Mystery car pix

andys120 · April 2021

There is a decade difference between the oldest/newest, can you name them?

bhill2 · April 2021

Well, I'll take a crack at it. In the second row up, between the '57 Ford and the '56 Chevy, is (I believe) a '52 Chevy Bel Air. In the third row, the car on the left is a '62 Buick. Do I get the brass ring?

tmart · April 2021

54 Mercury, 55/56 Ford, several 57 Fords

imidazol97 · April 2021

1962 Fairlane 500 in middle of first row.

sda · April 2021

andys120 said:

53 Mercury? Certainly not a looker.

imidazol97 · April 2021

1963 Buick convertible left edge, I think...

!953 Chevrolet right above the 53 Mercury. I wonder what colors the 53 Mercury wore? Those may
have made it more appealing along with its being a hardtop.

The 55 Mercury 2-dr sedan next to the Buick isn't stylish either.

kyfdx · April 2021

A friend of mine (big MG guy) bought an MGC roadster.. but, he dumped it pretty quickly.

magnette · April 2021

Sorry - I had a couple of days where I couldn't get time to be online due to a problem here, now resolved, so I left you to it with my French posting.

I did wonder about the large convertible beyond the Ami break and the GS which I assumed was American but couldn't work out..

I knew two people who had MGC's when they were just old cars and at that time they were worth little more than an equivalent MGB - both sold them when they need work as not worth any money and the suspension and sundry other oily bits were completely different from the MGB - they even had a different Bulkhead / Firewall and the parts were not then available from BL who dumped support for the car when it didn't sell.

It was only when various people (Costin and a few others) started selling MGBs with Rover V8s installed - which fitted way better than the MGC six ever did - that BL came to their senses and made the MGBGT V8 although you could only get it as a GT here - they didn't offer it as a roadster.

Costin sold quite a few roadsters even after BL were selling MGBV8GTs

And of course BL also didn't install the Rover V8 in the new Triumph Stag - instead creating a new V8 by making it from a new casting based on the Dolomite four with loads of problems with overheating etc - meanwhile the Rover V8 was giving no trouble by comparison ....

The BL management were incredibly short sighted in so many ways - they threw away half the country's car industry really... They all got knighthoods though so they must have made donations to the right people

fintail · April 2021

In the latest pic, a Dauphine beside the Fairlane, and on the other side of the Fairlane, a 60 Buick flat top (LeSabre?), similar to Judge Reinhold's car in 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High'.

Regarding the 54 Mercury hardtop, I've always thought the 52-54 Fomoco hardtops were relatively nice looking.

fintail · April 2021

That big convertible appears to be a ~67 GM product, perhaps a big Pontiac.

It's funny how bad BL cars were then and now, but are a guilty pleasure for many.

magnette said:
Sorry - I had a couple of days where I couldn't get time to be online due to a problem here, now resolved, so I left you to it with my French posting.

I did wonder about the large convertible beyond the Ami break and the GS which I assumed was American but couldn't work out..

The BL management were incredibly short sighted in so many ways - they threw away half the country's car industry really... They all got knighthoods though so they must have made donations to the right people

magnette · April 2021

Yes - BL cars had a lot of character in some ways but they never had coherent overall plan and rationalisation of the ranges was never seen as a priority.

Morris and Austin people didn't like it when they merged into BMC

BMC people didn't like the Triumph / Rover people when the whole lot became BL.

My MG Magnette is clearly based on the same body shell as the Wolseley 4/44 (which was launched a few months earlier) but they had different bonnets and front panels.

The Magnette had a grille that lifted with the bonnet but the Wolseley had a fixed grille and a smaller, flatter bonnet.

They did the same thing when they developed the Wolseley 1500 and the similar Riley One Point Five.
Riley had lift up bonnet and grille and Wolseley had a fixed grille - as did the Morris and Austin models which were assembled in Australia and which also used the same basic body shell - so the front wings, bonnet hinges bonnet panels and even the front panels were different.

BL was propped up for years when they had developed technically brilliant vehicles in the early 60's like the Mini, ADO16 etc but instead of modifying them to keep up with the competition they just left them to soldier on for years

fintail · April 2021

I've always found the landcrab cars to be interesting, and for some reason, the Princess and tarted up Vanden Plas cars are kind of a guilty pleasuere.

All of that badge engineering sounds like what the US domestics did for ages, but the US had a working/middle class with amazing purchasing power, and a huge population, along with little competition. Times changed.

magnette said:
Yes - BL cars had a lot of character in some ways but they never had coherent overall plan and rationalisation of the ranges was never seen as a priority.

Morris and Austin people didn't like it when they merged into BMC

BMC people didn't like the Triumph / Rover people when the whole lot became BL.

My MG Magnette is clearly based on the same body shell as the Wolseley 4/44 (which was launched a few months earlier) but they had different bonnets and front panels.

The Magnette had a grille that lifted with the bonnet but the Wolseley had a fixed grille and a smaller, flatter bonnet.

They did the same thing when they developed the Wolseley 1500 and the similar Riley One Point Five.
Riley had lift up bonnet and grille and Wolseley had a fixed grille - as did the Morris and Austin models which were assembled in Australia and which also used the same basic body shell - so the front wings, bonnet hinges bonnet panels and even the front panels were different.

BL was propped up for years when they had developed technically brilliant vehicles in the early 60's like the Mini, ADO16 etc but instead of modifying them to keep up with the competition they just left them to soldier on for years

andys120 · April 2021

LA 1970s> ( to expand:

Michaell · April 2021

andys120 said:
LA 1970s> ( to expand:

I'm surprised at the number of 50's models there are in that picture.

Though, my dad drove a '56 Ford pickup until 1970, when he bought the C10 that he kept until he passed away 5 years ago.

stickguy · April 2021

Well, they didn’t rust away out there.

Brown rambler wagon toward the right new to a VW bus

Michaell · April 2021

stickguy said:
Well, they didn’t rust away out there.

Brown rambler wagon toward the right new to a VW bus

Not 100% true - the salt air for areas near the ocean caused some rusting to occur. I think my dad's Chevy had a little bit over the 40+ years he owned the truck.

fintail · April 2021

Maybe actually mid 60s? I see nothing past 1966 in the pic, and although the best coast had lots of old cars, it had new ones, too.

Middle row looks like a 55 Olds 4 door HT, to the left of it a white Mustang , to the left of that looks like a 56 Mercury 4 door HT, and to the left of that maybe a 63-64 Fleetwood.

stickguy · April 2021

Well, that’s limited number of card, and mostly just surface corrosion, right?

You haven’t lived until you see the rot on cars from the NE rust areas that used lots of salt. Frames on op to the roof, and back then, 3-5 years was enough to be shot.

Michaell · April 2021

stickguy said:
Well, that’s limited number of card, and mostly just surface corrosion, right?

You haven’t lived until you see the rot on cars from the NE rust areas that used lots of salt. Frames on op to the roof, and back then, 3-5 years was enough to be shot.

I've spent enough time back east to know what the tin worm can do to cars. My dad grew up in upstate NY, and I remember trips there when I was a kid and was astounded at the amount of rust on the cars there.

fintail · April 2021

Heck, on my upper midwest trip a couple years back, I was astounded at the amount of 10-15 year old pickups that were just shot, huge rust patches that were effectively beyond redemption. Also very few cars older than 15 years old on the road.

ab348 · April 2021

fintail said:
Maybe actually mid 60s? I see nothing past 1966 in the pic, and although the best coast had lots of old cars, it had new ones, too.

The Huntington Library and Hemmings where it appeared last week say 1966.

tmart · April 2021

I’ll take the 55/56 tutone Ford.

andys120 · April 2021

Yup, I'd say the newest cars are ca. 1966, the oldest ca. 1955, just over a decade. The gold '66 (?)Caprice next to the red VW is from the second year of that model. IIRC. I think the Caprice was originally an optioned Two-door that overlaid the Impala, replaced it around 1970.

ab348 · April 2021

This is from Curacao in the Caribbean, mid-1960s. Interesting mix. Expands a bit.

Lostwrench3 · April 2021

Wow, on the right, a 1957 De Soto Firesweep.
2nd to the left of it, a 1959 Dodge.

magnette · April 2021

On Curacao
Maroon and grey Ford Zodiac mk II beyond the blue Fiat 600

I think the white car beyond Zodiac is a Plymouth circa 1966 ?

Past that there is another import - white - which I think might be a Hillman Super Minx as below although I am going on hte shape of the side lights and screen really

fintail · April 2021

I think the white Plymouth is a 63, on the other side of the British Ford, maybe a Fiat 600. I concur re: Super Minx.

andys120 · April 2021

tmart · April 2021

It’s a Caddy, but no idea of the year.

bhill2 · April 2021

It's a '57 (Chrysler) Imperial. Bought in an area where quad headlights were not yet legal.

tmart · April 2021

I’ll retract the Caddy and agree with bhill2.

andys120 · April 2021

Yup, it's a 1957 Imperial (no Chrysler badging) ; apparently most Imperial buyers chose the four headlight version.

andys120 · April 2021

Yes, it's postwar (MY 1956)>

magnette · April 2021

I think the extra chrome makes this a BMW 502 but it was similar to the 501 in most regards.

I don't know who did the convertible version, but it was also a 4-door saloon and 2 door coupe

magnette · April 2021

Further to that BMW 502 the usual convertibles were made by Bauer at least later, so perhaps it was them?

magnette · April 2021

Model year 1966

sda · April 2021

Looks like a Rambler with a Fiat grille.

texases · April 2021

Argentinean Rambler descendent?

andys120 · April 2021

magnette said:
Further to that BMW 502 the usual convertibles were made by Bauer at least later, so perhaps it was them?

That's right, the pictured car is by Baur. I have not been able to find any info about them on coachbuild.com, google or Wikipedia but I do know they built a convertible version of the BMW 2002 and the E36.

andys120 · April 2021

magnette said:
Model year 1966

I think that's a version of the AMC Rambler built by an Argentine subsidiary

texases · April 2021

Specifically, that would be the IKA-Renault Torino, made from '66 to '81:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IKA-Renault_Torino

sda · April 2021

texases said:
Specifically, that would be the IKA-Renault Torino, made from '66 to '81:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IKA-Renault_Torino

Interesting history on the AMC based Torino which ended up being produced by Renault. I suspect Renault turned its nose up on the car and didn't want much to do with it.

magnette · April 2021

Yes - Its an IKA Torino 300 starting off as an AMC / Rambler based car and evolving into a Renault being made in Argentina into 1981

IKA started earlier than that - the K stood for Kaiser, and they built versions of the Manhattan and later a car using old body dies for the Alfa Romeo 1900 of the mid fifties
Also built Jeeps under licence

magnette · April 2021

This is from Arnay le Duc, in the Cote D'Or France - early 50's

Should expand quite well...

Lostwrench3 · April 2021

1950 Buick.

fintail · April 2021

Left of the Buick, maybe a ~1950 Humber, appears to have a GB ID plate. Right of the Humber, a Jaguar Mark VII (I assume, given the age of the surrounding cars).

In the distance parked on the street, oncoming, a tall prewar looking car at the end of the block, 2CV in front of it. Others, safe to guess Peugeot, Renault, Simca here and there

andys120 · April 2021

I think the car parked on the extreme lower right is a Peugeot 202. Most of them had a spare on rear trunklid but not all. Or perhaps it is obscured by the writing .

magnette · April 2021

The Humber is a Super Snipe mark III - the plate indicates it was registered in 1950 (in Rotherham, Yorkshire)
As Fin also spotted its a Mk VII Jag too.

That Peugeot on the right which is obscured by the logo for the postcard is a 203 - the 202 is a bit smaller but would indeed have had a rear mounted spare wheel but it isn't one of those.

magnette · April 2021

There are a couple of early Simca Arondes - one to the left of the little panel van - I thought that would have been a Renault, but the site I got this from (which was for Simca photos) suggested an Opel van which would have been rare in immediate post war France perhaps

The car to the left of the Humber is a Renault Fregate - it was virtually never seen here and I have only seen them in France but I always think of them as the size of a Morris Oxford, but it is actually much larger - it is not much narrower than the Humber!

magnette · April 2021

Not ideal in city traffic....

Mystery car pix

Comments

Helpful Tools

Most popular vehicles

Your Privacy