nzcarnerd

The red car with the white stripe is a DKW Junior. Up in the back row second from right is a British Ford Zephyr Mk2 and next to it a Renault Dauphine.

It is worth remembering that Top Gear is an entertainment programme that happens to have some cars in it, and not a motoring programme. The 'test' of the Reliant3 wheeler is one of the funniest things I have seen in a long time.

I had a short ride on a 'road locomotive' (a traction engine with rubber tyres like those in this clip) some years ago. Understandably the steam engine runs almost silently but there is a terrible cacophony from the exposed transmission gears which are above the rear wheels and very close to your elbow. The showmans engine Quo Vadis - http://tractors.wikia.com/wiki/Burrell_no._3938 - (a road locomotive fitted with electrical generators and a rear mounted lifting crane) is currently on a tour of New Zealand and was at an event I attended just a couple of weeks ago.

Whatever it is it is from around 1929. I think the disc wheels are possibly aftermarket. They were an option on many cars around that time.

When I referred to this car being 'small' I was trying to differentiate the quite large American Underslung Traveller from the much smaller Regal Underslung.

Some good info here re Regals - http://theoldmotor.com/?p=137816. The pics confirm this is a 1913 Regal Model T.

Not enough detail to give a positive answer but might be a Buick from around 1918-1920.

The 1914 Regals were not underslung. Only the 1910 to 1913 models were. If someone can blow the pic up a bit maybe we can see detail of the front fenders. I think 1913 was the only year with the eyebrows. There may have been other makes with underslung chassis but Regal is the most well known. I think this car is too small to be an American (underslung).

Not a common car - less than 1000 total production. Looks from the plate to be in Eastern Europe somewhere?

Looks as if he spent so much on add-ons that he could not afford tyres. I don't think there was the same tread depth requirement that there is these days.

Not necessarily overheating. Cars with un pressurised cooling systems used water as a matter of course and in hot weather needed regular top ups. Until not too many years ago most mountain passes here in NZ had places where water was available sign posted.

If not Lozier, maybe an HAL. Another possibility is a big Chalmers from 1916. Not many cars have those extra large louvres. Whatever it is the wheelbase looks to be 130" plus.

If the original body is that far gone maybe consider building a speedster with it.

This is a Commander built somewhere between June and October of 1928. Total production was 8,428 and I would guess that most of them were sedans. That radiator style was new at that time - for the 1928 1/2 (mid season 1928 introduction) models. My third series GE Dictator built around the same time has the same style radiator. The engine numbers went from 4062101 to 4070500. There should be a casting date on the block. Here is the same style body on an FB President - http://www.vintageautoparts.us/images/Client%20Car%20Projects/Studebaker%201928%20FB%20President.jpg The FB President and the GH Commander were produced around the same time and have the same 121" wheelbase and I would not be surprised if there was some commonality in chassis components.

Circa 1910 Stoddard-Dayton maybe ??

Probably well heeled as well.

I was thinking the same thing. That car could also be a V12 and the same body was also available on the LaSalle that year.

The original poster here is my son who neglected to add that he is 18 and has only recently started work at the construction site where he starts at 7 am. The Toyota Crown wagon has been the family car since 1991 - several years before he was born. As it now has 375,000 km (approximately 235,000 miles) on it, it was treated to a new clutch while the engine was out. The engine itself (a sohc 1G-E - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_G_engine) has not had the head off it yet but did get new valve stem seals at about 290,000 km. The 1929 Plymouth is an original car. Its first (woman) owner kept it for 50 years but only did 68,000 miles in that time - I don't think she went out of town. It was treated to a quick body-only repaint in the early 1950s and has had only routine maintenance. It was in storage for a few year before we acquired it 20 years ago. It has just turned over 80,000 miles. As far as I know its engine internals are the originals and the vacuum fuel supply works well. The rear end now needs to come out to have the axles seals replaced as the oil is leaking on to the brakes.

Some more info here - http://www.ebay.com/blogs/stories/1959-goliath-express-1100-pickup-truck - . I knew that it was part of the Borgward empire but little more than that - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goliath_(car) - though the wiki article makes no mention of this model . The flat four engine is the ancestor of the unit Subaru still uses.

I have no idea on these but some information on any visible maker's names might help. The light may have some information on the outer edge of the glass when dismantled.

Had another look at this one. Yes it is a Buick and the coarse hood louvres and the slight rearward slope to the windshield make it a 1918 E series Buick, more specifically a Model 45 touring on the 118" wheelbase. This was Buick's biggest seller that year with just over 60,000 built, including export models. here is one with the same rear window shape - http://lastchancegarage.net/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/1918_BuickLF.1791240351918%20Buick;LF - and I am guessing that the spotlight is a factory option.

Too early for a Chrysler product. The tall skinny wheels, no front brakes and the general look of the car suggest a date of either side of 1920. It could be a Buick - the hubcaps look like Buick - but I can't be 100% certain. Most Buicks have an oval rear window but this one - http://www.prewarbuick.com/img/cars/f/1920-Oregon-Caves-Buick.jpg - obviously taken in 1923, does not.

The other one might be an Overland about 1916.

I think the big eights have the plugs evenly spaced and the standard eight has them in pairs. I had not noticed that myself until I looked at this one.

I am fairly sure that this is a Series 50 (Model 58). The 80 and 90 series cars have six hood doors and the Series 60 has a bigger gap between the front of the hood and the first door - (60) http://www.cars-on-line.com/photo/67800/33buick67837- - (50) - http://www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/7-14-2012-013.jpg