Long ago, Abraham Lincoln said “always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other“. So offering up a clue for every CC will be mine; it’ll likely last for about three weeks, but it will be a valiant and imperial attempt.
It also seems appropriate to start this new year with just the right car, one that once upon a time could be seen darting all over. Now, one could travel America and likely not find another one curbside, so enjoy this.
1997-2001 Toyota Camry?
That has a GM look to it, I’ll guess a Pontiac Firebird. Say a ’77.
It does have a GM look to it. I can’t pin point it though. Happy New Year all!
Happy New Year! My gut feeling is some early Chrysler LH car.
’67 Pontiac —
Big news when they introduced “hidden” windshield wipers.
By the time this photo was taken, the hideaway slot was filled with autumn leaves.
Let’s see if it’s a Catalina/Bonneville or one of these “Cheviac” or “Ponvrolet” Laurentian/Parisienne. 😉
“but it will be a valiant and imperial attempt.”
“once upon a time could be seen darting all over.”
hmmmm……….
Fifth Avenue, maybe?
Something mopar I’m guessing by the description.
1981 imperial?
I’m notoriously poor at these, but I seem to recognize 70s big three panel fits.
Bob Hope on his Thanksgiving special around 69 or 70:
“The Pilgrims left Imperial England to land on Plymouth Rock
They were Valiant. They had to Dodge the Fury of the Indians.”
1977 Pontiac Firebird with the gold chicken motif on the hood
With those hints, that panel fit and those pinstripes I am guessing that it is one of the Chrysler Corp cloud cars – a Cirrus by any other name….
Impossible to tell. And we’ll never know, ’cause they never give us the answer.
Er…yes “they” do, in a subsequent CC post.
The answer will run tomorrow at 1:00 am PST. It’ll be the first article to run, so you’ll see it in the feed right above this.
All I’ll say is the car is black with a gold pinstripe. 🙂
1967-68 Cadillac Deville
easy! early 90s panther car…. now im not sure if its a vic, grand marquis or town car… off the top of my head
I think the pinstripes are throwing you, keep in mind they could have been installed by any fly by night used car dealer, they sell that exact pinstripe kit in rolls at auto parts stores.
Aero Panther door skins were integrated with flush aerodynamic window frames, covering the A pillar, this door clearly is frameless
im gonna so ahead and say 1994 Grand marquis, they had the pinstripe right about there and the curve is just right, the lincolns were flatter.
I’m going to say 77 Pontiac firebird. The way the fender meets the door makes sense, and it doesn’t have the cutout for the air vent a la Trans Am.
That’s a very distinctive panel and A-pillar junction. I’m pretty sure it’s a second generation (1970.5-1981) GM F-Body. It might be a Firebird, but just to be contrary I’ll say it’s a 78 Camaro. I base that on the missing side strip and black trim. This one is owned by Tony, but he lost his license so Yolanda drives it.
Agree on 2nd gen Gm F-body. Text did seem to allude to Mopar, but I can’t think of any Mopar that has the fender meeting the hood/door/windshield like that.
1971 Oldsmobile Delta 88.
Plymouth Volare, judging from the clues in the description.
I would say a GM F body 1970 on, the pillar seems to be in the right spot in relation to where the other panels meet up.
But all those Mopar words…..
Edit.
but if you drove across America you would surely see a 70s Camaro or Firebird parked somewhere.
A Trans Am or Z28, sure, but a standard Firebird or Camaro would fit the bill, they’re either extinct or cloned into their big brothers.
I’m somewhat doubtful myself, but I struggle to come up with any other car with that Pillar/door/fender/hood are. I thought fuselage satellite/coronet (or fury/Monaco) might fit the bill but they don’t quite fit the bill either, and I can’t think of any domestic other mopars like that. I’m dieing to know what it is!
This is a toughie, but I think F body as others mentioned, it looks too old (patina) to be 90s, the hidden wipers are pure GM, and the panel gaps look like any F body I’ve ever seen. I was thinking base model due to the lack of visible fender vents but I think it might in fact be a Z28 or Trans Am, they’re pretty close to the wheel openings and may be just out of the shot. The lack of bright trim on the panels around the greenhouse edges are the tell.
I think Trans Am, but non SE if it is since the pinstripes are in the wrong spot. Could be a Chevy too but it just seems like way fewer of those were made in black.
Despite the Chrysler double talk, I’d like to pile on for Camaro/Firebird.
But… to not see another one curbside. Wow, that throws a wrench in it.
Super Duty, Z28, whatever, even one that actually belonged to Burt or Jim maybe Joe Biden too, could probably still be found curbside somewhere.
The pinstripe/color scheme reminds me so much of my 79 Berlinetta that I can’t think straight now. So I will go with that era Camaro.
I was thoroughly stumped. Nice work!
Thank you. I had to throw in a few red herrings.
In the past I did work on developing methods for removing auto glass – in ways that would save the glass for re-installation and not damage trim or paint work.
Anyway, in its day the pictured windshield, particularly the corner shown, was about the toughest cut in the industry. Later there would be even more difficult designs but until then the Camaro corner was about the most difficult, especially if the car’s sheet metal was in place.
It’s not a Camaro/Firebird. I’m thinking some 70’s full size GM car, but I can’t find one that doesn’t have some kind of front fender top sculpture line going through there.