Mystery car pix

ateixeira

At first glance I was thinking Volvo but that looks more like a Saab logo (too small to tell for sure).

jlbl

Uhh, I'm confused. :surprise: Looks like a Peugeot, though I cannot say the model—vaguely looking like a Renault Dauphine, too. :mad: A French car anyway (registration plate, but more importantly, hubcaps) of the late 50's / early 60's of the 20th Century.

Regards,
Jose

fintail

Renault Fregate?

I saw a toy one once, I remember the box.

jlbl

Yeah!!

You've brought up memories in my obscure mind. Renault Frégate she is.

Regards,
Jose

stephen987

Correct. It's a 1956 Renault Fregate.

Mr_Shiftright

Probably pronounced : frey--GAH!

texases

Interesting name, French for frigate, like a warship. Guess we might get a Buick Battleship, or Chevy Destroyer....stuff always sounds better in French, I guess :P

Mr_Shiftright

Name the only two cars being offered in the world today with AWD, convertible and seating for 4 people.

You don't have to give the models, just the makers of these two cars.

stickguy

audi is one. And Porsche, if you count the 911 cab as having room for 4!

jwilliams2

Only two I can think of are Porsche and Audi.....

stever

AWD?

I guess that rules out the 4WD Jeep Wrangler Unlimited then.

Mr_Shiftright

Audi S5 is one, good.

But no, the Porsche is not a serious 4-seater.

One more to go!

texases

How about a Bentley Continental GTC?

Mr_Shiftright

Bingo! That's the #2!

british_rover

Next year you might be able to add Saab to that list.

The 9-3 Vert is supposed to get the XWD from the Sedans.

andys120

Name the only two cars being offered in the world today with AWD, convertible and seating for 4 people.

I've owned several convertibles and I've owned AWD sedans and wagons and I have no idea why anyone wants an AWD convertible.

Mr_Shiftright

The idea of AWD, drop top and 4 seats is a very appealing combination, but so far, the only cars that have it are rather pricey, to say the least $53K on UP.

Question is, who is the new mystery buyer for Saab?

andys120

Rumor has it that it's Spyker.

british_rover

According to the inside sources I have, owner of the dealership is friends with many higher ups at SAAB, the deal with Spyker is done. Much more done then the deal that unwound with Koiegneseegesegegeg.

The deal should close by the end of this month.

An AWD Saab 9-3 Vert would hopefully sticker under 45,000. 9-3 Sedans with the 2.0T motor and XWD ran around 35,000 to 37,000 MSRP and the 9-3 vert is usually about $10,000 more then the sedan.

hudsonthedog

Question is, who is the new mystery buyer for Saab?

I didn't realize Saab's new owner was a mystery. I thought everyone knew it was Spyker. And the deal will be done shortly.

Mr_Shiftright

Saab has been such a football that I'm not believing it until I see a Spyker name on a real car.

andys120

Good point Shifty.

fintail

Would Saabs actually have some kind of Spyker badging? I can't imagine.

It's funny, when I hear 'Spyker', I don't think of the weirdo supercars, but of this:

Mr_Shiftright

An old Spyker once did something very famous in automotive history, but I forgot what that was----some great accomplishment or something.

fintail

Their early turn of the 20th century cars had 4WD I think.

The Spyker like the toy car was a star of the movie "Genevieve".

andys120

lemko

1960 Chrysler 300-F

andys120

Yup.

Mr_Shiftright

Oh yeah, that's what it was----first 4WD car...maybe first 4WD vehicle. How appropriate if they built an AWD Saab 4-place convertible, since that early Spyker was the same!

andys120

Oh yeah, that's what it was----first 4WD car...maybe first 4WD vehicle.

Nope, IIRCthe first 4wd vehicle was the 1898 Lohner-Porsche Mixte Hybrid which was not only the first vehicle with four driven wheels, it was the first gas-electric hybrid!

Mr_Shiftright

I'd cry "foul" on that. There's no 4WD driveline, so it's a different animal.

ateixeira

I guess these don't come in AWD?

hudsonthedog

Saab has been such a football that I'm not believing it until I see a Spyker name on a real car.

You have the choice: Spyker takes over Saab or Saab goes to the great junkyard in the sky.

Mr_Shiftright

The Swedes never could make a convertible look good.

stickguy

no AWD to be found.

Mr_Shiftright

And fixing those retractable roofs in ten years is going to be real fun.

texases

Make that 10 months. Friend bought a 2009 335i 'convertible', little old lady rear-ended him in a store parking lot, 5 mph max. Car: TOTALLED! Pushed in the trunk far enough to affect the whole roof, over $30k in damage.

Mr_Shiftright

Retractable roofs have my vote along with "self parking car" and "four wheel steering" for the goofiest automotive innovations, or re-innovations, of the last two decade. From 1939 (Peugeot) until recently no automaker tried to do it except Ford in the late 50s, briefly. There was a reason for that.

british_rover

I suppose Volvo could engineer AWD into the C70 as the platform was made for AWD with the S40 and V50 but they don't for cost and weight reasons. The C70 is already pretty expensive starting in the mid 40k range for 2011. Tacking AWD would add 1,500 to 2,000 and Volvo thinks that would be a tough sell.

I guess the IS vert would run into the same problem. Too expensive and too heavy.

Mr_Shiftright

Audi seems to have no problem putting a $53K price tag on the S5.

ateixeira

While I share that concern (10 year durability of the top mechanism), you just can't beat a hard top like my Miata has.

My old Miata was a great convertible, a lousy top-up car (poor visibility, no theft protection, 2 top replacements).

The new PRHT is a great convertible and a great sporty coupe. It's two cars in one.

Fortunately my top is simpler than those big 4 seaters and Miatas have been extremely reliable, so my fingers are crossed.

hudsonthedog

The Swedes never could make a convertible look good.

We must have much different taste in cars. I always thought that the first-generation Volvo C70 was one of the best looking convertibles.

ateixeira

Soft tops tend to look better.

Folding hard tops usually mean odd seams along the sides of the body.

That plus I'll admit my Miata has the "pin head" effect, i.e. the top looks too small for the bottom.

Top down it looks great, and that's how she is most of the time. :shades:

andys120

kyfdx

Funny... saw the Oldsmobile version of this, today... with temporary tags on it... but, in 2-door form...

stephen987

1977 Buick LeSabre.

andys120

It's a '78

andys120

michaellno

Oldsmobile.

british_rover

Yeah but that isn't a convertible is it?

Then you have the price perception that Audi gets versus what Volvo or Lexus get. Volvo has a real hard time selling cars above $45,000. Even the XC90 is tough to sell in that price range. Yes, Volvo might have cars that sticker above $45,000 but they always roll out big incentives that drop the price down closer to the $45,000 mark.

When Volvo redid the C70 for 2011 they added about 4,500 dollars in standard equipment but kept the price the same so the C70 I have now that would have been $49,xxx is now just under $45,000.

Now you can buy a C70 with leather and automatic for under $40,000 when in the past that would have been a $43,xxx car. Then to get the same leather they are including standard for 2011 you would have to spend another $1,000 bucks.