Make of Car?

[mick2me 3,033]

Here is the image sent by Picture The Past.

Anyone can play about with it.

[notty ash 370]

The more I look at the image the more I think how wierd it is. Apart from a few styling features it looks nothing like any car of 1950. No mudguards or wings, bizarre headlights projecting out from the bonnet, wrap-over side windows (?)

It looks very home-made to me. Maybe it is one of those concept cars, guessing wrongly what cars would look like in the future - or from the film set of a cheap British 1950s prequel to "Back To The Future"

[Paulus 541]

It's a strange beast!! The side windows look curved/rolled over, but the front screen's flat, like an old 30's car. my guess is it's a home made job, no designer worth his talent would put those windows in, & the line of the body doesn't flow properley on to the front end, like 2 bits 'stuck together'..........................

[Cliff Ton 10,458]

The combination of light/exposure/reflections make the front near-side wing look odd, and make the front wheel arch appear to be cropped.

If you add or invent the missing portion of the front wing, it gives a better idea of how the thing might have looked. And notice the two sidelights or indicators (small black dots) on the top of the wings.

[Compo 10,328]

They must surely be sidelights. An early 1950s car would have trafficators, not indicators.

The radiator looks very much like a Jaguar XK120/50?

[Trevor S 2,003]

Still reckon that the roof is fabric and those folds at the tops of the side windows are typical of soft top convertibles.

It appears to have only one windscreen wiper and operating from the bottom of the windscreen as well.

[DAVIDW 1,681]

I know two things about cars " Nothing & b****r" all.

I wish someone would come up with an answer it's been "driving" me nuts (no pun intended) . Even if it's to say it's definitely some sort of home made kit car .

I think I have exhausted all the search terms on Google images that I can think of and discovered plenty of old cars I had never heard of before , like Tatra and Berkeley and Noble and Goggomobile etc etc. but haven't seen anything like that one yet .

This morning even found myself not following the plot whilst watching an old b/w 50s film . Instead I was looking at the cars in the street scenes , hoping I would see something similar in the background !

Even the "hood" if it is a convertible doesn't really make any sense , unless its similar to a 2CV type roof cover .

Looking at the image I sort of assumed it's like todays hatch backs but it more than likely has some sort of boot on it given the era .

The only other answer is its a prototype De Lorean from Back To The Future !

[Trevor S 2,003]

Davidw,

The 2CV style fabric roof or even the Allard style as in Post # 23. Many vehicles had a similar sealing system on theor convertibles when the hood was up.

You made me laugh when you described how you were looking at all the old cars in movies instead of the movie itself. Exactly the same in this house as well as my daughter and sons houses.

Would someone please find out what it is????????????

When we find out what it is, we are all going to say "I thought about that" or "Why didn't I see that".

[poohbear 1,360]

Looks like an Austin extreme right above the bollard with integral headlight which would put the picture early fifties...as for the mystery I would say a ford special with an Anglia flat windscreen.The body looks typical early glassfibre with the moulded depression for the door handle and lousy design..The bonnet grille reminds me of early American specials that often had large grilles for the supercharger.

That's my two penn'orth anyway...

[DAVIDW 1,681]

Another car I had never heard of ....Mochet . Not our "baby" but on the images below there is a beige model that has the same square windscreen and a similar soft top.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?um=1&client=tablet-android-samsung&hl=en&v=200400000&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=86RrUcHiMqOn0QW7yIDwDg&q=mochet&oq=mochet&gs_l=img.12..0l10.52292.59127.0.60202.20.20.0.0.0.1.259.2267.5j11j2.18.0.ernk_ir.1.0.0...1.1.9.img.evuPMZXqSDo&biw=1280&bih=800&sei=saVrUbOiCqGm0QWUxIH4AQ

Also check out Opperman Unicar , another weird make.

[Trevor S 2,003]

The AC 2litre of that era has an almost identical headlight and front end but the windows and doors negate it.

[notty ash 370]

New cars were very difficult to get hold of immediately after the War due to the government's export drive. It is most likely a new body on an old chassis - in the days when almost all cars had proper chassis and there was no MOT, so a plentiful supply.

Alternatively, it could be an early prototype of one of these

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volvo_480

[poohbear 1,360]

New cars were very difficult to get hold of immediately after the War due to the government's export drive.

I remember my old man telling me that he put his name down for A CAR in 1951...no choice if you wanted one quickly.His old Austin that he had pre war fetched more part exchanged in '51 than when it was brand new.His new motor was a Wolseley 680.... NTV 351 and cost £1000.8s 1d

[Paulus 541]

Looks like an Austin extreme right above the bollard with integral headlight which would put the picture early fifties...as for the mystery I would say a ford special with an Anglia flat windscreen.The body looks typical early glassfibre with the moulded depression for the door handle and lousy design..The bonnet grille reminds me of early American specials that often had large grilles for the supercharger.

That's my two penn'orth anyway...

Reckon that's close to the truth of it, I agree with Poohbear, especially the flat screen, that dates it pre-50's

[Trevor S 2,003]

We will identify it!!!

Meanwhile, the attached link is a site that I found during my search for the make of this car. The Wikipedia site offers not only cars but ships, motorcycles and trains introduced during a particular year. Just click on a year in the year line in the top right hand box to see what was introduced that year and, as you advance or retreat in years, so will the directory. Click on a year in the years and you will be afforded a whole host of sub-categories relevant to the chosen year: -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Vehicles_introduced_in_1947

Another one that caters just for the car buffs is the link below. This lists a whole range of cars, all their models per year complete with photographs: -

http://show.histomobile.com/

[DAVIDW 1,681]

Deja vu ...all over again ! Whats this car in St.Anns ?

Headlamps are similar to "our" car and looks like the same soft roof and square windscreen

http://www.picturethepast.org.uk/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;NTGM018637&pos=17&action=zoom&id=100231

[fch782c 144]

http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/classic-car-images/1930s-morris.jpg

This I think was a Morris 10/4 Series 2 circa 1930

[DAVIDW 1,681]

http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/classic-car-images/1930s-morris.jpg

This I think was a Morris 10/4 Series 2 circa 1930

Probably is that . Everything looks the same as that Morris apart from the radiator grill which doesn't seem to be as wide on the St. Anns car .

[RGR 218]

Here's a Photo of two old morris car's,one a 1936 Morris 10/4 series2 and the other a Morris 8 serie's 2.

[RGR 218]

Morris 8.

[DAVIDW 1,681]

Of those two lovely looking cars the 10 is defo the nearest . Makes you wonder what use the wing mirror is , in that position and wonder what car was the first to have them adjacent to the side screens as standard nowadays ?

[Compo 10,328]

My dad hired a Morris 8 for a couple of days in the 1950s. Lost a hubcap at Wragby level crossing and had to run down the line for it!

[StephenFord 866]

Of those two lovely looking cars the 10 is defo the nearest . Makes you wonder what use the wing mirror is , in that position and wonder what car was the first to have them adjacent to the side screens as standard nowadays ?

Well, I guess the idea was to have the wing mirrors on the wings! Actually, I think doorside mirrors are a fairly recent invention. I had a 1964 Wolseley 1500 that also had wing rather than door mirrors. And do you remember hand signals - an essential part of the driving test when I passed in 1967?

[Stan 386]

Deja vu ...all over again ! Whats this car in St.Anns ?

Headlamps are similar to "our" car and looks like the same soft roof and square windscreen

http://www.picturethepast.org.uk/frontend.php?keywords=Ref_No_increment;EQUALS;NTGM018637&pos=17&action=zoom&id=100231

I know you will all consider me a stupid old g*t but this photo found by chance by DavidW brought the most amazing and wonderful and pleasant memories flooding back! At the very spot where the car is was parked a brand new car (a ford of some type). It was owned by a man called Pegg who had lost his `pegs ' in the war and so must have been able in 1948 to be entitled to one. All of our `gang' collected around said motor as it was quite a rare thing in an area like the one in the photo. I turned up not to admire the car with my mates,but rather a glimpse of his very pretty daughter,(turned up nose and long plaits!) They later got a council house on Glaidale Drive,Bilborough(again not far from us in 1951).

As to new cars,I had an aunt who was a midwife and cycled everywhere for her duties. Again in about 1948 she was the proud user of a brand new Ford. I still remember the new car smell! So there you have the type of people who were allowed new cars.

As to poo`s fathers old Austin (was it an Austin 10?) I reckon my old man bought it! Always breaking down!

Finally as poohbear mentioned the sum of 1000 pounds for his father`s car in 1951 let me tell you of the 1st new car I owned which also cost me 1000 pounds in 1973 ! The Citroen GS was the car of the year that year. I had the choice of that or a 3 series BMW direct from the factory for ,-yes you guessed it 1000 pounds all tax free to RAF people in Germany,so I reckon that was a good buy compared to the 1951 of pooh`s. There I have tied all your points in ,thanks mainly to Davidw`s photo.

[Merthyr Imp 729]

Morris 8.

We had one of these (all black though) when I was about 9 or 10, to be precise in the 1959 to early 1961 period.

Note the rearward opening front doors which was the norm in those days, and regarding hand signals, etc, there were no indicators of the modern type - remember those little orange semaphore arms that cars had? In this photo you can see it in its slot between the two door windows. It makes you wonder just how visible those were. As I remember they had a little bulb inside, but the light must have been hardly visible in daylight and surely not very noticeable at night either.

One thing I remember my dad saying is that the headlights were very feeble and were on a 6-volt system instead of the 12 volts of more up to date cars. Does that make sense?

But I went on two long holidays with my dad in our Morris 8. In 1959 during the long hot summer that year we visited North Wales, travelling via Manchester where we visited the Belle Vue Zoo and what would now be called theme park. Then it was on to Liverpool where I remember a trip on the ferry to Birkenhead and back before we went through the Mersey Tunnel and worked our way along the coast as far as the other side of the Menai Bridge before turning for home. We stayed bed & breakfast along the way, although the only place I can remember staying is Colwyn Bay.

The following year we decided on a camping holiday and took a tent in the car, heading for the south coast. I'm not sure if it was the first night, but I remember a camp site on the hill overlooking Portsmouth. We also visited Southampton, having a look at the docks but weren't lucky enough to see any of the great ocean liners. We did have a boat trip to Cowes on the Isle of Wight, where we saw the Saunders-Roe works and the mothballed Princess flying boat:

http://1000aircraftphotos.com/Transports/Princess.htm

After making our way along the coast it was around Hastings when it began to rain, which continued for two days and literally put a dampener on things. I remember at one camp site the Morris wouldn't start, probably due to the rain having got under the bonnet (on the spark plugs?). But we managed a ride on the Romney, Hythe & Dymnchurch Railway before making our way up to London for my first visit there (aged 10). I remember seeing the trolleybus wires there on our way through the suburbs - they ran in London for another year or two. We then had a tour round the sights of London in the car, and although the rain had stopped by then I think we'd had enough of the tent as I remember we spent the last night in the car somewhere in a lane end off the old A1 to the north of London.

Well, none of this is much to do with Notts, but a few memories prompted by the picture of the car!