Name that car.

Again, this could be really easy, or very hard… who knows.

Of course I hesitate to post a new one, when you guys haven’t finished the last one… but here we go.

Speaking of “Name that car”… I had an enjoyable email conversation with an new reader of the blog. He’s seeking a photograph of a specific old car and must have found this site via a google search for it, as it was a “name that car” star not too long ago. We discussed old cars a bit and I suggested that he join in our little game here. He admitted that he was once a PROFESSIONAL car spotter, having been an archivist at the British National Motor Museum. He was frequently tasked with naming “parts of cars in tiny blurry snapshots”… so Roger and Paul be warned, there’s a ringer here!

Roger got it on the first guess. Oh well. Too easy.

I do love the purposeful yet elegant lines expressed in this engine compartment. The inline six was slanted over to lower the bonnet and provide better forward visibility. The bonnet had two thin bulges that run up it longitudinally, to provide clearance for the cam cover and intake plenum; and they became a stylistic touchstone for the car. So many other cars copied that look, without having anything purposeful beneath the bulges to justify it, and it continues to be replicated to this day.