By Robert Emslie
Hey, hey, hey, today is the birthday of the legendary comedian and one-time twin supercharged Shelby Cobra 427 owner, Bill Cosby. Happy birthday, Bill. From I Spy to Fat Albert, to the Cosby Show, The Cos’ was a TV staple for more than four decades, breaking down the color barrier and making the Boob Tube feel far less boobish in the process.
Considering his track record on the small screen, you’d think that pretty much anything he did would have been successful, but that was not the case with his last TV venture, The Cosby Mysteries. That show, which positioned the comedian as a New York Police criminalist, only lasted a single season. Cosby has not led a series since.
Our Mystery series on the other hand is still going strong almost three years on. That’s because we don’t step out of our comfort zone here, it’s only cars, and mystery. Well, it’s also rules, and those are: make and model, likely engine, and year-range to be crowned the king, or queen as it may be. And now, as The Cos’ might say, hey, hey, hey, it’s the Mystery Car!
Image source: ©2013 Hooniverse/Robert Emslie, All Rights Reserved
Kamil Kaluski
I'll take a stab – Volvo PV444 – 1943-57, 1.4-1.6L I4?
Nope. I didn't look at the intersection of hood and fender. Nevermind.
It has something MIni-ish… maybe some Broadspeed coupè?
I say a 1966-67 Broasdspeed Gt with the 1275 engine or one of the mid-nineties Downton GT replicas by the Symbol Mini Company
I was going to guess some variant or predecessor of the Mini Marcos, but no.
Okay, how about 1956-57 Volvo P1900, 1414cc I4?
(I'm on a Volvo kick today, apparently.)
It's a mini, from the lack of wheel arches I'd say 60s or 70s and by the chrome arch trim probably either a 998 or 1275 cooper
There is a slight chance this is a FSO Syrena, if so it's an early one, so that would be the 2 cylinder 2-stroke engine and say sometime before 1970. Even if it is not this, it should be Kamil's new car whatever it is.
Wow, I think you're right.
Oh man, I want you to be right – that's the sort of car I want to see in this feature. However, the base of the A-pillar and the extra tall protruberence at the leading edge of the door (yes, I know Syrenas had suicide doors) don't look like any of the pics I see on the Googles.
Yup, I don't think it's right either, but there was small chance of it just because the sliver of the original image was of so poor quality so I was not certain of some details.
I also don't see a hood gap, but it looks like it may have been obscured.
Now I looked at a Panhard Junior (tantalizingly close except for slight curve in the windshield corner) and a Goggomobil 250 (this one is really close too except for the missing chrome). I hope somebody gets this one, these always really make my brain itch if it takes a while.
Old Fiat Abarth?
Aw man… c'mon please hoons of the world!
1957-58 Saab 93B, 2-stroke 3-cylinder
To me looks like a 1947 Cisitalia 202 coupe, but the headlight trim is wrong so my best guess would be a replica made by Allied Fiberglass most were put on MG frame and running gear, but some of the bodies were designed for the then more current Ford frames.
Now I know it's NOT a Berkeley T60, it's NOT a Frazer Nash Continental, and definitely NOT a 1957 Bond 3 wheeler, NOR an AC Invacar 70…
I have another guess! WSK Mikrus MR-300 around 1957 with a two-stroke 2 cylinder 296cc engine.
edit: forgot the photo.
<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/06/PL_Mikrus.jpg/500px-PL_Mikrus.jpg">