Old automobile fans! Any ideas what these mirrors might belong to?

ddogu · **on:** July 14, 2018, 12:59:44 PM

These mirrors have a story in my family, I kept hearing it since I was a kid. We even have a saying "Oldsmobile's mirrors" when we mean keepping stuff for a long long time -incase one needs it later- just to forget it where it even was.

According to the story, my father's father bought an Oldsmobile in the 1960s and they removed these side mirrors to prevent them from damage. (Well, "How can one drive a car without mirrors??" you may ask. Those mirrors were not that functional, dad says. And probably there was not much of a traffic in the golden years

Anyway, they kept the mirrors safe somewhere and then they forgot about them altogether. My grandpa passed away maybe 25-30 years ago and these mirrors have been found deep in a cellar, wrapped in newspapers. It was kind of funny to fish them out like that because nobody even remembers when they sold the car -without its mirrors, of course-

So, here they are. No car, but brand new mirrors. We kept them for a long long time but now it's time to get stuff go, these included. I did a search but could not find out what year and model these belong to. Dad says it was 1962-ish but he's not sure. Does anybody know? I hope to find a suitable buyer, if I have more information about these.

Thanks a lot.

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #1 on:** July 14, 2018, 02:46:54 PM

Those are pretty serious mirrors!

I can't think of any Oldsmobile in 1962 ish that had bullet style mounts though. You would think with model names like the Starfire and Jetfire that they would use something like that, but they all seem to be flat mounts.

I would think that the date would be close to being right- late 50's or early 60's I would imagine as that is the era of bullet shaped lights and mounts because they look "futuristic" which is amusing when you think the only things that are bullet shaped nowadays are bullets!

One thing I have noticed while scouring Google for anything from that era to compare wing mirrors to, is that a lot of them don't seem to have wing mirrors, which may make them that much more valuable as they would be harder to find.

Def

thatotherguy · **Reply #2 on:** July 14, 2018, 04:29:26 PM

The Dagmar style fad was pretty well dead by the 60s. If I were to guess, anywhere from 1955 to 1961, but that's just a guess. I haven't remembered seeing those mirrors before at any of the cruise ins or vintage car shows I've been to, so I'm not much help. The styling is fairly typical for the era, so I can't even nail it down to any of the Big Three for sure. If the family lore says they came from an Olds, though, that's probably where they came from.

ddogu · **Reply #3 on:** July 14, 2018, 04:52:12 PM

Thank you, guys.

Dad just says the mirrors were not attached onto the front doors as they are today, buy farther away, i.e. somewhere between the front bumper and and the front door (on the sides, of course).

This is a nice info for me to narrow things down but still the search goes on.

Don Pablo · **Reply #4 on:** July 14, 2018, 05:02:02 PM

A Oldsmobile in 60’s Turkey? I’m intrigued.

ddogu · **Reply #5 on:** July 14, 2018, 05:11:29 PM

Quote from: Don Pablo on July 14, 2018, 05:02:02 PM

A Oldsmobile in 60’s Turkey? I’m intrigued.

Hehe. Well, it was quite a different era

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #6 on:** July 14, 2018, 06:22:07 PM

I spoke to Megan's father, who is a car dealer and a lifelong passionate car nut and his thoughts are more 50's than 60's, and he is also thinking something British rather than American.

Def

ddogu · **Reply #7 on:** July 15, 2018, 07:54:23 AM

Quote from: Grant Lamontagne on July 14, 2018, 06:22:07 PM

I spoke to Megan's father, who is a car dealer and a lifelong passionate car nut and his thoughts are more 50's than 60's, and he is also thinking something British rather than American.

Def

Hey, thank you, Grant, it's nice of you to ask him.

This is good and bad news for me

Now I gotta broaden my search

And lol this is getting more and more exciting eheh

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #8 on:** July 15, 2018, 01:59:27 PM

That is the fun of something like this...

I am going to share this thread on Facebook and some other places and see if we can get any more info. I'm pretty curious now myself!

Def

Whoey · **Reply #9 on:** July 15, 2018, 02:24:37 PM

there must be some identification number on it somewhere

Whoey · **Reply #10 on:** July 15, 2018, 02:47:41 PM

Also my first impression based on the mounting method was that they are wing or upper door frame mounted.

They could also be motorcycle mirrors?

ddogu · **Reply #11 on:** July 30, 2018, 08:59:55 PM

Quote from: Grant Lamontagne on July 15, 2018, 01:59:27 PM

That is the fun of something like this...

I am going to share this thread on Facebook and some other places and see if we can get any more info. I'm pretty curious now myself!

Def

Wow, Grant thank you, this is really nice of you! (and apologies, I've been absent for a while, I saw this message just now).

ddogu · **Reply #12 on:** July 30, 2018, 09:00:39 PM

Quote from: Whoey on July 15, 2018, 02:47:41 PM

Also my first impression based on the mounting method was that they are wing or upper door frame mounted.

They could also be motorcycle mirrors?

No, they never had a motorcycle. Though, what do you mean by "wing mounted"?

And unfortunately, no, not a single digit of identification at all. A classic car salesman from the US I came across in Facebook said that these might be aftermarket products, so maybe that's why there is no ID on them?

Smashie · **Reply #13 on:** July 30, 2018, 10:48:58 PM

Quote from: ddogu on July 30, 2018, 09:00:39 PM

Quote from: Whoey on July 15, 2018, 02:47:41 PM
Also my first impression based on the mounting method was that they are wing or upper door frame mounted.

They could also be motorcycle mirrors?

No, they never had a motorcycle. Though, what do you mean by "wing mounted"?

And unfortunately, no, not a single digit of identification at all. A classic car salesman from the US I came across in Facebook said that these might be aftermarket products, so maybe that's why there is no ID on them?

Wing mirror as in mounted on the wing, like this 240z

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=23&t=1059268

smiller43147 · **Reply #14 on:** July 30, 2018, 11:02:45 PM

Quote from: Grant Lamontagne on July 14, 2018, 06:22:07 PM

I spoke to Megan's father, who is a car dealer and a lifelong passionate car nut and his thoughts are more 50's than 60's, and he is also thinking something British rather than American.

Def

Japanese cars of that era also used wing mirrors.

Syncop8r · **Reply #15 on:** July 30, 2018, 11:09:44 PM

I believe the 'wing' is the bit over the front wheel either side of the bonnet.

gregozedobe · **Reply #16 on:** July 31, 2018, 05:36:46 AM

Quote from: Syncop8r on July 30, 2018, 11:09:44 PM

I believe the 'wing' is the bit over the front wheel either side of the bonnet.

Also called a (front) mudguard by some of us (really) old fogeys in Oz.
(not to be confused with mudflaps)

Whoey · **Reply #17 on:** July 31, 2018, 11:34:33 AM

as mentioned by Smashie and a few others

my other thought would be above the window frame

Yadda · **Reply #18 on:** July 31, 2018, 01:57:48 PM

I was watching Endeavor on Masterpiece a week or two ago and saw a Jaguar. The show is set in the 60's. The Jag had similar mirrors. So, I believe late 50's to mid 60's European is the right way to go.

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Old automobile fans! Any ideas what these mirrors might belong to?

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