ngp99

Hello

Can anybody identify this car? I'm not even sure it is Chrysler Corp but the headlights suggest Virgil Exner had a hand in it.

I originally thought it was GM but I now believe it isn't. The windshield suggests it isn't GM, but the body spear looks like it was stolen off an Australian '59 Chev.

I might add that I believe there is a large brightwork panel behind the rear wheel arch and below the spear.

Thank you.

mr340

That's a '61 Cadillac.

ngp99

I know 61s, and 62s for that matter, and I'm sure there is no way this mystery beast is one of those. Those Cadillacs have four fins. The lower ones follow right through to the front wheel arch. Consequently, all Cadillacs have spats over the rear wheels. This car has no spats.

At the front:Yes, the headlights are surprisingly simlar, which fooled me, along with the spear. But Cadillacs have a V grille over flat-topped bumpers with a big moulding underneath. Australian models had the turn signal in that moulding. The bonnet does not step down over the headlights. The 75s kept the windscreen from the 59. All the rest had an ugly A pillar with a rounded bottom. Nothing like this car.

I'm sure no GM product of that era carried the door handles this high, and note the continuous brightwork capping the doors.

I raised this on this forum because Imperials and the like are very rare round here. The local Chrysler had their own car and Dodge Phoenixes and Valiants and that was about all we got.

78D200

It could be a vehicle specific to that country/region. I.E. - Australia has the Ute, we do not in the US.

ngp99

Thanks for your comment.

I have finally worked out what this is about.

The car is a ZIL-111D.

I saw this car in a military parade in Pyongyang about twenty years ago, hence my comment on the back panel. I then quickly came to my own conclusion, particularly in the light of Chou En Lai using a 59 Cadillac when he visited Bucharest in the 1960s. The picture I showed is more recent, not taken by me. When I saw it, I realised I was probably wrong.

Needless to say, I did check on ZIL. The ZIL-111 is famous for looking rather like a Packard and if you google it, that is what you are likely to see.

It is now clear that there is a later version, still called ZIL-111, that looks nothing like a Packard, hence the confusion.

I did get one thing right though. The ZIL has a ripped-off Torqueflite complete with press-button change on the end of the dash, just like a good Mopar should.

Rather elegant, huh? (Don't ask about the hubcaps, there probably aren't any spares in Tijuana)

BuckNeccid

And the ZIL 111 was a copy of the 61-2 Cadillac. Everyone wins

http://www.realussr.com/ussr/1931-19...y-part-2-of-3/

Look toward the bottom of the page.

mr340

Nice find!

ngp99

There turns out to be a raft of stuff on the later ZIL-111, once you realise it exists. Here is a shot of the rear showing the cover panel I was talking about, which I assume is stainless steel.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...L-111-rear.jpg

Apart from the very front, I don't think this car owes anything to Cadillac. I imagine the windscreen, doors, and cappings are the same as the Packard-like predecessor. In short, its just a face-lift. Here is a tantalizingly unhelpful video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITA-urEC6RY

mr340

When I look at that car I see a Cadillac in front, a Chrysler Imperial from the side ans a Mercury Comet from the rear. interesting mix going on there.