Rare versions of common cars

[Chimune]

Common: 2004 Vauxhall Astra 5 door in grey as seen everywhere all the time.

Rare ish version: 2L petrol turbo. Same engine as the vxr - not seen another one ever. I think they get bought and broken for diy corsa vxr transformations!

[vsonix]

lord trumpton said:

Dannbodge said:

AlmostUseful said:

Being as this is Pistonheads, where pedantry matters... you won’t find an e92 335i estate anywhere, ever.
E92 is the coupe, E90 is the saloon and E91 is the estate.

Phew.

I was about to say that

Rawwr said:

The 320Si is pretty rare and I quite like the idea of it

They are lovely. Shame the engine is terrible.

E90 335i and E91 335i are both rare, especially in facelift (LCi ) form.

I always see figures floating of only 15 manual E91 335i LCis and around 50 of the E90.

I looked into these a good few years back as I saw it as a spiritual successor to the E30 318is

Reading up then ownership is a world of pain with engine liners/piston rings failing.

I saw a fairly low mileage one up for sale for about 4.5k recently. I like the sound of them on paper but I'm not sure that a lardy 4-door with a peaky engine that needs to be revved all the time is going to be particularly pleasant to live with.
I'm thinking back to the E36 318is 4-door that was imported from South Africa and sold over here right towards the end of the E36 generation - I had the same engine in a Compact and although a sprightly drive when the car was empty it really was barely sufficient to haul more than two adults - let alone four with luggage. The 318is sedan was nearly a hundred kilos heavier out the gate so would have presumably struggled even more. The power to weight ratios are very similar so unless BMW managed to make that engine produce loads more torque I would imagine the 320si is of fairly limited use to most people. Hence the fact that like the 318is sedan, it's showing no signs of becoming a cult model despite the fact it's meant to be sporty and is quite rare.

ETA - very rare! According to Autocar only 2600 units - idk if that is UK or globally but that is definitely not common!

Edited by vsonix on Wednesday 17th January 20:21

[dazwalsh]

The volvo s80 with the v8 engine, or infact any volvo with the v8.

[cologne2792]

The MK1 Golf GTI 1800 -

All the Mk1 Golf GTI were 1.6 up until close to the end of the production run,
The 1.8 appeared late on a Y plate and was only made through to A before being replaced by the MK2 GTI.
1.8 Mk1's are identified by twin, round headlights compared with 1.6 single setup.
I thought they were a cracking car and a much snappier drive than the 1.6.
But they're rarely seen today and there can't have been that many actually produced.

[stuckmojo]

sonnenschein3000 said:

What's the actual point of this? If you wanted a saloon, surely a 3 series makes more sense?

That's a FWD platform. A horrible creature. You're looking at the next 1 and 2 series there.

[Chromegrill]

Rover 75 V8 tourer (estate) - rare as hens teeth, a dozen licensed as of 2018 and highly collectable.

[DoubleD]

stuckmojo said:

That's a FWD platform. A horrible creature. You're looking at the next 1 and 2 series there.

I hadnt realised that anyone had driven one yet. Was it not nice to drive?

[Wooda80]

tomic said:

Golf Country

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C948035

Spotted Aldi Car Park in Moss Side - not very Country!

[Teebs]

Audi A4 DTM - only ever seen 1

[Haddock82]

Chromegrill said:

Rover 75 V8 tourer (estate) - rare as hens teeth, a dozen licensed as of 2018 and highly collectable.

I see a few of these now and then because of my work

They are getting very rare though

one of the bosses has a ZT V8 tourer with the Roush supercharger fitted as standard, a mere 385bhp & RWD ;-) one of very very few made by the factory

Uses it as a daily too! Top work

[Zarco]

Teebs said:

Audi A4 DTM - only ever seen 1

Theres one round the corner from me.

Not a fan.

[jamoor]

ISF?

[Teebs]

Zarco said:

Theres one round the corner from me.

Not a fan.

No, they offered very little against a standard car.

[MDMA .]

Faz50 said:

Not sure how many Passat W8’s were sold but I’ve only ever seen 2 on the road.

Dealer near me ( Just German ) is bringing a few in from Japan at the moment. Must have 3-4 in stock at the moment.

http://www.justgerman.co.uk/results.php?start=10&a...

[Rickyy]

Mondeo Si 4x4. Neighbour had one years ago and saw one recently.



Supercharged Corolla



Galaxy V6 4X4. My Granddad got me a load of Ford sales brochures around 1997, I read the whole lot cover to cover and remembered this oddity.

[stuckmojo]

DoubleD said:

I hadnt realised that anyone had driven one yet. Was it not nice to drive?

A FWD BMW saloon is like a woman with tits on her back. I'm not interested in driving or owning one. Again, very sad to see. No point in it whatsoever (other than selling it in China first, that is)

[poing]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

It's not impossible this was my fault. I had a 1.3 GL, the engine went pop so I got a friend to swap the engine, he found a 1.6 and put that in. I needed a new badge to match my new engine but I'm not a thief so I did a swap! I knew it was a female driver and figured she'd never even notice. Was it fairly nippy for a 1.3?

[DoubleD]

stuckmojo said:

DoubleD said:

I hadnt realised that anyone had driven one yet. Was it not nice to drive?

A FWD BMW saloon is like a woman with tits on her back. I'm not interested in driving or owning one. Again, very sad to see. No point in it whatsoever (other than selling it in China first, that is)

People said similar things when the X5 first came out. I choose cars after I have driven them.

[ZX10R NIN]

E500 with the 4.7 BiTurbo V8 it looks (well it did) like an E250/350cdi & it's great fun when you let people realise it's not.

[stuckmojo]

DoubleD said:

People said similar things when the X5 first came out. I choose cars after I have driven them.

Agreed and case in point.