Mystery car pix

odie6l · December 2006

good call andre... yes it is the 1986 Dodge Turbo Interceptor from the movie 'The Wraith'. This beast was powered by a 2.2ltr Shelby build 4cyl turbo that had 440HP. There were 6 built at a price of $1,500,000 each. Three were sent for the movie (which had 4 replica's made for blowing upduring filming), another was used as a Pace Car for the IRL for 3 races (not the Indy 500 though), and the one I've seen is still sitting in the PPG Industies office main entrance out in Pittsburgh.

You can check out The Wraith Car for a complete restoration build by a person who found the original from the movie.

Odie
Odie's Carspace

andys120 · December 2006

nobody knows this one?

imidazol97 · December 2006

Chryler 300 1955.

andys120 · December 2006

Correct, the first year Chrsler 300 was referred to by the factory as the C-300. Led by Tim Flock, the 300HP C-300 clinched the NASCAR Grand National and AAA Stock Car titles.

andys120 · December 2006

bumpy · December 2006

so I'll throw in a different barge.

gsemike · December 2006

I can't se either of them

imidazol97 · December 2006

andre1969 · December 2006

That thing in #7993 looks kinda like a Jag XJ-6 from around 1972, but the front-end looks a bit clunkier and the whole car overall doesn't look quite as sleek. Wasn't there some Daimler-branded car back then that looked an awful lot like a Jag?

As for that Ford SUV thingie, it looks like a hatchet-job done to a 1987-91 standard-sized Bronco.

fintail · December 2006

7993 is indeed a normal XJ6 SI ca. 1970. There was indeed a Daimler variant, but it was never officially sold in NA AFAIK, and was probably as rust-and-beakdown prone as the Jag, so nobody bothered with the grey market. The Bronco is one of those aftermarket jobs from the late 80s, probably called a "Trailblazer" or something.

andys120 · December 2006

Yup that's the Series 1 XJ6 as it appeared in 68, I'm sure it was much the same in '72. The Daimler version was identical except for grille and surround.

andys120 · December 2006

You should know the movie if not the car.

subearu · December 2006

Don't forget "cop suspension" too.

The movie is Blues Brothers and that's a Dodge Monaco.

-Brian

andys120 · December 2006

Right Brian, it's the Bluesmobile an ex-police 1974 MY Dodge Monaco.

andys120 · December 2006

derrado1 · December 2006

75% of my brain says "Lancia Gamma Coupe"

25% says "Fiat 131 Coupe"

kyfdx · December 2006

I'll pass.. .since I just saw this in another thread.. But, that is definitely a FIAT logo in the grille...

derrado1 · December 2006

100% of my brain says Fiat 131 Coupe

:P

bumpy · December 2006

The Ford is a conversion done by Centurion, basically a crew-cab F-250 with the rear end of a Bronco welded onto the back of the cab. If you wanted a blue-oval Suburban, that was the only way to get it before the Excursion.

andys120 · December 2006

Sorry guys, it's a Fiat 130 Coupe ca. 1972, body by Pinifarina. It was indeed featured in the "Obscure Cars " topic recently.

andys120 · December 2006

boomchek · December 2006

boy that's an ugly front end.

fintail · December 2006

I think it's a VandenPlas Princess, one of the too-numerous Allegro spinoffs.

A line of cars that did a lot to really give a death sentence to BMC/Leyland and in some part the mass market British motor industry...the final blow, maybe. I mean, look at it. Were they serious?

Magnette should have some fun opinions.

derrado1 · December 2006

Are you sure it's a Vanden Plas 'Princess'?

I know it's a Vanden Plas derivative of the Allegro, but by calling it Princess, wouldn't it get confused with this?

The Leyland/Wolesley/Morris Princess.

fintail · December 2006

I always thought that's what they were called. One heck of an ugly princess.

andys120 · December 2006

Are you sure it's a Vanden Plas 'Princess'?

Actually, I'm not. I got the shot from the Ch.4 UK website
where it was in the "Austin Allegro Gallery". The grillework is different from all the other Allegros depicted in the same gallery which loked like this>.

I hope Magnette can identify that ugly mutt for us.

andys120 · December 2006

from Ch.4 (UK)>

derrado1 · December 2006

Yeah, Vandan Plas was a coachbuilder that did fancy versions of Austins at the time. The Mini, Metro, Maestro, Montego, Allegro and Princess all saw VP (no 'i'?) treatment.

My point was that while the picture was indeed of a Vanden Plas-ised Allegro, the name would not have been 'Princess'.

Where's magnette when you need him? I've never been really into the British auto scene.

gsemike · December 2006

That's got to be a Mini Cooper... early 70s?

andys120 · December 2006

That's got to be a Mini Cooper... early 70s?

Close, it's a '68 Mini Cooper S mkII.

andys120 · December 2006

lemko · December 2006

That's one of those Fitch Sprint conversions of the 1965-67 Chevrolet Corvair. I'm more familiar with the pre-1965 cars. This is the first picture I've seen of a Sprint second-generation car.

mark156 · December 2006

I have actually seen a version of that "FORD SUBURBAN" but the name plate of the one that I saw was called the FORD METROPOLITAN . This was before the Excursion and Expedition came on board.

M156

gsemike · December 2006

What's metropolitan about that barge? That thing will hardly fit down half the streets in Manhattan.

mark156 · December 2006

And to think that Ford would steal the name from the Nash Metropolitan!!! The Shame! :mad:

LOL!
M156

andys120 · December 2006

Right you are Lemko, it's a '66 Fitch Corvair Sprint. Your reply implies that you've seen Sprint versions of the Gen I Corvair. I'm unaware of any of these, nor could I find any on the net.

magnette · December 2006

What happened ? I go to Wales for pre-Xmas family visit, and come back to find you delving into the convoluted world of British Leyland badge engineering, ie using one car for about a zillion models...

Vanden Plas started off as coachbuilders, I think they were Belgian, but were established in London by the 20's - they did a lot of coachwork on pre-war Bentleys etc...
After the war, Austin introduced a range of large cars, called Princess (there was also one called the Sheerline), that were aimed at the likes of Daimler and Bentley - they were much cheaper, but were more likely to be used as wedding cars, or for hearses etc.
The Vanden Plas connection grew out of that because Austin were sub-contracting the limo work to them, and eventually they took them over as they weren't making anything else.
In the mid fifties, a version of the Austin Westminster which was a large saloon was made with extra fittings etc as a Westminster Vanden Plas, and it was fairly popular, while the limos were selling less well as Austin wasn't perceived as a luxury maker so they decided to develop Vanden Plas as a seperate make.
Firstly they made limos which were basically the same as the previous Austin, but they also tried another version of the next Austin Westminster, called the Vanden Plas 3 litre.
This sold well, and in fact was developed into the 4 litre R which used an engine from a RollsRoyce project (for a projected rival for Land Rover for the British military).
Meanwhile as the prestige brand of what was then known as BMC, they also developed a version of the Austin/Morris 1100, which was known as the Vanden Plas Princess 1100.
There was later a 1300 as well.
Although they tried a few prototypes of the 1800 and even the Mini, these were never marketed.
By 1974 the 1300 range was phased out - all of them, ie Morris, Austin etc. ( meanwhile the other VP's had died off by then), and the 1100/1300 was replaced by the Austin Allegro. This led to another VP, which was a luxury trimmed Allegro, but was called the Vanden Plas Princess 1500. It wasn't as popular as the previous 1100/1300, and only lasted a couple of years.
Meanwhile, the Austin/Morris/Wolseley 1800/2200 range was replaced by a new range in 1975, called the 18-22, as Austin 1800/2200, Morris 1800/2200, and Wolseley Six (2200). After literally a few months the whole range was relaunched as Princess 1800 or 2200, ditching the previous names (and incidentally killing off Wolseley for good).
Eventually this lot were also updated to Austin Ambassador range - killing off the relatively new marque Princess.
By then, of course, B Leyland were sticking Vanden Plas badges on various tarted up versions of the Metro, Maestro, Mondego, even on certain Daimler Sovereigns (which were themselves tarted up Jaguars).
My mother used to have a VP Princess 1300, which had real leather seats, real wood dash, picnic tables, etc, wilton carpets, etc.. It was aimed at the retired really, and was a little luxury car inside, with a basic box outside. She loved it, but it wasn't my favorite car, I must admit. They only sold really in Britain, most weren't exported, but they have since been a big hit in Japan, as they are seen as a quaint Brit car built for their road conditions (it probably helps that they aren't very tall, either).
The other Allegro which you showed was one of the Austins. They came out with 3 different grilles. The base 1100 had one with horizontal lines, the one you showed, with a row of vertical lines was used for the 1100 super, and the 1300, and then there were two more models which were the 1500 and 1750, and they had identical grilles with a honeycomb design. Obviously the Allegro range was updated a few times after that, but it was still horrible. So your Allegro is either a 1300 or an 1100 Super.

Bet you wish you hadn't asked now !

boomchek · December 2006

Impressive lesson. thanks

fintail · December 2006

What a horrible twisted web of crap cars. Nice to see that mindless badge engineering and brand dilution isn't a trait owned soley by the big three.

And I was right!

stickguy · December 2006

If we could mind meld Andre and Magnette, we could have arcane auto trivia covered on both sides of the Atlantic!

andys120 · December 2006

Thanks Magnette!

andys120 · December 2006

bumpy · December 2006

Suzuki Cappuccino, sweet little wishbone RWD kei car. The earliest ones are old enough to be imported into Canada, so Fintail has probably seen one or two by now.

bumpy · December 2006

andre1969 · December 2006

Looks kinda like a cross between a 1987 Legend sedan and a 1990 or so Subaru Legacy.

It looks like it has electrical tape running along the rain gutter lip in the roof, so I'd have to say it's a Nissan of some sort? I know they use electrical tape as blackout trim on the Maximas and Altimas these days. :P

Seriously though, I have no idea. I would guess it's some kind of Nissan flagship model for the Japanese market. Like a 1990 or so something or other. Cedric, maybe?

yoribe2 · December 2006

Nissan Skyline! The predecessor to the Infiniti G35 of today.

odie6l · December 2006

Can't wait to see these running around for the uber-rich, but I can say I would love to have one to show up the Hummer Crowd.

Odie
Odie's Carspace

michaellno · December 2006

I'm guessing that this is the latest incarnation of the MB Unimog.

And yes, it would put all those H1 / H2 owners to shame.

bumpy · December 2006

Skyline it is, and a special one. What we have is an R31 Passage GT with a 2-liter turbo I6, last of the true hardtop Skylines.

fintail · December 2006

In the past couple years the amount of weirdo cars around Vancouver has skyrocketed. It's a very cool thing. It's sad the US won't adopt such a progressive stance about special-interest cars.

Mystery car pix

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