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Cars you didn't know existed until very recently.


philibusmo

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On 9/20/2019 at 12:38 PM, egg said:

SMZ ( Serpukhov Motor Works) disabled vehicle. Russian.

That's a new one on me, I knew about the later, 'SZD Invalidka', noted for it's razor sharp looks -

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Yours is an earlier S3A model, but before that we had this little beauty, the S1 (there doesn't seem to be an S2), this photo seems to show them in chronological order, the one at the back (the newest?) has the look of a Uno about it -

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Turns out it's an 'Oka', another new one to me. The Oka was built by SMZ from 1990 to 2008; before then it was made, from 1987, by KAMAZ better known for it's fabulous lorries. A better picture shows more of a resemblance to a Daihatsu rather than a Uno -

1919440737_smzoka.jpg.567d6f4bfccb5e476c20477d0d80c188.jpg

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Until I watched a video the other day I had completely forgotten that Infiniti still (just) exists in the UK. Is there any brand that has any less visibility?! Anonymous.

Sunderland have just stopped making them in July apparently.

750 cars only sold in 2018 here: https://www.carbuyer.co.uk/news/167665/infiniti-to-end-uk-car-sales-in-2020

AWD-spring-offer-key-visual-1500x615.jpg

 

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^^^ Weirdly, there seem to be a lot of Infinitis in NI. A neighbour owns one, and I'm sure I see a couple on the road every day. I thought they were reasonably popular (though struggled to understand why).

Mind you, nothing depreciates like a big Nissan (other than a big Citroen) so these could be weapons-grade shite before too long...

I can remember a schoolfriend's mother buying a brand new Nissan QX in Appliance White in 1995 - the known elsewhere as the Nissan Maxima, or Infiniti I30 in the US market. 3.0 V6 under the bonnet, and acres of black plastic inside.

1142500094_NissanQXBrochure1995.thumb.jpg.1c3780940a3035684ebd9149ab951b2b.jpg

It exists... at a tenth of its purchase price after two years.

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Was queueing in traffic behind one of these just a few minutes ago in central Belfast...

Infiniti-G37-Coupe-Blanco-Imagenes-HD-1920x1080.thumb.jpg.edc78282ff48afc9fa8dbe582f0ed429.jpg

In fairness, if we hadn't been just mentioning them, I never would have given it a second thought...

 

Who the hell's buying them?

I'm almost intrigued now...

I note the Infiniti dealer in Belfast is the same fella who used to be an Alfa Romeo dealer, so mebbe he just has exceptionally good patter...

https://www.infiniti.co.uk/centre-locator/infiniti-belfast.html

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The Infiniti G35 and G37 are luxury rebodied versions of the Nissan 350Z and 370Z, respectively.

I think the Infiniti G35 was only sold in America, but the RHD version of the same car was sold in Japan as a Nissan Skyline of some description, so you do see some grey imports of those sometimes.

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15 minutes ago, Supernaut said:

The Infiniti G35 and G37 are luxury rebodied versions of the Nissan 350Z and 370Z, respectively.

I think the Infiniti G35 was only sold in America, but the RHD version of the same car was sold in Japan as a Nissan Skyline of some description, so you do see some grey imports of those sometimes.

The Infiniti in Datsucong's post is the Skyline Q35 which is also basically an enlarged 350z. IIRC it was also available as a 4-door saloon.

Until the Q/R35 series the modern day GTR had always been based on a Skyline as a whole family of models. The original R32 GTR was based on a model line that started with a 1.8. 

With the R35 they moved the GTR away from the Skyline, ditching almost 30 years of history. The Skyline badge goes on an SUV nowadays. 

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At last weekend's FOD gathering, I was sitting with @catsinthewelder in his Safrane and we were reading the handbook. Near the back are a couple of pages describing the 4x4 version, which I never knew existed and must be pretty much extinct now. A big old Renault with a complex 4WD system, WCPGW?

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20 hours ago, quicksilver said:

At last weekend's FOD gathering, I was sitting with @catsinthewelder in his Safrane and we were reading the handbook. Near the back are a couple of pages describing the 4x4 version, which I never knew existed and must be pretty much extinct now. A big old Renault with a complex 4WD system, WCPGW?

I think the Safrane Biturbo was 4WD.

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14 hours ago, GeordieInExile said:

How come we never got the Lada Oka here? A little 650cc city car with boxy Cinquecento-esque looks which cost less than anything else on the road... surely there'd have been a market.

 

Lada Oka. 

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Apparently developed with Fiat as a replacement for the 126 (says a Google translated Wikipedia page) which is why it looks a bit like a Cinquecento. 

Also came as a tiny tiny van. 

a1eaf497c4a5f90a923bf04ceb345348.jpg.5e6af73a8954b4bc6bf070817ffc2a44.jpg

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