving a small, slow car at 100% than a fast car at 10%.

I agree wholeheartedly.

magnette · January 2008

As you liked the Turner so much, here's another shot of it...

magnette · January 2008

magnette · January 2008

fintail · January 2008

Doretti Swallow...named for Dorothy, who also imported British cars back in the early days...must have been quite a woman

fintail · January 2008

NSU Coupe...I think it was simply called 'Sport'

andys120 · January 2008

NSU Coupe...I think it was simply called 'Sport'

Wasn't that Sport Prinz?

fintail · January 2008

I believe that is correct

I forget that...'Prinz' makes me think of the earlier sub-subcompact car

andys120 · January 2008

Thanks for that. It makes me long for the days of tonneau covers. I saw a guy driving a Lotus Seven with the cover over the passenger side. It looked so cool.

One of these days I'm going to order a set of Minilite wheels like that. They still look great after 45 years.

Meanwhile I'm puzzling over that Spridget think you posted. I looks just like a stock Sprite Mk II. Can you give us a clue.

andys120 · January 2008

Thanks for that. It makes me long for the days of tonneau covers. I saw a guy driving a Lotus Seven with the cover over the passenger side. It looked so cool.

One of these days I'm going to order a set of Minilite wheels like that. They still look great after 45 years.

Meanwhile I'm puzzling over that Spridget think you posted. I looks just like a stock Sprite Mk II. Can you give us a clue? :confuse:

magnette · January 2008

I think the name is the other way round - the make was Swallow, because the company was the old Swallow Coachbuilding Co, which had originally belonged to William Lyons, who developed his SS cars from Swallow Sidecars, via the coachbuilders - and then SS became Jaguar, but by them the old Swallow make had been sold off,
Doretti was apparently a tribute to Dorothy Deen, of CalSales, selling large numbers of Triumph sports cars.
So the car was a Swallow Doretti, at least over here.

magnette · January 2008

NSU Sport Prinz - introduced 1958, but this is one of the last, as they stopped in 1967.

magnette · January 2008

Well, we know it isn't an MG Midget, but it isn't an Austin-Healey either. This is actually rarer than that, as they only made this particular model for about six months, and only sold just over 1000.... It may have been a home market only model with this designation....

andys120 · January 2008

lWikipediasez you're right, Swallow Doretti is correct. Road and Track sez the styling was Italian but I can't find out who styled it. It looks like Michelotti or Touring.

hudsonthedog · January 2008

Well, we know it isn't an MG Midget, but it isn't an Austin-Healey either. This is actually rarer than that, as they only made this particular model for about six months, and only sold just over 1000.... It may have been a home market only model with this designation....

Austin Sprite, after Donald Healey pulled out of the joint-venture that carried his name. I believe it was 1970 only.

magnette · January 2008

That's it hudson ! - I don't know if it was only for our domestic market, but this is a model that most people have never heard of, and as the detail differences are very minor, it is not always obvious even when standing next to one. Apart from badges saying Austin, instead of Austin-Healey, the only easy way to spot one is the Sprite lettering on the sills which is not the same as the A-H, or at least not the version we got....

andys120 · January 2008

I've sure never heard of it, I wonder if it was ever sold in the States as the "Austin Sprite"? IIRC our Sprites never had lettering on the sills.

andys120 · January 2008

stickguy · January 2008

1958?

lostwrench · January 2008

1957 Dodge.

magnette · January 2008

1957 Dodge Royal Lancer

texases · January 2008

Are those dual headlights, or styling to look like duals? From previous posts, I understand there had to be a fed regulation change to allow duals. When was that?

hudsonthedog · January 2008

Are those dual headlights, or styling to look like duals? From previous posts, I understand there had to be a fed regulation change to allow duals. When was that?
Quad headlights were allowed on 1957 or 1958 model year production vehicles (Edsel, among others) first time. Quad rectangular headlights were allowed in 1973 or 1974 model year vehicles (full-sized GM, among others), dual rectangular were allowed for the first time in the 1977 model year (1977 1/2 Pontiac Phoenix), and flush-mounted, European-style headlights were allowed for the first time in the 1984 model year (1984 Lincoln Mark VII).

andys120 · January 2008

flush-mounted, European-style headlights were allowed for the first time in the 1984 model year (1984 Lincoln Mark VII).

I wonder why Ford waited until '87 to put flush headlights on Mustangs? My '86 GT was so obviously styled around flush units that I bought aftermarket clear covers for the h/ls. Even more oddly the '86 SVO did get them:

'86 SVO>

'86 GT>

:confuse:

rcinmd · January 2008

The first car sold in the U.S. with the then recently-approved quad rectangular headlights was the Peugeot 604, as a 1976 model, if memory serves.

andys120 · January 2008

The '57 Dodge is captioned by it's owner as a "Custom Royal D-500". I think the D-500 refers to the designator for the Hemi. I'll leave to MoPar. mavens to tell us the correct name for this car. Andre?, Lemko?

I do know that this was one of the better designs of a sterling year for the Big Three.
Fins, Two tones, Hard top and a Hemi. The 50s don't get any better than that!

kyfdx · January 2008

Isn't D-500 the special super-duper Hemi that automatically triples the price of any old MOPAR?

Which usually means it isn't a D-500? :surprise:

Sounds familiar, somehow..

texases · January 2008

Thanks for understanding what I meant (quads) instead of what I said (duals). That car looks like it has duals styled like quads, with the inner 'headlights' more like turn signals. Is that right, or am I nuts. (no, not both!)

edit - here's a pic, looks like the headlights were different sizes. Guess that wasn't standardized at that point. Or are they turn signals? I don't see any other turn signals...

bumpy · January 2008

Hmmm, White Sulphur Springs?

fangio2 · January 2008

A friend of mine had a 1957 D-500 (MAYBE A 1958?).I had 2 four barrel carbs - not sure if it was a hemi-tho.It was a great car-from a 40 mph roll almost unbeatable.Large enough for 4 couples at a drive in an added perk.

andys120 · January 2008

fintail · January 2008

1965 Chevy Caprice

lostwrench · January 2008

That's an early off the line one from 57. There are no teeth in the grille.

karsick · January 2008

I'm assuming that "first year" means the first year that they used the name "Caprice" for the full-size Chev.

Come to think of it, that name has been absent almost a decade. Maybe they could recycle it again. :confuse:

andys120 · January 2008

Yep, AFAIK 1965 was the first year for the Caprice, it was actually called the Impala Caprice and differed from the regular Impala by featuring a more formal roofline as seen in this brochure art.

andys120 · January 2008

davethecarnut · January 2008

And the Impala was a 2-door......until the late 90's

magnette · January 2008

Well, I've always thought this car was the Innocenti C, but given the badge reading S, I'm not sure.... Based on the Austin-Healey Sprite, and made in Italy, of course. This one appears to have been registered in early 1967.

magnette · January 2008

I've been looking into the design of the Swallow Doretti, and it appears that it was designed in-house, although Swallow, as coachbuilders hadn't apparently designed any cars since about 1932... I think they did do something with commercial vehicles though..
Apparently the designer's name was Frank Rainbow.
Also, it seems that William Lyons didn't take kindly to Swallow designing a sports car, as their then parent company - Tube Industries - were major component suppliers to Jaguar, for door locks, bumpers, etc. It is rumoured that he "had a word" and they abruptly pulled out of further production - although somewhere else I've read that as it was effectively a re-designed Triumph TR, arguably better looking, Triumph didn't appreciate the competition either.

hudsonthedog · January 2008

The first car sold in the U.S. with the then recently-approved quad rectangular headlights was the Peugeot 604, as a 1976 model, if memory serves.

This Cadillac Coupe deVille was among the full-sized GM products to feature quad rectangular headlamps in the 1975 model year.

And the 1983 update (which ran through 1986) of the Ford Mustang wasn't necessarily to feature flush-mounted headlamps, but the 1984 SVO was, which is why the 1986-7 version actually had them. It takes some time to get suppliers to change their products and to cancel existing contracts.

andys120 · January 2008

I've never heard of the " Innocenti C" but you've got the right idea, it is a rebodied Sprite Mk. II made in Italy from 1961-1968 and sold as the Innocent 950/1100S.

The Ghia styling doen't look great from the rear, the front is much nicer than the Mk
II Sprite.> link

The seatback headrest is another clue that it's a late 60s car. Those seats look like the one in my Fiat 124 Spider, probably came from the same supplier. :P

fintail · January 2008

I saw a mystery car today...I don't know what it was. From the rear it kind of resembled a Cobra, but with wider fenders. It was like a cross between a Cobra and an Allard or something, as it had seperate front fenders. I am pretty sure it was modern.

lizm250 · January 2008

got a question the car i have titled as a chrysler conquest but the id plate on the body of the car says mitsubishi made in japan so do i have and if i were to sell ithow do i list it as

Mystery car pix

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