'Really odd': Internet scrambles to identify abandoned mystery car
10/24/2024 09:59 PM
A rusty barn find in Texas has stumped even the savviest internet sleuths for more than a year. So, can you solve the mystery?
A year after it appeared online, an unidentified car on a classifieds site in Texas continues to stump automotive enthusiasts, with car lovers struggling to identify the make, model and even era of the mystery vehicle.
With no badges or plates, the rusted blue model is unrecognisable, prompting many to speculate whether it was a custom build or a forgotten prototype from the 1950s.
The car originally popped up on the Undiscovered Classics Facebook page in September 2023, with photos showing it heavily rusted and in need of serious TLC, with the listing bearing no details other than: “Needs restoration.”
Undiscovered Classics, which is known for identifying rare or niche vehicles, shared the images with the caption: “We're not often stumped, but this is a mystery for us!
“Follower @daverichy29 alerted us to this metal sport custom for sale in Houston, which quickly sold and disappeared. It looks very well done, but we can't identify it as of now. Anyone out there know more or know of the car / buyer?”
More than a year later, the mystery remains unsolved, with the car’s unusual mixture of design elements – an elongated bonnet, a continental tyre mount at the rear and the lack of an opening boot – making it difficult to pinpoint a single manufacturer.
“It has some odd proportions. I suspect it’s a coach-build of some kind. The cut-out for the spare is especially suss,” one forum user wrote.
Another added: “The instrument panel looks like something out of a truck or school bus. The lack of an opening trunk lid definitely makes it look custom-built.”
The most easily distinguishable feature on the car is arguably its hubcaps, but even then, online detectives were divided as to whether they bore the three-pointed star of the Mercedes-Benz logo or the triangular Dodge logo used in the 1960s.
As such, many internet sleuths pointed to the mystery car being a coach-built one-off, with some even suggesting it could be the custom, Studebaker-based Lancer special once owned by Hollywood movie stars Natalie Wood and Nick Adams.
There’s just one problem: the sheer amount of rust visible in the photos suggests the car is made of metal, and the majority of custom cars produced in the 1950s – including Wood and Adams’ ride – were made of fibreglass.
Others guessed it was a heavily modified model from the 1950s, like some kind of Cadillac, Pontiac or Dodge, but commenters admitted their answer changed depending on the angle of the photos.
“I’ll think I’ve identified one part only to look at something else and think ‘no, that can’t be it’,” said one stumped internet user.
In our efforts to solve the mystery, Drive tracked down a man based in Houston, Texas, who previously claimed to be the owner of the car on Facebook and we’ve reached out to him to see if he’s willing to save us from our inner turmoil by identifying the car once and for all.
We’ll update this piece if he responds, but in the meantime – feel free to speculate wildly in the comments section.
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The post ‘Really odd’: Internet scrambles to identify abandoned mystery car appeared first on Drive.
