Have You Seen Any Interesting Cars On The Road Lately?

[Bobby Dazzler]

I also saw a dark blue W166 GLE without privacy glass. I suspect that’s an impossible spec in the UK but looked great:

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Spotted two interesting cars, inside by side. The red car is a Canta, a Dutch micro car which I believe was built with people with disabilities in mind but is used by all.

Parked behind it is a Citroen Ami, which in some ways is a modern alternative to the Canta, both microcars with a tiny footprint and maximum vertical space.

The Canta did remind me of a typical British baby blue Invacar “invalid carriage” as soon as I saw it. These used to be a common site but not seen one for ages.

 

[ToeKnee]

A lot of those invacars were made by AC the originators of such sports cars as the AC Ace and eventually, bodies and chassis for the AC Cobra.

 

[del320]

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Frightening at Fifty! (9:30)

 

[ChrisHGTV]

Saw a bit of a rarity yesterday. This chap has had it about 10 years, it’s done around 40k km and he bought it in Italy and drove it back. The little side repeaters were apparently added to make it road legal in Italy. I wish I’d taken some pics of the interior, it was mad. The stereo (complete with graphic equaliser!) is in a central binnacle in the head lining. This is number 15, it had a small plaque on the dash. It’s a Turbo 1 I think, W reg on an age related plate.

 

[SpikyMikey]

They are completely bonkers cars; inside and out. One of my faves, primarily because of that!

 

[ALFAitalia]

I took one in PX once.....had a full tank of fuel so I smoked it about for the weekend....good fun but slow by modern standards (0 to 60 in 7.8 seconds....only a second quicker than my 1500kg derv 2.0!)).....the massive turbo lag was even worse than on a normal R5T......but about 160 horses and under 1000 kg was still fun.

 

[Darrell]

I used to see these on our family holidays to the south of France in the early 80’s. I used my mums camera to take photos to show my school mates who had never seen anything like them before.

 

[st13phil]

Not on the road, but a couple of bits of Americana to share.

Elvis Presley's famous Pink Cadillac - a 1955 Fleetwood Sixty Special:

And the Sam Phillips "Sun Records" Series 62 2-door convertible Caddy in which he drove many Sun Records artists including Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Roy Orbison around Memphis:

 

[davymead]

Saw a bit of a rarity yesterday. This chap has had it about 10 years, it’s done around 40k km and he bought it in Italy and drove it back. The little side repeaters were apparently added to make it road legal in Italy. I wish I’d taken some pics of the interior, it was mad. The stereo (complete with graphic equaliser!) is in a central binnacle in the head lining. This is number 15, it had a small plaque on the dash. It’s a Turbo 1 I think, W reg on an age related plate. View attachment 146998

Amazing spot, and worth some serious money.

 

[ChrisHGTV]

Saw a bit of a rarity yesterday. This chap has had it about 10 years, it’s done around 40k km and he bought it in Italy and drove it back. The little side repeaters were apparently added to make it road legal in Italy. I wish I’d taken some pics of the interior, it was mad. The stereo (complete with graphic equaliser!) is in a central binnacle in the head lining. This is number 15, it had a small plaque on the dash. It’s a Turbo 1 I think, W reg on an age related plate. View attachment 146998

When I was chatting to the owner, he mentioned he collected it with a journalist friend, and I’ve found the subsequent article. It’s a nice read and what an adventure!
1980 Renault 5 Turbo road test - Drive

 

[StMarks]

Spotted this today, looks to be an "everyday driver" (well, not concourse/precious anyway).

 

[SpikyMikey]

Spotted this today, looks to be an "everyday driver" (well, not concourse/precious anyway).

View attachment 147035View attachment 147036

Nice car and love the side window decal.

 

[roviw1]

I used to see these on our family holidays to the south of France in the early 80’s. I used my mums camera to take photos to show my school mates who had never seen anything like them before.

Together with the little orange ( generally ) Simcas with their roll cages inside !

 

[Darrell]

Together with the little orange ( generally ) Simcas with their roll cages inside !

Not quite but the owners of the house we stayed in were avid amateur rally drivers with a load of VW
Golf’s.
To the 10 year old English boy they all looked fantastic with their Cibie spotlights and roll cages but then one year (1977) they were trumped by my dads P plate Jag XJC!!

The Brits were back in style.

 

[slade1]

One of my neighbour's had a new 73 plate car delivered over the weekend...which is nice....well it would be of it wasn't one of these ugly Inios Grenadier LR Defender clones...in white.. At least it's not an EV....it's a 3.0l BMW derv under the binary....but it kicks out 336 mg carbon even if it is Euro 6 and ULEZ compatible. It's a big old best.
£73,000.....!...No thanks.
View attachment 146554

73£££ for a dressed up LR!!! Is it just as uncomfortable as old Defender?

 

[ALFAitalia]

Not been in it....have no desire to either.....the old Defender must be one of the most over rated cars of all time...IMO! They are comfortable to drive....as long as you don't have a right arm...as there is just not space for one!

 

[ChrisHGTV]

Not quite but the owners of the house we stayed in were avid amateur rally drivers with a load of VW
Golf’s.
To the 10 year old English boy they all looked fantastic with their Cibie spotlights and roll cages but then one year (1977) they were trumped by my dads P plate Jag XJC!!

The Brits were back in style.

The first wellsite job i did was in Basilicata in the instep of the boot of Italy (Corleto Perticara - this job was instrumental in me becoming an Italophile!). Around 1997. The owner of the hotel we stayed at was an ex professional rally driver, and very successful. He was able to retire to his hometown and build the hotel we stayed at. He had a whole wall full of trophies, a lot from Germany i seem to remember. Anyway, he was as Italian as you can get and a complete petrolhead (and dare say rapid at the wheel). He swore that his road car was the best sports car ever. He was so proud of it. I couldn't believe it though - it was TR7! He did also have an old Lamborghini tractor though.

What a job that was though - 68 hour "shifts" without breaks, amazing food, grappa and wine before starting work on the wellsite at 8pm, porcini picking with some aged Italians and their porcini hounds at 4am after being plied with more grappa and wine. Our wellsite cabin caught fire and we met the local Bruglione. To cap it all when the core came to the surface it flowed heavy oil all over the place. The Company Man was happy. There were delays with development of the field due to some bribery and corruption issues with Total Italia....happy days! But still i wonder - is the TR7 really any good?

 

[Chrishazle]

Chris, as a retired company man it sounds to me that you were either a wellsite geologist or a mud logger - hopefully the former as most wellsites I was on had not much time for the latter! Did a hitch as night pusher in the North Adriatic on a Yugoslavian rig but that was the only time I worked in Italy, but have happy memories of that trip and the visit my wife joined me for when I came ashore. Loads of other overseas postings though - started in Ireland (SE coast) then Pakistan, Qatar, Oman, Northern greece, Onshore UK, Southern, mid and Northern UK sector, Dutch sector, Kuala Lumpur, Western Siberia (briefly!!), Gabon and Cameroon, then enough is enough, retired in 2003.

 

[ChrisHGTV]

Chris, as a retired company man it sounds to me that you were either a wellsite geologist or a mud logger - hopefully the former as most wellsites I was on had not much time for the latter! Did a hitch as night pusher in the North Adriatic on a Yugoslavian rig but that was the only time I worked in Italy, but have happy memories of that trip and the visit my wife joined me for when I came ashore. Loads of other overseas postings though - started in Ireland (SE coast) then Pakistan, Qatar, Oman, Northern greece, Onshore UK, Southern, mid and Northern UK sector, Dutch sector, Kuala Lumpur, Western Siberia (briefly!!), Gabon and Cameroon, then enough is enough, retired in 2003.

Happy retirement! I had a strange role on rigs, I was involved in wellsite biostratigraphy, so quite specialised. So we would date the formation using microfossils during drilling - from the cuttings. The higher the rate of penetration the faster we had to work! I didn’t do this all the time, I actually ran labs, and am now involved in Business Development. Still mainly oil and gas, but also geothermal, CCUS, mining, Helium, Lithium….I loved my time working on rigs though, incredibly stressful at times but exciting and good fun. I got to work mainly in the Middle East and Africa. Yemen was probably the only place I didnt feel safe but a great experience.