246 Dino move over

[Fritz]

not a fan of the mondial, nor auto trans.
The 400s look like a passenger car to me. Not alot of thrill in their look.
Nor boat ownership.
In this neck of the woods there are a fair amount of smart F shops where they'd be happy to have my annual maint $.
;-)

here's a tasty treat.

http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/deal...80907.html

[eustacetilley]

And here is one not so tasty:

http://modesto.craigslist.org/cto/3889843980.html

(For posterity, this is a... Dino... for $9500.)

Eustace

[Fritz]

oh my, that is major fugly! I'd rather a Yugo.

[Thrift Store Scott]

Fritz wrote:
my new fave modern sports car I'll never own.






but the blue is sweet

Ah yes, the mighty Iso Grifo. I've lusted after one of those since I was a little kid and had the Matchbox version in a color very similar to Ford Tractor Blue. I've got to agree with Fritz- The Deep Ocean Blue color is particularly sweet on that car.

eustacetilley wrote:
And here is one not so tasty:

http://modesto.craigslist.org/cto/3889843980.html

(For posterity, this is a... Dino... for $9500.)

Eustace

Ewww...
So now Kelmark GTs, arguably the best-engineered of the VW Beetle kit cars of the mid-1970s and with styling nominally inspired by the 246 GT, count as "Dino Replicas"? Oi vey.

More on Kelmark Engineering-
{URL]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelmark_Engineering[/URL]

[Racer X]

I for one am appalled that the owner parked on those two spectators!

[eustacetilley]

I actually have rather a soft place for the old kit-cars. Yes, most were atrocious, but some were so goofy that you just have to wonder... _Why_?



This is based on the very obscure 1934 Frazer-Nash. One bounced around the local Craigslist a few years back for $2500.

And then there are the Pumas: two different companies, two different continents. Arguably, the Brazilian cars were the best, and over the years, ~22,000 were turned out, both as kits and factory assembled.
But the Italian ones did offer an Alfa Romeo boxer engine in their later days.

Finally, Fritz made this perceptive comment:
"My interest in cars exploded like mad during my first tour in Europe.
I saw all kinds of stuff on the roads there. Made my eyes hurt."

This has always been true. But Europe is mostly densely populated, and the unusual stands out from the sea of similar Citroens and SEATs. I had a cousin visiting a few years back, and he was amazed at the number of old, old by our standards, cars puttering about the East Bay. He called these cars collectively "Murks", a reference to old Mercedes. Where he came from, these cars were cheap to buy, expensive to run and maintain, and prohibitively expensive to meet MOT. So most are junked.
There is this show called "Drive It!" on DWTV, and every week they showcase an old car. (You would be amazed at the varied number of low-volume sports cars that were produced from behind the doom and gloom "Iron Curtain".) DWTV did a good piece on, of all things, the Chevy Corvair. The later models are esteemed there, compared to contemporary Porsches, and command Porsche prices.

Eustace

[Fritz]

that tour was, sad to realize, 25 years ago.
Europe was probably a much different car place then.
And there were some pretty nice Citroens then. That is when I got my first glimpse of a car I'd forgotten, Tracion Avant. The Gestapo car from Hogans Heroes.

These taken in Ho Chi Min City about 8 years ago.
Vietnam apparently ended up with a lot there because of the French colonization.

I had to pass up a local TA, fully restored, for $9000 a few years back when the economy made that a stupid idea.
The body style stayed pretty much the same from '37 to '57.

We had a '66 (I think) Corvair Monza that was gonna be mine. The engine had seized. But someone made an offer as it sat in the driveway, and off it went. Ah well.

[Fritz]

the red Iso is for sale by the way, if you're interested.

http://mycarquest.com/2013/09/iso-grifo-for-sale.html

[eustacetilley]

Oh, the 11 CV "Traction Avant"... for a long period of time, it was the favorite car in French Gangster films, because it was the favorite car of French Gangsters.
It was in production for a very long time; it was replaced by the ID/DS series, which led to the SM, which I mentioned before, because I owned one of those.

Nobody could paint a car blue like the French. The Brits had British Racing Green sewn up, but French Blue... ooh la la, _Bugatti_!
And to continue the theme of the OP, among the merely unusual French cars, were some _very_ unusual French cars, including the Simcas with Ford Flathead V8s, and the Facels, with ginormous Chrysler engines.
And then there are those French Yachts... while Cal, and Coronado, and Lancer were failing, in came the Beneteaus, and Jeanneaus, and Dufours. They now own the charter trade; Morgan, Islander and Gulfstar are but a memory.
It's funny how the French now rule the Blue waves...

Eustace

[Fritz]

Delage and Delahaye made some beauties as well.
And the short lived Pegasos from Spain.
1954 Pegaso Z-102 Saoutchik Coupé

And Alfa Zagatos.
I want one of each.

Those TA in HCMC, was a total restore by Vietnamese craftsmen, so I was told.
The Vietnamese learned alot from their occupiers. Food and cars at the very least.
The almond croissants I had there, with the deliciously chocolatey Vietnamese coffee, were as good as I had in France.

oh darn, look at the time......