Cars you didn't know existed until very recently.

[bunglebus]

Yep it's a Sierra. But it only has one mirror. Weird Portuguese spec? Doesn't look broken off

 

FB_IMG_1588697942206 by RS, on Flickr

[chaseracer]

Is that a Lotus Elise screen?

[Richard_FM]

It reminds me of the Panther 6 which looked like lady Penelope's daily driver if Thunderbirds was brought back in the late 1970s.

[Snipes]

2 hours ago, chaseracer said:

Is that a Lotus Elise screen?

Are those 206 Hella-style headlights?

[adw1977]

7 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Yep it's a Sierra. But it only has one mirror. Weird Portuguese spec? Doesn't look broken off

Early UK base Sierras had only one mirror as standard (someone presumably ticked the option box for a second one on GVG510Y) but of the dangly type.  That Portugese example seems to be the internally adjustable sort.

Being a police car, it could well be a non-standard spec.

[17-Coffees]

With the demise of the Lexus GS range, I did some looking. I know of the Mk2 having the 4.0 and 4.3 V8's, as well as the Mk3's having the 4.6 V8, but there's one spec I never knew of...

The Mk1 GS V8 AWD! 

Okay, that's because it never existed...as a Lexus. You could get the Mk1 Toyota Aristo with the LS400's 4.0 V8, and AWD! Sadly, a JDM only model. 

Annnd the real money shot!

 

Oooft! 

[martc]

28 minutes ago, 17-Coffees said:

With the demise of the Lexus GS range, I did some looking. I know of the Mk2 having the 4.0 and 4.3 V8's, as well as the Mk3's having the 4.6 V8, but there's one spec I never knew of...

The Mk1 GS V8 AWD! 

Okay, that's because it never existed...as a Lexus. You could get the Mk1 Toyota Aristo with the LS400's 4.0 V8, and AWD! Sadly, a JDM only model. 

 

Sold by Brave Auto - a comment on the characteristics required when faced with the first repair bill.

[rantingYoof]

Tsk, no Lexus of that generation volunteers a repair bill for anything mechanical. Blasphemy!



Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

[Remspoor]

Renault Wind

[Richard_FM]

9 minutes ago, Remspoor said:

Renault Wind

I remember Renault had a few weird cars in the range at one time which had to be culled from uk sales lists.

[Remspoor]

Just now, Richard_FM said:

I remember Renault had a few weird cars in the range at one time which had to be culled from uk sales lists.

I have never seen one in the many EU countries I have visited either.

[vulgalour]

Saw a Wind a few months ago.  They've got very strange proportions in person, much more so than in photographs.  Almost like when you see a car that's had a bodykit fitted to make it look lower without actually lowering it.

[Snipes]

Yeah. Very high sided.

[Yoss]

There's one on my delivery. Because I see it nearly every day I forget how weird it looks then one day I'll look at it and the odd proportions hit me again. Not sure if it's too tall or too short. 

[Aston Martin]

Heuliez Pondicherry, the guys that built the 206cc etc.

 

It's an electric Matiz. 

[Aston Martin]

On 5/6/2020 at 12:39 PM, chaseracer said:

Is that a Lotus Elise screen?

 

And morette 206 headlights.

[GeordieInExile]

Getting a strong Punto MK1 vibe from the front of that Pondicherry.

[Yoss]

A friend of mine who likes his Fiats once told me the design of the Matiz was offered to Fiat but they rejected it going with their own 500 (a few years later, but I think it was in the design phase). Whilst we can't argue with the success of the new 500 I can't help thinking the Matiz is more of a true successor to the original, the new one being rather overbloated, to my eyes at least. 

 

I can't verify this, it's one of those a bloke down the pub said stories but it sounds quite feasible. 

[martc]

1 hour ago, Yoss said:

A friend of mine who likes his Fiats once told me the design of the Matiz was offered to Fiat but they rejected it going with their own 500 (a few years later, but I think it was in the design phase). Whilst we can't argue with the success of the new 500 I can't help thinking the Matiz is more of a true successor to the original, the new one being rather overbloated, to my eyes at least. 

 

I can't verify this, it's one of those a bloke down the pub said stories but it sounds quite feasible. 

The Matiz was designed by Giugiaro aka Italdesign. The design was called the Lucciola - made from recycled materials and powered by an electric motor. There's no mention of FIATs involvement on Italdesign's website but other sites claim the work was for FIAT who wanted to reintroduce the 500  (Cinquecento) of yore. Here's the full SP straight from the horses mouth -

https://www.italdesign.it/project/lucciola/

FIAT were in fact already making the Cinquecento (designed by Ermanno Cressoni) when the Lucciola was released. As FIAT were not interested in it the design was offered to Daewoo who snapped it up.

Some more chat here -

https://drivetribe.com/p/giugiaros-rejected-concept-which-ajb24UKJR_qsSQfDlQwfug?iid=MQCLo0wJQ7260chWi1pFfA

 

 

 

[Richard_FM]

The Yugo Sana was based on design study by Pininfarina for the Fiat Tipo iirc. 

[17-Coffees]

I never knew about this till a few mins ago...

Electric 190E! 

[Snipes]

Oh wow FIVE seats?!

[somewhatfoolish]

Rare pygmy germans.

[bunglebus]

Carbodies CR6. Range Rover panels, Land Rover engine, Ital lights and SD1 running gear. Not a great success.

 

[Inspiral_Mondays]

Never seen this one before, a Ford Granada Mk2 1.7L, Dutch market special for those not in a hurry, with 1.7 litre V4 power and plastic seats to complete the sack cloth and ashes vibe. The one below is for sale.

https://www.autoscout24.com/offers/ford-granada-1-7-l-station-gasoline-beige-e87c2ba2-7b45-f132-e053-e350040a49d7?utm_source=ios-share&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=share

[Austat]

Vauxhall Sports Hatch Concept 1 from 1973:

 

[lesapandre]

[NorfolkNWeigh]

 

 

We all know about Uren Savage Cortinas, some of us also were aware of the various Escort and Capri 2.0, 3.0 and 5.7 litre conversions known as Apache, Navajo and Stampede. What I, for one, was unaware of were the Weslake headed and fuel injected  Consuls and Granadas.

These were known as Senecas, presumably there’s a Native American tribe Of this name, rather than after the a Roman philosopher! I came across these in a 1974 What Car ? price list. At first I assumed they were 351 V8s in the style of Basil Green’s  Perana, but if so the prices were unbelievably low- within £10 of the Consul GT, Granada XL Estate or Ghia Saloon they were based on. I’ve since found one reference to the injected and Weslake headed 3.0 and that makes more sense- although why they were so cheap is still odd, maybe Uren was getting cars with a massive fleet discount. The other mystery is why there weren’t loads of them around , 190 bhp as opposed to 138 and in some cases they were listed as cheaper than the standard car!

There was also a Transit Easydrive , which was a 3.0 and Cortina Cheetah which was a 2.5 V6 in a 1600 L , I found an ad which showed a 1300L , but presumabl it was never converted because it was still a 1300 when it was scrapped in 1984- not sure who would want a basic Cortina with a 2.5 , caravan era maybe?

Anyway, does anybody know anything about these Senecas and why they didn’t take over the big car market?

[bunglebus]

1 hour ago, lesapandre said:

FB_IMG_1588921795557 by RS, on Flickr

FB_IMG_1588921786100 by RS, on Flickr

FB_IMG_1588921790865 by RS, on Flickr

[Inspiral_Mondays]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

FB_IMG_1588921795557 by RS, on Flickr

FB_IMG_1588921786100 by RS, on Flickr

FB_IMG_1588921790865 by RS, on Flickr

I remember seeing pictures of this in a magazine as a teenager, it left an impression in my formative years. It‘s the Michelin Centipede and was used by Michelin to do high speed testing on their tyres. The tyre testing rig is in the middle of the car. I think the engine is at the back.