Shite Special Editions - many out there?

[M'coli]

In the early 1990s, there used to be an AX "Tyrolean" not far from where I grew up, which I am sure was either a dealer-derived edition or something that sprung from the mind of the original purchaser. It had large graphics depicting a stylised Swiss bloke playing an alpenhorn on its flanks

I'm sure there have been a few AXs with filler that looks like that!

[R9UKE]

Saw a Citroen ZX Pzazz today!

[Tayne]

Right, its Defender time.

 

Back in '92 Land Rover brought out this.

The Defender 90SV!

Check out that open roll cage, canvas roof, alloys, metallic paint, funky graphics

and noisy diesel engine.

They sold 90.

 

In reality, it was a test run for the North American Spec models.

The Defender 110 was launched in the states and canada in '92 with a limited run of 500.

All were white with a white roll cage (lawsuit paranoia anyone), white steel wheels and optional bull bar, steps and basket roof rack.

The standard fit air-con lead to the fitment of an ugly dash with no storage.

The 3.9Efi V8 made up for some this though.

These are now highly sought after over there and a good one can fetch over $50k!

 

The Defender 90s were sold over there between '93 and '98.

There were station wagons, soft-tops and handful of in-betweens. Five speed manual to begin with and later four speed ZF auto. Colours were bright yellow, bright red, dark green (two shades over the years) or white.

This is the one that sums it up though.

Bright yellow paint, a soft top, alloys, chunky tyres and V8.

A world away from the dull, dirty farmer's Defender back home, they weren't poseur cars then (over here at least).

In the US/Canada they were marketed as a premium product (over $10k more than a Jeep Wrangler) and most were seen posing around fashionable expensive areas.

I think they sold around 7000 in five years.

 

Back in the UK, there wasn't much until '98.

This is the 50th Anniversary.

Its the car that Americans/Cannucks were getting, a V8 station wagon with an auto box, front cage and alloys.

Ours had special turquoise paint which was also shared with Freelander and Discovery special editions, they had diesel engines though.

Numbers were in the high hundreds.

 

Also in '98 were the Heritage editions.

Also available as 110s, the light and dark green paint, coloured wheels (now alloys) and (fake) mesh grills were meant to hark back to the first Land Rovers.

The interiors had green leather and a few chrome pieces though the drive trains were standard TD5 manuals.

Numbers were in the high hundreds and Billy Connoly had a Heritage 110 which he painted yellow and towed his trike around England/Wales/NI for a "world tour" show.

 

In the first Tomb Raider movie in 2000 Angelina Jolie drove this.

Its a 110 Hi-Cap with a big cage, very little upper body work and a lot of bolt on bits.

Looks like it would be perfect for a jobbing plumber in a hot country with a low crime rate and a poor road system.

The vehicle the public could buy was a little different.

90 station wagon or 110 double cab, cage, checker plate, unique Bonatti Grey paint (later available on the whole range) and a circular plaque on the wings in the style of some artifact from the film.

Numbers were gain in the high hundreds and, like the Heritage models, they now command strong money.

 

In 2003 the G4 challenge was run and the intention was a yearly international off-road event to replace the Camel Trophy.

There were properly prepared G4 RRs, RR Sports, Freelanders, Discoveries and Defenders all in Tangiers Orange.

However the resultant special editions were a poor show.

Available as Discoveries, Freelanders and Defenders, they had some small G4 stickers on the wings and rear, a plastic a-bar and a fake roll cage.

Colours were Tangiers Orange, silver and yellow.

They had none of the useful off-road and expedition kit that their namesakes had.

 

Since then there's been a Black Edition.

It was black and had black-out windows.

 

In 2008 the SVX was launched for the 60th anniversary.

All were black with satin black graphics and featured racing bucket seats (£3k if purchased on their own), a unique soft top model with cage, unique wheels, some interior bling and cheap looking headlights (concealing an extra set of driving lamps).

The drivetrain was the standard Ford Puma diesel engine and six speed box and on the options list was this incredibly well integrated sat-nav.

 

 

Land Rover dealers have also put together their own special editions.

This is the Braemar.

Sold through Scottish dealers a few years ago (I think they also did an Aviemore) it was silver with a few bolt ons and a "special" badge.

 

Johhny Foreigner has been at it as well.

This is the "Libyan Sands".

Land Rover Defender 90 TD5 by Tayne, on Flickr

A basic spec 90 with sand paint and those "special" badges.

 

 

You can expect more run-out special editions over here before the new Defender in 2015.

[CreepingJesus]

Cheers for that, I was wondering when you'd get round to it! Must try harder to snap the Tangiers (very) Orange G4 spec-ed that kicks around here.

[Tayne]

I'd forgotten about it actually.

 

The G4 near you may be an original event vehicle. Or it may be a "special" edition (off-road accessories by fisher price).

[CreepingJesus]

I'm sure it's got a W.Midlands reg number, which made me wonder if it was one of the event cars. It's most often seen pulling a twin axle trailer, loaded with stuff for the guy's gardening business.

[Felly Magic]

Skoda have had their fair share of special editions, especially on the Felicia. We've had the Laurin & Klement (1.3GLXi with full leather, alloys, metallic paint, front fogs etc), Bohemia (again a GLX, but this time with full colour coding, rear spoiler, alloys & leccy windows), Pacific (GLi with weird blue interior and blue paint), and what I run around in, a 1.3 LXi with the bonus of granite paint, front fogs, split rear seat, alloys, remote central locking & alarm and electric windows, plus Magic graphics. There is someone who owns an uber rare Rapid '90', which was done in 1984 to celebrate 90 years of Skoda. It is black, with alloys & suitable stickers. And who cannot forget the Felicia 1.6 pickup Fun, only available in yellow...

 

 

Also I'm surprised we haven't seen the Austin Rover Advantage editions, which looked like MG's had white alloys and bumper trim, garish interiors and burgundy paint. I believe they were 1.3 Metros and 1.6 Maestros under the skin.

[R9UKE]

Resurrected after 4 years - there's bound to be plenty more to contribute.

 

I actually went looking for this thread after stumbling across what must be Renault's last streak of madness before they went all Kadjar-electric-dull.  

 

The Mégane CC Floride.  I have no doubt there'll be a few of these gracing the beige pages of the future... I know I'll have one anyway.  

 

Made in 2012, available only in Cream (and cream wheels too) with that mad interior and the 1.4 TCe petrol engine.  It was meant to pay homage to the 50s.  Nobody bought them.  

 

The bottom has completely fallen out of the value of the Mégane II CC.  The auctions I go to always have a few 2004/5 cars selling for sub £500.  Won't be long for this then!

 

 

 

 

 

[sierraman]

In car makers diction, special usually means not very special at all. Invariably a base spec Nova with a few dealer added shit like mudflaps, an awful Alba Stero, some garish seat covers and some bright stickers emblazoning that you've bought the 'speshal' edition in the misguided advice of the salesman who quoted that you could hope at resale you could be looking at as much as 2-3% more than all the other Nova 1.0 Merits when you chop it in.

[Eddie Honda]

The Mégane CC Floride.

Here, have two for the price of one.

 

A CC Floride and a Volvo 343DL Black Beauty.

 

DSCF3377 by E Honda, on Flickr

[Tamworthbay]

In car makers diction, special usually means not very special at all. Invariably a base spec Nova with a few dealer added shit like mudflaps, an awful Alba Stero, some garish seat covers and some bright stickers emblazoning that you've bought the 'speshal' edition in the misguided advice of the salesman who quoted that you could hope at resale you could be looking at as much as 2-3% more than all the other Nova 1.0 Merits when you chop it in.

remember all the Astra Antibes etc? One side strip and different wheel trims! They are usually a way of either selling hundreds of identical cars to make it cheaper for the production line, or to persuade people to buy the end of line model rather than wait for the new one.

 

I sold an Impreza 'sport special' just before Christmas, that was actually pretty good but still a fat marketing exercise mostly. Lost a bloody packet on it too.

[sierraman]

Funniest of all are the ad-hoc dealer efforts to make it special. Usually with a really naff name like 'Cosmopolitan'

[Station]

Perodua Nippa 'Sepang' - named after the Malaysian Grand Prix. This had black metallic paint and a really weird graphic on the side that is supposed to resemble a flag:

 

 

Also carbon fibre effect wing mirrors and painted bumpers

[vulgalour]

I nearly bought one of those from Gumtree.  Further investigation revealed it to be utterly and comprehensively fucked.

[xtriple]

My car is a 'Final Edition' does that count? No idea if it has anything extra/unique/special but they all seem to be bloody green... just not the same green as my awkward bastard!

[Zantimisfit]

I liked the Golf Rolling Stones. I liked the fact that the Rolling Stones were happy to take Volkswagens money but evidently didn't feel compelled to appear in any photos or any other publicity for the vehicle at all. Class!

 

I always wondered what "Studio 2" (as in Mini or Metro Studio 2) was supposed to represent or imply. Any ideas? Just utterly random word number combo or was Studio 2 a nightclub in Longbridge similar to Studio 54 in New York??

 

I also wondered why the Mini "Italian job" theme wasn't extended by Rover. We could have had the Maestro "Juliet Bravo" for example.

[Sealtainn]

Anyone remember the Triumph TR7 "Coca Cola"?

In conjunction with Coca Cola & Levis so the seat and door cards were part denim

[4wheeledstool]

Polo Genesis

 

One of those Genesis G40s on eBay at the moment. Being a massive fuckwit, I don't know how to post a link.

[Station]

Tigra MTV.

 

 

Think it had a CD player, probably.

[omegod]

Anyone remember the Triumph TR7 "Coca Cola"?

Cola TR7.jpg

In conjunction with Coca Cola & Levis so the seat and door cards were part denim

TR7 Denim.jpg

They also came with a TV in the glovebox and a fridge type thing in the center console 

[Lacquer Peel]

I owned a Nissan Primera 'Circuit'.

 

It was fitted with a 75bhp diesel engine. IDEAL 4 TRACK DAYS.

[Felly Magic]

Didn't Volvo do a 340 runout model simply called the 'Limited Edition'? IIRC it was the base DL with a sliding sunroof and some wheeltrims from the GLE, and a red graphic on the bootlid

[Pillock]

 

 

One of those Genesis G40s on eBay at the moment. Being a massive fuckwit, I don't know how to post a link.

A German one? Ooooh. I like.

The British Genesis was a bit limp, I think it was the 1043cc with some white wheeltrims or something. The Germans got the good one.

[Longblackcoat]

Saw a Citroen ZX Pzazz today!

I had a ZX 19D Pzzzazzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Quite nice, if slower than an iceberg.

[oldford]

Cortina Crusader

 

 

[SiC]

The bottom has completely fallen out of the value of the Mégane II CC.  The auctions I go to always have a few 2004/5 cars selling for sub £500.

Interesting. My other half quite fancies one as her daily driver/city run-around to replace the "junk" I make her drive at the moment...

 

Is there anything inherently wrong with them - apart from the usual Megane II electrical foibles (wet UPC/keycards/etc)?

 

I know they won't handle well and will be all floppy - especially not a patch on the MX5s she's had before, but they look relatively light and pleasant places to be. As a city run-around, cornering ability isn't a high priority when the average speed is so low. Also keep the roof up, and the boot looks practical enough too. I haven't seen many reports of malfunctioning roofs on any of the Renault forums, so can't be all that bad in that respect?

 

I think they look pretty decent too. As a nearly 30 year old male, I don't know if I could get away with driving one without getting peculiar looks, but I have a strange crush on them.

 

The other car she wouldn't mind as a run-around is the standard fat arse Megane II.

 

Wonder if prices may creep up again once/if the weather improves?

[R9UKE]

The CC does have a few leaks that aren't really curable. It's funny because some cars are absolutely plagued with them, some never get them. The most common is the join in the roof that meets the join of both windows on the drivers side. Gives you a nice damp patch on the rear seat squab - this is the reason that leather is much more desirable than cloth which will just absorb every rain fall the car gets!

 

Handling is shit with the roof down, the windscreen wobbles like a fat lady. The roof is also mighty heavy so the 1.6 petrol just isn't up to the job. I had a 2.0 Turbo - the biggest engine you can get, and even it didn't feel particularly quick. Go for at least the 2.0 16v (136bhp).

 

As for masculinity - Black with black leather and the nice upgrade 17" wheels and your testicles will remain intact

[sierraman]

Was the Cortina Crusader named after the Crusaders in a similar theme to the Polo Genesis?

[the judge]

I remember Lookers of Liverpool being stiched up with loads of mk3 k reg astra merits. They painted the bottom half with stonechip,and called them "two tones".

 

Verdict:lazy c-

[andrew e]

I think the Studio 2 Metro & Mini was simply named after the styling studio (No 2) at Canley?