Mystery Car!
Today is January 20, a date notable for the births of Tom Baker – my favorite Dr. Who, Buzz Aldrin – the second man to set foot on the Moon, and Ed ‘Fireball’ Roberts – one of the founding members of NASCAR. It’s also notable for this year being a Friday, and that of course means Mystery Car!. Last week turned out to be a bit tougher than in the past, and I ascribe that to the one-off Toronado not being red. Somehow like bulls, you all are drawn to the color red and seem to be able to discern a make from only a snippet of body curve if it’s presented in a ruby hue.
Because of that, today’s car has been specially repainted from its original tomato soup color to a black forest green just for this contest. We spare no expense here at Hooniverse. I’m kidding of course, but I will say, and this is the only clue you get, the green paint you see is not original as all photos I have seen of the car, from when it was new, indicate that its color scheme, like that of most cars of the era, was black and white.
Okay, lets get this show on the road, as they are wont to say, and give it up for today’s Mystery Car!. Let me have the make, model, engine and year. Oh, and for anyone else who has a special day today, happy-whatever!
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<img src="http://philip.greenspun.com/images/pcd3448/34.jpg" width=550>
Not my guess, per se, just motivation for everyone else.
<img src="http://img3.hebus.com/hebus_2005/02/11/050211010903_94.gif">
It looks like KITT in that shot.
My first thought when i saw it was Jaguar or at least one of the pre-Triumph Standards. So far I cant prove it
I want to say Lancia Aurelia, but I can't pin down one that has those vents.
1952 Maverick Sportster. Modified Cadillac Eldorado frame with a 331 Cadillac engine.
<img src="http://www.kustomrama.com/images/thumb/f/fa/1952-maverick-sportster1.jpg/400px-1952-maverick-sportster1.jpg" width="500">
<img src="http://www.kustomrama.com/images/thumb/a/a9/1952-maverick-sportster3.jpg/400px-1952-maverick-sportster3.jpg" width="500">
More info here!
Now that's a schnozz! Congratulations
and that's how the game is played ladies and gentlemen… year, make, model AND engine.
Love the whitewalls.
I'm always surprised by the knowledge of the hooniversal commentariat. Congrats.
Well, the week is officially over!
Maybe we need some sort of secret ballot system, so those of us that wander in late can have a chance at guessing…
"2 Comments", in native Hoonitarian, means "SPOILER ALERT". Once you know that, it's just willpower if you want the challenge.
What is this "willpower" you speak of?
It took you a whole half hour? To perfectly nail a car I'd never known existed. I know when it's time to ride off into the sunset, in an NSX. Just amazing, and congratulations!
Thanks! I won't lie, it was fortuitous googling coupled with the equally unlikely good luck to be at home with time to do said googling. Usually I see these hours later, when the excitement is over. My hunches led me to look at Allard K3's, and on the first page was a photo of the Maverick that also had a Allard tag for some reason.
I was going to say that. Good job, HycoSpeed!
Excellent work, HycoSpeed, and here's a little background on this particular car. It is indeed a 1952 Maverick, in fact it's considered to be the first of the 7 fiberglass bodies constructed. This one rides on a modified La Salle frame and initially had neither hood or engine access other than pivoting the entire body up from the back. Later, access hatches (that chrome bit) and a hood were added.
The car is owned by Ed Roth, who is a big time collector of quirky and weird one-offs. I once judged his purple Muntz Jet at the LA Concours which featured a console-mounted wire recorder – that worked – that played a Mad Man Muntz radio ad. Roth's cars never fail to amaze.
Congrats again on the win!
The thing that struck me about those chrome access hatches is their poor fit. It's so glaring to have those things sitting on top of the fenders and disrupting the lines. And snagging your sweaters too, from the looks of them.
LaSalle grill, baby Lincoln headlights?
I'm lost on the no hood claim when I'm definitely seeing some panel gap on the general "where a hood would be on a front engine car" (or mid-front as I guess it would be in such a long frame). I won't lose sleep, but I feel that until I hear otherwise it sure feels like if the emperor isn't naked, he's definitely showing some skin.
*Initially* had no hood…as you observed there's definitely a hood on the current (green) one. If you look at the winning post the bottom "before" car doesn't have the chrome thingys on the fenders. I'm guessing it doesn't have a hood, either.
Thanks! In looking up more about it I found this Hemmings blog about a guy, Geoff Hacker, who has one he is/was restoring. And this same guy helps run a website that I hesitate to mention, 'in the clear' as it were, since it almost entirely consists of fodder for Mystery Car™ posts.
<img src="http://blog.hemmings.com/wp-content/uploads//2010/02/Maverickbrochure_05_1000.jpg" width="500">
Just out of curiousity, all the stuff I saw said the owner of the green Maverick is Fred Roth. Are Fred and Ed the same guy?
A nice car in a portly way, but of contemporary American roadsters, I'd take a Nash-Healey, Studebaker Loewy coupe, or Kaiser Darrin before it, more common though they are.