Cars you didn't know existed until very recently.

[sheffcortinacentre]

9 hours ago, MiniMort said:

Yeah for the Cortina they got it all from Ford in Argentina who made the 'coke bottle' Taunus all the way to '84!

... And it even came in coupe form! 

They made them to 79-80 (no mk4) then straight to Mk5 Inc a coupe version. Engine is the Lima ohc not the pinto.

[Richard_FM]

10 hours ago, MiniMort said:

Yeah for the Cortina they got it all from Ford in Argentina who made the 'coke bottle' Taunus all the way to '84!

... And it even came in coupe form! 

Latin America is one places where cars seemed to be made for a long time after their home production ended.

[JeeExEll]

Car I didn't know existed until 15 mins ago.  The R5 Lectric Leopard.

Also available as a Strada (Ritmo) or, errrrm, a 'Corvette' thing  

(Maybe a battery-powered Beetle floorpan with a copy Corvette body??).

U.S. Electricar Corpoation sold around 400 cars in 1980 & '81 before going out of business.

[Leyland Worldmaster]

27 minutes ago, JeeExEll said:

Car I didn't know existed until 15 mins ago.  The R5 Lectric Leopard.

Also available as a Strada (Ritmo) or, errrrm, a Corvette.

Zoe's grandmother! 

[bunglebus]

7 hours ago, JeeExEll said:

Maybe a battery-powered Beetle floorpan with a copy Corvette body??)

Beetle wheelbase is 94.5 inches. Can't see them shortening it by such a small amount, maybe a purpose built chassis?

*edit* mono cock according to this https://www.aronline.co.uk/facts-and-figures/top-10s/electric-cars-1980/

[myglaren]

Passed a Peugeot with "606" on the bonnet.

Never heard of a 606.

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately it was just an embarrassment.

 

 

 

[bunglebus]

For a modern, i think they're a good looker

[Austat]

VW Karmann Ghia TC, one of the many interesting Brazilian VW models along with the SP2:

 

[bunglebus]

Brazil made all sorts of stuff the rest of the world didn't get to see, oddball type 3s, the SP2, Gol and those amazing half split half bay buses

[bunglebus]

This one's quite subtle unless you know how the side doors work on a normal split

 

[Richard_FM]

The Brasilia was another VW Brazil model rarely seen outside Latin America. 

It was essayed as a Beetle replacement in Germany & rejected, but the  Brazilian branch picked up the design.

[Austat]

[Austat]

Weren't there an option for Brazilian-market Volkswagens to be fitted with "Alcohol" engines? 

 

[Richard_FM]

I think in Brazil some cars can run on fuel made from sugar cane waste.

[catsinthewelder]

Leata Cabalero

https://www.thedrive.com/vintage/2659/i-drove-the-worst-car-in-america

[Noel Tidybeard]

[BL Bloke]

I'd never heard of FSC Zuk vans until I saw this  one yesterday. Based on the chassis and running gear of the FSO Warzawa, according to Wikipedia.

 

[ChinaTom]

On 8/8/2021 at 1:17 PM, Richard_FM said:

I think in Brazil some cars can run on fuel made from sugar cane waste.

It isn’t waste - it is sometimes worth more than the sugar. Which is why most plants split the process and produce it from molasses or low purity recycle flows. Those that take cane to ethanol directly are boom bust operations from year to year. Shell and BP both have big joint ventures with sugar companies in Brazil but hedge their bets making both.  I played a minor part in the development of this technology. Long since developed further by younger generations and my little contribution is a just footnote in history.

[Austat]

Panhard CD:

[R1152]

Discovered whilst leafing through a 1970 copy of Motor: that Crayford made an "estate" (more hatchback IMO) conversion for the Austin 1800.

[High Jetter]

Another lost opportunity for BLMC etc

[sheffcortinacentre]

Also the 1100/1300, plus BMW/ Mercedes of the same period.

[High Jetter]

ADO 16 hatch? Oh no, R16 was far more innovative.

[bunglebus]

11 hours ago, R1152 said:

Discovered whilst leafing through a 1970 copy of Motor: that Crayford made an "estate" (more hatchback IMO) conversion for the Austin 1800.

Very hearsey. I approve

[Yoss]

That's the 3-Litre estate. I once owned a normal 3-Litre and the guy I sold it to turned up with one of these with a trailer on the back. 

[Rod/b]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

Very hearsey. I approve

If they’d swept the roofline down and kept the rear screen level with the rear windows that would look awesome. Sure maybe you couldn’t get a twin-tub washing machine and mangle (or whatever shit people used to lug about in the olden days) in but whatever. Maybe a split tailgate would have worked nicely too. 

[R1152]

9 hours ago, High Jetter said:

ADO 16 hatch? Oh no, R16 was far more innovative.

The chap who owned the garage in the village (it was a family business) told me when I had my R16 that the R16 showed up just how bad the contemporary British offerings were, without being mental like a DS - all-alloy engines, electric cooling fan, five bearing crankshaft, load-compensated braking at the rear and a ride no British car could touch. 

[Yoss]

 

10 minutes ago, Rod/b said:

If they’d swept the roofline down and kept the rear screen level with the rear windows that would look awesome. Sure maybe you couldn’t get a twin-tub washing machine and mangle (or whatever shit people used to lug about in the olden days) in but whatever. Maybe a split tailgate would have worked nicely too. 

If they'd spent some money altering the rear door frame they could have made it look like a normal estate. It suffers from the same problems as the P6 and XJ6 estates, though not to the same extent, with downward sloping rear doors completely failing to match up with the stuck on estate section. 

The tailgate appears to be from an Austin 1100 estate but mounted more upright. It fits the 1100 perfectly. 

But doesn't fit the 3-Litre at all. 

[barrett]

Here's the 1800 for anyone interested. It might just be the only acceptable car Crayford ever built

[quicksilver]

1 hour ago, barrett said:

Here's the 1800 for anyone interested. It might just be the only acceptable car Crayford ever built

An interesting conversion but I don't see the point of it after 1969. Surely it was a lot more expensive and didn't do much a Maxi couldn't do.