Cars you didn't know existed until very recently.

[Remspoor]

Sabberton Omen.

https://www.corvettekingdom.co.uk/article/corvette-kingdom/sabberton-omen-24-06-2003/23

 

 

[DavieW]

I saw this Gilburn convertible on Saturday. I knew they did an estate as well as the normal 2 door but I've never seen a soft top version. 

 

[egg]

Mazda 121 concept that never emerged, sadly.

[sutty2006]

JIMP (stop sniggering at the back there!) kit car based on a …… metro? Series Landrover mash? 
 

 

[Muniphobia]

Reliant Rialto grille?

[lesapandre]

4 hours ago, sutty2006 said:

JIMP (stop sniggering at the back there!) kit car based on a …… metro? Series Landrover mash? 
 

 

t'interweb throws up this:

"PK Jimp (1981-84) Engine 850 cc, production around 150. Built on Reliant Kitten underpinnings and running gear and an aluminium shell the Jimps were built by Peter Kukla of Sandbach. Designed by John Crosswaite (as well as the Salamander) as a mini Land Rover. The company folded due to a lack of finances."

[Markeh]

A Toyota Porte overtook me earlier:

Someone kawaii-fied a 1007 by the looks of it, although Google since tells me that it's a regular set of doors on the other side.

[bunglebus]

Troll Plastik & Bilindustri was founded in 1956 in Lunde, Norway. Their first car, the the Troll, was a failure, due to government intervention. The Norwegian government had a trade deal with the Soviet Union, trading Norwegian fish for Soviet cars. Only 5 of the original Troll was made.

The Troll was a fiberglass-bodied sports-coupe with a 663cc two-stroke inline 2 producing 30hp, powering the front wheels.

[adw1977]

Shanghai SH760A

Built in 1986 but influenced by the Mercedes "Ponton" body of the 1950s!

Seen in the Louwman Museum in The Hague, which is well worth a visit for anyone visiting the Netherlands. 

[Quintus]

The Pontiac Tojan

https://www.hagerty.com/media/car-profiles/pontiac-tojan-the-car-that-beat-ferrari-to-200-mph/

 

[bunglebus]

UK numberplate..?

[Missy Charm]

50 minutes ago, Quintus said:

The Pontiac Tojan

https://www.hagerty.com/media/car-profiles/pontiac-tojan-the-car-that-beat-ferrari-to-200-mph/

 

Astonishing to think there's a Trans Am underneath that, given the Fiero-esque front and Nissan like rear pillars.  There's a hint of Burt Reynolds about the doors, however.  

There was other twin-turbocharged American stuff about in the eighties, too, with the best example probably being the Callaway Lingenfelter Sledgehammer Corvette:

One of these hit 255 mph in 1988; not only impressive for a road car but faster than the Ferrari F40 by some margin.  The Sledgehammer was a production car of sorts, in that there were several of them.  

[mintwth]

2 hours ago, Quintus said:

The Pontiac Tojan

https://www.hagerty.com/media/car-profiles/pontiac-tojan-the-car-that-beat-ferrari-to-200-mph/

 

Odd choice of name for an American car given it's a well known brand over there

[bunglebus]

Well we had saloons and hatchbacks named after grot mags, so why not?

[Madman Of The People]

 

There was the short-lived Playboy Motor Car Corporation of Buffalo, New York, established in 1947. 

The Playboy had a rear-mounted two litre four cylinder engine and a three speed manual gearbox.  The company only made 99 cars, comprising of one prototype, 97 production models, and one final unfinished car before going bankrupt in 1951.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playboy_Automobile_Company#:~:text=The company only made 99,before going bankrupt in 1951.

Yes, the car predates the magazine but there is a connection between the two.  According to Hugh Hefner himself "The Playboy name was suggested by a friend whose mother had worked at the then defunct Playboy Motor Car Company."

https://www.playboymotorcars.com/

 

 

 

 

Prior to that, there was the Jordan Motor Car Company of Cleveland, Ohio, makers of the Jordan Playboy.  Jordan was founded in 1916 but had fallen victim to the Great Depression and had ceased production by 1931.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_Motor_Car_Company

 

[Madman Of The People]

 

Suzuki Hustler.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzuki_Hustler

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hustler_(magazine) 

 

How about the entire Genesis brand?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genesis_Motor

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genesis_(magazine)

 

 

[quicksilver]

Just seen this, which the Dutch vehicle check tells me is a Lancia Belna. Never heard of it but apparently it's an Augusta made in France with about 3000 built between 1934 and 1938. Why is a French domestic market car RHD though?

 

[Mr Pastry]

1 hour ago, quicksilver said:

Why is a French domestic market car RHD though?

 

Lancia were all RHD I think until the early 1950s, even in Italy.  Apparently they thought it was safer or more convenient.  It's surprising that a French market car wasn't changed but presumably there were no LHD parts in existence and the cars were not designed to be convertible.

 

[Rustybullethole]

Whats this then? 

I thought trooper at first though the coachlines look wrong.

[EyesWeldedShut]

6 minutes ago, Rustybullethole said:

Whats this then? 

I thought trooper at first though the coachlines look wrong.

Front one looks like an old Land Cruiser. Back one is a Bremach 4x4 thing.

[Rustybullethole]

3 minutes ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

Front one looks like an old Land Cruiser. Back one is a Bremach 4x4 thing.

Have been told by our man at the scene it was not a toyota! 

[sheffcortinacentre]

Nissan patrol?

[Tayne]

1 hour ago, Rustybullethole said:

Whats this then? 

I thought trooper at first though the coachlines look wrong.

 

The one at the front is a 60series Land Cruiser, its got the later front end so will have been made between 1988 and 1991.

The badge by the fuel cap says "Toyota Land Cruiser".

[Tayne]

1 hour ago, Rustybullethole said:

Have been told by our man at the scene it was not a toyota! 

 

 

https://tinyurl.com/not-a-landcruiser

[barrett]

7 hours ago, quicksilver said:

Why is a French domestic market car RHD though?

A perception of quality. All high-quality French cars were rhd before WW2, with a few stragglers into the '50s. Same goes for Italy. Only 'cheap' makes built lhd cars. The reasons have never been successfully explained - some people talk about rhd being much safer in mountainous regions (ie, the Alps) where you have a better view of the outside edge of the road (a cliff face on one side and a sheer drop on the other), or chauffeurs exiting on the pavement side when parking so they don't have to walk round the car to open the rear door. I dunno, but for whatever reason universal lhd in mainland Europe is a relativdely recent phenomenon.

[artdjones]

Strangely, the vast majority of Swedish cars were lhd even though they actually drove on the left until 1967.

[bunglebus]

Lexus LBX

How exciting 

[mk2_craig]

Snigger. 

[Stinkwheel]

12 minutes ago, mk2_craig said:

Snigger. 

Thats not trying to look like a Rangerover at all is it 😁

[MiniMinorMk3]

On 22/05/2024 at 21:18, Missy Charm said:

Astonishing to think there's a Trans Am underneath that, given the Fiero-esque front and Nissan like rear pillars.  There's a hint of Burt Reynolds about the doors, however.  

There was other twin-turbocharged American stuff about in the eighties, too, with the best example probably being the Callaway Lingenfelter Sledgehammer Corvette:

One of these hit 255 mph in 1988; not only impressive for a road car but faster than the Ferrari F40 by some margin.  The Sledgehammer was a production car of sorts, in that there were several of them.  

Only one Sledgehammer was built on Callaway Corvette Twin-Turbo chassis number 1988-051.

Sledgehammer: When Callaway Built a 255-mph C4 Corvette, the World Took Notice | IMSA

Here's Callaway Twin-Turbo that Dennis Collins has just posted on his YouTube.