Help identifying a strange little car
Discussion
What surprises me most is that nobody can identify the little blue coupe on the other "mystery car" thread - it's in the UK and you'd think that would make it easier.
This one's in France. How many members on PH could honestly claim to be experts on 1950s low volume (quite probably one-off) French sports cars? We've been through this time and again. Just as you wouldn't expect a Frenchman to recognise a one-off British special from that period, so it's unlikely that a British car enthusiast would recognise a one-off French homebuilt.
There's no doubt in my mind that this is a homebuilt. The design and quality are not those of a carrosserie or even a low-volume sports car maker. The best bet is for someone to track down a French internet site specialising in 1950s one-offs and hope someone on that site will be interested enough to respond. Time to put this one to bed IMHO.........
This one's in France. How many members on PH could honestly claim to be experts on 1950s low volume (quite probably one-off) French sports cars? We've been through this time and again. Just as you wouldn't expect a Frenchman to recognise a one-off British special from that period, so it's unlikely that a British car enthusiast would recognise a one-off French homebuilt.
There's no doubt in my mind that this is a homebuilt. The design and quality are not those of a carrosserie or even a low-volume sports car maker. The best bet is for someone to track down a French internet site specialising in 1950s one-offs and hope someone on that site will be interested enough to respond. Time to put this one to bed IMHO.........
nicanary said:
What surprises me most is that nobody can identify the little blue coupe on the other "mystery car" thread - it's in the UK and you'd think that would make it easier.
This one's in France. How many members on PH could honestly claim to be experts on 1950s low volume (quite probably one-off) French sports cars? We've been through this time and again. Just as you wouldn't expect a Frenchman to recognise a one-off British special from that period, so it's unlikely that a British car enthusiast would recognise a one-off French homebuilt.
There's no doubt in my mind that this is a homebuilt. The design and quality are not those of a carrosserie or even a low-volume sports car maker. The best bet is for someone to track down a French internet site specialising in 1950s one-offs and hope someone on that site will be interested enough to respond. Time to put this one to bed IMHO.........
Exactly. The biggest classic car beards have been pouring over this for years now. People are now just turning up and proclaiming "it's a Saab/Volvo/Aston/whatever mate". No! This one's in France. How many members on PH could honestly claim to be experts on 1950s low volume (quite probably one-off) French sports cars? We've been through this time and again. Just as you wouldn't expect a Frenchman to recognise a one-off British special from that period, so it's unlikely that a British car enthusiast would recognise a one-off French homebuilt.
There's no doubt in my mind that this is a homebuilt. The design and quality are not those of a carrosserie or even a low-volume sports car maker. The best bet is for someone to track down a French internet site specialising in 1950s one-offs and hope someone on that site will be interested enough to respond. Time to put this one to bed IMHO.........
This is one of those conundrums that will never be resolved...
The car will be a one-off, a prototype, or a garage special. If it was anything in serious production, it would have been recognised by someone by now.
My best guess is some kind of Zagato special - only because the 1949/1950 Fiat 1100 Zagato has some very similar lines (although clearly not the correct car). Or, it could be a VW/Porsche aero test mule, which they were doing a lot of at the time. The one below is the famous design, but there will be have been plenty of variations made in between that aren't documented.
The Fiat Zagato:
The VW/Porsche Type 64:
The car will be a one-off, a prototype, or a garage special. If it was anything in serious production, it would have been recognised by someone by now.
My best guess is some kind of Zagato special - only because the 1949/1950 Fiat 1100 Zagato has some very similar lines (although clearly not the correct car). Or, it could be a VW/Porsche aero test mule, which they were doing a lot of at the time. The one below is the famous design, but there will be have been plenty of variations made in between that aren't documented.
The Fiat Zagato:
The VW/Porsche Type 64:
It was me that posted it just now.
https://www.artcurial.com/en/lot-1960-db-hbr5-coac...
I tried a bit of google around the founders to find if they did some oddities but nothing obvious.
https://www.artcurial.com/en/lot-1960-db-hbr5-coac...
I tried a bit of google around the founders to find if they did some oddities but nothing obvious.
While I doubt it have any connections, I think it does have resemblance to this Volkswagen Kubelwagen that was re-bodied by Widerøe in Oslo, Norway. I believed they made a small series 8 such cars (probably with some variations between them; I've only seen this one) in the early '50s.
galro said:
While I doubt it have any connections, I think it does have resemblance to this Volkswagen Kubelwagen that was re-bodied by Widerøe in Oslo, Norway. I believed they made a small series 8 such cars (probably with some variations between them; I've only seen this one) in the early '50s.
Closest yet I think (door frame shape isn't quite right though).
jammy-git said:
galro said:
While I doubt it have any connections, I think it does have resemblance to this Volkswagen Kubelwagen that was re-bodied by Widerøe in Oslo, Norway. I believed they made a small series 8 such cars (probably with some variations between them; I've only seen this one) in the early '50s.
Closest yet I think (door frame shape isn't quite right though).
Gassing Station | Classic Cars and Yesterday's Heroes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff