• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)
Tips
Tips

What cars?

Share this page

Basil

Basil

Administrator
Staff member
Boss
Offline
Picture is circa 1958 at Niagra Falls. What are the 3rd car from left and 5th from right?
I thing the one on left is Nash Healey and the on on right is maybe some sort of Saab?

D40666D5-93E8-4332-810F-F71A409FC602.jpeg
 
Don't think the one on the left is a Nash Healey (Hillman, maybe?), but the one on the right is a Renault Dauphine.
 
I dont think its a dauphine. Dauphine doesnt have a front grill. Simca maybe?

Unless thats the rear end!
 
Good work. I got the Dauphine but missed the Hillman.
As an aside, back in 1957-58, the local Renault dealer wanted to hire me to sell the new Dauphine, brought over as a competitor to the VW Bug. After I drove one, I turned him down. I could not see myself selling that POS to my friends and family. How many are left today?
 
pdplot said:
Good work. I got the Dauphine but missed the Hillman.
As an aside, back in 1957-58, the local Renault dealer wanted to hire me to sell the new Dauphine, brought over as a competitor to the VW Bug. After I drove one, I turned him down. I could not see myself selling that POS to my friends and family. How many are left today?
Click to expand...

If you think the Dauphine was crappie you have stepped down a notch to the 4CV. I drove one when I was 17. I thought it was a pretty cool car.
 
Minx and Dauphine. They were all over the place during my younger days in England. I liked the look of the Dauphine, but the reality sucked.
 
Roger said:
Minx and Dauphine. They were all over the place during my younger days in England. I liked the look of the Dauphine, but the reality sucked.
Click to expand...

**** and Clack used to describe the car as beins designed without the benefit of engineering - OTOH you know me, I would have one in a heart beat! Actually I know where there is a stash of cars brought from Europe to be converted to electric ah la the Henney Kilowatt - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henney_Kilowatt - proved impractical but I would love to poodle around in one.
 
My brother brought a Dauphine home one day when we were young. It did not have the power to make it up the hill in first, so he turned it around and drove up backwards. He was a pretty good mechanic. put new rings in the engine and some other stuff and sold the car . Made money . Boy were those pistons small.
 
Roger said:
<snip> I liked the look of the Dauphine, but the reality sucked.
Click to expand...

Truer words, an' all that.

After an experience with a Simca and one with a Dauphine, there is not a French car on the planet I'd work on. The words "French" and "engineering" should never be used in the same sentence, AFAIC. The terms are mutually exclusive.

Turned away a few 2CV's and a Citroen SM or two at the shop. "Sorry, we don't have the tools to do work on your car, sir". We found that to be our best excuse.

A segue; we were sitting in the office having lunch one day, shop was a 6K square foot facility, had an XK-150 on the lift, a Shadow, a Benz Cabriolet drophead, a 1950 Ghost, all in the shop and in beautiful condition. Roll-up door open and all visible from outside. A woman comes into the office and asks if we worked on Yugo's... we looked at eachother and spontaneously started laughing. The lady got angry, yelled: "It's not funny!" and left in a huff (well, a Yugo, actually). :smirk:
 
A huffing Yugo?

But seriously, a Yugo is a re-branded Fiat; that should have been right up your alley, no?
 
I had a Renault 4CV in 1955. Bought new for $1,200.00 but cost me nothing because I traded in my MG TD with Lea Francis motor. I had it for 6 months. It had a green paint job that looked like water colors. The accelerator pedal stuck open on cold mornings. I spun out one night - did a 360 - on a snowy road en route to my weekly poker game. 3-speed, woefully underpowered but cheap to run. Traded in on a '52 MG TD MK II that I also kept for 6 months, eventually traded in for a new TR3 in 1956.
 
I don't share Doc's antipathy for French cars. We lived in France for several years, and at different times had a Peugeot 309 automatic for my wife, which was a bit disappointing but thoroughly reliable, then a Peugeot 205GT which was wonderful, and a Renault 21GXE which was a superb 100mph cruiser for the Autoroutes, and a brisk performer generally.
 
Popeye said:
A huffing Yugo?

But seriously, a Yugo is a re-branded Fiat; that should have been right up your alley, no?
Click to expand...

Yugo is another name for Tar Baby, AFAIC. Another is the Renault Le Car. Fix one thing and something else manifests itself. BTDT. No thanks! :smirk:

A quote from a Time magazine article: "[FONT=&quot]Built in Soviet-bloc Yugoslavia, the Yugo had the distinct feeling of something assembled at gunpoint. Interestingly, in a car where “carpet” was listed as a standard feature, the Yugo had a rear-window defroster — reportedly to keep your hands warm while you pushed it. The engines went ka-blooey, the electrical system — such as it was — would sizzle, and things would just fall off. Yugo. Or not."[/FONT]
 
Roger said:
I don't share Doc's antipathy for French cars. We lived in France for several years, and at different times had a Peugeot 309 automatic for my wife, which was a bit disappointing but thoroughly reliable, then a Peugeot 205GT which was wonderful, and a Renault 21GXE which was a superb 100mph cruiser for the Autoroutes, and a brisk performer generally.
Click to expand...

Perhaps in the country of origin, it would be different. But from here in th' Colonies they've always been difficult to deal with. From parts availability to built-in frailties. Things like: Why use four or five lug nuts when three can hold the wheel on?
 
Back
Top