Cars you didn't know existed until very recently.

[chaseracer]

On 19/11/2021 at 14:10, Adrian_pt said:

Imagine the name had Ghia done it

...or Pininfarina...

[chaseracer]

4 hours ago, quicksilver said:

"This range is only available in Angola, Kenya, Malawi, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa and Iraq". That would be one heck of a roadtrip to bring one back here.

Plenty of motors coming here from SA by sea, so not impossible!  Imagine the comparison test at the FoD...

[martc]

Lada Vesta Sport (1.8l petrol, 145 HP). I quite like this; I could see myself swanning around in one, any matches to other models, or is it a pioneer of design?

[JMotor]

10 hours ago, Metal Guru said:

Wasn't that the Belmont when it was sold here?

Yep. 

Didn't bother saying. As everyone knows them as the Astra Belmont anyway.

[Leyland Worldmaster]

20 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

heres one that really caught me by surprise

of course I knew of the MF35 (I have driven one even ) but what I did not know is that Massey ferguson since 2015 had started making them again!

https://www.masseyferguson.com/en/product/tractors/mf-35.html

(I mean yeah I have seen a good number of vehicles with long production runs, but cant think of any where they stopped making them 50 years ago and then went "you know what lets start making them again" closest other vehicle I can think of like that off the top of my head is the new James Bond DB5's that Aston Martin put out a while back)

I would love to know just exactly how many parts are still shared with an original 1955-1964 model...

and also how much one of these new ones cost, and could one be road registered over here?

that would be some hilarious Late registration madness a MF35 on a 71 plate LOL

I want one. 😍

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, martc said:

or is it a pioneer of design?

Wouldn't that be a first for Lada?

[adw1977]

On 20/11/2021 at 02:01, LightBulbFun said:

heres one that really caught me by surprise

of course I knew of the MF35 (I have driven one even ) but what I did not know is that Massey ferguson since 2015 had started making them again!

https://www.masseyferguson.com/en/product/tractors/mf-35.html

(I mean yeah I have seen a good number of vehicles with long production runs, but cant think of any where they stopped making them 50 years ago and then went "you know what lets start making them again" closest other vehicle I can think of like that off the top of my head is the new James Bond DB5's that Aston Martin put out a while back)

I would love to know just exactly how many parts are still shared with an original 1955-1964 model...

and also how much one of these new ones cost, and could one be road registered over here?

that would be some hilarious Late registration madness a MF35 on a 71 plate LOL

According to Wikipedia, MF were still producing them in kit form for overseas assembly until 2002, when the factory producing them was closed.

Someone at MF must have had the foresight to save all the tooling and store it for 13 years.

[EyesWeldedShut]

16 hours ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

I was also surprised when I saw that MF had started making these again. And I do not understand why as these are very outdated but would assume that they had the production equipment lying around since they did. And if they are cheap enough, they will probably sell some. And if I'm not mistaken, the MF 35 is among the world's best-selling tractors and there are several who sold them under license such as TAFE and IMT. But I do not consider MF so highly as they were quickly passed by other tractor manufacturers and became very old-fashioned. We have had both 35 and 135. 35 was never in use. But the 135 was for a while but was quickly sold as the Volvo BM 430 tractor we have is a better tractor.

Volvo (AFAIK) never tried to sell the BM in the UK so maybe that's why the MF135 clung on.  Used them pulling hay baled by the uber powerful 165. Changed days.
Plenty of 135's around here still doing yard work but 35's seem to be all run by guys for 'vintage' runs and the like. I did wonder if the SA 35 would be worth somebody importing to the UK instead of the cheap Chinese tat that's available at the lower end of the market but looking at a secondhand 2019 model in SA its GBP £9,000  so maybe that's a non-starter. (Mind you the SA model has a drawbar AND trailer socket. Whooo!) Would confuse the vintage run guys of you turned up in one of those though  

[Dyslexic Viking]

2 hours ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

Volvo (AFAIK) never tried to sell the BM in the UK so maybe that's why the MF135 clung on.  Used them pulling hay baled by the uber powerful 165. Changed days.
Plenty of 135's around here still doing yard work but 35's seem to be all run by guys for 'vintage' runs and the like. I did wonder if the SA 35 would be worth somebody importing to the UK instead of the cheap Chinese tat that's available at the lower end of the market but looking at a secondhand 2019 model in SA its GBP £9,000  so maybe that's a non-starter. (Mind you the SA model has a drawbar AND trailer socket. Whooo!) Would confuse the vintage run guys of you turned up in one of those though  

Do not think that the new MF 35 will be imported to Europe as they do not meet the emission requirements. But they sold a lot of 135 here too. But the successors to the 135 they did not sell much of here and it probably has a lot to do with the fact that they were outdated post picturer below of the cabin of a 1983 MF 240 below.

 

It is cramped and uncomfortable and the cabin is not completely sealed. Post pictures of one of the competitors to MF below to show what I mean. This is Valmet 502 which came in 1971 it is also a 50 horsepower tractor it was probably more expensive but one got a much more modern and comfortable and user friendly tractor.

The cab had in these flat floor gears and other levers to the side, sealed cabin with heat and power steering something many  MFs did not have.

[artdjones]

22 hours ago, quicksilver said:

"This range is only available in Angola, Kenya, Malawi, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa and Iraq". That would be one heck of a roadtrip to bring one back here.

There are direct ferries from Morocco to Spain. Then a 10 day drive up to Santander, and a ferry to Portsmouth. 

I've heard of someone starting a successful plant hire business in West Cork by buying a JCB in England, driving it to Fishguard, taking the ferry to Rosslare, the driving home. This would be in the 70s. Money was short then, and it was worth saving the transport costs.

The MF35 is very small by today's standards, but it's very durable, cheap and easy to fix and very cheap to run. It probably suits Africa very well, certainly better than a huge tractor with a dual range electronically controlled auto box which costs thousands to rebuild if it fails. I don't know if the new 35s still use the Perkins 3.152 but if they do an engine rebuild kit is only a few hundred. Money really is short in Africa.

 

[EyesWeldedShut]

4 hours ago, artdjones said:

I've heard of someone starting a successful plant hire business in West Cork by buying a JCB in England, driving it to Fishguard, taking the ferry to Rosslare, the driving home. This would be in the 70s. Money was short then, and it was worth saving the transport costs.

The MF35 is very small by today's standards, but it's very durable, cheap and easy to fix and very cheap to run. It probably suits Africa very well, certainly better than a huge tractor with a dual range electronically controlled auto box which costs thousands to rebuild if it fails. I don't know if the new 35s still use the Perkins 3.152 but if they do an engine rebuild kit is only a few hundred. Money really is short in Africa.

 

In the late 70s I worked for a (Northern) Irish farmer relocated to  SW Scotland. We were taking all sorts of secondhand farm equipment across to his relatives' near Armagh. 
Pretty sure that I saw the same gear going through several times. Turns out it was getting driven across the border [usually at night via one of the 'closed' cross border lanes]. Some sort of paperwork done in Ireland.  Then put on a ferry back to UK via Holyhead.  Then back onto the ferry at Stranraer and off to Larne again. Some sort of VAT fiddle allegedly.

Never met a farmer yet who could not put any subsidy/tax scheme to work for their own benefit.

On the new tractors - last year local contractor here had a problem with a big Deutz he has - one of the hydraulic controllers was a bit kaput. Caused no end of trouble/delay/stress at haylage time.  Deutz were saying 'we'll replace the entire control unit, bargain, £1500 '. End of season he tore the unit down himself (figuring out that if he totally wrecked it then he'd shell out the £1500). Cost him about £15 in 'o' rings and some sort of dodgy software to test the unit.  Sounds like me & t'wife's Mini.
 

[warch]

22 hours ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

Do not think that the new MF 35 will be imported to Europe as they do not meet the emission requirements. But they sold a lot of 135 here too. But the successors to the 135 they did not sell much of here and it probably has a lot to do with the fact that they were outdated post picturer below of the cabin of a 1983 MF 240 below.

 

The 240 was quite an old hat design in the mid 70s, when most manufacturers were fitting Q (quiet) cabs to their tractors (safety cabs and roll over protection having been introduced several years earlier) along with flat floors, side mounted gearshifts and heating/ventilation systems. A lot of 240s were sold with a roll bar or a special cab where the upper half could be removed for working in ancient cowsheds and other buildings with very low clearance. The 240 was still on sale in the early 00s iirc. 

But you are absolutely right, the impetus to make nicer tractor cabs was largely from Scandinavia. I don't know much about trucks but I believe the Scania 110 was also a revelation when it was introduced in terms of cab comfort.  Presumably the thought of spending all day in an drafty unheated box is even less attractive several hundred miles closer to the artic circle than it was to those of us in (slightly) more temperate climes. Nordic tractor design also mandated two cab doors, and a means of escaping via the roof. 

There is still a huge demand for really simple tractors in world agriculture, especially as lots of users don't need a massive, horrendously complex tractor that costs a fortune to buy and needs specialist attention if it goes on the blink. Open platform tractors are fine in warm fairly dry countries where lots of farms and farm equipment are still quite small, hence why there is a still a market for them. Obviously they'd never get past emissions testing for the European market.

[Jerzy Woking]

Saw this at a car show in Alicante over the weekend.

 

DFSK from China. Looked similar to many other cars produced today. Surprised how satisfying the 'clunk' was on closing its doors, and the quality of the paint. No sales person on the stand, so no idea of price, engine etc. Google shows they have been on sale for a couple of years  but they have passed me by.

[myglaren]

[myglaren]

And

 

Probably not that unusual but never seen one before.

[MrGTI6]

Nearly got taken out by an Uber driver who was joining the M25 today. I moved out so he could merge and he decided to thank me by going straight for the middle lane for no apparent reason without indicating or using his mirrors. Fucking toss bag. 

Anyway, the car in question was a Toyota Corolla estate with Suzuki badges on it. About ten minutes later, I passed another! I've just Googled it and it's called the Suzuki Swace. Despite its inevitable reliability, I expect it to have a very low survival rate as a direct result of its popularity with Uber drivers.

 

[DavieW]

11 minutes ago, MrGTI6 said:

 

Anyway, the car in question was a Toyota Corolla estate with Suzuki badges on it. About ten minutes later, I passed another! I've just Googled it and it's called the Suzuki Swace. Despite its inevitable reliability, I expect it to have a very low survival rate as a direct result of its popularity with Uber drivers.

Suzuki have also badge engineered the Toyota RAV 4.  There seems to be some swapping of technology both ways and this is Suzuki's side of the deal.

[bunglebus]

4 hours ago, myglaren said:

And

Probably not that unusual but never seen one before.

I was aware of those but I thought they were all silver originally. But I was wrong

[MiniMort]

Presenting (ahem) the Daewoo Lublin - a Polish van that was designed to replace the ancient 50s Zuk. As you can see... its a van. I'm not sure what engine it had, nor am I sure when it was made. According to our trustworthy friend Wikipedia, production began in 1993... but I've no clue when it stopped. 

I do, however, know it got a particularly tragic looking facelift in 2001... 

... And a monstrosity was showed off in 2008 - but I've no clue if either were made. 

Does anyone else know anything about this interesting(ly dull) Polish van? 

[Madman Of The People]

On 11/13/2021 at 5:33 AM, chaseracer said:

Thought there'd been a 'parts-bin offence light raid' there.  Nearly, but not quite...

 

Federal-spec Renault Fuego.  Sealed-beam headlights are the giveaway.  Rare when new and, like all Renaults, they completely vanished from our roads by the end of the '80s, just a couple of years after Renault's departure from America.

[Remspoor]

1 hour ago, MiniMort said:

Presenting (ahem) the Daewoo Lublin - a Polish van that was designed to replace the ancient 50s Zuk. As you can see... its a van. I'm not sure what engine it had, nor am I sure when it was made. According to our trustworthy friend Wikipedia, production began in 1993... but I've no clue when it stopped. 

I do, however, know it got a particularly tragic looking facelift in 2001... 

... And a monstrosity was showed off in 2008 - but I've no clue if either were made. 

Does anyone else know anything about this interesting(ly dull) Polish van? 

When reading any subject in wiki it is best to look at the page in the native language which the subject is situated. In this case read the Polish language about the van(s)

https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/FS_Lublin

Then use an on line translator.

[Leyland Worldmaster]

5 hours ago, MiniMort said:

Presenting (ahem) the Daewoo Lublin - a Polish van that was designed to replace the ancient 50s Zuk. As you can see... its a van. I'm not sure what engine it had, nor am I sure when it was made. According to our trustworthy friend Wikipedia, production began in 1993... but I've no clue when it stopped. 

I do, however, know it got a particularly tragic looking facelift in 2001... 

... And a monstrosity was showed off in 2008 - but I've no clue if either were made. 

Does anyone else know anything about this interesting(ly dull) Polish van? 

The sophisticated* face-lift seems to have been the inspiration for the current (at the time of writing) FIAT Ducato! 😎

[STUNO]

? ? ? ?  Vanden Plas Princess of course !

 

 

 

Now find another one.

[High Jetter]

Wow. How many were made, I wonder?

[Formula Autos]

53 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

Wow. How many were made, I wonder?

One. Unless this is a replica of the prototype, in which case two. 
 

One of many BMC/BL evaluations of a variation on an existing/upcoming model. Deemed to have a limited appeal to buyers, so not worth the tooling needed to put into production. 

[TataBobu]

On 11/20/2021 at 9:59 PM, martc said:

Lada Vesta Sport (1.8l petrol, 145 HP). I quite like this; I could see myself swanning around in one, any matches to other models, or is it a pioneer of design?

Yes, it's related to Dacia Logan (so a cheaper and older Clio), but with different engines. From 2025 will share the same platform.

[MiniMort]

22 hours ago, Remspoor said:

When reading any subject in wiki it is best to look at the page in the native language which the subject is situated. In this case read the Polish language about the van(s)

https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/FS_Lublin

Then use an on line translator.

Ah that's magic! Thanks! 

[Yoss]

11 hours ago, STUNO said:

? ? ? ?  Vanden Plas Princess of course !

 

 

 

Now find another one.

There was also at least one Wolseley prototype. 

[17-Coffees]

Slight porkie here, it turns out I did know of this car, just forgot about it until seeing one this morning in the metal...

The Renault Ankara...

I'm getting vibes of Volvo S60 Cross Country from it due to ride height. (Hardly any taller than my 500 tho) 

I've a feeling this will be a rather rare sight here in the UK, simply because it's not from Ze Germans and it's in an alreday small niche market. 

I also won't lie, I actually don't hate it like I though would. 

[lesapandre]

21 hours ago, STUNO said:

? ? ? ?  Vanden Plas Princess of course !

 

 

 

Now find another one.

Wow. Is that real? I mean it's not somebody's creation?

Wether it is one or the other it is beautifully done. Just what the 3-litre needed. I wonder if it has a better engine - the lump in the original car was pretty gutless - I had one.