Name this car....

[Rona!d]

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Mid-50´s sounds good, Maserati not so good.

[wizard]

Looks like an AC Cobra to me, but most of them have an additional opening between the front grille and the turn indicator, which is lacking here.

Cheers,

Andy

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[Rona!d]

Not a Cobra, Andreas.

[wlaidlaw]

1954 Siata 208S? 

Wilson

[stuny]

I think Wilson has it.  If we tape this car's headlights and remove the bumpers, we seem to be there on this '54  208S

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[John Z. Goriup]

OK, so not a Maserati, but I believe it is Italian, on the other hand there's the mesh grill, which would largely eliminate Ferrari since the Old Man always personally insisted on his famous egg-crate grilles,  and  when you look at the location ( the heigth ) of the headlighgts, it all makes me think it may bea Zagato-bodied coupe, or perhaps even a Scaglietti .........probably destined exclusively for the US market due to what appear to be U.S.-legal headlights and the absence of typical Italian / European driving lights & side-marker lights.

JZG

[Rona!d]

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vor 2 Stunden schrieb stuny:

I think Wilson has it. 

Sorry, Wilson was wrong.

[Rona!d]

vor 51 Minuten schrieb John Z. Goriup:

OK, so not a Maserati, but I believe it is Italian, on the other hand there's the mesh grill, which would largely eliminate Ferrari since the Old Man always personally insisted on his famous egg-crate grilles,  and  when you look at the location ( the heigth ) of the headlighgts, it all makes me think it may bea Zagato-bodied coupe, or perhaps even a Scaglietti .........probably destined exclusively for the US market due to what appear to be U.S.-legal headlights and the absence of typical Italian / European driving lights & side-marker lights.

JZG

Correct, we can eleminate Ferrari. And we can eleminate Zagato and Scaglietti. And this car is not destinated exclusively for the US market.

Next hint: It´s from a company which supported two of the greatest european racecar drivers of all times. They were involved in the highest class of racing in the 1950s (F2 and F1). This is not a F2/F1 car as you can see. It´s one of their sportscars which was and propably still is used for racing (at least when I took this shot). When it was new it was also driven by another well known racecar driver who was responsible for promoting racing in his homeland.

Do I see smoking heads? ;-)))

[pippy]

Is it, by any chance, a 1954 Alfa Romeo 3000 Disco Volante?

Philip.

[Rona!d]

vor 2 Minuten schrieb pippy:

Is it, by any chance, a 1954 Alfa Romeo 3000 Disco Volante?

Philip.

Philip I considered taking a nice Alfa Romeo instead of the riddle car, but that is closest you can get with your guess 😉 

[Rona!d]

Another hint: This sports/racecar maker does not produce cars anymore but is still active in the (higher priced) automotive business.

@ Philip: Around a corner they are really linked to Alfa, I completely forgot but that would propably irritade you guys. Mention it just to be "correct".

[Rona!d]

And another hint to this specific car: It got a new front design some years ago which looks close to the 2nd gen/facelift of this model. It got "streamlined" and looks nicer now I would say.

[John Z. Goriup]

In my opinion all these additional hints point to LANCIA.

JZG

[Rona!d]

vor 11 Minuten schrieb John Z. Goriup:

In my opinion all these additional hints point to LANCIA.

JZG

Sorry, not.

Another hint: Leave Italy! They only raced there and got inspired designwise.

[Rona!d]

Initially the front had three air intakes but the later models had just one big mouth. Sometimes with the headlights inside the mouth, sometimes similar to the riddle car.

[Rona!d]

Time for a wider crop but now you guys should get it.

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[wlaidlaw]

HWM, which started with headlights in the wings but they went inside the grille in 1955? 

Wilson

[Rona!d]

vor einer Stunde schrieb wlaidlaw:

HWM, which started with headlights in the wings but they went inside the grille in 1955? 

Wilson

Correct, Wilson. Well done!

This is the HWM Jaguar powered 1953 prototype registered as "VPA 9" made for Tony Gaze. Until at least 2011 it was painted green (now silver) and had a different front. In its earlier life it got a fibre body which was different. There were two/three different designs, this rounder front design was series 2, had lights inside the round mouth and later outside.

Tony Gaze got "VPA 9" after his Aston Martin DB3 got crashed.

HWM had early Stirling Moss and Peter Collins as drivers. At one race Moss in his HWM Formula 2 racer was right behind Fangio in his Formula 1 car!

Here a sister car of "VPA 9" with the initial cars front design.

Here a Tony Gaze link which also shows and mentions "VPA 9".

Basic information about HWM.

HWM still exist as the oldest family owned UK Aston Martin dealership (since 1951) and as a dealer for Alfa Romeo and other exotics. They are still located in Walton-on-Thames.

[Rona!d]

And here "VPA 9" in the old pits of Nürburgring a couple of years ago.

 

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Hallo,

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[wlaidlaw]

I had thought of HWM rather earlier but the grille shape of the 1953 car (XPA748) in my book was somewhat different. I will now go on the hunt for another car. 

Wilson