Fastback ////

[Sixty8panther]

There was an awsome looking "fastback" show car in the mid-1950s

that featured a wheelbase & overall length in line with a 1930s car

more so than a 1950s 2-door. It looked like a hardtop but was not

although the rear side windows tilted out like a 1970s BMW. Also,

the rear window was positioned more like a moonroof than a

backlight and the tail lights look like afterburners.

Name the car.

[Sixty8panther]

Bump!

Ella le gusta le la gasolina

Dame mas Gasolina

[ocnblu]

Dude, you're being too Sly with this one. The description is too general. More hints, please? :AH-HA_wink:

[torobud]

I can't think of the one but I thought there was a coupe similar to the Olds F-88.... maybe that helps someone else?

[Sixty8panther]

Actually the hints give it away as the ONLY car of the era with

those styling features... but if you're not a coniseur with a

photographic memory like JamesB or Balthazar you'd never

guess it in a million years because you probabyl don't even

know the car existed.

Here's some other hints:

- It was a show car for a company that has been

dead since before I was born.

- It is so long that both in overall length & in

wheelbase it is closer to a new Chevy Silverado

3500 crew cab long bed than any modern "car".

- It has four mini tailfins but they are not placed

like a '59 Pontiacs' and neither does it have

"Skegs" like a '61 & '62 Cadillac.

- The car was built outside the USA by a company

that has ties to a classic VW car.

- Red on the outside black on the inside, white

walls & real wire wheels w/ knock-off hubs.

Edited June 23, 2006 by Sixty8panther

[balthazar]

I passed on the opening description: the implied extreme wheelbase coupled with flip-out windows threw me.

After reading the second description, I am still stumped.

A 3500 Crew Cab long bed truck is in the neighborhood of 250"- that's colossal. A '70 Cadillac Series 75 is 245" overall. This should narrow it down to about the exact vehicle you're talking about, but cars this long are like hen's teeth.

What did spring to mind, tho it 's not that long and doesn't meet a number of the clues is the Argonaut- but that in itself is 'hen's teeth' for most enthusiasts.

{thinking}... it's not domestic (and you didn't say that it was).... Therefore I am out of my element for the most part.

Awaiting reveal.... and there had better be at least 1 pic...

[Camino LS6]

Something from Ghia?

[Camino LS6]

Like this maybe?

[balthazar]

Nah- that's the Chrysler d'Elegance: no quad fins, no 'moonroof backlight', 115" wheelbase. SixtyS88 is hinting for something with more like a 135"+ wheelbase.

'66 Duesenberg proposal had the dimensions (137" / 244"), but not the design cues, designer location or vintage. There was an earlier '59 Duesenberg proposal (not the convert that shows up via Google- this was a 2-dr hardtop/coupe), but it bears no relation whatsoever to the '66, I have no dimension specs for the '59 and I cannot guesstimate it's size. It's still shy on some of the clues, too.

Car in question has to be something else... of european origin...

Edited June 24, 2006 by balthazar

[Sixty8panther]

Okay I feel like a prick, while the Ghia you posted is an

excellent guess :wink: it's wheelbase/O.L. is too short BUT

at the same time the Silverado cc/lb was meant to be

exageration for effect.

Camino is very close and I think this last clue might do it:

(don't bother right clicking)

[balthazar]

Pshaw- that!?!

wheelbase 125", overall 214".

I am way too literal....

[Sixty8panther]

I have a photo of that .50 caliber bullet shaped thing

in one of my books in straight on profile, it looks

longer than any Electra 225 I've ever seen, it

honestly looks like it's 250 or at least 240 inches

long, maybe it's the low greenhouse and monsterous

hood. This shot does make it look a lot more closer

to 214, but still take away that dude and it looks

like it has the wheelbase of a V16 Cadillac Dual Cowl.

Anyway it's the 1954 DeSoto Adventurer II bodied by Ghia.

The tilt out windows, four mini tail fins, wire wheels &

very cool tail lights also make this show car a one of a kind.

http://www.atspeedimages.com/pebble_2004/p..._adventurer_II/

[Camino LS6]

Know this one?

[Sixty8panther]

A lot more people would if the Andrea Dora had not ended up

at the bottom of the Atlantic. The only car to my knowledge

that lacks not only a B-pillar but has no A pillar either.

The irony is that I had a trivia queation planned for the Norseman.

[Camino LS6]

Sorry that I stole your thunder, 68.

[Sixty8panther]

Hey, it's all good... it's always fun to discus 1950s cars...

production or not.