Cars you didn't know existed until very recently.

[TheOtherStu]

On 5/26/2023 at 5:25 PM, Supernaut said:

Nope.

His was an earlier one. A Sonnet II with the 3-pot 2-stroke engine.

I once had a passenger ride in a Sonnet III as above though, with the Ford-sourced V4. It was at Grampian Transport Museum up in Alford, Aberdeenshire.

That's it. I know more about the Sonnet II.

[vulgalour]

I was fortunate enough to see one in the wild on the motorway a few years ago.  I had a bit of a job describing it to anyone, especially given how tiny they are.  Quite unlike anything out there.

[quicksilver]

I think I've found @Mrs6C's dream car.

Dongfeng E15. The perfect combination of ZX and C15 nailed together in Shiyan.

And there's another version that looks like a tribute to the 2CV vans.

 

 

[bunglebus]

Electra King

[somewhatfoolish]

I prefer this version.

[lesapandre]

2012 Honda Crosstour.

[bunglebus]

Saw this today. It's an ugly little spud

[TheOtherStu]

15 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Saw this today. It's an ugly little spud

Very odd from the back. They look great from the front though. At least they're trying to do something a bit different rather than all the EV chocolate boxes with strange grills.

[MiniMinorMk3]

Looks like a Toyota bZ4X clone

[LightBulbFun]

On 31/05/2023 at 17:27, bunglebus said:

Electra King

4 years ago is not very recently! LOL  

[martc]

Wartburg 311 Schnelltransporter (Express Transporter); 4,938 were made between 1961 and 65.

[MiniMinorMk3]

Based on the AMi, the new Fiat Topolover Topolino. As it has rope doors is this for VIPs only?

Retro Fiat Topolino EV to take on the Citroën Ami | GRR (goodwood.com)

[RoverFolkUs]

Today I learnt that there was a further facelifted Citroen Xsara Picasso in South America! 

[quicksilver]

Stumbled across this on Citroenet: the ID19 Cortège hearse, made in Slough. Nice.

Looks a fairly easy conversion from one of the many tatty Husky DS Safaris I've accumulated.

[martc]

The 1956 Inter 175A Autoscooter Berline (an open top Torpedo model was also available). 300 were made between 1954-58 in France by SNCAN an aeronautics manufacturer. It has a 175cc single cylinder 3 speed engine. It is estimated that 30 still exist, not a bad survival rate.

 

[Wack]

The £33k Ford Toyota RS200 something

I think it's a Toyota with ford bits on but I'm not really sure , it does however seem quite expensive for an old Toyota

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/266843055819900/

[DavieW]

I had a viewing of a private collection yesterday and one of the cars on display was a Vauxhall Viva HB Brabham estate. I've seen saloon Brabham before but never an estate.

[EyesWeldedShut]

Austin Apache - S.African thingy that looks (to me) like Dolomite or Toledo meets Allegro. 

[sheffcortinacentre]

Also sold In Spain I believe.

[adw1977]

13 minutes ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

Austin Apache - S.African thingy that looks (to me) like Dolomite or Toledo meets Allegro. 

It's based on the ADO16 1100.

[EyesWeldedShut]

8 minutes ago, adw1977 said:

It's based on the ADO16 1100.

I fell over it reading an old article on the ADO16 - led me to https://www.mginfo.co.uk/leyland/?q=node/27 
The view below could almost be a dead ringer for the N reg Triumph 2000 that I got to punt around as a teenager (not ours - my dad had a Toledo 1300  )

[quicksilver]

I'm sure Sam Glover owned that very car and had it for sale on here a few years ago. I've seen it in the flesh a couple of times and it's a handsome thing.

[Metal Guru]

3 hours ago, adw1977 said:

It's based on the ADO16 1100.

That looks like BL had a clear out of their warehouses and made up a car out of all the left overs.

[MiniMinorMk3]

14 hours ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

Austin Apache - S.African thingy that looks (to me) like Dolomite or Toledo meets Allegro. 

This started life as a proposed facelift  for the ADO16 range, but was rejected by British Leyland.

The South African Leyland arm thought it was good to go and put it in to production.

The Spanish Authi company took the body shell and made the Authi Victoria. Eventually this car was renamed the Austin Victoria.

 

Would this have been more of a success than the Allegro? Well it definitely looks better, but is very much like the Triumphs of teh day and would have confused the buying public no end.

[EyesWeldedShut]

25 minutes ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

This started life as a proposed facelift  for the ADO16 range, but was rejected by British Leyland.

The South African Leyland arm thought it was good to go and put it in to production.

The Spanish Authi company took the body shell and made the Authi Victoria. Eventually this car was renamed the Austin Victoria.

 

Would this have been more of a success than the Allegro? Well it definitely looks better, but is very much like the Triumphs of teh day and would have confused the buying public no end.

As a youngster I had enough trouble with Triumph Toledo/Dolomite/1300/1500 distinction without these poodling around too  
The shot of the red one seems (to my eye) to have more of the ADO16 about it - maybe because there's more of the doors/sills visible?

[bunglebus]

Renault Initiale

[christian6984]

10 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Renault Initiale

That's an Espace or Grand Espace, No longer sold in the UK, along with the Non Electric Megane (+RS +Estate), Twingo, Twizy and Kangoo MPV that you cant get here but can in France.  

[AnthonyG]

I only noticed the otherwise very bland Micra K13 had two weird semi circles pressed into the roof panel when one parked next to me recently -  I can’t find an easily shareable pic, but this short test write-up discusses it: https://business.cap.co.uk/driving-impressions/nissan-micra-tekna

[AnthonyG]

Oh my, looking for a bit more info on the roof design and found this delightful* facelift for the lucky Nissan fans in Mexico and Latin America - 

 

Hmm. Not sure that’s a completely coherent piece of design 😄!

[MiniMinorMk3]

Mitsubishi Leo