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The "WTF is that?" thread


bunglebus

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On 13/06/2022 at 21:40, Spiny Norman said:

Cheers, Foden was my first guess but I couldn't find a match on Google.
Edit: Couldn't find any Fodens that looked like that but further digging has uncovered the Hydrocon Hamilton. Might be Foden mechanical bits, I haven't checked  but the body is Hydrocon's own.

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@Spiny Norman Lambert Engineering Co (Glasgow) Ltd, Hydrocon Works, Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire.
Builders of 'Hydrocon' Hydraulic Construction mobile cranes mounted on Thornycroft, Albion & Foden truck chassis.

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2 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

can you remember at least any partial details? depending on what parts you may recall it might be enough for a DVLA nerd like myself to figure out the rest :) 

Very little, I'm afraid. If it was an obvious custom reg or an old style plate/reg I would have noticed I think, but this was just a regular black-characters-on-white-background plate. Besides, there wasn't much time in between this thing passing by on a trailer, me realizing that it wasn't just one of the many classic British roadsters on our roads, and frantically trying to find my camera for some pictures.😁

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37 minutes ago, Vantman said:

@Spiny Norman Lambert Engineering Co (Glasgow) Ltd, Hydrocon Works, Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire.
Builders of 'Hydrocon' Hydraulic Construction mobile cranes mounted on Thornycroft, Albion & Foden truck chassis.

I'm going down to get some photos of it this week so I'll get a closer look.

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3 hours ago, D.E said:

Something I've spotted last year. The general consensus when I discussed this elsewhere was that it was possibly VW based, but we couldn't find out exactly what it was. It was RHD, had a UK license plate at the front (I cannot remember the reg), a fake "JB-007-SPY" plate at the back, and the front was very Aston DB5/6 like but much cruder.

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I beg to differ.  The wheelbase and rear overhangs look all wrong for a VW.  The rear wheels are set very far back in relation to the rest of the bodywork; there doesn't look to be room for an engine and gearbox to sit aft of them.  My suspicion, then, is that all there is back there is a simple dead axle, in turn suggesting the mystery car is front wheel drive.  Something about it is saying 'Ford', but I don't know why.  Could there be Fiesta running gear beneath?  The body's obviously a custom job.  

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39 minutes ago, Missy Charm said:

I beg to differ.  The wheelbase and rear overhangs look all wrong for a VW.  The rear wheels are set very far back in relation to the rest of the bodywork; there doesn't look to be room for an engine and gearbox to sit aft of them.  My suspicion, then, is that all there is back there is a simple dead axle, in turn suggesting the mystery car is front wheel drive.  Something about it is saying 'Ford', but I don't know why.  Could there be Fiesta running gear beneath?  The body's obviously a custom job.  

My initial thought was that the wheels were from an Fiesta Mk I which prompted me to search for Mk I based kit cars and such, but a. this didn't produce any results that look anything like this and b. the wheels do not seem to be from a Fiesta after all, Fiesta ones have less holes in them.

ford-fiesta-mk1-ford-fiesta-for-sale-in-

Of course, it doesn't necessarily have to be based on the car the wheels are from...

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That is 100% without a doubt a VW 1600 which has been chopped about. No question. I'd guess one of two reasons it looks like that - 1. it's a static prop with no drivetrain (this was my first thought when I saw it) or 2. the engine/drivetrain is now in the front (which could well be the case seeing how the nose has been extended). In any case, it looks shit.

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On 6/19/2022 at 4:49 PM, D.E said:

Something I've spotted last year. The general consensus when I discussed this elsewhere was that it was possibly VW based, but we couldn't find out exactly what it was. It was RHD, had a UK license plate at the front (I cannot remember the reg), a fake "JB-007-SPY" plate at the back, and the front was very Aston DB5/6 like but much cruder.

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51390489658_974fa4504b_b.jpg

K70 steelies sans-hubcaps?

Volkswagen K70 - Wikipedia

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3 hours ago, Missy Charm said:

The K70 appears to have had five bolt hubs, whereas the mystery car has four bolts...

Ehhh... the search goes on. I do wonder why VW deemed 5 bolts necessary on such a small car, all the way back in the year of my birth.

Though, thinking on it, didn't early US spec Beetles have 5 bolt wheels..?

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On 19/06/2022 at 23:49, bunglebus said:

Biggest question is what is it supposed to look like if it's a TV/movie/museum prop? Can't think of any 007 vehicle it even vaguely represents

Also with a bit of adjustment you can see a fuel tank(?) under the back

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It's supposed to be an Aston Martin DB5, going by the tail-lights.  We'll probably never know what the car 'is', but best guess is that it's got home made coachwork atop whatever chassis would have been cheap at the time.  The proportions hint at front wheel drive so the running gear could be anything from Ford Fiesta to Austin Maxi.  The wheels have an air of Ford, whereas the brightwork looks Leyland like.  The central instrument binnacle suggests a Mini dashboard.  Someone, somewhere has put a lot of work into it, leaving the rest of us to question why.  

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34 minutes ago, Missy Charm said:

It's supposed to be an Aston Martin DB5

I guess so - which leads me to wonder why remove the roof! I'm 100% certain the body is type 3 VW, I'd love to find out more about it but Googling various things has found nothing so far

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