Cars you didn't know existed until very recently.

[Austat]

1974 Paykan-Hillman Hunter one-off designed by Michelotti.

[Austat]

1959 Alfa Romeo 2000 Gran Luce by Bertone.

1960 Alfa Romeo 2000 Praho.

1960 Alfa Romeo 2000 Berlina/2000 JK:

These were also built in Brazil as the FNM 2150.

[Austat]

1967 Ghia 450 SS Convertible. 52 built, fitted with a 4.5L Plymouth Barracuda V8. 

[Austat]

Fiat 128 Moretti Roadster:

[Austat]

1970 Fiat 850 Shellette by Michelotti.

[Austat]

MG EX234 Prototype, styled by Pininfarina.

[Austat]

1958 Lancia Flaminia Sport Zagato Series 1.

[MiniMinorMk3]

5 hours ago, Austat said:

1974 Paykan-Hillman Hunter one-off designed by Michelotti.

 

 

Shades of Renner 17.

[Missy Charm]

Toyota Highlander.  Had no idea what one was until this afternoon and not, ordinarily, the sort of car I'd look twice at but the Highlander is something of an attention-grabber.  Why?  Because it's enormous.  I mean really, really big.  Big enough for Royal Caribbean to consider buying one and calling her 'Princess of the Universe' or, being serious, only a few inches shorter and about as wide as the current Cadillac Escalade.  The one I saw was having difficulty getting out of a railway station car park - to be expected as the car is quite obviously too big for British roads.  

Otherwise, it just looked like the usual, useless fake SUV thing that is also good for the environment because 'hybrid'.  

[Supernaut]

Oh. I didn't realise the Highlander was available in the UK.

It does seem a bit pointless.

[adw1977]

On 01/02/2024 at 10:53, EyesWeldedShut said:

There's a memoir by a guy called Alex Lochrie (Scots guy who buggered off to the French Foreign Legion in his thirties or so) in which he ends up punting one of those around Sarajevo. (The book itself is not that bad - much better than a lot of the BravoTwoZero wannabe blood and guts bollox, Freebie Kindle version pops up now and then).

I think* he calls it a Renault in the book - not sure - he's got a picture in there but, seeing as I had a Kindle version, no good. So I nicked the image below from 

https://pbase.com/zidar/sarajevo&page=all

Panhard! I thought that name was long gone, but according to Wikipedia they did continue to make armoured vehicles until 2018 and they were indeed owned by Renault in their final years.

[EyesWeldedShut]

47 minutes ago, Missy Charm said:

Toyota Highlander.  Had no idea what one was until this afternoon and not, ordinarily, the sort of car I'd look twice at but the Highlander is something of an attention-grabber.  Why?  Because it's enormous.  I mean really, really big.  Big enough for Royal Caribbean to consider buying one and calling her 'Princess of the Universe' or, being serious, only a few inches shorter and about as wide as the current Cadillac Escalade.  The one I saw was having difficulty getting out of a railway station car park - to be expected as the car is quite obviously too big for British roads.  

Otherwise, it just looked like the usual, useless fake SUV thing that is also good for the environment because 'hybrid'.  

Just Googled the dimensions and it's only about 4" narrower than my horsebox (both excl wing mirrors) - for a 'car' that's rather silly.

[EyesWeldedShut]

This popped on on my eBay ShiteFeed  - nurse rarely lets me out but, even so, I have never seen one of these in the flesh (nor did I know they existed)

[artdjones]

1 hour ago, adw1977 said:

Panhard! I thought that name was long gone, but according to Wikipedia they did continue to make armoured vehicles until 2018 and they were indeed owned by Renault in their final years.

Sort of the equivalent of Alvis, they stopped making cars in 1967, but kept on making military vehicles for many years.

[lesapandre]

14 hours ago, Austat said:

1959 Alfa Romeo 2000 Gran Luce by Bertone.

1960 Alfa Romeo 2000 Praho.

1960 Alfa Romeo 2000 Berlina/2000 JK:

These were also built in Brazil as the FNM 2150.

Looks like they 'borrowed' the BMC Farina windscreen silhouette...

[martc]

2 hours ago, adw1977 said:

Panhard! I thought that name was long gone, but according to Wikipedia they did continue to make armoured vehicles until 2018 and they were indeed owned by Renault in their final years.

Panhard merged with Renault Trucks Defence in 2012 they renamed the operation 'Arquus' in 2018. The Panhard factory in Marolles en Hurepoix was originally owned by Peugeot and produced the P4 as mentioned above. Panhard moved there in 1985  from their old factory at Porte d'Ivry and took on the production of the remaining P4's on order. They currently make the PVP (Petit Véhicule Protégé), below, and turrets and running gear for other Arquus products.

https://www.arquus-defense.com/arquus-marolles

The other former Panhard factory at Saint-Germain Laval is now run by Jogam a sub-contractor for Arquus bending metal, welding, shot blasting and assembling components.

https://www.jogam.fr/jogam-set-mecano-soudure-grenaillage/

[Remspoor]

16 hours ago, Austat said:

1974 Paykan-Hillman Hunter one-off designed by Michelotti.

 

[quicksilver]

2 hours ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

This popped on on my eBay ShiteFeed  - nurse rarely lets me out but, even so, I have never seen one of these in the flesh (nor did I know they existed)

My old boss had one of these. That spoiler is actually a pair of roof bars - it splits into two and slides forwards. Pretty neat.

[quicksilver]

15 hours ago, Austat said:

1967 Ghia 450 SS Convertible. 52 built, fitted with a 4.5L Plymouth Barracuda V8. 

Did anyone at Toyota ever look at this? I see definite Gen 1 Celica vibes in that front end.

[wesacosa]

https://www.carandclassic.com/auctions/1972-iso-rivolta-lele-n912Rn

ISO Revolta

check out the interior 

[TataBobu]

On 01/01/2024 at 18:33, sdkrc said:

 

Do you like Lancia Delta Integrales?

Do you like Jimnys? 

Why not both...

I absolutely love it! Even more than the Suzuki Lapin with a Renault 4 body kit.

On 03/01/2024 at 17:19, martc said:

And why isn't it? Well, Malaga sounds very much like 'malaka' which is a rude word in Greek. Like other SEAT names Gredos is geographical - a mountain range in central Spain.

The rude Greek word, don't look if easily offended.

  Hide contents

Thought you'd look - it's dumbass.

 

 

On 05/01/2024 at 21:20, Timewaster said:

A guy I know has a Greek cousin and calls him "Malaka".

 

He told us it meant wanker.

Pedant mode engaged: yes, in a Greek dictionary you'll find it as the correct translation for wanker. But as the term "wanker" evolved to mean any type of wanker, not just the one who's playing with his private parts, so did "malaka".

[MiniMinorMk3]

Everyone's heard of the High and dry Pony, well what about the DAF Pony.

It was a small pick up truck made from 1968 to 1969.

Here's one being used as a fire truck.

[Metal Guru]

On 03/02/2024 at 04:57, Austat said:

1970 Fiat 850 Shellette by Michelotti.

That “roof” is not going to survive any speed at all. Is it merely a sun shade?

[egg]

Buick Envista. Stop yawning at the back. Entry level Buick, they only make crossovers/SUVs these days.

[adw1977]

Apparently Buick have a tiny share of the US market now, but are popular in China!

[martc]

16 hours ago, adw1977 said:

Apparently Buick have a tiny share of the US market now, but are popular in China!

It's down to our friends at SAIC, not only are they in bed with VW and makers of MG and Maxus bolides they also have a joint venture with GM, these models being sold as Buicks, Chevrolets or Cadillacs.

Looking at their website there's some very modern ones and ones that look very vauxhallish from when they were part of GM...

https://www.gm.com.cn/en/home/brands.html

[adw1977]

The white one looks very like an Insignia.

[quicksilver]

We all know the Morris Marina pickup exists...

...but this isn't one of them. It's an Austin 10cwt Deluxe.

I knew about the Austin/Morris Minors and A60s but was under the impression their Marina-based replacements were only Morrises from the start. Turns out that prior to the Ryder Report the Austin dealers had their own versions of the Marina commercials before common sense prevailed and the two franchises were combined.

[MrGTI6]

I remember seeing a Buick-badged Mokka in the states a few years ago. 

 

A quick Google shows that the face-lifted Mokka X got the Buick treatment as well. 

 

Or how about a Saturn Astra? 

[egg]

^ you know how people 'convert' their Vauxhalls to Opels - coolest car in McDonalds would be a Saturn badge change!