I spotted an (insert obscure car name here) classic car today!

Mr_Shiftright · November 2002

Try it with periods, as in S.E.A.T.--maybe that'll work.

It's not imported but sometimes they can come into the country for special uses, but often they'll have to be exported or destroyed when the special use is over (testing, museums, racing, etc).

crkeehn · November 2002

Nope, that didn't work either. The car was just being normally driven on the road. I guess it could be a test vehicle, as they did some of the early testing of the PT Cruiser in Europe.

a_l_hubcaps · November 2002

I saw a base-model AMC Gremlin on the road yesterday. Other than the fact that the red paint was faded, it looked pretty good. It had the old yellow non-reflective NJ plates on it, so I bet it was the original owner!

-Andrew L

Mr_Shiftright · November 2002

No doubt. Who's he going to sell it to?

magnetophone · November 2002

crkeehn, what did you think about the Seat Toledo? I think it's a nice car. SEAT doesn't import any cars here but they do to Mexico so my guess it is either a test car or it's from Mexico.

The Toledo's been out for a few years and is not up for redesign so I doubt it's a prototype.

speedshift · November 2002

That's a coincidence. I drove a SEAT through the streets of Toledo. They were deserted for some fiesta so I was able to record some good lap times.

crkeehn · December 2002

It struck me as somewhat bland looking on the exterior. It had the same rounded lines that I have been seeing on recent Nissan models (and so many others right now). If I hadn't seen the SEAT badge on the rear, I would have thought nothing of the car.

andys120 · December 2002

looking well used with rust eating away at the tailgate. There are still a remarkable number of those Peugies running around considering they haven't been imported IIRC for around 15 years.

checkme · December 2002

A Honda Insight...at the gas station!

I know they have a ordinarly gas engine too, but that one really made me do a double-take. It just seemed so strange to see a hybird gassing up like an ordinary car.

wishnhigh1 · December 2002

I see a Peugot 405 Mi16 model. Bright red with a 5 speed. Very slick looking car.

lemko · December 2002

...the fuel tank capacity of the Insight? Do they have a very small tank?

Mr_Shiftright · December 2002

10.6 gallons

idletask · December 2002

I'm confused, when has Peugeot disappeared officially from the US market?

a_l_hubcaps · December 2002

idletask-

1991 was Peugeot's last model year in the US.

-Andrew L

auerbach · December 2002

American Eagle SX/4 yesteray - perfect condition - looking all tippy perched on those tall tires.

Looked something like this:

http://www.users.nac.net/gr/eagleweb/redsx4.jpg

Brought me right back to the early 80's!

a_l_hubcaps · December 2002

The Nissan Murano looks to me like a modern version of the old American Eagle station wagons. Not in its details, but in its overall appearance. Both look like a cross between a station wagon and Bigfoot.

-Andrew L

magnetophone · December 2002

I really want the Murano, believe it or not - looks cool! Has the engine I like, the cool styling, and it's more of just a large wagon.

a_l_hubcaps · December 2002

magnetophone-

I'm not sure what to think about the Murano. The huge wheels, the oddly-shaped side windows, the strange front fascia; it's not ugly, but I'm not sure that it's beautiful either. Its styling could be the wave of the future, or it could be the next AMC Pacer. I'll be interested to see if its look takes off with the buying public in the long term.

-Andrew L

diploid · December 2002

Ray*nalt or Ray*nawl?

Mr_Shiftright · December 2002

Wren-Noh' would be closest I think for our American ears. And it's Puh-zhowe'

magnetophone · December 2002

think Renoir with a heavy gluttal accent on the r, and then add noh with a slight l and you've got Renault. Peugeot sounds almost like "perzhoh"

andre1969 · December 2002

...1-800-AAA-HELP was probably the way most owners dialed it on the phone ;-)

checkme · December 2002

Has anyone seen one of those bananna cars? Someone in my neighborhood has one. It's a one-seater car that looks like a bananna on wheels. The one that I am familliar with is even painted yellow.

In the latest Austin Powers movie, there was a chase scene involving these vehicles. Goldmember drove a gold one, and his henchment drove silver ones. Austin chased them in his father's Mini.

I think this might be an electric car.

wonderwall · December 2002

i came out of the grocery store and there was a pristine renault encore parked ahead of me. it looked like it had just come out of a showroom...

Mr_Shiftright · December 2002

It probably did. It took that long to sell it to someone.

andys120 · December 2002

andre1969 · December 2002

...it was a bit presumptuous of Renault to use that name the way they did! I guess the Alliance was so such a great car that it demanded an Encore peformance, eh?

a_l_hubcaps · December 2002

This is a Renault Encore.

-Andrew L

andys120 · December 2002

It is highly forgettable. BTW CEO Louis Schweizer says Renault may consider US importation but not until after 2010.

magnetophone · December 2002

I spotted a Ford Ka on my street today! It was bright red and had Coahuila Mexico licence plates. I didn't have my camera with me which is too bad because it's a terrific looking car. This one had the one-tone look as opposed to the earlier two-tone look and had little alloy wheels.

While I have seen plenty of Kas in Europe, I could never really tell how big or small they were because cars are naturally smaller there. It's much larger than I would imagine - larger than a Geo Metro, about the size of an early 80's Accord hatchback is my guess.

idletask · December 2002

A Chevrolet Blazer on the road.

A Porsche Speedster in pristine condition, which is rather surprising since that was in Paris... Not a single ding on it.

And that Ford F250 again. Saw it a second time, and this time I saw the license plate: it is located in my area (Calvados).

Mr_Shiftright · December 2002

Porsche Speedster---there are some excellent fakes on the road, very hard to spot.

checkme · December 2002

A 2002 Volkswagen Pointer. It had Mexican plates. and was pulling out of a Wal-Mart parking lot.

This car was really, really something. It was smaller than a Golf, and is obviously one of VW's smallest offerings.

In general, I am not a believer in the concept of a "premium" economy car. People are always criticizing Cavaliers for having poor build qualtiy, but to my mind, my mom's Civic isn't much different. I don't know of any subcompacts that are really luxurious inside, except for the Mini Cooper (as it should be, starting around $18k). Some subcompacts are quite nice- the Focus and the Corolla are exceptional- but hey, they are not luxury cars.

This car made me change my opinion. It was obviously an entry-level VW, but its build quality was phenominal. It reeked of quality and precision. For starters, it had the huge black plastic bumpers that appear on many of today's entry-level vehicles. But these looked nicer than normal bumpers do. The black plastic seemed to be of higher quality, even though it's just cheap black plastic.

The paint was really, really good. I bet they still use oil-based paint in Mexico; you could tell, as this was deep and rich and had very little orange peel. The fact that the car was white made the quality of the paint even more evident.

The car had the thinnest panel gaps you've ever seen. I mean, the car was as tight as any 7-series- and this was an entry-level car!

What an impressive car. I can only imagine what the interior must be like.

idletask · December 2002

After looking at pictures of it from the Web, it just looks to me as a Seat Ibiza shell with the front grille of the previous Polo and rear lights of the Audi A3. Strange mix.

orangelebaron · December 2002

I too saw an AMC Alliance (Renault Encore?) on the Cross Island Parkway last night with 4 people in it.
All I could think was.... "sheeez how embarrassing!"...not that I should talk!
Tonight I saw a 1968 T-Bird parked by me. 2 door, red, black top with one of those scrolly thingies on the
huge 2 or 3 foot wide back pillar.

lemko · December 2002

...I saw a VW Thing the other day. It looked a little worse for wear but it was still running. Not really rare but uncommon was the pristine white 1972 VW Bug I saw on Oxford Circle on Friday. A college girlfriend of mine had a light blue 1972 Bug, but she didn't take very good care of it.

corsicachevy · December 2002

I saw a new BMW 330i with a NASCAR bumper sticker on the way to work today. Yet another clear sign that the end of the world is near....

magnetophone · December 2002

Haha - that's heeelarious. Sort of like the time i saw a Greenpeace sticker on a Ford F-250.

caramo · December 2002

Have seen two Bentley's in the last couple of days.

checkme · December 2002

Chevrolet Impala station wagon. I'm not sure of the year; it looked like a mid-70's model.

tboner · December 2002

But can remember what it was. Not one of the chaufeur driven variety, but rather it looked kinda like a Jag, but a bit more boxy. It looked like a daily driver.

Can I get some help here. Maybe one of these

I'm also looking for my AAA triptik. I had my daughter document where I saw a Sunbeam _________ in Georgia.

ghulet · December 2002

...Silver Spur, they replaced the Silver Shadow (with the four round headlights, sold 1967?-80) and were sold here from 1981 til a couple of years ago when the big sedans were redesigned. The short wheelbase version of that car is the Silver Spirit.

andre1969 · December 2002

...anybody know anything about this one?

It's the one they used the movie "Grand Theft Auto". In the movie, they mentioned it was a 1959, but that's all I know about it. Is it anything special?

All I know is that, as a kid, I thought it was the coolest thing seeing this Rolls bashed beyond recognition at the end of the movie!

andys120 · December 2002

it was the main Rolls model until the Shadow came out. I don't recall exact years but it was something like '58-'66/'67. They were very elegant, very British, with lots of head room and loads of wood and leather. IIRC the Benley equivalent was the "S", my Dad's boss Arthur Godfrey, radio and TV personality of the 50s had a Bentley S.

Neither was much to drive apparently.

Mr_Shiftright · December 2002

Big old boats. They had a lot of trouble with the early V8s. It's not a car you'd want to own particularly but they are great to sit in and drink tea. Lovely interiors but not much else going for them. Very antiquated car for its day.

alfox · December 2002

Isn't that the one that Travis McGee made into a pickup truck?

Mr_Shiftright · December 2002

No, McGee's is much older (and better).

andys120 · December 2002

seen in very nice driver condition doing about 70 on I-91 near the Vt-Ma line. I never thought much of those back in the day cuz they were as slow as the Beetles they're based on but it did have a nice style to it and it didn't look totally out of place on a modern interstate.

I also saw a Subaru Justy chugging up a long grade w flashers on barely maintaining 50. I hope he made it home OK. Must have been scary w traffic screaming by @ 75 and over.

checkme · December 2002

This was actually three weeks ago:

A Chrysler Pacifica (!) It's a GREAT looking car!

a_l_hubcaps · December 2002

I saw a 1958? Buick on the road today. It seemed to be in at least decent condition, but I didn't get a good look at it.

-Andrew L

I spotted an (insert obscure car name here) classic car today!

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