Identifying a car

[JCE]

Saw this today in Arlington Texas and the wife snapped a pic, but, I have no idea what it was and I couldn't make out the logo on the front grille because I was in the wife's RX-8 and the blind spot in the back is enormous. Almost looks from the early/mid 70's..? Whatever it was it was cool as ice and made a good noise from the exhaust.

 

[disinfected]

Wow, that is a tough one. Now I'm curious, too.

 

[GTMail]

Hmm was the sound like a V8 or higher pitched? I was thinking it could be one of those weird Mazda Rotaries and those make a cool sound.

 

[Time_Attack]

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[Eric.]

Uh...no. That's not even close.


But thank you JCE, for actually posting a picture, instead of "HEY I saw this car it was really cool and I think it was a red color and was shiny."

 

[JCE]

Thanks Eric.

Hmm was the sound like a V8 or higher pitched? I was thinking it could be one of those weird Mazda Rotaries and those make a cool sound.

Sounded like a smaller displacement V8 around 4.3L or a large 6 cylinder.

Those look like later model buick tail lights. Not from the 70s at all. More like early 90s.

I think its an AMC Matador but I'm not sure. They have done a lot of work but its still very close.

Looks very similar but the gas filler cap isn't on the drivers side and the door handles are much different. The shapes are close indeed though...

*edit*
After looking at the AMC the B pillar is very different.

 

[Time_Attack]

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[JCE]

How hard would it be to relocate the gas cap? Traffic was too heavy for us to get a better look.

 

[Time_Attack]

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[GTMail]

The trunk lid and tail lights don't seem factory on the one you posted. I don't think its out of the question they also modified the door handles.

Why is the gas cap on the other side then? Well to what you've been saying I'm guessing it's a Euro probably from the 70s or 80s with a 6 cylinder( that explains the long nose)

 

[eSZee]

Definitely much smaller than a matador and most likely european.

 

[Tornado]

Datsun 200SX.

 

[Time_Attack]

Well what do you know. I guess seeing it from the front would have made it a lot easier.

 

[GTMail]

Datsun 200SX.

Yup that's it! Good job

 

[eSZee]

Datsun 200SX.

There you go.

 

[JCE]

Why is the gas cap on the other side then? Well to what you've been saying I'm guessing it's a Euro probably from the 70s or 80s with a 6 cylinder( that explains the long nose)

That was my first thought. I also thought it might be Japanese too.

Definitely much smaller than a matador and most likely european.

It was definitely not a large car. It was about the length of our RX-8. The wheels and ride height didn't look stock though...

I'm just going by the roof line and window profile. I've obviously never seen either.

Me either until today.

Datsun 200SX.

Hmmm, now that I think about it the grille emblem for the brief second I saw did look like a Datsun emblem...

Once again you're a life saver. I just checked and found:

I love this car, I so want one!

 

[Time_Attack]

I can't believe it actually looked like that from the factory. It looks like some god awful chopped up kit car thing gone horribly wrong.

 

[JCE]

Just spent an hour and I cannot find any of these in North America for sale. I cannot even find out what they are worth. This would be a good project after the Camaro is done...assuming I can even find one.

 

[GTMail]

Definitely would be a good project car! With all that engine space you could probably easily fit a 350 or a 289 under that hood and make it such a sweet sleeper. Some nicer wheels and man you got one sweet car. Pricing I'm guessing around a 2-4 grand depending on condition. Do I need to say more?

 

[JCE]

Definitely would be a good project car! With all that engine space you could probably easily fit a 350 or a 289 under that hood and make it such a sweet sleeper. Some nicer wheels and man you got one sweet car. Pricing I'm guessing around a 2-4 grand depending on condition. Do I need to say more?

I'd do the 289 swap in a second if it wasn't more expensive than just rebuilding the existing engine. Problem is even finding one, in any condition. Maybe when the time comes to get another project car I could find one of these or a decent 510 Bluebird.