Cars you didn't know existed until very recently.

[martc]

On 30/10/2023 at 18:57, inconsistant said:

Yeah, not much good for tip runs or collecting the Christmas tree. 

May I humbly suggest that the gap between the seats makes it ideal for christmas tree collection....

[Captain Mainwaring]

Buick Reatta, introduced 1988. 3.8 V6, front drive. Great looking thing I think, sort of like a bloated X1/9.  Featuring a (by all accounts, very responsive) touch screen integrated into the dashboard, got to be among the first cars to have one?

[Metal Guru]

1 hour ago, Captain Mainwaring said:

Buick Reatta, introduced 1988. 3.8 V6, front drive. Great looking thing I think, sort of like a bloated X1/9.  Featuring a (by all accounts, very responsive) touch screen integrated into the dashboard, got to be among the first cars to have one?

5 litre US engines of that time made about 200bhp if you were lucky, so that’s probably got 130?

[Captain Mainwaring]

165-170, apparently...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buick_Reatta

[High Jetter]

6 hours ago, Captain Mainwaring said:

Buick Reatta, introduced 1988. 3.8 V6, front drive. Great looking thing I think, sort of like a bloated X1/9.  Featuring a (by all accounts, very responsive) touch screen integrated into the dashboard, got to be among the first cars to have one?

Reminds me of the Reliant SS1

[Captain Mainwaring]

Not quite as awkward looking, but yes, I see what you're getting at!

[lesapandre]

Designed by Dave McIntosh at GM. Here he is discussing it.

 

[TheOtherStu]

Toyota Will. Based on a Yaris apparently. Proper odd thing.

What's more odd is that I saw this for the very first time on Friday (Facebook Marketplace suggestion) and then on Sunday, I saw a pink one in the flesh, parked outside someone's house!

How weird is that?

[vulgalour]

I had no idea (or had forgotten) that this generation of Civic was available in wagon form.  I now want a Triumph Acclaim estate.

[LightBulbFun]

On 02/11/2023 at 14:46, Captain Mainwaring said:

Buick Reatta, introduced 1988. 3.8 V6, front drive. Great looking thing I think, sort of like a bloated X1/9.  Featuring a (by all accounts, very responsive) touch screen integrated into the dashboard, got to be among the first cars to have one?

I have a good friend who had one of these, 

 

indeed touch screen CRT, I mean he was like I a massive computer nerd, so that was pretty much the reason he bought the car  

and it was full of sensors and other gizmos, *everything* was electronically monitored and controlled, and I remember it made it a PITA to convert from R12 to R134a, and another thing is they have some sort of Citroen type accumulator sphere thats part of the breaking system, and this particular one is shared with some Jag's so its £LOL

 

I am touch hazy on the fine details tho, as he had his, from before I was on the forum, so some years back, and I was only just getting into cars so to speak!

 

I think some electrical maladies  finally got the better of it in the end from what I can recall, (although I do thankfully think it survives with a friend of his, been a while since I checked in on it however) but he replaced it with a mint 1997 Lincoln Town Car, (he specifically wanted one of the last square body ones) which he is still using daily  

[bunglebus]

[bunglebus]

Mia Electric

[face]

On 16/08/2023 at 20:17, catsinthewelder said:

Sounds like one of General Melchett's Cambridge mates.

[Kingofdnb]

On 07/11/2023 at 07:58, bunglebus said:

Mia Electric

A bloke on YouTube did a video on this beast and Ive always wanted one, never knew they where over here. The seating arrangement is what got me.

 

[martc]

OK, I'll be honest, I knew about the existance of this but some of our veiwers may not...

It's the Pyongyang 4.10 hailing from North Korea. Back in 1987, Kim Il Sung had declared that his nation would develop their own automotive industry and this was the first product. Not much is known of the Pyongyang 4.10, as its existence wasn’t made public until being photographed by a pair of Chinese tourists in 1989. If this isn’t just a rebadged Mercedes 190, then it must be reversed engineered from one. 

At least two 190's existed in North Korea at the time...

The orange 4.10 above could have been one of these repainted and with a homemade grille.

[martc]

Right this one is new to me -

An Oltena 12 CS, seen in Syria. Oltena was the private company which took on  Oltcit after the overo of the communists.  The CS12, it may have also been called the 'Cargo', was the pick up version of the Visa based Club. The pick ups are rare in Romania but very popular in Syria, I think the load area covers were locally made.

Here's some more -

And the pick-up

https://citroengs.netstranky.cz/technika-z-gs-gsa/citroen-axel-oltcit.html

[SunnySouth]

26 minutes ago, martc said:

OK, I'll be honest, I knew about the existance of this but some of our veiwers may not...

It's the Pyongyang 4.10 hailing from North Korea. Back in 1987, Kim Il Sung had declared that his nation would develop their own automotive industry and this was the first product. Not much is known of the Pyongyang 4.10, as its existence wasn’t made public until being photographed by a pair of Chinese tourists in 1989. If this isn’t just a rebadged Mercedes 190, then it must be reversed engineered from one. 

At least two 190's existed in North Korea at the time...

The orange 4.10 above could have been one of these repainted and with a homemade grille.

Definitely a 190 surely?! It looks more Mercedes than a Mercedes thing. I wonder, would the population of N Korea have had any way of knowing what a 190 was? Could it have been a case of just importing them and then telling blatant porky pies that they were manufactured locally?

**The informative, if slightly niche, chinesecars.net offers this:

PYONGYANG 4.10, also named KAENGSAENG 88

Made in 1987- 1988. Based on the German Mercedes Benz W201. Name Kaengsaeng translated as Self Reliance. 4.10 was named after a declaration of Kim Il Sung on April 10 1987, that when South Korea was making cars, North Korea could do the same. Made by the Pyongsang Auto Works, Pyongsang. 4-door car, 4-cylinder petrol engine. Only a couple of prototypes made.

 

https://www.chinesecars.net/content/pyongyang-410-also-named-kaengsaeng-88

 

[SunnySouth]

11 minutes ago, SunnySouth said:

Definitely a 190 surely?! It looks more Mercedes than a Mercedes thing. I wonder, would the population of N Korea have had any way of knowing what a 190 was? Could it have been a case of just importing them and then telling blatant porky pies that they were manufactured locally?

**The informative, if slightly niche, chinesecars.net offers this:

PYONGYANG 4.10, also named KAENGSAENG 88

Made in 1987- 1988. Based on the German Mercedes Benz W201. Name Kaengsaeng translated as Self Reliance. 4.10 was named after a declaration of Kim Il Sung on April 10 1987, that when South Korea was making cars, North Korea could do the same. Made by the Pyongsang Auto Works, Pyongsang. 4-door car, 4-cylinder petrol engine. Only a couple of prototypes made.

 

https://www.chinesecars.net/content/pyongyang-410-also-named-kaengsaeng-88

 

Aaaaand I’ve fallen down the chinesecars.net rabbithole; ooops.

Have a Lifan 320, which purely by coincidence just happens to look ever so slightly like a [popular european supermini], and according to the above website’s Crash Tests page achieved an impressively appalling “ZERO STAR” when tested by someone pretending to be Ncap. Order yours now!! 😬

https://www.chinesecars.net/content/lifan-320

[bunglebus]

Fisker Ocean, appearing in a Lidl car park near you soon

 

[bunglebus]

13 hours ago, martc said:

 North Korea

I found out yesterday NK ordered a load of Volvos and other equipment from Sweden then forgot to pay. Sweden sends them a revised bill every year

https://www.ndtv.com/offbeat/north-korea-ordered-1-000-volvo-cars-from-sweden-and-never-paid-read-the-viral-story-4561242

[quicksilver]

14 hours ago, martc said:

OK, I'll be honest, I knew about the existance of this but some of our veiwers may not...

It's the Pyongyang 4.10 hailing from North Korea. Back in 1987, Kim Il Sung had declared that his nation would develop their own automotive industry and this was the first product. Not much is known of the Pyongyang 4.10, as its existence wasn’t made public until being photographed by a pair of Chinese tourists in 1989. If this isn’t just a rebadged Mercedes 190, then it must be reversed engineered from one. 

At least two 190's existed in North Korea at the time...

The orange 4.10 above could have been one of these repainted and with a homemade grille.

And before the Kaengsaeng came the Paektusan in the late 1970s. Like everything in North Korea it's still very enigmatic but it seems a handful were built.

https://chinacarhistory.com/2022/06/12/there-was-a-small-production-of-the-north-korean-sungri-paektusan/

Be warned; that site is a rabbit hole and 99% of the stuff on it will be cars you didn't know existed.

[horriblemercedes]

14 hours ago, SunnySouth said:

Aaaaand I’ve fallen down the chinesecars.net rabbithole; ooops.

Have a Lifan 320, which purely by coincidence just happens to look ever so slightly like a [popular european supermini], and according to the above website’s Crash Tests page achieved an impressively appalling “ZERO STAR” when tested by someone pretending to be Ncap. Order yours now!! 😬

https://www.chinesecars.net/content/lifan-320

To be fair, I think a lot of people will know of that one because it was featured on Top Gear! 

[Remspoor]

9 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Fisker Ocean, appearing in a Lidl car park near you soon

 

Loads of reviews on YT more social media pushing.

[Garythesnail]

On 07/11/2023 at 07:58, bunglebus said:

Mia Electric

My dumb brain didn't immediately think 'sliding door', just went straight for 'variable wheelbase'

[Captain Mainwaring]

From the back this looks like the love child of a Visa and a classic Rangie...

[martc]

The GAZ GL1 from 1938 which broke several Soviet speed records.

Lots of info here -https://dyler.com/blog/453/the-gaz-gl-1-a-soviet-speed-record-holder

 

[MiniMinorMk3]

Neckar (NSU/Fiat) Weinsberg 500 Coupe

Limousette version

 

[lesapandre]

Lancaster Sprite - a new small Lanchester - some prototypes were built and run in the mid-1950s. Even went as far as printing brochures, owners handbooks and an announcement at the Motor Show - but project scrapped and the cars too in 1957 - and with it the Lanchester name. One known to survive.

A sad little footnote to a once illustrious marque - and now very dormant indeed. Currently owned by Tata through JLR.

[MiniMinorMk3]

Fiat Panda 4x4 Strip by Italdesign.

[artdjones]

6 hours ago, lesapandre said:

Lancaster Sprite - a new small Lanchester - some prototypes were built and run in the mid-1950s. Even went as far as printing brochures and an announcement at the Motor Show - but project scrapped and the cars too in 1957 - and with it the Lanchester name. A few known to survive.

A sad footnote to a once illustrious marque - and now very dormant indeed. Currently owned by Tata through JLR.

Probably just as well it didn't go ahead. They started with completely unconventional cars designed by a genius and ended with cheap Daimlers, which were as boring and conventional as it was possible for them to be.