Mystery car pix

berri · January 2017

Where s the tiny car driver's Shriners cap

Mr_Shiftright · January 2017

Not unlike this GM project proposed in 195 by Peter Brock for an American "small car". Does anyone remember the name?

stickguy · January 2017

cadet?

fintail · January 2017

I read a lot of books when I was a kid. Those S-Ts were imported in small numbers to the US, I am pretty sure I have seen one before.

In regards to old more ordinary British cars, fascinating author JG Ballard has a line in his autobiography that sticks in my mind: "Looking down from the rail, I noticed that the streets near the docks were lined with what seemed to be black perambulators, some kind of mobile coal scuttle, I assumed, used for bunkering ships. Later I learned that these were British cars (all made pre-war), a species I had never seen before". Most prewar Euro cars would appear similar.

andys120 said:

Easy for you maybe but I find pre-1960 Brit sedans the hardest, there were a lot of makers
and they all sported similar 1930s styling.

Wikipedia sez a S-T 90 won the Monte Carlo Rallye in 1955!

magnette · January 2017

The little car was a Rytecraft Scootacar, they made petrol engined fairground dodgem cars initially but from the mid thirties they built a road-legal version too. They also built miniature vans & lorries which were used for publicity purposes.
Someone drove one of these round the world in the 1960s - the car he used is preserved in the Brooklands museum.

Anzani made the engines.

Here's a publicity brochure.

The bus is an AEC Renown - they built about 1200 in 1929-32 and most were still in service until about 1948.

fintail · January 2017

Now there's a mobile coal scuttle, sounds like a smaller displacement motorcycle with 4 wheels, a body, and a steering wheel. The tiny headlights might be the most amusing. I swear I've seen one of those vans in an auction catalog, but I might be mistaken.

magnette · January 2017

There are still a number left apparently....

Mr_Shiftright · January 2017

stickguy said:
cadet?

Yes, the Cadet. GM management took one look at the prototype and immediately cut off its head, with the sneering curse "GM does not build small cars".

In the 1970s, that became "GM does not build small cars very well".

andys120 · January 2017

I'm confused

fintail · January 2017

Looks like a Model X render before they went mouth/grille-less.

texases · January 2017

Model 3?

andys120 · January 2017

Yup, that's a Tesla Model X, I could be wrong but you may be thinking of the similar-looking Model 3 which has no grille>

I'm confused by both those cars, how could the company that styled the brilliant Model X come up with such bland looking cars. I don't know what the Model X is supposed to be, they call it an SUV but it has only one of the characteristics we associate with SUVs (AWD)
Who is going to buy an SUV that is not tall or boxy and (near as I can tell) lacks a rear loading hatch? So they want you to buy an SUV with little "sport" (ride height too low for off-roading) and not much "utility" (cargo/passenger capacity).

...and what is the point of those gullwing doors in the rear?

fintail · January 2017

Maybe I misunderstood, but the X has no grille. I see enough of them every day to be familiar. Some prepro renders might have shown it, but the ones on the road are mouthless.

The doors are all about showing off. If you're laying down 100K+++ for a fast minivan, you need bragging cred.

I can see the merit in the tech more than the design. They look like stylized eggs to me, daring design for those who blindly stumbled into money and think a cliched postmodern box is also amazing architecture. This demographic is huge in the Seattle area.

andys120 · January 2017

I couldn't find a single pic of a "Mouthless" Model X, I did find a few of the Model 3 that had grills but they look so much alike it could be a captioning error. Come to think of it I saw one recently and wasn't sure which it was. Model Xs are all over Scottsdale but I have seen only one of the others.

fintail · January 2017

These are from the Tesla site:

Maybe associated strongly with the S as the design elements are so similar, especially as the current S now has no mouth.

Mr_Shiftright · January 2017

lostwrench1 · January 2017

2014 4X4 Castor Canadensis. (Amphibious)

Mr_Shiftright · January 2017

That's right; often confused with the European model, the 4X4 Castor Fiber. Circa 2014 but could be older.

lostwrench1 · January 2017

Ugh oh, we were so wrong.
It is the naturally aspirated circa 2014 4X4 Marmota Monax.

fintail · January 2017

If the cheeks were a little puffier, it could be an Infiniti

Mr_Shiftright · January 2017

You're all wrong. It's the new 2017 Range Rodent!

fintail · January 2017

Escondido, 1972:

Slightly larger here

kyfdx · January 2017

'63 or '64 Pontiac Catalina in the NorthEast corner?

berri · January 2017

Baby blue (I think) first gen Valiant in the middle and 56 Dodge in top left corner. Is that junkyard in Escondido, CA?

texases · January 2017

Sideways '57 Chevy just below a '61 Comet, lower right corner.

berri · January 2017

Early Comet was kind of an interesting car. Designed to be an Edsel.

qbrozen · January 2017

Appears to be the rear of a '60ish white Falcon in the middle left, with a '61 Impala under it. Maybe a Lark?? one car to the right and one car up from the Falcon.

lostwrench1 · January 2017

1954 Pontiac.

magnette · January 2017

berri said:
Where s the tiny car driver's Shriners cap

Sorry - I missed your post - yes, it does look like that film 'Straight Story' - John Deere mower he had wasn't it...

qbrozen · January 2017

lostwrench1 said:
1954 Pontiac.

the yellow one in the center, correct?

fintail · January 2017

I assume so, only Escondido I've heard about

I wonder how many of those cars are convertibles.

berri said:
Baby blue (I think) first gen Valiant in the middle and 56 Dodge in top left corner. Is that junkyard in Escondido, CA?

bhill2 · January 2017

qbrozen said:
Appears to be the rear of a '60ish white Falcon in the middle left, with a '61 Impala under it. Maybe a Lark?? one car to the right and one car up from the Falcon.

Methinks the white car is a '64 full-sized.

berri · January 2017

Yeah, I think it is a full sized 64 Ford too. Those cars seemed to have a good reputation in their day.

fintail · January 2017

What gets me is how many appear to be no older than 10-11 years old, and in many cases, a bit younger. Old cars held up better, they say. Maybe it could be said in 1978, but a lot of 10 year old metal out there today looks modern and is perfectly roadable for tens of thousands of miles to come.

texases · January 2017

fintail said:
What gets me is how many appear to be no older than 10-11 years old, and in many cases, a bit younger. Old cars held up better, they say. Maybe it could be said in 1978, but a lot of 10 year old metal out there today looks modern and is perfectly roadable for tens of thousands of miles to come.

Nah, older = worse, has been for years. Old cars NEVER held up better.

Edit - on average, that is. Some make (MB, cough, cough) went through a rough patch. But US cars? No, excluding the odd bad year or two...

lostwrench1 · January 2017

qbrozen said:

lostwrench1 said:
1954 Pontiac.
the yellow one in the center, correct?

On the driver's side of the '61 Valiant.

tjc78 · January 2017

The black Lincoln looks to be a 64 Continental sedan.

fintail · January 2017

I've always been of the opinion (as I was far too young to know, if born at all) that there were a few years in the bad part of the malaise era when a nice well kept 60s car would be better than a new car. I think my dad might have steered me to that thought, as he avoided a lot of mid 70s to late 80s material, and acted cautiously when he needed a modern car. But in the past 25 years or so, cars have become pretty solid - even with the MB hiccup

I once saw a claim that a 3 year old car today is better than a new car was 10 years ago - and this claim was made at least 10-15 years ago. It's likely true to some degree.

stickguy · January 2017

I believe it Fin. Our RDX is 4.5 YO now (about 38K on the clock). Pretty much just like when it was new, other than less traction on the tires (but hey, easily correctable!) And that 2013 is way better than most anything new in 2003.

Mr_Shiftright · January 2017

Better oils, fuel injection, better air filtration, and precision (robotic) assembly all help.

Contrary to the popular myth, you really don't want a "hand-built" car.

tmart · January 2017

My 2000 Lexus ES 300, with <90k miles still running strong.

andys120 · January 2017

Find the newest...oldest

stickguy · January 2017

White 64 chevelle bottom left. Top view only.

XKE 3 door in middle looks out of place.

fintail · January 2017

Wow, the E-type sticks out like a sore thumb. At quick glance I see a 55 Mercury as oldest, maybe a 65 Ford sedan and a same year Chevelle as newest, and a couple other maybe-65 cars, but I probably missed some.

andys120 said:

Find the newest...oldest

qbrozen · January 2017

lostwrench1 said:

qbrozen said:

lostwrench1 said:
1954 Pontiac.
the yellow one in the center, correct?
On the driver's side of the '61 Valiant.

Yup.

BUT, good call on the '61 Valiant. That's the one I kept thinking "Lark" but couldn't quite match it up.

Mr_Shiftright · January 2017

fintail said:
Wow, the E-type sticks out like a sore thumb. At quick glance I see a 55 Mercury as oldest, maybe a 65 Ford sedan and a same year Chevelle as newest, and a couple other maybe-65 cars, but I probably missed some.

andys120 said:

Find the newest...oldest

Interesting you mention that---back then (unlike today), climbing out of an American car into a "foreign car" (the general public didn't call them "imports") was like entering an entirely different universe. The gauges, the ergonomics--everything was indeed truly "foreign". They looked different, smelled different, sounded different, and, usually, didn't run very well for very long

. The Germans had the best reputation, by far.

Michaell · January 2017

That's Yosemite, correct?

Mr_Shiftright · January 2017

Yosemite isn't a make of car Michael

Michaell · January 2017

Mr_Shiftright said:
Yosemite isn't a make of car Michael

Was talking about the big rock in the background. Grew up in CA, but never went.

Mr_Shiftright · January 2017

It's a beautiful place, indeed. I think that parking lot is for the Lodge, not the Ahwahnee (or whatever they call it now).

Mystery car pix

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