Cars you didn't know existed until very recently.

[Austat]

The Dalniks (a.k.a Dalnik Karosa), the motorcycle/car vehicles built by Czechoslovakian bus manufacturer Karosa in the 1960's : 

(Above: The 1965 Dalnik Karosa)

(Below: A few other Dalnik models)

 

[JimH]

Lash up that was going to go nowhere but looking at things Sonett lead me to this. 

What do you do when you are banging your head on what power you can extract from a two-stroke triple? Well, you turn it through 90 degrees and squeeze another one in.

 

[bunglebus]

I need to see the engineering behind that 

[barrett]

11 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

I need to see the engineering behind that 

There are quite a few articles about this online, but none of them actually explain how it works. Frustrating. I can't really get my head round two transverse crankshafts being connected to a single longitudinal gearbox. Those engines have a really uneven idle, and I can imagine a lot of disparity in engine speed between the two when you're not giving it throttle. I'd love to see some drawings of how it all works.

[aotb]

It's (or was when I was there a few years ago) at the SAAB museum in Trollhättan. It's very odd.

[High Jetter]

One for the Y tho thread.

[sdkrc]

Sipani Montana

[High Jetter]

Dolphin?

[sdkrc]

It's the replacement for the Dolphin.

Sexier, squarer and smothered with doors

[Metal Guru]

1 hour ago, High Jetter said:

Dolphin?

Is that a rebadged Reliant Kitten?

[Rod/b]

6 hours ago, Metal Guru said:

Is that a rebadged Reliant Kitten?

Licence built Kitten by Sipani in India.

[High Jetter]

Didn't know that, thanks.

[Noel Tidybeard]

On 05/12/2021 at 09:16, Dobloseven said:

Wonder if a BMW badge would fit on the bonnet. MSport logo on the tailgate and jobs a good'un! 

yes it does there's at least one been done

[Pieman]

These look like ordinary MR2s, don't they?

But what's this?

Yep, that's a K Series engine - according to a thread I've just read on RR, four MR2s were fitted with said engines to be used as test mules for the upcoming MGF!  Sadly* all were scrapped at the end of testing.

[17-Coffees]

Only know of this thanks to Autocar on Facebook bringing it to my attention...

The 2022 Mazda 2!

Yes,It's a rebadged Yaris!

As some of you will know, this sort of badge engineering is fairly common in Japan, Daihatsu have a Camry &  Mazda have a Jimny to name 2, if we get fully into K cars then it's common place.

Im amazed to see Toyota trying it over here, but it's working alreday with Suzuki and the Corolla Estate & Rav4 in there range!

 

It also neatly goes fully circle, because Toyota did sell a rebadged Mazda 2 saloon under the Scion range a while back! 

[TheOtherStu]

5 hours ago, Pieman said:

These look like ordinary MR2s, don't they?

But what's this?

Yep, that's a K Series engine - according to a thread I've just read on RR, four MR2s were fitted with said engines to be used as test mules for the upcoming MGF!  Sadly* all were scrapped at the end of testing.

Do you have any more details? I think this would be of much interest to MR2DC.
You're probably aware that there are a fair few Roadsters and the odd Mk2 with K20s in too,

[artdjones]

A Bristol 406 Zagato. Like someone said earlier, Zagato designs don't fit together. This looks like a weird cut and shut.

[Jenson Velcro]

25 minutes ago, artdjones said:

A Bristol 406 Zagato. Like someone said earlier, Zagato designs don't fit together. This looks like a weird cut and shut.

Wow, that looks like a poor attempt at a Photoshop image

[martc]

The incongruously named (or badly translated) 'Kiev Sport Soviet Ukrainian' racing car manufactured by the Antonov aircraft design bureau, 1959.

[bunglebus]

1 hour ago, artdjones said:

A Bristol 406 Zagato. Like someone said earlier, Zagato designs don't fit together. This looks like a weird cut and shut.

 

1 hour ago, Jenson Velcro said:

Wow, that looks like a poor attempt at a Photoshop image

I actually had to zoom in as it looked like two photos badly joined together 

[TheOtherStu]

Here’s the real thing. I still think Zagstos look forced

[Austat]

1955 Autobleu 4cv Coupé:

[MisterH]

Hotchkiss Grégoire

[D.E]

Quote

Uruguayan Production of Panhard 24ct

An unsanctioned fibre glass bodied Panhard 24ct was built in Uruguay for the local market by the Uruguayan manufacturer of Panhard vehicles. These cars are distinguishable by their colour coded fibre glass bumpers. Uruguayan 24ct production continued beyond that of the official French version, the last units being sold as 1968 models.[1]

[barrett]

Man, I love the Hotchkiss-Grégoire. Because so few were built and hardly anyone has really driven one, most everything you read about them focusses on what a horrendous failure they were and how ridiculous an idea it was which was always going to ruin the company (I think they cost twice as much as the most expensive six-sylinder Traction Avant at a time when France was at its lowest economic ebb of all time and nobody wanted expensive luxury cars). What you'll never hear is just how flippin' great they are - I reckon it's the best 1950s family saloon I've ever driven. Totally poised, excellent handling, comfortable and effortless to drive, everything built to incredibly high standards. The concept was definitely flawed (it was basically a prototype rushed into production, and the design was constantly being tweaked) but a good one is the match for anything else I can think of. I happen to think they look great, too, which isn't an opinion shared by many. There is no car of the period I can think of better-suited to long-distance motorway travel in speed and comfort.

That being said, it was a pretty mad design. You get the normal snazzy Grégoire stuff like cast-alloy scuttle, fwd, flat engine etc but then the rest of the body is incredibly heavy - there is loads of wood in the construction, and most of the body is steel. I think there are some with mostly aluminium panels, I guess in attempt to make the thing a bit lighter, but by that point it was too late. The complexity of the running gear is really something else. Horizontal coil springs in tension, wishbones AND lever-arm dampers? Yeah, fuck it, why not!

If you want to experience one, our old one (the only running example in the country) is up for sale for an outrageous £20k

[barrett]

18 minutes ago, D.E said:

Never knew this!! Just read some google-translated features about them. Apparently, the Uruguayan Panhard factory approached Panhard in France about making a locally-assembled 24CT. Panhard refused, so the guy in charge simply found a local Panhard 24 owner, told him his car was due for a service, and then totally dismantled it to its smallest parts so his team could reverse-engineer it from the ground up! The guy got so sick of waiting for his car to be returned he broke into the factory one day to find it, and discovered it in a million pieces all over the floor with guys taking measurements etc. I really hope that's a true story!

[JimH]

On 12/8/2021 at 9:01 PM, bunglebus said:

I need to see the engineering behind that 

Looking at the way the cast iron exhaust manifolds have been brazed up I suspect engineering may be a five dollar word for what went on. 

[Asimo]

On 08/12/2021 at 21:01, bunglebus said:

I need to see the engineering behind that 

Some round-the-corner gearing rather like this Ford T-drive. Probably.

https://patents.google.com/patent/US5180346A/en

 

 

 

[lesapandre]

3 hours ago, barrett said:

Man, I love the Hotchkiss-Grégoire. Because so few were built and hardly anyone has really driven one, most everything you read about them focusses on what a horrendous failure they were and how ridiculous an idea it was which was always going to ruin the company (I think they cost twice as much as the most expensive six-sylinder Traction Avant at a time when France was at its lowest economic ebb of all time and nobody wanted expensive luxury cars). What you'll never hear is just how flippin' great they are - I reckon it's the best 1950s family saloon I've ever driven. Totally poised, excellent handling, comfortable and effortless to drive, everything built to incredibly high standards. The concept was definitely flawed (it was basically a prototype rushed into production, and the design was constantly being tweaked) but a good one is the match for anything else I can think of. I happen to think they look great, too, which isn't an opinion shared by many. There is no car of the period I can think of better-suited to long-distance motorway travel in speed and comfort.

That being said, it was a pretty mad design. You get the normal snazzy Grégoire stuff like cast-alloy scuttle, fwd, flat engine etc but then the rest of the body is incredibly heavy - there is loads of wood in the construction, and most of the body is steel. I think there are some with mostly aluminium panels, I guess in attempt to make the thing a bit lighter, but by that point it was too late. The complexity of the running gear is really something else. Horizontal coil springs in tension, wishbones AND lever-arm dampers? Yeah, fuck it, why not!

If you want to experience one, our old one (the only running example in the country) is up for sale for an outrageous £20k

The demise of so many interesting French marques was due, in part, to the Pons Plan.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul-Marie_Pons

As opposed to the UK where the early rationalisation of the motor industry was left to the manufacturers themselves - with a little government prodding, in France there was wholesale Government intervention.

Larger engine cars were heavily taxed and the grand routiers severely curtailed in favour of 'popular' cars.

[MisterH]

3 hours ago, barrett said:

Man, I love the Hotchkiss-Grégoire. Because so few were built and hardly anyone has really driven one, most everything you read about them focusses on what a horrendous failure they were and how ridiculous an idea it was which was always going to ruin the company (I think they cost twice as much as the most expensive six-sylinder Traction Avant at a time when France was at its lowest economic ebb of all time and nobody wanted expensive luxury cars). What you'll never hear is just how flippin' great they are - I reckon it's the best 1950s family saloon I've ever driven. Totally poised, excellent handling, comfortable and effortless to drive, everything built to incredibly high standards. The concept was definitely flawed (it was basically a prototype rushed into production, and the design was constantly being tweaked) but a good one is the match for anything else I can think of. I happen to think they look great, too, which isn't an opinion shared by many. There is no car of the period I can think of better-suited to long-distance motorway travel in speed and comfort.

That being said, it was a pretty mad design. You get the normal snazzy Grégoire stuff like cast-alloy scuttle, fwd, flat engine etc but then the rest of the body is incredibly heavy - there is loads of wood in the construction, and most of the body is steel. I think there are some with mostly aluminium panels, I guess in attempt to make the thing a bit lighter, but by that point it was too late. The complexity of the running gear is really something else. Horizontal coil springs in tension, wishbones AND lever-arm dampers? Yeah, fuck it, why not!

If you want to experience one, our old one (the only running example in the country) is up for sale for an outrageous £20k

Yeah I think its a nice looking thing (ok the wheels are a bit too close together IMO) and was it really good enough for a modern motorway? That is astounding