- 586
- Where horsepower echoes in the mountains
You learn something new... - Cars you didn't know existed, until now!
- Thread starter Rue
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- 12,758
- Seattle-ish
According to this article, that four-door is called the 542. When Studebaker got it, they called it the Z-87. The engine was made by Porsche and was designed to be either air- or -water-cooled, or even a combination of both. The author believes it still exists, but if it does, it's well hidden.Looking up some information on the Porsche 356 the search led me to these two prototypes, which both were proposals for Studebaker in the 50's:
The 530, a 4 seater still based on the 356:
The 564, featuring a 3 liter V6 and independent suspension all around:
- 586
- Where horsepower echoes in the mountains
My bad, edited it. 👍
- 12,758
- Seattle-ish
And it really is a cool find. Before today, I didn't know about them, either.
- 12,758
- Seattle-ish
There are a lot of fascinating cars around the nexus of Ghia and the Chrysler Corporation in the 1950s, from the Chrysler Firearrow show cars to the Dual-Ghia sportscar, but I never knew about this car: The Chrysler Falcon. It was supposed to be a competitor to the Corvette and Thunderbird, but for whatever reason, it never went into production. Its 170hp 276cid V8 two-speed automatic drivetrain would have been roughly equivalent to the other two. Still holding on to the name, Chrysler was going to call the Plymouth Valiant the Falcon, but Henry Ford II personally asked them for permission to use the name. Chrysler agreed, scrambling to find a new name at the last minute through an employee contest. Three of these Falcons were built, and if I'm not mistaken, all three still exist. One at the Chrysler Museum, and two in private hands in the US (one of them having spent most of it's life in Venezuela before returning to the US.)
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They probably just figured that there wasn't enough of a market to try and bring it to production. Honestly, they were probably right. The Corvette was going on its third year of being a total sales disaster by the time Chrysler showed that off, and while the Thunderbird sold much better in comparison Ford correctly guessed that they could do much better if they changed the car's market positioning as soon as they could tool up a new model.
- 102
- Poland
BMW Z1 is unique for its plastic body panels and vertically sliding doors which drop into the door sills allowing even on driving with open doors. It is one of the first BMWs to use a multi-link rear suspension.
Harm Lagaay, designer of the Z1, claimed that while working on the Z1 BMW patented Z1's:
-discharge lamp
-door mechanism
-the chassis plate.
Harm Lagaay, designer of the Z1, claimed that while working on the Z1 BMW patented Z1's:
-discharge lamp
-door mechanism
-the chassis plate.
- 3,656
- Elizabeth, New Jersey, USA
I remember posting about that 037 JGTC, not sure if it was in here or the "can't believe they raced it" thread. Very interesting car for sure.
Here's another obscure race car you probably didn't know about. 1988 Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z DTM built by Peter John. Powered by a 5.7L V8 making 550hp and had a 5-speed manual. However, since DTM regulations strongly penalized oversized engines, it weighed 1650kg, far heavier than any of its competition. It only raced once, did very poorly, and was never to be seen again.
Here's another obscure race car you probably didn't know about. 1988 Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z DTM built by Peter John. Powered by a 5.7L V8 making 550hp and had a 5-speed manual. However, since DTM regulations strongly penalized oversized engines, it weighed 1650kg, far heavier than any of its competition. It only raced once, did very poorly, and was never to be seen again.
- 12,758
- Seattle-ish
There's a "can't believe they raced it" thread? Why wasn't I informed of this!?
- 3,656
- Elizabeth, New Jersey, USA
It's in the Motorsports subforum, not here. That's most likely why. Interesting thread for sure.
- 12,758
- Seattle-ish
1975 Leata. Built in Idaho by Steinbaugh Manufacturing. 22 built. All were coupes (the white roof), except for three trucks and one sedan (the green car.) The car had a 70 in wheelbase and used the Pinto's 2.3 liter four, making it suprisingly fast. The truck used the Pinto's full 94 inch wheelbase. The frame was built in Spokane by a race shop. The bodies were fiberglass and built by Leata. I had no idea these existed.
When the world said "We don't need that" Leata responded with their 1977 offering. A completely reworked full luxury Chevette costing about $6-8K. Available as both coupe and pickup. Again, the bodies were fiberglass and made inhouse by Leata. The truck was called the Caballero. 97 of all types of the Leata were made that year before they ceased production.
When the world said "We don't need that" Leata responded with their 1977 offering. A completely reworked full luxury Chevette costing about $6-8K. Available as both coupe and pickup. Again, the bodies were fiberglass and made inhouse by Leata. The truck was called the Caballero. 97 of all types of the Leata were made that year before they ceased production.
- 6,877
- Jakarta
I know! I would have posted the 037 post there if I had known
- 48,819
- Australia
Those Chrysler(or maybe Monte Carlo) Chevette conversions are cool! Probably the first to do baby replicas before Kei car replicas.1975 Leata. Built in Idaho by Steinbaugh Manufacturing. 22 built. All were coupes (the white roof), except for three trucks and one sedan (the green car.) The car had a 70 in wheelbase and used the Pinto's 2.3 liter four, making it suprisingly fast. The truck used the Pinto's full 94 inch wheelbase. The frame was built in Spokane by a race shop. The bodies were fiberglass and built by Leata. I had no idea these existed.
When the world said "We don't need that" Leata responded with their 1977 offering. A completely reworked full luxury Chevette costing about $6-8K. Available as both coupe and pickup. Again, the bodies were fiberglass and made inhouse by Leata. The truck was called the Caballero. 97 of all types of the Leata were made that year before they ceased production.
- 12,758
- Seattle-ish
I'm finding a lot of marques I never knew about before. How about the Keller from Alabama? Before I get into that, though, I should mention there have been three car manufacturers native to the Yellowhammer state. First is the Great Southern Automobile Company of Birmingham. They made a few tourers between 1913-1917. None survive. Almost nothing is known about them. Second was Preston Motors, also of Birmingham. They made about 500 Premocars between 1917-1923. Here is President Warren Harding in a Premocar during his visit to Birmingham in 1923. Again, none are known to survive.
On to the story. Actually, I'm going to skip most of the story. You can read a much better written account here. I'll just hit a few highlights. First, a Chrysler engineer on loan to Convair during WWII had an idea to make a small car called the Bobbi-Car.
A huckster was hired to promote the car and get an IPO off the ground. He found it was a lot easier in Alabama where they asked a lot less questions about his very problematic past. On the way to Alabama, the car was re-engineered with a bigger and better Hercules 4-cylinder engine and became a woody wagon. There were a lot available wood and talented wood workers in the north of Alabama, so it made good sense. The huckster was finally driven out of the company, and a real car executive was brought in to run the company, George Keller, formerly VP of marketing at Studebaker. The car was renamed the Keller after him. And then he died of a heart attack at 56. When Keller died, so did all the financing, and the Keller dream ended after only 18 cars had been built.
A coupe and a convertible were also envisaged.
Just three are known to survive. Each is named for a principle in the company.
Barnett
Mitchell
George
Seriously, read the above linked article. It's a great story.
On to the story. Actually, I'm going to skip most of the story. You can read a much better written account here. I'll just hit a few highlights. First, a Chrysler engineer on loan to Convair during WWII had an idea to make a small car called the Bobbi-Car.
A huckster was hired to promote the car and get an IPO off the ground. He found it was a lot easier in Alabama where they asked a lot less questions about his very problematic past. On the way to Alabama, the car was re-engineered with a bigger and better Hercules 4-cylinder engine and became a woody wagon. There were a lot available wood and talented wood workers in the north of Alabama, so it made good sense. The huckster was finally driven out of the company, and a real car executive was brought in to run the company, George Keller, formerly VP of marketing at Studebaker. The car was renamed the Keller after him. And then he died of a heart attack at 56. When Keller died, so did all the financing, and the Keller dream ended after only 18 cars had been built.
A coupe and a convertible were also envisaged.
Just three are known to survive. Each is named for a principle in the company.
Barnett
Mitchell
George
Seriously, read the above linked article. It's a great story.
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- 28,805
- a baby, candy, it's like taking.
- TexRex72
Cabalero. It's an easy mistake to make, what with the former being an actual word and all. If anybody spoke Spanish in Idaho, it surely wasn't for very long.
I'm fairly certain I've brought up Leata on this forum, which isn't to say that others should check before doing so--or not do so--of course. I'm just...adding.
I'm not loving the grill bar painted to match the body. Black to match the fog surrounds would be much more flattering.There are Mazda 2 3-doors still driving around over here, but I didn't know about this one.
For the 2008 debut of the Mazda2 3-door, a sporty version was made. Featuring Recaro seats, lowered suspension and 16" alloy wheels.
GilesGuthrie
Staff Emeritus
- 11,038
- Edinburgh, UK
- CMDRTheDarkLord
Those fender/door creases are giving me the heebie-jeebies
- 3,719
- Null Island
Roo
Premium
- 7,349
- Hampshire, UK
- GTP_Roo
Obviously I know about the Volvo S60.
What I didn't know until today was that when M-Sport ran the Ford WRC team in the mid-late-00s, they used S60s as recce cars.
The chap in these pictures is a fan who was allowed to sit in one in Sardinia in 2017, by which time they were used as mechanic's transport. You can see some of the inside in the second photo.
CVR and ARF, along with PX56APZ (presumably the frontmost car in the first shot), are no longer taxed and their MOTs all ran out within 3 days in early January 2019; the DVLA holds no record for AOZ. I hope they're still around somewhere.
Edit: there appears to have been at least 6 of them. PX56ARU is for sale in Italy, and PX56ARO was recently up for sale too. Final edit: they were all sold in 2018. There were 25 all told.
I want one. Badly.
What I didn't know until today was that when M-Sport ran the Ford WRC team in the mid-late-00s, they used S60s as recce cars.
The chap in these pictures is a fan who was allowed to sit in one in Sardinia in 2017, by which time they were used as mechanic's transport. You can see some of the inside in the second photo.
CVR and ARF, along with PX56APZ (presumably the frontmost car in the first shot), are no longer taxed and their MOTs all ran out within 3 days in early January 2019; the DVLA holds no record for AOZ. I hope they're still around somewhere.
Edit: there appears to have been at least 6 of them. PX56ARU is for sale in Italy, and PX56ARO was recently up for sale too. Final edit: they were all sold in 2018. There were 25 all told.
I want one. Badly.
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- 1,091
- United States
You may have already seen it from me in one of the other threads in this forum (Rate car above, IIRC), but last week I found out about the Diamond T 201 (One of my favorite sites in general for finding out about interesting cars, he posts a new one every weekday and there's an 8 or 9 year backlog by now). It feels like this truck is similar in spirit to the full-size trucks of today, with the higher hood and bed (compared to many of its contemporaries) and nicer interior. I really like it though.
- 23,448
- It/It
- GTP_TheCracker
There was a Fox Body Mustang that DTM'd at around the same time. I don't recall it ever running near the front with the factory teams, but i don't think it embarrassed itself either.
