The "Help me identify this car" thread

Can anyone ID this nose?

From

Ferrari Restoration - Barkaways - Ferrari Restoration
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Iso Grifo.



https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=A0LEVi307OFWyVwAPeIPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTByMjB0aG5zBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--?p=Iso+Grifo&fr=yfp-t-360&hspart=att&hsimp=yhs-att_001

 

That's what I thought but not quite right?

 

what is this (or more accurately what is this based on)?
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

damn you're good.

 

This one from earlier in the thread remains a mystery. It has eaten up hours (probably days) of my life already...

-Ed
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I'm resuming the hunt... by farming the question out to a British car club in Alabama.

Many of these guys have British sports cars from that era, so fingers crossed someone recognises it. I'll let you know.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

There are bits of it that remind me of cars penned by Raymond Loewy, but I'm sure that's yet another train of thought that will yield no answers.

-Ed

 

This is a British kit car. Fibreglass. Gullwing doors. At first I thought it was an Israeli Sabra.

 

From what I can see I'd say it's definitely fibreglass, but what makes you think it's British?

I'm not suggesting that it's not - I'm just curious.

-Ed

 

That was a big cottage industry there in the late 50's into the 60's.

 

Frogeye sprite rear bumpers on the front. Note the line at the back of the hood to the "scuttle", as the British call it. Looks like a Sprite kit, but on all the Sebring variant type kits they use the same door, this one has been stretched to the rear wheel opening. Then there are those odd wheel covers, they don't match anything.

 

Location (London), time (1960s, fewer imports as it was very expensive then), and overall design has a very British feel to it.

It may well be that it's someone's one-off rebody, but we'll see if anyone in the British car club can identify it as something from a manufacturer. It's a slim chance, but we'll see.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

One of my Mom's friends might have found the windscreen. Picture attached is a 1961 Facel Vega HK500.

Also, they suggest that the lines across the top behind the windscreen are more likely to be a removable hardtop roof rather than evidence of gullwing doors. The British are extremely fond of convertible sports cars, even if the weather seems at odds with such a preference.

Rear fender is very reminiscent of the Sunbeam Alpine even if the rest of the car isn't right for that. What's the likelihood that the whole car is pieced together from many others? Should we be tracking down elements rather than looking for a matching finished product?

All the best,
Andrew.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

The Facel HK500 windscreen is roughly the size of the entire car in question (not literally). Big difference in scale.

 

Andrew, I think you're on the right track, but the scale of the Facel Vega seems off for the car you're trying to identify. The Facel windshield looks too large compared to the car on the London street, but the 'basket handle' windshield is a good place to start. The car on the street looks to be a very small vehicle compared to the Facel vega. Without seeing more of course it's difficult, but they appear to be totally different sizes.

 

OK. As the Facel Vega HK500 is French, are there any smaller French cars with forward-leaning A-pillars?

All the best,
Andrew.

 

my sentiments as well

 

FWIW - there are some (below) who think that this is a variant of the Arnott-Climax / Arnott body, given the similarities of the windshield/A-pillar and gullwing doors.

COACHBUILD.com ? View topic - U.B.C. - Unidentified Blue Coupe. Help needed.
Image Unavailable, Please Login