Cars you didn't know existed until very recently.

February 24

18 hours ago, bunglebus said:

I was just about to post this - saw a link on FB over the weekend for this stylish beast!

44,452 · February 24

11 hours ago, lesapandre said:

What's this odd model?

Captioned Longbridge 1957.

It's Dick Burzi - BMC design chief and is probably taken in his office in or near the Kremlin - the Longbridge management block.

To his right in the first picture can be seen a model of Pininfarina's new A40 proposal.

But what's the car he's looking at? A practical joke to misdirect the competition, something that came in for evaluation or some sort of experimental project?

It's a styling idea - as you can see the rear light and wing treatment are different.

Is this a big Austin that just never got made?

Could it be a failed styling attempt at replacing the Austin Atlantic?

February 24

11 hours ago, Aston Martin said:

Then renamed again to the 03.

GWM is the manufacturer - Great Wall Motors

All of the range have been renamed to numbers now across the world, which IIRC caused quite a kerfuffle with insurers in the UK who no longer recognised what their customers new car was!

21,227 · February 24

1 hour ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

Could it be a failed styling attempt at replacing the Austin Atlantic?

Something I have never seen before. It does not look a practical proposition - the curved glass rear window would have been very expensive alone to make - more a styling or 'dream car' study and very similar to a lot of the ideas coming out of the US at the time - and it has none of that practical BMC feel, very space inefficient, but the jury is out.

Fascinating to see Burzi's own office - all kinds of framed sketches on the wall.

This is possibly the A90 Westminster dashboard pod sketch for example.

Burzi probably sketched a lot of other idea stuff that never made it past a first look by the BMC board.

9,586 · February 27

On 23/02/2025 at 22:33, lesapandre said:

What's this odd model?

Captioned Longbridge 1957.

It's Dick Burzi - BMC design chief and is probably taken in his office in or near the Kremlin - the Longbridge management block.

To his right in the first picture can be seen a model of Pininfarina's new A40 proposal.

But what's the car he's looking at? A practical joke to misdirect the competition, something that came in for evaluation or some sort of experimental project?

It's a styling idea - as you can see the rear light and wing treatment are different.

Is this a big Austin that just never got made?

Interesting pictures!

No idea what that model was, it certainly doesn't seem to have influenced any production models.

Vents at the rear suggest rear engined.

12,015 · February 27

11 minutes ago, adw1977 said:

Vents at the rear suggest rear engined.

Hmm, that’s got me thinking. In the 50s, BMC was working on a rear engined saloon with ERA and it would be natural that Burzi would be brought in to style it. From the photos I’ve seen, this is nothing like what was produced but it might have been an initial styling idea.

The rear engined saloon project was dropped in favour of ADO15 - mini.

9,586 · February 27

Some info on the ERA rear engined prototypes:

AROnline

11,574 · March 2

A 'Trotter' possibly.

Looks as though Trotters may have been involved in its creation.

21,227 · March 2

On 27/02/2025 at 21:45, adw1977 said:

Some info on the ERA rear engined prototypes:

AROnline

Fascinating - yes that's possibly what it is part of. Amazing.

Clearly rear-engined - there are vents beside the rear lights.

First appearance of the word 'maxi' too.

16,003 · March 4

Peugeot 205 Estate.

A Pinifarina concept that never made it.

Seen in the background of this video.

10,940 · March 6

Skoda Enyaq Coupe. I've just seen one this colour and it looked like a hideous bloated lime.

14,576 · March 6

1 hour ago, quicksilver said:

Skoda Enyaq Coupe. I've just seen one this colour and it looked like a hideous bloated lime.

I like that.

23,075 · March 6

I think most of us have seen or heard of the Spanish Brand EBRO.

In the past they made Ford's Thames Trader lorries under licence. Plus the D series too. After various other models they were taken over by Nissan in 1987. Nissan still make some models in Spain but the company name EBRO was sold to EV Motors in 2021. In 2023 a joint venture is signed between EV Motors and the Chinese company Chery Automobile.

Now they make two SUVs. Again licenced copies of another brand.

The EBRO S700 and EBRO S800. are shipped as CDK to Spain.

The same SUVs are also being sold in Europe by the Italian DR Automobiles.

Badge engineering is just awful these days

20,529 · March 6

2 hours ago, quicksilver said:

Skoda Enyaq Coupe. I've just seen one this colour and it looked like a hideous bloated lime.

I saw one at Lidl the other day.

2,691 · March 14

When you're not sure if you want a people carrier, a golf, a 4x4 or a Passat estate.

10,940 · March 14

3 hours ago, 1duck said:

When you're not sure if you want a people carrier, a golf, a 4x4 or a Passat estate.

I remember those. The slogan was literally "like a Golf but bigger", which pretty much summed up how pointless they were.

2,691 · March 15

9 hours ago, quicksilver said:

I remember those. The slogan was literally "like a Golf but bigger", which pretty much summed up how pointless they were.

That actually triggered a memory, still didn't know it existed.

58,485 · March 15

Seem the plus, and a cross, but not a plus cross.

A bit like the Beetle Dune we didn't get here

58,485 · March 15

See'd a Fiat 600 the other day, quite odd looking

15,283 · March 15

Nissan BE-1

18,307 · March 15

For some reason that Nissan BE-1 looks like a modernised ADO16 to me.

11,935 · March 16

21,227 · March 16

4 hours ago, Peter C said:

Mucho wanto!

3,162 · March 16

On 15/03/2025 at 10:47, High Jetter said:

Nissan BE-1

I really like this run of pseudo retro shite Nissan put out in the nineties. Especially the S Cargo.

23,075 · March 16

12 hours ago, Peter C said:

There badged Mercedes built in Spain It is also known as the DKW F 1000. A Mercedes-Benz MB100 is a just a re-bodied version of the F1000. The MB100 had was produced in several counties before the end of life.

8 hours ago, lesapandre said:

Mucho wanto!

https://www.milanuncios.com/venta-de-coches-clasicos/mercedes-dkw-512629223.htm

6,552 · March 16

Toyota’s innovative High Mobility Vehicle the BX10. Just the job for parking with extreme difficulty outside any school, leisure centre or horse riding establishment.

2,583 · March 16

On 14/03/2025 at 18:27, 1duck said:

When you're not sure if you want a people carrier, a golf, a 4x4 or a Passat estate.

A plus is a cross: +. Surely that thing ought to be called the VW Tautology?

On the subject of weird cars:

we all know about the expensive, Audi Q4 E-Tron bustleback:

Well, I was waiting for a bus the other day and what should go past but one of those with a strange, silver pipe poking out of the back. Even odder, the pipe was puffing out clouds of white steam. It was one of these:

Yes, there is indeed now a 'fake' E-Tron which is powered by a petrol engine, of all things. How very strange. Audi call the thing the 'Q3 Sportback'. To make things odder, there's set to be a plug-in hybrid version of the Q3, which will have to be called the 'Nearl-E-Tron'.

9,586 · March 18

This is a current model, the Toyota Corolla Commercial:

It looks exactly the same as a Corolla estate, except the wheels are 15" steels with wheel trims, not available on the Corolla cars.

Inside there are two seats, a metal bulkhead separating the seats from the cargo area and a rubber mat in the back, according to the brochure description. Unfortunately the brochure doesn't actually illustrate the load area! It also doesn't make clear whether the rear side doors open.

13,950 · March 18

2 hours ago, adw1977 said:

This is a current model, the Toyota Corolla Commercial..............

Japan have long had 'van' versions of estates, just seems to be a thing there. Makes sense for us to get one or two now the traditional car-derived van is no more.

Wonder if they are taxed as a commercial vehicle here, and if so what is needed to prove that?

23,075 · March 18

7 hours ago, adw1977 said:

Unfortunately the brochure doesn't actually illustrate the load area! It also doesn't make clear whether the rear side doors open.

An image from Eire may help

The Toyota UK website has a closer view of the load area. But you can see the rear doors open.

https://media.toyota.co.uk/images/corolla-commercial-interior-2023-current/

Cars you didn't know existed until very recently.

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