The city of Denton, Texas police reached out to me earlier today because they need our help. A vehicle hit a pedestrian, and then took off before the driver or the car could be identified. The wreck did damage the vehicle, which shed some shattered bits of light and trim at the scene. Now police would like our help to identify what kind of car these pieces came from.
We’ve done these before, and we’ve done them well. There’s no better online community than the Jalopnik Hive Mind to figure this kind of thing out, but this one looks particularily tricky.
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The parts are really quite small—some just shards, if we’re honest. But I bet there’s just enough here to figure this out.
The largest piece is this chrome-coated plastic bezel fragment; it could be from a rectangular sealed-beam headlight surround, or perhaps part of a grille. If it’s for a rectangular light, the car is likely from the ‘80s or early ‘90s. The design and detailing of this part feel American to me as well, especially with that inset groove detailing. I could be wrong, but the sensibilities seem like something GM or maybe Ford.
These other trim pieces give a similar feel; that fragment with the raised linear pattern on it seems familiar as well, though I can’t quite place it yet.
There’s some clear plastic lens parts, too. Ignore the red overspray; that came from the crime scene. The large piece has either VOR or VOP embossed on it, and that ribbed section looks to me like what would be over a the bulb of an indicator or side marker light. This seems like the outer clear cover to an indicator or corner lamp, the kind where the bulb and internal reflectors are amber, and the outer lens is clear.
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So, any ideas? Let’s see if we can’t help out one more time. I’ve seen how you kooks work, so I’m optimistic.
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