[Ram]

ID:544
Sometimes size not shape helps identify the car.

Friends, at one time, what Americans called a compact hatchback, was somewhat larger than what fit in our imaginations.

Guess this large American hatchback shot in suburban Silicon Valley, California.

[jayz]

ID 544 is a 1977 Pontiac Phoenix.

[Ram]

Very good jayz. You got the model right, but the year wrong.
It is not a 1977.

It is a 1979 Phoenix. Notice the faux-louvers on the B-pillar?
This was Pontiac's final variant of its rear-wheel drive compact on the X-type platform.

I was about to buy one from a correction-officer in upstate New York. The Pontiac Phoenix was the corporate cousin of the Chevrolet Nova, Oldsmobile Omega and Buick Skylark.

It was a very solid, heavily built car with the double wishbone and coils front suspension and subframe shared with the Pontiac Firebird / Chevrolet Camaro. It was America's first compact car certified for police duty.

These cars had a solid rear axle on leaf springs -- they had an issue with the rear axle that would shift from its moorings causing the car to dog-track.

Disco music became popular in the second half of the 1970s, and this was called the Disco Phoenix.

I did not buy that Phoenix and bought instead, the 1979 Pontiac Catalina Safari station wagon, built on the fullsize B-type platform.

Ram

[jayz]

ID:545 Guess this one.

[Ram]

ID:545 is the 1957 Toyopet Corona model ST10.

It had a 995 cc OHV engine like our old Maruti Zen, but driving a 3-speed manual gearbox.

The body had monocoque construction to tilt the scales at under 1 ton.
Double wishbone independent front suspension gave unprecedented (for 1957) comfort.

Ram

[jayz]

Spot on Sir, as always. It is the 1957 Toyopet Corona.

[Ram]

ID:546 Guess this car. Wish you all a great weekend.

[jayz]

ID 546 - 1968 Isuzu 117 Coupe

[Ram]

Absolutely correct jayz,
ID:546 is a 1968 Isuzu 117.

Styled in Turin, Italy by Giorgetto Giugiaro, it was one of the first Japanese cars designed by an Italian stylist. It was also Giugiaro's first project as director of styling and design at Carrozzeria Ghia.
Among other firsts, the Isuzu 117 was the first Japanese car with a DOHC engine, and first with electronic fuel injection. Also available with a 2.2 litre diesel engine, it was the world's first sports car with a diesel engine.

A hugely successful coupe (86,200 units), it was produced for 13 years until Giugiaro designed the Isuzu Piazza to replace it. By then, Giugiaro was at Italdesign, which designed our Tata Indica.

Ram

[Ram]

ID:547 Guess this car. The weekend is still young.

[ajinkya]

My apologies for posting a new car without being able to identify ID 487.
But I found this car and thought it might be an interesting addition to here.

On this thread, we've seen a lot of beautiful cars.
Here's an ugly one, ID 548:




A clue:
A famous person on television once called it a hearse.

Cheers,
Ajinkya

[sajo]

ID 548 is a Chrysler PT Cruiser.

[Ram]

ID:547

Come on friends, it's been 60 hours since putting this one up.

ID:547
Your thoughts and guesses are as dear to us and as valuable as the pictures and information Do express your automotive emotions. Isn't that what our bonding is all about?

[Ram]

Now 73 hours. Your silence is deafening.
V-16, -GS-, Prabal, ajmat, awini, karlosdeville, 1100D, ...
Your thoughts and guesses and perspectives please?

[Ram]

ID:547 is a 1971 Honda 1300 Coupe 9 Deluxe.

One of Mr. Soichiro Honda’s dream designs -- born out of his desire to build a “world class car”.
It is a portfolio of design purity and innovative engineering.

It had a transverse mounted inline 4-cylinder engine breathing through four Keihin carburettors, in turn suckling on one aircleaner. A dedicated carburettor for each cylinder let the engineers tune the engine for max power.

The engine was air-cooled via ducts running through the block and head as if meant for water. Nevertheless, the exterior of the engine still had cooling fins, as did the dry sump oil reservoir.

Air-cooled engines are usually noisier than water-cooled ones. If you've heard the noisy 4-banger in a VW Beetle, you know what I mean.
But Soichiro Honda made the fins thick and stubby, so that they did not ring with high-frequency vibrations.
Honda's engine turned out in fact much quieter than many small water-cooled engines.

The cooling fan was attached to the flywheel to pull cool air through the engine block (forced-induction). Soichiro called this Duo Dyna Air Cooling (DDAC). This warmed air from the exhaust manifold, was then used to heat the passenger compartment, a novel approach which was rarely used afterwards.

The engine delivered 116 bhp@7300 rpm, an incredible output considering that it was just a 1298 cc engine.
Max torque was 119 Newton-metres @ 5000 rpm.

The Coupe 9 could gallop from standstill to 100 km/h in 11.5 seconds. Its top speed was 180 km/h.
Friends this car could give an Alfa-Romeo GT Veloce a run for the money.

An electrical fuel pump was another high-tech novelty for 1971 which would become common eventually.

Suspension used MacPherson struts on all four corners. Innovative rear suspension had cross-beam swinging beam

Roughly 8,000 Coupe 9s were built.
Today the survivors among these cars are much sought after in Australia.

Although road tested in California, they were never exported to the US.

Friends, this was the spiritual grandfather of Honda's NS-X supercar.

Ram