Our own David Tracy is working on a story about an amazing cache of cars molding and rotting away in France, and the pics he was showing us of the cars were incredible. So many great things—BMWs, Renault Alpines, Renaults, Peugeots, Citroëns, Fiats, a lone Gremlin, all kinds of treats. I’m just teasing you for David’s story later. But, until then, I want you to have a peek at this car that was so familiar yet just beyond my recognition earlier today. See if you can ID it!
With significant help from Raph, (who finally, after much combing through pictures, got it) the car is now identified, and I’ll stick a link at the bottom of this post if you give up guessing and just want to know.
But let’s just start with what we can see of the car: it’s appears to be a good bit smaller than the BMW 2002 next to it, and, based on the lack of a grille, I think it’s likely a rear-engined car.
The design is very late ‘50s to early ‘60s, and feels very Italian, to me, though it’s not a match for rear-engined Fiats I could find. Same goes for other rear-engined Europeans like Simcas or Renaults or even Skodas.
Those little turn indicators perched atop those bumper guards, though, those were triggering so many things! They were so familiar yet so elusive.
Both the aborted Studebaker-Porsche collaboration prototype and the Fiat 110 TV used similar bumper/indicator setups, but it clearly wasn’t either of them.
It feels so Fiat-y, but no rear-engined Fiats looked like that. So what is this mossy little mystery? This thing was hovering at the edge of my brain for way too long and it was making me bonkers.
Give up yet? Click here if you do, and, if you’re like me, you’ll do that ooohhhhhh shit right I should have known that thing like I did.