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Cars you didn't know existed until very recently.


philibusmo

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1910 Fiat S76. Fiat decided they wanted to get the land speed record off Mercedes. So, obviously, they built a 28.4 litre 4 cylinder engine and loosely assembled some bodywork around it. Here it is on a top speed run in Belgium in 1913:

This was apparently their third attempt after their two previous goes ended up with the drivers getting scared and refusing to drive them any more. Anyway, they broke the record but needed to do a return run to make it count and didn't. 

100 years on and a guy from Bristol has restored it:

Here it is at this years festival of speed, he drove it to Goodwood obviously:

 

 

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New one on me: the AQC Jetway 707.

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One of those hilariously proportioned Airport Limousines that were once popular in the US (from an era before air travel became a form of purgatorial ordeal), this one was based on the front-wheel-drive Oldsmobile Toronado, keeping a flat floor with no need for an elongated propshaft.

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Baggage in the back, lucky jet-age travellers up front, all pulled along by a 7.5 litre Rocket V8 . What a monster.

Unbelievably, an online search seems to imply that there's at least one in the UK. That'll be good craic at a mini-roundabout, hey?

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With around 150 of the buggers built, surely this is the ultimate wagon for 15 shiters to rock up at Cannock auctions...

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As an aside, I also didn't know that a few Toronados (GM's mid-price big coupé to rival the Thunderbird, while remaining cheaper than a Cadillac) were converted to four-door sedans.

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Pretty damn slick for 1967, when the best we could manage over here was the Vauxhall Cresta PC....

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On 8/13/2019 at 7:51 PM, Supernaut said:

I thought it looked like a very obvious rip-off, but didn't realise it was actually based on an S class!

Based on a mix and match E-Class and S-Class components. Available with basically the AMG 3.6 Inline 6 until 2014! It's very much like owning a W124 made entirely of cheap aftermarket parts.

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On 13 August 2019 at 1:49 PM, angle said:

Its actually a W124 Mercedes underneath. Here's one what I spotted earlier this year:

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I was in Kuwait a couple of years ago and the hotel I was staying at had one of these as a Courtesy airport car, on our last day I booked a car for the morning and specifically requested the .Chairman. Alas we were taken to the airport in a brand new LWB 7 Series, the driver thought I was joking when I asked about the dusty Ssangyong.

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We've all heard of the Mk1 Cortina but I've never seen one with this front end before. A bit like the Consul grille and with facelift sidelights/indicators; also and possibly crucially, LHD.

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Google has brought up only two photos of the Australian-built model with the same design (known as Jail-Bar) however the bonnet badging is different; did the Aussies build any left-hookers?

AAA badge is American Auto Association I believe but I haven't managed to dig up any photos of US market Mk1s. Nor Canadian for that matter.

Your helps would be appreciated in confirming or refuting my North American theory.

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