Cars you didn't know existed...

[thebigmacmoomin]

MattHall91 said:

Currently for sale on AT. Mitsubishi Eclipse 2.4.

American import rubbish. Only know it from the Gran Turismo games.

[MattHall91]

thebigmacmoomin said:

MattHall91 said:

Currently for sale on AT. Mitsubishi Eclipse 2.4.

American import rubbish. Only know it from the Gran Turismo games.

So that's where I recognise the shape from! I seem to remember there being several underpowered questionable coupes in those games...

[mrpushrod]

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

[rohrl]

How about this little beauty? It's an 1100cc Type 968 built in 1957 to compete at Le Mans but sadly it never made it to the start line. At first sight I bet you wouldn't think it was a Skoda.

[BenWRXSEi]

Blimey, that second picture makes it look like a pedal car!

[V8s ONLY]

Halmyre said:

And an inch off the exhaust pipe.

No,just the chrome trim.

[rohrl]

BenWRXSEi said:

Blimey, that second picture makes it look like a pedal car!

Yeah, the driver does look to be a big chap but it is a very small car.

[scottyrocks]

simonrockman said:

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

[Quhet]

rohrl][/pic said:

Gosh, you wouldn't want to roll that would you?

[31mph]

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

Great find!

That is excellent

[Baryonyx]

That looks like a great way to travel.

[GravelBen]

jogger1976 said:

I came across an article about the proposed Group S rally category, which was due to supercede Group B in 1987, but was canned along with Group B, following the fatal accidents in Portugal.
Some interesting stuff here, which I'd not known about.

http://thumbsnap.com/sc/lLXmIiYR.jpg

Toyota 222D, based on the MK1 MR2, but with a dry sumped, turbo'd 16valve engine from Toyota Le Mans works cars. Circa 600bhp, but anything up to 950bhp!

Audi RS 002. A secret concept designed without the knowledge of Ferdinand Piech.
Mid engined, space- framed lightweight body, mated to a redeveloped 20v engine, reputed to produce up to 1000bhp!http://thumbsnap.com/sc/9V4vS0El.jpg

Lancia ECV. A lighter, more sophisticated replacement for the Delta S4, with a carbon fibre and kevlar body and a twin-turbo 600bhp engine.
http://thumbsnap.com/sc/t7CFjHuC.jpg[/img]

Its funny how the claimed Group-S power outputs get inflated over time. Yes, the engines used did have the potential for that sort of power. But the Group-S regs would have limited them to about 300bhp, in fact it would have been very similar to late 90s/early 00s WRC cars.

Edited by GravelBen on Wednesday 17th June 08:27

[Doofus]

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

Finally! A car that I didn't actually know existed. Well done!

[JZZ30]

mrpushrod said:

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

Like an Espace crossed with Aston Martin Lagonda.

[PedroB]

MarshPhantom 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.

[a1burns]

Loving this thread, seem to be seeing loads of firsts too since I've been following it. There are quite a few 300zx's where I live (Norwich) but saw the first convertible drive past me yesterday, was shocked didn't have a clue they were a thing. Didn't take a picture but google has a stock photo of one. Must say it didn't look great in the metal.

[EJH]

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

[blearyeyedboy]

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...

[anonymous-user]

bencollins said:

All that jazz said:

I was at a Vauxhall dealership earlier for a part and there was a Vauxhall Cascade parked up outside which I never knew existed. Some Insignia sized thing but uglier and was a soft top. Looked pretty nasty tbh and it was in some wishy-washy yellow colour.

blimey, i think they look great, hood up or down!

I think it's a good looking convertible, certainly a lot better looking than the weirdly proportioned 2 series and A3 convertibles.

[Dyl]

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...

Infiniti Q50 perhaps?





Edit - just noticed you said a silver and blue logo, so most likely not an Infiniti...