The Best Looking Cars Many Have Never Seen

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a pair of 32 Ford roadsters and a 1937 Panhard  Dynamic X81 140 Limousine

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Blazer/BMW nose, Infiniti electricconept, 1940 Ford Deluxe, 1935 Ford custom coupe

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History[edit]THE CAR THAT WAS NEVER MEANT TO BE

The XK120 was launched in open two-seater or (US) roadster form at the 1948 London Motor Show as a testbed and show car for the new Jaguar XK engine. The display car was the first prototype, chassis number 660001. It looked almost identical to the production cars except that the straight outer pillars of its windscreen would be curved on the production version. The roadster caused a sensation, which persuaded Jaguar founder and design boss William Lyons to put it into production.

Beginning in 1948, the first 242 cars wore wood-framed open 2-seater bodies with aluminium panels.^[4] Production switched to the 1cwt or 112 lb (51 kg) heavier^[5] all-steel in early 1950. The "120" in the name referred to the aluminium car's 120 mph (193 km/h) top speed (faster with the windscreen removed), which made it the world's fastest production car at the time of its launch.^[6] In 1949 the first production roadster, chassis number 670003, was delivered to Clark Gable.

 

XK120 originally owned by Clark Gable at the 2012 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance

The XK120 was ultimately available in three versions or body styles, first as an open 2-seater described in the US market as the roadster (and designated OTS, for open two-seater, outside America); then also as a closed, or fixed head coupé (FHC) from 1951; and finally as a drophead coupé (DHC) from 1953, all two-seaters and available with Left or Right Hand Drive (LHD or RHD, the position of the steering wheel).

A smaller-engined version with a 2-litre 4 cylinder engine, designated the XK100, intended for the UK market was cancelled prior to production.

On 30 May 1949, on the empty Ostend-Jabbeke motorway in Belgium, a prototype XK120 timed by the officials of the Royal Automobile Club of Belgium achieved an average of runs in opposing directions of 132.6 mph with the windscreen replaced by just one small aero screen and a catalogued alternative top gear ratio,^{[note 1]} and 135 mph with a passenger-side tonneau cover in place.^[7] In 1950 and 1951, at a banked oval track in France, XK120 roadsters averaged over 100 mph for 24 hours and over 130 mph for an hour, and in 1952 a fixed-head coupé took numerous world records for speed and distance when it averaged 100 mph for a week.

Roadsters were also successful in racing and rallying.

Construction[edit]

 

1950 aluminium-bodied roadster, ex-Clemente Biondetti, has competition seats and aftermarket steering wheel; positions of tachometer and speedometer have been reversed

The first roadsters, hand-built with aluminium bodies on ash framing mounted on a steel chassis mostly copied from the Jaguar Mark V chassis using many of the same parts, were constructed between late 1948 and early 1950. To meet demand, and beginning with the 1950 model year, all subsequent XK120s were mass-produced with pressed-steel bodies. They retained aluminium doors, bonnet, and boot lid. The DHC and FHC versions, more luxuriouslyappointed than the roadsters, had wind-up windows and also wood veneers on the dashboard and interior door caps.

With alloy cylinder head, hemi-spherical combustion chambers, inclined valves ^[8] and twin side-draft SU carburetors, the dual overhead-cam 3.4 L straight-6 XK engine was comparatively advanced for a mass-produced unit of the time. With standard 8:1 compression ratio it developed 160 bhp (119 kW),^[2] using 80 octane fuel. Most of the early cars were exported; a 7:1 low-compression version, with consequently reduced performance, was reserved for the UK market, where the post-war austerity measures then in force restricted buyers to 70 octane "Pool petrol". The Jaguar factory, with access to 80 octane fuel, provided roadsters with the higher compression ratio to the press. Journalists could then test the model's optimum performance in Belgium, on a long, straight stretch of road between Jabbeke and Ostend.^[9] The XK engine's basic design, later modified into 3.8 and 4.2 litre versions, survived into the late 1980s.

All XK120s had independent torsion bar front suspension, semi-elliptic leaf springs at the rear, recirculating ball steering, telescopically adjustable steering column, and all-round 12-inch drum brakes which were prone to fade.^[10]Some cars were fitted with Alfin (ALuminium FINned) brake drums to help overcome the fade.

 

1951 XK120 roadster racing at Silverstone has a single aero screen mounted behind the removable full-width windscreen

The roadster's lightweight canvas top and detachable sidescreens stowed out of sight behind the seats, and its barchetta-style doors had no external handles; instead there was an interior pull-cord which was accessible through a flap in the sidescreens when the weather equipment was in place. The windscreen could be removed for aeroscreens to be fitted.

The drophead coupé (DHC) had a padded, lined canvas top, which folded onto the rear deck behind the seats when retracted, and roll-up windows with opening quarter lights. The flat glass two-piece windscreen was set in a steel frame that was integrated with the body and painted the same colour.

 

XK120 drophead coupé

Dashboards and door-caps in both the DHC and the closed coupé (FHC) were wood-veneered, whereas the more spartan roadsters were leather-trimmed. All models had removable spats("fender skirts" in America) covering the rear wheel arches, which enhanced the streamlined look. On cars fitted with optional centre-lock wire wheels (available from 1951), the spats were omitted as they gave insufficient clearance for the chromed, two-eared Rudge-Whitworth knockoff hubs. Chromium-plated wire wheels were optional from 1953. When leaving the factory it originally fitted 6.00 × 16 inch cross ply tyres on 16 × 5K solid wheels (Pre–1951). Later cars could also specify 185VR16 Pirelli Cinturato tyres as a radial option.^[11]

In addition to wire wheels, upgrades on the Special Equipment, or SE, version (called the M version for Modified in the United States) included increased power, stiffer suspension and dual exhaust system.

 

Engine specifications[edit]

[crossmember]

On 8/16/2017 at 1:15 AM, Eric said:

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On 11/16/2017 at 7:05 PM, XSIV4S said:

 

1986 Lincoln Ranger, Ford Willys Truck (Brazil), 59 Chevy Hearse,  You caption this one

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Vette wagon, Lambwagon, and two unusual  pickup trucks

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1969 DeTomoso Mangusta...
As a former racing driver for O.S.C.A. under the Maserati brothers, the entrepreneurial Alejandro de Tomaso founded a company bearing his own name in 1959 in an effort to compete in the world of racecars. Following in the footsteps of several other racing drivers of the same era, de Tomaso believed that he would have a surefire success on his hands if he combined a racing-style chassis, a robust Ford engine (pioneering mid/rear-engine configuration straight from the prototype playbook), and striking Italian design. His initial effort, the Vallelunga launched in 1964 and powered by an English Ford four-cylinder motor, was well received but alas could not compete with the heavy iron in other Italian hybrid cars.

Noting the extraordinary success of Carroll Shelby’s Cobras, followed by the outright dominance of the Ford GT40 in sports prototype racing, the brutally lovely Mangusta was born. (Italian for “mongoose,” its namesake is the only predator of cobras to be found in nature—such was de Tomaso’s ambition!)

Its styling was penned by the great Giorgetto Giugiaro, and it was built by Ghia of Turin. Compared to the Ford GT40 concept, with which it shared many conceptual and engineering similarities, the Mangusta was more subtle, streamlined, and elegant but was no less aggressive in appearance than the fearsome Ford. The more delicate styling did not mitigate the car’s performance, and the Mangusta boasted a top speed of 155 mph.

[Troy969]

On 11/19/2017 at 9:53 PM, crossmember said:

Vette wagon, Lambwagon, and two unusual  pickup trucks

 

 

Making the Countach a wagon improved rear visibility. 

Edited November 21, 2017 by Troy969

[crossmember]

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DELAHAYE, NARDI BLUE RAYS, ALFA ROMEO 6C2500, JAGUAR XK120  by Ghia

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L29 Cord by Hayes,  1931 Chryaler Imperial with Viper V10 ngine,  1929 Stutz Model M my favorite photo,     1929 Graham Paige Sound Train

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CUSTOM TRUCKS

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1931 Duesenberg Model J

The Model J is a car of no regrets. When produced, its makers knew they had gone as far as it was possible to go; and its owners have repeatedly said that no matter the sacrifice to obtain one, there were never any regrets in ownership.

Duesenberg was so identified with straight-eight engines that they trademarked “Straight 8,” yet the engines they bought from Lycoming were by all accounts not very sound. It’s doubly ironic, as the engine architecture was originally a Fred Duesenberg design built in-house for the Duesenberg A; then outsourced and used for Auburn after E. L. Cord acquired the company in 1926. As the top of the line car in Cord’s empire, the Model J required an engine to surpass any other models, but Lycoming’s Duesenberg-designed DOHC was lucky to produce 200hp. That was ample, if not close to the advertised 265hp of a Model J.

As modern engine builders have discovered, the Duesenberg’s 419.7-cu.in. engine is capable of extraordinary power, when given enough air. However, in this case it was all fed through a single 1.5-inch Schebler carburetor, which dramatically limited the potential horsepower. Duesenberg’s answer was to completely disassemble, balance and blueprint each engine, as well as rejecting multiple heads for each accepted, little surprise given the size and complexity of the casting. “The Duesenberg engines as built by Lycoming were, to say the least, not finely tuned,” said former ACD Club Duesenberg historian Chris Summers in Hemmings Classic Car. “They were pretty much flung together and sent out the door as fast as possible…The result was that, once every engine reached Indianapolis, it had to be rebuilt from the ground up, tuned and and tested again to produce the power claimed of it before it could be installed in a car. Thus, every Duesenberg can claim to have a factory-blueprinted engine, and the performance of every Duesenberg varied slightly.” It has been said that only 60hp were necessary to cruise at 60 MPH, leaving ample power available for

A light body in peak performance was capable of reaching 100 MPH in 21 seconds, and the factory saw 116 MPH. Quality, innovation and excellence went beyond the engine, however. It was rubber-mounted in a hefty 8.5-inch deep frame, and the company was perhaps as proud of its excellent hydraulic brakes, introduced several years before and the first on an American production car, as of the engine. Servo assist was even available after 1929. Unlike a production line assembled car, parts were generally matched to each car, with identifying stampings found not only on the engine and transmission, but both axles, as well.

In either the Gordon Buehrig-designed factory bodies or coachbuilt, Duesenberg included a dash to impress. An improbable 150 MPH speedometer was joined by a standard altimeter and clock/stopwatch, as well as a barometer and manometer for brake pressure, a tachometer, ammeter and oil pressure gauge. And then there are the four little red and green lights, which illuminated red at 75 miles when automatic chassis greasing engaged (and green when the reservoir was empty); the 700-mile oil change interval reminder; and 1,400-mile battery maintenance alert.

The Duesenberg’s eternal appeal is summed up in the fact that of the 424 known, approximately 350 have survived, and fewer than 40 are unaccounted-for. By any measure, the Duesenberg brothers and E. L. Cord succeeded in their aim to make the finest cars the world had ever known.

[crossmember]

Eric, Jim, you guys probably remmber this car.  Red when I wecked it, and the other image is the way it appeaprs now.

1MORE CRASHING EXPENSIVE CARS:

When I worked for the Jerry J. Moore collection in Houston we had an odd sort of car. It was a 1939 Rolls Royce Wraith that was built for the '39 Paris auto show, supposedly. Story was that after the show it was hidden away during the war to preserve it, and it suddenly showed up in America in the sixties, and was restored by Fran Roxas of Chicago.

What made the car odd was that its two major features cancelled each other out. It was a four door convertible sedan with roll up windows providing total passenger protection. At the same time it had a folding second cowl with windscreen for rear passenger protection. It was on a phantom III chassis, but it had a small six cylinder engine.

Despite all the oddities, a very expensive car.

One day I was trailering it from the museum to Mr Moore's house. A guy trying to get a better look crowded me up onto the curb where the car bounced around some, the body flexed, and the driver's door flew open. The door flew open, swung all the way back and slammed into the side of the car. Took out the driver's door, the rear door, door stop, and side trim.

We built a paint booth and hired a crew to repair on site. We couldn't just buy parts cause it was a one-off hand fabricated car. We had to build ever part we needed.

Turned out to be an expensive trip.

 

Edited December 2, 2017 by crossmember

[crossmember]

beetlegatti

[Eric]

On 12/2/2017 at 11:07 AM, crossmember said:

Eric, Jim, you guys probably remmber this car.  Red when I wecked it, and the other image is the way it appeaprs now.

1MORE CRASHING EXPENSIVE CARS:

When I worked for the Jerry J. Moore collection in Houston we had an odd sort of car. It was a 1939 Rolls Royce Wraith that was built for the '39 Paris auto show, supposedly. Story was that after the show it was hidden away during the war to preserve it, and it suddenly showed up in America in the sixties, and was restored by Fran Roxas of Chicago.

What made the car odd was that its two major features cancelled each other out. It was a four door convertible sedan with roll up windows providing total passenger protection. At the same time it had a folding second cowl with windscreen for rear passenger protection. It was on a phantom III chassis, but it had a small six cylinder engine.

Despite all the oddities, a very expensive car.

One day I was trailering it from the museum to Mr Moore's house. A guy trying to get a better look crowded me up onto the curb where the car bounced around some, the body flexed, and the driver's door flew open. The door flew open, swung all the way back and slammed into the side of the car. Took out the driver's door, the rear door, door stop, and side trim.

We built a paint booth and hired a crew to repair on site. We couldn't just buy parts cause it was a one-off hand fabricated car. We had to build ever part we needed.

Turned out to be an expensive trip.

 

Yeah, I remember that car and the day it got damaged. It is a gorgeous car.

[crossmember]

Cars I've driven

[Alabusa]

Mercedes 300SL Gullwing

Sent from a mental institution

[Alabusa]

1954 Olds F88


Sent from a mental institution

[Alabusa]

1948 Tucker

Sent from a mental institution

[Alabusa]

1971 Hemi Cuda Vert 1 of 11 made

Sent from a mental institution

[Alabusa]

1954 Packard Panther 1 of 4 made

Sent from a mental institution

[Eric]

This is a little wacky, but I like it.