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Missy Charm

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Who remembers when Hyundai went through their weird, overly tall city car phase?

Exhibit A: The Atoz...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51696246067_2b2ae33a7a_b.jpg


Exhibit B: The Amica

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/52/Hyundai_Amica_Si_2001.jpg/1280px-Hyundai_Amica_Si_2001.jpg#

 

The similarities in design are intentional; in some markets they were both sold as the Atos, with the Atoz being the first generation the Amica being the second generation.

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2 hours ago, Soundwave said:

Who remembers when Hyundai went through their weird, overly tall city car phase?

Exhibit A: The Atoz...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51696246067_2b2ae33a7a_b.jpg


Exhibit B: The Amica

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/52/Hyundai_Amica_Si_2001.jpg/1280px-Hyundai_Amica_Si_2001.jpg#

 

The similarities in design are intentional; in some markets they were both sold as the Atos, with the Atoz being the first generation the Amica being the second generation.

Not quite: they were sold simultaneously here. The upper one was marketed as the Atos Multi, the other was named Atos Spirit. The Spirit was aimed at younger buyers. Which, in reality, didn't really work out like that and both models were usually driven by the elderly...

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4 hours ago, bunglebus said:

I drive past one several times a week, lives near my mum and daughter. Think the name put people off, like the 

image.thumb.png.50c47128d31d7c831f5afd13022de67a.png

Not sure what people made of the 

image.thumb.png.cb715bd749d715401b31852eabbb7c59.png

either

My wife always liked the Ford/Mazda combo but I think they were prone to tinworm - and there's a Renault like the one you see around here too - usually in Morrison's (Aberystwyth) car park so we reckon the owner works there.

Another car my wife would drive... she always gives 'em nicknames so - Anal for one, not sure about the Renault

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I can't recall the last time I saw a Renault Megane Scenic.

Renault Megane Scenic (1997 - 1999) used car review | Car review | RAC Drive

None listed on eBay, seldom ever seen now despite being everywhere in the late 90s.  

Mind you, the revised Scenic is going the same way now, I see one every day on my way to work but other than that, they seem to have mostly vanished too.  Perhaps arduous family duties followed by neglect and general fragility saw most of them off after ten years or so.

Picture 1 of 12

My parents had one new, a 1.4 which seemed incredibly clever and modern with all its seat permutations and cubby holes, but which could barely get out of its own way when fully loaded and broke down twice in the first two years.  I still have a vague desire to own one.

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After looking at the car @FakeConcern posted in the tarp challenge thread, I drove past a local garage that sometimes has interesting shite and saw an X90. I've no idea how long ago I saw one previously. Searching for a pic I find it described as 'the worst car ever' on a familiarly named site:

suzuki-X-90

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14 hours ago, phil_lihp said:

I can't recall the last time I saw a Renault Megane Scenic.

Renault Megane Scenic (1997 - 1999) used car review | Car review | RAC Drive

None listed on eBay, seldom ever seen now despite being everywhere in the late 90s.  

Mind you, the revised Scenic is going the same way now, I see one every day on my way to work but other than that, they seem to have mostly vanished too.  Perhaps arduous family duties followed by neglect and general fragility saw most of them off after ten years or 

Same with the Mk2 Megane.  They were everywhere but seemed to disappear almost overnight. 

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On 3/13/2023 at 4:38 PM, Harriytait said:

The MK1 Toyota Prius, I’ve always sort of wanted one but never enough to actually buy one, I haven’t seen one on the road in years, the batteries have probably all died now

780AA9C6-8ECF-450A-81B6-4BA0EE4331F6.jpeg

Not sure if these were ever ‘on sale’ to the public here, I think fleets could have some if they were really interested.

I mean, if you asked hard enough I’m sure Toyota G.B. would have taken your money, at least on a lease, but unlike the Insight they weren’t actively retailed to private customers. 

The above probably also applied to the hydrogen powered Mirai(?), ostensibly available for a few years in the 2010s, at around £50k for a weirdly styled car the size of a Corolla, and which you could only refuel in 6 places in the country or suchlike - well demand was pretty minuscule I imagine. 

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On 3/13/2023 at 6:55 PM, Dyslexic Viking said:

Gaz/Volga 21/22 once one of Norway's most common taxis and was everywhere.

831975926_Screenshot2023-03-1319_49_47.thumb.png.bcf59ce80c302af46aae4e6be6c5e031.png

I think these were available with Perkins diesels on a few continental markets, such as Belgium, Holland, Switzerland  etc. Presumably for taxi and other fleets as I’d imagine it would be a strange purchase for a private buyer over a Peugeot or Mercedes diesel, even given the initial saving. 

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On 3/14/2023 at 8:54 PM, RoverFolkUs said:

Dare I add the Volvo S90? No, not the new ones, the old ones, and not ones badged as a 960.. 

image.png.52c9c8553ef6915f9dbb9a7d0105e563.png

I suppose you could add the V90 but the S90 seems far more scarce, as I've seen a couple of early V90's about 

From memory you could buy the new S80 at the same time, so unless you really wanted to have your big prestigious Volvo saloon to have RWD and a general air of a 1981 Lincoln Town Car you went for the newer model. I mean, we love this sort of thing, but I doubt American land yacht kitsch was a widely shared passion amongst Volvo’s British target market in 1998.

I suspect S90s mainly sold to funeral companies, or firms who stretched them a bit to allow for a glass division and two jump seats, and then onto funeral companies. 

Whereas the V90 was on its own as the range-topping estate with no freshly shaped FWD in-house competition for at least two years. 

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43 minutes ago, AnthonyG said:

Not sure if these were ever ‘on sale’ to the public here, I think fleets could have some if they were really interested.

I mean, if you asked hard enough I’m sure Toyota G.B. would have taken your money, at least on a lease, but unlike the Insight they weren’t actively retailed to private customers. 

The above probably also applied to the hydrogen powered Mirai(?), ostensibly available for a few years in the 2010s, at around £50k for a weirdly styled car the size of a Corolla, and which you could only refuel in 6 places in the country or suchlike - well demand was pretty minuscule I imagine. 

i've seen one on an x plate ( i think) knocking about the village. has mismatched blue and silver panels.

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Did Megane 2s last long enough to go rusty though?

Mk1 Meganes and Scenics did, as I remember ones with scabby sills, but I got the strong impression the second generation of both self destructed well before they got a chance to go rusty, mostly due to a terrible diesel engine design? 

Even now I still see facelifted Scenic 1s out and about, tatty but surviving, but I very rarely spot a second generation one, or any ‘big bum’ Megane. 

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Not sure I can remember any MK2 Megane's rotting away, they always seemed pretty solid. Although as said, the engines kippered themselves or the electrics went "sizzle" before said iron could oxidise! 

I dipped my finger in the coolant reservoir of a 1.6 petrol one recently because it looked interesting. Wasn't coolant in there, it was thick, gloopy milkshake 🤣

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The Mk1 Megane use to rot round the backs of the sills, my old man had one, at the factory they’d painted over the rubber bung designed to let water out of the sills. First came to our attention when he reported a sloshing sound when he pulled up. Then about a litre of rusty water came out when I pierced the rubber bung. They used to rot the rear crossmember out as well, though this isn’t actually a test failure on one of these. 

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9 hours ago, AnthonyG said:

I think these were available with Perkins diesels on a few continental markets, such as Belgium, Holland, Switzerland  etc. Presumably for taxi and others fleets as I’d imagine it would be a strange purchase for a private buyer over a Peugeot or Mercedes diesel, even given the initial saving. 

I think you are right about that. But think all sold in Norway was petrol.

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21 hours ago, High Jetter said:

After looking at the car @FakeConcern posted in the tarp challenge thread, I drove past a local garage that sometimes has interesting shite and saw an X90. I've no idea how long ago I saw one previously. Searching for a pic I find it described as 'the worst car ever' on a familiarly named site:

suzuki-X-90

2wd X90's are actually quite in demand as trials cars, believe it or not

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On 12/03/2023 at 22:15, bunglebus said:

Saw a proton Impian today

Used Proton Impian Saloon (2001 - 2007) Review | Parkers

 

 

Don't know where you saw it,  but those Proton Impians were strangely popular amongst the retired residents of the Essex seaside - Southend, Clacton and beyond.  I suppose it was the combination of buyers old enough to want a 'new Cortina' type car, and the urge to have the latest number plate, regardless of what it was attached to; a year old second-hand Mondeo or similar would have been better, but it wouldn't have been new...  

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