What car is this?
Author
Discussion

mcdjl

Original Poster:

5,612 posts

212 months

Thursday 14th August
quotequote all
Rumour has it that the car has been in place since the 1970s but only visible when the river is low. Can anyone identify it?

I'll see if I can get better pictures next week

NDA

23,491 posts

242 months

Thursday 14th August
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Given phones are now waterproof - get in there! smile

MattsCar

1,820 posts

122 months

Thursday 14th August
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That square rear window is unusual.

Looks kind of American.

Hoofy

78,815 posts

299 months

Thursday 14th August
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Not sure but the sunroof looks like it's leaking a bit.

JeremyH5

1,776 posts

152 months

Thursday 14th August
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Simca 1100 hatchback?

BrettMRC

5,118 posts

177 months

Thursday 14th August
quotequote all
Pickup of some kind?

mcdjl

Original Poster:

5,612 posts

212 months

Thursday 14th August
quotequote all
Hoofy said:
Not sure but the sunroof looks like it's leaking a bit.
It's got two now!

JeremyH5

1,776 posts

152 months

Thursday 14th August
quotequote all
BrettMRC said:
Pickup of some kind?
The only double cab pickups I recall from the 70s is the Land Rover 110 with a pickup deck behind the two rows of seats. It isn’t one of those.
Mind you, that rumoured date is just a rumour; you’d expect something metal in water for 50 years would be rather more rusty that the vehicle in that image.

mcdjl

Original Poster:

5,612 posts

212 months

Thursday 14th August
quotequote all
JeremyH5 said:
Simca 1100 hatchback?
Windows look close but the bonnet looks wrong

JeremyH5

1,776 posts

152 months

Thursday 14th August
quotequote all
It has a utilitarian look about the design. I wondered about Lamborghini LM002 but the diagonal bottom corners of the side windows aren’t there. Those diagonal corners look very familiar but I can’t remember what they’re from.

CT05 Nose Cone

25,582 posts

244 months

Thursday 14th August
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Looks a bit like a Lancia Trevi, but can't see the door handles in the picture


BrettMRC

5,118 posts

177 months

Thursday 14th August
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Is it just me, or does it have a twin sun roof?

Hoofy

78,815 posts

299 months

Thursday 14th August
quotequote all
mcdjl said:
Hoofy said:
Not sure but the sunroof looks like it's leaking a bit.
It's got two now!
Oh yeah, didn't notice that!

MisanoPayments

527 posts

59 months

Thursday 14th August
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I thought I'd try Chat GPT for a laugh, but it struggled saying:

"It’s quite hard to identify this specific car from the photo — the water, reflections, and silt obscure most of the body shape, trim, and any visible badges.
Right now, I can make out what looks like a roofline with a rectangular window opening and possibly the outline of a hood or deck lid, but not enough detail to match it confidently to a make or model."

However, it then enhanced the image so I asked if it could have another go at guessing from its photo, and got this:

"Looking at the enhanced version, I can see the outline of the roof and what seems like a fairly straight-edged side profile with large, square-ish window openings.

That shape is more consistent with:

Older 4-door sedans from the 1970s–1990s (think Ford Cortina, Vauxhall Cavalier, Toyota Crown, etc.)
Boxy compact SUVs or station wagons from the same era (Jeep Cherokee XJ, Volvo 240 estate)

What I don’t see:

Curved roofline or sloped rear hatch (so likely not a coupe or modern hatchback)
Tall height-to-length ratio (so probably not a minivan)

If I had to narrow it down just from proportions, I’d lean toward an older mid-size sedan or estate/wagon from the late 70s to early 90s, possibly European or Japanese in origin.

If we wanted to be more certain, I could run an edge-detection and contour analysis on the enhanced image to highlight its body shape more clearly. That might give us a silhouette to compare against known car profiles."

You just can't get the staff these days!


Richard-390a0

2,983 posts

108 months

Thursday 14th August
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With the quarter light in the rear door I thought Ford Orion but the bottom edge of the window is wrong.

eldar

24,317 posts

213 months

Thursday 14th August
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I'd have expected it to be a bit greener after 50 years submerged. Looks too clean.

legless

1,892 posts

157 months

Thursday 14th August
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The odd thing for me is the combination of an older external roof seam and a B pillar so thick it could easily be from something modern

MDMA .

9,715 posts

118 months

Thursday 14th August
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VW Type 1/2 double cab pickup maybe? Rear windows look the same shape.

kambites

69,912 posts

238 months

Thursday 14th August
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MDMA . said:
VW Type 1/2 double cab pickup maybe? Rear windows look the same shape.
Look to me as if you can just about see a third side-window and a "D-pillar" running down at about a 45 degree angle.

Sebring440

2,822 posts

113 months

Thursday 14th August
quotequote all
eldar said:
I'd have expected it to be a bit greener after 50 years submerged. Looks too clean.
^^^This.^^^

It looks like it's been there for just a few months.