Cars you didn't know existed until very recently.

[Vantman]

Alvis is still with us-- https://www.thealviscarcompany.co.uk/the-vehicles/graber/

[17-Coffees]

2 hours ago, Vantman said:

Alvis is still with us--

The story and reasons as to how they are still a thing is also good!

Pistonheads did an article on them today and its worth a look! 
https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-britishcars/why-alvis-is-happy-building-two-cars-a-year/42200

[17-Coffees]

So back to my China related cars. I'm sure most of us know of the ZAP Xebra...

A 3 wheeled, 5 door electric car sold in the USA in the Mid-late 2000's. Think a Daewoo Matiz but on 3 wheels...

Photo for those of you who don't know. And Keep in mind, it was USA road legal! 

 

Anyway, I only just found out that they offered a 'truck' spec one too...

Again, it's fully USA road legal. Its performance as standard as a hatchback was..challenging to say the least. So I'd dread to know how this would do if fully loaded. 

I can only guess it was used by small businesses wanting to be 'Hip' and Eco. Maybe even some government agency's? I've seen Chinese spec Kei Trucks being used by Oregon State Parks for example! 

 

I should note, this is not a dig at electric cars, more just a dig at a shit one. 

[Asimo]

England can do green electro-shite commercials too. 

[martc]

This Sino-British electro hipster van chat brings us neatly up-to-date with this beauty, I think some of us already know about these, others may not -

https://www.morris-commercial.com/

The Morris JE Van, a snip at £60,000.

[11001010]

 

[STUNO]

6 hours ago, 11001010 said:

 

My eldest sister's boyfriend was Ross baker in the early 60"s . At that time he was a poor schoolboy and drove a 1929 Essex Suoer 6 .

[jumpingjehovahs]

The Ford Fiesta Crossroad is a new one on me. I vaguely remember a Fusion with cladding? This definitely has a Streetwise vibe

This one is in Holland and picture is taken from @classic_cars_in_the_future on Instagram - a shitespotter extraordinaire.


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[Alusilber]

Saw this on Twitter the other day... a Seat Malaga hatchback, aka a Seat Ronda for the UK market.

https://twitter.com/RoadworkUK/status/1248177447612354560?s=20

[bunglebus]

Well that one was on the road for 10 years, might be more?

[cort1977]

On 4/10/2020 at 12:01 AM, 17-Coffees said:

So back to my China related cars. I'm sure most of us know of the ZAP Xebra...

A 3 wheeled, 5 door electric car sold in the USA in the Mid-late 2000's. Think a Daewoo Matiz but on 3 wheels...

Again, it's fully USA road legal. Its performance as standard as a hatchback was..challenging to say the least. So I'd dread to know how this would do if fully loaded. 

I can only guess it was used by small businesses wanting to be 'Hip' and Eco. Maybe even some government agency's? I've seen Chinese spec Kei Trucks being used by Oregon State Parks for example! 

 

I should note, this is not a dig at electric cars, more just a dig at a shit one. 

There used to be three or four of those in a yard just off I45 Northbound in Houston.  I often wondered exactly what they were so thanks for that.  As you say likely bought for a hipster event and then sidelined by lack of spares/ poor build quality/ American attitudes.

[Aston Martin]

So... This is a replica, but they made possibly???? A Corsa Sprint.

 

Now I can't find anything, other than it was maybe just Irmscher body kits in three different guises. Somewhere else said they all had 113bhp engines.

 

Opel lickers, any ideas? Thanks.

[Richard_FM]

VW Passat Tetra, I guess the Quattro technology wasn't limited to just Audi:

[Richard_FM]

On 4/4/2020 at 1:24 AM, Austat said:

Fiat-Moretti 128:

Did an NSU Ro80 get into a teleporter with a Sunbeam Alpine at the same time?!

[quicksilver]

G728 BHP - 1990 Peugeot 405 GLx4 1.9 by Adam Floyd, on Flickr

Yes, it is a Pug 405 and not one of those weird Iranian versions. Looks so normal I never even noticed at the time that it's four-wheel drive. I knew of the sporty Mi16x4 but not the lesser GLx4, of which this is the only roadworthy example.

[bunglebus]

728 BHP! What a sleeper

[Richard_FM]

Reliant FW11, did Skoda see one when designing the Favorit?

[Richard_FM]

11 minutes ago, quicksilver said:

G728 BHP - 1990 Peugeot 405 GLx4 1.9 by Adam Floyd, on Flickr

Yes, it is a Pug 405 and not one of those weird Iranian versions. Looks so normal I never even noticed at the time that it's four-wheel drive. I knew of the sporty Mi16x4 but not the lesser GLx4, of which this is the only roadworthy example.

I remember Top Gear test driving some 4 wheel drive cars, Chris Goffey tried out a Mk3 Vauxhall Cavalier, Citroen BX & Peugeot 205, I wonder if the 405 used the same technology as the last 2?

[quicksilver]

4x4 205?! I've never heard of that either! I have seen a BX GTi 4x4 though and I'm pretty sure that used the same drivetrain as the 405.

[Volksy]

I did a clutch on one of those 405 GLx4 years ago, was a twat of a job IIRC. 

They have Citroen rear suspension as they borrowed the drive train from a BX complete with spheres etc. 

 

 

[barrett]

WTF??? That's all new to me. So does it have a hydro system then? That's mental!

[5speedracer]

Did an NSU Ro80 get into a teleporter with a Sunbeam Alpine at the same time?!

Wrong Sunbeam I think you mean Rapier?

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[lesapandre]

1983 Fiat Oggi -1983 Brazil only.

[Richard_FM]

41 minutes ago, 5speedracer said:

Wrong Sunbeam I think you mean Rapier?

Sent from my R19 using Tapatalk
 

Yes though there was also an Alpine based on the same body shell 

[lesapandre]

When the original Alpine went out of production they transferred the name to a de-contented and cheaper Rapier. Rootes never missed a marketing opportunity.

[AnthonyG]

Seen an advert on Car and Classic for a Mk3 Cortina with an 1100 engine. Apparently this was a special spec for Greece due to tax rates.

Lordy it must be slow, the 1300s were just about acceptable..

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1168376

Can’t grab a pic to link from, it’s a nice early XL 4 dr in red but it’s £10k(!) and it’s still in Greece, disappointingly there is no under bonnet pic!

[Alusilber]

7 hours ago, Richard_FM said:

VW Passat Tetra, I guess the Quattro technology wasn't limited to just Audi:

Just did a bit of Googling on this and it turns out the Passat Tetra was renamed Passat Syncro shortly after it was launched, presumably to tie in with the Golf (Mk2) Syncro, although the 4WD systems were quite different.

[chaseracer]

Did the Quattro tech not start with VW anyway, under the Iltis?

[Austat]

1973 Nissan EV-4 concepts:

[Austat]

Avenger R429 concept: