By Robert Emslie
Today is July 5th, and that means that – here in the U.S. at least – we’re sweeping up the old sparklers, reminiscing fondly about yesterday’s beer and barbecue, and reflecting on freedoms our forefathers afforded us with their sacrifices. Well, that last bit is somewhat up in the air these days – hi NSA! – but still, this is a pretty great place to call home.
No matter where you happen to call home you can play the weekly Mystery Car contest as we just so happen to ignore international boundaries, owing to the fact that it’s the World-Wide Web. That’s just how we roll. How you’ll need to roll in winning this contest is to provide the correct identification of the above snippet of a car. Along with its make and model, for full credit you’ll need to provide the likely engine and year range as well. And for those of you NSA folks, no cheating!
Image source: ©2013 Hooniverse/Robert Emslie, All Rights Reserved
Kamil Kaluski
Oh good, another "I know I've seen this somewhere so a quick search should clear this right up, except no, I'm still searching at midnight." picture.
I know I saw that handle… many times… on something…
Not the MG Xpower SV. Door handle's wrong and (amazingly) the flare is smaller on the MG.
Yeah, I was feeling all brilliant for about two seconds. Next guess was a Mercedes AMG Black Edition something something but no dice…
I don't know why, but my knee jerk response was 2005-2010 Chevrolet Cobalt SS, powered by 2.0 or 2.4 liter I-4.
Nope. It hasn't a handle so graceful, nor a flare so deep.
mazda rx8?
No, it's got rear hinged rear half doors.
It's a coupe seeing that it has a lock in the door. And …
That's all I got.
The shape of the door pretty much dictates that, anyway. It's the pillar that gets me.
I see it's been guessed below.
The shape of the door, or at least it's position, was what was throwing me off. I started googling coupes – Audi TT, BMW Z3 & Z8, Toyota, anything. They all have a much more significant distance between the rear door edge and the rear wheel.
My son pointed out to me that looks like a fuel filler door in the B pillar.
We checked out a few ideas and ran out of steam.
For a moment I thought VW Beetle RSI… but tis not
1999 Plymouth Howler concept, 4.7L Powertech V8
(Yes, I'm pretty sure I'm wrong, but I'm not seeing a good enough picture of the rear fender on GIS to pass up the guess.)
Looks to be a 2011 Zolfe GTC/4 Road Rocket Coupe, powered by either a 2.0 liter or so Ford 4 cylinder motor with a Mazda driveline. Likely the only one in the USA as these come from the UK and production only started as of around 2010.
Are extra points given if I can tell you when and where the above photo was taken??
courtesy embed
<img src="http://www.zolfewest.com/whatsnew_images/gallery/photo3.jpg">
Well, go on Tim, where was the picture taken? How are sales going? I'd hazard a guess that such a road legal track car would have hooniversal appeal.
Wow Tim, outstanding!
Nice taillights. Why aren't those used more often? Lovely.
Lambo Diablo knockoffs, here in Europe some buses, big trucks and RVs have these.
They're probably genuine Lambo Diablo taillights, in the sense that I'm pretty sure there weren't any bespoke Diablo lights. Same parts bin.
Hella 4169 series, used everywhere. IIRC the pre-facelift ones were bespoke, and they're bigger.
EDIT – Pre-facelift: they're bigger, but not bespoke and not Hella. Probably came from a tractor or something, couldn't find.
Alright! Now how about this one?!
<img src="http://hooniverse.info/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/mystery_car_17-05-13.jpg" width=600>
I know! This one keeps nagging at me! At a casual glance it is a Ford, but that would be too easy for these guys…..
Holy crap, I think I finally solved this one. Robert? Can I get a ruling?
1973-74 Autobianchi A112 – with a 903cc I4 OHV?