Cars you didn't know existed until very recently.

[bunglebus]

1 hour ago, Remspoor said:

That is the Toyota Corolla Estate which is only badge in Europe as a Suzuki.

Well, there was one outside Tesco. I could hardly* contain my excitement 

[High Jetter]

4 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Look everyone, it's the Suzuki Swace!

I don't think anyone noticed it the first time round, either!

[bunglebus]

Corvair Futura concept

[Metal Guru]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

Corvair Futura concept

Mmm, put the driver 4 ft forward. That’ll get an NCAP 5 star rating.

[Austat]

1954 Citroen 2CV Charbonneaux by Antem:

Designed by the same guy who would later style the Renault 21.

[Austat]

1955 Citroen 2CV Allemano:

 

 

[Rust Collector]

7 minutes ago, Austat said:

1954 Citroen 2CV Charbonneaux by Antem:

Designed by the same guy who would later style the Renault 21.

That's absolutely beautiful

[barrett]

35 minutes ago, Austat said:

Designed by the same guy who would later style the Renault 21.

LOL. Designed by a pathological liar, I think you mean. The R21 was by Italdesign. Charbonneaux also claimed the R16 as his own, and occasionally hinted he was responsible for the original Chevrolet Corvette. A true oddball, bless him, but I think the only Charbonneaux design to go into production was the R8, and that wasjust a last-minute tidy-up job based on existing architecture.

[lesapandre]

35 minutes ago, barrett said:

LOL. Designed by a pathological liar, I think you mean. The R21 was by Italdesign. Charbonneaux also claimed the R16 as his own, and occasionally hinted he was responsible for the original Chevrolet Corvette. A true oddball, bless him, but I think the only Charbonneaux design to go into production was the R8, and that wasjust a last-minute tidy-up job based on existing architecture.

Not all bad?

"His private collection of approximately 160 vintage cars, including racing cars, and 40 motorcycles, donated to S.C.A.R. (Salon of Vintage Car Club Collectors in Reims) is the basis for the Automobile Museum Reims-Champagne, established in 1985."*

*Wikipedia

[barrett]

15 minutes ago, lesapandre said:

Not all bad?

"His private collection of approximately 160 vintage cars, including racing cars, and 40 motorcycles, donated to S.C.A.R. (Salon of Vintage Car Club Collectors in Reims) is the basis for the Automobile Museum Reims-Champagne, established in 1985."*

*Wikipedia

Yes, he founded a museum dedicated to himself...

But yeah, there was some great stuff there. I'm not sure on the current status of it, I I think when he died a few years ago there was some contention over ownership of the Charbonneaux vehicles, and they were mostly removed from the museum and went to his son (?). I don't think the 2CV (s - there might have been two built) survive(s). He's best remembered for this, which fortunately does:

[bunglebus]

Volugrafo Bimbo

[RichardK]

On 4/4/2023 at 4:37 PM, horriblemercedes said:

I was surprised to find that my 2002 Jaguar S-Type had it in the handbook and had the lights for it on the dash in test mode. Mine didn't have it though

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/134510792525

 

Here is a 2000 Jaguar XKR that claims several times in the ad to have it, but I'm not sure yet if I believe it.....

Citroen C6's HUD and dash have the lights for it, but it was never fitted. And the C6's technical platform is MUCH older than the launch date...

[MiniMinorMk3]

19 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Corvair Futura concept

 

I see your Futura and raise you the 1963 Corvair Testudo by Bertone

[MiniMinorMk3]

Clenet Series II

[outlaw118]

Widening my hypothetical search for a ULEZ friendly estate (when I was on a Teams call about something or other, I forget) THIS: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/364217773353?hash=item54cd122d29:g:2JwAAOSwJZRkOBM5&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAAsIrDpggHLo2%2BtUOBlJzbXJ9fte68KyEIhfRHnVOLSpAUezrWgCTle8oFFXujfifoHORfHQBFj9M2x36MYr0voqkk4b0Ovpa2EpdD%2BDtw6JZOVmWjBcfMPhZe73B76zm24xyuWJdWaZQiDPW3903Kzu5Me%2Fa2ClvJtG9WxL%2F3ZPwEjOpqeYrbs%2FBwHq7ujW4e5eygAvs9yzDCBIAbQBTb67N2vYlJ%2FlyT1NSuSoAjYv1M|tkp%3ABk9SR-bx743wYQ

Only one of two built apparently.

[bunglebus]

I wonder if a few people had a crack at something similar - hence Matchbox having a go too

[outlaw118]

Quick google found this C3

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/c3-general/4176974-c3-corvette-station-wagon-fit-for-a-drummer.html

[outlaw118]

MOAR: https://www.corvsport.com/introducing-the-corvette-sportwagon/

[quicksilver]

Some rather handsome De Tomaso prototypes I never knew about.

Pampero:

Mustela:

Zonda:

1600 Spider (no, it's not an X1/9, honest):

 

[High Jetter]

Nice, and then the Pantera? 3-a-side!

[MiniMinorMk3]

Gordon Microcar

[barrett]

13 hours ago, quicksilver said:

1600 Spider (no, it's not an X1/9, honest):

The story goes that de Tomaso got wind of the X1/9 project and asked Tjaarda to design a near-identical car, which was quickly built and shown at various Motor Shows prior to the X1/9's public launch, so it would look like Fiat had copied it... You have to admire the dedication to the bit there. No intention of putting it into production, but a car created purely to piss off another manufacturer and culturally devalue their product. Absolutely mental.

[artdjones]

On 4/3/2023 at 1:51 PM, HarmonicCheeseburger said:

Isdera Spyder 036i

LINK

Wonder where he got his ideas from.

[artdjones]

On 4/4/2023 at 8:57 PM, bunglebus said:

Next you'll be telling me you've seen a Chang Lee ZLZKC-010

Actually I did once dream about something like that. It was after having 4 rounds of cheese on toast washed down with a couple of pints of stout just before going to bed.

[DavieW]

I didn't get a picture of it, but I saw a Porsche Speedster but it seemed to be built on a full size 911 as it was far too big to be a 356 and sounded like a 6 cyl air cooled engine.

[bunglebus]

23 minutes ago, DavieW said:

I didn't get a picture of it, but I saw a Porsche Speedster but it seemed to be built on a full size 911 as it was far too big to be a 356 and sounded like a 6 cyl air cooled engine.

Yes I've seen one...

Sorry for annoying commentary

 

[artdjones]

The Nissan Tsuru from Mexico, which looks like a Sentra/Sunny clone.

This is a still from its crash test🥺

[MiniMinorMk3]

7 hours ago, barrett said:

The story goes that de Tomaso got wind of the X1/9 project and asked Tjaarda to design a near-identical car, which was quickly built and shown at various Motor Shows prior to the X1/9's public launch, so it would look like Fiat had copied it... You have to admire the dedication to the bit there. No intention of putting it into production, but a car created purely to piss off another manufacturer and culturally devalue their product. Absolutely mental.

The murky story is here

Cars in the storm: 007 Mission X1/9 - Classic wheels (quattroruote.it)

Here's a translation.

Quote

"I'm in Grugliasco" blew the voice of a strange De Tomaso "come here now, I'll wait for you." "Grugliasco, where, doctor? – asked Tjaarda, amazed but not too much.
"But where?!" the whisper became nervous "from what the fenders do to us! What's his name..." "I have other things to finish..."
"Stop everything! We have to make a car. For the Salone. Right away!"
The conversation was in pills, three sentences, two monosyllables. As always with Alejandro the terrible, even in times of maximum love.

"Do you see that wooden mask in the corner?" asked De Tomaso when, after half an hour, he saw Tom enter, pointing to the other side of the shed.
"It seems to me... that Fiat they are doing with Bertone."
"Copy it!" roared De Tomaso, casting him half a glance to see how he reacted. And she walked away, turning her back on him.
Copy?! Tjaarda, he hoped he didn't understand. He was expected to pull out a notepad and sketch out that secret model. There, in front of the owner of the shed, who without much skill would have had to defend the project from prying eyes. But then, why copy? A defenseless object, the result of ideas, effort and who knows what else.

He noticed that De Tomaso had gone to meet the owner of the workshop and had started an animated discussion, perhaps about the prices of supplies. He had the impression that this was also part of the plan, to distract him and allow him to commit the crime. And mentally, because he had neither pen nor paper, he committed it.

From words to deeds. In the few hours it took him to throw the four small-scale views on paper, a good soldier's attitude prevailed, carrying out orders, albeit unjust, because a superior ordered him to do so. And the secret papers disappeared into a drawer waiting for events. Some time passed without anyone coming to claim them. Tjaarda left for the holidays: three weeks a bit wild on the island of Mykonos, together with a university friend found by chance in Europe. Then he returned to Turin and... He discovered that the drawings were gone. De Tomaso, who returned before him, flew to Detroit, bringing with him some projects including those. And after the lightning trip, he had thrown the crumpled rolls on Tom's table: it was necessary to move on to the executive phase, with the shape plan and the wooden model executed outside the plant.

The storm is approaching. At this point the Ghia was murmured. And not only at Ghia. Craftsmen, figurine designers, panel beaters, common employees had heard that the "doctor" was going to bring to the Salone a show-car equal to another already made. A Fiat ready to go into production. The story was so big, paradoxical, unprecedented, that almost everyone thought of a frame-up. Tjaarda decided to talk to a lawyer friend. She feared for her reputation, which had grown in recent years. They imagined various scenarios together, they even thought of getting a voice to Bertone through a former employee.

Heartthrob. In this sea of uncertainty – about the reasons, the plots, the method, the end, even the rules – the designer assumed a fatalistic attitude, convinced that the game was played elsewhere and that for him, after all, nothing would change. So, striving to be a spectator, but with a rapid heartbeat, he looked at the "De Tomaso 1600 spider" - actually the clone of the beautiful "targa" designed by Marcello Gandini, while it was pushed inside the Turin salon of 1971. Right in the middle of the coachbuilders' pavilion, among the spotlights of the Ghia stand.

Old Blane. Under the vault of Torino Esposizioni reigned the ruckus of the eve. It was therefore not those of Bertone, who were also a few meters from the Ghia stand, the first to notice the intruder. It was an English journalist, Douglas Blane of Car Magazine, whom Tom Tjaarda knew well. The canute Blane, omniscient and highly respected, came towards him laughing alone.
"Well, this time you're right out of pumpkin. It will be a mess never seen before!"
"Hopefully..."
"How the hell did you see it?"
"What can I tell you? We went into the shed and it was there."
"Oh well, I see that it is better to wait for events... Shall we go to breakfast together?" concluded Blane, who already had the whole story in mind.

Savoy aplomb. Tjaarda thus had a few hours to watch, from afar, the reactions of Bertone (who turned pale impressively, but maintained his demeanor) and above all of the collaborators (Gandini was missing) who accompanied him at that time. Shouts flew, a few big words, people in the pavilion turned to look. But contrary to predictions, the set piece fell asleep quickly and Nuccio retired to the privé, to try to understand what had gone wrong. On the platforms in front of the stand, the sensational silhouettes of the Countach and Stratos, both just born, left no doubt about who was the greatest Italian coachbuilder at that time.

The Turin scandal. The following week, while the national press avoided taking sides (partly because it knew De Tomaso, very much so as not to displease Fiat) from abroad it poured paginoni on the scandal in Turin. Iacocca was bored and asked Ghia to do something. Hard to know what. Finally, Blane's article came out with the "interview" with Tom Tjarda, the unfortunate American designer who – he confided – "would lose his job" if he refused to follow orders.

 

 

[artdjones]

The Citroeneta, chassis and engine built in France and bodywork built in Chile. Like a 2CV Riley Elf.

[artdjones]

A Bolivian electric car, the Quantum E4, one seat in front, two in the back.