Cars you didn't know existed until very recently.

[MiniMinorMk3]

6 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Obviously I've seen the van before, but not the escape hatch

 

The Renner 4 Fougonettes had a roof hatch at the rear

 

[bunglebus]

Passed a Lancia Musa earlier 

 

[High Jetter]

8 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Obviously I've seen the van before, but not the escape hatch

I knew some older vans had that, but not seen it on a recent one. Maybe not for use in the UK?

[bunglebus]

53 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

I knew some older vans had that, but not seen it on a recent one. Maybe not for use in the UK?

In the UK those ladders would have disappeared the instant it was parked

[MiniMinorMk3]

Citroens built in the TOMOS factory in the old Yugoslavia.

Cimos Geri

Cimos DAK

[bunglebus]

Did we get these here?

 

[Remspoor]

Bertone Freeclimber. Only sold in Italy and Spain.

A mix of German engine, Italian interior and  a Japanese body.

The basis of the 4x4 is the Daihatsu  Fourtrak (in the United Kingdom) or the Rocky in most markets. In Japan it was sold as the Toyota Blizzard. Just 2,800 were produced.  Unique to this 4x4 over the sister models are, the  BMW 6 cyl. engines (petrol 2.0 and 2.7 plus diesel 2.6). Plus modifications to the body and interior were made by  Bertone. I believe they were also assembled by Bertone.

[Madman Of The People]

On 10/20/2022 at 5:46 PM, RayMK said:

That looks ok.  Europe gets palmed off with the ugly ones.  Thanks, Nissan.

You wouldn’t be thanking Nissan if you ever saw one of these turds up close.

This is what replaced the first generation Juke in America and it’s proper third-world garbage.  Built in Brazil and it should have stayed there!

The Juke May have been ugly but at least it was somewhat well made.  The Kicks, however, is just an embarrassment.

 

[Metal Guru]

50 minutes ago, Remspoor said:

Bertone Freeclimber. Only sold in Italy and Spain.

A mix of German engine, Italian interior and  a Japanese body.

The basis of the 4x4 is the Daihatsu  Fourtrak (in the United Kingdom) or the Rocky in most markets. In Japan it was sold as the Toyota Blizzard. Just 2,800 were produced.  Unique to this 4x4 over the sister models are, the  BMW 6 cyl. engines (petrol 2.0 and 2.7 plus diesel 2.6). Plus modifications to the body and interior were made by  Bertone. I believe they were also assembled by Bertone.

 

I remember seeing a lot of these in Spain in the 90s, only noticing them because I had a Fourtrak myself at the time.

The top two pics are of a Fourtrak (aka Rugger) clone and is a Freeclimber (I) but the bottom picture is a Sportrak clone (aka Feroza) ,a Freeclimber II.

Rocky was also a name used for both the Fourtrak and Sportrak at various times in different markets.

[DavieW]

Alfa Romeo Z33 Tempo Leisure

 

[MiniMinorMk3]

Looks like a Giulietta SUV 🤮

[Metal Guru]

21 minutes ago, DavieW said:

Alfa Romeo Z33 Tempo Leisure

 

Fair to say that’s not Alfa’s best effort.

[High Jetter]

51 minutes ago, DavieW said:

Alfa Romeo Z33 Tempo Leisure

 

How the hell did Alfa sign off on that?????????

[Remspoor]

3 hours ago, High Jetter said:

How the hell did Alfa sign off on that?????????

I will leave this here.

maybe the RZ/SZ?

[High Jetter]

Uh, works a bit better but the arse looks like a Yank Tank!

[Datsuncog]

One of MrsDC's colleagues was talking to her the other day about her first car, in the mid-90s.

Said it was a 'Subaru Vivio', and it was horrible. Tiny engine, very slow.

This rang no bells with me, and after checking she didn't mean a Subaru Justy, reckoned she was maybe confusing it with a Suzuki Alto.

But no, the Vivio did exist - and it was sold in the UK.

No recall of ever encountering one, either on the road or during my time running the parts desk.

Using the search function I did find a reference to the Vivio on this very thread waay back in 2016 - though it was for Japanese market convertible and retro-styled versions.

Well well well.

[MiniMinorMk3]

One off Zephyr Woody made for use at Sandringham

[MiniMinorMk3]

A couple more that cropped up in an article on the interwebs

The Intermaccanica Murena 429GT

1 Of 10 Ever Made: The 1969 Intermeccanica Murena 429 GT (silodrome.com)

 

and the Fiat 600 Rendezvous by Vignale

1959 Fiat 600 Rendez Vous by Vignale | Paris | RM Sotheby's (rmsothebys.com)

 

[Spottedlaurel]

6 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

One of MrsDC's colleagues was talking to her the other day about her first car, in the mid-90s.

Said it was a 'Subaru Vivio', and it was horrible. Tiny engine, very slow.

This rang no bells with me, and after checking she didn't mean a Subaru Justy, reckoned she was maybe confusing it with a Suzuki Alto.

But no, the Vivio did exist - and it was sold in the UK.

No recall of ever encountering one, either on the road or during my time running the parts desk.

Using the search function I did find a reference to the Vivio on this very thread waay back in 2016 - though it was for Japanese market convertible and retro-styled versions.

Well well well.

I've seen a couple, they may have appeared on my spots thread

 

 

[Blue 850]

7 hours ago, Datsuncog said:

One of MrsDC's colleagues was talking to her the other day about her first car, in the mid-90s.

Said it was a 'Subaru Vivio', and it was horrible. Tiny engine, very slow.

This rang no bells with me, and after checking she didn't mean a Subaru Justy, reckoned she was maybe confusing it with a Suzuki Alto.

But no, the Vivio did exist - and it was sold in the UK.

No recall of ever encountering one, either on the road or during my time running the parts desk.

Using the search function I did find a reference to the Vivio on this very thread waay back in 2016 - though it was for Japanese market convertible and retro-styled versions.

Well well well.

Subaru entered one for Colin Mc Rae for the 1993 Safari Rally, it didn't take him long to kill it😁

[Metal Guru]

8 hours ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

One off Zephyr Woody made for use at Sandringham

Was it specifically made to allow you to wear a top hat?

[sheffcortinacentre]

No to shoot a small feathered things.

[Metal Guru]

2 hours ago, sheffcortinacentre said:

No to shoot a small feathered things.

Yes I can see it has a full length sunroof now. 

[barrett]

Citroen U55 Cityrama Paris tour bus by Currus

Okay, obviously we all know this existed as it's probably the (second) most famous bus in the world, but I had no idea any of the three built had survived

There is currently a fundraising drive by a French car club to help with costs of restoration, which they reckon is going to be €400,000, which seems a bit ridiculous as it doesn't seem to be in particularly bad shape as it stands, but there you go. It survives, and it's being restored, so good for them.

[Mr Pastry]

Simca 936 prototype.  An interesting supermini might-have been, with shades of the future Renault 5 and even Visa about it.  Only one built.  There were some clever and largely unrecognised engineers at Simca.

[MiniMinorMk3]

2 hours ago, Mr Pastry said:

 

Simca 936 prototype.  An interesting supermini might-have been, with shades of the future Renault 5 and even Visa about it.  Only one built.  There were some clever and largely unrecognised engineers at Simca.

I first thought Renault 6 that had been butchered.

[MiniMinorMk3]

2 hours ago, barrett said:

Citroen U55 Cityrama Paris tour bus by Currus

 

When I see pictures of those it always reminds me of the Bedford SB3 Mobile Cinemas.

[bunglebus]

VWs lacklustre Fox got replaced by the Up! on the UK market, but it wasn't canned - restyled much like a Golf. Don't think we got a 5 door version here either but I could be wrong

[MiniMinorMk3]

North American 1985 VX Fox based on the Brazilian VW Gol

[chaseracer]

Never knew the Gol made it further north than Me-hi-co.  Every day, etc.