What Am I? Heads-Up
This week’s What Am I? photo comes from K2 Mystery Car, who is back from his extended vacation in Honduras (he is either a drug Kingpin, environmentalist, or textile magnate…still not sure) and gave us this photo.
I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that this is from a car…not a home AC unit…but I couldn’t tell you what it is.
Not a Volvo 1800.
No. Good guess.
Easy. Bond mini car from the UK. You're welcome…
No. Good guess.
Goggomobil?
No. Good guess.
Austin A40?
It has to be somewhere in the Nash – Austin neighborhood though, right?
[img] vpstestbringatrailercom.c.presscdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/1951_Nash_Healey_Le_Mans_Roadster_For_Sale_Front_resize.jpg[/img]
No.
I'm thinking British / UK and from the 1960's but that's all I gots!
Is it a: "No. Good guess." ?
No. Bad guess. 🙂
Is it a bumper car/dodgem?
Nope.
Feels German… I am going to look at old Mercedes race car haulers with the "first to arrive at the accident scene" styling.
Sure seems like a 40's~50's Mercedes. Throws in shop towel…
Don't give up now!
Trabant
No. Sorry.
Turn signal and body seam look almost like a 1958-59 Studebaker pickup, but the
headlight is too high, more like an 1954 International Harvester, so that leaves 1948 – 1952 GMC pickup.
Apparently slightly customized.
Unless it's a Fargo / DeSoto from Turkey but you wouldn't try something that weird would you?
And as soon as I hit the publish button I remembered
Austin FX4 aka london cab
All good guesses but no. Completely stock from the factory, btw…
Rambler American
Nope.
Darn tootin' close, visually…
[img] i.imgur.com/tuBa2hR.jpg?1[/img]
Checker Marathon
Sorry, no.
Admittedly, I don't know much about Checker. Was there ever a single headlight Marathon?
[img] i.imgur.com/G4g4RmZ.jpg?1[/img]
Has the photo been digitally "enhanced" to obscure some part of the background?
Also, does it have four wheels?
The photo is not digitally enhanced in any way. I only cropped it and made it grayscale. That is all.
so the color matters? if we could see the color it would be a clue? fire engine maybe?
It does but I think a) that might be a bit of a cheat…? and b) it is a huge clue to the answer. Despite all of that, I think that even keeping those things in mind that the truth is a bit misleading, as there was a special variant of this car…. 😉
Aw, heck. I think you guys deserve more clues for all your hard work.
SPOILER – DON'T READ THIS IF YOU WANT TO FIGURE IT OUT WITHOUT THIS INFORMATION
The color was a shade of green (with a really great story behind that "feature" – yes yes it's somewhat like the Ford story we all know but it's not a Ford)…and the variant was painted creme…
There are a bunch of clues in there for you! If you still want me to post an image of the actual color(s), I will. You just let me know.
Perhaps an "olive drab" with the variant painted a creme meant to blend into the landscape during the North African campaign of WWII? I'm just not letting go of this Jeep thing……
Seems odd to have so much rubbery business going on around those lights and they seem to ride suspiciously high on the body . . . . could she be . . . . . . amphibious?
MB
It's not an amphibious vehicle. But you are onto something with your comment about how the light is placed.
Light, blinker, and clue seem to point to a very old Jeep of some type. The sheet metal shapes scream taxi. I just can't think of a car where the sheet metal returns underneath a torpedo shape along the side of the car. Can't wait to see what this thing is!
late 50's Mercedes 190?
Not an MB.
[img] i.imgur.com/GIJ6DV2.jpg?1[/img]
Head or tail?
Good question! Answer: headlight. I like your username, even if I don't really know what it means.
It's an Office Space reference.
[img] members.iinet.net.au/~jez/junk/what%20do%20you%20do%20here.jpg[/img]
Aha! Thanks for the clarification.
Actually predates "Office Space" in my case. Used to spend a lot of time with three other couples, four of us were Bobs.
Double aha! Thanks for the even further clarification.
This is a good one. Thanks for using an external body shot for the mystery. Those skinny front fenders have me stumped. I keep picturing a Ghia designed Rambler but can't find it.
How about a Trabby?? That good ole East German 2 stroke wonder??
Johnson beat you to it already. Sorry. Still not right, though.
snowmobile? golf cart?
Car.
Some manner of COE pickup truck?
Looks an awful lot like this 1949 GMC COE I just stumbled across…
[img] m3.i.pbase.com/o6/17/816317/1/130969703.dxCHxRlG.KKOA101509Edit.jpg[/img]
No.
metropolitan, mini cooper
No. To both.
Austin Healey sprite ?
No.
BEEP BEEP my ass…..
Sounds painful.
OR GOOD !
Looks like a Nash Metropolitan….
But it isn't.
Cunningham C-3
No.
Eureka! I have found it. Which I shall prove by listing the plate number of the car in the first Google image search result: 33. How I got there? I can't even replicate my own search terms. Anyone else? Good freaking luck!
CORRECT!
I guess the fun evaporated. Here's a couple of clues: K2's clues are very unlikely to help. I had never seen nor heard of it before. I'd be pretty surprised if anyone has ever seen one IRL. Wouldn't be surprised if nobody ever even heard of it before. If he showed a photo of the whole dang car, you still might have trouble figuring out what it is. Does that help?
Yes, your clues are enormously helpful. By which I mean no, your clues are not helpful. If YOU dudes can't figure it out then what hope is there for the rest of us?!?
Just tell us this one thing: how many pandas would fit inside the vehicle? Normal-sized pandas, not the baby ones.
Maybe one but that's a stretch.
Those are wild assumptions KBZ. You can't speak for others.
Those weren't assumptions, they were opinions. Easily tested too. We can take an informal poll after the identity is outed. Who's heard of it, seen one, etc.?
I'm the first to admit my limited car knowledge, but I have no false modesty re my research and puzzle solving abilities. The clues helped me confirm I had found the right car, but didn't help me find it. Others' mileage may vary.
All that's not to say it wasn't a good whatsit puzzle. It was. Only that the clues you gave assume knowledge of the car sufficient that the person they could conceivably help would already be familiar with that car and more able to have figured it out without those clues.
KBZ — I am amazed as always. I didn't have much time for searching (and if I'd have found it people would assume the fix was in, anyway) but that was well done.
"I'd be pretty surprised if anyone has ever seen one IRL." is an opinion, not an assumption. Okay, got it.
Then you must be surprised because you actually know somebody who's seen one up close – me. I saw it when I was in Germany, about 25 years ago.
I don't agree with your assessment of my clue-giving. If I started shoving details at you guys, the jig would have been up instantaneously. Instead, I tried to give leading answers that allowed for piecing clues together. If I'd been more descriptive, this WAI would have gone like it usually does; to whomever has the fastest keyboard skills. That has nothing to do with car history knowledge and interrogating skills. It's too easy to type into a search engine key words and phrases (much less copy a picture into Google Images) and suddenly the searcher is an expert. Just because you don't know something doesn't mean it doesn't exist and that others might know something about it.
How could a person go to college or grade school with that view of life? You'd be screaming nonsensical things at the teachers all the time because you didn't know it already. I don't get any of that.
I'm thrilled to share these cars with my fellow DTers. They were absolutely new and alien to me also, at one time. That's the fun of it; discovering new things.
Below is a list of interesting features of the Felber Autoroller. I hope you'll find it as interesting as I do.
Two adult pandas, one child panda. That's a huuuge clue, which you will only realize after you figure out what the car is.
I have the feeling nothing I'd say would make you happy KBZ.
And though this is a rare car, hundreds were made. BTW, I've seen one in the flesh.
2.5 pandas isn't a very high Functional Panda Coefficient. Is the cara 1954 Mivalino?!?
Ok, I know it isn't a 1954 Mivalino, but just look at this lil' fellah!!
[img] farm2.static.flickr.com/1109/1134658022_a7928120e2.jpg[/img]
Is that not exactly the same as a Messerschmidt? Aren't those tandem? I saw a Heinkel at a car show this summer, those seat three adults IIRC.
The site where I found the photo — Dark Roasted Blend — notes the exact same point. And according to Wikipedia the Mivalino was all Messerschmitt except the engine. Like I said below, you guys know your stuff, the rest of us are just along for the ride.
Felber Autoroller T 400?
how did you figure it out?
[img] upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/54/Felber_Autoroller_1954.JPG/280px-Felber_Autoroller_1954.JPG[/img]
Like you said, "huge clue". I googled "three passenger microcar".
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how did you know it was a microcar? – three passengers, i suppose
"three passenger car" would have done it
K2_Mystery Car said it might fit one panda, but that's a stretch.
Well done Oneofthebobs! As far as Pandapacity — both KBZ and K2 are correct, the female adult panda can be as small as 150 lbs (3 in the car) but the male can be 6-ft long and weigh 376 lbs (1 in the car).
Oh heck — I googled "three seat tiny car." So close (in my mind)!
When i think "three passenger car" I always first think of McLaren F1 or Porsche 914. The 914 was officially a 3 passenger car in some markets. I have the third seat and belt kit for my 914/6
I did not know that about the 914. I always assumed it was just a two-seater. Thanks, Hugh!
Things that interested me about the Felber Autoroller.
1) Frame is rumored to be made from bazookas
2) Rotax 400cc with 15 horsepower
3) One color paint; green, because the paint was being commonly used for machinery
4) Brakes on all three wheels
5) Unique 2+1 seating (that kid has to be really small)
6) 4-speed with reverse
7) Competed against bikes with sidecars in hillclimb races
8) Wider than tall
9) 400 produced
10) 10 customized by Hofmann and Moldrich with full bodies, all creme colored (pic below)
11) Less than half a dozen known to survive
12) Felber lives on as part of Electrolux
13) Split windshield (though not unique, still cool)
14) Product of Austria
15) Driver sits on left
I remember the Felber Autoroller during our recent discussion about the Suzuki Kizashi and specifically the conversation with Gianni. There are some similarities between the two companies, albeit distant. Like that Japanese company, which made looms, when Felber stopped making cars, they manufactured industrial equipment for restaurants and laundries.
[img] i.imgur.com/xEcMfl1.jpg?1[/img]
Contrary to some folks' opinion -or is that assumption-, these are not unknown cars.
Sorry; "I remembered…".
If I remember anything else or come across anything online or in my books, I'll post it.
[img] i.imgur.com/edoeJN2.jpg?1[/img]
In the meantime, I originally gave El Jefe four different options in response to his request. The Felber Autoroller was one of them. Will he use the other three? Maybe.
K2 — I am saving the other pics for future What Am I? posts, they are pure gold. A large external part of a vehicle (that has 100+ examples built) that DT readers take a few days to identify is indeed a rare thing. Also – frame made from Bazookas is the best thing I've ever read about a German car.
Great puzzle, good times!! -Vince
Thanks, El Jefe!
I knew you guys and gals would go ga-ga over the bazooka thing. I don't know if that's actually true and I couldn't see the frame when I saw it. I think it was behind ropes so I couldn't do my obligatory due diligence and look underneath. I found this picture online, though.
[img] i.imgur.com/890exei.png?1[/img]
I remembered another thing I liked about the Autoroller.
16) A-pillar windows
I think this was my favourite search. thx
Thanks, Toyota Van Guy! Is that R20/R30 in your profile yours? If so, it's awesome. I want to know more about it and if you're up for an interview about it, please email me at k2mc091715@mailinator.com
HELP! Put those prodigious interwebz search skills of yours to good use and help me find picture of a 1986 Toyota EXPO86. I've been looking for a while now and haven't been able to find one. Not even somebody who has actually owned one.
This was a Canada-only variant offering that includes a white wave graphic on the rocker panels, a special badge and maybe some other things. I've already got pictures of the Surf and the JDMers.
Much appreciated!
[img] i51.photobucket.com/albums/f364/black_323gt/091607134606.jpg[/img]
here you go – wave graphic is the whole lower half of the big door, actually – this is the oooonly photo i could find
[img] i.imgur.com/sXJeZJ0.png[/img]
and here it is distorted for a bit better look at the graphic and the badge
[img] i.imgur.com/kRjiwRI.png[/img]
source is cloudlakes.com/gallery/2649377-toyota-van.html – maybe you can track down the OP
actually, never mind, that's not it
I don't know this car. It's a variant of what platform?
Exactly the same as yours, I believe.
Felber eh?…. never hears of that 'round these parts! Fun game though!