After the Great Beater Challenge I really did not feel like fixing the Pontiac. The starter revived itself somehow and it ran but not well. Time for someone else to enjoy it (and more importantly fix it). As usual it did not long to find a replacement although it is hard to imagine a car more different than the Laurentian. Any guesses? I think this is hard one but I am sure someone will get it. If not I will toss out clues during the day.
Here is one last shot as the Pontiac is hauled away to its new home. No doubt its departure will be disappointing for some but it still required quite a bit of work and money to be a decent longer term driver.
Thinking TR7 but probably wrong.
You would be correct in that you are wrong. 🙂 Not a TR7.
I’m wrong so often that I usually know it! 🙂 Congrats on the quick turnaround on the Pontiac.
So a TR8 then? 😉 I had the same initial thought as CJC.
Not a TR8. Not any sort of Triumph in fact. I actually a TR8 a few years ago. I would love another but they are out of my price range. This is another cheap purchase.
Alfa 6 was my initial guess but I don’t think that’s it. I’m definitely thinking European and seventies.
Not an Alfa Romeo.
Some type of Asian brand based on the color.
Nissan Pulsar???
Not a Nissan Pulsar
That was gonna be my guess… I guess not.
An eighties Nissan Sentra then?
I’m a little sad on that one, would have liked to see it in my driveway but I don’t have time for it either. 🙁
I’m thinking another very Canadian vehicle, Lada Niva or Hyundai Pony?
An ‘80s Mazda, I’m thinking 626.
Not a Lada Niva or Hyundai Pony or Mazda 626
The black plastic bumper and angled indicator suggest late ’70s/early ’80s. The way the orange plastic sticks out some distance from the metalwork at the bottom would suggest an earlier car updated cheaply with a ‘more aerodynamic’ grille/headlight/indicator tacked on to a mid (or perhaps early) ’70s body. Assuming this is the front, of course!
If it were British that could be an Ital or perhaps Solara/late Alpine but I doubt they would be easily found your side of the Atlantic, so no idea.
(Not them anyway, the metal work doesn’t match, though the Talbot is closer).
So, something old updated, but sold in North America… perhaps Japanese?
This is actually the rear if that helps. It is certainly something that got a facelift in that time frame.
I never give anyone a hard time for selling an old car, but this one is a bit of a tear jerker. I came to feel really fond of the Laurentian. I’m sorry to see it go, but I’m sure it will go to a loving owner.
+1… It would be nice if its new owner would let us know of the progress while it’s being restored.
Did you tell the new owner about CC, David?
I have no idea. But then there’s no chrome around the taillight so it doesn’t matter. 🙂
I’m terrible at this, I need more info. It’ll be something interesting, I’m sure.
Merkur XR4ti?
Not a Merkur XR4ti
Time for an additional hint? These are the makes I’ve owned. It is not one of these.
Hint #1
Dodge
Chevrolet
Ford
Honda
Jeep
Triumph
Chrysler
Reliant
Nissan
Mazda
Hyundai
Toyota
Volkswagen
Lada
Datsun
Nissan
Mercedes
Volvo
Austin
MG
Acura
Pontiac
Suzuki
Late model saab 99?
Though guessing one of those may be over budget too
Not any kind of Saab.
Just refreshed to log in and my guess has gone 🙁
Sorry to hear that. What was the guess?
E21 BMW?
Not a BMW
Hint #2
The sporty version could have TRX wheels and tires.
Hint #3
The rear suspension has a leaf spring
Mercury Capri
Not a Mercury or Capri
Fox Body Stang?
nope
You got an Innocenti !!?! Awesome, looking forward to it!
With leaf springs?
Leaf spring – singular 🙂
I guess that rules out a Mitsubishi Delica Star Wagon Super Exceed, then.
I think Jim is right – Innocenti Minitre – 1982 update of the original with new suspension and Daihatsu engine. Also had new front and rear…
From 1982 or thereabouts on I believe, no? Not like an F150. 🙂
The panel fit definitely screams “Italian craftmanship”.
Fiat Strada/Ritmo, post facelift with north American bumpers?
It had a Fiat-ish feel to me at first too, but none of my initial picks (Spider, X1/9) held up. This one’s tough.
No sir not a Strada/Ritmo
I note there’s no Hillman on your list, but that’s definitely NOT a Gay Look Minx.
A what-look Minx?
It definitely falls under advertising copy you can no longer use.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/comment-image/374685.jpg
Quite.
Morris Marina with later big black bumpers? Long shot but leafs springs….
My 1st guess was a later Saab 99, which was wrong.
Is it an Audi 100?
Not an Audi
Not a Marina or Hillman.
An aside but oddly Marinas were sold as an Austin Marina here.
Austin Marina in the US too. Morris was a chair, or the corporate surname of Philip Morris, but never a car brand marketed in the US as far as I know.
Early 80s Subaru hatchback
Not that either
He didn’t say not a Fiat, only not a ritmo/strada
Not a Fiat of any kind.
Renault Fuego?
Not one of those. I’d like one but haven’t seen one in forever.
VW Sirocco Mk II with sticky out US bumpers. The leaf spring either is either on the fuel flap or you have put a leaf spring in the boot because we live in crazy times and you never know if you will need a leaf spring in a crisis.
Not a Volkwagen or Sirocco
Zastava 1100 or Yugo Skala?
Neither of those.
Getting close to stumped!
Innocenti Mini Turbo De Tomaso! Do I now get a toaster?
Jim Klein gets the toaster if that’s right. Look further up, about 90 minutes ago.
Yes, You’re right: he earns it!
The early Innocenti’s were sold in the Netherlands trough paralell imports. They were very expensive and few were sold. Later on BL imported and sold them a while at a more realistic price. Still, no less than 30% more than a british Mini. After the arrival of the Fiat Panda it was all over. We never got these 3 cil. Daihatsu powered fun cars. How did this one end up on the other side of the ocean?
Innocentis were sold in Canada but not the US as were some Ladas as well as Hyundai before they came to the US for example. I’m sure there are others too, for a small market they certainly had some interesting small volumes from some manufacturers available.
I concur with this guess. I’d never actually heard of an Innocenti Mini before now, but after looking at some pictures the shape of the taillights looks like the closest match so far.
Plymouth Arrow?
Datsun 200SX
+1.
+2
I’m gonna go with the De Tomaso Mini too. Good work Sebastian. It must be a later one with a Daihatsu engine and the earlier ones had rubber mini suspension and an A series engine. I don’t think De Tomaso wanted to pay BL the licencing for it. It was never made in RHD and never sold in the UK. If BL had’t been so stupid they would have hung on to the design when they closed Innocenti and put it into production in the UK. When they closed Innocenti BL had more than 50% of the small car market and that did not really crack until the Ford Fiesta came in ’77. The sticky out 5mph bumbers threw me. So you got a 70s hatchback from a defunct maker with an engine from a manufacturer who never sold cars in the US and pulled out of Europe in 2013. It’s different alright.
“with an engine from a manufacturer who never sold cars in the US”
Actually, Daihatsu did briefly sell cars in the US in the late 1980s/early 1990s. We got the Rocky and the Charade and maybe one other model.
Rocky, Charade hatchback and Charade 4door sedan.
If its the 990cc triple, then the Charade had those. The killer version was the twin cam turbo, the GTTi, or the “Gur-titty” as it was called here. Motorbike 9,000 redline. You really needed to change the oil every 3,000 miles like a bike. Most didn’t and there probably aren’t more than a handful left.The picture below is on a “G” plate, so its 1988-89:
https://goo.gl/images/e15BND
I think TRX was the clue. Mercury Lynx. Or LN7.
Lada Niva?
Renault LeCar?
Why is this so hard with all the clues! Not one of the manufactures already owned (or BMW, Fiat or Saab) with an engine from a manufacture who never sold into the US, plus a leaf spring rear suspension. Should be a slam dunk, but I am totally stumped.
I am sure once I see the answer it will be one of those “duh, of course” moments. That is what is so frustrating …….
As for the Pontiac, thanks for sharing your adventures and hopefully it has a good new home.
Hmm, Peugeot 505? Wild guessing now lol..
How wrong could I be! Nice new ride!
Talbot Tagora?
Ford EXP
Oops no Fords so Mercury LN7?
Peugeot 305?
Plymouth Horizon TC3?
I keep going back to the list of not this time, and worse that mis shapen indicator lense looks familiar, Nope, got no answers.
Really plumbing the depths here,but perhaps a Skoda or, even worse, a Dacia?