Mystery car pix

transamsd73 · December 2020

The pic with the T-Bird getting washed; the T Bird is a 64-66.

transamsd73 · December 2020

Nice Cat! Also a red 67 Camaro in front of the mansion. A, as Tom and Ray Magliozzi, would say, Dodge Dartra, 64 or 5? Is that a gold Caddy in front of the Dart? Can only see a little fender and one wheel.

andys120 · December 2020

fintail said:
Gaggle of Beetles near the Porsche makes me think there might be a repair shop just out of view. Gas prices look like just before the first wave of inflation.

Those prices are even more than we pay now. Must be during or after the oil embargo of '73.

ab348 · December 2020

andys120 said:

Those prices are even more than we pay now. Must be during or after the oil embargo of '73.

Those prices are what I remember them being prior to the 1973 embargo. US gas prices were remarkably stable for the decade prior to that.

omarman · December 2020

Yep. And 2 years before that was an executive order for "wage and price controls." Inflation had already become a huge problem by then. Before the oil embargo I remember the "meat boycott" due to rising price of beef.

edit to add that there was similar consumer outrage over rising cost of coffee around '76 or so? I don't remember the exact time frame but my girl friend was a coffee drinker and I was not. That was funny to me until it stopped being funny. She decided to quit drinking coffee and start being unhappy with everything else.

I learned to make coffee for her but never did have a taste for it myself. Many years later my wife was always surprised that I was happy to get Starbucks for her but not myself. I learned a lot in the 70s. Good times.

kyfdx · December 2020

omarman said:
Yep. And 2 years before that was an executive order for "wage and price controls." Inflation had already become a huge problem by then. Before the oil embargo I remember the "meat boycott" due to rising price of beef.

edit to add that there was similar consumer outrage over rising cost of coffee around '76 or so? I don't remember the exact time frame but my girl friend was a coffee drinker and I was not. That was funny to me until it stopped being funny. She decided to quit drinking coffee and start being unhappy with everything else.

I learned to make coffee for her but never did have a taste for it myself. Many years later my wife was always surprised that I was happy to get Starbucks for her but not myself. I learned a lot in the 70s. Good times.

Whip
Inflation
Now

WIN!

omarman · December 2020

I remember that guy!
"I'm a Ford not a Lincoln."

andys120 · December 2020

I misread those price signs because i didn't notice the decimal points! So regular was $29.9/ gal (not $2.99!) Gas prices are now ten times higher!

fintail · December 2020

I've posted some malls in the past, can't recall if I posted this. Peak of malaise, December 1982, Rolling Acres mall in Akron OH:

(should zoom nicely)

stickguy · December 2020

those are my days! So many classics. some quick spots: Pacer wagon, Mustang II hatch, and a gen (III?) Celica hatch left front (with the chrome B pillar handle). Middle left next to a K5 Blazer is a Datsun 510 wagon.

tjc78 · December 2020

Chevettes, Kcars, couple full size Chevys.

For me the Grand Wagoneer just out of the picture and the 78 ish Continental are the winners. Probably wouldn’t mind the full size Blazer either. I bet those bring good money in nice shape.

magnette · December 2020

petrol here is about £ 1.15 per LITRE I think although I haven't filled up for weeks what with the ongoing lockdown. It was over £1.20 a while back

I remember in 1973 it hit £ 0.65 per gallon - just as I started driving - and it reached £1.00 per gallon in 1977 or 78.

tjc78 · December 2020

Wouldn’t mind the Bronco either parked next to what I believe is a Cutlass

stickguy · December 2020

VW Westphalia camper middle far left. and toward the front, a Hornet sportabout wagon.

omarman · December 2020

Next to the Mustang II hatch looks like a '78 Dodge Monaco wagon parked in front of a VW Rabbit. Looking past the back of that Monaco wagon looks like a '77 Grand Prix.

That Pacer wagon really stands out even in that crowded lot. Maybe a '75 or so Dodge Colt parked near it.

fintail · December 2020

In the mall pic, my eyes are somehow drawn to the Ford EXP kind of at center right.

magnette · December 2020

At JC Penney store there's a Spitfire just above the dark panel van in the left foreground
above the Spitfire a couple of rows is a Chevrolet Chevette - one with two tone paint so presumably a deluxe or whatever and next above that the large GM truck is dwarfing a Datsun wagon - 180? The Datsun has a Lincoln on the other side.
Jeep Wagoneer right foreground

EDIT - also found a Pacer wagon beyond the rear of the grey Minivan on the right

omarman · December 2020

Center bottom of the pic can just see the roofline of a '73 Mustang coupe.

Michaell · December 2020

magnette said:
petrol here is about £ 1.15 per LITRE I think although I haven't filled up for weeks what with the ongoing lockdown. It was over £1.20 a while back

I remember in 1973 it hit £ 0.65 per gallon - just as I started driving - and it reached £1.00 per gallon in 1977 or 78.

And that was when 1 British pound equaled $2.80 USD.

omarman · December 2020

Top right below the Lincoln. Chevy Luv?

ab348 · December 2020

Funny that an Akron pic pops up. A couple of hours ago I went out to clear last night "big winter storm" (we got about 6"-7") and grabbed a hat off the shelf in the hall closet which was a World Golf Chanpionship one I picked up at a store years ago that was held at Firestone C.C. in Akron. I've never actually been there but bought it b/c it was cheap and a nice-looking hat. Seeing the city name on it the thought popped into my head: does Akron smell like rubber? Or do they even make tires there any more?

ab348 · December 2020

Pontiac Ventura sedan in that Akron pic, a very rare bird now.

magnette · December 2020

To be fair we pay a lot for petrol but our typical cars are tailored to use less too

magnette · December 2020

Still at Penneys in the far right corner there is a tree.
Hiding unsuccessfully behind it is a Lincoln, and to it's right is an old car - is that a sixties Rambler?

texases · December 2020

magnette said:
To be fair we pay a lot for petrol but our typical cars are tailored to use less too

And you drive a lot less. From what I can find, Americans drive about 14,000 miles/year, folks in the UK about 7,000.

Michaell · December 2020

texases said:

magnette said:
To be fair we pay a lot for petrol but our typical cars are tailored to use less too
And you drive a lot less. From what I can find, Americans drive about 14,000 miles/year, folks in the UK about 7,000.

I always thought a Polo sized vehicle would be about right for the UK.

Not a lot of long road trips - would most folks take the train?

fintail · December 2020

You also likely have better road infrastructure via those taxes. Some areas in the US aren't really first world in terms of road conditions. Due to suburban/housing development patterns, subsidized cheap gas prices are a socio-economic necessity here.

magnette said:
To be fair we pay a lot for petrol but our typical cars are tailored to use less too

fintail · December 2020

I think the old car next to the Lincoln might be a ~63 Mercury Comet.

I also spot another UK import. To the left of that Lincoln/Mercury pair, kind of in the middle, is a then late-model big Ford Bronco, with a rear mounted spare. Just to the left of that is an apparent 79+ Eldorado with a person standing by it, and "above" that appears to be a Series II XJ6.

magnette said:
Still at Penneys in the far right corner there is a tree.
Hiding unsuccessfully behind it is a Lincoln, and to it's right is an old car - is that a sixties Rambler?

fintail · December 2020

Akron makes me think of the line "yeah dad, but they're from Akron" - someone might know it.

I also see a couple Andre special R body Mopars (one a 5th Avenue) in the pic.

omarman · December 2020

1980 car of the year Chevy Citation about the 3rd row up from the Pacer.
Rusty, European standards of public behavior are very different...

magnette · December 2020

Yes, living here and being over 60 I get free travel on the Tube, buses and the surface rail network in the whole of London ( my partner doesn't as she isn't old enough) although now we are in lockdown that is only after 9am, to make space for commuters on the trains - we aren't going into town anyway at the moment to avoid infection....

In London the car is less use really, but we do use it to go out into the countryside as well

Our roads aren't maintained well compared with anywhere I've been to in Europe either.

sda · December 2020

I remember riding the train and tube to get to the American Community School in Knightsbridge in 1974-75. Never had an issue, easy to navigate. If I was lucky dad would drive me to Wimbledon where his office was and I would go from there.

fintail · December 2020

I knew someone would get it. Seriously underrated/undeservedly hated movie.

omarman said:
1980 car of the year Chevy Citation about the 3rd row up from the Pacer.
Rusty, European standards of public behavior are very different...

fintail · December 2020

The public transit there no doubt consumes a lot of that tax revenue. Transit on this side of the pond can be threadbare outside of the major cities - some places try, but it's hard when sprawl is a way of life.

The US has problems with aging bridges in particular.

magnette said:
Yes, living here and being over 60 I get free travel on the Tube, buses and the surface rail network in the whole of London ( my partner doesn't as she isn't old enough) although now we are in lockdown that is only after 9am, to make space for commuters on the trains - we aren't going into town anyway at the moment to avoid infection....

In London the car is less use really, but we do use it to go out into the countryside as well

Our roads aren't maintained well compared with anywhere I've been to in Europe either.

andys120 · December 2020

Lostwrench3 · December 2020

Good one, Andy.

ab348 · December 2020

A Chinese knockoff that will sadly be immune to any sort of copyright infringement or other intellectual property legal action from GM due the the Chinese government's dim view of such pesky things.

fintail · December 2020

Hey, at least they aren't only copying the Germans now. Gotta branch out.

GM is so in bed with the CCP for its operations there, they probably won't lift a finger. Much more profitable to let it be.

andys120 · December 2020

Yup, it is a Chinese made copy of a '58 Corvette with a hybrid powerplant known as the Songsan Dolphin SS. From that angle it looks like a pretty good copy but from other angles not so good.

The overhangs are too long, the sidescoop is poorly shaped and the hardtop is all wrong and of course the interior is all wrong.

stickguy · December 2020

GM should just license them the design as long as they only sell it in China. win win.

Lostwrench3 · December 2020

Ah yes, Winslow, Arizona. Left the motel there to continue my journey Westward. Got into the car, turned the key, and the engine spun twice as fast than normal. Oh great, broken timing chain. Lucky to have had a garage begin the replacement that day. Exposed timing chain revealed no breakage. The teeth on the top gear were sheared off. They were made of plastic! GM 350 engine.
That day I was "Standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona.............."

fintail · December 2020

Rolling Acres again, Christmas rush 1985 (should zoom well):

Michaell · December 2020

Renault Alliance ... and I see several Chevy Monzas...

stickguy · December 2020

Dodge Colt center front, next to a slope back Olds. and at very bottom, top half of a Hornet Sportabout.

up by the Camper, front view of a late 70s Corolla hatch (the almost a wagon style)

and a Z car front right. Maybe a 280?

ab348 · December 2020

A pair (at least) of Monza Towne Coupes.

fintail · December 2020

To relate to my period family fleet, I see at least 3 Tempos and a 5 door Omni/Horizon in that lot.

tjc78 · December 2020

We were almost all Mopar in the 80s until the mid 90s. Made sense my uncle ran a Dodge dealer.

andys120 · December 2020

Lots of Plymouths!

magnette · December 2020

At Rolling Acres it is a bit smalll for me - Word Press won't expand for me on Safari for some reason

However I see Walt from Breaking Bad has brought his Winnebago to the Mall - presumably smaller than the one he uses in Arizona.

Apart from the AMC Alliance Renault 9's there is a LeCar at about two o'clock midfield

Liked the SongSan Dolphin too - we got Japanese oddities like the Mitsuoka Viewt which is a Nissan Micra / March as a Jag Mk 2 Tribute Band... Only as Grey Imports though.

Oddly, the Nissan Figaro which has been a really popular grey import here will soon be outlawed in London when our emission rules change - the new zone from mid March will encompass the whole of Greater London within the North Circular road - so about a ten mile radius from the centre - and will be prohibitively expensive for older diesels and petrol cars which are not compliant.

My Magnette is exempt as a Historic Vehicle but basically the zone will charge £12 per day for cars from say the eighties onwards without the appropriate filters....

Our Fiesta is compliant anyway so I'm not too worried about it

fintail · December 2020

LeCar is a 4 door model, which is quite rare on this side of the pond.

My state just discontinued emissions testing - I think it was determined the age of the vehicle fleet made testing a waste of resources, and the testing was pretty lax anyway. Of course, the fintail is also exempt as it predates even the most primitive smog pumps by several years.

Could someone in London just register their car elsewhere? That's a trick sometimes seen here, especially back in the day. I recall a cousin registered their car at my mom's small town address to avoid the more expensive Puget Sound metro registration fees. Another plus to my recent move, the cost of my 2021 registration will be about 25% of 2020.

magnette said:
At Rolling Acres it is a bit smalll for me - Word Press won't expand for me on Safari for some reason

However I see Walt from Breaking Bad has brought his Winnebago to the Mall - presumably smaller than the one he uses in Arizona.

Apart from the AMC Alliance Renault 9's there is a LeCar at about two o'clock midfield

Liked the SongSan Dolphin too - we got Japanese oddities like the Mitsuoka Viewt which is a Nissan Micra / March as a Jag Mk 2 Tribute Band... Only as Grey Imports though.

Oddly, the Nissan Figaro which has been a really popular grey import here will soon be outlawed in London when our emission rules change - the new zone from mid March will encompass the whole of Greater London within the North Circular road - so about a ten mile radius from the centre - and will be prohibitively expensive for older diesels and petrol cars which are not compliant.

My Magnette is exempt as a Historic Vehicle but basically the zone will charge £12 per day for cars from say the eighties onwards without the appropriate filters....

Our Fiesta is compliant anyway so I'm not too worried about it

Mystery car pix

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