Name this car....

[pippy]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

OK. Just for fun here's a crop of a vehicle I saw just yesterday. Prior to that I don't recall ever having seen one of these in my life!

Mark you; that isn't because it's rare - there have been over half-a-million of the things produced over a 25+ year lifespan - but........well, I just don't know why I've never noticed them before. Because they were whacked with the Ugly Stick perhaps?

I only have monochrome pics of the babe because I only had the Monochrom with me so I'll tell you all right away that it was painted white...😸...

Have fun!

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Philip.

 

[NigelG]

1 hour ago, pippy said:

I was helped in part because there was a joint Nissan/Toyota dealership not 100 metres away from the house where I lived as a child. I particularly remember when the showroom put one of the new Toyota Crown Coupe models in the window. It looked a bit like a marriage (crash?) between a Mustang fastback and a Wurlitzer with its strange upper-wing-bonnet wraparound side-lights with slotted chrome trim detailing.

As far as the RAC Rally goes; Yes! I can't remember if it was The Beeb or STV which, back in the day, used to show highlights of the Rally. Scary Stuff! The mother pulling the pram out of the way was perhaps just trying to get a better view of (IMO) one of the most beautiful cars ever to be entered in a rally; the Alpine A110.

Philip.

Yes the Alpines were "up there" in my rally hierarchy (but only because the divine Stratos would not race homologated until '74 IIRC)

I think the WRC coverage might have been on "World of Sport" on ITV?

Timo Makinen  "The Flying Finn" - vs Roger ("Cossack hairspray" 🤣) Clark was peak motorsport rivalry at the time 

Edited April 22, 2024 by NigelG

[stuny]

Yes, it did seem to have been whacked with the ugly stick.  Station (estate) wagon body style?

[pippy]

30 minutes ago, NigelG said:

Yes the Alpines were "up there" in my rally hierarchy (but only because the divine Stratos would not race homologated until '74 IIRC)......I think the WRC coverage might have been on "World of Sport" on ITV?...

The Stratos was like something from another planet when it arrived! After all those years of three-box saloons the Stratos looked like a spaceship!

I believe you are correct with the 'World of Sport' programme. In Scotland it was broadcast by ITV's northern branch which was STV where 'Independent' became 'Scottish'.

Philip.

[pippy]

30 minutes ago, stuny said:

Yes, it did seem to have been whacked with the ugly stick.  Station (estate) wagon body style?

Think Tall!.....

Philip.

[NigelG]

I wondered if it could be from the "wardrobe-on-wheels" sector? ..but those rear light are tantalisingly distinctive.

I'd had been thinking Diahatsu Move, Bongo Friendee or one of the slightly bonkers domestic-market-only Japanese import Suzuki/Hondas..

Re the Stratos I saw what I think was a genuine road version in a quite luminous green in London once and IMHO it blew all those cityboy prancing "Supercars" away - so tiny in comparison yet so potent.

 

[pippy]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

47 minutes ago, NigelG said:

I wondered if it could be from the "wardrobe-on-wheels" sector? ..but those rear light are tantalisingly distinctive......I'd had been thinking Diahatsu Move, Bongo Friendee or one of the slightly bonkers domestic-market-only Japanese import Suzuki/Hondas...

Yes, Nigel, it IS a "Wardrobe-on-Wheels" (😸)! It isn't made by any of the manufacturers you list but (I needed to check!) you are correct in saying that it was produced for the Domestic Market only although (apparently!) it is a model which is popular with the 'Grey Import' Brigade. They also seem to be exported quite commonly on the used market.

Funny that you should mention the Bongo; when we moved into our current home there were two Bongos owned by different families who lived just along the road from us. When I asked one of the owners (they became good friends) what was the name of their 'car' and I was told 'Bongo' I thought that was just their 'pet name' for the thing! They were most upset when it eventually succumbed to the ravages of time. 'It Takes All Sorts' I suppose?

Here's another quite distinctive (I think?!) bit of the Mystery Machine;

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Philip.

Edited April 22, 2024 by pippy

[pippy]

1 hour ago, NigelG said:

...Re the Stratos I saw what I think was a genuine road version in a quite luminous green in London once and IMHO it blew all those cityboy prancing "Supercars" away - so tiny in comparison yet so potent...

In a similar vein...

One gorgeously sunny lunchtime a few years ago we were sitting at a harbourside cafe having a post-prandial glass in the little town of Ars-en-Ré when a circa 1972 Light-Ivory 2.4 911S thrummed past our table at a very leisurely pace. It looked like it had just been driven out of the dealership for the very first time. It was the perfect car in a perfect setting. Just beautiful in every way. We tend to forget just how small and jewel-like these early 911s were......

Philip.

[wlaidlaw]

I went to the Welsh Forests for one of the RAC Rallies in I forget which year, 1976 or 77 but it was in the era of the magnificent Lancia Stratos cars, being driven totally sideways by the likes of Sandro Munari You could hear the Stratos coming from about 2 miles away.

In a much earlier era around 1961, I went with my father to see the RAC in the Culbin Sands Forest, between Nairn and Findhorn (this old Forestry Commission film tells the sad story of the lost village of Culbin, buried by the dunes - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5AxDAztCn0&t=30s ). At that time we saw the likes of Eric Carlsson in his very sideways two stroke Saab 96 Peter Harper in a Hillman Imp and Rauno Altonen in a big Healey. The latter came past us going fast on four wheels but only three tyres but this handicap did not appear to be slowing him much.

Wilson

 

[wlaidlaw]

Mystery car - A Mercedes Viano? 

Wilson

[pippy]

16 minutes ago, wlaidlaw said:

Mystery car - A Mercedes Viano?

No; not a Mercedes Viano, Wilson, but they do share almost exactly the same production timeframes (as far as I know).

Identification removed. Here's one more piece of the patchwork quilt;

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Philip.

[NigelG]

1 hour ago, pippy said:

In a similar vein...

One gorgeously sunny lunchtime a few years ago we were sitting at a harbourside cafe having a post-prandial glass in the little town of Ars-en-Ré when a circa 1972 Light-Ivory 2.4 911S thrummed past our table at a very leisurely pace. It looked like it had just been driven out of the dealership for the very first time. It was the perfect car in a perfect setting. Just beautiful in every way. We tend to forget just how small and jewel-like these early 911s were......

Philip.

Ars is are favourite town on the island - we have spent many a happy summer there courtesy of our friends at La Senechal.

Usually favour the garden of "Le Grenier a Sel" when things get busy at the water.

Saw a lovely completely original Alpine A110 on the dock last time - "75" Plates - naturellement tant pis.

 

 

Apologies for the lack of accents - I can't seem to trigger the requisite acutes in the usual mac "hold down the e and select" method (yes I know there's an a accent for Le Grenier also...)😐

Edited April 22, 2024 by NigelG

[evikne]

…

Edited April 22, 2024 by evikne

[wlaidlaw]

è is Option `(backwards apostrophe, key to the left of Z) then e;  é is Option e then e;  ê is Option i then e; ë is Option u then e. Hope this helps. As I quite often have to type in French, I have had to learn these. 

Wilson

[pippy]

23 minutes ago, NigelG said:

Ars is are favourite town on the island - we have spent many a happy summer there courtesy of our friends at La Senechal.

Usually favour the garden of "Le Grenier a Sel" when things get busy at the water.

Saw a lovely completely original Alpine A110 on the dock last time - "75" Plates - naturellement tant pis.

Small World. We've been going to Ars every other year since the late '90s. The parents of my wife's best friend (since they were at nursery school together) have had a cottage in Saint-Clément-des-Baleines - just a few kilometres to the north of Ars - since the '60s and we all used to meet up during various holidays. Lovely in the summer but it can be 'Proper Arctic' in the winter!

Yes; the 911S also had '75' plates. Having just had a look the population of Ars is officially 1,318. That must be out-of-season because IN-season it seems to be closer to 131,800...

Philip.

[pippy]

28 minutes ago, evikne said:

…

Where did your answer go Evikne? I'm sure I saw something and it was correct!

Philip.

[pippy]

3 minutes ago, wlaidlaw said:

...As I quite often have to type in French, I have had to learn these...

I really should learn them myself. Usually I resort to cheating by using cut'n'paste from a website which is written in French............

Philip.

[evikne]

1 minute ago, pippy said:

Where did your answer go Evikne? I'm sure I saw something and it was correct!

Philip.

Sorry, I guessed Nissan Elgrand, but I didn't realize that this was a thread where you have to post a new picture. I have almost no pictures of cars.

[pippy]

1 minute ago, evikne said:

Sorry, I guessed Nissan Elgrand, but I didn't realize that this was a thread where you have to post a new picture. I have almost no pictures of cars.

😸

Ah Well! No worries. At least you identified the thing correctly. It is indeed a Nissan Elgrand ('E51 Second Generation + Second Facelift' apparently).

A couple of pics?

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

Thanks for playing, everyone, interesting chats included!

Over to anyone with anything to post I suppose?

Philip.

[Advertisement]

Hallo,

Look here: Interesting Leica gear

[evikne]

Now that I've gotten myself into this, I can post a picture:

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!