History Car Wreck Trail

I do a lot of trail running and love this trail that falls down a steep incline into this wasted car (50 points if you can name the car & year.) It's Car Wreck Trail in Aliso Woods, CA. Anyone know the history of this car? I have no idea how it got here as the trail is so steep getting to it -- I can't imagine anyone driving this to the spot it finally rested. It would have had to be a wicked ride!
Here are a few more shots to help you figure out the brand. Hint - it's HAMB friendly.




In case you are interested in checking it out, this is a great hike -- about 2 miles from the Wood Canyon Ranger Station. Near Laguna Beach, CA. You can also go from Top Of The World if you are adventurous.

 

You can rule out '48 Dodge. Bob

 

50-51 Merc?Looks like an old roundy-round car,needs to be saved.

 

Its not a merc.

 

1950-1951 Mopar. I came across a 1971 Dodge Dart in the woods of Maine off of a steep cliff on Rt.4 between Farmington and Rangeley Maine and it had been there a while. It had obviously left at a high rate of speed as there were knocked down trees that were in several places. The car was literally ripped asunder, not a bit of glass left unbroken if I recall, a couple doors torn off, unrecognizable front end wadded up and the hood off, bits and pieces everywhere on the side of the hill. At the bottom of the hill was a 318 with the transmission, someone had stolen the carb off of it. That's bad luck in my book. I pray they went quickly without any notion of pain.

 

The straight B pillar is the main clue to ID it. Bob

 

Olds?

 

I think it's definitely Mopar. I'd say 46-48 Dodge D24, 2 door sedan.

 

sure looks like it.

 

@squirrel & @GeezersP15 - You guys are getting pretty warm. Here is another view to seal the deal:

 

I would guess it's one of those Plymouth fastbacks from around 1950. They still had removable rear fenders like that.

 

I'm going with Desoto ... blew up the pic & looks like traces of that long taillight ?
There's a 4 door out back ... I'll go look at the corner of the dash & the trunk hinge ....

 

this one?

 

Wrecked, buried in mud, abandoned outside for who knows how long and still no rust holes. What the hell is with the California climate and cars?

My vote goes to 1948 DeSoto sedan.

 

Well protected by all the spray paint graffiti

 

I guess you haven't heard that they have droughts in California?

 

Here's the remains of the dash & the trunk hinge on that '46-'48 Desoto 4dr.

 

It's a 48 or older, notice the quarter panel humps out at the bottom. The 49s and up were flat there.

 

Yep.....missed that.

Ray

 

I figured it was a 46-48 Plymouth or Dodge, but it was hard to be sure. I've had 6 or 7 of this era Mopars, but none have ever had a complete, intact rockers! I never knew what they looked like, let alone what they looked like from the bottom. Midwest living has some challenges when it comes to older car bodies, you often have to guess or look at pictures to determine how they originally may have looked. As an example, here is a picture of the rockers on my 48 Plymouth coupe's body. Gene

 

Okay, so it's officially listed in the Orange County Ranger Station as a 1947 Volvo. However, I don't buy it. Looking at the engine and the other evidence posted here, I believe it to be a 1946 Dodge 5-Passenger Coupe
(as @squirrel, @GeezersP15, @gene-koning and other said). However, I think it's interesting how close details such as the trunk lift mechanism is to the Desoto (Were they built in the same plant?)

Here is the Volvo:


Plus, this really looks like a Dodge power plant to me. What do you think?

 

It's not a Volvo. 544s don't even have a frame, let alone room for a straight 6 engine.

 

Of course it's a Mopar. Why would anyone want to do that to a Chevy or Ford???

 

Because chevys and fords aren't mopars...

 

I feel a lot better, my first guess was Chrysler, just thought it was a Coupe. Check the hardware Volvo would be Metric, Chrysler would US standard threads. Bob

 

544 uses mostly US threaded hardware.....see for yourself.

 

I figured it was a Mopar by the u joint, what brand/model no clue...

 

yeah, the U joint was a dead giveaway!

 

So, do you think the car was somewhere else and mudslides took it away over time to its present location?

 

I'm thinking its about 1958, several teenagers+case of cheap beer+$25 '48 desoto from the back row of the local car dealer. Late saturday night/early sunday morning(after a long night of abuse) rock on the accelerator and tah-dah! car wreck trail is born.