Cars you didn't know existed until very recently.

[artdjones]

12 hours ago, D.E said:

The red one is a Canta. This is an older model and no longer in production, but they're still a common sight and the drivers of them continue to cause idiotic news headlines such as "Canta driver crashes, claims she didn't see parked lorry", "Canta driver gets spooked by other traffic, drives into canal", "86 year old Canta owner gets lost in park, ends up in pond", "Canta got stuck on rails", "Canta fell over after crash with scooter", etc.

 

The car for Dignitas devotees everywhere.

[somewhatfoolish]

20 hours ago, bunglebus said:

I'd need to rearrange the letters so it was an Eco Elon, or maybe an Eco Elmo if I bought extra letters.

[DavieW]

On 19/10/2024 at 19:35, Tayne said:

Bolwell Nagari mk8.

Australian coupe with a Ford V8 made between 1970 and 1974, killed off when car manufacturers were required to crash test their cars and "comply with regulations".

Bolweel carried in working with fibreglass and attempted to bring the car back in the noughties.

I'm liking the convertible. 

[MiniMinorMk3]

Skoda 110 Super Sport

Škoda 110 Super Sport - Wikipedia

 

Turned into Ferat the Vampire

Upír z Feratu (1982) - IMDb

[Datsuncog]

This weird little retro bug, parked outside a neighbour's house the other night.

A Microlino, apparently.

https://microlino-car.com/en-ch/microlino

They've actually done quite a good job of retaining most of the Isetta styling cues.

[Missy Charm]

On 13/10/2024 at 19:44, martc said:

They were designed at a similar time, I thought it had the look of a VW Variant about it.

Phun Phact, Vignale was taken over by Ghia, but ran as a separate concern until the two were bought out by Ford in the '70's when they dropped the Vignale name using the well known Ghia monicker. Until now when Vignale is hammered onto the boot of your top spec Ford and Ghia is no more. Strange world.

Thanks, didn't know that about Vignale.  I do seem to remember, however, that Ford's purchase of the Ghia name and trademarks was made under rather odd circumstances - the agreement was something along the lines of Alejandro De Tomaso signing Ghia over in exchange for a supply of Ford engines for the Mangusta and what followed.  One assumes, given the gravitas the new owner were able to bestow the Ghia name and the subsequent sales generated, that the Blue Oval did better out of the deal.  

On the subject of De Tomaso, did you know that his name was stuck on various special editions of the Daihatsu Charade?  Me neither, but it was:

[MiniMinorMk3]

2 hours ago, Missy Charm said:

Thanks, didn't know that about Vignale.  I do seem to remember, however, that Ford's purchase of the Ghia name and trademarks was made under rather odd circumstances - the agreement was something along the lines of Alejandro De Tomaso signing Ghia over in exchange for a supply of Ford engines for the Mangusta and what followed.  One assumes, given the gravitas the new owner were able to bestow the Ghia name and the subsequent sales generated, that the Blue Oval did better out of the deal.  

On the subject of De Tomaso, did you know that his name was stuck on various special editions of the Daihatsu Charade?  Me neither, but it was:

In April 1982 BL stopped supplying engines to Innocenti. They where then supplied by Daihatsu instead. At the same time the Mini's original rubber suspension was changed to a more conventional layout with MacPherson struts in the front and an independent, rear suspension with lower wishbones and a transverse single-leaf spring. To indicate the new engines, the cars were renamed Innocenti Tre Cilindri,

The hot version was the Innocenti Mini De Tomaso Turbo 

[Remspoor]

5 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

This weird little retro bug, parked outside a neighbour's house the other night.

A Microlino, apparently.

https://microlino-car.com/en-ch/microlino

They've actually done quite a good job of retaining most of the Isetta styling cues.

As previously reported on here.

An American who has a drive of one.

 

[Austat]

Mazda Verisa:

[Austat]

I saw this the other day, yet another offering from Toyo Kogyo, a Mazda Millenia (1998-2002) :

[Austat]

Citroën Dyna M, built in Spain:

[Austat]

1971 NSU Ro80 2+2 by Pininfarina:

[Austat]

1952 Lancia Aurelia B52 Vignale Coupé:

[somewhatfoolish]

18 hours ago, Austat said:

Citroën Dyna M, built in Spain:

That's a neat little thing, a better effort than the Bijou at an A series coupe.

[rmjbn1]

On 03/11/2024 at 11:11, Datsuncog said:

This weird little retro bug, parked outside a neighbour's house the other night.

A Microlino, apparently.

https://microlino-car.com/en-ch/microlino

They've actually done quite a good job of retaining most of the Isetta styling cues.

Yay Microlinos in the UK! I hope millions rush out and buy them so that they're worthless in about 15 years time (my usual strategy for getting any car I like)

[Datsuncog]

Somebody must have really wanted a Microlino - this one's in South East Antrim in Northern Ireland, and the nearest dealership is apparently in Manchester.

I kinda like them too - would be pretty suitable for nearly all of my driving...

[rmjbn1]

Same here! Would be ideal for bouncing around the lanes (although an extra 10mph would help, on top of the 56mph/90kph limit on heavy quadricycles). I secretly like microcars. And this is one that finally feels like it's not just urban transport but might actually be fun to drive:)

[quicksilver]

8 hours ago, somewhatfoolish said:

That's a neat little thing, a better effort than the Bijou at an A series coupe.

It looks like a miniature Maserati Mistral. Not a Frua design though, but by some Spanish guy called Pedro Serra.

[Remspoor]

Searching this thread I have found, to my surprise, that Simca produced or were used as a base for many coupes.

The Simca 1200S (Chrono)

The Story is that  was to have Facel produce the bodies, but in the judgement of Henri Pigozzi, the proposal lacked the necessary style and was considered unrealistic: there were also concerns that Facel parlous financial position might impact the project adversely. Simca then turned to Bertone and commissioned a coupe version of their new car. Bertone gave the job to a recently recruited young designer Giorgetto Giugiaro. Customer deliveries began in 1963. Simca presented the Coupe 1000 as a separate model.

In 1967, Simca done some changes to the coupe, both mechanically and aesthetically. The bonnet grilles were reminiscent of the Lamborghini Miura and it has a 1204 cc 80 bhp engine that powers the car to 175 km/h (109MPH)

Other examples of Simca coupes  in this thread.

 

[Spottedlaurel]

I had the pleasure of seeing one of those 1000/1200 coupes in France last year, very attractive.

 

 

[Pieman]

On 01/11/2024 at 16:55, MiniMinorMk3 said:

Turned into Ferat the Vampire

Upír z Feratu (1982) - IMDb

If you put nitrous oxide on that, would it be known as a NOSFeratu?

[sheffcortinacentre]

8 hours ago, Remspoor said:

Searching this thread I have found, to my surprise, that Simca produced or were used as a base for many coupes.

The Simca 1200S (Chrono)

The Story is that  was to have Facel produce the bodies, but in the judgement of Henri Pigozzi, the proposal lacked the necessary style and was considered unrealistic: there were also concerns that Facel parlous financial position might impact the project adversely. Simca then turned to Bertone and commissioned a coupe version of their new car. Bertone gave the job to a recently recruited young designer Giorgetto Giugiaro. Customer deliveries began in 1963. Simca presented the Coupe 1000 as a separate model.

In 1967, Simca done some changes to the coupe, both mechanically and aesthetically. The bonnet grilles were reminiscent of the Lamborghini Miura and it has a 1204 cc 80 bhp engine that powers the car to 175 km/h (109MPH)

Other examples of Simca coupes  in this thread.

 

You need to talk to simca Mick.

[martc]

Dacias.

The Dacia 1325 Liberta an update on the 1320 (below) another one new to me.

These were supposed to appeal to d'youth with their more modern shape, but they were more expensive than the familiar Renault 11 based 1310 and didn't sell very well. The red one is from 1995.

And here's the Dacia 2000

A rebadged Renault 20 TS sold only to higher officials in communist Romania. It was only available in blue or black (the foxed one has been resprayed). The 2000 came complete with a Renault badge on the steering wheel and behind the Dacia badge on the grille.

[martc]

The LuAz-Proto prototype, USSR, 1989. Of all the soviet cars I think this one is actually on trend for the late '80's.

[MiniMinorMk3]

Jaguar XK150 Zagato

[MiniMinorMk3]

Fiat 600D Vignale

[MiniMinorMk3]

Zunder 1500

[MiniMinorMk3]

[somewhatfoolish]

On 19/11/2024 at 17:59, MiniMinorMk3 said:

Zunder 1500

If it was licence built in the USSR would it have been a Gazunder? 😁

[High Jetter]

Did they get Rolf Harris to publicise them? 😁