Cars you didn't know existed...

[stickleback123]

AlexiusG55 said:

Just saw one of these in traffic today:



Lancia Kappa Coupé. Based on a shortened version of the Alfa 166 platform, and available with the Busso V6 or the Fiat 20V 5-cylinder turbo. Just over 3000 were built, essentially by hand.

I like these, but the exceedlingly handsome Rover 800 Coupe is a more resolved design if you want a commercially unsuccesful 90s coupe with turbocharged and V6 options. The Lancia has a too short wheelbase and long overhangs. and looks rather overbodied.

[Steamer]

Wow - I forgot about the 800 coupe

Actually looks great now (sorry a little bit of sick just came up.. I'm not a Rover fan).

But what a huge car to have a 2 door - which seats 5.

[saaby93]

Steamer said:

Wow - I forgot about the 800 coupe

Actually looks great now (sorry a little bit of sick just came up.. I'm not a Rover fan).

But what a huge car to have a 2 door - which seats 5.

Werent these a good 5 seater coupe too?
Audi coupe GT 5E with the 4+E economy box


Wikipedia wrongly claims it was a liftback
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audi_Coup%C3%A9
That honour was the Passat equivalent

Edited by saaby93 on Thursday 6th February 11:25

[Steamer]

saaby93 said:

Steamer said:

Wow - I forgot about the 800 coupe

Actually looks great now (sorry a little bit of sick just came up.. I'm not a Rover fan).

But what a huge car to have a 2 door - which seats 5.

Werent these a good 5 seater coupe too?
Audi coupe GT 5E with the 4+E economy box


Wikipedia wrongly claims it was a liftback
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audi_Coup%C3%A9
That honour was the Passat equivalent

Edited by saaby93 on Thursday 6th February 11:25

Yes - I remember those well, although in terms of scale I think the 800 was a whale of a car (although agree the Audi wasnt exactly small either!)

[ajprice]

Steamer said:

Wow - I forgot about the 800 coupe

Actually looks great now (sorry a little bit of sick just came up.. I'm not a Rover fan).

But what a huge car to have a 2 door - which seats 5.

It's a similar size to a modern Mondeo or Arteon, and for some reason the 800 coupe was taller than the 4 and 5 door https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rover_800_series

[carinaman]

AlexiusG55 said:

Just saw one of these in traffic today:



Lancia Kappa Coupé. Based on a shortened version of the Alfa 166 platform, and available with the Busso V6 or the Fiat 20V 5-cylinder turbo. Just over 3000 were built, essentially by hand.

I am not sure of the differences between the 166 and the Lancia Kappa underpinnings but the 166 was based on the Kappa floorpan. So the Kappa Coupe would have underpinnings based on a 166 which itself was developed from the underpinnings of the Kappa saloon.

It may be one way to get a Busso V6 with less bodywork corrosion baggage. But the 5 cylinder Fiat Coupe engine is a great engine too.

From the rear 3/4 quarter angle it looks more slab sided and under wheeled than a W140 Merc.? With the bigger windows and lower waistline I'd agree the Rover 800 Coupe looks better, more to scale using the photo shown previously. The Rover 800 Coupe looks like it has wheels rather than castors.

Edited by carinaman on Thursday 6th February 12:49

[stickleback123]

Steamer said:

Wow - I forgot about the 800 coupe

Actually looks great now (sorry a little bit of sick just came up.. I'm not a Rover fan).

But what a huge car to have a 2 door - which seats 5.

Only had two (really very nice) seats in the back, although it was very comfortable and spacious.



They were good looking cars and they were beautifully assembled; worlds apart from the regular 800. The paintwork in particular was like glass. Unfortunately the engine and chassis choices were:

Underpowered 2.7 Honda V6 with really poor ride and crap handling despite expensive double wishbones all round, manual (rare) and autos;
Turbocharged 2 litre that was very quick for the time, handled well, rode ok, torsen diff, manual gearbox that couldn't cope, had the refinement of a tractor;
NASP 2 litre that was slow and unrefined, with the option of a non electronically controlled 4 speed auto or 5 speed manual; and
Rover 2.7 V6 that was lovely and smooth sounded great, manual or OK 4 speed auto, engines would expire by 30k.

Oh and at launch the coupe was more expensive than a 4 litre XJS. Remind me why Rover aren't with us anymore?

[Jimmy Recard]

The Rover V6 in the 800 was a 2.5

[LuS1fer]

Jimmy Recard said:

The Rover V6 in the 800 was a 2.5

There was a 2.5 and a 2.7 Honda V6 as the car was based on the Legend. The Rover KV6 was a 2.5.

[Jimmy Recard]

LuS1fer said:

There was a 2.5 and a 2.7 Honda V6 as the car was based on the Legend. The Rover KV6 was a 2.5.

Yes, that's true. But in the 800 Coupe the only V6s were the Honda 2.7 and then the Rover 2.5. The previous poster said that the Rover KV6 was a 2.7, which I think was a typo

[M3DGE]

stickleback123 said:

Steamer said:

Wow - I forgot about the 800 coupe

Actually looks great now (sorry a little bit of sick just came up.. I'm not a Rover fan).

But what a huge car to have a 2 door - which seats 5.

Only had two (really very nice) seats in the back, although it was very comfortable and spacious.



They were good looking cars and they were beautifully assembled; worlds apart from the regular 800. The paintwork in particular was like glass. Unfortunately the engine and chassis choices were:

Underpowered 2.7 Honda V6 with really poor ride and crap handling despite expensive double wishbones all round, manual (rare) and autos;
Turbocharged 2 litre that was very quick for the time, handled well, rode ok, torsen diff, manual gearbox that couldn't cope, had the refinement of a tractor;
NASP 2 litre that was slow and unrefined, with the option of a non electronically controlled 4 speed auto or 5 speed manual; and
Rover 2.7 V6 that was lovely and smooth sounded great, manual or OK 4 speed auto, engines would expire by 30k.

Oh and at launch the coupe was more expensive than a 4 litre XJS. Remind me why Rover aren't with us anymore?

When I worked for a Perth (Scotland) based insurer in the 90s they had a few chaufeur cars; if the executives weren't using them you could book them to get to the airport (we were up and down to London all the time). They were mostly Jags, but they did have one of these - rumor was it was a freebie from Rover because we ran so many 200s and 400s as company cars. I remember being disappointed when allocated one of these, and then shocked by the high standard of the interior - better than the Jags (which were poverty spec to be fair).

[Fast Bug]

Nice looking things, but the build quality wasn't all that in all honesty!

[AlexiusG55]

carinaman said:

I am not sure of the differences between the 166 and the Lancia Kappa underpinnings but the 166 was based on the Kappa floorpan. So the Kappa Coupe would have underpinnings based on a 166 which itself was developed from the underpinnings of the Kappa saloon.

It may be one way to get a Busso V6 with less bodywork corrosion baggage. But the 5 cylinder Fiat Coupe engine is a great engine too.

From the rear 3/4 quarter angle it looks more slab sided and under wheeled than a W140 Merc.? With the bigger windows and lower waistline I'd agree the Rover 800 Coupe looks better, more to scale using the photo shown previously. The Rover 800 Coupe looks like it has wheels rather than castors.

Edited by carinaman on Thursday 6th February 12:49

I was a bit unclear on the 166/Kappa relationship. The Kappa coupe was based on the Kappa saloon not on the 166, but I mistakenly thought that they had been developed together rather than the 166 being based on the existing Kappa.

[Jobbo]

saaby93 said:

Werent these a good 5 seater coupe too?
Audi coupe GT 5E with the 4+E economy box


Wikipedia wrongly claims it was a liftback
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audi_Coup%C3%A9
That honour was the Passat equivalent

Edited by saaby93 on Thursday 6th February 11:25

The early ones were simply badged ‘Audi C’ - my father had one new in 1981. They had no centre rear seatbelt and had a hollowed our bit between the two rear seats, so not really any more than a 4-seater.

[Kolbenkopp]

BFleming said:

https://www.wellsmotorcars.co.uk/ - Merely a sign-up page.
http://headengineering.co.uk/ - Engineering allegedly done by these guys, but no reference on their CAD-heavy site.
Power is (again allegedly) a 2.0 Honda lump.
It's a new project, not as retro as it might appear (2018/19ish).

Thanks for digging that out! Would really love to see that project get somewhere. Breath not held -- Sniff nailed unfortunately but still. Big fan of that style of 1960es sports car shape (Abarth OT 2000, Porsche 904...).

[carinaman]

AlexiusG55 said:

I was a bit unclear on the 166/Kappa relationship. The Kappa coupe was based on the Kappa saloon not on the 166, but I mistakenly thought that they had been developed together rather than the 166 being based on the existing Kappa.

The 166 was late to market. As far as I know it could have been developed at the same time as the Kappa. It's my understanding from an article in CAR Magazine when the 166 was launched that high ranking personnel in Fiat weren't happy with the proposed styling of the 166 or the way it drove so it was extensively reworked. The 166 was scheduled to be on sale before the 156, but the changes meant it was released after the 156.

[BFleming]

carinaman said:

The 166 was late to market. As far as I know it could have been developed at the same time as the Kappa. It's my understanding from an article in CAR Magazine when the 166 was launched that high ranking personnel in Fiat weren't happy with the proposed styling of the 166 or the way it drove so it was extensively reworked. The 166 was scheduled to be on sale before the 156, but the changes meant it was released after the 156.

For that barn I don't own, I would gladly put a facelifted 166 in there. Stunning car.

[stickleback123]

Jimmy Recard said:

Yes, that's true. But in the 800 Coupe the only V6s were the Honda 2.7 and then the Rover 2.5. The previous poster said that the Rover KV6 was a 2.7, which I think was a typo

Yes, typo! I liked the KV6 but Rover fked that up of course.

Regarding the build, I'd say that the bodywork/shutlines etc were brilliant but the interior plastics and electrics were as weak as any 800. Anyone who ever looked at 800s will rememebr how the top of the instrument binnacle would come unglued and bow up, on any model made between 1986 and 1999.

Edited by stickleback123 on Friday 7th February 08:53

[Fast Bug]

I sold Rovers towards the end of the 800 life span and they weren't great. The 75 was a better built car (before the cost cutting kicked in!)

[Jakg]

Audi SQ2



Audi S3 drivetrain on stilts.
Top gear said "Lacks any hint of driving zing or sparkle"
https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/audi/sq2

Usget said:

I saw one of them a while back and posted it on Twitter to the general delight of the chodspotting community.

Speaking of Twitter, this is a genuine curiosity posted by Ash Sutcliffe. Can you guess what it is?



Nope, you're wrong. It's a Brilliance B8. There's a fascinating story behind it here --> http://chinacarhistory.com/2018/03/06/the-brillian...

Top bearding! I expected Roewe or something.