Archive Images
Join us on another trip down memory lane as we gather together a collection of wonderfully evocative press pictures from the past.
More great images, this time ranging from M for Mazda to Q for Quantum.
MAZDA
This little oddity is a 1966 Mazda Carol 360. Built from 1962-1970, it had a four- cylinder, water- cooled, five- main- bearing engine in the back, but incredibly this only swept 358ccs. Mazda also managed to squeeze in four doors from 1963. It was, of course, designed to qualify as a Kei car under Japan's keijidosha regulations, which specified maximum vehicle dimensions, engine capacity and power output in return for tax and insurance concessions, plus parking concessions outside the main urban centres. There was also a Carol 600 version from 1962-1964, which came with a bigger 586cc engine.
MERCEDES-BENZ
OK, we could do with some help on this one. It is almost certainly a staged publicity photo from Mercedes, and that looks like a Fintail rally car with one wheel jacked up, possibly a 220SE or 300SE. These were built from 1959-1968, but try as we might we cannot identify the location, the event or the gents pictured. That wonderful minibus just poking its nose into the shot doesn't help either, as the L319 was produced from 1955-1967. So, over to you...
MG
We are now inside the MG factory at Abingdon. Trying to date the picture, those sidelights on the MGAs don't seem to incorporate amber turn signals, which would make them 1500 models, so from 1955-1959. That is backed up by the magnificent queue of MG Magnettes on the other line, as those chrome trim strips trailing back from the front wheelarches mark them out as ZAs from 1952-1956. We are not sure why there is such a long gap behind the front two MGAs, but the chap standing with one hand on his hip does seem to be at a loose end waiting for the next one to roll past. Note that both MGAs at the front of the line are LHD; the model was in fact a huge export success for the company and the country – just over 100,000 of all variants were built, but fewer than 6000 were sold in the UK.
OLDSMOBILE
In the late 1980s, Oldsmobile were looking for a way to publicise their new DOHC, 16-valve, four- cylinder, 2.3-litre engine, and the solution they hit on was a pair of Kevlarbodied Aerotech record breakers, one with a long tail and the other with a shorter one. In August 1987, the long-tailed Aerotech with a turbocharged engine generating over 900bhp recorded a two-way average of 267.399mph at Fort Stockton in Texas.
OLTCIT
I must admit to stumbling into a surprisingly complex commercial web when starting to investigate this image. The car may be advertised as a Citroën Axel, but it was built by Oltcit in Romania and sold by them as the Club. However, underneath was a platform that had its roots in a Franco- Italian project based on the Fiat 127, but which had been redesigned by Citroën after they had fallen out with Fiat. The Oltcit was offered with a choice of two- cylinder air- cooled power from the Citroën Visa or flat-four from the GS. Citroën pulled out of the arrangement in 1991, after which the name changed to Oltena. Then, from 1994 after joining forces with Daewoo, it became a Rodae. Catchy, eh?
PEUGEOT
This imposing beast is a Peugeot 601, current for just 18 months from May 1934 to late 1935. It had a six- cylinder engine of 2148cc, and this is a facelift car for the 1935 model year with the headlights set lower down. After 1935, Peugeot would not return to six- cylinder engines until the 604 of 1975, though that had a V6 rather than a straight- six like the 601.
QUANTUM
We featured the Quantum back in the Spring 2020 issue, but that was a studio shot of the four- seater saloon and 2+2 soft-top, whereas we rather like this outdoor setting for the convertible. Based on the Mk2 Fiesta as far as mechanical components and trim, it featured a glassfibre monocoque structure with integral steel sill panels and a front subframe. All in all it was a very stylish and well-balanced design and became Quantum's bestselling model. Brothers Mark and Harvey Wooldridge went on to design another model, the H4 based on the Mk3 Fiesta, which was launched in 1997. That one had a fibreglass shell on a steel chassis.