Despite the depressing name, the Ypsilanti Orphan Car show is one of the best car shows of the year in Michigan. In order to be eligible for display, participating cars must be orphans, meaning they must hail from a defunct manufacturer, such as Plymouth, Mercury, Auburn, or Triumph. The parent company, like General Motors and Ford, can still exist, but the brand itself must no longer produce vehicles. After checking out the field of entrants, we picked ten of the most interesting and unique cars in attendance at this year's show. Check out what we found below.
1929 Willys-Knight 66A Varsity
From Toledo, Ohio, the Willys-Knight company was known for high-quality cars and special sleeve-valve engines. The sleeve-valve engine was known for its smoothness and quiet nature, but eventually fell out of favor for more robust and powerful traditional engines as the industry moved forward. This particular Willys-Knight is a 66A, denoting the 1929 roadster packs an inline-six engine under the hood.
1966 Panhard 24 BT
The gorgeous Panhard 24 BT was the final gasp of the storied French company. Panhard has roots tracing all the way back to the late nineteenth century, but in the mid-1960s, Panhard was absorbed by fellow French manufacturer Citroen. Before that happened, Panhard was able to produce the 24. The 24 featured an 848-cc flat-two engine that produced a respectable 50 hp, allowing the 24 to reach speeds close to 90 mph.
1998 Lada Niva
Despite the horrendous build quality and lackluster rustproofing, the “rugged” Lada Niva has cultivated a strange and fanatic fanbase. The Russian Lada Niva, which is, believe it or not, still in production, was first introduced in 1977, where it made waves for being the first unibody off-road vehicle with independent front suspension with coil springs. Like the Beetle, the Citroen 2CV, and the Model T, the Lada's popularity was due in part to its sparseness and simplicity. This particular example is a 1998 model, and appears to have been put to good use over the years. Nivas are rare sights in the U.S., as they never officially made it here through a traditional dealer network.
1956 Continental Mark II
Despite the name, this Continental Mark II is not a Lincoln product. The Continental Mark II was Ford’s effort to rival the top luxury marquees from Europe, and was positioned as a halo brand above the already-luxurious Lincoln. Each Continental was built to an exacting degree, with beautiful appointments and paintwork that were far beyond its field of competitors from the U.S. Each Continental Mark II was priced around $10,000, the equivalent of two brand-new contemporary Cadillacs, and even at that price, it is said Ford lost money on each and every one produced. This lofty price proved a bit too much to chew for buyers, so the Continental was folded into the Lincoln brand in 1958. Only 3,000 of these beauties exist, and we were fortunate enough to find one at the show.
1960 Frontenac
In the 1960s, American automakers were in the habit of creating slightly different variants of their stateside models for sale in other countries under a different name. This 1960 Frontenac is essentially a rebadged Ford Falcon with a different grille, hubcaps, and maple leaf badging. The Frontenac was created by Ford Canada for Mercury-Meteor dealerships, but was discontinued after just one year of production. Each Frontenac came equipped with a 2.4-liter inline-six making 90 hp. This coupe is just one of 2,789 units produced.
1928 Marmon Race Car
Not much info is given for this open-wheel Marmon race car, but just having a Marmon badge is enough to qualify it for this list. Powered by a 3.1-liter straight-eight engine pushing out 90 hp, the red racer is good for a top speed of around 90 mph. According to the owner, the car was used extensively in Uruguay in local races, where it was run in one kilometer trials up and down the paved coastal roads.
The spunky Triumph Dolomite Sprint was the British manufacturer’s answer to the extremely popular BMW 2002. The Sprint itself was an uprated performance variant of the compact Dolomite saloon, and proved to be just what buyers wanted. With a 2.0-liter 16-valve four-cylinder engine sending the power to the rear wheels through a manual transmission, the sports-car formula worked. The car received glowing praise from both customers and the press, with around 23,000 made in its seven-year production span. The Dolomite lineup never made it stateside, so this particular Sprint is in right-hand-drive form.
In the early days of NASCAR in the 1950s, the Hudson Hornet was the king. With a high-compression inline-six engine, the Hornet dominated the oval. An advanced unibody design with heavy-duty suspension gave the Hornet a superb chassis set-up and allowed the coupe to achieve relatively high speeds for extended periods of time.
1939 Packard One-Twenty
This is one of the most important Packard models in the company's long and storied history, as this marked what many to believe as the decline in Packard’s hold as the premier luxury manufacturer in the 1930s. Packard had made a name for itself as the maker of extremely well-built and reliable luxury cars, catering to the wealthy, famous, and powerful. The One-Twenty was a market shift from top-tier luxury which commanded high prices to a more affordable middle-priced car, with a powerful and smooth straight-eight engine. As seen here, the One-Twenty was available in a multitude of different body styles, including cabriolet.
1988 Yugo Cabriolet Prototype
As far as interesting cars go, a Yugo might be relatively far down the list for some of our readers. However, the sign next to this drop-top compact claims this is a prototype, so maybe there is a glimmer of uniqueness to be found. Regardless, the legendarily flimsy Yugo has all but disappeared from roads, as those that were purchased were either scrapped, crashed, or were simply abandoned once they inevitably broke down. This 1988 example was in relatively spiffy condition, with a high-spec interior and exterior paintwork.
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