[Closed] Poor selling cars you rarely see....

Alfa 166. Gorgeous, but buying one new was probably enough to get you sent to the loony bin (ferocious depreciation, went on fire etc)

"I think the VW Polo Dune's are rare as well.

I don't think I've ever seen one in the flesh".

My wife drives one 🙂

it's so handy having roof bars on a small car.

Evidence to support the US not 'getting' hatchbacks from an episode of Frasier;

NILES: And even worse, after I'd left the car off at the body shop, the rental agency didn't have a single luxury car left. They stuck me with some vehicle I believe they call a "hunchback."
FRASIER: No, I think that would be a hatchback, Niles.
NILES: It's painted panic-button red, and has a large rear window that pops open.
FRASIER: Oh, that would be the hatchback.
NILES: Oh. Well, there's a novel idea. Name the car after its most hideous feature. I presume it was a toss-up between "hatchback" and "what's that odor coming from the floor?"

pondo - Member
I had one, great car with a family - the boot's a lot bigger.

As a matter of interest, d'you reckon you'd get a bike in, wheel/s out, would you think?

Would have thought so, the Focus saloon had a 500l boot (compared to a 350l on the hatchback). Can't remember actually doing so, though.

Actually Americans are getting into hatchbacks. Even in the mid-west you see plenty of people driving Focus hatchbacks, Honda Jazz, C-Max, Fiat 500, Fiesta's etc.... as well as hideous looking saloons and massive V8 trucks.

Rarely seen and not too hideous - the Saab 9-3 Cadillac? Or any Caddy's.

I suspect "Niles" isn't the best example of the normal US citizen 😉 Also that episode must be about 15 years old, I suspect the US has only recently shown an interest in smaller cars 🙂

Citroen Visa? Fab car. As are all 'proper' Citroens IMHO. Single spoke steering wheel? 3 stud wheels? 'Satellite' controls, fab suspension, eccentric looks etc., etc., Austin Princess wasn't a bad car in it's day.

If its based on the EUCD platform like the Mazda 3 and the S40 then probably. I can get a DH bike with Dual crowns and 800mm bars in my S40 with the wheels off.

Would have thought so, the Focus saloon had a 500l boot (compared to a 350l on the hatchback). Can't remember actually doing so, though.

A Cygnet? Only 143 registered, apparently!

Yup, that's it a Cygnet. Wow only 143 no wonder they've binned it.

Panamera is on no way rare, see them fairly often.

I used to see a Walter White-esque Pontiac Aztec around here, an odd choice to get on import.

I see a Subaru Tribeca fairly frequently, thought they were rare but there are 13 for sale on Autotrader

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Ugly in a kinda like it way.

Speaking of Frasier, here's a random Friday fact for you - Mandy Patinkin, the bloke who plays Saul in Homeland, was a classmate of Kelsey Grammer and put him forward for the role of Frasier when they were auditioning for the part in Cheers.

Actually Americans are getting into hatchbacks. Even in the mid-west you see plenty of people driving Focus hatchbacks, Honda Jazz, C-Max, Fiat 500, Fiesta's etc

Into - slightly, but yes. The Focus was one of the first Fords that was the same there as here I think, if not the first. I must say I haven't seen a Fiat 500 yet, although many small petrols don't seem to be worth it. Due to the NOx emissions regulations, they need to use lots of EGR and retard (I think?) the timing which reduces the volumetric efficiency. So if you buy say a Smart it'll only do 35mpg, which kind of defeats the object when you can get a bigger car that does the same mpg.

so that talbot is where land rover too inspiration for the discovery series 1

i put forward the golf country

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i have seen 1 ever.... it was pea green.

Ample brew you beat me to it!

Trail rat you stole my second! Saw a few of them in Russia in the 1990s. Very practical...

edlong - Member

Alfa Arna

Yeah that was a good idea - combining the strengths of Alfa Romeo and Nissan:

That legendary Nissan styling and handling with equally legendary Alfa Romeo engineering and build quality. I wonder if someone got something transposed in an early memo..

You evidently know nothing about Alfa Romeos. 😕

jonjones262 - Member
"I think the VW Polo Dune's are rare as well.

I don't think I've ever seen one in the flesh".

My wife drives one

it's so handy having roof bars on a small car.

8)

cozz - Member
we had a talbot rancho when I was a lad, used to have rrear facing seats in the boot, remember getting taken to school in it every day

silver it was

very modern, as you say, ahead of its time, although mechanicals were pretty rubbish

I think Skoda might have used the Rancho for inspiration when designing their Yeti 😀

One more suggestion for a motorbike, Yamaha GTS.

A weird looking car that you dont see much, Citroen CX. I love them old things and one day will own one (probably have to import from france where they are still loved)

+ for the Renault Avantime

One of my mates had one and it was a strange beast. Basically similar size to the Espace (i think it was a model to give the old Espace factory some work when a new model was being made elsewhere) but was set up like a coupe with a couple of huge doors. Really quite odd but quite likeable. Havent seen one for years now

I think Skoda might have used the Rancho for inspiration when designing their Yeti

Yetis are not the prettiest but quite a few about> Not so many Roomsters - probably due to the looks; I have one 🙂

+ for the Avantime as well. The front seats in top spec were amazingly comfortable leather sofas! Very strange looking car and odd concept in general but somehow likeable - for non-owner.

Seems to be some confusion here between "poor selling" and "nearly extinct".

[url= http://autoshite.com/ ]Best car website on the web.[/url]

I knew you'd be an AS aficionado as soon as you mentioned the mighty Tagora. Weapons grade shite.

Anyone remember FSO. Sort of sub Skoda quality before Skoda became VW group. Terrible cars. Also not forgetting Yugo's also. Both sub Lada and Skoda quality. Had a few student mates years ago with them.

Vauxhall Signum

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Like an Astra on 'roids 🙂

MANY years ago our family car was a Moskvitch...

Talbot Solara (my mum had one)
Renault 9 (my dad had one)
Preceded by 2 Renault 4s, and proceeded by 3 mk3 Escorts.

FSO was Polish, based on Fiat presses from the 60s and early 70s. Skodas were rebodied Renault Dauphins.

Proton Gen 2 - horrible thing.

I had one as my first instructor car when I worked for a driving school. It was 4 months old when I got it.

What went wrong :-

Drivers window fell down into the door like a guillotine

Had a consistent large bang from the front suspension when straightening up, dealer couldn't fix.

Handbrake rachet snapped leaving me with no handbrake.

Tyre developed a large egg and a replacement under warranty had to come from Korea or somewhere.

All this on a car only a few months old. Horrible, horrible thing. The seats looked like anoglipta (sp) wallpaper, the heater controls from a 70s cooker and the buttons on the key to open the doors stick out so, if a student stalled, it was easy to catch the buttons when restarting which happened in the middle of a junction and the immobiliser and alarm came on.

That was embarrassing. I'm sure the wipers started rusting as well. Was I glad to hand that thing back.....

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