Cars you didn't know existed...

[Doofus]

blearyeyedboy said:

Hmm... doing some detective work. Was passed by a dark mid-sized 4 door saloon, modern looking, similar proportions to previous generation Lexus IS but a bit bigger and more bulbous. Looked quite neat, round blue and silver logo on the nose. Really don't know what it was and Google Fu is thus far failing me today. I thought it was a Japanese looking thing but can't find anything obvious. It wasn't a Lexus logo on the front.

TL; DR: Blearyeyedboy saw something vaguely interesting but hasn't got a clue what it was...

Suzuki Kizashi?

[ajprice]

blearyeyedboy said:

Hmm... doing some detective work. Was passed by a dark mid-sized 4 door saloon, modern looking, similar proportions to previous generation Lexus IS but a bit bigger and more bulbous. Looked quite neat, round blue and silver logo on the nose. Really don't know what it was and Google Fu is thus far failing me today. I thought it was a Japanese looking thing but can't find anything obvious. It wasn't a Lexus logo on the front.

TL; DR: Blearyeyedboy saw something vaguely interesting but hasn't got a clue what it was...

Subaru Impreza saloon?

[blearyeyedboy]

None of the above, I'm afraid. It's bugging me now.

[QROPS]

simonrockman said:

Al U said:

VW Gol (No I didn't miss the F, looked like a polo with a slightly different body shape)

Like the Jewish priest who took the last letter off his VW Rabbit.

Remember seeing one of the these in Kazakhstan along with i think was a Passat 3000

[QROPS]

xRIEx said:

QROPS said:

EJH said:

I can’t help but feel that Europe is also culpable in the mess of some countries' car design. This “beauty,” was:

1 Designed by Ken Greenley and
2 “received the Auto Design Award from the Birmingham Auto Show.”

It’s not a looker:



He also designed the Ssangyong Rhodius but I haven’t included a picture as we all know what it is and to needlessly include it might put some off their lunch.

Quite often you find these in Asia where the owners have replaced the badges with Mercedes ones...

Not sure if serious...

[Harji]

mrpushrod said:

How about a high performance luxury MPV thing years before the R-Class?





This is the De La Chapelle Parcours, introduced in 1988 and built between 1990 and 1991. Seemingly there was the option of a Jag V12 or Merc V8 giving the kind of pace that was rapid back in the day but not that special now. 0-60 took a little under 8 seconds with a top end of 149 mph thanks to a very slippery shape. (cd of 0.28!).

Unsurprisingly not many people wanted an Espace on steroids so only a handful were built, two pre-production cars and three 'production' models. Information online seems a little vague but it is strangely cool.

EDIT - I found a press pack but sadly in French. Unfortunately I only remember about 15 French words from school (windsurfer is planche à voile) but someone might find it interesting....

http://www.auto-pub.net/page_DeLaChapelle_Parcours...

Edited by mrpushrod on Monday 15th June 12:51

I really really want it

[Dapster]

Safrane Long Cours built on the Biturbo platform but died at concept stage.

Handsome car and full glass roof too.





http://boitierrouge.com/2014/11/29/renault-safrane...

[xRIEx]

QROPS said:

xRIEx said:

QROPS said:

EJH said:

I can’t help but feel that Europe is also culpable in the mess of some countries' car design. This “beauty,” was:

1 Designed by Ken Greenley and
2 “received the Auto Design Award from the Birmingham Auto Show.”

It’s not a looker:



He also designed the Ssangyong Rhodius but I haven’t included a picture as we all know what it is and to needlessly include it might put some off their lunch.

Quite often you find these in Asia where the owners have replaced the badges with Mercedes ones...

Not sure if serious...

As already said above, the car was sold by Mercedes as a Mercedes in some markets, so the owners didn't replace the badges, Mercedes did.

[NR91]

blearyeyedboy said:

Hmm... doing some detective work. Was passed by a dark mid-sized 4 door saloon, modern looking, similar proportions to previous generation Lexus IS but a bit bigger and more bulbous. Looked quite neat, round blue and silver logo on the nose. Really don't know what it was and Google Fu is thus far failing me today. I thought it was a Japanese looking thing but can't find anything obvious. It wasn't a Lexus logo on the front.

TL; DR: Blearyeyedboy saw something vaguely interesting but hasn't got a clue what it was...

This?

[QROPS]

xRIEx said:

QROPS said:

xRIEx said:

QROPS said:

EJH said:

I can’t help but feel that Europe is also culpable in the mess of some countries' car design. This “beauty,” was:

1 Designed by Ken Greenley and
2 “received the Auto Design Award from the Birmingham Auto Show.”

It’s not a looker:



He also designed the Ssangyong Rhodius but I haven’t included a picture as we all know what it is and to needlessly include it might put some off their lunch.

Quite often you find these in Asia where the owners have replaced the badges with Mercedes ones...

Not sure if serious...

As already said above, the car was sold by Mercedes as a Mercedes in some markets, so the owners didn't replace the badges, Mercedes did.

As said above people remove the badges a lot of the time and replace them with the Mercedes one. Look at the car I posted again and you will see the badge from the old grille behind.

I've only lived in Asia for 7 years so what do I know...

[talksthetorque]

blearyeyedboy said:

Hmm... doing some detective work. Was passed by a dark mid-sized 4 door saloon, modern looking, similar proportions to previous generation Lexus IS but a bit bigger and more bulbous. Looked quite neat, round blue and silver logo on the nose. Really don't know what it was and Google Fu is thus far failing me today. I thought it was a Japanese looking thing but can't find anything obvious. It wasn't a Lexus logo on the front.

TL; DR: Blearyeyedboy saw something vaguely interesting but hasn't got a clue what it was...

Legacy saloon?

Kia Optima?

Edited by talksthetorque on Wednesday 17th June 12:36

[mrpushrod]

Glad to hear I found something people actually hadn't heard of

Dapster said:

Safrane Long Cours built on the Biturbo platform but died at concept stage.

Handsome car and full glass roof too.





http://boitierrouge.com/2014/11/29/renault-safrane...

I quite fancied a Safrane BiTurbo anyway but this is gloriously weird.

[blearyeyedboy]

NR91 said:

This?

Nope, but thanks for the effort. I did wonder if it was a Chinese thing but couldn't find anything that matched what I saw. I thought the badge was round and similar to a Geely one but I couldn't see anything like that which Geely made.

talksthetorque said:

Legacy saloon?

The front is close but with a smaller grill, but the back looks more curvy like a late-shape Impreza saloon. It didn't have a bonnet scoop.

talksthetorque said:

Kia Optima?

Edited by talksthetorque on Wednesday 17th June 12:36

Definitely not one of these.

Sad bloke that I am, I drove the long way home today via where I saw it in case it was around regularly.

There are a few American imports around my neck of the woods (Cambridge)- lots of people seem to like late-shape US Ford Fusions round here. Are there any American mid-size saloons along those lines that I might be thinking of if it wasn't a Chinese or Japanese one?

Edited by blearyeyedboy on Wednesday 17th June 19:54

[KillerHERTZ]

xRIEx said:

As already said above, the car was sold by Mercedes as a Mercedes in some markets, so the owners didn't replace the badges, Mercedes did.

They werent sold by Mercedes, Mercedes simply provided the engines.

[Blown2CV]

it's quite saddening from this thread the sheer number of what on paper were great ideas, but were ultimately canned based on people (often within the manufacturer's 4 walls) being unable to get past the cosmetic fugliness of the execution. Baby with the bath water etc.

[coppice]

EJH said:

PedroB said:

Citroen Visa? My Mum had one to replace to replace a Citroen GSA. It had an na diesel engine in it that made absolutely glacial progress.

Whilst cosmetically similar to the Visa, that's a Citroen Axel:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_Axel

I had a Visa Super E in early 80s - 1124 petrol complete with economy light (ie told you when you were clogging it - which had to be most of time ), single spoke wheel and supercool 'satellite ' control for wipers, lights and indicators which was like a plastic coke can hovering near lh side of wheelcovered in switches - worked brilliantly . Hugely overgeared before most cars were(95 down the hills and rather less up them) and great ride. Drove a twin too- sweet as a nut 650 . Happy days when Citroens were different because they could be

[rohrl]

I was behind one of these ungainly devices in traffic earlier today. A BMW 218d. It reminded me of nothing more than a wheelchair-converted Ford Escort van.

Remember when BMWs used to be sleek Teutonic Ultimate Driving Machines?

[Fast Bug]

Front wheel drive 'Ultimate Driving Machine'

[rohrl]

Fast Bug said:

Front wheel drive 'Ultimate Driving Machine'

I'm not sure that the fact it's FWD is really relevant. There are plenty of FWD cars out there which drive and handle better than the vast majority of RWD cars. Would you prefer to drive a Renaultsport Megane down a twisty road or a Lexus IS250? It's more the fact that it's a gawky box which is driven badly by pensioners.

[iambeowulf]

KillerHERTZ said:

xRIEx said:

As already said above, the car was sold by Mercedes as a Mercedes in some markets, so the owners didn't replace the badges, Mercedes did.

They werent sold by Mercedes, Mercedes simply provided the engines.

Exactly. They have nothing to do with Mercedes in as much as those hideous Chrysler 300C's do. They just have old designed Merc engines in.