mystery car
This posting is sort of a CC Clue and answer all in one. Except I haven’t a clue as to what this thing is, and therefor can’t supply an answer to the question of what kind of car this is.
Originally I thought that identifying this car, found in a Chicago junkyard in 1977, would be a slam dunk. The front fenders and headlights were obvious tip offs-Graham shark nose. But the shark noses didn’t have sealed beam headlights. And the windshield was quite Willys-like and unlike 1938-39 Grahams.
Looks like an Independent under witness protection.
The hood doesn’t fit in with a Graham or Willys of the ‘38-’39 period either.
No does the grille, which looks as though it was lifted from a ‘40-’41 Hudson, and rather inexpertly at that.
But there is a haunting similarity of the windshield, the hood, and the hood side panels with those items on a 1938-39 Lincoln Zephyr 3-passenger coupe.
From this perspective, the side windows, the roof sculpturing above the doors, and the rear windows, this is looking more and more like a Lincoln Zephyr.
But the Zephyrs of this period had clearly defined rear pontoon fenders, and this car obviously has none.
If I had to bet money on it, I’d say that this isn’t a modified Graham or Willys but a heavily customized 1938-39 Lincoln Zephyr with a lot of lead thrown at it. And most of the body work looks rather well done. I’ll leave questions of good taste and ultimate identity to the Commentariat.
The hood and catwalks look very ’38 Zephyr to me too. The fenders, however are something else. I’m with you – a 38 Zephyr with a narrowed track. The rear quarters were fabricated. I cannot place the front fenders.
Very odd indeed. There’s definitely a lot of Zephyr there in the front and midsection, but the whole rear end is strange. It’s totally different than the Zephyr, and has been both shortened and narrowed. The trunk is speaking Ford/Mercury, but I can’t quite place it. A Frankenstein. And I just wasted 20 minutes…
Payback for the many hours the rest of us have spent chasing after CC Clues.
’72 sticker on the Minnesota plate says it ‘ran when parked’. I’d about decided this was a really well-built custom, but that sticker changed my mind. Is it a Swedish car? Fascinating.
Pre war cars aren’t my cup of tea but I’m dying to know what it is or was
It certainly has the Zephyr rear window(s). I’m thinking the body was mounted on a much narrower chassis so that it didn’t need rear fenders – the wheels could fit under the body. This would require fabricating rear quarters but that seems within the skills of this builder.
Maybe in 1977 it might have been possible to run the Minnesota plate and find out what the thing was registered as.
Maybe a imported car, it almost the size of the Fiat 500 “Topolino” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_500_%22Topolino%22
The Topolino is very small, much smaller than this.
I can’t figure it. The headlamps say Chevrolet to me, but as already noted, the midsection appears to be a Lincoln-Zephyr. Somehow or another, the whole agglomeration gives off a French vibe. Completely stumped…
Modified Ford Taunus maybe, with rear end from a 46 Ford…
http://www.fordtaunus.de/tc-b-1.htm
Some sort of special-bodied Peugeot? Front looks a bit like 402.
I think see a lot of well hidden 1940-41 Plymouth coupe in this. Maybe someone was trying to turn a Plymouth into a Zephyr. With a 1938 Chevy bumper thrown in.
All I could think was it looked like a Graham front end, on a Zephyr body, then I read your description, and realized I had nothing to add…
Customised Willys maybe, I;m surprised it hasnt been identified yet given the talent at this site.
“Somehow or another, the whole agglomeration gives off a French vibe.”
Yeah, a little like some Rosengarts. I can see that.
It IS a Zephyr, the rear being customized & smoothed without the fenders. The rear axle asm. would have been narrowed to fit. The grille opening is Zeph, but the insert is custom. The hood, windshield and roof definitely fit the Zeph lines… The headlights are either full custom or could be grafted from a Willys. Verrry interesting!