Thursday 30 May 2024

1976, Car Spotting: Paris, Île-de-France, Rue de Bercy, France

Left to right

First row, front to back
Citroën ID/DS, Renault 4 Van, Citroën HY.

Second row, front to back
Peugeot 304.

Third row, front to back
Citroën ID/DS.

Fourth row, front to back
Renault 16, Peugeot J7.

Fifth row, front to back
Volkswagen Passat (Typ 32, B1), Peugeot 504, Fiat 127, Mercedes-Benz W114/W115.

Sixth row, front to back (parked on the right)
Unidentified car probably Simca, Opel Kadett B LS Coupé, Citroën 2CV Van, unidentified car, Renault 15, Ford Escort Mark I.

Monday 20 May 2024

1975, Designs: cars, furniture, electronics, clothes III

Volkswagen Chicco Concept
- Designed by Herbert Schafer, West Germany, 1975
- Produced by Volkswagen, West Germany, 1975
- Experimental 900 cc, three cylinder engine with a top speed of 130 km/h

Volkswagen Chicco Concept
Volkswagen Chicco Concept
Volkswagen Chicco Concept

Nissan GR-1 Concept
- GR-1 stands for General Research Mk1
- Produced by Nissan, Japan, 1975
- Based on the Datsun Bluebird 610

Nissan GR-1 Concept

Voxson T1128 Ostrica
- Designed by Roberto Bonetto, Italy, 1975
- Manufactured by Voxson S.p.A., Rome, Italy, 1975
- Portable TV-set

Voxon T1128 Ostrica
Voxon T1128 Ostrica
Voxon T1128 Ostrica

Cantilever Armchair
- Designed by Rud Thygesen and Johnny Sorensen, Denmark, 1975
- Manufactured by Magnus Olesen, Denmark, 1975

Cantilever Armchair
Cantilever Armchair

Lumico Table Lamp
- Designed by Pierre Cardin, France, 1975
- Manufactured by Pierre Cardin, France, 1975

Lumico Table Lamp
Lumico Table Lamp

Simca Adverts, 1975

Simca 1000, France
Simca 1000 Rallye 1, Rallye 2, Netherlands
Simca 1000 Special, UK
Simca 1100, Italy
Simca 1100, UK
Simca 1301, France
Simca 1301, UK
Simca 1307/1308, France
Matra-Simca Bagheera, West Germany
Matra-Simca Bagheera, West Germany

Tuesday 14 May 2024

1974, Cars: AMC Matador Coupé

In 1974 AMC (American Motors Corporation) introduced the aerodynamically styled fastback Matador coupé. The car was designed under the direction of AMC's vice president of styling, Dick Teague, with input from Mark Donohue, the famous race car driver. The Matador coupé stands out as one of the more distinctive and controversial designs of the 1970s after the AMC Pacer and was named "Best Styled Car of 1974" by the editors of Car and Driver magazine.

AMC Matador Coupé 1974
AMC Matador X Coupé 1974
AMC Matador Coupé Cassini 1975

The 1974 coupé had a 3.8 Litre inline six-cylinder engine with a three-speed manual transmission. The Matador X coupé had a 5.0 Litre V8 engine. In 1976 a new grille was introduced, two rectangular panels with horizontal grille bars met in the center, and rectangular park and turn signal lamps replaced the previous round ones. For 1977 and 1978, the "Barcelona II" coupé featured a padded Landau roof with opera windows and pillow-top seats with velour upholstery. Nearly 100,000 Matador coupés were produced from 1974 through 1978.

AMC Matador Coupé 1976
AMC Matador Coupé Barcelona II 1978

Trivia

  • A special Oleg Cassini edition of the Matador coupe was available for the 1974 and 1975 model years. It was positioned in the mid-sized personal luxury car market segment that was highly popular during the mid-1970s.
  • An AMC Matador coupé played a starring role in “The Man with the Golden Gun” (1974) as the flying car of Francisco Scaramanga (Christopher Lee) along with Nick Nack (Hervé Villechaize).

Commercial 1974 (1)
Commercial 1974 (2)

Friday 10 May 2024

1973, Film: White Cargo

The British comedy "White Cargo" was released in 1973. The film was directed by Ray Selfe with a screenplay by himself and David McGillivray. The plot is based on Ray Selfe’s original story: "Alberts Follies". Main stars are David Jason as Albert Toddey, Imogen Hassal as Stella, Hugh Lloyd as Chumley and Tim Barrett as Fosdyke. The music was composed by David Lindup.

White Cargo, DVD Cover

Synopsis
Albert Toddey (David Jason) is a bumbling civil servant, who dreams that he is a secret agent. He gets involved in a plot to smuggle young women out to the Middle East. With a great deal of luck he manages to beat the baddies and save the day...

Imogen Hassall as Stella and David Jason as Albert Toddey
Imogen Hassall as Stella
Tim Barrett as Fosdyke, David Jason as Albert Toddey
and Hugh Lloyd as Chumley

Main cast

  • David Jason as Albert Toddey
  • Hugh Lloyd as Chumley
  • Imogen Hassall as Stella
  • Tim Barrett as Fosdyke
  • David Prowse as Harry
  • Raymond Cross as Dudley Fox
  • John Barber as Special Agent
  • Sue Bond as Desiree
  • Stanley Stewart as Jim
Imogen Hassall as Stella and her own dog Ratso
Imogen Hassall as Stella and Director Ray Selfe

Saturday 4 May 2024

1972, Car Spotting: Leeuwarden, Jacobijnerkerkhof, Netherlands

Left to right

First row, front to back
Fiat 850, Volkswagen 1500/1600 (Type 3), Ford Taunus 17M/20M (P5), Opel Rekord A.

Second row, in the middle of the street
Citroën 2CV.

Third row, front to back
Unidentified car, Opel Kadett A, Renault 6, Citroën 2CV, Citroën Dyane, Ford (Taunus) 12M (P6), Opel Rekord A, Simca 1100, Opel Rekord C, Triumph Herald/Vitesse.

Parked opposite, first row, left to right
Unidentified car probably Volkswagen Beetle, Simca 1000, Ford Escort Mk I, Renault 16, Renault 8, Opel Kadett B Kiemencoupé, Citroën Dyane, unidentified car, unidentified car probably American, Volkswagen 1600 TL (Type 3), unidentified car probably Volkswagen Beetle.

Parked opposite, second row, left to right
Peugeot 204, Volkswagen 1200/1300 (Type 1, Beetle).