Production of the ‘classic’ Mini ended in 2000 but you can still buy an effectively brand new super-luxurious version - if you have the cash. This is the Mini Remastered by David Brown Automotive, captured here on the first press day at the Geneva Motor Show in 2018. Available with every conceivable luxury, although the price can creep over £100,000. An electric version (Mini eMastered) is also available.
Today, another quite rare Renault, the Vel Satis, which was sold between 2001 and 2009. Following on from the R20/30, R25 and Safrane, it was in some ways the last in the line of big French Renaults, with the later Latitude and Talisman leaning on cooperation with Renault Samsung of South Korea. This car was seen at last year’s Festival of the Unexceptional.
Today, another rare old large Alfa from last year’s Festival of the Unexceptional. This is the 166, produced between 1996 and 2007. Like its predecessor, the 164, the 166 had a front-wheel drive layout in contrast to yesterday’s Alfa 6.
Today, after the long sequence of posts on Dacia, we’re going about as far from Romanian budget motors as it’s possible to get with this beautiful Mercedes W198 300 SL ‘gull-wing” snapped at last year’s Techno Classica. This is a very early car from 1954, the first year of production in the rare (twelve cars) colour 543 strawberry red metallic. I think @richardknott posted a car in the same shade (possibly this actual one) last year.
Yesterday, I mentioned that Dacia had made a pick-up version of its old Renault 12 based 1300/1310 series. When the Logan was introduced in the 2000s as the first car in the new range of modern budget Dacias, a pick-up variant featured once more. This model never came to the UK but I snapped this one in the South of France in 2013 while I was on the press launch of the then-new Peugeot 208.
More old Dacia today with this 1310 estate/station wagon captured at last year’s Festival of the Unexceptional. Like yesterday’s Dacia saloon, this was based on the equivalent Renault 12 body but the Romanians did their own thing with pick-up and coupé versions that had no Renault equivalent. More Dacia tomorrow.
Today, I thought it would be nice to do an extra #davidsdailycar post commemorating Saint David’s Day. This is Pontypridd’s finest, the Gilbern Invader. Gilbern only made cars from 1959 to 1973 and this one, at the Great British Car Journey in Derbyshire is from the last year of production. The Invader had a 3-litre Ford V6 so it was quite fast. If you want to buy a new Welsh car now, you’ll have to shell out over £160,000 on an Aston Martin DBX. 🏴
We tend to think of vehicles such as yesterday’s Audi A6 Allroad that blur the boundaries between off-road vehicles and road cars as a recent development. But softroaders and crossovers, as we call them today, have a much longer history. This is the 1948 Jeepster, produced by Willys-Overland in order to sustain production levels after the Second World War. The Jeepster was RWD rather than 4WD. Snapped: Rétromobile Paris, 2014.
After yesterday’s powerful RS 6, today we’re looking at another slightly exotic off-shoot of the Audi A6 Avant estate in the form of the Quattro Allroad version, seen here at the UK press launch of the last-generation model in Devon and Cornwall in 2012. Whereas the RS 6 uses its Quattro all-wheel drive system for the original purpose of improving on-road handling, the Allroad is a crossover/softroader, designed to cope with (occasional) contact with mud.
Today, we’re sticking with the first-generation B1 Volkswagen Passat in the form of the ‘Variant’ estate/station wagon model. I snapped this 1974 example at Techno Classica Essen last year. This particular B1 is lovely but slow - 1.3 litres, 55 horsepower, 0-100 Km/h in 18 seconds. Top speed 145 Km. I’d still have one though. Going fast is so over-rated. Nine generations later, the current Passat is estate-only.
After doing the Volkswagen Passat CC the other day, I thought it would be interesting to feature some older Passats from a fiftieth anniversary display at last year’s Techno Classica in Essen. This first-generation 1973 B1 model is the oldest surviving Passat in existence (chassis no. 2). Note: this is a two-door fastback saloon/sedan, not a hatchback - hatches came later. More Passat-based nostalgia over the next few days.
Today we’re looking at the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, the electric version of the i. The i-MiEV had a similar rear-motor/rear-drive layout to the Smart ForTwo I posted yesterday but with a longer, surprisingly roomy four-door body. It went on sale in 2010, beating even the Nissan Leaf to the market. It was also sold as the Peugeot iOn and Citroën C-Zero. I snapped this Peugeot-badged version in Munich in 2012. These are great fun.
Today, a more sophisticated electric three wheeler than yesterday’s Sinclair C5 - the Toyota i-Road. I drove this in 2014 on a press trip to cover a mobility trial in Grenoble that offered i-Roads for hire. Amazing machine. Driven by hub motors in the front wheels, steering is via the rear wheel. ‘Active Lean’ technology means it leans into corners like a motorcycle. Great to drive. ‘The agility of a motorcycle, the comfort of a car’, said Toyota. ☑️
Yesterday @JorvikAngler mentioned the Sinclair C5 so I thought I’d better add it to this sequence on three-wheeled vehicles. Like the Morgan EV3 prototype I posted yesterday, the 1985 C5 was a white British electric three-wheeler but there the resemblance ends. Highlights - Lotus chassis, ‘under-thigh’ handlebars, single 12V lead acid battery for claimed twenty mile range. Pedals as back-up. Pics taken: #NationalMotorMuseum Beaulieu, 2023.
Today we’re sticking to the theme of old British three-wheelers with this, the 1935 Morgan Super-speed, snapped here at the #BritishMotorMuseum. Note the Harley-style V-twin engine. Morgan’s designs were informed by the insight that three-wheeled cars are more stable with two wheels at the front and one at the back rather than vice versa. If only someone had told Reliant. The Morgan three-wheeler line lasted from 1910 to 1952, but was revived in 2011.
After yesterday's early Reliant Regal, today we're looking at an even older line of British three-wheelers. This is the Invacar, a specialised vehicle provided to disabled drivers by the UK government from the late 1940s. These cars were initially conceived mainly with disabled ex-servicemen in mind. Many Invacars, including this one seen at last year's #FestivalOfTheUnexceptional, were built by AC - yes, that AC, later of Cobra fame. 1/2
After yesterday’s TV star Supervan, I thought it would be interesting to go right back to the beginning of the Reliant three-wheeler passenger car story. Meet the very first Reliant Regal, which was launched at the 1952 Motor Cycle Show. I’m guessing that was an indication of the market Reliant was going for - buyers who wanted a step-up in practicality from a two-wheeler without spending too much money. Pic: #NationalMotorMuseum Beaulieu, 2023.
Today we return to the glamorous world of film and television with this, the three-wheeled yellow Reliant Regal Supervan used by Del-Boy and Rodney in the BBC comedy series ‘Only Fools and Horses’. This example at the #BritishMotorMuseum at Gaydon had a doubly distinguished on-screen career, having been used in filming for both ‘Only Fools’ and Mr Bean (in blue - still partially visible in one of the photos).
A few days ago, @MarSolRivas was commenting on the ‘Thunderbirds’ vibe given off by the Renault Projet 900 concept. This is FAB 1, the very pink personal transport of International Rescue’s London Agent, the fragrant Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward. It was usually driven by her faithful chauffeur, Parker. This is the car from the 2004 Thunderbirds film, rather than the one from the 1960s TV series. Pic: #BritishMotorMuseum, 2024
Yesterday, the Matra P18 prototype, today the Renault Espace product line to which it gave birth. Here are the first four generations of Espace, with the 1984 original in the foreground. The current Espace is the sixth incarnation. The first three generations were made by Matra, while later models were built by Renault itself. The most recent models have moved away from their people-carrier roots and are more SUV-like. Pic: #Retromobile Paris 2014.
Today, after Projet 900, another milestone on Renault’s journey towards a new practical vehicle type, in the form of the 1981 Matra P18 prototype, displayed here at #Retromobile Paris in 2014. Peugeot, the new parent of Matra’s original partner in the project, Chrysler Europe, decided not to proceed with production, and the P18 instead went to Renault, where it became the Espace. If only Talbot had been able to sell this instead of the Tagora.
A few weeks ago, I was explaining how Renault, with the R4, R6 and R16 was one of the pioneers in the introduction of a then-new body type, the hatchback. But long before that, the company had been experimenting with new, more spacious and practical types of vehicle than the three-box sedan/saloon, such as this, the 1959 Projet 900, with its rear-mounted 1.7-litre V8 (yes, really), snapped here at #Retromobile Paris, 2014. Weird back-to-front styling.
Yesterday, @lionelb was remarking in the contrast between the then-modern 1966 FD Victor and earlier big Vauxhalls such the Velox, which were quite staid in comparison. This is the 1959 PA Velox, a less extravagantly trimmed version of the similarly-bodied Cresta, which I featured on #davidsdailycar a few months ago. It still features an awful lot of chrome, though. Pics taken at the #BritishMotorMuseum Gaydon recently. More big Vauxhall loveliness to follow.
Today, the original 1966 Lotus Europa, which gave its name to the noughties Elise-based Europa S/SE featured yesterday. As @adrianco mentioned when I did the Renault 16 a week or two back, the original Europa borrowed the R16’s engine and gearbox. Later cars had a Ford-based Lotus twin-cam engine but kept the Renault gearbox. Small, low and light, the Europa showed what Lotus was all about. Pic taken at the #BritishMotorMuseum Gaydon, 2024.
Today, we’re looking at that Vauxhall/Lotus link again with the Lotus Europa S/SE. I’ve posted these pictures (taken at my local leisure centre car park) before, but I hope you won’t mind because this car provides the link between yesterday’s Vauxhall VX220 and tomorrow’s car. Like the VX220, the Europa S/SE was an attempt at a slightly less hairy and more spacious take on the Elise. It also uses a similar GM engine to that fitted to the VX220.