What is it? (identifying obscure cars)

[Ian S]

Speaking of first cars, this was mine. It had a 4 speed automatic way back in '69 that shared 8 quarts of oil with the engine. I learned the hard way to always make sure the filter was on securely on this car when I didn't and had to clean up a huge mess on parents driveway. This car was fitted with large square headrests that you needed to flip down in order to tilt up the seat (yes, the entire seat) so as to let someone into or out of the back seat. Such a joy were those pesky US safety regs in those days.

Austin America in the US. Related to the original Mini with engine transmission sharing oil sump.

 

[Ian S]

IIRC, the Austin America also had the Hydrolastic suspension similar to the Austin/Morris Mini. It utilized a rubber spring and hydraulic connection between front and rear:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrolastic . British Motors Corp. pioneered transverse engine FWD for small low end cars. The Mini had tiny 145sr10" tires while the America had larger 12" wheels. I had a 1969 Mini in college and loved it. My mother had an Austin America. Sadly they required a lot of maintenance and rusted out badly.

 

[twestern]

Morris Minor 1100. My father bought one of those when we first came to the US in 1967. Judging by the bumpers in the photo, this is about the same vintage - about 1965-1968?

 

[Nunthewiser]

Right, Austin America...the Minor was a totally different RWD car (you were probably thinking correctly , but it was the Morris Mini that was the sister car to the America).

I only had mine for 3 months and realized that I would soon break the transmission...and bought an MGB instead. Much more fun. Yes, the hydrolastic was busted on mine , the CVs were already bad at 24K miles. Would have been a money pit but I flipped it and made about $300 IIRC. And the new owner cursed me a few months later.

 

[MBAustin]

Great thread! My dad would have loved it - he could identify nearly every car he saw to the make/model/year from the 1950s until 2006 when he died.

We also had a Rambler, I think it was a 1960 as I think they got it the same year my little sister was born. I seem to recall it had a pushbutton transmission, but that sounds weird just typing it.

I did help install the seatbelts in it - after Consumer Reports urged people to install them he ordered them in the mail and had his uncle's garage install them. But they couldn't figure out how to do the rear seats so they put me in the back to hold them in place then raised the lift to finish the job. I think I was 5.

 

[Nunthewiser]

he could identify nearly every car he saw to the make/model/year from the 1950s until 2006 when he died.

I could do this as a kid. Anything from about 1955 to 1970 I can get spot on. After that I got pretty good at imports for the next decade, but couldn't care less about American cars.

IRRC the Ambassodors had the pushbutton automatics, and Chryslers

 

[Rick_Head]

OK, I own one like the sedan, but it's a project. It should relatively easy.

A high school friend owned one like the roadster. It's the only one I've ever seen but it was factory produced, not a kit.

 

[Nunthewiser]

Daimler sp250 and hillman imp

 

[Rick_Head]

Imp is correct.

 

[Nunthewiser]

Not the Daimler, eh? Maybe a bit longer in the snout, but almost as ugly. I'm stumped- must be real obscure.

 

[Meadbh]

Speaking of first cars, this was mine. It had a 4 speed automatic way back in '69 that shared 8 quarts of oil with the engine. I learned the hard way to always make sure the filter was on securely on this car when I didn't and had to clean up a huge mess on parents driveway. This car was fitted with large square headrests that you needed to flip down in order to tilt up the seat (yes, the entire seat) so as to let someone into or out of the back seat. Such a joy were those pesky US safety regs in those days.

Austin A40 mk1?

http://www.simoncars.co.uk/ado8/ado8.html

 

[ls99]

Earlier posted the car type I learned to drive in, the photo did not show up.
Here is another try, clicking the photo will give you the name on Wiki.

 

[Nunthewiser]

I was going to say Moskvich, but that was off (I peeked- Moskvich was much more modern looking kind of like a 66 Plymouth). I might see one or two of these in Odessa at the in-laws in a couple of months. Where did you grow up, ls?

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Oh...I'll play. This was my first car. Still wish I had it!

 

[Nunthewiser]

Toyota Starlet ca 1980. My first new car was an 80 Tercel and I was considering Starlet but IIRC the waitlist was longer. Yes younger folks, there was a wait list for econo cars in 1980. If you wanted one then, consider yourself lucky if you paid MSRP for one.

Starlet was the small, conventional RWD car whereas Tercel (actually Corolla Tercel) was the first of Toyota's FWD cars.

Starlet currently seems to be in high demand for some sort of performance/race/souped up deal that I am too old to understand or GAS about....

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Toyota Starlet ca 1980. My first new car was an 80 Tercel and I was considering Starlet but IIRC the waitlist was longer. Yes youngerr folks, there was a wait list for econo cars in 1980.

Yep. Mine was an 81. I loved that it was RWD and had some of the best AC of any car I have ever had.

Apparently, they have a cult following. Outside of GREAT gas mileage, I am not sure WHY someone would want it.

 

[twestern]

I co-mangled the name of the car. It was an MG 1100 that my father had, not a Morris Minor 1100.

I looked for some pictures of this car from 1967'ish, and found this one. Unfortunately it's a little obscured by the usual snow in a Rochester, NY, winter.

 

[Meadbh]

I co-mangled the name of the car. It was an MG 1100 that my father had, not a Morris Minor 1100.

This is a Morris Minor 1100. They were very popular in Ireland in the early 1960s and several of my relatives drove this version.

Morris Minor 1100 Photo Gallery: Photo #01 out of 9, Image Size - 600 x 450 px

Here are all the versions:

Morris Minor 1100: Photo gallery, complete information about model ...

 

[twestern]

Yes, it looks like the last two shown in the "all the versions" link. Very different looking models so I can understand the confusion.

Although it's hard to tell in my snowy picture, but it has a split grill and a badge making it look more like the MG 1100 in this picture:

http://www.simoncars.co.uk/ado16/ado16g.html

 

[Andre1969]

Toyota Starlet ca 1980. My first new car was an 80 Tercel and I was considering Starlet but IIRC the waitlist was longer. Yes younger folks, there was a wait list for econo cars in 1980. If you wanted one then, consider yourself lucky if you paid MSRP for one.

Oh, I can believe it. I remember those times. Mom had a '75 LeMans coupe with a 350 that, if she was lucky, would get 15-16 mpg on the highway. In 1979 we moved to Southern MD, and she got homesick so we went up every other weekend to see Grandmom and Granddad, and it was racking up the miles fast. In February 1980, she bought a new Malibu with a 229 V6 that would get lower 20's on the highway...a pretty big deal at the time for a midsized car.

For Christmas 1979, I got a Matchbox race track for Christmas, and one of the cars was a blue Chevy Monza. Mom mentioned she was thinking of a Monza when she went car shopping, and that got me all excited. As a 9 year old, I don't think I realized that the Monza she got from the Chevy dealer would NOT be as cool as the race car version!

 

[Nunthewiser]

^I was never really that happy with the tercels mileage. It never got much above 30mpg whereas the 71 Corolla it replaced got 38, with a 1.2 liter engine.

 

[Rick_Head]

http://www.early-retirement.org/for...tifying-obscure-cars-78978-3.html#post1642711 couldn't edit.

Until someone started this thread, I never knew just how rare my friend's roadster was. For those of you who are interested read this.