Cars you didn't know existed until very recently.

[barrett]

8 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

I'm not much of a one for supercars, but a chance marketstall encounter this morning pointed me towards a car I never knew existed...

A 'MIG Georgia Centenaire' - WTF?

Apparently this started off as a carbon fibre supercar with a Lamborghini-derived engine, designed in the late 1980s by Italian F2 driver Fulvio Ballabio, and built by his company Monte Carlo Automobile (MCA) as the Monte Carlo GTB Centenaire.

Mega Monte Carlo GTB 1992 Test (roadandtrack.com)

Sales weren't especially great though, with only five apparently built - including one gifted to Prince Rainier of Monaco. The rights to the project were then bought up by a Georgian businessman in 1993, with designs on racing at Le Mans, and a further car was built, badged as the MIG M100 Centenaire - with 'MIG' apparently standing for 'Migrelli and Georgia'. The effort was, according to Wikipedia, "a complete failure", with the MIG failing to qualify for Le Mans. 

The design then passed to French manufacturer Aixam-Méga, who built an undisclosed number of examples under the name Méga Monte Carlo GTB, now with a Mercedes V12 fitted, between 1996 and 1999, before quietly discontinuing it.

Quite why Bburago bothered to make a model of this oddity is anyone's guess, but still... I never knew it existed until today.

I had that Burago when I was younger. It was badged MCA Centenaire, so I guess Burago thought it would be a winner and tooled up, then re-branded it to suit the change of ownership/name. I wonder which (toy) is rarer?

16 minutes ago, Austat said:

I'll look into Pichon-Parat a bit more, they had some interesting coach-built designs.

There's a very good book (in French) about P-P which is worth having if you're interested

[wuvvum]

40 minutes ago, Austat said:

The Pichon & Parat coachbuilt Citroen DS models from the early 1960's:

... who built coupés...

and cabriolets...

I'll look into Pichon-Parat a bit more, they had some interesting coach-built designs.

Front looks quite Panhardesque with those lights.

[Austat]

4 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

Front looks quite Panhardesque with those lights.

That's what I thought when I first saw it, all thought the Panhard 24CT wasn't launched till 1964 whilst the Pichot-Parat DS's debuted in around 1961.

[wuvvum]

10 hours ago, bunglebus said:

I was a behind a Hyundai Ioniq 5 earlier. Not exactly my cup of tea, but I appreciate the very 80s concept car style lights and flush handles. The future is now

 

For some reason the back end styling reminds me of the Lada 112.

I'm not sure why as there's not a great deal of resemblance there.

[Bfg]

21 hours ago, Austat said:

..that chap is def a Citroen perv

[Yoss]

21 hours ago, Austat said:

The Pichon & Parat coachbuilt Citroen DS models from the early 1960's:

... who built coupés...

and cabriolets...

I'll look into Pichon-Parat a bit more, they had some interesting coach-built designs.

 

That is not an improvement. Why would you pay presumably a considerable amount to make your car look worse. For the individuality I guess but I'd rather have a standard one and keep the money but what do I know? It's nothing new I guess, the world's entire kit car industry is based on making things worse for money. 

[Yoss]

On 10/23/2021 at 1:09 AM, wuvvum said:

For some reason the back end styling reminds me of the Lada 112.

I'm not sure why as there's not a great deal of resemblance there.

 

Yes, I'm sure that's just the look they were going for. 

 

[MisterH]

1 hour ago, Yoss said:

world's entire kit car industry is based on making things worse for money

I think the chaps at Ginetta might beg to differ...

[Yoss]

There are always exceptions, I was generalising for comic effect. 

[High Jetter]

2 hours ago, Yoss said:

 

That is not an improvement. Why would you pay presumably a considerable amount to make your car look worse. For the individuality I guess but I'd rather have a standard one and keep the money but what do I know? It's nothing new I guess, the world's entire kit car industry is based on making things worse for money. 

I agree. The DS was a beautiful design, both aesthetically and mechanically / hydrauliclarly. That is abysmal. I was offered a DS and an Audi 70 when I was 20, too scared to take either on though.

[bunglebus]

Traction Avant based, home made

(no idea on the final pic)

[martc]

The Hungarian micro car industry. Did you ever think such a thing existed? Well it did and it was very busy indeed - below is a link and some choice pictures (I've shoved a few in the BW thread as well). The industry started as a way of circumventing Comecon restrictions on car production in the Bloc. Hungary had no tradition of building cars and so was not allowed to build them. But they wanted to build them and so came up with a whole slew of home grown micro-cars which where not covered by the regs. Also, like the rest of Europe, there was a shortage of cheap transport in the '50's.

https://www.vintag.es/2018/01/vintage-photos-of-creative-postwar.html

[martc]

Moskvitch AZLK-2139 'Arbat' 1991. Scuppered by a) lack of enthusiasm from the politicians for such a bourgeois car aimed at the middle classes and b) the collapse of the Soviet Union by itself.

[barrett]

On 10/26/2021 at 7:34 PM, martc said:

The Hungarian micro car industry. Did you ever think such a thing existed? Well it did and it was very busy indeed - below is a link and some choice pictures (I've shoved a few in the BW thread as well). The industry started as a way of circumventing Comecon restrictions on car production in the Bloc. Hungary had no tradition of building cars and so was not allowed to build them. But they wanted to build them and so came up with a whole slew of home grown micro-cars which where not covered by the regs. Also, like the rest of Europe, there was a shortage of cheap transport in the '50's.

https://www.vintag.es/2018/01/vintage-photos-of-creative-postwar.html

There's also a good book about the Hungarian motoring industry (in English) with details about all of these, although I can't seem to find a copy for sale at this moment

[anonymous user]

That one microcar looks like a Renault 10, that is very angry because it didn't grow up to be as big as its siblings.

[JMotor]

Does this count?

Looks to be a UK only model of the Seat Toledo, called the RM180?

Never heard of it, knew of the GTI's but not this. Looks nice on the Borbet wheels and looks slightly lowered too?

[barrett]

On 10/24/2021 at 4:59 PM, bunglebus said:

Traction Avant based, home made

(no idea on the final pic)

This one was designed by Victor Bouffort, who built all sorts of unusual things over the years. Apparantly there were two, and both survive, but I've never seen them. There was also a roadster version

He designed a folding scooter, which was sold in the states with a little success

Which might explain this amazing picture of one of his self-built microcar prototypes on US plates

There were lots of other microcars, from the 40s to the 70s, a nice 403-based roadster, military vehicles, an overland vehicle. There was a collection of Bouffort-designed stuff at Rétromobile a couple of years ago but he's still almost toally unknown outside of France.

[MisterH]

9 hours ago, martc said:

Moskvitch AZLK-2139 'Arbat' 1991. Scuppered by a) lack of enthusiasm from the politicians for such a bourgeois car aimed at the middle classes and b) the collapse of the Soviet Union by itself.

Do I see Skoda Roomster in that?

[Asimo]

One of these, in Morrisons car park. Making that fashionable gargling noise.  (Sounds like a Merc. With an AGM badge.)

[supermellowman]

On 24/10/2021 at 16:59, bunglebus said:

…

 

 

(no idea on the final pic)

That final pic is the Berggren Future from 1951. Featured here https://driventowrite.com/2021/10/13/drop-the-subject-part-three/ 

Driven To Write has been on a roll lately. I’ve particularly enjoyed the recent features and discussions on 1970s Italian products.

[martc]

17 minutes ago, MisterH said:

Do I see Skoda Roomster in that?

The doors look very Roomsterish, I wonder if Skoda's designer had spent some time at Moskvitch (from the old Bloc days)? There's more than a  touch of Nissan Prairie about it as well.

[bunglebus]

Trabant Tramp

And Kubel

[Remspoor]

4 hours ago, Asimo said:

One of these, in Morrisons car park. Making that fashionable gargling noise.  (Sounds like a Merc. With an AGM badge.)

That is because that what it has under the hood.

[TheOtherStu]

11 hours ago, Remspoor said:

That is because that what it has under the hood.

Was going to say exactly that. Aston Martin use Merc blocks IIRC. There was noise that they'd start doing their own, but I'm not sure they ever got round to it.

[Austat]

Enzmann 506:

[DavieW]

From the auction advert.......

2000 NISSAN SILVIA VARIETTA AUTECH. GUIDE £10000 - £12000. Chassis number S15500111 - One of only 1143 "Varietta" examples ever produced which makes these the rarest of all Sylvia variants. This generation of the Sylvia was only sold in Japan, Australia and New Zealand. The Varietta was built by Autech a subsidiary of Nissan and was based on the Spec S Model.

[Leyland Worldmaster]

On 10/28/2021 at 6:53 AM, martc said:

Moskvitch AZLK-2139 'Arbat' 1991. Scuppered by a) lack of enthusiasm from the politicians for such a bourgeois car aimed at the middle classes and b) the collapse of the Soviet Union by itself.

It is the FIAT Ecobasic Concept Car's mummy! 🙌🙌🎉

[Leyland Worldmaster]

1 minute ago, Leyland Worldmaster said:

It is the FIAT Ecobasic Concept Car's mummy! 🙌🙌🎉

Or maybe the Skoda Roomster's mummy... Not sure... 

[somewhatfoolish]

It certainly ought to be wrapped in bandages and hidden from sight.

[17-Coffees]

On 10/28/2021 at 4:12 PM, Asimo said:

One of these, in Morrisons car park. Making that fashionable gargling noise.  (Sounds like a Merc. With an AGM badge.)

Funny enough, it literally is just a jacked up Aston with an AMG V8 engine. 

Was a few of the 'Launch edition' ones up my way last year. So generic I only clicked as to what they were when stuck behind in traffic, otherwise I'd think it  would think it was generic SUV No4...