Category: European

Cars from Europe

196? VW Truck

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I’m going to guess at the year of this truck. I think it’s a 1966 or so. I can not locate any production figures but, rest assured, this is a car you don’t see everyday. When I was just out of college, my girlfriends’ father had a 1962 VW bus that we sometimes drove from New Jersey to Gloucester Massachusetts in the winter time. We nearly froze to death on many of those rides but we were young.

This truck belongs to an re-upholstery business a few blocks from our house. Hopefully, they spend their time finishing the various coaches and chairs and have little time to look after the truck.

I’ve seen some other notable versions of the VW bus out there. Here are a few links.

1960 Double Cab

This is an early 1960 Double Cab, that grew up right here in Northern California. It is a very DRY D/C. Has some minor front cab floor rust, and needs a battery tray. Other than that, the Outriggers, Crossmembers, jackpoints, Inner and Outer Rockers, Inner fender wells are all Super nice. Like i said, it is a “DRY” Truck. rear floor is super nice as well.

More Information, click here

1965 Volkswagen Ziegler Feuerwehr Type T8F-T Fire Truck

The most noticeable of this changes or additions, is the installation of a 36hp flat-four Volkswagen engine acting as a water pump for fire extinguishing purposes. The engine rests on a special set of rails that permit the operators to literally pull-out the engine to the side of the right hand doors, for ease of operation and maintenance.

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© Fred Winograd copyright 2011

Little Car From A Big Company

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This car was first designed and built in Italy by Iso SpA in the mid 1950’s. There were about 20,000 produced in Italy. In 1954 BMW made a deal that not only licensed them to produce the cars but also took over all of the tooling from Iso SpA. BMW later re-engineered the car and produced well over 160,000 cars from 1956-1962.

 

BMW Isetta

BMW made the Isetta its own. They redesigned the powerplant around a BMW one-cylinder, four-stroke, 247 cc motorcycle engine which generated 10 kW (13 hp). Although the major elements of the Italian design remained intact, BMW re-engineered much of the car, so much so that none of the parts between a BMW Isetta Moto Coupe and an Iso Isetta are interchangeable. The first BMW Isetta appeared in April 1955.
1955 BMW Isetta 250, BMW Museum, Munich, Germany.In May 1962, three years after launching the conventionally modern-looking BMW 700, BMW ceased production of Isettas. A total of 161,728 units had been built.

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This car was seen just around the corner from my house, what a rare find. If you know more about these cars or know the year, please leave a comment, I would appreciate it.

1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4

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This Ferrari is certainly a car you don’t see very often on the street; at least here in San Francisco. I took a look at some sites and think this is a 1967 but I may be off. If you know, please leave a comment below.
According to the website below, there were between 280 to 330 of these cars produced. The article below sites one car sold for over $1,000,000 in 2007. Not bad for a car that costs $11,500 new in 1967.

Click Here for a site that has more information on this model

A Rose By Any Name, Revised

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This is an update to a post made back in 2009. While reading the San Francisco Chronicle this weekend I saw an article that reminded me of this car. It is in a Sunday section called “My Ride” and I read it every weekend. Anyway, this weeks story was about a person who bought a 1975 Rolls Royce and had it overheat on the ride home. In reviewing this post, I see that I wrongly classified the year of this model. This actually looks like a 1962 Silver Clod Salon car.

Rolls Royce is a very special car. It looks so elegant and timeless and is shown here in my neighborhood, just parked at the local grocery store. I think this car is a late 1980 or so, but this is just a guess.

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© Fred Winograd copyright 2009, 2011

1953-1957 Mercedes Sedan

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Less than a decade after WWII, Mercedes introduced the model 180 sedan. This was a precursor to the “C” class introduced in the early 1980s. This particular car was in exceptional shape and had a “Club” on the steering wheel to prevent theft.

The Ponton models were replaced by the W110 “Fintail” models beginning in 1961. The 180 was the first ‘small’ Mercedes, it can be thought as the C-class of that era. Mercedes-Benz would return to this market segment in 1982 with the 190E. The W121 190 was the E-class of the time. All the ‘Ponton’ generation models looked very similar in appearance, one could not clearly identify even a 220SE from a 180, only after seeing its larger size and chrome touches was it possible to identify it as a different model. This was the only generation in which all models looked incredibly similar, though the 300 was exclusive.

The form and body of the car changed little during its production run. However, in 1957, a year after the introduction of the 190 sedan the Mercedes star at the front of the car was made detachable: reports at the time indicated that this was either to pander to the requirements of certain export markets, notably Switzerland or to reduce the risk of pedestrian injury in the event of an accident.

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© Fred Winograd copyright 2010

1979 Lancia Beta Spider Zagato

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Yes, this is a rare car indeed. I have seen a few Lancias in town but none had the convertible roof like this one, it’s a spider. I’m making an educated guess about the year because of the different wheels on this one. I did find some pictures and some stories that made me realize the wheels were upgraded on my picture.

Click to see an example

Here is an example of Lacia after the takeover by Fiat.

Lancia was not closely associated with any other manufacturer until the late 1960s. By this time, the company’s expensive, high standards of production had become unsustainable. In aiming to produce a product of the highest quality, company bosses had sacrificed cost-effectiveness and when Fiat launched a take-over bid in 1969, they accepted. This was not the end of the distinctive Lancia brand, and new models in the 1970s such as the Stratos, Gamma and Beta served to prove that Fiat wished to preserve the image of the brand it had acquired.

Click to see the article from Wikipedia

I’m really glad this one was parked just a few blocks from my home.

© Fred Winograd copyright 2010

Alfa-Romeo-2000-GT-Veloce 1971

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In 1969 my cousin was working as a salesperson for a Fiat dealer. I was looking for a more reliable car than my 1965 Corvair and went to have a look at the Fiats. I really liked the 124 Sport Coupe’ and since I had a new job that paid more than minimum wage, I bought one. The car came in about three weeks later and I was thrilled. The Fiat ran perfectly for about 18 months and then, almost literally, fell apart. The water pump quit and I had to be towed over 100 miles to get home. Then a series of defects showed up climaxing in the car bursting into flames minutes after the car passed the strict New Jersey Motor Vehicle inspection in 1974.

That’s when I first saw the Alfa GT-Veloce and thought about purchasing one of these to replace my Fiat. As it turned out, reliability was a bigger driver of the purchase than style and so I decided to fix up the burned out Fiat and kept it running until I replaced it with a 1978 Toyota Celica. But I still wonder if I would have been happier with the Alfa? I snapped this Alfa in my neighborhood. It is in great shape.

© Fred Winograd copyright 2010

1963-4 Austin Healey 3000 MK III

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This is a great example of the British sports cars of the early ’60s. This model, the Mark III, was produced from 1963 until the end of Austin Healey production in 1967. The car was sort of a poor-man’s XKE which was unveiled about two years before the Mark III.

The 3000 Mk III was launched in October 1963, and remained in production until the end of 1967 when production of Austin-Healeys finally ceased. (One further car was built in March 1968.) Classified as the BJ8, the new model was the most powerful and luxurious of the big Healeys, with a walnut-veneer dash, wind up windows, and 150 hp (112 kW) engine. Improvements to the engine included a new camshaft and valve springs, and twin SU 2″ HD8 carburettors, together with a new design of exhaust system. Servo-assisted brakes were now fitted as standard. Only 2+2 seat versions were made. Option extras were similar to those offered for the MkII, the main change being that the standard interior trim was now Ambla vinyl, with leather seats being added to the list of options.

In May 1964 the Phase II version of the MkIII was released, which had a modified rear chassis to allow rear ground clearance to be increased, and subsequently, in March 1965 the car also gained separate indicators.

17,712 were made.

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© Fred Winograd copyright 2010

1972 Aston Martin V8

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We were in London last week and talk about cars you don’t see everyday, this is the city to see them. Just down the block from our hotel, one of the residents had this 1972 or so vehicle in really great shape. The car barely moved for the entire week were there.

I found this information on www.Astonmartins.com.

In April 1972, the DBSV8 was replaced by a car simply known as the Aston Martin V8. Although the company had recently been taken over by Company Developments, work on the revised design had begun under David Browns ownership. The new look to the V8 was principally to the front of the car with two 7 inch quartz iodine headlamps and black mesh grill.

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