Estates That Never Were.....

[Billy Hunt]

Not quite estates but I want to post them anyway...

[Hooli]

Are those converted RV8s or MG BGTs with RV8 panels?

[davepoth]

RV8 used Heritage bodyshells with new panels. I guess these are heritage BGT shells used to rebody RV8s.

[red_rover]

Jag Gib said:

They make it yes!

This one mk2 in USA tests:



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

And it's not a Photoshop!

Whoa! Where on earth did you find that?!

[Billy Hunt]

B GT shells with everything from an RV8 bolted on

[BruceV8]

In general I prefer curvy cars to ones with straight lines - give me a Series XJ over an XJ40 anyday. But when it comes to estate conversions, the straight line cars work so much better. The Jaguar factory prototype XJ40 looks fantastic and I'm surprised they never made it. Similarly, the RR Spirit estate looks better than the Shadow/ Bentley T conversions, and they look much, much better than the Cloud converions.

[scotal]

THis is for sale with www.hillierhill.com at the mom. Really not sure about the colour scheme.

[dbdb]

Wolands Advocate said:

This Mercedes 300SEL 6.3 wagon is very wantable:

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C211945

This is one of the very few cars on this thread which I would actually like to own. Most others are 'interesting', but...

[A S P]

Carsie said:

A couple more for you..


Lancia Design - "Gamma - Just having a dream"

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When I worked at Bauer Millet in Manchester I remember the 4dr in the showroom, it'd been there for a while before, possibly 2yrs. This was circa 2001. It was immaculate, but had been used as a daily driver a some point.

[Jag Gib]

red_rover said:

Whoa! Where on earth did you find that?!

In a old portuguese magazine called AutoHoje.

[cheesyblob]

I see from your profile that's yours. Did you put an S50/S52 lump in a E36 Touring or did you put a Touring body on a M3? IMO BMW should of made an M3 Touring for all M3 models. Oh, and BTW nice car.

[ChairsWithHairs]

mgtony said:

I'm now in love with this car

[4rephill]

inkiboo said:

Now it's finished, can I cheekily punt this one in?



The E36 M3 Evo Touring. Why BMW never made this I am not sure.

Because at the time, the market for such vehicles was pretty much non-existent.

Why do you think they didn't bother making a RHD version of the E34 M5 touring?, because the size of the market meant it was not worth doing.

Where was the E39 M5 touring?, again, BMW decided the market wasn't big enough.

It wasn't until the E61 M5 came along in 2007 that they decided the market was big enough ( as had been demonstrated by the Audi and Mercedes high performance estates).

[Hooli]

4rephill said:

inkiboo said:

Now it's finished, can I cheekily punt this one in?



The E36 M3 Evo Touring. Why BMW never made this I am not sure.

Because at the time, the market for such vehicles was pretty much non-existent.

Why do you think they didn't bother making a RHD version of the E34 M5 touring?, because the size of the market meant it was not worth doing.

Where was the E39 M5 touring?, again, BMW decided the market wasn't big enough.

It wasn't until the E61 M5 came along in 2007 that they decided the market was big enough ( as had been demonstrated by the Audi and Mercedes high performance estates).

I seem to recall reading somewhere that the structual improvements in the shell for strength would ruin the load area?

[Gareth350]

May be a repost but quite interesting!

[niva441]

inkiboo said:

Hooli said:

I seem to recall reading somewhere that the structual improvements in the shell for strength would ruin the load area?

I doubt it. The Touring, Coupe, Saloon and Convertible are all exactly the same length and the Convertible manages just fine.

I take it only the estate has fold down seats. The others can have bracing across the seat back, between the suspension turrets.

[Blackwedge]

Police State said:

tog said:

Police State said:

That is the most brilliant thing I have seen in ages. Even more awesome than the Toronado.

Yes, I think it's the best one on this thread. I like the way someone has rolled the rear wheel arches.

Its for sale!

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C232857

'Too small for family'

[Hooli]

niva441 said:

inkiboo said:

Hooli said:

I seem to recall reading somewhere that the structual improvements in the shell for strength would ruin the load area?

I doubt it. The Touring, Coupe, Saloon and Convertible are all exactly the same length and the Convertible manages just fine.

I take it only the estate has fold down seats. The others can have bracing across the seat back, between the suspension turrets.

That's the sort of thing I'd heard yes. I don't recall the details as BMWs just seem excessively boring to me, I mean who names a performance car after a motorway?

[52classic]

Love that SAAB. Does anyone know the background detail to it?

[4rephill]

Hooli said:

I seem to recall reading somewhere that the structual improvements in the shell for strength would ruin the load area?

Based on this theory, the E36 touring posted by inkiboo must be an absolute death trap if it's not braced across the back of the seats! (which I Very, very, highly doubt to be the case!).

niva441 said:

I take it only the estate has fold down seats. The others can have bracing across the seat back, between the suspension turrets.

inkiboo said:

The others don't (well, I know the Saloon, Coupe and Compact don't but the Convertible might)

The coupes most definitely have folding rear seats and it was an option on the saloons (but not many people ordered it).

The convertible has a fixed rear seat due to requiring extra strengthening across the back to counteract the lack of a roof.



I can't see BMW's engineers being unable to strengthen the the shell of the E36 touring for an M3 version with folding rear seats when they accomplished it on the E34 M5 touring.

Again I ask, why did they not bother to make the E34 M5 touring in RHD?.
Why was there no E39 M5 touring offered?.

Answer: Because the markets were too small to make them financially viable at the time. it really is as simple as that!.