Motoring Discussion > Unusual Sightings Volume Seven   [Read only] Miscellaneous
Thread Author: R.P. Replies: 100

 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - R.P.

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Sightings of the odd, the bizarre and the er...unusual...

Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 21 Feb 11 at 00:28
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - -
Had to look twice, the latest shape MR2 which is normally a bit hairdresserie, the one this morning had flared arches, different front end and some mean rubber and looked rather like a small Porsche, serious looking piece of kit, probably a grey.
Last edited by: VxFan on Thu 20 Jan 11 at 00:39
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - BobbyG
In my local Tesco there is an abandoned MR2, think the mark 2 version?
It has been sitting there since the bad snow and now has Tesco abandoned car notices on it.

I assume it must have been driven to get there as it is parked neatly near the door, would be a shame for it to go to the scrappie as it is most probably a runner.

I have often hankered after a 2 seater weekend car and always thought it would be a Mark 1 or 2 MR2 if I ever did get one.
Last edited by: VxFan on Thu 20 Jan 11 at 00:39
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Bellboy
head gasket will have gone and the arms are a fortune
keep your dollar till you find a mint mk1
Last edited by: VxFan on Thu 20 Jan 11 at 00:39
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Alanovich
Red Frog Eye Sprite belting gamely along a B road in Hampshire this morning. Grubby but not tatty, looked like a daily driver. Impressed.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Tooslow
I've seen a Nissan Juke. But I'm ok now.
John
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - R.P.
Seen two in the last 24 hours, hideous.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Iffy
Any more and we'll have enough for a juke box. :)

       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Alanovich
2 more here. They look like they've already been crashed. Vulgar.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Dave_
bit.ly/ihdYtb

Links to sniffpetrol, this link is safe for work but other content on the site may not be, if you go exploring.
Last edited by: Dave_TD {P} on Thu 20 Jan 11 at 13:55
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Redviper
>> I've seen a Nissan Juke. But I'm ok now.


Awful ugly things - who on earth thought that was a good idea?
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Old Navy
>> >> I've seen a Nissan Juke. But I'm ok now.
>>
>> Awful ugly things - who on earth thought that was a good idea?
>>

I had a look at one last week when my car was in for a service, not for me, it must be aimed at fashion victims.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Mike Hannon
My sister threatens to turn in her Mini Cooper for a Nissan Juke.
You turn your back for five minutes...
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Auristocrat
Spotted what looked like an immaculate pre-war A.J.S motorcycle outside a garage in Lozells, Birmingham
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - bathtub tom
Jeans Beetle, '74 M reg. I was nearly tempted to buy one back in their day. Old, shorter chassis and 1600cc engine IIRC.

tinyurl.com/6lf8pqb
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Mike Hannon
Yesterday near Monaco I saw what appeared to be a new bloated four door BMW Mini. Butt ugly does not begin to describe it.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Alanovich
That'll be the Mini Countryman 4x4. There's one sitting proudly on display outside the BMW Finance office in Hook today. I rather like it. Despite myself.
Last edited by: Alanović on Wed 26 Jan 11 at 10:53
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Stuu
I saw one the other day on the road. Not sure quite who will buy them mind.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Alanovich
Venture closer to west London, Stu, and you'll see loads of them. I want to hate them but I can't. It would make a great little motor for the missus.

I would love to buy a brand new car manufactured within 30 miles of my house, but I just wish they made something just a bit less knowingly trendy and show-offy, which is the bit that puts me off them (and all current Minis). Oh, that and their price.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Stuu
Until recently I was cleaning a Clubman diesel - only £21k! Cant say it ever struck me as £21k worth of car either, I think a Pug 207 estate would do just aswell if not better overall.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Alanovich
It's a status symbol. Something which doesn't usually appeal to me in a car.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Stuu
Oh I know, but Mins are SOOOOO common now, every hairdresser in the country either wants one or has one already. Its suffering from being too popular to be exclusive now, which makes the high price seem, well, high.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Alanovich
Status symbols don't have to be about exclusivity. In fact, it's often the opposite. Everyone knows they're more expensive than a Fiesta, that's what matters to some people.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Armel Coussine
Heh heh... I saw a bloated Mini the other day too. It towered over my daughter's Alfa.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - R.P.
Bizzarly, I like them - they look quite classy on the road - seem very practical as well. It is fashionable to knock anything that BMW come up with - but like 'em or loath 'em they are trend-setters.....world and his flimsy dog imitate MINIs !
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Bellboy
which country are they sending all the chop inns to now to keep the residuals high i wonder
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Alanovich
This morning's entry:

J-suffix VW Variant 1600 two door saloon, beige and pockmarked with spots of rust. Bowling along nicely in a south-westerly direction with surf shop stickers in the window. I turned green as I headed towards my office.

E-prefix Peugeot 305 estate (GRD, natch), tatty, battered and filthy, driven by a gent in a hi-vis padded anorak. Again, bowling along pleasingly. I always liked these cars, both saloons and estates.

Suzuki X90. In Pink. Words fail me.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Stuu
I knew a guy, my old form tutor at school actually but this was after id left school. He had a 305 diesel saloon on about a B reg. It only had 400k on the clock which was why it cost him £50 to buy. It went though, albeit in a smokey, will it wont it way.

He replaced it was a Toyota Starlet which I expect he still has as he kept cars till they expired and they arent known for doing so.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Alanovich
Just been out for lunch and spotted, in keeping with another thread, a P-suffix Rover P6 3500S in BRG.

A bit rusty, but very original looking and evidently a daily driver. Very faded and cracked beige leather interior. I stood and stared for about 2 minutes.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Armel Coussine
I can't rid myself of the impression that the P6 was a bit flimsy. The only one I ever drove, a new 2200, embarrassed me by popping the button out of its handbrake with the owner sitting beside me when I applied it with slightly too much muscle. He faffed horribly and wouldn't let me fix it (I could have). It was supposed to be a sort of British equivalent of the DS Citroen, but it wasn't nearly as good. The front suspension was very complicated, worked through cranks with the springs in a strange place, and must have cost a lot to refurbish. Despite the way the body panels were supposed to be easy to replace and so on, that's not much use if the inner body-chassis structure is rusting. And it did.

The P5 was much more like a proper Rover. A louche friend had a V8 coupe one, and Whitehall was full of the things for a while. The Queen had one too, which she drove herself. The early six-cylinder 3 litre ones were very smooth but a bit slow.

Didn't like the SD1 much. LJK Setright typically favoured the 2600 which he described as a 'gentleman's car' (the 2300 was obviously beneath contempt like the BMW 323 which was total rubbish by bimmer standards). But the V8 was obviously much better. Another louche friend had one of those, an auto, which he punted round London with some style, but it cost him an arm and a leg in fuel.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Harleyman
I loved my old 2000TC. Good motorway cruiser, supremely comfortable, well-appointed interior and that big fancy steering wheel which gave it that "poor man's Rolls Royce" feel.
Sounded nice too, with that raspy exhaust note when booted. And quarter-light windows, I do miss them.

A childhood friend's father had a P5 coupe; a real gentleman's car. For some reason, the Chrysler 300 always reminds me of them, although I doubt it's nearly as well made.

My sighting of the day; a well cared for, but not pristine, 1973 Maxi. Looked like a daily driver.
Last edited by: Harleyman on Wed 26 Jan 11 at 22:26
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Falkirk Bairn
My eldest brother bought a Rover 2000 in 1966 - £1500 seems to ring a bell.

2 weeks later he went on holiday.

I had brand new car keys - 19 yr old and having driven 100 miles since passing my test 18 months before (no car) - It was magic - only bettered by the Triumph 2000 a year later - a straight 6 was better than a 4 pot.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Ted

I had a red Rover 2000 in about '75.

Saw a '69 Ford Corsair at the Royal Eye Hospital today....didn't half look small and low next to the modern stuff.

Ted
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Dog
>>Saw a '69 Ford Corsair at the Royal Eye Hospital today....didn't half look small and low next to the modern stuff<<

That's amazing, because I always remember the Corsair as a BIG car, i.e. bigger than the Escort, bigger than the Cortina,

Ah! ... The Eye Hospital was it :-)
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Stuu
I saw an L-reg Daihatsu Applause in town today. It was two-tone white over grey with cross-spoke alloys. Only worthy of mention because they were rare when new and I cant remember the last time I saw one. This one was flithy, looked like it has a hard life.
One of the first cars to have a hatchback on a saloon-look body.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Armel Coussine
Yesterday, in the lanes near here coming the other way, one of those four-door 4wd Porsche Quattroporte beaters. At least I'm 80 per cent sure that was what it was.

I think it's a really interesting car myself.

One of the interesting things about it was that as it poked rapidly past it seemed distinctly narrower than the 911 it strongly resembles from the front. 911s have had overdeveloped haunches for a good couple of decades, and this thing didn't seem to have them. You notice things like that in the lanes round here I can tell you.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - R.P.
A very sharp looking saloon in milky sort of silver - it was on a rectangular shaped J plate - badges said Toyota Camry - a familiar name but an unfamiliar shape - if the plate was right it was a very modern looking car, not out of place at all in a Toyota showroom.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - BiggerBadderDave
There's a Dodge Ram 4-door pick-up parked on our street at the moment. I pulled alongside it in the Lexus LS and it looked like a dinky toy in comparison. It's a monster. I quite like it.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - R.P.
There was one around here for a few months - ended up looking rather silly in narrow lanes around his house. As a neighbour put it. "Div"
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - BiggerBadderDave
Call that big? This is big.

www.f650pickups.com/

I like the black one 3rd pic down. And the cool-looking guy - 6th pic down.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Armel Coussine
Boots are a bit low-rent for you though bbd. But I agree those Tonka toys have a certain something. Not commonsense though. Something else.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Bellboy
utes on hormones
too flash for my liking
i like real ones with a bit of rust on them
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Zero
www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201047373683824

Oh my, shame about the colour, for it would be on my drive tomorrow....
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - BiggerBadderDave
Nine shots around the car and none of the interior. Doesn't it make you want to bang heads together?

Possibly my old man's favourite car of all time, he had a couple of these and it was like there was a death in the family when they stopped making them. If I was flush I'd beat you to it and it would be sitting on his drive tomorrow.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Bellboy
it was just a black mess in there though
why put punters off by depressing them
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - BiggerBadderDave
Black leather?

Like sitting in a bucket of tar isn't it.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Bellboy
did you ever sit in the back like the queen waving and using the electric seat button backwards and forwards?
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Alanovich
>> Oh my, shame about the colour, for it would be on my drive tomorrow....
>>

Buy it, spray it. Easy.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - madf
Horrible when new, even more horrible now.

Wheels don't look right?

Colour designed to highlight horse carp.
Last edited by: madf on Mon 31 Jan 11 at 12:23
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Kevin
Last night - an artic with decorative lights on the grille and above the cab. Definitely a professional job though, not too many lights, not too bright and looked very good.

This afternoon - a BMW X6 in matt black with extra after-market DRLs. I didn't think it was possible to make an X6 any uglier, but someone has managed it. Without doubt this was the ugliest and most tasteless vehicle I've ever seen.

Kevin...
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Mike Hannon
Yesterday afternoon in an Alpine village almost literally in the middle of nowhere, an absolutely mint Peugeot 504 saloon; from when Peugeot put cars together properly.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Kevin
>an absolutely mint Peugeot 504 saloon; from when Peugeot put cars together properly.

Want a coupe for £5995? tinyurl.com/6b99ap2

Kevin...
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Runfer D'Hills
Nice Kevin. Wish I had the courage to buy it. Or the need. Very pleasing though.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Mike Hannon
Anyone know anything about Tesla? There's a showroom in the middle of Monte Carlo with one in it and it looks quite pretty. But I keep going past there on the bus or on foot and all I ever see is a bloke sitting behind a desk reading the paper; never anything that looks like a customer.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Mike Hannon
I've just used the wonders of the internet to answer my own question - it's all electric, goes like hell from 0-60 but has a 250-mile range and costs 83,000 euros.
I guess the guy will go on reading the paper and the streets of Monaco will go on being full of footballers' Bentleys, four door Maseratis and Porsches and white Aston Martins.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Ted
A Honda Civic, newish.
Nothing unusual there, but in black with the sills, wheelarches and bumpers in silver.

Looked elegant and a bit different.

Ted
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Perky Penguin
A K reg Montego and looking pretty rust free too. Can't be that many of them still on the road, in daily use.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - RattleandSmoke
See a few Montego estates, not many but maybe one every six months. The saloons all seem to have vanished though.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - nyx2k
a friends dad has a mint 2.0 gsi auto with 40k on the clock and no rust, not even underneath.
he bought it new and its a nice comfortable drive and pretty pokey for an old car
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Badwolf
Saw an absolutely mint 'D' reg example (saloon) in Manchester city centre the other day.

I've got a proper soft spot for everyday 'normal' 70s/80s cars.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Bellboy
pretty pokey for an old car
>
>>>>>> is that a compliment or a slag coz up here it describes a one room bedsit
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Focusless
>> pretty pokey for an old car
>> >
>> is that a compliment or a slag coz up here it describes a one
>> room bedsit

"It's got a bit of poke" - goes well. Due to a decent size engine and not being weighed down by any safety equipment :)
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - R.P.
I remember a friend who had a 2.0 GTi Montego - a proper flyer and as fast as its VW namesake. Amusingly I still have a pukka leather Filofax which I had as a free gift for test-driving an estate.
Last edited by: Pugugly on Fri 11 Feb 11 at 21:31
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Ted
Hey Pug...I've still got one of them. Nice bit of kit, still full of phone numbers from the past.
Got it with a Barclaycard about 30 yrs ago. Cut the card up straight away !

Ted
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - R.P.
I had the Montego on a 24 hour test-drive and used to carry a friend's bicycle back form a shop...
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Runfer D'Hills
I...um....might have had an MG Maestro at one time. It may/might have been er....white with red seatbelts and a talking woman in the dash....It possibly also went like stink.

Hangs head in shame but appeals for mercy on the basis that it was the early / mid '80s...

:-(
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Zero
The Maestro was a roomy, well packaged, sweet riding, sharp handler.

It didnt actually look that bad either.

It was however the most unreliable heap of excrement I ever had,
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Bellboy
the only car i know that wont self centre after being on full lock
apart from a montenegrow too of course
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Ted

I had a MG Maestro for a while, Humpy. Metallic green. Irritating woman haranguing you all the time.
Everything about it rattled but it was quick. Chipped it in for a BX 1600...gobbled the miles up like it was floating on air by comparison.

Ted
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Bellboy
do you remember the horrible metric tyres they had fitted with walls so hard they were a right pain to fit on rims and only michelins and was it dunlop available so they were wallet busting prices
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - R.P.
I remember one we sort of "had" for a while from new....a very odd thing we found was a near fossilized turd in the wheel well. Often wondered whether it was a Brummy caught short. The car as Zero said had an immaculate chassis which made equivalent Escort feel like carts.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Badwolf
A very good mate of mine inherited a Maestro 1.6 auto from his grandad. It was a belting car, got us from Southport to Cambridge and back in a day in comfort and without breaking down. Sadly, he wasn't that great at under-bonnet maintenance and neglected it to the point where the engine caught fire on the way home one day, luckily only a stone's throw from his house. The only thing he could find to douse the flames was a pan of the previous day's curry. The Maestro wasn't quite the same after that...

RIP The Silver Bullet...
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - RattleandSmoke
My grandad got given a couple, a 1.6 E reg L and an unusual spec G reg Rover 2.0L which didn't have electric windows which was odd for a 2.0 repmobile by 1990.

Inbetween the two he got given a Y reg 1.3 HLX meastro, he only had it a few weeks but I reckon that car would be worth quite a bit now.

       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Alastairw
A friend of mine still runs a Maestro Turbo as a summer car. Only about 550 made, so he reckons it is an appreciating asset.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Harleyman
The panel van version of the Maestro was a very under-rated tool; a friend of mine had a courier company in Fishguard, much preferred them to the equivalent Escort vans.

Still see the odd one or two about round here.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Iffy
A couple of these on the grass outside my local Aston dealer.

www.astonmartin.com/eng/thecars/cygnet/launchedition
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - BobbyG
A big Volvo 850 T5 estate , M Registration, in that sort of yellowy colour they came in at the time.
I remember when these were first introduced in the BTCC and very quickly earned street cred!
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Ted
Followed an Opel Sintra this arvo near home.
Swedish reg....wonder what it was doing here.

Ted
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Bellboy
looking for a Norwegian blue?
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Ted

They don't live long, Norwegian Blues.

Ted
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Alanovich
>> Opel Sintra

Weren't they rebadged Yankee rubbish?
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Focusless
Found myself behind a smart-ish looking estate car yesterday which I didn't recognize - looked a bit Audi A4-like but clearly wasn't. Then as I got closer I spotted what looked like a SEAT badge on the tailgate. A SEAT estate?

Turns out it was a SEAT Exeo - didn't know there was such a thing, although I see it has been mentioned a few times on the forum. It's not universally liked :)
www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?v=e&t=1687&m=31161
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Runfer D'Hills
Not so much sighted as have been seen in...

Had a Qashqai serviced today and requested a loaner. They gave me a more or less new Nissan Cube in white. Colour suited it as it looks pretty much like a fridge on wheels. Desperately ugly thing but I warmed to it a bit as the day went on. Very tech laden. Electronic instruments, reversing camera, bluetooth, sunroof, slidey back and forthy rear seat, push button start, sat nav etc etc. Petrol engine, not sure what size but it wasn't very fast. Handled ok actually, comfy enough too. When I pulled on to my drive the bloke next door asked for a Cornetto. Huge loadspace. Wouldn't want one but can see the appeal to someone who needs a van and a car. People noticeably stare at you though.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Zero
I like them actually.

But then I am strange
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Runfer D'Hills
It grew on me but my son kept ducking down when he was in it in case any of his mates saw him.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Ted

>> But then I am strange

Funny, I noticed that !

Ted
>>
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Zero
>>
>> >> But then I am strange
>>
>> Funny, I noticed that !

I knew that eye operation was a bad idea.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Dog
I think the Nissan Cube is truly hidious, looks wise - bit like a PopeMobil (but then I like the Juke)

Saw a Triumph 2000 Mrk 1 in BRG heading towards Newquay today ... nice (so was the car)
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Runfer D'Hills
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Nissan_Cube_Z11_003.JPG

Even it's closest friends couldn't pretend it was pretty.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - R.P.
Nissan Juke might.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Runfer D'Hills
I quite like Jukes. Well, for girls anyway.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Stuu
I wonder if they will do a 'Box' special edition...
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Runfer D'Hills
Or indeed a Sugar Cube or a Qashqai's flip flop...
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Dave_
I saw a 1929 Riley Brooklands yesterday, heading at a fair pace from Hinckley to Lutterworth. This one, in fact:

www.flickr.com/photos/britishmm/4982488025/

Oh boy, did it make a fantastic noise.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Dog
>>saw a 1929 Riley Brooklands yesterday, heading at a fair pace from Hinckley to Lutterworth. This one, in fact<<

Note the full-face climate control :}

       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - BobbyG
On the M8 this morning, a black Mercedes Vito van with flashing blues and reds in its light clusters.
In the rear window there was one of those digital message boards stating "Human Organ Transfer".

Did give me something to think about in the boring journey in, from should I consider organ donor card, to why would they use a biggish van like this rather than a car? Last time I saw a transplant car it was a marked up Volvo estate.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - R.P.
Bulk deliveries ?
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Harleyman
why would they use a biggish van like this rather
>> than a car? Last time I saw a transplant car it was a marked up
>> Volvo estate.
>>

Perhaps they were carrying a Hammond organ? ;-)
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Alanovich
Capri 280 in immaculate nick at my local petrol station this morning.

Wowser.
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Tooslow
A huge, grotesque monster of a SAAB, looking like it is over-inflated or possibly built to 130% scale. A dealer had a stand outside the local supermarket. GM's last gasp thank goodness.
John
       
 Unusual Sightings Volume Seven - Runfer D'Hills
I so want you to say they had a "buy one get one free" offer sign next to it...
       
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