It’s CC’s favourite member of the royal family – Lucas, Duke of Endarkenment. That might be him in ghostly form astride a brass era contraption, but it’s the one on the left that is the subject of today’s post. Another deliberately anonymous car to add to our pantheon.
This one’s not a bad effort. I’m going to start with Rover P5 and let the ccognoscenti do the rest.
Further Reading
The Deliberately Anonymous Car Part 1
The Deliberately Anonymous Car Part 2
William Stopford’s QOTD on some deliberately anonymous cars
Don, I definitely agree with the Rover P5 for the front. But apparently someone sawed it in half and welded on a ’62 Plymouth rear. Whatever, the proud owners look absolutely delighted!
…or plastered out of their minds. I ‘m not sure they should be behind the wheel of any car in their current state. 🙂
Now, I gotta disagree! I oddly enough, I guess..Liked ’62 Mopars. Rather than hate their weirdness, I embraced it! Proud owner once, of a ’62 Polara 500, 2 door hardtop, with a 361 4 barrel and the EVIL dual point distributor. No sillier actually than Lucas touting themselves as the “Pre-eminent in design and performance”…say what??
Upon his unceremonious leaving Chrysler, Virgil Exner accepted an offer from Daimler in the UK. A bad balance sheet was looming for the future of Daimler, and a last ditch effort was made to go head to head against Rover and the smaller Jaguars. Exner accepted the challenge and a Valiant attempt was made to have a small executive sedan as a complement to the Dart sports car.
But Daimler could only afford to pay 300 £ for the design of this Challenger, so Exner went home in a Fury.
But then, his home in Dakota would be too far, and he couldn’t go in a Concorde, so he took a 200 hour drive. An obstacle got on his way, but his Intrepid spirit tried to Dodge it, so that he wouldn’t Ram it. The huge Caliber of this Voyager’s mind kept him safe during this Journey.
That was a premier effort, my friends. I award you medallions for reaching the summit of this effort.
The Medallion you’re giving us demonstrate you have good Spirit and Vision
As I DART out of here, just let me say. Frankly I don’t give a…wait for it! A DAIMler
Looks like the driver of the antique car is about to flip off the Lucas logo:
“80 years of development and I still can’t get my bleedin’ lights to work!”
Well, the oblivious Plymover driver is just plowing straight through his antique car without even an “Excuse Me,” so no wonder he’s a little irritated.
From a stateside perspective, I see a hint of Plymouth Valiant showing through.
It is “obviously” and rear-engine Bentley Rovair.
Definitely Rover P5 around the grille, but I also see Singer Vogue in the headlights and side layout.
Humber Super Snipe is basically the same.
Maybe Austin Healey for the lower lights?
The pic shows then current Lucas equipment and is 59/60 the Vogue is early 60s. Lower lights are 58/59/60 Vauxhall Velox/Cresta.
Ghost Drivers In The Sky.
Surprisingly, General Motors in its effort to “cheapen” its cars in content and buildiing costs during the 70s and 80s didn’t consider use of at least some Lucas components – if they were cheaper to buy than for Delco to manufacture. Lucas Electrics were about the only thing an early Chevy Vega lacked to become “the complete car from A to Z” – “A” as in its oil consuming and overheating aluminum engine (i.e. rust) to “Z” the absence of “Ziebarting”. And everything in between including “F” front end that falls apart, “O” as in oil which it will consume greedily or overheating. “R” as in rust that will soon permeate the body. “W” as in warpage. “C” not only as in Chevy but also cheap build. “P” as in hard plastics everywhere (you know that composite that was mentioned as “having a great future” in a movie a few years earlier).
We have a 2007 Trailblazer with OE Hella fog lamps. They work great. Haven’t seen any GM car with Lucas parts though.
Just because Lucas electrical parts were awful doesn’t necessarily mean they were cheap.
Ghostly driver, out on the road
With a million years to go
Soul survivor, Bentley aglow
Flips off that damn logo…
(Apologies to Sir Paul McCartney)
Virgil Exner’s latest after a vacation in England.
Lucas electrical systems are NOT called the ‘prince of darkness’ for nothing.
Ok, I am plagiarizing this from somewhere but here it is:
The Lucas motto: “Get home before dark.”
Lucas is the patent holder for the short circuit.
Lucas – Inventor of the first intermittent wiper.
Lucas – Inventor of the self-dimming headlamp.
The three position Lucas switch – Dim, Flicker, and Off.
The Original Anti-Theft Device – Lucas Electrics.
Lucas is an acronym for Loose Unsoldered Connections and Splices
Lucas systems actually use AC current; it just has a random frequency.
“I have had a Lucas pacemaker for years and have never had any trou…”
If Lucas made guns, wars would not start……
I thought the motto was ” A gentleman does not motor about after dark.”
Spotted in the garage of a British car enthusiast buddy of mine:
Why do the Brits drink warm beer?
Because they have Lucas refrigerators!
Someone was getting driven by an elderly gentleman in a Land Rover Series II, and it had two unlabeled, not lit switches side by side. He asked the driver “How do you know which is which?” The driver replies: “doesn’t matter, none of them works”
OK, let’s pile on!
A friend told me that Lucas made vacuum cleaners for a while and these were their only product that didn’t suck. Boom boom!
In reality Lucas’ woes were largely the result of penny pinching manufacturers directing them how cheaply to build a component, and a refusal to adopt the idea of universal parts.
Makers like Jag apparently really squeezed suppliers (resulting in real leather, real wood, and real darkness) which helped make them cheap cars for their market, but that peculiarly British attitude of provincial superiority and resultant lack of parts commonality was the kicker. Add in the again Brits-only ability then to engineer odd solutions to non-problems (a class-originated issue, I reckon, “You can’t tell Sir Alec he’s a crackpot on this idea!”), and the results were what they were. I still think one of the most amusing example of these follies is the ruination of a nice design in the Triumph PI by using a wiper motor for the injection pump. Left on intermittent, it would seem.
The Satsuma Castanet may not be anonymous, but it’s still the best car mashup I’ve ever seen.
I see a bit of the Studebaker Lark in there as well.
Me too.
What about a Maserati Quattroporte?
Front has aspects of Studebaker,Bentley and Lancia, rear is Panhard.
Panhard! That one was eating away at me. Great call.
Perhaps a little Singer Vogue
http://www.classicandperformancecar.com/uploads/cms_article/3501_3600/1961-1966-singer-vogue-3546_7027_640X470.jpg
in the headlights and the subdued tailfins along with the P5 grille, though not as radical as this Humber/Jag creation
http://retrorides.proboards.com/thread/184125/super-snipe?scrollTo=2140214&page=1
Headlights look right off an early ’60s Fiat milletrecento or millecinquecento…probably the original Lucas units failed and they needed urgent replacement for the picture.
The grille is a Rover P5 – the back looks American from that same era, the headlights look American too.
Rover 3 Litre grille
Lancia Flaminia PF coupe overriders
Lagonda Rapide lighting
BMC 3 litre greenhouse
1960 Oldsmobile rear quarter
1962 Plymouth rear wheel cutout
Scuttle vent W111/112 Mercedes Benz
What a mess. This design process is usually reserved for buildings when the authorities, clients’ friends, services engineers and quantity surveyors go at the architect’s drawings…
hmmm… quite comprehensive sir. I would have said Corvair lighting myself.
I’m with Jim on that one – my initial overall impression was a badly photoshopped (or darkroom edited, as would be more period correct) Lagonda type arrangement.
And I didn’t see the scuttle vent until Jim pointed it out. Obviously I need to spend more time out in my shed.
My first impression was of a drunken Lagonda Rapide too, in fact, I think we’re being shown what the driver saw when she fell behind the wheel – five cars in one and a ghost. It may be an early drink n’ drug driving ad. (But being by Lucas, it failed).
Brave of Lucas to advertise with car featuring twin headlamps…is there a touch of Corvair in the side crease and twin lights but with a drooped rear?
Or maybe some Fiat 1500/1800?
Those aren’t twin headlamps, one is simply a backup for the other.
That’s funny until you realize that it’s true.
What a disturbing ad. Imagine driving in the dark in the middle of nowhere, having your car with Lucas electronics suffer the usual maladies they all did, then glancing to your left only to see a ghost.
It’s not a ghost, it’s The Prince of Darkness!
Rover grille Super Snipe headlights and PA/PAY Vauxhall park/indicator lights and Lucas bumper mount spotlights, I hope that thing has an alternator as a Lucas generator would be pushed to keep it all lit.
My immediate reaction was Lancia Flavia, but Corvair and Exner Chrysler are definitely there too (especially that Valiant windshield). Panhard for the rear, as pointed out above – though one could see the ’60 Oldsmobile there as well…
Bumped into this just now — 1959 Ferrari 410 Superamerica with PF coachwork. The family resemblance is uncanny…
Even more uncanny is its Maserati 5000 GT cousin. Both built for Gianni Agnelli.
Ah ha! If I were any good at Photoshop, I’d put the PF Rover coupe’s grille on that Maserati and call it a Lucas.
Yes that grille is the one rather large shortcoming on that otherwise lovely P4 variant.
Its a Lucas publicity pic I doubt any foreign makes or their lighting equipment were considered. Though the Studebaker rear end styling is non British.
Surely that “Rover ” grille is leaning forward just like a MkX Jag, and the windscreen IS a MkX, with the whole rolling on early Corvair wheels?
A bit hard to tell, it’s poorly lit for some reason…..
My Lucas Two Cents: Only months ago I got to meet a retired onetime-Lucas engineer who’d moved to Detroit and finished his career with one of the Big Three. He did feel that Lucas’s reliability record on (UK) home turf was not all that bad, but noted that “they never really did engineer and test for the variety of climate/conditions in North America.”
Still, I love the Lucas jokes, and I wish I remembered the gems he shared with me…..
That sure looks like rain clouds. Let’s see how quickly those syrupy smiles turn into tears. Hope their RAC membership includes free towing!
With an elevated right hand and arm, and indicating with an almost completely pinced index finger and thumb, he motioned to the comely woman driving her modern car, as he equally, almost silently, effortlessly, placidly whispered, ” You don’t have a ghost of a chance to beat me.” He bore a barely perceptible, subtle smile knowing that the future outcome was assured due to her unfounded trust and reliance upon the Lucas products under her bonnet. Another St. Crispin’s day result, no doubt was his. Henry V, he thought, would have deeply laughed and smiled at how this ghostly outcome was assured in battle with the Prince of Darkness. Vale.