Cars you didn't know existed until very recently.

[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.

 

[MiniMinorMk3]

Not a car, but a sort of caravan

[MiniMinorMk3]

[lesapandre]

On 23/05/2024 at 21:15, Tayne said:

 

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".

It's an HJ61 - which is the number for the updated 60 - new front end and various other bits and pieces like an optional turbocharger. In Europe they were mostly diesel but the US and some other markets got petrol versions.

Boxier but similar 70 Series still sold all over the world - not in Europe I think and definitely not in the UK - probably too reliable...a 4.5 litre non-turbo V8 diesel is available amongst other engines - still with a traditional chassis.

All are grey imports here at well over list price. There is a worldwide distributor in Gibraltar.

[bunglebus]

Saw this on the M25

Which turns out to be an Autotune Aristocat

https://www.autotuneuk.com/classically-styled-sports-cars/aristocat/

[MiniMinorMk3]

Will this get built in RHD, probably not. 

Lancia previews the Ypsilon HF, the Ypsilon Rally 4 HF and is back to rally | Lancia | Stellantis

[egg]

Ford Cirrus concept car. Escort in drag...Marina door handles of course!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Cirrus_concept_car

[Wibble]

On 24/05/2024 at 15:42, mk2_craig said:

Snigger. 

I wondered who they were when I popped into Asda Linwood at the weekend.

[sheffcortinacentre]

7 hours ago, egg said:

Ford Cirrus concept car. Escort in drag...Marina door handles of course!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Cirrus_concept_car

Escort Mexico one off for a newspaper competition  if I recall.

[adw1977]

The Ford Hobby.  A Mark 4 Escort with a 997cc engine, sold in Brazil until 1996.