Text by Patrick Bell
Our gallery today is a collection of European cars that were imported to the US. Most of them are from Great Britain, with a few from Germany and one from France. Some were very common and a few were very uncommon. So let’s take a look and see what memories are stirred.
To begin we have a lady in uniform with an Austin-Healy 3000 2+2, my best guess a Mark I. It is hard to determine from this angle. I recall a few of these from my younger days, but never really had any experience with one. That was in Alaska, where the extreme weather and poor roads were hard on all cars but especially low slung sports cars, so there weren’t many around. In front of it is a ’62 Chevrolet Bel Air, and in the background a ’50 Plymouth 4 door sedan.
This is the one that started it all. American GI’s stationed in Europe during World War II were smitten, and some brought one home. The MG TC became the first sports car and the first MG imported to the US. They were produced from late ’45 to late ’49 and did have some U.S. specific equipment, but left hand drive was not one of them, as all of them were RHD. This couple looks like they are enjoying their ride, and in the background may be a ’35 Dodge 2 door sedan.
The successor to the MG T-type was the MGA which was introduced in late ’55. This coupe was produced through ’59, while the roadster went through mid ’62. It has a Massachusetts license plate from ’57 with a ’58 windshield sticker. The Cadillac is a ’53 Series Sixty-Two Coupe with some curb rash.
A glamorous lady with another Austin-Healy 3000, this one from California. It has a side exit aftermarket exhaust pipe I presume so it will make more noise. It also appears like it had some side damage and the door was repaired or replaced but the rocker panel was not. The door paint does not quite match the rest of the car.
This lady looks like she is enjoying her time in the mountains apparently riding in this MG 1100. It was built by British Motor Corporation & British Leyland from ’62-’71. The platform used the name ADO16 and was marketed in many parts of the world under five other nameplates through ’74. To the left is a ’56 Buick Special or Century.
Here is a rare bird, a ’50 Daimler DB18 Sports Special. A comment with the photo identified the gentleman as D. Cameron Peck and it was shot in Evanston, Illinois in December of ’50. Daimler built this platform beginning in ’39 as a chassis only and other British coach builders were commissioned to build the bodies. After World War II Daimler built a four door saloon body, but others such as this drophead coupe were still done by the coachbuilders. Passing in the background may be a ’41 Dodge.
A search reveals this photo was taken on August 8, 1961, but did not give a location. The happy couple are posing in front of a Volkswagen Karmann Ghia Cabriolet. The Karmann Ghia was built from ’55 to ’74 but the Cabriolet did not come onto the scene until ’57. In the background a white over light green ’52 Chrysler 4 door sedan and a black ’50 Buick.
This is another rare one, a Triumph TR10 Estate from California. It is so rare I could find very little information on it. It is parked in a nice residential area with an attractive woman waving at the photographer.
Jaguar built the XK sports car beginning in ’48. The first series was the XK120 which was built into ’54, second series was the XK140 built from ’54 into ’57, and the XK150 from ’57 through ’60 when it was replaced by the XK-E. The feature car is a XK140 and it looks in very nice condition and was registered in Michigan in ’64. The man and a boy look like they are about to hit the road on a late spring or early summer day. In the garage on the left is a ’63 Oldsmobile full size, and to the right a ’64 Ford Country Sedan.
A pair of young men with a ’63-’67 Volkswagen Type 2 Westfalia Camper from New York. There is a tattered flag on the antenna, a couple of travel site decals on the windshield, and a luggage rack on the roof. VW subcontracted to Westfalia-Werke to perform the camper conversion beginning in ’51 and they were sold through VW dealers. In front of it is a ’63 Chevrolet Impala.
The Citroen DS was built from ’55-’75 and was a very innovative car. It was too quirky for American tastes so it never sold well in the US. I remember my pediatrician while growing up had one, but he never offered me a ride in it. The photo was taken on a late winter day and the subject looks like an early series model and has a sticker of some sort on the front bumper.
Here is another Karmann Ghia, this one a coupe and possibly a ’68 or ’69 model as I see the edge of a side marker reflector on the right edge of the image. It looks close to new, is equipped with wheel trim rings, and the lady looks pleased to be standing next to it. Under the carport is a ’64 Buick Special.
The XK-E was introduced by Jaguar in ’61 and produced in three series through ’74 in coupe and roadster versions. The feature car was a first series so that would make it a ’61-’67 model. The man and the lady look like they are about to leave the company of the younger man, perhaps their son.
You can tell this is a California girl who enjoyed the sun and likely got at least some of her tan riding in her Mercedes-Benz W113 with the top down. Mercedes made this model from ’63-’71 in three series. This one is from the final series built from ’69-’71 and was called the 280 SL. You can put this one down as my favorite of the day.
BMW produced the 1600/2002 model from ’66 through ’75 when it was replaced by the first 3-series. I am going to call this one a ’70-’73 model due to the side marker lamps and pre-five mph bumpers. The lady looks like she doesn’t quite know what to think about it.
Thanks for joining us and to all good day!
Sweet ;
Tough to choose one as the best of the bunch .
-Nate
I believe the XKE is after 61 or sightly later. Jaguar dropped the floor down where your feet were. The first issue E-Type had flat floors. You can see the “bulge” on this one. The drop made the driving position and pedal manipulations more comfortable. I got to drive both versions and the dropped floor made a substantial difference, particularly on a long drive. With regard to the BMW, my mother was about the same age as the lady you reference. In my mother’s case she knew exactly what she was purchasing and getting into. It was her last car. Never had a vehicle with an automatic. Great selection of images. Thank you.
I had a Type II Westfalia almost identical to the one pictured above. Bought it from a guy in Port Townsend, Wash., while on a long weekend. Great rig, wish I still had it.
Along with the Karmann Ghias, I sort of like that Triumph TR10 Estate. Wow that’s a weird one.
The lady perched on the “lil red, roadster” almost makes ya not notice the different color door. The happy couple with the “K/G”, convert is awesome.
Would love to know the color of that “50 Daimler” in the winter pic.
Must be an “ultra rare”, car.
The Triumph TR10 was the USA version of the Standard Ten. Standard cars sold pretty well in the UK but it was not a name which would do good in the USA. Triumph on the other hand had become well known in the USA with the TR2 and TR3. As Standard owned Triumph the decision was not difficult, and market the little Ten as the Triumph Ten. In four door and Wagon versions.
The successor to the Ten, in the UK and USA, was the Triumph Herald. Some mechanics of the Herald can be used in the Standard.
I wondered if the Herald was sold in the US. I would have thought as it was a bit ‘sporty’ and a bit ‘luxury’ it would have done pretty well, the Vitesse even more so.
Those Triumph Estate Wagons were big enough to haul an elephant!
The woman in this picture is Dorothy Deen, who ran a successful Triumph distributorship in Southern California. Doesn’t appear to be the same woman in the featured shot above (though admittedly I’m horrible with facial recognition), but it wouldn’t surprise me if there was some sort of connection. After all, the universe of women willing to pose for glamour shots with Triumph station wagons was pretty small.
Cue up “Baby Elephant Walk” by the immortal Henry Mancini & his Orchestra (1961).
As an early adopter of a ’64 Austin-Healey Sprite, and a ’67 MG Midget ….
This collection is Spectacular, Rich.
You’ve done it again!
I wouldn’t sell the older lady short. My grandmother had a 1602Ti followed by a 2002 Tii in her 60s, going into her 70s. She
Very cool photos. That Jag XK-E photo looks like Roslyn NY, both the car and the driveway behind it.
Roslyn was, is, a very nice, affluent suburb of NYC in Nassau County, Long Island. Old friends of my parents lived in Roslyn, in a very similar house (and incline driveway), I think they sold it for $90k or so in 1978 to move to Florida (of course). I didn’t know much about real estate, only new car prices, but I knew 90K was a considered a expensive, even for Long Island back then. They had a Mercedes 220D or 240D, with the 5-mph bumpers (so similar to the Jag in that it was an expensive import)
The MG 1100 sedan in the mountains, my mom’s cousin had an orange on in Athens, Greece in the early 1970s.
Until my family moved to the US in 1977, and I got the flavor of life in America, I did not think these MG/Austins, and Fiats especially, were bad cars. After all, these cars were on the roads in Greece, how could they be that bad?
Hopefully the lady in the photo did not have bad MG experience
My parents had a Renault Dauphine ca. 1959. Our dirt road beat it to death within a couple of years.
I’m pretty sure the MG 1100 was sold in the USA as the Austin America around 69 or 70.
The 1100 in the photo has the MG grille – I had one here in the UK
D. Cameron Peck, pictured with the Daimler DB18, was an automobile restorer, collector and historian. He was born in Chicago on March 31, 1912, and owned over 1500 antique and classic authentically restored cars, which were housed in Evanston, Illinois.
Mr. Peck served as president of the Antique Automobile Club of America, the Sport Car Club of America, the Veteran Motor Car Club of America and the Cord Owners Club of Illinois and was a member of the Automobile Old Timers Club. His automobile library is an integral part of the National Automotive History Collection of the Detroit Public Library. D. Cameron Peck died on April 19, 1990.
My first car was a 1971 BMW 1600. With the exception of one of my classmates (whose parents rode BMW motorcycles) virtually no one in my suburban Houston neighborhood knew what it was. My high school parking lot was littered with Ford trucks, Z28s, Chevelles, and cars that were obviously hand-me-downs from “Mom” or “Grandma.”
A 30-ish lady who lived across the street asked if my BMW was one of those “cute Japanese cars.” Ugh! She drove an Olds Vista Cruiser, which I would offer to wash for $2.00 and drive it around to “dry it off.” That was something she readily agreed to so I cut her slack on the slight of my German sports sedan. Ha!
Thanks for the bio, Jim
Dad’s ’58 Hillman Husky. I remember riding in the back (no seat belts, and actually, no seat, either!) when I was maybe four or five.
When I was about 5 in 1960 our neighbors bought both a Triumph TR10 wagon and “Bug-eye” Sprite, having traded in their 1954 Buick and 1952 Mercury.
Where exactly their 5 children sat I do not know.
Southern California was an ideal market for British cars in the late 50s/early 60s. Ideal weather, relatively dry most of the year. My dad’s BiL had this white MG A, which I always wanted to ride in but never had the opportunity.
We had an MG Austin Lotus dealer in town, and I lobbied (and failed to convince) my dad to replace his ’50 Chevy with the MG 1100 in the showroom window,
The gentleman standing besides the Daimler is Identified as D. Cameron Peck. He is someone that anybody thats interested in vintage automobiles should know. He was one of the foremost car collectors of his time. An executive with Bowman Dairy and a wealthy man in his own right. A huge supporter of Road America in Wisconsin. Check him out https://historicracecircuits.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Preservationist-vol-43.pdf
I agree with rich in fla. The MG 1100 looks almost exactly like the Austin America, which one would see occasionally in the DC area in the late ’60s and early ’70s when I was growing up. In fact, I was surprised that the car shown was NOT an Austin America. In my experience, all the MGs I saw were the sports cars.
My parents had a mid 50s Hillman Minx. They said they liked the car but said they could never get the hang of shifting into reverse. Apparently, the shift pattern was “backwards”, as compared to US cars. The Amphicar used a Triumph Herald engine. Question tho: wouldn’t the 1908 Fiat be the car that “started it all”, regarding auto imports to America? I could be wrong. Great article as always tho. 🧡 the pix too!
That’s me behind the wheel of the ’56 Jag, in the driveway of my parents’ house in Lansing Michigan. I would have been 15 at the time, so not driving, just posing. The car was my dad’s. Here’s another shot which also shows the ’63 Olds Starfire which can be glimpsed in the garage:
https://flic.kr/p/2qQXz3Z
I’m not sure how most of our family slides ended up “in the wild,” probably went with the other contents of my parents’ last home.