# What is this little car I keep seeing?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-little-car-i-keep-seeing/316299>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 9, 2005, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-little-car-i-keep-seeing/316299 "2005-08-09T17:23:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\
**Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-little-car-i-keep-seeing/316299/41 "2005-08-10T15:07:33Z")

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Okay, I’ll try to find one as soon as I can to get a better look. They are definitely old cars. I would guess early 60s. There are two of them I see regularly in the Ocean Beach neighborhood of San Diego, which although gentrifying, is still a neo-hippie surfer enclave. They are well preserved, but that’s not unusual for Southern California. I know where one of them lives, more or less, but I’m not sure I can find it during the week. I usually pass by it early on Saturday mornings. There isn’t any big, recognizable maker logo that I’ve noticed.

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**Author:** ![Sevastopol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Sevastopol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevastopol)\
**Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-little-car-i-keep-seeing/316299/42 "2005-08-11T08:10:07Z")

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They’re Karmann Ghias. They come in lots of different shapes.

[[http://karmannghia.org/](http://karmannghia.org/)](Browse this site for images) or follow some links.

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**Author:** ![Sevastopol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Sevastopol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevastopol)\
**Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-little-car-i-keep-seeing/316299/43 "2005-08-11T08:13:31Z")

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… or Porsche 356s

[Some images](http://vista.pca.org/stl/356.htm)

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**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\
**Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-little-car-i-keep-seeing/316299/44 "2005-08-15T14:53:23Z")

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Update: Well, I finally saw the car parked and had time to stop and take a look. It turns out **ElvisL1ves** is our winner. The paintjobs and the age of the cars on his posted website fooled me.

It is indeed a 1970 Fiat 500L. It’s for sale, now, if anyone is interested.

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