'out of the ordinary' cars?

Interesting to see the Matra Rancho. Loved the look of that when I was a kid but in those pre-internet days knew next to nothing about it (now Wikipedia)

I’ve always had a thing for ‘leisure activity’ vehicles, even before I was a mountain biker. Thought the mk1 Espace (which i’ve just learnt was Matra’s successor to the Rancho) would have been a fun vehicle to own. Either would have made perfect bike wagons – large flexible interior, no unnecessary four wheel drive.

A shame theres not much like that anymore – our Caddy Maxi Life is close but not perfect

Suzuki Jimny? The hairdresser’s runabout with serious off road ability. Ladder chassis, 80″ wheelbase, coil sprung live axles and a locking diff (of sorts), it’s like a 2:3 scale model of a land rover!

Still available new, and also the cheapest 4 wheel drive on the market!

only ever saw a handful of these anyway but I love them. 8 series.

hopefully get to see one of these at some stage in the future.

bmw i8

WCA, that merc looks mental, when are you selling it?

how does it achieve that mpg??

get the feeling that the bmw i8 is going to be just as exclusive as the 8 series.

Haha i remember when this was at the Melbourne motorshow some years back, i went to open the door and the handle fell off, it was painted balsa wood and glued on! Still have it somewhere!

For an ace all rounder and probably cheap in Albion, you can’t go past a mk1 Honda CRV. the one I have has starship milage and just keeps on ticking, absolutely bombproof, fold down flat seats lets you get a stack of bikes in the back, and the rear boot floor folds out into a table for those impromptu carpark card games!

Still looks fresh today and she’s 13 years old.

at least they choose a legendary name.shame about the door handle ( and the balsa one )

do you think that the jimny has been heavily modified though? i always thought they were a good trendy runabout. Didn’t realize the suspension could do that.

simons_nicolai-uk – Member

That Z3 is horrific. Cars modified to look a bit like classics are the lowest of the low.

😆 Looks MUCH better now it’s black.

Yeah the Jimmy is modified, but not ‘heavily’. Only a few hundred quids worth of shocks and springs. The lights and bull bar are incidental. Hardly anyone realises but they really are serious off road machines, right up there with the Land Rover and Jeep Wrangler.

I think we’ll probably have a Yeti to replace the Octavia before long. It’s just a shame the Yeti is so much more expensive.

Merc is mental but at the same time strangely practical. 5.5 V8 supercharged. Drives around mostly unstressed at low revs so gives good MPG. 37mpg was driving to work one morning from Southampton to Stevage and included M3 and M25 a speeds between 20mph and faster than I will declare on the internet. I am sure I could better it if I was bothered to try. Not selling for a while as it makes me smile.

Z3 conversion – Yeah, it is converted to look like something else. I basically spent 3 months in bed after snapping my foot off waiting for the to do the amputation and sketched lots of cars. They then decided not to amputate so I decided to turn one of my sketches into reality. I am sorry you don’t like it but I am not too bothered. I have never designed a car body from scratch and it was a fun exercise with IMHO a pretty result. Not selling for a while as it makes me smile.

I think a picture of a Skoda yeti towing a caravan and taking up 3 parking spaces captioned ‘practical and fun’ may just be the most depressing thing I’ve ever seen!

Shots fired!

Not biting I know that courtesy of Celtic Tuning, it kicks out just short of 230BHP. Does 0-62 in 7.1 seconds still returning an average of 45mpg, pulls the Caravan gets 2 bikes and the rest of our clutter in the back. So to me its practical and fun, even if I cant park it.

Someone I know has one of these:

Yeah, so, it’s just a Chrysler 300C.
Nope. It’s got a 5.7litre Hemi V8 in the front, unrestricted, he’s seen 175mph and reckons it’s good for another 20.
Weighs 2 tons, cruising it shuts down one bank, he can get about 33/gallon, the same as my 1.7 Puma.
He says it’s great fun for nailing BMW’s.

someone on the estate i work on has a 300c, with Brabus written ALL over it, brabus wheels, brabus badges, brabus everything….. and Bentley Bonnet badge.

Looks properly arse

Not so sure about the Alfa Gulietta, just got rid of one after three years and 108K. Great to drive and great looks but as for the rest it was shite, had it’s own bay in the dealers workshop.

The Delicia, for instance, is designed for sitting in a Tokyo traffic jam and dreaming you could be on an adventure somewhere, they’re not intended to actually go on that adventure and are a bit too keen to fall over on corners for Toyota to be happy to sell them in the UK

Did someone with a Delica steal your girlfriend or something? It’s almost a 7-seater Pajero 8)

Olly – Member
someone on the estate i work on has a 300c, with Brabus written ALL over it, brabus wheels, brabus badges, brabus everything….. and Bentley Bonnet badge.

Looks properly arse
Wannabe pimp/gangsta, innit!
The one my acquaintance has is plain dark blue, black spoked wheels with alloy rims, it’s just the small 5.7litre HEMI badges below the 300C badge that give the game away, and the twin exhausts.
90+% would never notice! it’s only that he pulled up outside the pub I was drinking at today and the deep V8 burble caught my attention. I’ve seen the car loads of times parked outside his house and never paid it a moments notice.
0-60 in 4.6 seconds isn’t too shabby for a two ton car. I’d prefer the AWD version, but I’m not sure if any came over here; this one belonged to the MD of Chrysler UK, apparently.
I love ‘Q’ cars. 😀
Actually, I’ve just realised the badge is a little bit more obvious, but most wouldn’t pay it any attention:

[/url] image[/url] by CountZero1[/url], on Flickr[/img]

Mrs Sox’s ride.
:/

a 300c, with Brabus written ALL over it, brabus wheels, brabus badges, brabus everything….

good to see that he turned his life around and found a trade after Pontius Pilate freed him.

“A shame theres not much like that anymore – our Caddy Maxi Life is close but not perfect”

Not much , – not the berlingo , the kangoo , the partner , the yeti , the caddy .

@konabunny
very good.

simons_nicolai-uk – Member
That Z3 is horrific. Cars modified to look a bit like classics are the lowest of the low.
POSTED 2 DAYS AGO #

The lowest of the low? Really? That’s a bit over dramatic. If I was rebodying a Z3 I would have done it slightly differently but that’s kind of the point of it being your own, it’s your creation. I like it, it fires my imagination. More power to people who so things like this, just think he could have bought a fully loaded Octavia VRS instead.

Just as a side note, I wasn’t originally intending to build the car. I designed it whilst stuck in bed with no idea I would ever build what I was drawing. It was only when I realised that I would still be able to drive I decided to actually build it.

At that point I had to decide whether to build the entire car from scratch or base it on something that already existed. I chose the Z3 because it was cheap, had a good engine and came with and automatic ‘box. The process of working with the guy who actually laid the fibre glass to translate my drawings into 3D took about 6 months and was trying at times but enjoyable.

As I said, it is the first car I have designed. I deliberately avoided doing a replica of anything but created something in the style of sports cars of the ’50s. I fully expected detractors but am pleased by how few there have been.

WCA, even with the fishy smiling mouth it has, it’s not a bad lookign car. Given that it was your first effort, I’ll give you a pass!

As for the i8, the local BMW dealership here has one and I’m always seeing it on test drives around the back roads. The first time I saw it moving it was coming towards me with its lights on. I had never seen a front end like it. Looked awesome, sounded good.

Apparently not as fast as it looks, but I’m not really sure I would care if I had one.

Thanks willard – Here are some iterations of the ‘fishy’ nose

To big

Narrower but too tall

Narrower and shallower

Bulking up the front wing

Weeks and weeks of tweeks!

WorldClassAccident – Member

Thanks willard – Here are some iterations of the ‘fishy’ nose

To big

Narrower but too tall

Narrower and shallower

Bulking up the front wing

Weeks and weeks of tweeks!

Was it this I saw on PistonHeads the other day? Which engine did you go for?

(V10 … do it!!! Actually a lazy LS would probably suit it too…)

It was on Pistonheads with that very question…

Unfortunately it is staying as it is for the forseeable future due to interesting financial discussions with MrsWCA. She doesn’t know it but the plan is to sneak another Z3 into the garage and drop a big lump in the nose. Probably an LS3 but depends on time and money. Ls is meant to be lighter than the 2.8 six pot so might even improve the handling.

Power by GM
Handling by BMW
Styling by WCA

why not have all of the style of an older car coupled with modern performance and reliability. Plus often there are only a limited number of the older cars still in existence with limited spare parts I guess. Some people rebuild old classic cars with modern engines and suspension etc, which I understand is debated by the purist’s.

if you see one of these does it really matter if it’s an original.

Agreed. I need to driver an automatic as my ankle is screwed. I like the idea of brakes that work and electrics hat don’t catch fire. Old automatics are mainly not good for more spirited driving. The styling was something I did never expecting to build it.

If you do like the Cobra then Tribute Automotive do a Kobra that bolts onto a Z3 like mine. Not to my personal taste but a good style icon and with modern working mechanicals. You can always drop a V8 in later.

With regard to ‘out of the ordinary’ cars…saw a Hyundai Veloster on the way home…

Bit weird. Bit different. Bit overdone…

“A shame theres not much like that anymore – our Caddy Maxi Life is close but not perfect”

Not much , – not the berlingo , the kangoo , the partner , the yeti , the caddy .

Ok – so the Berlingo/Kangoo/Partner are the same vehicle with different badges. They’re pretty basic and underpowered. The Yeti is interesting and I like it – only found out the other day that the seats are actually removable which adds a lot of flexibility but it’s not *that* large.

Most larger MPVs used to removable seats (Galaxy/Sharan, Espace etc) which gave you the option of a van like space with Exec car type comforts and ride quality (plus lots around second hand with child wrecked interiors – perfect if you’re then going to fill with bikes). The last time I looked they all seem to have moved to fancy folding seats which mean you get much less space and carry the weight whether you need it or not. The Touran would probably be really useful if you could take the seats out.

Our Caddy only the rear most seats are removable (and they’ve only ever been back in once) and the front row fold. After facelift the front row became removable as well. The drawback is the agricultural ride from the rear suspension

reviews suggest poorer economy, resale value, rear passenger space, boot space and probably dearer parts

My ti averages about 38mpg.
Not bothered by resale value as I’ll be keeping it for another 5 years probably
Rear space is a little cramped but can get 2 adults in (or 1 adult and a large car-seat)
Can get my bike in the back with one side of the seats folded down(only some do this as it was a option) and car seat on passenger side.
Parts no dearer than anything else.
Had mine 3 years now and it still puts a smile on my face and, yes, I bought with my heart not my head 😀