Another mystery car

[Stigproducts]

There's a chap called Norman Hawkes from Yorkshire who owns a TVR Trident who might know. He frequently wins the "whats the obscure car" quiz in Classic and Sportscar. If anyone knows his email address then send him the link to this thread; we'll have the answer in no time!

[Old Merc]

Please Norman ? that car is getting to me. I`ve spent ages Googling images etc etc,I would love to know what it is.

[eldar]

Not just you

[Johnspex]

Old Merc said:

This car is bugging me??? Harrington Alpine is the nearest,but I bet its not. Something tells me its a one off special.

Why are you asking if this car is bugging you? Don't you know if it's bugging you? Why the use of all the question marks?

[neh321]

I'm here but I'm afraid I don't know what it is!
The wheel-trims look like they're from an early 60s Sunbeam Rapier but similar ones were also fitted to glass-fibre specials like the Falcon Caribbean.

I'll try to find out what it is and post the answer if I'm successful.

One thing I would say though is that it definitely has no Maserati Ghibli body parts as this photo is from the early 1960s so pre-dates the Ghibli by 4 or 5 years.. Perhaps Giugiaro get some inspiration from it!

Hope to be back.

[neh321]

Just to add a comment: one of the reasons I so rarely visit Pistonheads is because of comments like the one above by johnspex or johnspecs or whatever his name was. There are plenty of them here and I find them unnecessary and offensive.

[AndrewCrown]

Chaps
Add me to the list... gosh this a puzzling one... but I have been finding some amazing things on my search...

Like Nicanary I thought this was some kind of Rene. Thank you to Banovsky.com for the pictures

This is so close... But I don't think it is

So are these...

I'm convinced it is French... and has a hint of Matra about it... But it could also be a ford side valve special... been through all of those.. e.g Microplas, Tornado, WSM etc...


I even found the a larger copy of thephoto... only good for more buses though...



I know I have seen those front wings somewhere before.. I'll keep searching...

[lowdrag]

I've got it! I've finally got it! But do I reveal the answer? Hmm, virtual pints please. And to think I see one every month. Yes, It's French alright.

[lowdrag]

Oh, dear, that has backfired on me! No it isn't what I thought, a JIDE. Door is all wrong, but the air scoop in the C-pillar made me think I had it. Virtual pints all round folks, and back to the drawing board.

[Old Merc]

neh321 said:

Just to add a comment: one of the reasons I so rarely visit Pistonheads is because of comments like the one above by johnspex or johnspecs or whatever his name was. There are plenty of them here and I find them unnecessary and offensive.

Thank you,I know what you mean. Posters can spend time researching,uploading images,trying to be helpful etc.Then get ridiculed by some prat with a snobby reply about your grammar or whatever.Lighten up this is supposed to be fun,not Mastermind.

[Dand E Lion]

The problem for me is this thread is producing a long list of cars that I now wish to acquire....

[piper]

Wow this is spooky and it is now driving me mad to. I have always loved specialist cars but I do not know this one at all, however as a car mad teenager in the early – mid 1970s I used to catch a coach from Colchester to Victoria Coach station just to go car spotting, in those days going to London was the only chance of seeing anything special, walking down the various streets and Mews off Victoria I used to spot all kinds of rare and exotic cars, I still have the lists I made all those years ago.

Anyway on the way to Victoria the coach used to go down a very wide London road, probably approx 4-5 miles from Victoria; right in the centre of this wide road were parked cars in two rows of two deep, I am 99% sure I saw this car on a number of occasions parked there. I remember this little light blue coupe which I could not identify and the distinctive GT40 style door tops that went into the roofline, I remember the frustration of not knowing what it was and it being too far to walk to from Victoria, especially as I did not know the area. Even as a teenager I knew all the specialist cars like the Ashley Sportiva etc. That car has remained in my memory all this years and seeing that picture bought it all back. I hope someone identifies it soon.

[Allan L]

Old Merc said:

neh321 said:

Just to add a comment: one of the reasons I so rarely visit Pistonheads is because of comments like the one above by johnspex or johnspecs or whatever his name was. There are plenty of them here and I find them unnecessary and offensive.

Thank you,I know what you mean. Posters can spend time researching,uploading images,trying to be helpful etc.Then get ridiculed by some prat with a snobby reply about your grammar or whatever.Lighten up this is supposed to be fun,not Mastermind.

Yes there does seem to be a lack of focus, unlike another place where neh321, nicanary and I (and perhaps others) are often found.
Mind you I could easily give offence if I got started on what is properly referred to as a "Classic" and why just being out of date doesn't make a car into one.

[nicanary]

I've been very selective regarding the forums I attend on PH. I learned the hard way.

Meanwhile our regular site is still "under maintenance" - is Hungary in a different time zone?

[Old Merc]

I thought I was on to a winner when I discovered the NSU Thurner has gullwing doors.
Nothing like it,back to the drawing (Google) board.

Now then does everyone agree that our mystery car DOES have gullwing doors.Pity those women are in the way.

[AndrewCrown]

Chaps
I have been through this... which does allow a search by door type..
http://www.allcarindex.com/

Been here
http://www.classic-kitcars.com/index.php

Couple of close calls: Sovam... But alas no..

[finlo]

AndrewCrown said:

Chaps
Add me to the list... gosh this a puzzling one... but I have been finding some amazing things on my search...

Like Nicanary I thought this was some kind of Rene. Thank you to Banovsky.com for the pictures

This is so close... But I don't think it is
y
So are these...

I'm convinced it is French... and has a hint of Matra about it... But it could also be a ford side valve special... been through all of those.. e.g Microplas, Tornado, WSM etc...


I even found the a larger copy of thephoto... only good for more buses though...



I know I have seen those front wings somewhere before.. I'll keep searching...

On the original batmobile?

[spyder dryver]

The windscreen reminds me of the rear screen fitted in a TR4 Surrey top...

[nicanary]

If it is indeed a British car, the windscreen could well be off an F-Series Vauxhall Victor.

The photo looks to me like the early 1860s. By then the trend for homebuilt GRP sports cars was on the wane - the Sprite/Midget and Spitfire had seen to that. Although the better makers, like Tornado and Falcon, produced shells of good quality, many of the lesser stuff was shockingly poor. What is interesting about the mystery car is that it looks so top-notch. It's clearly a quality shell with interesting styling features, which suggests something a bit more than just a special made in someone's garage.

You'd think that this car would be in the reference books.

[wibble cb]

is this actually a gullwing? Is it in fact like the Ford gt40, with heavily cut out roof sections attached to the doors?

Just a thought....