4x4 cars that shoudn't be

[Missy Charm]

22 minutes ago, Andrew353w said:

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.   

The Daihatsu Sirion is, and always has been, available with four wheel drive.  For reasons nobody understands, the Japanese offer 4x4 variants of almost every tiny hatchback.  

[Andrew353w]

15 minutes ago, Missy Charm said:

The Daihatsu Sirion is, and always has been, available with four wheel drive.  For reasons nobody understands, the Japanese offer 4x4 variants of almost every tiny hatchback.  

Always a school day on Autoshite! 

[adw1977]

7 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.

Yes, just a 4x4 badge in the same style as the Sierra badge.

Full resolution pic on Flickr

[Skut]

Gaz 24-95

[Lacquer Peel]

Another lesser known modern 4x4 Ford. 

[Lacquer Peel]

4 hours ago, Andrew353w said:

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.   

You're correct that the Sirion and rebadged Justy were 2WD only in the UK market. 

The 1996-on Justy was a rebadged Swift with all wheel drive. 

[D.E]

Utter madness.

[Lacquer Peel]

8 minutes ago, D.E said:

Utter madness.

You could say it's Mega. 

 

[Asimo]

4 hours ago, Missy Charm said:

For reasons nobody understands, the Japanese offer 4x4 variants of almost every tiny hatchback.  

Here is a clue.

[grogee]

My Dad had a Mazda MPV V6 when he was living in snowy Boston. I thought it was pretty cool at the time. 

[grogee]

4 hours ago, Missy Charm said:

For reasons nobody understands, the Japanese offer 4x4 variants of almost every tiny hatchback

And Kei car. 

I love that the Kei 'wars' of the 80s/90s produced utterly wacky things like these with 4wd, turbos, electronic this and that. 

Meanwhile we drove CE14 Escorts. 

[Metal Guru]

3 hours ago, Asimo said:

Here is a clue.

Japan has a very different climate from end to end. The southern end is almost tropical and the far north is just of the coast of Siberia.

[Madman Of The People]

On 11/12/2024 at 13:19, willswitchengage said:

AMC Eagle

 

The AMC Eagle came in a bewildering variety of body styles…

Station Wagon/Estate

Sedan/Saloon

 

Coupe

Hatchback

Kammback

Sundancer Convertible

 

 

 

[warch]

Cuore Avonzatos were quite popular entry level  rally cars back in the late 90s early 00s. They always looked very tall and unstable but they went well for a 650cc. Had to be one of the lightest awd cars ever built too.

[grogee]

Have we done the Doppelmotors yet? 

[Metal Guru]

5 hours ago, grogee said:

Have we done the Doppelmotors yet? 

That Mini (technically not a Mini) is like the ancestor of my Bini PHEV with two engines. Same colour and badged as a Cooper S.

[Asimo]

 

[sheffcortinacentre]

16 hours ago, Madman Of The People said:

The AMC Eagle came in a bewildering variety of body styles…

Station Wagon/Estate

Sedan/Saloon

 

Coupe

Hatchback

Kammback

Sundancer Convertible

 

 

 

Another Ferguson development.

[Leyland Worldmaster]

On 11/12/2024 at 20:48, Spiny Norman said:

BMW E34 525iX
I looked at buying one of these once but got scared by too many unique to the model bits.

I had one of these a few years ago. The second Transfer Box shat itself just before a load of snowy weather, so never tested it.

 

[EyesWeldedShut]

56 minutes ago, sheffcortinacentre said:

Another Ferguson development.

This one too:

Got to drive one around 1987/88 I think - Turbo Technics were trying to flog them to UK Plod (GMP may have bought some though).
I think they had twin turbos (?)  on a V6 2.8,  decked out with blues and twos but no Police markings (just some Turbo Technics logos)  Straight line stuff was cool but cornering/roundabouts at speed was a new experience (everything else in our stable at that point was pretty much all RWD).
The Met said 'Meh, we'd rather have the Rover 827 Vitesse Hatchback  '.

The Vitesse went to the Traffic Guys and us lot went over to 2.0i RWD Sierras on an auto box from around 1988/89 until the Sierra stopped production.

 

[sheffcortinacentre]

A mate has a 2.9 TT his second. I've had several twincam 4x4  great bit of kit.

[Verysleepyboy]

On 12/12/2024 at 17:30, cobblers said:

I suppose these were never "supposed" to be 4x4, they just got Steyr-Puch to bodge on some drive to the front wheels for a daft laugh. The front diff is basically the middle half of a 2wd gearbox, missing the bellhousing and all the gears with a custom end bit to take a propshaft.

To support all this, there's a subframe that runs front to rear and conveniently all the front suspension mounts off it, too, giving the thing a slight body lift.

 

These were always designed to have a 4x4 version from the original design brief - there was the enlarged tunnel and space left under the floor for the front diff. A small number of development mules on the Bay Window van were produced in advance in the late 1970s  which aided the process.

[DavidB]

I had a Justy 1.2 SII with 4WD (operated by a big red button on the gearknob).

I thought it was a nice looking car, at the same time I had an early WRX too:

[Scruffy Bodger]

7 hours ago, DavidB said:

I had a Justy 1.2 SII with 4WD (operated by a big red button on the gearknob).

I thought it was a nice looking car, at the same time I had an early WRX too:

It still exists. I spent hours and hours and hours saving it because it was totally fucking fucked, big time. 

[DavidB]

2 hours ago, Scruffy Bodger said:

It still exists. I spent hours and hours and hours saving it because it was totally fucking fucked, big time. 

I read that on Migweb I think? I started digging into the arches and found an inch thick of filler. Also the carb was completely knackered I think.
Didn't someone buy it for her girlfriend, and then they split up - do you know what it is doing now?

[Scruffy Bodger]

2 minutes ago, DavidB said:

I read that on Migweb I think? I started digging into the arches and found an inch thick of filler. Also the carb was completely knackered I think.
Didn't someone buy it for her girlfriend, and then they split up - do you know what it is doing now?

Both sides, sill repairs and numerous patches in the rear floors, I charged a pittance to do it.

Yep and nope. I sacked him off after I was meant to do the Dangel pickup for him and he gave all the work to someone else. That properly backfired on him as the work wasn't to an MOTable standard. Karma...