Mystery Friday Foto #24 Solved: The 1973 Any Car II
Bob & Ruth Valentine challenged you to identify the Any Car II
Identify;
- The car
The custom-built, 1973 Any Car II
- Its purpose
Eventually 3 different Any Cars were built in 1971, 1973, by hot rod builder Gene Winfield, and the later 3rd in the mid-70's by George Barris. All three came from an ad campaign for Manufacturers Hanover Trust, a New York City-based bank that in the early 1970s wanted to promote its new, Any Car auto loan program.
- Approximate year
The Any Car II was built in 1973, with Bob's photo taken around 1976.
- Being a mashup of many cars, identify as many within the car as possible
See below photos
Comments (10)
Congrats to Steve Lucas, Al Prete, Steven Swirsky, John R Mahoney, Scott Alexander, David Miller, Dennis Muehl, Art Kleiner, James King, and George Philippides for identifying the Any Car.
Greg O.
1971 Any Car I
Vehicles represented include: 1958 Chrysler, 1964 Volkswagen, 1964 Mercury Comet, 1971 Ford, 1971 Chevrolet Caprice, Impala, Camaro, 1971 Lincoln Mark III, 1971 Mercedes, 1971 AMC Javelin, 1971 Plymouth Duster, 1971 Ford and more.
The car today;
Located in James Hall Museum of Transport in Johannesburg, South Africa with a different Wesbank paint job.
1973 Any Car II
The car today;
Privately owned, it makes its way around local car shows to this day.
Seen here a few years ago. Note the round headlights updated to square beams.
1975 Any Car III
Designed by George Barris, the Any Car III had a small car that drove out of the grill.
The whereabouts of Any Car III today are unknown.
TV Ad featuring Any Car II
Comments
That’s a 1972 AnyCar-II built by famous custom car creator Gene Winfield for Manufacturers Hanover Trust for use in their commercials to promote their auto loan program. Attached is a copy of one of the ads that shows the different cars that were used in its construction. There was an AnyCar-I ( 1971 also by Gene Winfield) and an AnyCar-III built by George Barris in 1975.
It’s one of the “Any Cars” used in ads for Manufactureres Hanover Bank. Several were made; I think this is the second one (as indicated by “Any Car II” on the side mount). The ads ran in the ‘70’s.
I recognize Pontiac (grille), Cadillac (cornering lights), Mustang (below front bumper), and Valiant (rear).
Here is the TV ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-_6zX1rsAk
This was used in Manufacturers Hanover Bank tv commercials for Any Car Loans. I think it was from 1973. There is a copy of the print version identifying all components on line.
I am pretty sure that was one the cars made for the “anycar” ad campaigns I believe used by Citibank, or Chemical Bank promoting used car loans in the late 60’s through the late 70’s. I remember seeing it in the NY Coliseum at the NY Auto Show. There were a few of them maybe 2 or 3 different ones, this was one of the later ones, indicated by the rectangular headlights which were introduced in 1977
AnyCar II (1972) Three different models were made: AnyCar I, AnyCar II and AnyCar III. They were created for shooting commercials of Manufacturers Hanover Trust New York Bank, which in the early 1970s wanted to promote its car loan program.
Released on November 3, 1972 the AnyCar II was also created by Gene Winfield and this time combined parts of 50 cars dating from the 1930s to 1970s.
The body from a 1929 Hudson provided the basis for the project. As daringly distinctive as its predecessor, it was introduced to the auto-buying public by Manufacturers Hanover Trust as focal point of its f all auto loan program.
It includes elements from a 1973 Triumph, 1973 Toyota, 1958 Volvo, 1970 Pontiac, 1961 Imperial, 1970 Mustang, 1970 Catalina, 1973 Mercedes, 1971 Dodge, 1969 Cadillac, 1954 Chrysler, 1969 Toronado, 1973 Plymouth, 1967 Volkswagen, 1968 Ford, 1961 Valiant, 1966 Corvette, 1971 Mach I, 1971 Continental and the aforementioned 1929 Hudson.
Its the 1972 “anycar2” by Manufacturers Hanover Bank. It was used to promote car loans. Its a mashup of: 1929 Hudson, 1971 Continental, 1971 Mach 1, 1966 Corvette, 1961 Valiant, 1968 Ford, 1967 Volkswagen, 1973 Plymouth, 1969 Toronado, 1954 Chrysler, 1969 Cadillac, 1971 Dodge, 1973 Mercedes, 1970 Catalina , 1970 Mustang, 1961 Imperial, 1970 Pontiac, 1958 Volvo, 1973 Toyota, 1973 Triumph.
Manufacturer Hanover bank anything car?
The AnyCar II
Built by special vehicle builder, Gene Winfield, it was built for Manufactureres Hanover Trust Bank to promote its auto loan advertising campaign, The Any Loan
1972
The car incorporated parts from approx. 50 automobile models - see attached photo. Main component was a 1929 Hudson body.
From: James King
Manufacturers Hanover AnyCar which was part of their ad campaign in the early 70s that they would help finance a loan for any car.
Approximate year is 1973.
Mashup includes
73 Triumph, 73 Toyota, 58 Volvo, 70 Pontiac, 61 Imperial70 Mustang, 70 Catalina, 73 Mercedes,71 Dodge, 69 Cadillac, 54 Chrysler, 69 Toronado, 73 Plymouth, 67 Volkswagen, 68 Ford, 61 Valiant, 66 Corvette71 Mach 1, 71 Continental, 29 Hudson(roof)
At first glance, the Automobile in the Mystery Foto looks to be a vehicle that Austin Clark would’ve tooled around in, like in a parade. This foto definitely would’ve needed research on my part. I was only 8 yrs old by 1975
The AnyCar III right circular headlamp looks similar to an AMC Matador, a car I once considered building up, but there were too many flaws in the body design in my opinion, especially the frontend. Looking at these AnyCars makes me dizzy
I know where “Anycar 3” is today.