Cars you didn't know existed until very recently.

[Leyland Worldmaster]

Hino Carz, innit:

https://driventowrite.com/2024/11/18/book-of-the-dead-hino/#more-118876

[bunglebus]

VW Pingo from Paraguay. Much want

[Verysleepyboy]

10 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

VW Pingo from Paraguay. Much want

Looks a lot like a very mildly updated* Type 181/2 Trekker / Thing / Safari

Never knew about the Pingo model name though!

[bunglebus]

1 hour ago, Verysleepyboy said:

Looks a lot like a very mildly updated* Type 181/2 Trekker / Thing / Safari

Never knew about the Pingo model name though!

Two door body in fibreglass though. Don't think many were built but I'd like to roll into VW Action in one!

[Verysleepyboy]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

Two door body in fibreglass though. Don't think many were built but I'd like to roll into VW Action in one!

Was it an official VW offering? 

[Verysleepyboy]

A bit of research on The Samba:

Ever heard of the "VW Pingo", a 2-door fiberglass Thing knockoff from Uruguay?

http://eduardoascaniovwtenerife.blogspot.com/2013/04/volkswagen-pingo.html

Although the page is in Spanish it's basically about how the car was developed to compete with the Citroen Mehari. The body was made in Uruguay, and the drivetrain and chassis were adapted from a Brazilian VW Beetle. Apparently only 12 were made

[Volksy]

This odd thing was sat on a property I stayed on in the Mojave Desert last week. 

My mate who I was travelling with was completely smitten with it. Apparently it was built by OTIS (who principally manufacture Lifts and Escalators). They made around 40 of them for the US Postal Service and NASA apparently. 

It's quite an over engineered bit of kit. It has a mid mounted 30hp electric motor with a prop to drive the rear axle. I think given the proximity to the Edwards Air Force Base it may have originally been stationed there. 

Our host had gone off for the day, so didn't get change to ask about where it came from, or his intentions with it. 

The site had a fair bit of old rammel knocking around the place, including this, which I think may be a Lloyd? Although the grill which is propped against it looks like it's off a Morris Minor?? Any ideas?

 

 

 

[bunglebus]

Definitely an early Minor grille, car looks like a Crosley to me

 

[Volksy]

Think you're correct there! 
It really was tiny, and in pretty poor shape. 

[bunglebus]

This is an Omoda 5. No, me either, and it looks just like everything else 

https://omodaauto.co.uk/omoda-5/

[Verysleepyboy]

On 27/11/2024 at 12:42, bunglebus said:

Two door body in fibreglass though. Don't think many were built but I'd like to roll into VW Action in one!

Spotted this on Faceache today:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/VWThingsOnly/permalink/8466259500169457/

 

[bunglebus]

6 minutes ago, Verysleepyboy said:

Spotted this on Faceache today:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/VWThingsOnly/permalink/8466259500169457/

 

I saw that too! Well at least it won't be rusty 

[MiniMinorMk3]

On 27/11/2024 at 11:16, bunglebus said:

VW Pingo from Paraguay. Much want

 

 

 

 

In a similar vein, here's the BMC Chiliean built fibreglass bodied Mini. Around 180 wee built in 1965.

[Metal Guru]

On 27/11/2024 at 15:03, bunglebus said:

Definitely an early Minor grille, car looks like a Crosley to me

 

Looks really really pleased with itself.

[Verysleepyboy]

18 hours ago, bunglebus said:

I saw that too! Well at least it won't be rusty 

Apart from the floor pans, heater channels, frame head, gearbox mounts........

[Dyslexic Viking]

Skoda ST180 tractor

[catsinthewelder]

In a similar vein, my friend sent me these pictures of a Volvo tractor today.

 

[Tayne]

9 hours ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

Skoda ST180 tractor

I think Skoda made everything at one point, there are Skoda trains in the Bratislava transport museum.

[bunglebus]

Voll converted Opels for postal service use

[GeordieInExile]

3 hours ago, Tayne said:

I think Skoda made everything at one point, there are Skoda trains in the Bratislava transport museum.

The metro trains in Prague are all Skoda.

[Yoss]

5 hours ago, Tayne said:

I think Skoda made everything at one point, there are Skoda trains in the Bratislava transport museum.

Almost all electric trains in Czech and Slovakia are still Škoda apart from a few modern locos that are Siemens (they get everywhere). But the old diesel trains were mostly CKD which were part of Tatra. Likewise, the buses, including trolleybuses were Škoda and the trams were Tatra. Basically they built what the government told them to build. 

Until the end of communism where it became a free for all which Škoda ultimately won. They now make a lot of trams too. The Slovakians though, have built their own diesel units quite recently, that are unique to Slovakia which is quite rare in todays multi national world where most of the trains in Europe are now built by just three companies. Much like the car industry really. 

[GeordieInExile]

The irony being that quite a lot of those cars are now made in Slovakia!

[Remspoor]

УАЗ  (UAZ) 3128 Астеро

[martc]

Phun phact - the  hub of the London Eye (or whatever it is called nowadays) was cast by Skoda (https://thebritishchef.weebly.com/london-travel-tips/london-eye)

'Skoda' was a very diverse company and made many products - gun barrels, anchors, cars, buses, lorries, trams, locomotives etc. During communism the factories became independent from each other but the name was continued, this has continued today; Skoda cars have no connection to the heavy engineering Skoda, nor the public transport system Skoda.

In the UK we have a similar situation with Rolls Royce cars and jet engines/atomkraft.

[martc]

The 2.5hp Rytecraft Scootacar in London, 1936. Is that a Chrysler on the right?

[MiniMinorMk3]

1 hour ago, martc said:

The 2.5hp Rytecraft Scootacar in London, 1936. Is that a Chrysler on the right?

Yes, it's a 1935 Airstream.

[ChinaTom]

I have had Škoda turbines and machine-shop equipment - some of the turbines were not that old. Old Chinese factories have them and love them.

[Pieman]

Until today I didn't know that the Suzuki SX4 was also sold as the Fiat Sedici, until I found out that @Markeh owns/owned one when he mentioned it in the Google Earth thread.

[Leyland Worldmaster]

On 28/11/2024 at 17:13, MiniMinorMk3 said:

In a similar vein, here's the BMC Chiliean built fibreglass bodied Mini. Around 180 wee built in 1965.

More about that fascinating project here; it's quite the read:

 

https://www.aronline.co.uk/cars/bmc/1100-1300/11001300-international-variations/bmc-11001300-chilean-variations/

[jonathan_dyane]

Should have made them all out of plastic