There’s something about not being able to identify a car that can drive one absolutely mad. I think for hardcore car geeks, the hardware in our brains normally wired to identify human faces gets deployed for car identification, which I think is why many of us are able to identify cars so rapidly and with such fleeting glances. That also means when there’s a car we can’t quite identify, it really gets in your head and pokes at your brain, like a little demon of recognition that keeps almost telling you the secret, but not quite.
I was just shown a picture of a car via Twitter that is currently doing this to me. It’s on the tip of my brain! It’s so close it hurts!
The picture is an interesting one, as you can see up above there; it was taken in October of 1961, in Paris, and shows the Queen of Iran (Shahbanou) Farah Pahlavi entering (maybe exiting?) a lovely blue car. I say lovely based on what I can see of the car, which is mostly just the greenhouse, which does have some striking chrome brightwork over all the pillars.
The car is a coupé, with a door with chrome-framed windows (and a vent window with a distinctive 45° angle cropped-off leading lower corner, a very angular rear quarter window, some interesting detailing down by the base of the windshield.
Here, look at the photo again for yourself:
& there's a car in it I can't identify. can't sleep since.
I gave myself 24 more hours to find it, then I must harakiry.thats it.
Help me identify it and stay alive. I beg you. pic.twitter.com/0xwCr0NRYn— Amou_Joghd_e_Shakhdaar (@AlRo483145) September 10, 2024
Look how desperate that poor man is to know what this car is! According to him, this is life or death!
Now, I’ll be honest with you. I know what this car is. Thanks to help from our very own Bishop, the identity of this machine is revealed, but I don’t want to spoil it for you. That’s why if you want to know what it is, you’ll need to click here. Oh, and if you want to see this lovely French GT car’s fantastic taillights, click here.
So, see if you can figure out what this car is with that limited snippet! It’ll be fun! Live a little!
Hey! I got the make right, if not the exact model. I deserve a chocolate. : D
Unsexy picture of sexy car: https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/IMAG0438_BURST002-1200.jpg
I had to stop and think for a second. But I DID get it right before looking. You’d think I’d have been faster as I ADORE the Facel Vega and having one is one my “if I had FU money” shortlist.
I’ll guess Facel Vega and then click on your hidden links.
Torch, did you know that early Facel Vegas had a free standing “V” inside their taillight lenses? It gets illuminated like one of them acrylic LED-cubes of Mount Rushmore.
I couldn’t figure it out, had a look at the images and holy moly that’s a good lookin vehicle
As mentioned – Facel Vega.
Can be briefly seen in a futuristic mood in the excellent movie “Anon”.
I was really happy to see one in the Fallout TV show
If Ian Fleming had been French, that probably would have been a Bond car. Just looking at it I expect the headlights and taillights would retract to make way for machine guns, and that the passenger seat could eject.
More realistically, no doubt it could leave a stream of oil on the road behind it.
My dad was a state department brat and they were living in Tehran in the ’60s. He tells a story about going down to the street corner to see the procession of Farah being brought to the palace to marry the Shah – string of white camels and flock of white doves and all. She waved at him and smiled. 😀
Facel Vega
The roofline was definitely familiar to me – Albert Camus was killed in its predecessor, an FV belonging to his publisher (how’s that for an existential death?).
I immediately thought French, but I just couldn’t quite get there.
That roofline…one of my favorite cars of all time.
I know that weird look anywhere! Facel Vega.
What a lovely car. And a lovely beehive hairdo as well.
Man, dude had some cars. Guess he was the Jay Leno of his day. Or Leno is the Shah of his.
Farah Pahlavi and this Maserati 5000 was my first guess
https://petrolicious.com/articles/the-60-year-old-maserati-5000-gt-was-the-ultimate-bespoke-grand-tourer-in-its-day-and-it-still-is
Especially that color- peacock you know.
But that windshield surround….
Oh, French you say
Gotta be a Facel
Oh , here it is
https://www.allpar.com/d3/cars/adopted/facel-vega.html
Specifically here https://www.allpar.com/attachments/40618
That Maserati is hella pretty.
Is it a Maserati 5000?
Oops, never mind, just read earlier comments and recognized it after the fact.
Facel Vega Facel II.
I had no idea what it was, but those rear turn signals a cool!
Ooh this one got a shout out as helping inspire a car obsession in one of my write ups.
Dammit… impatience got the better of me. I peeked.
Facel Vega, easy
Fun fact: Pixar used a 1958 Facel Vega for Chef Skinner’s car in Ratatouille.
That movie had some other great stylized French cars too, I need to watch it again…