[Closed] 'out of the ordinary' cars?

and i give you the PT cruiser....

[img] [/img]

you dont see much out of ordinary these days because people like safe economical carsthat they wont loose money hand over fist on - unless they can afford to - in which case the cars crazy money to buy in the first place - maclaren, arial , konnigsigg 😉

about as out there as you will get for similar money to a standard car = citroen DS3 with a pink roof 😉

[img] [/img]

nissan cube. you can pretend to be postman pat if you get a red one.

[img] [/img]

Nissan Figaro - want to buy one?

BMW 13? Looks very different to a lot of the current cars on the road and is electric too. Or, if you have a pot of cash, i8. Looks awesome (saw one the other day).

[img] [/img]
(Image from Autoblog([url= http://www.autoblog.com/2014/04/28/2015-bmw-i8-review-first-drive-video/ ]http://www.autoblog.com/2014/04/28/2015-bmw-i8-review-first-drive-video/[/url]))

as nichetastic as you like

http://www.ant-kahn.com/index.php

The answer is obvious fool!!!!

[img] [/img]

Citroen Cactus?

[img] [/img]

PT Cruiser - please god no...

Know what you mean though OP. My first few cars were quite different though still main stream - ish - and last couple have been distinctive too, however needs must on latest buy and it's not really got any 'wow' ness..

It's reassuring to know that, with the cactus, if a giant ever picks up your car he's unlikely to drop it.

to be fair .... if they used rubber sides like that on the cars i see folk trying to get into at the local tesco - by opening the door into the next car....folks cars would be alot better looking in 3 years time - when their lease is up....

and the trolleys will bounce off and spack the adjacent shiny beemer, all of whom can't park straight, and leave me about an inch to open my driver's door.

Or take a standard car and make it less so. It can be done well you know, not just Max Power condition.

struck me the other day that you just see the same old cars on the road all the time

Well there are hardly any manufacturers to choose from anymore, so many mergers and acquisitions that you're really choosing between badges glued to just of manufacturers cars.

Out of the ordinary, but still affordable to run would mean looking at grey imports of cars from these manufactures that were intended for different markets - Friendy Bongos, Nissan Cubes, Mitzubishi Delicia. However in many cases these cars weren't offered here because they're not really suited to european roads and driving. The Delicia, for instance, is designed for sitting in a Tokyo traffic jam and dreaming you could be on an adventure somewhere, they're not intended to actually go on that adventure and are a bit too keen to fall over on corners for Toyota to be happy to sell them in the UK. So grey imports of 'out of the ordinary' cars might tick the 'affordable' box, but not always the 'safe' one.

Sounds like my latest purchase

SEAT Altea Freetrack. 2.0tfsi from a golf gti with 200bhp remapped to 250. 4wd and many toys

Ugly but amusingly quick for a bus

[img] [/img]

^^
I've just been a little bit sick.
Sorry...

DrP

Sick, but cheap and quick

I'm not offended - I don't turn round lustfully and look back at it!

thanks for the input chaps. i didnt particularly mean 'wow' or performance cars either, just 'something different'. dont really know what 'different' is, and not really thinking of something that turns heads, just somethings a bit coooool yet understated. *cough* bit like meself *cough* 😀

Something that says alfa romeo on the front 🙂

Scimitar SST 1.8 turbo, a very quick car.

[img] [/img]

[img] [/img]

I love those Reliants ,SS1 , i also love the suzuki Cappucino

Toyota Land Cruiser FJ-40

[img] [/img]

SEAT Altea Freetrack. 2.0tfsi from a golf gti with 200bhp remapped to 250. 4wd and many toys

Ugly but amusingly quick for a bus

From the back it looks like it's about to start crying.....and then do a huge poo out of it's face.

DS3 would be my vote for different but useable. Maybe a Giulietta or a Juke? Sadly if you want to be 'different' you really have to be different and suffer the consequences! Ahem.... Nissan [s]P[/s]Cube.

Edit....what do I know. Silver Astra on the drive. Not sure if I want to age 300 years or start selling pharmaceuticals every time I see the damn thing.

[img] [/img]

Although I wish they kept the bike rack/tail that was on the concept modle.

[img] [/img]

Well, I've been around long enough to remember when virtually every car looked identical, no matter who made it, a Hillman Hunter, Ford Escort, Vauxhall Viva, were virtually indistinguishable from each other.
Now, though, there's a real big variation between the different marques, a Vauxhall Astra is totally different in style to a Citrôen DS3, which is different to a Seat, a Kia, Audi, Fiat...
I think car designs have a greater variation now than at any time in the last thirty years.

I like the look of Skoda Yeti so perhaps that will be my first non-Jap car in future or a Superb.

Skoda yeti look ok, until you look for storage....non-existent

T5 FTW 😉

and i give you the PT cruiser

A friend bought a PT Cruiser a few years back and got rid of it within months---referred to it as the PT Crapper

Most of your niche/independent/low volume bikes are priced in a similar bracket to supercars.

Take an average car/bike budget of say £800 and I suspect the 'niche' options get fairly scarce.

There's plenty of crazy Jap stuff available, here's two and have only a passing knowledge of this craziness...
[img] [/img]
[img] [/img]

That's an Autozam AZ-1 and a Cuore Tr-XX

Other things of interest may include LPG or LPG Liquid inection, for giggles this can be combined with older powerful cars. Been in a BMW 750 on LPG, good fun and xheapish to run, and been considering a Forester with the LPG+Turbo trick...

gofasterstripes - Member

There's plenty of crazy Jap stuff available, here's two and have only a passing knowledge of this craziness...

That's an Autozam AZ-1 and a Cuore Tr-XX

Oi ... I used to drive a Cuore Tr-XX (aka. Daihatsu Nippa) in the far east. The Cuore has a turbo so it is faster.

It has a 660CC engine and it is a very reliable car. The maintenance cost is so low almost everyone got one like this:

[img] [/img]

Yes, safety might not be the best if you get squash between two lorries but apart from that it's safer than your bike.

Oh ya ... a similar one was smashed up by that guy Jeremy Clarkson.

I saw a Tr-XX once hooning around Truro, never forgotten the way it moved!

the vdub boys and girls enrich my life considerably. 🙂

gotta love the americans.. made me smile today ( different paint though )
think it was 6 or 6.5 litres but will probably burble along for a lifetime ( as opposed to blowing ( no pun intended ) a turbo after 50k)
or just show me an alfa

[img] [/img]

A few from Bugjam the other week..

[IMG] [/IMG]

[IMG] [/IMG]

[IMG] [/IMG]

[IMG] [/IMG]

[IMG] [/IMG]

Another vote for Alfas.

[img] [/img]

We have a Giulietta as a follow up to our 147. Could have got a Focus/Astra/1 series/Golf but wanted something a little different. You also get the pleasure of the "Alfa wave" (every Alfa I've ever passed on the roads has given a little wave, I think mainly because they're so happy to see two moving at the same time!)

spectabilis - needs some heavier HDR in your pics 😉

I quite fancy a VX220 Turbo

[img] [/img]

spectabilis - needs some heavier HDR in your pics

Haha yes shite weather needed to bump them up a bit...

I quite fancy a VX220 Turbo

I had a VX220 turbo a good few years ago. Complete hoot of a car however watch the torque / turbo spool up mid-corner - it can catch you out.

This is our "little different" car at the moment

[img] [/img]

Another vote for Alfa - get a 159, arguably the best looking estate money can buy. They do a 3.2 4x4 version too if you can find one!

Saying that having owned Alfas for years I have just bought a petrol Octavia VRS estate. As much as I don't like that every other car on the road being another Octavia, if I'd have bought a 159 it would have to have been the 1.9 jtd which, even with a remap, just felt a bit dull.

Or, failing that stick with something sensible for day to day driving and get something fun for the weekend?

Genuine question for Tree-Magnet, what do you do with your left foot in the Giulietta?

I quite fancy a VX220 Turbo

Ugly? Weird? Quirky?
Certainly different.

The winner is

[img] [/img]

Depends on what you mean by 'out of the ordinary'....

But, there's the BMW i3 or i8, Nissan Leaf, Renault Twizzy, Toyota Prius if you want to go all eco. The i3 looks great, as does the i8, but I think that's quite a lot of cash.

Then there's cars like the new Bettle, which looks like a much better effort than the previous attempt at VW re-doing the original.

There's the 'customisable' end of things like the Citroen DS3, Vauxhall Adam and perhaps BMW Mini, which you can make your own with hundreds of options.

Struggling to think of that many 'out of the ordinary' modern cars because I don't think they are worth doing for the car companies. They just don'e sell in big enough numbers....
Look at the Renault Avantime or the Vel Satis. I think they sold less than 100 of each in the UK; perhas not even 10 of each judging by how many you see on the roads.
Same with the Citroen C6. Lovely looking car, but not your typical exec-barge so didn't really get a look in. I'd love one.

Spectabilis - Stance isn't unusual, it's overplayed and just about every modified car these days seems to be another piece of scene trash. I hate to think how much damage is being done to a lot of otherwise respectable cars by sitting so low and wide.

You want unusual? How about a Vel Satis or Avantime? Ugly as sin but definitely different. Old Jap kei cars and Nissan micra rebodies (Fifaro and it's 3 siblings) are worth a look but early-mid 90's might not be as safe as you're looking for. Good luck finding an Autozam as well!

Haha ok I know what you mean.. My journey to work is just littered with type 3's....
Anyway each to their own enjoy your Vel Satis

Had one of these myself - slight turbo tweeks and zaust...

[img] [/img]
I loved the interior turbo gauge - a sequence of led lights from green to red....just like Knight Rider 🙂
[url= .html]Interior[/url]

im with squirelking.

those cars must be horrendous to drive - and must rip through tires.

looks good stationary though - esp on the bug....

gimmie the baja anyday.

+1 for the Yeti here's ours in relaxed holiday mode
[IMG] [/IMG]
[IMG] [/IMG]
[IMG] [/IMG]
Practical and fun

I've got an Audi A2, does that count?

[img] [/img]

(not mine, from the Audi website - which is weird as it doesn't have the right alloys...)

I think a picture of a Skoda yeti towing a caravan and taking up 3 parking spaces captioned 'practical and fun' may just be the most depressing thing I've ever seen! 😀

I like the A2, was after one a while back.
In a yeti now....doing my bit to lower the average owners age....deffo a codger mobile

unknown - Member
I think a picture of a Skoda yeti towing a caravan and taking up 3 parking spaces captioned 'practical and fun' may just be the most depressing thing I've ever seen!

Bang on

A2 could be a design classic in the making.

Tempo Matador..?

[IMG] [/IMG]

In 1977 you could of had a ...
[img] [/img]

Why are we suggesting old cars.

Ever driven any of these old cars... Ive driven quite a few...fun in their own way...would i daily drive them....poke that.

i just wish there was a 'singular sam' or 'cy cotic' of the car world who could make a brumbrum as lovely as their bikes :-/

EDIT: add a 'jonestown stooge' to those two 🙂

trail_rat - Member
Why are we suggesting old cars.
Ever driven any of these old cars... Ive driven quite a few...fun in their own way...would i daily drive them....poke that.

Same reason there are threads on here about rigid steel singlespeeds aswell as carbon fibre full suss with electronic suspension... Less is more to some.. Ent it.

Just to continue my "probably not what the OP was after" run

[img] ?zz=1[/img]

What about an XM?

Edit, those pics of the Yeti are so large I had to turn on image compression on my phone to stop it crashing the browser...

spectabilis - love all of those. thanks.

I saw a car that looked like an estate version of a Nissan Figaro. Anyone got an idea as to what it actually was?

Was it a Nissan Pao?

hmmmm...... thanks to the posts above ^^^ i did a double take when i saw my mates got an alfa romeo 159 outside his house. 1.9 diesel, black, 07 plate, looks lovely. told me its worth around £4,500. my 57 octavia laurin and klement is maybe worth a bit more than that. he said he may sell shortly.....

would i be stupid to consider a swap on looks alone? reviews suggest poorer economy, resale value, rear passenger space, boot space and probably dearer parts. am i going through a midlife crisis? 😀

Morgan 3 Wheeler
[img] [/img]
Other than being different and fun to drive does not fit your criteria in any way.

I would have one in a heartbeat!

subaru sambar ......if your a japanese milkman.

surely your not bored of your octavia - thats heresay on here !

Was it a Nissan Pao?

Yes it was thankyou! 🙂

Skoda Yeti is hardly out of the ordinary is it?

We have a Giulietta as a follow up to our 147.

Tree-Magnet - How is the Giulietta for bikes? Can the back seats fold down pretty flat? I'm going to see a 2011 2.0 JTDM-2 (170) on Saturday. What's it like to live with?

[img] [/img]

new Panda Cross?

m0rk wins thread. Freetracks are ace. Cheap, fast and they actually handle despite weighing a ton and a half and having jacked up suspension. The only thing I don't like about mine is the fuel consumption, 28mpg average.
They are bloody ugly though, that rear three quarter view is actually as good as it gets.

I just bought a Panda 4x4 its proper cool for nipping to town or bounding up the farm ,

We have a Giulietta as a follow up to our 147.

Tree-Magnet - How is the Giulietta for bikes? Can the back seats fold down pretty flat? I'm going to see a 2011 2.0 JTDM-2 (170) on Saturday. What's it like to live with?

I can fit my Ibis Mojo in with the front wheel off. Seats don't fold flat as the seat itself doesn't flip forward, but it's not been an issue for me. I've got the 1.4 170bhp petrol and it's a lovely motor. I had a 1.9 JTDM in the 147 and loved it. I thought I'd never go back to a petrol after that but the 1.4 is even better imo. As a car it's just as easy to live with as a focus, but as per the OP, it's a bit different from all the rest on the road.

I think a picture of a Skoda yeti towing a caravan and taking up 3 parking spaces captioned 'practical and fun' may just be the most depressing thing I've ever seen!

Shots fired!

Any excuse to post mine up

Normal SLK? check again, Kleeman S8 putting out 585BHP but still retruning 37mpg on the motorway
[img] [/img]
[img] [/img]

Also if you look in the background of the first picture you can see a BMW 2.8 Z3 which became this
[img] [/img]
[img] [/img]

WCA that Merc is Epic even has the Working From Home plate 😉

tree-magnet - Member
I can fit my Ibis Mojo in with the front wheel off. Seats don't fold flat as the seat itself doesn't flip forward, but it's not been an issue for me. I've got the 1.4 170bhp petrol and it's a lovely motor. I had a 1.9 JTDM in the 147 and loved it. I thought I'd never go back to a petrol after that but the 1.4 is even better imo. As a car it's just as easy to live with as a focus, but as per the OP, it's a bit different from all the rest on the road.

Thanks for that. I'm doing 20k + miles a year in it, so thought the JTDM might be the best bet. Time will tell. Went to view and test drive today. Really nice car and got it for a great price. Pick it up later in the week.

Not this one, but pretty much identical:

[img] [/img]

+1 for the Panda Cross and Citroen Cactus.
-1 for the new Beetle, looks like a dog either having a dump or doing the itchy b*m shuffle!
The G wagon is different, but very expensive, what about a Defender? but then I would say that wouldn't I!

That Z3 is horrific. Cars modified to look a bit like classics are the lowest of the low.