You learn something new... - Cars you didn't know existed, until now!

  • Thread starter Rue
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The car now at the GM Heritage Center
 
McLaren
Then you're in luck (if you've got cash to burn). Chassis #2 is available again, the only road-registered one built, value is expected somewhere over $550,000.
https://www.classicdriver.com/en/article/sponsored-content/rarest-porsche-rs-them-all-not-a-911
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Actually, this very car for sale recently is precisely how I learned of the existence of the car in the first place ha. Though, that linked article says 4 were made, other articles I've read say 3 were ever made, but either way it's a super rare car. Been reading up more on the history of them.
 
SPhilli911
Actually, this very car for sale recently is precisely how I learned of the existence of the car in the first place ha. Though, that linked article says 4 were made, other articles I've read say 3 were ever made, but either way it's a super rare car. Been reading up more on the history of them.
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1 blog shared that there's a red, a yellow, a blue, and a black. Red sold for $350K 7 years ago, yellow is the one we're both aware of, and I've found pictures of the blue. Can't find the supposed black one besides some tributes.
 
Do you have a higher resolution version of those photos? I can't make out the emblem on the nose, but it looks like it's five letters.
 
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Snikle
When I was making the cool wall thread for the Alfa Romeo 2000 Sprint, I found some information about a one-off version of the 2000 built by Touring called the 2000 Praho.
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The American-style front end looks pretty Edsel-like, but better executed IMO.
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It looks to me like a mix of the Lancia Flaminia coupe which was designed and built by Pininfarina, and the front end of the Lancia Flaminia GT which was, perhaps not coincidentally, designed and built by Touring.

Lancia Flaminia Coupe by Pininfarina


Lancia Flaminia GT by Touring
 
Snikle
I've heard/seen pictures of these before, but it wasn't until this writeup today that I really noticed how great the 56-59 BMW 503 was.
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If you have Prime Video, watch "The Last Run" from 1971 starring George C. Scott as a retired mob driver forced to make one last run. His car is a BMW 503. I remember reading in Car & Driver many years ago that he liked the car so much, he bought it once the movie was finished.

TheHun99
The Touring variant looks incredible!!
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I'm a big Lancia fan. I especially like the Flaminia, Flavia, and Fulvia of the 1950s and '60s. To me the Flaminia looks great in every body style.

Berlina (designed by Pininfarina):


Coupe (designed by Pininfarina):


Sport (designed by Zagato):


GT coupe (designed by Touring):


GT convertible (designed by Touring):
 
I just learned about this last night. After WWII, Willys-Overland had a bit of money thanks to the success of the Jeep. Willys dealers went to work selling civilian Jeeps, but they wanted a regular sedan to sell alongside them. Willys took their pre-war 6-66 concept, updated it, and announced if for production in 1947. But it never happened. W-O director Edward Love was playing it cautiously. He didn't produce another Willys sedan until several years later with the Aero. What makes the 6-70 so interesting is the suspension. Front is independent via a transverse leaf spring, and rear is independent via swing axles. This would have been the first American sedan with four wheel independent suspension.


1947 Willys 6-70


1947 Willys 6-70


1947 Willys 6-70 Chassis Illustration


One last chance to interest investors was a mild update called the 6-71. From left to right: Willys-Overland director Edward Love, designer Art Kibiger, Chief Engineer Barney Roos, and venture capitalist Laurance Rockefeller (son of John Rockefeller Jr.). Nothing came of it.
 
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The other day I found out about the DF Goblin when I saw one on the drive home. I had no clue what it was at first, but after some digging I finally found out it's a kit car that uses the Chevy Cobalt as the mechanical donor, there's also an off-road variant.

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kikie
VW Rometsch
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iu
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A quick correction: these aren't called VW Rometsch. It's called the Rometsch Lawrence. Rometsch built it and named it after the designer, Bert Lawrence. Of course a VW Beetle was the basis for the car. Rometsch got their start in 1924 as a coachbuilder. After the war, they built 4-door VWs and sold them to taxi companies.


The in the mid-50s they built a series of sports cars on the VW chassis called the Rometsch Beeskow. This was also named after the designer.

1954 Rometsch Beeskow Coupé


1955 VW Rometsch Beeskow Coupé series 3


1956 Rometsch Beeskow

There was also a convertible version of the Rometsch Lawrence.

Rometsch Lawrence cabriolet

I bring all this up just because I love the small manufacturers like Rometsch, Dannenhauer & Stauss, Hebmüller, Meyers and all the rest who built cars on the VW Type 1 chassis.
 
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This Chinese Buick LaCrosse. As well as some other China specific Buick models found here. I was shocked to see that Isuzu/Daewoo being branded as a Buick. Wouldn't be my first choice...

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I personally find it attractive but in a banal sort of way. Could do without the crystal taillights though.
 
You've got one of the best drivetrain packages on the market in 1991. The car you're basing your one-off supercar on isn't bad by any means either. You've even done a reasonable job hiding the lineage. The entire world is your oyster.




So why on earth would you take the interior and make it even worse?






Edit: Actually, wait a minute.

GranTurNismo
1991 Rhapsody V8. A one-off, German supercar based on the Corvette ZR-1. It was powered by a 5.7L GM V8 making 550hp, allowing for a 0-60 time of 3.7 seconds and, according to the company, a top speed of 221mph.

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That's not an LT5, that custom interior is definitely on top of the skeleton of a pre-1990 car, and that is the 80s Corvette steering wheel.



So it's built off of, at best, a 1989 L98 six speed (with the 1990+ cooling system added) instead of a 1991 ZR-1.
 
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