So far I’ve managed to avoid adding a “mystery car” category to this site, perhaps because of an earlier incident when I was Cars Guide for About.com. The lady who produced About’s vintage car site included a mystery car every week which, for some strange reason, really annoyed the autos editor. Enough that he demanded the lady cease and desist. Said lady refused and was fired. I took over the site, changed the name to “classic cars,” then was sacked by a new-and-long-gone editor who demanded that I include Web pages on maintenance, restoration, and buying/selling. As an automotive historian I knew little or nothing about those subjects so I refused.
Here I am now, entertaining you in Classical Drives, and my friends at Creative Weblogging don’t give a darn whether or not I include a mystery car! Thus giving me an opportunity to feature this image from Nigel Matthews. As Nigel says, look at it carefully and you’ll see a period Studebaker influence plus Volkswagen Karmann Ghia hints in the shape of the rear 1/4 panels. From the mid-point of the front fenders Nigel also sees a Porsche 356. Whatever the mix, it’s rather pretty and I’ll give you a hint. The car is German but was sued by an American transmission maker as it felt the name was too similar to its US brand name. Okay, another hint: Hansa and 1500 figured predominantly on the badge. Add your guess in “comments” below and tell us whether you’d like more mystery cars.
It’s a Borgward Hansa 1500 not to be confused with the much uglier 1800, but then again, it was early 50s. Thanks to Philip and Nigel.
October 16, 2009 @ 12:55 pm