Between investing in research on the 1973-86 rear fender option mentioned in the main 60-66 forum:
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=663382 and stripping kitchen cabinet doors, I’ve also been a bit distracted the last couple of days on a very important mission. The DVD “The Creeping Terror” was running in the garage while I was working on cabinet doors, when I looked up and noticed the monster eating the couple in the little roadster:
For years I assumed the car was a Borgward, but for the first time in the history of the universe (and needing a distraction) I decided it was essential to confirm its identity. So I looked up Borgward on Google Images and was surprised to find none had the wrap around windshield shown in the movie. Having grown up in the 50’s when “foreign” cars were at the height of their popularity, I started looking through every brand and model I could remember, seeking the true identity of the car.
I knew it had to be late 50’s or early 60’s because of the wrap around windshield and recessed steering wheel:
I tried every brand and model I could remember, plus the oddballs that weren’t very popular like DKW, Lancia, NSU, Peugot, Saab, Simca, etc.
This went on for a couple of days until I tried Vauxhall, and came up with a few models with wrap around windshields. They still weren’t the right car but a photo of a Skoda was also included, a brand I had never heard of. When I got around to searching under Skoda, I hit the jackpot. The letters on the fender emblem even matched up (although the car pictured below is missing the emblem). It spells out Felicia. I could see the 1st and 3rd letters were tall, but couldn’t make out any of the individual figures. I had tried a variety of T’s, L’s, and C’s, but never came up with a word that made sense. Further confirmation proved the vehicle to be a Skoda Felicia:
These were made in the Czech Republic from 1959-1964. Now the only question remaining is how it got to California at the height of the cold war!
What does this have to do with truck? Absolutely nothing. But now that I’ve resolved the mystery, I can shift focus back on the rear fender analysis! I have as many mixed feelings as others have opinions on how well the late fenders would look on my truck, but I still think it could be made to work and look great:
I’m wondering if I could add the new fenders while retaining the stock 1960 steps, and I’m thinking the stock 73 wheel wells might make the tires look more centered than they do in the 1956 openings. Especially with 275/60/15 tires on 8.5” rims.