Cars you didn't know existed...

[D-Angle]

Pilfered from the (unfairly included in my opinion) Badly Modified Cars thread, the Bell Aurens Longnose:



Originally intended to house a Merlin V12, it ended up with a Rover V8 instead. I presume a Biggles-style leather helmet and goggles are included as standard.

[Chris944_S2]

Zad said:

Maybe in France it is called an MR-2? Oh wait...

Or maybe they copied Audi's e-tron
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/frenc...

[Doofus]

D-Angle said:

Pilfered from the (unfairly included in my opinion) Badly Modified Cars thread, the Bell Aurens Longnose:



Originally intended to house a Merlin V12, it ended up with a Rover V8 instead. I presume a Biggles-style leather helmet and goggles are included as standard.

It's a real shame this project didn't really take off, but these things were £200k or thereabouts when Thomas was building them to order. The engineering detail was akin to what Singer started doing a decade later, IMO.

[havoc]

I'm not really a fan of Landy's (well, outside of a farmer's driveway or an Army barracks), but I really like that!

[northwest monkey]

blearyeyedboy said:

^ Go on then, I could use a laugh. What did he do after admitting defeat?

And... two hours? That's dedication to the cause!

Parked it on another neighbours drive for a few days while he got his wall knocked down & made about 6' wider and the drive given a bit more tarmac. He never did get new gates to fit though

He was getting more and more annoyed as the time went on which probably didn't help - a Dodge Ram is certainly not a "nimble" little run around. I definitely think it must have been a bit of an impulse purchase - he only had it for about 9 months before replacing it with an E-class estate.

[GravelBen]

mholt1995 said:

... 1st generation (93-99) was a rebadged Nissan Terrano II


... As for the original cars, the Nissan Terrano now lives life as the X-Trail and the Escape as the Kuga. Obviously both of those are sold now in the UK as the OEM names.

The Nissan Terrano correlates to the Pathfinder rather than the X-trail (which is more car-like). Terranos were sold as Pathfinders in some markets, though the Terrano II was called the Mistral in Japan.

IIRC the Terrano II/Mistral had the same chassis and basic drivetrain as the WD21 Terrano/Pathfinder, while the R50 Terrano/Pathfinder/Regulus (which I have) switched to a monocoque rather than seperate chassis and a bit more modernisation in the drivetrain.

Mount Benger Road by Ben, on Flickr

Edited by GravelBen on Tuesday 29th May 12:18

[anonymous-user]

I spotted this Volvo 780 coupe and then noticed the bertone badges, had a Google and a proper car.

[saaby93]

Thesprucegoose said:

I spotted this Volvo 780 coupe and then noticed the bertone badges, had a Google and a proper car.

Oh I see.
coupe = 2 less doors
The market for those must have been........

[LuS1fer]

Thesprucegoose said:

I spotted this Volvo 780 coupe and then noticed the bertone badges, had a Google and a proper car.

I have never really understood why manufacturers make a 2 door car, coupe, call it what you will and it contrives to look exactly the same as the 4 door. Almost like Ford's superfluous Ghia badges. On the other hand, at least it's not the ugly squashed 262C.

[AppleJuice]

G11 725d:

[havoc]

AppleJuice said:

G11 725d:

Downsizing gone too far - a 4-pot in a 7?!?

[loudlashadjuster]

havoc said:

Downsizing gone too far - a 4-pot in a 7?!?

Merc have been doing S-Classes with 4-bangers for a number of years, so why not?

[Dapster]

AppleJuice said:

G11 725d:

That BMW engine produces 230bhp and 370 lb/ft so it'll easily keep up with the flow. There are only going to be a tiny percentage of owners for whom that'll feel sluggish.

Mercedes used to do a in line 4 cyl diesel in the previous generation W221 S Class, though the new shape W222 entry level is a 6 with 280bhp and 440 lb/ft.

[Pericoloso]

FIAT 127 estate.

I wandered into this part VW dealer ,part classic car dealer in rural Italy last week and although there was a huge

language problem ,my limited Italian was better than the salesman's zero English ,when "discussing " this car

the salesman said "Quattro" ...four .

So is it 1 of 4 only ?

[AppleJuice]

Dapster said:

That BMW engine produces 230bhp and 370 lb/ft so it'll easily keep up with the flow. There are only going to be a tiny percentage of owners for whom that'll feel sluggish.

Mercedes used to do a in line 4 cyl diesel in the previous generation W221 S Class, though the new shape W222 entry level is a 6 with 280bhp and 440 lb/ft.

Thanks! I presume that uses the noisy 2.1-litre twin-turbo lump?

[Pericoloso]

Re my FIAT post.

https://www.soldbyauctions.com/homes/advert_detail...

Speculates a similar car ,sold in UK as a 1 off.

[havoc]

Dapster said:

That BMW engine produces 230bhp and 370 lb/ft so it'll easily keep up with the flow. There are only going to be a tiny percentage of owners for whom that'll feel sluggish.

Mercedes used to do a in line 4 cyl diesel in the previous generation W221 S Class, though the new shape W222 entry level is a 6 with 280bhp and 440 lb/ft.

I'm not talking about poke, I'm talking about refinement.

4-pot diesels are amongst the coarsest and least-pleasant engines going, both in terms of sound and NVH, but also in terms of power-band (twin-turbo's partly excepted). The second will be offset by the multi-gear auto that these will all come with as standard, but it'll still sound and feel like a minicab (albeit a minicab with 100kg of insulation and double-glazing... ).


...so to fit such an engine in an executive barge sort-of seems to defeat the point a little. Unless it IS going to be used as an airport taxi or similar...

[Dapster]

havoc said:

I'm not talking about poke, I'm talking about refinement......(albeit a minicab with 100kg of insulation and double-glazing...

Yes, that's a good point. However as you say, any refinement issues will be bludgeoned into submission. I drove a previous shape S Class with entry level 6 cyl and you could barely tell it was propelled by an ICE - it was silent and free of any vibration - so serene.

[Hugo a Gogo]

LuS1fer said:

Thesprucegoose said:

I spotted this Volvo 780 coupe and then noticed the bertone badges, had a Google and a proper car.

I have never really understood why manufacturers make a 2 door car, coupe, call it what you will and it contrives to look exactly the same as the 4 door. Almost like Ford's superfluous Ghia badges. On the other hand, at least it's not the ugly squashed 262C.

it's actually pretty different from a 4 door 700 series if you see them together, the boot and bonnet are lower, all the ABC pillars are different, front n rear different

[loudlashadjuster]

AppleJuice said:

Thanks! I presume that uses the noisy 2.1-litre twin-turbo lump?

Yes, but it's a different proposition to the fitment in a C-Class (I had one, and yes it is a gruff old thing). I've been in an S250 it's basically isolated to the point of irrelevance. I'm sure a back-to-back would show it up against an S350 etc., but in isolation it doesn't feel like a huge compromise. Unless you value a proper level of ubersaloon shove.

I'd never buy one, but I appreciate there are folk who might.