Cars and car versions mostly unique to a specific country.

[sheffcortinacentre]

Is that from the the Irish franchise the fast ( wafer thin tarmac)& furious ( if you try not to pay) 

[Lord Sterling]

When I was out in Türkiye, I noticed what was basically a booted Fiat Grande Punto, called the Fiat Lindea and built at the Tofaş plant in Bursa, Turkey, with production also occurring in Brazil, many of them were used as taxis and I have to say, I absolutely loved the way it looked.

Civilian one:

I just would. Let's put it that way.

Its replacement model was this:

Fiat Egea, again, a booted Fiat Tipo built at the Tofaş plant in Turkey. I also love the way these looked having veen a passenger in both of them and driven the European hatch versions of both cars.

There is also the Fiat Albea. Not a huge fan as I am of the others, but I wouldn't kick it out of bed.

Of course, who can forget the venerable Tofaş Sahin and Kartal:

In Syria, we have the Iranian-built booted Kia Pride based Saipa Saba:

Civilian version:

These things are bloody everywhere. 

[Tayne]

I will see your Kia Pride saloon and raise you…

 

[Tayne]

Also,

 

 

[ChinaTom]

Back to Seat/Fiat, Colombia had a saloon version of the 147. The Oggi I think. I biffed up and down the Cauca valley in one about 15 years ago.

[sierraman]

Focus saloon as sold in Middle East. 

[Dobloseven]

What about the Austin Ambassador? Don't think it was ever exported or made in LHD form.And did any of the Australian BMC and BL variations ever leave the country?The Nomad,for example.Hatchback ADO 16 with 1500 Maxi engine.

[catsinthewelder]

12 hours ago, sheffcortinacentre said:

 A60 farina pickup ( Riley grilled), 

I'm fairly sure that the A60 was sold in one South American country with a fibreglass body but my Google skills can't find it today.  Not the strangest thing on a Farina chassis though!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamrock_(car)

[warch]

Much like the wildlife Australia had/has a load of unique models which didn't really go anywhere else (apart from New Zealand and South Africa).

Apart from the ubiquitous trayback ute beloved of tradies they also made quite a few unique vehicles, often because offerings from overseas weren't up to snuff (this means you Britain). For my money some of the best looking muscle cars ever made were Australian. 

 

Holden Monaro

Ford Falcon

Falcon Hardtop 

 

Landrover Perentie (galvanised chassis, 4 litre Isuzu diesel engines, 6x6 option)

[warninglight]

1 hour ago, catsinthewelder said:

I'm fairly sure that the A60 was sold in one South American country with a fibreglass body but my Google skills can't find it today.  Not the strangest thing on a Farina chassis though!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shamrock_(car)

I've seen one of the Shamrocks. Pretty poorly executed, from memory!

Venezuela was where the ado16 and Mini were produced in fibreglass, think the Mini was called the Minicord?

There was one GRP ado16 shell on the Isle Of Man which I tried to track down a few years ago. I believe it was built by Peel boat builders (who made the P50) and presumably still exists somewhere, like an old speedboat.

 

[quicksilver]

2 hours ago, Dobloseven said:

What about the Austin Ambassador? Don't think it was ever exported or made in LHD form.And did any of the Australian BMC and BL variations ever leave the country?The Nomad,for example.Hatchback ADO 16 with 1500 Maxi engine.

Apparently 100 or so UK-spec Ambassadors went to Ireland but that was the extent of its exports. Classic BL madness that they spent a fortune creating what was virtually a brand new car and then only sold it in one market.

[Guest]

Not very Autoshite, but what about the Mercedes 200GE?

 

Offered during the W460 generation (also offered during the W463 generation as a G200), basically a model fitted with a 2 litre version of the 230 (M102) engine, designed for markets where cars over 2000cc were/are taxed more (Italy, etc…)

[Volksy]

The French also had tax breaks for 'commercial' versions of cars. 

Years back I had a Renault Clio 1.9C which was a standard Clio diesel, but with the rear seats removed. This made it easier to pile multiple drunk seasonaires in the back!

[warch]

34 minutes ago, Guest said:

Not very Autoshite, but what about the Mercedes 200GE?

 

Offered during the W460 generation (also offered during the W463 generation as a G200), basically a model fitted with a 2 litre version of the 230 (M102) engine, designed for markets where cars over 2000cc were/are taxed more (Italy, etc…)

There was also the Landrover Discovery MPI which came out during the early 90s 

You could buy them in the UK but they were intended to creep under the sub 2000cc tax threshold for the Italian market. The 134hp Rover car derived engine really struggled to give any meaningful performance even when not towing, mainly due to lack of torque at low revs. 

[Tayne]

There was also a Defender Mpi but that may have been Caribiniery only.

[warch]

1 hour ago, Tayne said:

There was also a Defender Mpi but that may have been Caribiniery only.

If we're doing special market Landrover models there was the

late 60s North American Specification 109 Station Wagon which was fitted with the high performance 2.6 straight six engine from a Rover 110 so 123hp instead of 85hp, but at much higher revs. 

early 90s Defender NAS (see below)  which had a 4.0L engine (actually the old 3.9 from the Range Rover) instead of the boggo 3.5L you'd get in the UK and elsewhere and 190hp instead of 135hp

And the South African market Defender fitted with the Beemer 2.8L straight six petrol engine from a 3/5/7 Series with 190hp

[Tayne]

And in Australia you could buy a civilian series 3 109 with an Isuzu 3.9 na diesel engine.

Possibly early 110s were also offered with this engine.

[Barry Cade]

Germany got a lot of 2 doors that we never got here. Granada, Opel Rekord, Vw Jetta, Ascona, Passat..

[D.E]

[D.E]

And for those that enjoy learning about obscure brands from far away (and who doesn't!), the Chinese government used to have policies that could restrict manufacturers to selling their products in one province only:

Quote

The Yemingzu brand was launched in 1988. Yemingzhu is a poetic name; it means luminescent pearl. In 1990 Tianyu Automobile got a car making license from the Sichuan provincial government. That was no easy task. The license had to be approved by four different government agencies: The Sichuan Automobile Industry Office, the Sichuan Provincial Public Security Department, the Chengdu Economic Commission, and the Chengdu Public Security Bureau. Designation was YMZ for Yemingzhu.

Tianyu Automobile did not get a license from the Chinese central government to sell the Yemingzhu YMZ 5010 X nationwide, a problem that plagued so many small automakers in the 1980’s and 1990’s. So officially, they could only sell their cars in their home province Sichuan.

[Markeh]

17 hours ago, Lord Sterling said:

Of course, who can forget the venerable Tofaş Sahin and Kartal:

I flew out today and I find it strangely comforting how many of these are still about. I've always had a bit of a soft spot for them.

[sheffcortinacentre]

2 hours ago, Barry Cade said:

Germany got a lot of 2 doors that we never got here. Granada, Opel Rekord, Vw Jetta, Ascona, Passat..

Mk1-2 Granada 2drs are gorgeous.

[D.E]

And I think the Cavalier Mk2 estate was a UK model only, there's no Caravan version of the Opel Ascona C.

[New POD]

13 minutes ago, D.E said:

And I think the Cavalier Mk2 estate was a UK model only, there's no Caravan version of the Opel Ascona C.

It uses pressings and the boot lid from a Holden Camira in Australia. 

[Dobloseven]

3 hours ago, D.E said:

And for those that enjoy learning about obscure brands from far away (and who doesn't!), the Chinese government used to have policies that could restrict manufacturers to selling their products in one province only:

Noticed when we visited China last year,there were lots of taxis in Beijing with the word on the boot lid.Sort of Avensis,only worse, type things.Horrible to travel in, especially with three in the rear seat.

[ChinaTom]

9 hours ago, D.E said:

And for those that enjoy learning about obscure brands from far away (and who doesn't!), the Chinese government used to have policies that could restrict manufacturers to selling their products in one province only:

Nostalgia! There is a lot more to that story. A military factory (made a dodgy version of the Ital) decided they were going to be the only ones allowed to get rich from civvy vehicles and sent the heavies round to TianYu. I had a few bouncy noisy rides to airports in one of those. They were supposed to ‘remind’ you of the Crowns that folk saw on Hong Kong made soap operas.

A factory in Xi’An made a glorious Shogun/Pajero knock-off too. Early ones powered by Daihatsu Charade engines (from Liuzhou XiaLi factory).

[bunglebus]

On 13/05/2026 at 20:43, sheffcortinacentre said:

There was also those tall rear hatchback ones 205,etc  & original panda with the add on rear with a pair of vertical doors in place of tailgate

Saw this one in Sardinia along with various other oddities