4x4 cars that shoudn't be

[horriblemercedes]

Just now, GeordieInExile said:

Did they make these 4 wheel drive purely to spare it the indignity of being a FWD Jaaaaaaag?

Most of them were front drive. 2.5 and 3.0 were AWD, diesels and 2.1 petrol were front drive

[GeordieInExile]

44 minutes ago, horriblemercedes said:

Most of them were front drive. 2.5 and 3.0 were AWD, diesels and 2.1 petrol were front drive

Really? Huh... I thought they were all 4WD!

[sheffcortinacentre]

Ferguson did 4wd conversions to all sorts Inc several Mustangs a barracuda,tri2000,scimitar,Opel rekord, Capri amongst many.

[cort1977]

5 hours ago, Stinkwheel said:

Must be tough 4x4 systems they use, those V10 trucks have torque forever

I think they essentially put the front end of an F-250 pick in there. Body on frame van so easy enough.

[Pieman]

22 hours ago, NorfolkNWeigh said:

Are you sure it was one of the FF Police ones, I’m sure I remember reading that none were released to the public with only the TRRL one surviving.

 

21 hours ago, sheffcortinacentre said:

Only 20 were made with that one being the only survivor, I think one EST was done too.

It was at least 25 years ago my dad's mate had it, having spoken to his daughter she said the one he had was registration FUP 820H.  Last taxed 2001 and has an export marker on it, I think it went to Australia after he owned it.

[willswitchengage]

21 hours ago, Mrcento said:

Subaru Justy. Basically looked like a Micra of the time in every way., except 4WD.

These do have a potentially unique feature that I've not come across in any other car, ever.

There's an orange button on the end of the gear knob that engages/disengages 4wd mode. Quite literally James Bond stuff.

[willswitchengage]

On the topic of silly US 4*4s, probably the most ridiculous ever was the International CXT extreme luxury pickup / monster truck creation.

 

[andy18s]

3 hours ago, sheffcortinacentre said:

Ferguson did 4wd conversions to all sorts Inc several Mustangs a barracuda,tri2000,scimitar,Opel rekord, Capri amongst many.

They also converted 2 Manta 400's at Opels request which seemed to work well,but vastly underpowered by then.

Opel then switched to the Astra 4s but that group got banned along with group b.

https://mantaclub.org/forums/topic/41453-seeking-further-info-on-the-4wd-prototypes/

[sheffcortinacentre]

There's a book all about the company & it's conversions, well worth a read.

[Lacquer Peel]

[bramz7]

Some of my personal favourites that I have spotted over the years:

[Missy Charm]

On 12/12/2024 at 18:53, andy18s said:

My last Escort

And notably different from arguably the greatest fast Ford of all time:

The Escort Cossie was notable for not really being an Escort at all.  They are, in fact, an Escort body plunked atop a Sierra floor-pan.  The engine is mounted longitudinally, per Sierra norms.  

At the same time, Ford made the Escort RS2000 4x4, which was a 'real' Escort in the sense of being Escort from the ground up.  Those had a transverse engine and unique-to-themselves transfer mechanism and driven back axle.  Quite why is anyone's guess, given the cost involved in putting all that together.  Perhaps it was a way of circumventing the Escort's reputation for poor handling.  

The nineties also bought the elsewhere-mentioned Mondeo 4x4.  Apparently those were entirely unrelated to the RS2000 4x4 and used yet another four-wheel-drive system.  Ford's must have had money to burn in those days.  

However, for a truly obscure 4x4 Ford, look no further than:

Yes, that's a Mondeo Vignale AWD.  

Bet you didn't know those exist!  

[Pieman]

2 hours ago, willswitchengage said:

On the topic of silly US 4*4s, probably the most ridiculous ever was the International CXT extreme luxury pickup / monster truck creation.

 

Should have been advertised as "For when the Range Rover Sport isn't overcompensation enough".

[D.E]

4WD Iveco. It's called a Scam. No, really,

 

 

[cort1977]

12 hours ago, Missy Charm said:

 

Yes, that's a Mondeo Vignale AWD. 

Bet you didn't know those exist!  

No. And now I want one. Off to autotrader.

[DSdriver]

So...

Justifiable reasons for making four wheel drive cars

1. Improved off-road capabilities of vehicles that are genuinely going off-road.

2. Improved tarmac capabilities on fast cars likely to be driven beyond the capabilities of two wheel drive.

3. Use in regions where snow is commonplace.

Nonsense reasons:

It'll look cool in the Lidl carpark.

You never know when if might snow when I take the kids to school in west London.

 

[chaseracer]

On 11/12/2024 at 21:57, Marina door handles said:

Renault 21 TXI Quadra 

This is one of those weird topics that got me excited as young lad/teenager back in the late Eighties, conventional cars that had a 4x4 variant. After Audis Quattro every other manufacturer felt they needed a slice of the AWD pie as well.

 

Weird proportions with the short wheelbase/longitudinal engine.  Much happier with LWB/transverse.  Maybe it's just me... 🤔

[Mrs6C]

On 12/12/2024 at 22:54, adw1977 said:

And there were 4x4 versions of the Sierra, of course.

Many years ago, a friend who worked for British Waterways (as was) in a very rural area, had a Sierra estate with 4WD as a company vehicle. It was in the days before pick-up trucks became a thing in the UK. It enabled him to carry tools and supplies up muddy tracks and across fields to deal with canal and towpath maintenance and repairs etc. IIRC there was a tiny badge on the tailgate that indicated its extra capabilities, but other than that, it looked like a standard model.

[chaseracer]

🤔😎

[horriblemercedes]

13 hours ago, Missy Charm said:

And notably different from arguably the greatest fast Ford of all time:

The Escort Cossie was notable for not really being an Escort at all.  They are, in fact, an Escort body plunked atop a Sierra floor-pan.  The engine is mounted longitudinally, per Sierra norms.  

At the same time, Ford made the Escort RS2000 4x4, which was a 'real' Escort in the sense of being Escort from the ground up.  Those had a transverse engine and unique-to-themselves transfer mechanism and driven back axle.  Quite why is anyone's guess, given the cost involved in putting all that together.  Perhaps it was a way of circumventing the Escort's reputation for poor handling.  

The nineties also bought the elsewhere-mentioned Mondeo 4x4.  Apparently those were entirely unrelated to the RS2000 4x4 and used yet another four-wheel-drive system.  Ford's must have had money to burn in those days.  

However, for a truly obscure 4x4 Ford, look no further than:

Yes, that's a Mondeo Vignale AWD.  

Bet you didn't know those exist!  

Are they that obscure? My colleague has one and I just assumed they were commonplace 

[Metal Guru]

Are we counting hybrids that are 4x4 because the ICE drives the front wheels and the electric motor the back?

We have a Mini PHEV, which can be FWD, RWD or AWD.

[andy18s]

16 hours ago, Missy Charm said:

And notably different from arguably the greatest fast Ford of all time:

The Escort Cossie was notable for not really being an Escort at all.  They are, in fact, an Escort body plunked atop a Sierra floor-pan.  The engine is mounted longitudinally, per Sierra norms.  

At the same time, Ford made the Escort RS2000 4x4, which was a 'real' Escort in the sense of being Escort from the ground up.  Those had a transverse engine and unique-to-themselves transfer mechanism and driven back axle.  Quite why is anyone's guess, given the cost involved in putting all that together.  Perhaps it was a way of circumventing the Escort's reputation for poor handling.  

The nineties also bought the elsewhere-mentioned Mondeo 4x4.  Apparently those were entirely unrelated to the RS2000 4x4 and used yet another four-wheel-drive system.  Ford's must have had money to burn in those days.  

However, for a truly obscure 4x4 Ford, look no further than:

Yes, that's a Mondeo Vignale AWD.  

Bet you didn't know those exist!  

Or...

Only ever seen 1 for sale and that was just after moving to BG .

 

[Missy Charm]

5 hours ago, horriblemercedes said:

Are they that obscure? My colleague has one and I just assumed they were commonplace 

How Many Left reckons there are 510 of the things currently registered in total, which isn't that many.  The figure has to be close to total UK sales, too, given that shape Mondeo is too new to have started to come off the road (barring write-offs, of course).  

[Missy Charm]

5 hours ago, DSdriver said:

So...

Justifiable reasons for making four wheel drive cars

1. Improved off-road capabilities of vehicles that are genuinely going off-road.

2. Improved tarmac capabilities on fast cars likely to be driven beyond the capabilities of two wheel drive.

3. Use in regions where snow is commonplace.

Nonsense reasons:

It'll look cool in the Lidl carpark.

You never know when if might snow when I take the kids to school in west London.

 

It snows in West London every time someone sneezes!  

[Mrs6C]

I'm surprised @LightBulbFun hasn't mentioned them yet ( 🙂 ) but the Steyr-Puch Haflinger was a 4x4... essentially a 4 wheel, 4 seat, 4 wheel drive Model 70...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steyr-Puch_Haflinger

 

[Scruffy Bodger]

5 hours ago, Mrs6C said:

Many years ago, a friend who worked for British Waterways (as was) in a very rural area, had a Sierra estate with 4WD as a company vehicle. It was in the days before pick-up trucks became a thing in the UK. It enabled him to carry tools and supplies up muddy tracks and across fields to deal with canal and towpath maintenance and repairs etc. IIRC there was a tiny badge on the tailgate that indicated its extra capabilities, but other than that, it looked like a standard model.

Even more useful than the Sierra was one of those. The manual versions had a proper low ratio gearbox meaning the 1.8 engine could tow proper loads (off road of course).  They were really well specced from standard and the GLSE and turbo even more so. We had two NA's and a turbo in the mid to late eighties. Hill hold on the manuals was a great feature and worked brilliantly. The turbo version had auto 4WD if it sensed wheelspin, self levelling suspension, ride height adjustment that automatically lowered when it hit a certain speed amongst all the rest of the toys. It really shifted too and must have been one of the fastest estates around at the time?

With a set of M&S tyres they were really capable off road. Sadly virtually none of them survived.

[Andrew353w]

On 11/12/2024 at 19:43, Datsuncog said:

Subaru Justy.

Confession: I didn't know the Justy was a 4x4! I might be confusing this one with a newer model, almost identical to the Daihatsu Syrian, which I'm almost certain isn't a 4x4.   

[Andrew353w]

Yes, it was a 4x4. Powered by a Romanian built Renault 12 engine:

[Zelandeth]

29 minutes ago, Scruffy Bodger said:

Even more useful than the Sierra was one of those. The manual versions had a proper low ratio gearbox meaning the 1.8 engine could tow proper loads (off road of course).  They were really well specced from standard and the GLSE and turbo even more so. We had two NA's and a turbo in the mid to late eighties. Hill hold on the manuals was a great feature and worked brilliantly. The turbo version had auto 4WD if it sensed wheelspin, self levelling suspension, ride height adjustment that automatically lowered when it hit a certain speed amongst all the rest of the toys. It really shifted too and must have been one of the fastest estates around at the time?

With a set of M&S tyres they were really capable off road. Sadly virtually none of them survived.

They sounded absolutely fantastic as well.  That's the main thing I remember about them.

[Scruffy Bodger]

2 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

They sounded absolutely fantastic as well.  That's the main thing I remember about them.

As a delinquent youth my over riding memory is being circa 40+mph sideways across a wet field in my mums one while they were out for the day