AutoPuzzles - The Internet's Museum of Rare Cars!
Puzzles, Games and Name That Car => The Brand-New 2025 Vehicle Identification Board => Topic started by: GTO48 on February 26, 2007, 08:12:57 PM
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This will be a puzzle of a different sort. One where you tell me the answer because I don't know it. A while back I saw what I remember to be an Austin Healey that had a near mirror image of a 1955 Chevrolet front end. Fenders, grill, parklights etc. The whole front looked just like a '55 Chevy. For the life of me, I can't remember what the car was. I'm thinking that we can maybe get an ID point here since even Karn didn't know the answer when I asked.
It could be an Austin Healey, or maybe some other European two seater. I can't remember. What I do remember is that 1954 was the model year.
First one to post a pic of a european sports car that has all the features of a '55 Chevy front end gets it!
For reference only... Not that you need it, I'm posting a pic of a '55 Chevrolet.
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Auto Union 1000Sp?
(http://www.ritzsite.net/DKW1000SP/1964_DKW_1000_Sp_coupe_f3q.JPG)
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Not the auto union...
The one I'm thinking of had the "eyebrow" body line down the fender, same egg crate grill, half moon park lights, and the bumper was nearly spot on too. It was so close, that I thought when I saw it that Chevrolet might have stolen the design for the '55 from this car.
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:scratch: bump
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An altogether more useful car was the Austin-Healey 3000 which a friend fitted with a Chevrolet V8 engine.
The Chev engine is lighter than the BMC C series, has 50% more displacement and probably more horesepower per cc.
He said it made every other car feel as it it were powered by a wound-up rubber band :drive:
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Could it be a Swallow Doretti perhaps?
(http://www.doretti.co.uk/Images/sd-1261-600.jpg)
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:shakehead:
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Talbot Lago T26 Grand Sport:
(http://www.motorbase.com/pictures/contributions/20000830/std_1953_Talbot_Lago_Grand_Sport-mwb-.jpg)
Salmson 2300S:
(http://www.leblogauto.com/images/salmson2300s1954.jpg)
(http://www.salmson.fr/fr/salmson/images/2300lemans.jpg)
Peerless GT:
(http://www.peerless-gt.co.uk/Racing/Images/Ronald%20Cresey%20USA3.jpg)
Austin-Healey Sprite Mk2:
(http://www.mgcars.org.uk/midgetspriteclub/surrey/images1/sdr98-2.jpg)
Alvis-Healey G Type:
(http://www.motorbase.com/pictures/nec_1998/std_healey-g-type.jpg)
Grégoire (Chapron):
(http://www.histomobile.com/histomob/internet/528/730501.jpg)
Ford/Facel/Simca Comète:
(http://simcafacel.levillage.org/IMG/jpg/comete-courrioux.jpg)
Fiat 1100 TV Transformabile:
(http://www.philseed.com/images/fiat-1100-tv.jpg)
Ferrari 166 Barchetta:
(http://www.crailville.com/coach/various/vari3/barchetta.jpg)
Edwards (USA):
(http://96trees.com/edwards/54eameri.jpg)
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Ooooo... the Edwards... that's always a great Autopuzzle. Looks like it could be so many things that it isn't.
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Ooooo... the Edwards... that's always a great Autopuzzle. Looks like it could be so many things that it isn't.
And I thought Edwards was an Air Force base ;D
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I thought he played Joker (or whatever Maverick's sidekick's name was) in Top Gun! (or maybe he ran for VP last time!)
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I thought he played Joker (or whatever Maverick's sidekick's name was) in Top Gun! (or maybe he ran for VP last time!)
Maverick's sidekick was Goose...
And none of the above are what we're looking for.
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How about this one? I know it's not 1954, and, sorry, I don't know how to post a pic (otherwise I might have contributed a few puzzles).
http://www.dyna.co.za/cars/1960_Borgward_P-100.jpg
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How about this one? I know it's not 1954, and, sorry, I don't know how to post a pic (otherwise I might have contributed a few puzzles).
http://www.dyna.co.za/cars/1960_Borgward_P-100.jpg
If yo had posted that pic with this text:
[img]http://www.dyna.co.za/cars/1960_Borgward_P-100.jpg[/img]
This is what would have resulted:
(http://www.dyna.co.za/cars/1960_Borgward_P-100.jpg)
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Sorry, not the Borgward.
SeaLion is getting warm I think with the Ferarri Barchetta. I remember searching for an Austin Healey autopuzzle on this forum and saw the barchetta, and then saw the mystery car in question.
Again, this car was a near mirror image. You'll know it when you see it, and I can't for the life of me find it again.
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Apparently, the '55 Chevy grille was inspired by a Ferrari...legend has it that Harley Earl liked the grille so much that he decided to incorporate it on the '55, but it wasn't popular with the public, so it was abandoned after that year. So, the Barchetta would be a logical choice...
dan
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What I meant was SeaLion was getting close as far as searching. The Barchetta is not the car I'm looking for. But I ran across a barchetta site at the time I saw the car in question.
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(http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b147/ChrisMcGTO04/anibellybumpgz8pv8.gif)
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Skoda Felicia?
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Skoda_felicia_1962_front.jpg/796px-Skoda_felicia_1962_front.jpg
or maybe the Borgward Isabella convertible ?
http://autowp.ru/pictures/borgward_isabella_coupe_convertible/autowp.ru_borgward_isabella_coupe_convertible_1.jpg
the only one that´s got AH proportions and a kind of chevy snoot is the Swallow Doretti
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The Skoda is probably the closest, but negative on all of the above.
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Perhaps it was a Nash Healey from 1951?
(http://www.amxfiles.com/amcpix/healy_51.jpg)
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Austin Healey Sprite Mk.2
(http://local.aaca.org/southflorida/photogallery/pg1965AustinHealeySpriteAtwell.jpg)
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Austin Healey Sprite Mk.2
(http://local.aaca.org/southflorida/photogallery/pg1965AustinHealeySpriteAtwell.jpg)
This is a 1965. GTO48 remembered the car as a 1954.
Hmmm.
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Is this it?
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It is not this. This is not a 1954 model: :lmao:
(http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/213/789conceptkr8.jpg)
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I know it's supposed to be 1952, but is it THIS ?
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Austin Healey Sprite Mk.2
(http://local.aaca.org/southflorida/photogallery/pg1965AustinHealeySpriteAtwell.jpg)
Negative.
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Is this it?
This one is tough, because it looks like someone is customizing the body a bit. It does seem to have the ridgeline on the fender of a 55 chev. What was this car originally?
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I know it's supposed to be 1952, but is it THIS ?
Not the Muntz Jet.
Sorry guys for the delay in responses... It's been a while since I've been on. Thanks to Ultra (I think that was you anyway) who PM'ed me on another forum to remind me about it.
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I know it's supposed to be 1952, but is it THIS ?
Not the Muntz Jet.
Sorry guys for the delay in responses... It's been a while since I've been on. Thanks to Ultra (I think that was you anyway) who PM'ed me on another forum to remind me about it.
It was me.
;)
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I know it's supposed to be 1952, but is it THIS ?
Not the Muntz Jet.
Sorry guys for the delay in responses... It's been a while since I've been on. Thanks to Ultra (I think that was you anyway) who PM'ed me on another forum to remind me about it.
That what it said on the spanish website where I found it (for what it's worth). Of course the Jet's front is quite different. I haven't checked it all, but you can notice that it's the same windshield, and the bidy seems the same. So? A customized Jet ?
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GTO, this IS a Muntz Jet. I'd be happier if it had solved your puzzle, but in the meantime, compare it with this one: the fenders and maybe the hood are different, but all the rest is the same, to the dual searchlights I've seen on many Jets. On the red spanish car I can even read "Muntz" above the grille I believe.
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Ray that little red Spanish car is probably the closest I've seen to what it is I'm looking for. The headlights are nearly spot on. The grill and bumper are really close. Maybe we could try a different year just to be safe? Obviously its a Muntz, but what variant?
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Well, on Google anyway, I typed "Muntz jet" and that I didn't found any other like that, whatever the year. This is the address of the site where I found it, but there are not many more informations about it:
http://www.motorpasion.com/2007/01/23-fotos-del-museo-de-la-automocion-de-salamanca
It is on a museum in Salamanca. I'm adding a pic of what it says about the car. In was imported in Spain in 1961 only by a US trooper or officer. My guess is the first owner bought a 1952 Jet, then was seduced by the design of the Ferraris (in 1954) or the Chevrolets, in 1955, and had the front end customized.
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Is this it?
This one is tough, because it looks like someone is customizing the body a bit. It does seem to have the ridgeline on the fender of a 55 chev. What was this car originally?
It was originally a big Healey
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Well, on Google anyway, I typed "Muntz jet" and that I didn't found any other like that, whatever the year. This is the address of the site where I found it, but there are not many more informations about it:
http://www.motorpasion.com/2007/01/23-fotos-del-museo-de-la-automocion-de-salamanca
It is on a museum in Salamanca. I'm adding a pic of what it says about the car. In was imported in Spain in 1961 only by a US trooper or officer. My guess is the first owner bought a 1952 Jet, then was seduced by the design of the Ferraris (in 1954) or the Chevrolets, in 1955, and had the front end customized.
The more I look at this car, the more convinced I am that this is the right path...
The problem is in that I remember seeing a pic of the passenger's side, and it was a black and white photo, but clearly a light color. Not red. Definitely a 54 model year. This would put aside the customization... Is there any data available that shows that Mad Man Muntz exported a few of these to the European market?
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Less exotic but very pretty all the same, how about the Series 1 or 2 Sunbeam Alpine of 1958 - 1961 approx? http://www.saoca.org/photogallery/BB%20berghult01.jpg
At least as far as UK manufacturers were concerned, this Chevy inspired look wasn't produced until 1955/6 (Ford Consul, Zephyr and Zodiac, Singer Gazelle and Sunbeam Alpine, all available in convertible form). Even GM's scaled-down UK Chevy, the Vauxhall Victor (not a convertible) came in in 1957.
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The more I look at this car, the more convinced I am that this is the right path...
The problem is in that I remember seeing a pic of the passenger's side, and it was a black and white photo, but clearly a light color. Not red. Definitely a 54 model year. This would put aside the customization... Is there any data available that shows that Mad Man Muntz exported a few of these to the European market?
I've sent an e-mail to the Muntz Jet Club with pictures of this car and asked if they had amy information about it.
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I don't know what ever happened to GTO, but I have another clue for him; the Holden FE, whose front, quite logically, is very much like the 1955 Chevy's.
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Here is another, this one with actual '55 Chevy grille.
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I'm thinking of an AC Ace...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_Ace
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More on that aforementioned Alfa-Cadillac:
http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2009/05/12/brazilian-prototypes-and-other-oddities/
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Yep, but we had it before Hemmings at Autopuzzles.com ;D
(as many of the cars they show, from this same brazilian site).
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Folks,
GTO48 has clearly stated it's a 1954 car, so there's no point in posting later models is there?
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The front fenders sure look the part.
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Er... do you guys know that there is often a "macro" function on you camera, for close ups such as this one?
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The front fenders sure look the part.
Do you mean with the "cutout" behind the wheel?
If so, the immediate choice is the Aston Martin DB3S, but it never had a front like a '55 Chev. I think there may have been a Cooper (-Bristol or-MG), Tojeiro or a Pegaso with similar cutout.
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Do you mean with the "cutout" behind the wheel?
If so, the immediate choice is the Aston Martin DB3S, but it never had a front like a '55 Chev. I think there may have been a Cooper (-Bristol or-MG), Tojeiro or a Pegaso with similar cutout.
No, I mean the shape at the front, around the headlight; and the spear' that trails back behind it.
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This is definitely an old one, and my memory is fading as I get older for sure, but after seeing this pic of a Austin Healey Sprite mk2, I think those of you who guessed that are correct. I have to believe that the website had shown the car must have made a typographical error when they stated the year. 1964 instead of 1954. Tell me that from that angle, it doesn't look like a Mini-Me version of a '55 Chevrolet... This isn't the photo that I saw originally, but the quality is about the same.
(http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1289/1336124995_cfd08f89d7.jpg)
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Yes,
Definitely 1964 not 1954 for a Mk II Sprite
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And of course in standard spec it would also have had chrome bumpers with overriders.
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This has been an ongoing puzzle for 3 years now but something interesting and pertinent showed up on two different websites this past week which could be the car that GTO originally described.
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Hello, try he DKW Junior
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Can you show us how it looks somehow like a '55 Chevrolet?
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GTO48 hasn't been here for five months. Moving to the Black Hole
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Yeah, I know this is in the black hole, but I'm surprised that no one mention the Opel Rekord. The Caravan model (my 2nd car) was a mini-Nomad...well...sorta.
Check 'em out:
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I think That this one will never be solved... based as it is not on a picture but on a vague remembrance by one of us. It's not a true puzzle anyway.
But I received a PM by sixtee5cuda about this interesting Muntz Jet with a different front that I proposed as an answer earlier in this topic.
I'm going to sum this in a story and will post it in the Features Stories and Photos section.
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.....and have a look at the Shamrock, Spike Rhiando's Irish adventure!
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Moved from Black Hole