Cars you didn't know existed until very recently.

[Rusty Pelican]

Another mashup 

[Rusty Pelican]

Mitsuoka Orochi.

[Rusty Pelican]

[egg]

I know Banham, but not the Redina

[bunglebus]

Those headlights look VERY familiar...

[sheffcortinacentre]

Mk1KA

[bunglebus]

[Remspoor]

Pilcar.

https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilcar

[J W Pepper]

2 hours ago, Remspoor said:

Pilcar.

https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilcar

It looks like a Renault 5 with an Alfasud front end

[Missy Charm]

Booted Celicas.  Not the early ones, we all know about those, but saloon variants of every front wheel drive model up to 1999:

They weren't sold over here, to my knowledge, and seem to be fixed head versions of the convertible.  

[Pieman]

Courtesy of the FotU thread - the Daihatsu Fellow Max.  Had never heard of it before.

(Pic by @Spottedlaurel)

[quicksilver]

On 7/25/2022 at 7:46 PM, egg said:

I know Banham, but not the Redina

What an utterly shapeless blob of a car. It seems to have no detailing at all in the bodywork and the Ka headlights are the only interesting feature. Donor car was a Skoda Rapid if anyone's wondering and a distinct lack of any other photos suggests this was thankfully the only one made.

[egg]

12 hours ago, Pieman said:

Courtesy of the FotU thread - the Daihatsu Fellow Max.  Had never heard of it before.

love those, think they weigh about the same as an Inv*car model 70. Great early Japanese engineering.

[motorpunk]

On 27/07/2022 at 13:50, Missy Charm said:

Booted Celicas.  Not the early ones, we all know about those, but saloon variants of every front wheel drive model up to 1999:

They weren't sold over here, to my knowledge, and seem to be fixed head versions of the convertible.  

If you hadn't explained the boot, I wouldn't have noticed the difference. What an odd design!

[NorfolkNWeigh]

On 7/25/2022 at 7:54 AM, lesapandre said:

Yes it is an original Cresta bodyshell with original Daimler bits grafted on - it has one of the Daimler V8 engines fitted. Some enterprising enthusiast created a few years ago.

http://www.daimler-dn250.net/main.htm

Wasn't a bad idea from Daimler and as a commercial mash-up project it probably had legs - William Lyons did exactly the same thing with the Mk2 body, as soon as he bought Daimler, to produce the 1962 Daimler 2.5 - they sold quite well. So the idea was certainty in circulation at the time.

I like these modern recreations. I'd like to see a Wolseley 8/180 made - that's the Austin 3-litre tub with the Rover V8 in it and Wolseley trimming. There was a prototype made running round Longbridge in the 60's but it never made production - now that would have been some car. 

The original was scrapped and never made it into preservation with the other BMC prototypes.

A book I read recently about the people and personality’s of Longbridge mentions an Austin 3 Litre V8 prototype that George Turnbull used as his personal car. Unfortunately the anecdote was from a bloke who was  an apprentice at the time , recalling how unreliable it was “ even compared to a standard 3Litre” ! And how he’d be sent to Turnbull’s house with a replacement  3 Litre or 1800 and then get towed back to Longbridge by one of the Department’s Gipsy’s.

Although it doesn’t sound as bad as the story that George Harriman refused to have BMC 1 on his 4 Litre R , because of all the disgruntled owners bending his ear at functions!

[lesapandre]

If I'm feeling ambitious I might have a go at making one.

I suppose prototype are always a bit iffy. As the 8/180 the car would have made more sense as a cruiser.

I've owned both - the 3-litre was let down by the engine which was a bit of useless lump - the rest was ok really.

The 4-litre R was let down by its steering and handling which just needed a bit more work. The RR engine was 170bhp so motored nicely.

Both were underdeveloped but hey nice to enjoy now.

 

[Rust Collector]

I saw this when I was away visiting family, according to the interwebs it is a Daewoo Tico:

I think it is some kind of Suzuki derived thing, as it looks familiar but different at the same time...

Once I saw one, I couldn't stop seeing them. Naturally, I want one now. I love that rear window, it makes the car look like a baby Civic Shuttle.

[High Jetter]

6 minutes ago, Rust Collector said:

like a baby Civic Shuttle

NHOI either, but it reminded me of the shuttle too before I saw you wrote that.

[martc]

22 hours ago, Rust Collector said:

I think it is some kind of Suzuki derived thing, as it looks familiar but different at the same time...

It is indeed based on a Suzuki thing - the mark 3 Alto (model code CL/CM11),  I don't think these were sold here but both the Suzuki and Daewoo versions were very popular in Eastern Europe, possibly because, phun phact alert, the Tico was made in the old Olcit factory in Romania.

going down the Alto rabbit hole, here's some more new to  me...

 

 

Mighty Boy and Slide Slim indeed.

Incidentally, have you seen the new Alto (the 9th generation)? I think it could do well here, assuming it's not some sort of NCAP deathtrap -

 

[Aston Martin]

On 02/08/2022 at 11:56, motorpunk said:

If you hadn't explained the boot, I wouldn't have noticed the difference. What an odd design!

I wonder if there's a weird tax break. For 2+2 coupe vs a random hatchback.

[Pieman]

4 hours ago, martc said:

 

Postman Pat, Postman Pat....

[motorpunk]

23 minutes ago, Aston Martin said:

I wonder if there's a weird tax break. For 2+2 coupe vs a random hatchback.

I know there's some weird hangup in some European countries about hatchbacks being less desirable than saloons, as hatchbacks hint at practicality, apparently. Maybe that. 

[Yoss]

4 hours ago, martc said:

 I don't think these were sold here but both the Suzuki and Daewoo versions were very popular in Eastern Europe, possibly because, phun phact alert, the Tico was made in the old Olcit factory 

I know Suzuki also had a factory in Hungary knocking out mk1 Swifts, so it may have made these too. I was in Budapest a few years ago and mk1 Swifts were everywhere. It is my biggest memory of that trip. Not the architecture, not the trams, not the park full of old communist statues. If you asked me, the first thing I'd say is mk1 Swifts. At least on here anyway, might not admit that to normal people. 

 

Some holiday snaps. 

They even have Swifts with boots which might fit into this thread better than the above. 

[Rust Collector]

12 minutes ago, Yoss said:

I know Suzuki also had a factory in Hungary knocking out mk1 Swifts, so it may have made these too. I was in Budapest a few years ago and mk1 Swifts were everywhere. It is my biggest memory of that trip. Not the architecture, not the trams, not the park full of old communist statues. If you asked me, the first thing I'd say is mk1 Swifts. At least on here anyway, might not admit that to normal people. 

 

Some holiday snaps. 

They even have Swifts with boots which might fit into this thread better than the above. 

I saw millions* of those Swift saloons when I was passing through last month, I had never seen one before. I think they look decent, and I bet they're easy to live with.

[Yoss]

56 minutes ago, Rust Collector said:

I saw millions* of those Swift saloons when I was passing through last month, I had never seen one before. I think they look decent, and I bet they're easy to live with.

Glad to hear they are still there. I was there four years ago and I know how quickly things can change. I'm guessing they don't have an ULEZ, that could could kill them off instantly. 

[Rust Collector]

We didn’t go through Budapest but drove down the back roads to cross from Croatia to Slovakia, and they were everywhere. I can’t imagine there’s much appetite for low emission zones out there, with a lot of the population owning older cars and a comparatively low average wage. I should move out there really 😅

[martc]

2 hours ago, Yoss said:

I know Suzuki also had a factory in Hungary knocking out mk1 Swifts, so it may have made these too. I was in Budapest a few years ago and mk1 Swifts were everywhere. It is my biggest memory of that trip. Not the architecture, not the trams, not the park full of old communist statues. If you asked me, the first thing I'd say is mk1 Swifts. At least on here anyway, might not admit that to normal people.

I think you're onto something here - some quick internet research shows that the Alto was made in Hungary so that could explain the popularity in the east. However 'our' Alto's came from India, made by Maruti, may be because Indian cars are RHD.

As well as the Swifts in your pics, Magyar Suzuki also made the second generations of Swifts, Ignis's (Ignii?) and Wagons, and the SX4 and Splash, they now make the S-Cross and Vitara.

The current UK sold Swift is now made in Japan, as were the 1st generations of Ignis and Wagon.

[Yoss]

31 minutes ago, Rust Collector said:

We didn’t go through Budapest but drove down the back roads to cross from Croatia to Slovakia, and they were everywhere. I can’t imagine there’s much appetite for low emission zones out there, with a lot of the population owning older cars and a comparatively low average wage. I should move out there really 😅

Of course the national shite car of Croatia is a Zastava badged Punto. But the car I didn't know existed over there was this, 

The Daewoo Tico. 

Though I suspect it is a rebadged something or other, though I can't quite place it. 

[Rust Collector]

1 hour ago, Yoss said:

Of course the national shite car of Croatia is a Zastava badged Punto. But the car I didn't know existed over there was this, 

The Daewoo Tico. 

Though I suspect it is a rebadged something or other, though I can't quite place it. 

See my post a page or so back 😅 I hadn’t seen them either until I saw one in Slovakia.

[bunglebus]