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You are in... Forums > General > Heroes & villains > Forgotten cars of the last 35 years
Joined:
Feb 07
Posts: 4487
bertandnairobi says:
The red Jaguar convertible will be forever associated with the opening sequence of Alexei Sayle´s comedy series "Stuff" and his comic character Bobby Chariot. I can´t say I find these brash versions of the gentleman´s other express so easy to like.
[This Reply has been modified by the Author]
Nov 09
Posts: 7
Jaguar86 says:
Also how about Jaguars ill fated 1980's luxury GT, the still born Jaguar XJ41 and 42 "F Type", a car that was far too complicated and clever for its own good and was killed off by Jaguars then new former owners Ford in 1990, a few prototypes survive to this day and there supposed to be a nice car to drive (twin turbo straight 6 engine and 4 wheel drive sounds good to me) and in many ways predicted Jaguars owner future XK models plus future Astons in terms of styling. (also it was the last Jaguar with styling imput from William Lyons), in fact I think that Aston Martins DB7 is based on Jaguars XJ41?, it also puts an end to the false fact that Jaguar sports cars are just Aston Martin lookalikes, its the other way round :-).
Attached images:
Another rare beast today is the Rover 800 especialy the MK1 version and the coupe (plus the ultra rare USA spec Sterling) it was always a car that should have been great but just wasn't with very poor build quality on the MK1 version and soso ride quality.
When the coupe came out it was dubbed "Baby Bentley." And in the same laughable vein, the Polo of 1994 (6N) came out, Autocar called it a baby Mercedes. I have a soft spot for the Rover coupe in the same way I have fond feelings for the Volvo 262, Volvo 780ES, Opel Monza and the Honda Accord coupe and Lancia Kappa coupe. They are my flock of un-loved dinosaurs.
How about this one, which CAR raved about at the time.
The Isuzu VehiCROSS is a compact SUV from Isuzu. Produced from 1997 (Japanese market 1997-1999) through 2001 (US market 1999-2001), it shares much of its components with the Trooper, including both its 3.2 L and 3.5 L V6 engine that produces 215 bhp (160 kW; 218 PS) at 5400 rpm and 230 lb·ft (312 N·m) at 3000 rpm of torque. The vehicle also features the Torque on Demand (TOD) 4-wheel-drive system produced by BorgWarner. It is a small, sporty 2-door crossover vehicle with aggressive external styling, including short overhangs, an aggressive forward stance, titanium "teeth" in the grille, a black hood-insert, and black plastic cladding over the entire lower half of the vehicle. The US VehiCROSS came equipped with 16" polished wheels in 1999 and 18" chrome wheels during the remainder of production. The Japanese version came equipped with 16" alloys with chrome center caps
May 11
Posts: 24
Thotos says:
Batty said: livc44411- Lancia Gamma, forgotten?!!!!! No way, the coupe is a picture of elegant understatement. It was the steel problems of the Beta and the Gamma that killed it. I will try and post some REAL forgoten cars soon.
livc44411- Lancia Gamma, forgotten?!!!!! No way, the coupe is a picture of elegant understatement. It was the steel problems of the Beta and the Gamma that killed it. I will try and post some REAL forgoten cars soon.
------ End Quote ------
The forgotten Lancia must be the Trevi, unloved by most, and forgotten by the rest except the very few, like me, who have one.
I see you have one with the brochure interiort: blue cloth series 1 seats rather than the later tweed seats. The dashboard is stellar in its idiosyncracy. These days no one person really has control over the design of such an element so the resultant design is a committee decision. I remember seeing a Flavia saloon five years ago and the thing that struck me was how spartan and restrained it was. The Trevi interior has that too: simple but modernist. Later Lancias haven´t managed this.
Thanks for posting the photos!
bertandnairobi said: ... you have one with the brochure interiort: blue cloth series 1 seats rather than the later tweed seats...
... you have one with the brochure interiort: blue cloth series 1 seats rather than the later tweed seats...
My Trevi is a Series 1 and hence the series 1 interior. The easiest way to tell the two series apart is from the louvres on the C-pillar: Series 1 cars have holizontal slats while Series 2 cars have them vertically. I much prefer the spartan look of the Series 1 interior especially the door cards that have nothing visible on them, not even the catch for opening the door.
If you read my essay on Lancia, I suggested that they distinguished themselve from Alfa by being very modern and very imaginative while also having comfort orientated performance and fine steering. The doors here show what Lancia has lost when they became an Italian Rover. This door card is still blindingly modern and very, very simple but in a clever way. I can see why you so like this car and also why one might feel a bit despondent that it´s so unregarded. You´d think people would want to know about something so interesting. But unjustly they don´t. It´s like my own car but to the power of twenty. As unconventional as the XM is, it can´t hold a candle to the Trevi´s huge depth of character and originality.
Is that small rectangle on the door the ashtray? I do hope so. It´s very well placed.
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