The "WTF is that?" thread

[grogee]

24 minutes ago, bunglebus said:

I've been intending to build one of those for years. Finding suitable frames is getting harder as they're all odd shaped tubes and funny angles now

Gumtree is your friend for old bikes. My requirements were: disc frame with front suspension. From memory that GT was £40 although it was pretty shagged when I got it. 

Discs, because you can attach the rear sprocket to the disc mount on the rear wheel rather than the rubber-and-cable-ties method suggested by the Chinese. 

Saying that, what do I know, I'm not even brave enough to ride it. 

[Rod/b]

Given the chain routing i wouldn’t be getting on that without a pair of kevlar long johns and a bulletproof cricket box on. 

[SteersWithThrottle]

[grogee]

2 hours ago, Rod/b said:

Given the chain routing i wouldn’t be getting on that without a pair of kevlar long johns and a bulletproof cricket box on. 

It now has improved* chain routing, a guard, and a better chain tensioner.

I'm still not brave enough to ride it

[mintwth]

3 minutes ago, grogee said:

I'm still not brave enough to ride it

WCPGW? 

[barrett]

7 hours ago, sdkrc said:

Fiat 1100 TV - it's pininfarina

I've posted a series 2 but the one above looks like a series 1

I'm gonna respectfully disagree here. I don't see any similarity to a P F 100TV whatsoever and for various reasons it doesn't look like a Pinin Farina design at all. It's a shame it looks like it's had quite a shitty restoration, so hard to know what's original, but the parts-bin tail lamps, clunky eggcrate grille and lack of obvious badging don't make me think Pinin Farina. Sadly I can't offer an alternative, although I'm going to buy the book about coachbuilt Fiat 1100s and see if it's in there

[quicksilver]

WTF is this? Obviously a freshly imported late 80s/early 90s JDM something or other but no badges or plates and not something I recognise.

[Mrs6C]

1 hour ago, barrett said:

I'm gonna respectfully disagree here. I don't see any similarity to a P F 100TV whatsoever and for various reasons it doesn't look like a Pinin Farina design at all. It's a shame it looks like it's had quite a shitty restoration, so hard to know what's original, but the parts-bin tail lamps, clunky eggcrate grille and lack of obvious badging don't make me think Pinin Farina. Sadly I can't offer an alternative, although I'm going to buy the book about coachbuilt Fiat 1100s and see if it's in there

https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/25339/lot/273/

Ah, wrong one!

[Inspector Morose]

6 hours ago, grogee said:

Deathbike, you say?

I built it two years ago and I haven't been brave enough to ride it yet. 

I might know of a suitable and even more deadly home for that if you ever want to be rid of it.

[Spiny Norman]

2 hours ago, quicksilver said:

WTF is this? Obviously a freshly imported late 80s/early 90s JDM something or other but no badges or plates and not something I recognise.

Possibly a Mazda Luce or Toyota Mark 2?

[quicksilver]

9 hours ago, Spiny Norman said:

Possibly a Mazda Luce or Toyota Mark 2?

Bingo! It's a Toyota Mark II X80. Cheers for that, I was drawn to Toyota but their range is so bewildering I didn't know where to start.

[Adrian_pt]

Bucharest, 1974. Oddly proportioned sedan. I wouldn't be fixated on the Eastern bloc location - literally anything could be found on its streets back then. Opel Rekord perhaps?

[barrett]

38 minutes ago, Adrian_pt said:

Bucharest, 1974. Oddly proportioned sedan. I wouldn't be fixated on the Eastern bloc location - literally anything could be found on its streets back then. Not an Opel or a Ford Taunus. Maybe Japanese?

Interesting find! It's certainly not a 'production' car from any country, but whether it's a factory prototype or a homemade car I can't say. I think the latter is much more likely, given the cruidty of the wheelarch shapes and fitment of the glass. I would guess Moskvitch or IZH-based, but I suspect we'll never know the true identity. I can't see it in any of the usual sources for Soviet homebuilds but I haven't looked very hard tbh.

[goosey]

These exhausts aren’t standard, are they ?

[Spiny Norman]

18 hours ago, SteersWithThrottle said:

Fiat 125GTZ Zagato. Square headlights are a bit of a giveaway.

[TheOtherStu]

2 hours ago, Spiny Norman said:

Fiat 125GTZ Zagato. Square headlights are a bit of a giveaway.

I've still yet to see anything Zagato that improves it. The designs are definitely marmite.

This is their MR2 Roadster offering

[barrett]

1 minute ago, TheOtherStu said:

I've still yet to see anything Zagato that improves it. The designs are definitely marmite.

Bit harsh. Zagato built some of the most beautiful cars in history. The glory days were over by the time the 70s came around, but pretty much everything they did before that was stunning. They were still making incredible stuff right through the 80s - Hyena, Aston, SZ etc. Rarely conventional, but always striking.

 

[TheOtherStu]

14 minutes ago, barrett said:

Bit harsh. Zagato built some of the most beautiful cars in history. The glory days were over by the time the 70s came around, but pretty much everything they did before that was stunning. They were still making incredible stuff right through the 80s - Hyena, Aston, SZ etc. Rarely conventional, but always striking.

 

See. with those above, they were indeed nice cars, but certainly the ones I recognise (particularly the Aston Martins) I much prefer the originals. I don't really see what they brought to the party. The DB4 GT, for example, was a beautiful machine. I'm aware that Zagato lightened it, but I didn't really get the minor external differences - I prefer the lights of the original which led to the DB5 looks.

[chaseracer]

Lancia Fulvia Zagato:  imaginative yet hugely inconvenient bonnet arrangement...

...but excellent use of Peugeot 204 tail lights...

[Spiny Norman]

2 hours ago, TheOtherStu said:

I've still yet to see anything Zagato that improves it. The designs are definitely marmite.

Agreed.
Personal taste and all that but I've never seen a Zagato design I preferred to the original, and quite a few have made me go 'WTF have they done with that...'

[bunglebus]

2 hours ago, chaseracer said:

hugely inconvenient bonnet arrangement

Yes. Do not like front/side opening bonnets, means access is only from two sides rather than three. I'm sure early Fiestas, Dolomites etc had them for some crash safety reason but they suck

[grogee]

4 hours ago, TheOtherStu said:

I've still yet to see anything Zagato that improves it. The designs are definitely marmite.

This is their MR2 Roadster offering

FTFY

[martc]

4 hours ago, TheOtherStu said:

I've still yet to see anything Zagato that improves it.

That's a bit harsh, what about the Hillman Zimp?

[MrBiscuits]

1 hour ago, bunglebus said:

Yes. Do not like front/side opening bonnets, means access is only from two sides rather than three. I'm sure early Fiestas, Dolomites etc had them for some crash safety reason but they suck

I guess the one redeeming feature is that they won't fly open. 

I've only owned one with a front hinge - BMW E34, bloody thing nearly knocked me out once when the gas struts lost a fight with the wind 

[High Jetter]

5 hours ago, chaseracer said:

Lancia Fulvia Zagato:  imaginative yet hugely inconvenient bonnet arrangement...

...but you can drive forwards with the bonnet open, should you wish. Shape of the car is great.

[mitsisigma01]

8 hours ago, TheOtherStu said:

I've still yet to see anything Zagato that improves it. The designs are definitely marmite.

This is their MR2 Roadster offering

🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮

[Austat]

On 11/18/2021 at 10:06 PM, Adrian_pt said:

Bucharest, 1974. Oddly proportioned sedan. I wouldn't be fixated on the Eastern bloc location - literally anything could be found on its streets back then. Opel Rekord perhaps?

Looks like a homemade attempt at an Opel Rekord A to me:

[Austat]

Spotted in eye-catching b&ws thread:

What's this?

[Sham]

I think... That's a Maserati. A Sebring, perhaps?

[dikkehemaworst]

3 hours ago, Austat said:

Spotted in eye-catching b&ws thread:

What's this?

Thats a maserati !  

I use to live in that neighbourhood in Amsterdam,  and it was just an old banger back then.   My friends father had a New citroen Gs break, that was the shizzle!!  How little did we know...

The Dutch licenceplates of the maser still Come up , so it's still around.