Autopuzzle without an answer

[Ray B.]

I know it's supposed to be 1952, but is it THIS ?

[GTO48]

Austin Healey Sprite Mk.2

Negative.

[GTO48]

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?

[GTO48]

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. 

[Ultra]

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.

;)

[Ray B.]

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 ?

[Ray B.]

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.

[GTO48]

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?

[Ray B.]

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.

[Otto Puzzell]

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

[GTO48]

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? 

[max]

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.

[Ray B.]

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.

[Ray B.]

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.

[hugo90]

Here is another, this one with actual '55 Chevy grille.

[faksta]

I'm thinking of an AC Ace...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AC_Ace

[Tuckeroo]

More on that aforementioned Alfa-Cadillac:

http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2009/05/12/brazilian-prototypes-and-other-oddities/

[Ray B.]

Yep, but we had it before Hemmings at Autopuzzles.com  ;D
(as many of the cars they show, from this same brazilian site).

[D-type]

Folks,

GTO48 has clearly stated it's a 1954 car, so there's no point in posting later models is there?

[Otto Puzzell]

The front fenders sure look the part.

[Ray B.]

Er... do you guys know that there is often a "macro" function on you camera, for close ups such as this one?

[D-type]

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.

[Otto Puzzell]

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.

[GTO48]

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.

[D-type]

Yes,
Definitely 1964 not 1954 for a Mk II Sprite