***** This thread is now closed, please CLICK HERE to go to Volume 17 *****
***** This thread follows on from VOLUME 15 *****
Another thread for commenting on rare, unusual, old or just plain daft cars etc.
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Edited by Dynamic Dave on 30/06/2008 at 20:08
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Delivering pizzas for our local Dominos. A green AX convertible, black hood. On an H plate, which may be a private plate (something like H18HUT), but probably dates the AX as 1990 / 91
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Went across toNorth West Wales today (Beddgelert) - The Dragon Rally was on in the vicinity therefore loads of propoer (not plastic racers) bikes around, two out the bunch were two Yamaha "fizzes" - I have a photo of these. And the Mini based Wolsley on Merioneth FF plates.
Edited by Pugugly {P} on 09/02/2008 at 16:33
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Hey Pug, how about posting those pic's especially the Fizzies. Had one in '74 followed by an RD350 in '75. Oh! to go back there now.B.L.I.S.S.
Reg's Martin.
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this has to win the 'unusual sighting of the year award' - a 53 plate Toyota Yaris with black plastic wing mirrors - yes, you read that correctly - wing mirrors! screwed to the top of each front wing just behind the headlamps. can't imagine they'll be of much use and as for the re-sale value...
Edited by Webmaster on 11/02/2008 at 13:02
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sounds like a Jap import.
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sounds like a Jap import.
Sounds like an Austin Cambridge!
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>>wing mirrors! screwed to the top of each front wing just behind the headlamps. can't imagine they'll be of much use
>>
You mean proper mirrors that you do not have to swivel your eyes / head to see.
As Billy Whizz says "sounds like a Jap import." A single wing mirror without any stalk to attach it is often seen on 4X4 gray inports.
>>and as for the re-sale value...
That might be a problem ( not cos of the mirrors) as I would expect it to be the only one in the UK so might present a spares problem if it is a Japanese spec version.
Edited by Webmaster on 11/02/2008 at 13:02
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What I think we have here is a '53' plate Yaris, probably UK supplied, to which some well meaning owner has fixed a pair of wing mirrors.
The hit on trade in value is simply because no one else will see them as an attractive or useful addition - and if removed....well, holes will need to be filled, and both wings painted.
Edited by Webmaster on 11/02/2008 at 13:03
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yep - not an import, a local car complete with supplying dealers stickers - Struan Motors of Perth if you're interested.
Edited by Webmaster on 11/02/2008 at 13:02
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Seen in a sunny French west coast seaside resort at the weekend: a pair of black Ferrari 360 Modena spyders (I think), one roof up, one roof down, following each other up and down the promenade in the thick traffic. How sad is that - no wonder Ferraris are often clapped out with minimal mileage.
Actually, I found something even more sad. I opened the local free ads paper and found someone advertising two vacant spaces in a tomb in a nearby village graveyard! I kid you not - I tore out the ad. Just 2000 euros if you fancy (very) permanent retirement by the seaside in France...
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 11/02/2008 at 18:55
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Last saturday 9th, at Tesco New Malden by Shannon corner on the A3, there was a Buggatti in the car park. I don't mean the new one - I mean a really old one, two seater. There was a works plate in it saying the bodywork was by "Teal" if that helps identify it?
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>Last saturday 9th, at Tesco New Malden by Shannon corner on the A3, there was a Buggatti in the car park. I don't mean the new one - I mean a really old one, two seater. There was a works plate in it saying the bodywork was by "Teal" if that helps identify it? <
If it said 'Teal' that's what it was - a (rather good) Bugatti look-alike from the 1980s, but a Morris Marina (or some such) underneath.
The front disc brakes are a give away!
Having said that, they are probably worth a bit in their own right by now.
A few months ago I spotted a 'Bugatti' in the back of a warehouse in France. When I peered through the bonnet slats there was just an empty space. Turned out to be yet another (not very good this time) lookalike based on a Volkswagen Beetle complete with a rear engine!
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Saw a very nice Audi 50 last week
R reg (70s not 90s), bright red, having never heard of this car, i though that looks just like a polo!
thanks to wikipedia i now realise it is a polo!
lovely little thing though and seem to be going great
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I don;t think it was imported (officially) into the UK>..stand corrected though.
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it looked quite modern,
i bet most people, not so interested in cars would assume its a fairly recent euro box
Edited by nick1975 on 16/02/2008 at 20:13
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Friday morning (29 February, remember), M40 southbound near Banbury: bright green Mazda 2 wearing 08 plates. No sign of trade plates that I could see. Do some dealers still wear those digital watches like we had in the '80s, that know all the month lengths but can't cope with leap years?
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Spotted what I think is called a Trabant 601 Combi (estate) parked at a market in Limoges yesterday. I've never looked at one closely so I was having a nose at what was actually a very clean and tidy little motor when the owner came along.
When I explained to him that years ago I had owned a Wartburg - the car Trabi owners aspired to - he had never heard of it.
He said he only bought the Trabi because it was cheap, in good condition - and ran on the same mixture as his Mobylette...
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Early-60's Vauxhall Victor in good condition for age, being driven by a lady of sufficient age to have owned the car since new.
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Morrisons car park yesterday, an M-reg Ford Probe, yes they're still few around.... but this one was ... ORANGE.... but it looked to me like it was originally 'flip paint' because it were a few shades of orange & it was dull but refective, how tacky was it!!! yuk!!!
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Morrisons car park yesterday an M-reg Ford Probe yes they're still few around.... but this one was ... ORANGE...
That reminds me of what I saw last summer but forgot to mention it. On the south side of Nottingham, was driving down a deserted lane on a Sunday afternoon and passed a field with a banner at the entrance which read "PROBEFEST 07". Through the trees could be seen 10 or 12 Probes and a number of caravans and tents.
It looked like a bit of a lacklustre gathering but we had probably missed it in full swing earlier in the weekend.. (No?..)
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Driving back from the Peak District yesterday afternoon, I passed a Mk1 Escort.. ..convertible! Looked 'unrestored' in a flat dark blue colour scheme. Two young-ish blokes were in it, with the roof down, wrapped up like Nepalese sherpas with only their eyes visible.
It was damn cold, they would have been better with the roof up, we had a bit of snow on the top of Stanege Edge.
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Spotted a brown and beige 1981 Ford Cortina 2000 Crusader this morning. Wouldn?t be the colour for me, but it looked in very good condition.
Clk Sec
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Hallelujah!
First interesting stretch I've ever seen, and quite likely the best: a silver Cayenne as long as a London double-decker, but with a much longer wheelbase, went past in my direction at more or less walking pace on average in the evening traffic as I walked down my road this evening.
It was set high on its suspension, accelerated briskly and made a quite good tinny V8 blatting sound from the exhaust. It managed, with decent despatch, a left turn not adapted for double deckers and set off towards recording studio and gangsta land about three or four hundred yards from my abode. I was impressed by this as there was a car coming down the road it turned into waiting at the lights, not really staying out of the way either.
Still the thing was a stretch, albeit a long and unusual one. Yucksville.
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For some odd reason the last two posts ended up in E-Bay finds although correctly indexed. Anyway normality resumed.
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Too late PU, I've already started a new one with a slightly different version. Run them both together. Everyone knows I'm a logorrhoeic narcissist anyway.
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You don't make it easy for a poor unpaid Mod do you :-))).
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If any cheques arrive as deposits on the Cayenne stretch, you do have my coordinates don't you PU?
"Anyway normality resumed". I spoke too soon
Edited by Pugugly on 15/03/2008 at 20:39
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And thanks for dumping the other post which was a trifle on the specific side.
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I've put a sort of a Director's Cut version up for you now !
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Getting twitchy here - been driving up and down south west France and not seen anything interesting for weeks.
So, how about this instead? While watching a TV programme the other night about Ushaia (I think), the world's most southerly town, down near Cape Horn at the tip of South America, there was a shot of traffic in the main street. And there, quite unmistakeable, was an ex-London Transport Routemaster double decker.
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And before Lud gets it in...
''Well, I only turned the wrong way out of Ponders End garage guv!''
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My Great Uncle went to New Zealand last year & saw a Routemaster bus on display at a museum.
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I think I may have the equivalent of the 'Top Trump' card! - seen on the A3M near Cosham at 11.30 today- a pink and white Ford Edsel. (From the sign across the rear window it appears to be owned by a limo business.)
P.
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New to me anyway, outside the house just now, parked, not in the growling, rap-playing queues for the temporary traffic lights the carphound syndicate has put in the bus stop nearby to go with the ones (I'm not joking) in every possible alternative route, a 4-door Smart, very smart actually in black, a bit on the cute and knobbly side but not all that bad looking for a modern supercompact.
Does it sound like a single-cylinder diesel lawnmower like the too-short 2-door ones one sees everywhere? If it has a sophisticated whirring CVT, a near-silent sewing-machine engine running on tiny sips of toad juice but providing good urge from zero to about 50, and well-damped long-travel suspension enabling it to bound happily over speed humps at the sort of speeds they are there to prevent, it would make a half-decent town car for four smallish adults, worth 10 grand of anyone's money before discounts.
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Still there today. Doesn't look as good in daylight. Still bearable, but only if it goes well and is comfortable.
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seen today in leicester golf tdi with the plate s7eps how embarassing i drew up level and had a look , young chap wearing a baseball cap dont think it was H
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A bluey metallic silver, MK2 Ford Cortina 1600E. On local plates, looking very original (you know not too clean and tidy) on ROstyle wheels. Very pretty car parked up next to a blinged up Range Rover which was the complete antithesis in every respect (Chromed up side vents for goodness sake). The Cortina didn't look too ancient either. My father had one of these...
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We had a Mark 2 Cortina which was sold to the local Ford garage when dad got his first company car.
Two weeks later they decided to buy it back so that my mum would have a car - ever since then it was affectionately known as "The Boomerang". Pretty sure it was an automatic, well it definitely had a "gearstick" that came out the side of the steering wheel column!
In fact definitely an automatic as I remember that my aunt and uncle bought it when mum was finished with it. Uncle used to always leave it in Park, so pull the stick back once for reversing out the garage. Until one day he left it in the garage in neutral. Aunt got in as usual, pulled it back one notch and put the foot down.........
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Saw a Suzuki X90 a couple of days ago - it struck me as an odd car when it first came out and didn't look any better this time around.
Also saw a Veyron today at Oulton Park
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Strange combination on the A370 near Weston-S-Mare on Monday evening....
Saw a tatty Hilman Avenger (circa 1972) in pale yellow, vinyl roof and all - followed two cars later by a stunningly beautiful Lotus Europa (1969 ish?) also in yellow.
I think the Avenger could have been the rarest car of the two.
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....and most likely to rust !
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Saw a tatty Hilman Avenger (circa 1972) in pale yellow vinyl roof and all -
>>
Could that have been a Tiger?
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>>Could that have been a Tiger?
I drove a few of those. Lively motors.
Clk Sec
Edited by Clk Sec on 04/04/2008 at 07:02
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>>Could that have been a Tiger?>>
Don't think so, this was an insipid lemon with no go faster stripes etc. IIRC, the Tiger was an orange colour.
Edited by Round The Bend on 04/04/2008 at 10:46
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spotted a tidy looking Pinafarina styled saloon yesterday on the A1 - you know the one, the Morris oxford, Austin Cambridge, Wolsley etc one from the 60's with the pointy fins on the rear wings. I reckon it was the Riley variant as it appeared to have a whitish diamond shaped badge on the front grille.
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Lotus Europa on a trailer on the A1.
Black with gold pinstripes, presumably an edition based on the F1 cars sponsored by John Player Special cigarettes.
Think it was L-reg with a little plaque near the pasenger door giving details of constructors' championships, etc.
Didn't get the chassis number, but the trailer was doing 68mph and I was doing 69 on the way past.
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Coming the other way in Surrey today, two Ford Model Ts in procession, and a bit later on one of those very lush and curvaceous late-thirties Lagonda four-seater dropheads in beautiful metallic green (no metallic when it was new though, or very little), almost certainly a 4.5 litre although the rare V12 can look very similar. I loved those when I was young, but my tastes now are starker to match, I suppose, my choices...
Was also driving in procession with three - yes, three - different 4wds, only one a Land Rover, going at a speed I could only approve, a whisker over the limit. Of course lots of mimsing waddlers to make up for them though.
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In North Thoresby, Lincs, a six-wheel Golf pick-up, one of those Caddy things. Couldn't really see the point but looked well done.
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Tonight a relatively new Audi TT in grey. Not silver, not metallic, just grey. Obviously was the colour the buyer chose but it looked as if it was primer!
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Saw a Police Smart car at the top of the northbound entry slip of Junction 21 of the M5 on Saturday.
Knew it existed, but thought was purely a show/ promo car albeit fully liveried as only ever see Police driving BMW 5 series locally.
This one had blue lights flashing and appeared to have pulled 2 cars over, officers were talking to the occupants. Both wife and myself did a double take at it as looked quite comical.
Just googled it and found this link.
www.ukemergency.co.uk/police/dscd0047.jpg
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Hooray! At last the four-wheeled equivalent of the old Velocette Noddy Bikes!
The Priuses used by our local community plod don't do it, and of course Minor 1000s didn't either, or Escorts however feeble and gutless. Just not Noddy enough.
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I wonder where they keep their truncheons????
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They wave them out of the windows and sunshine roof, a la Keystone Kops...
:o}
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>>a la Keystone Kops...
>>
And there have to be at least six of them. Either very fat or very tall, except for the very small one. With helmets.
The more I think about it, the more I feel the mayoral candidates, Met Commissioner and other politicians should consider this means of improving the social climate and cheering the populace up. After all drugs and drink don't work so well after a few years of overindulgence.
Edited by Lud on 22/04/2008 at 20:35
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Saw a Police Smart car .........
Was it a Brabus? tinyurl.com/3qdngf
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Don't think so, am pretty sure is same one as is in the link I originally posted (was an 02 reg). Wheels don't look right for a Brabus fortwo, could be wrong.
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White TVR Vixen? with chrome wire wheels. A very compact coupe design.Was that with an MG engine or a Ford crossflow?
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Now we know what Midlifecrisis drives for work!
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Someone near me has a grey VW Cross Golf......don't know what it's cross about but it looks awful...kind of like a Rover Streetwise that's been at the steroids.
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There's a grey one just round the corner from me Andy. Surely there can't be two? You don't think........
I agree by the way s'orrible!
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I was behind a Peugeot which I swear was badged 407, but looking at the website I guess it must have been a 4007. A 4 wheel drive (looking) thing, first I've seen. The thing that caught my attention was "Peugotpress" on the number plate. The (woman) driver was not paying attention to her driving. Slow off the mark, very slow to accelerate and all over the place.
JH
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I saw a Lada Riva 1200L last week, on a 91 J plate. It looked like brand new condition and sounded like a brand new car, but it could have been doing 25mph. A OAP was driving it.
Also there is a Yugo 45 H reg on a dive near me, not sure if its road legal but it looks in good nick.
Saw Ford Coke Bottle (Cortina MK3) yesterday in bright yellow, looked in billiant nick.
Another house about 1 mile way fromme collects, Datsuns and have three 120Y's in the drive.
Saw a 1950's Ford Anglia (the one tha tlooked like a 50's popular) a few weeks ago in cyan.
The car tha made me smile the most though as the Lada.
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Was in a traffic jam in Monaco yesterday with two ugly Lamborghinis, a DB9 and two Bentley Continental GTs. They say the property market down here is healthy, too...
Actually, I guess that wasn`t really an unusual sighting so, how about this morning - a BMW 1 Series towing a caravan?!
And I`ve just been passed by a new Mini estate, or whatever they call it. That is one ugly motor.
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 29/04/2008 at 13:43
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Loads of assorted TVR groups in Chesterfield and Sheffield on Monday.
Must have been a rally nearby.
What a sound- glad I was sitting outside the Showroom cinema , taking in the atmosphere.The Sagaris looks like something from outer space.Pity the firm is now defunte.
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A Corsa pick up conversion, in fairness in passing seemed a very well executed job with a nice paint job. Young lad driving on L plates
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Theres an awful green Ka nearby, with a black vinyl convertible, erm, conversion. It looks comical. I doubt it's worth much.
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On the Marlow bypass this morning the Ghostbusters car, big US ambulance thing maybe somebody knows the make & model. Dont know if its the real thing or replica guess it was on the way to Pinewood or similar.
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On the Marlow bypass this morning the Ghostbusters car big US ambulance thing maybe somebody knows the make & model.
That would be a 1959 Cadillac, one of Detroit's all time best. I see one of those in my area now and again--they do make great ambulances or hearses.
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Hyundai XC30 - large saloon - in North Yorks.
Personalised plate suggests it belongs to former Tory MP and Eurocrat Lord
Leon Brittan who has a house in the area.
Edited by ifithelps on 04/05/2008 at 20:36
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For the third year running, a black and red Ariel Atom, seen on my commute near Bakewell.
I presume it comes out of hibernation when the bluebells appear , The driver wears neither helmet or goggles. Seeing his facial cheeks flapping makes me cringe.
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Saw one in Hampshire last weekend, but didn't see what the driver was wearing.
'Facial cheeks' indeed GWS! Your determination not to be misunderstood, while admirable, seems to attribute a sort of obsessive character to your readers though... if any other cheeks were flapping visibly the person's driving position would be original to put it mildly...
:o}
Edited by Lud on 14/05/2008 at 18:28
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Hey all! Whenever I go out in rural areas I'm guaranteed to see some oddball thing you never see anymore...
Seen in Tecopa, CA today:
a Chevrolet Vega kammback, up on blocks
and a Dodge Coronet station wagon, circa 1972 or 1973, minty green and in gorgeous condition. Made me think of the Studebaker Lark I saw recently in Blue Diamond, NV.
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Now looking out (temporarily) for unusual motors in the UK and scored a hit already: tucked into a corner of the forecourt of a sports car dealer in North Somerset, a Marcos Mantis from about 1970. A glassfibre creation with engine from a Triumph TR5, it's just about the ugliest car I have ever seen - even the grill in the middle of the bonnet looks as though it came from a barbecue! I have Googled in vain for a picture, but no luck. Maybe others could do better.
How nice it is to be in the UK again and seeing, every day, something interesting rather than endless Clios, 206s, blah, blah...
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Guhguhguh... I had forgotten it.
I don't think you want one mh...
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Funnily enough, also in the North Somerset area (M5 southbound last night) I saw a 1966 (D reg) Marcos in a brownish red. Not had time to check fully but believe this was Marcos GT. Looked like a poor man's E-Type/early TVR.
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On the A90 this afternoon, a little two door SMART in full Tayside Fire and Rescue livery - looked very odd.
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Saw a vintage Vauxhall - 1920's era - similar to Bentley 3-Litre in looks but with fluted bonnet sides. Probably the 30/98 model.
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Whilst on holiday in Spain recently saw a Seat 1430, in near showroom condition and a Seat 600 in a similar state.
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Today, in about the same place:
1) One of the new VW Tiguan 4x4 SUV's. Thought the styling a bit clumsy.
2) K reg Morris Marina 2-door coupe, 1.3, in mustard! It's in quite good nick but the small, inset wheels make it look like it's riding on 4 space-saver spare wheels!
Edited by Sofa Spud on 07/06/2008 at 17:26
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Today in Hazel Grove- an Aston Martin Lagonda, in burgundy, A registered. Looked quite fit, no rust due to alloy (?) body. V8 burbled nicely when moving, though sounded a bit rough moving off. For those unfamiliar see:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aston_Martin_Lagonda
Looked absolutely vast in normal traffic, even when next to a Jaguar XJ8.
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I remember the AM Lagonda when it came out - some of them apparently didn't move far even when new. It had the ultimate in parts-binnery: the indicators and lights stalks were from that paragon of exotica.......the Vauxhall Chevette.
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and I believe that there was no power steering and you had to have arms like Rambo to turn the wheel.
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The AML Lagonda was that quite common beast the insufficiently developed supercar.
It was hideously ugly even by supercar standards with that front overhang. It had a lot of LCD on the dashboard I seem to remember that gave trouble. It was a car-hater's idea of what a luxurious four-seater tourer ought to look like. Not Aston Martin's finest hour, and an insult to the memory of real Lagondas, nearly all pre-war. Aston under David Brown did make one in the fifties, a handsome machine that looked very luxurious but not all that rapid, and the Duke of Edinburgh used to have one.
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Went into the body shop yesterday, this guy repairs brand new Jags, Astons etc, and see a pristine Austin Allegro having had a wing changed. Driving back see a "D" reg '66 Ford Anglia, again in great condition.
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On Sunday, by the side of Rudyard lake in Staffs, a gorgeous De Tomaso Pantera. Badged GTS but without the hideous bibs and spoilers, just the pure early 70s shape.
In beautiful nick, too. I didn't hear it running but you can't have everything :)
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a gorgeous De Tomaso Pantera.
>>
Saw a dreadful one at a classic care show in Yorkshire recently, horrid metallic gold paint.
Leaving aside condition, still can't resist calling them De Tomato Panteras - schoolboy humour - you can't beat it.
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schoolboy humour
As a kid, I had an Airfix model of one of these from a maiden Aunt.....
Edited by Pugugly on 12/06/2008 at 08:24
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One from the old man, coming off the Eurotunnel last week spotted 2 camouflaged (ie covered in masking tape) Mercedes, each on German plates with a C Class estate convoy car.
From what he said looked like the new E class. Did wonder how he was so sure was E class, but googled it and seen pics of the new E Class taped up, but the uncovered grill gives the marque away.
Last Saturday saw a Lambo Gallardo Spyder outside one of the seafront nightclubs (still bit rare round here at least, but looked bit tacky and befitting of the location), and later on a dark blue Ferrari 612 Scaglietti outside church (wedding inside). Lots of new expensive cars parked near it, although nothing else out of the ordinary.
Most unusual one was at friends wedding reception (not same one as above) later that night, their 'car' for the honeymoon was an 80's American camper van (GMC).
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Ticking over nicely at the lights today and pulled away with no smoke at all, was a rather nice Wartburg Knight estate, badged as 'tourist' model, hadn't seen a roadgoing one for ages.
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Followed three audi's near Southampton at lunchtime - the first two had white covers over the back and along the sides (didn't see the fronts) followed by an 'uncovered' one - presume these were the new Audi R8?
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In a drive, down the road from me has appeared (presumably, most of) an 's' reg. Lancia Beta. What's that, 1978?
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M40 today, a broken-down car transporter carrying Range Rovers. Something must be infectious.....
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Parked in Towcester early last Friday - dark grey Wolseley 16/60 (ie upmarket Morris Oxford) on an H suffix so circa 1969/70. Well preserved but not concours standard with the local NH reg.
Set me thinking, how many of the vehicles listed on this thread are daily transport and perhaps still with original owner?
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Getting on to the 11.43am train from Calais yesterday- a Bugatti Veyron in black - it even drew a comment from the normally dead pan UK Immigration Officer I was talking too. Loading (very carefully !) in front of me a drop-head Phantom in a sort of powder blue - the driver was a BMW employee returning from a golfing holiday to Germany, he was asked to take the motor to clock up some Autobahn miles by his bosses.......he has my card and the knowledge I will be free-lancing next year !!!
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There's been an SD1 Rover round the corner from my house recently, is a VPD but with Vitesse spoiler and (I think) wheels. Is the 3.5 V8 though.
Also in local Morrisons recently was a W reg (IIRC) Morris Ital. Both in pretty good condition, and looked like everyday transport. Ital had the white multispoke wheels that were very popular in the 80s on it- not seen a set of those for a whilst.
Most unusual bit was both looked fairly rust free.
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OK, I saw a snail on the M3 today. Seriously. L'Escargot (or Nissan S-Cargo to be exact)
I think they're being imported from Japan
Link to a picture of the beast...
www.carsales.northhertsimports.co.uk/html/s-cargo....l
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