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Cars you didn't know existed until very recently.


philibusmo

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Courtesy of Brownnova's excellent thread here: http://autoshite.com/topic/20203-good-god-it%E2%80%99s-ugly-another-periodically-updated-spotting-thread-of-interesting-cars-from-north-wales/page-5?do=findComment&comment=1731701 is the now dead Stevens electric van/car.

 

acton.jpg

 

They're kind of adorable, in a three-legged dog sort of a way.  Certainly not a car that you can be angry at, I mean look at its little face!

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Also, entirely by accident, I just discovered that in Barcelona there were electric trolley vans used to service the trolley bus lines and trolley busses themselves until the 1990s.  Built on British made Tilling-Stevens chassis, it would seem that these were very rare vehicles with a long service life.  I could barely find any more than the above out about them, and the images I could find were limited to one website: https://dewi.ca/trains/barcelon/btrolley.html

 

c0840.jpg

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Courtesy of Brownnova's excellent thread here: http://autoshite.com/topic/20203-good-god-it%E2%80%99s-ugly-another-periodically-updated-spotting-thread-of-interesting-cars-from-north-wales/page-5?do=findComment&comment=1731701 is the now dead Stevens electric van/car.

 

acton.jpg

 

They're kind of adorable, in a three-legged dog sort of a way.  Certainly not a car that you can be angry at, I mean look at its little face!

 

..more behind the concept < here >

 

Also, entirely by accident, I just discovered that in Barcelona there were electric trolley vans used to service the trolley bus lines and trolley busses themselves until the 1990s.  Built on British made Tilling-Stevens chassis, it would seem that these were very rare vehicles with a long service life.  I could barely find any more than the above out about them, and the images I could find were limited to one website: https://dewi.ca/trains/barcelon/btrolley.html

 

c0840.jpg

 

Was that the same Stevens ?

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attachicon.gif2011-vpg-mv1-dx-wheel-chair-accessible-van-272864672348-0.jpg.pagespeed.ce.XexbcE2sV3.jpg

 

VPG MV1 DX Wheel Chair Accessible Van/Taxi

 

Horrific looking thing, mercifully out of production now, I think.

 

A friend's step dad has one for his wheelchair.  Very utilitarian but he loves it as it's designed for wheelchairs from the ground up.  They're thinking of getting rid as 'it's getting a bit old'.  Five years and 70000 miles is a worry apparently. 

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Was that the same Stevens ?

No. Tilling-Stevens was taken over by the Rootes group in 1953 and the Stevens electric platform was designed by Tony Stevens, who productionised the Hillman Avenger.

 

Sad fact #192. The Commer “knocker” opposed piston, two stoke Diesel engine was a Tilling-Stevens designed engine that was scheduled for production by them in 1954. TS3 stood for Tilling Stevens 3 cylinder. A four cylinder was also prototyped but never made production. About four or five of the prototype four cylinder TS4s exist around the world.

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No. Tilling-Stevens was taken over by the Rootes group in 1953 and the Stevens electric platform was designed by Tony Stevens, who productionised the Hillman Avenger.

 

Sad fact #192. The Commer “knocker” opposed piston, two stoke Diesel engine was a Tilling-Stevens designed engine that was scheduled for production by them in 1954. TS3 stood for Tilling Stevens 3 cylinder. A four cylinder was also prototyped but never made production. About four or five of the prototype four cylinder TS4s exist around the world.

 

As it happens, Tony Stevens "established himself at the Rootes Group. As chief engineer, chief designer and - ultimately - head of product planning, he was responsible for a number of popular cars, including the Hillman Hunter and Sunbeam Rapier."  Quoted from The Telegraph < here I knew he designed engines and was a head of product planning for Rootes, but I don't know about his early career.

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But that's the old version.

Since 2005 they've been making more updated ones, called the New PK.

 

NRQKyDz.jpg

 

PWFqDHX.jpg

 

Edit, production of these stopped in 2013. Not bad for the little 1972 Renner 5.

 

Look at him, you can see the wheels turning in his brain - "Is that kerb too high to park on top of or isn't it?".

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There were more elegant answers to a question nobody asked.

 

2461a8c9b0ecb7c5d40369479be5a0ef.jpg

 

 

Also hatchback.

 

438307.jpg

 

It was flogged on eBay a few years back, has deteriorated on someone's driveway ever since and is now in dreadful condition.

Pretty sure the hatchback took a trip round the oval a year or two ago, I remember seeing a picture of it and wondering what its story was.
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A friend's step dad has one for his wheelchair.  Very utilitarian but he loves it as it's designed for wheelchairs from the ground up.  They're thinking of getting rid as 'it's getting a bit old'.  Five years and 70000 miles is a worry apparently.

 

National Heath glasses probably worked just as well as any but I remember them stigmatising school kids who had to wear them. Car manufacturers should have progressed beyond offering a similar experience for wheelchair users.

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The PK, manufactured by Pars Khodro in Iran right up until 2005. A 1980s Renner 5 body on a Kia Pride floorpan, etc.

Before 2000 the Renner 5 was known as the Sepand.

 

Nice parking, should be ok to leave it there.

Excellent parking.

 

I know a bloke named Sepand (he does have Iranian heritage), I'll have to tell him about his namesake motor.

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How shite is this?

A three wheeled American car from the mid 70s.

It's the Dale, from the Twentieth Century Motor Car Corporation.

 

Quote - ". . . expected sales of 88,000 cars in the first year and 250,000 in the second year".

 

 

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U1hcrRf.jpg

 

dbkLxV5.jpg

 

More importantly, read the back-story, it's fab.

 

https://cardesignnews.com/articles/concept-car-of-the-week/2017/09/ccotw-dale

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twentieth_Century_Motor_Car_Corporation

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Here's another one, so I think they were meant to look like that.

 

What an appalling design.*  Must have been designed* by a committee..........of primary school children.  I love the awkward rear glass.  Probably bits of perspex glued together to achieve the angles.

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^ Yes, it does look a bit like a joint geometry / art class project using bits and pieces from the janitor's store. The more I look at it the more I like it.

Looks like some of the hopeless early 80s kit cars you used to see in magazines. They were so shit they were addictive. I spent £££ of my pocket money buying kit car mags. Up until I reached a certain age . . .

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