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Puzzles, Games and Name That Car => Solved AutoPuzzles => 2019 => Topic started by: nicanary on January 27, 2019, 07:17:20 AM

Title: Solved NIC#1035 - Hillman Aero Minx Special (rebodied)
Post by: nicanary on January 27, 2019, 07:17:20 AM
What is this car supposed to be ? (I have no proof )
Title: Re: NIC#1035
Post by: nicanary on February 10, 2019, 06:40:07 AM
Experts?
Title: Re: NIC#1035
Post by: tobytwirl on February 10, 2019, 06:51:14 AM
A Jaguar Special?
Title: Re: NIC#1035
Post by: nicanary on February 10, 2019, 07:40:24 AM
Quote from: tobytwirl on February 10, 2019, 06:51:14 AM
A Jaguar Special?

No.
Title: Re: NIC#1035
Post by: gilescooperuk on February 10, 2019, 08:55:23 AM
Based on an MG
Title: Re: NIC#1035
Post by: nicanary on February 10, 2019, 09:05:50 AM
Quote from: gilescooperuk on February 10, 2019, 08:55:23 AM
Based on an MG

No.
Title: Re: NIC#1035
Post by: tobytwirl on February 10, 2019, 12:26:51 PM
Is there a British car underneath that shell?
Title: Re: NIC#1035
Post by: nicanary on February 10, 2019, 02:29:06 PM
Quote from: tobytwirl on February 10, 2019, 12:26:51 PM
Is there a British car underneath that shell?

Yes.
Title: Re: NIC#1035
Post by: tobytwirl on February 10, 2019, 02:51:39 PM
Big drum brakes ....Alvis?
Title: Re: NIC#1035
Post by: nicanary on February 10, 2019, 03:32:33 PM
Quote from: tobytwirl on February 10, 2019, 02:51:39 PM
Big drum brakes ....Alvis?

No.
Title: Re: NIC#1035
Post by: tobytwirl on February 10, 2019, 06:07:47 PM
Pre-war?
Title: Re: NIC#1035
Post by: Allan L on February 11, 2019, 03:44:20 AM
Three-eared wheelnuts, so perhaps mid-60s Sunbeam Alpine?
Title: Re: NIC#1035
Post by: nicanary on February 11, 2019, 05:54:45 AM
Quote from: tobytwirl on February 10, 2019, 06:07:47 PM
Pre-war?

Yes, the base is pre-war. It's not based on a Sunbeam Alpine, although parts of the car could be post-war.
Title: Re: NIC#1035
Post by: tobytwirl on February 11, 2019, 07:41:27 AM
Riley base?
Title: Re: NIC#1035
Post by: nicanary on February 11, 2019, 08:18:53 AM
Quote from: tobytwirl on February 11, 2019, 07:41:27 AM
Riley base?

No.
Title: Re: NIC#1035
Post by: tobytwirl on February 12, 2019, 07:52:13 AM
Lagonda base?
Title: Re: NIC#1035
Post by: nicanary on February 12, 2019, 08:13:44 AM
Quote from: tobytwirl on February 12, 2019, 07:52:13 AM
Lagonda base?

No.
Title: Re: NIC#1035
Post by: Allan L on February 12, 2019, 08:49:55 AM
I find it hard to understand the size of it.
Scaling from the wheels gives a wheelbase around 6'10"- 7'4" depending on whether they are 15" or 16" wheels. The wheel/brake size looks a bit Austin Healey 100, and that's got a  7'6" w/b, but this is supposed to be pre-war in origin.
Title: Re: NIC#1035
Post by: nicanary on February 12, 2019, 01:12:52 PM
Quote from: Allan L on February 12, 2019, 08:49:55 AM
I find it hard to understand the size of it.
Scaling from the wheels gives a wheelbase around 6'10"- 7'4" depending on whether they are 15" or 16" wheels. The wheel/brake size looks a bit Austin Healey 100, and that's got a  7'6" w/b, but this is supposed to be pre-war in origin.

I need to stress that I have no proof that this car is what it is claimed to be. I found the puzzle photo on a dedicated website which featured various known examples of this make and model. I can only assume that the founder of the site knew what he or she was talking about.

The base is a fairly well-known pre-war car and clearly a more modern body has been mated - I don't know how much of the chassis and running gear is pre-war.
Title: Re: NIC#1035
Post by: tobytwirl on February 12, 2019, 05:14:51 PM
Would those wheels and big brakes be typically associated with the pre-war car?
Title: Re: NIC#1035
Post by: nicanary on February 12, 2019, 05:18:57 PM
Quote from: tobytwirl on February 12, 2019, 05:14:51 PM
Would those wheels and big brakes be typically associated with the pre-war car?

It would invariably have had wire wheels, but those drums look way bigger than those originally fitted.
Title: Re: NIC#1035
Post by: tobytwirl on February 12, 2019, 05:50:42 PM
Time to go down the list, does it begin with A-K?
Title: Re: NIC#1035
Post by: tobytwirl on February 12, 2019, 05:57:30 PM
Is it over 2 litres?
Title: Re: NIC#1035
Post by: nicanary on February 13, 2019, 04:22:12 AM
The base car does indeed come within the parameter of A-K, and the engine size is less than 2-litres,
Title: Re: NIC#1035
Post by: targhediferro on February 13, 2019, 05:20:46 AM
Hillman?
Title: Re: NIC#1035
Post by: nicanary on February 13, 2019, 06:54:28 AM
Quote from: targhediferro on February 13, 2019, 05:20:46 AM
Hillman?

YES! I'm going to LOCK this spuzzle for targhediferro. What model of Hillman ?
Title: Re: NIC#1035
Post by: targhediferro on February 13, 2019, 07:18:46 AM
Wow...I've gone fishing, and I got it!  Now, assuming the base is from the second half of the thirties, Hillman produced three cars, the Minx, the Fourteen and the Eighty.  This car doesn't seem big enough to be a Fourteen or a Eighty, so I suppose it could be Hillman Minx based.
Title: Re: NIC#1035
Post by: nicanary on February 13, 2019, 08:16:58 AM
Quote from: targhediferro on February 13, 2019, 07:18:46 AM
Wow...I've gone fishing, and I got it!  Now, assuming the base is from the second half of the thirties, Hillman produced three cars, the Minx, the Fourteen and the Eighty.  This car doesn't seem big enough to be a Fourteen or a Eighty, so I suppose it could be Hillman Minx based.

And we have a winner. It's captioned as a Hillman Aero Minx Special. That's all I know, but since the image is taken from a site which specialises in that make and model I have assumed that the curator of the site knows what he's talking about.

You got lucky with your fishing!
Title: Re: Solved NIC#1035 - Hillman Aero Minx Special (rebodied)
Post by: targhediferro on February 13, 2019, 08:31:21 AM
Thank you....so we don't know who's responsible for this hard transformation?
Title: Re: Solved NIC#1035 - Hillman Aero Minx Special (rebodied)
Post by: Allan L on February 13, 2019, 12:02:03 PM
There's nothing visible that would be on an Aero Minx. If as you say it's on a dedicated website then I'd like the person who put it up to give us an explanation. Here (with luck) is a normal Aero Minx for comparison:
(https://www.classiccarcatalogue.com/H/hillman%201935%20aero-minx.jpg)
Title: Re: Solved NIC#1035 - Hillman Aero Minx Special (rebodied)
Post by: nicanary on February 13, 2019, 01:17:13 PM
I have e-mailed the registrar asking for information.
Title: Re: Solved NIC#1035 - Hillman Aero Minx Special (rebodied)
Post by: nicanary on February 13, 2019, 02:51:14 PM
I have had a hearteningly fast reply, which makes a change from most enquiries of this sort. The guy is called Tim Green, and all he can tell me is that he was sent the image by a third party who reckoned it is an Aero Minx rebodied in the 1960s. That third party has never followed up with further information. So we know no more.

I wonder if it simply a Minx engine fitted into a proprietary chassis, such as a Convair, with another off-the-shelf body on top.