Porsche 916

Could this be the car that all Porsche enthusiast really wanted the 914 to be, after all the 914, to some anyway, was not really a Porsche as its heart was a Volkswagen flat four. This was despite it also being offered with a Porsche derived flat six. It was always on the edge of both marques not really fitting in to either. Personally I love it, its 70’s styling, mid engined layout and removable top meant it was a true sports car of the age. Porsche though realised the buying public wanted a little more, the result was the 916 program.

Nissan Boga

Spacious, family crossover looks, 1.5ltr frugal engine, solar powered ventilation system, sounds just like any modern concept and to a degree it even looks like one. This concept though was built in 1989 as the future of the city vehicle, it even had automatic closing doors. Think they nailed it with this one, well even if it was 20 years later. Not much information on this just a good example of what was a concept now in use a daily vehicle.

Peugeot 205 T16

GroupB the very name sends tingles through the nervous system of all true petrolheads. The closest thing us mortal drivers can get to one of these insane monsters is also the reason why they were allowed to compete in the first place, homologation. That means 200 had to be built by the factory and sold.  Now in Peugeot’s case it was the 205 T16. Although apart from the name, the front lights and maybe some of the interior this car bears virtually no resemblance to the car on which its based upon.

Random Picture: VW SP2 Parts

The ultra rare VW SP2, well over on the Europe side of the pond

Seat Raider / Anibal Podadera

With Seat’s first fully independently designed and built car from Fiat, the Ibiza in the bag and selling well Spanish Francisco Podadera proposed a coupe version to take in the Toyota MR2 and Fiat X1/9. Not only did he propose it he also built prototype, which apart from having its rear roof and seats removed also had a severe nose job that added those much needed 80’s pop up lights and 6”. As you can see the body was also seriously re-worked and replaced with fiberglass.

Random Picture- Alfa Romeo T33/6/12

The old saying goes “never bring a knife to a gun fight” well Alfa Romeo we’re hoping to take on Ferrari and Porsche with a rocket launcher. This was a secret project built in 1970 to take the GT crown. However it was a short lived story for this 6 wheeled, 5ltr, V12 monster as it was stolen from its garage at the Sebring circuit where it had been testing. The chassis was found a few weeks later but the engine went down in local folklore as being fitted to a hot rod and dominating all its races a few years later!!!!!
 

*edit 20/02/14- Trust me not to pick up on the dates, April 1^st yeah it’s a Photoshop, still cool looking though

Covini B24 Turbocooler

We’ve already covered the more recent 6 wheeled Covini 6CW, this though harks back to the start of the company. Unveiled at the Geneva Car Show in 1981, it was built as an experimental mule to test new car technologies such as air-liquid cooled intercoolers. It was also fitted with a diesel engine which at the time made it the fasted diesel powered car of the time when it hit 200kph!!!!

Airomobile Experimental Sedan

In the 1930’s with streamlining at its height all manner of vehicles were being built. One of them was this 3 wheeler built by Lewis American Airways Inc, in 1937. Conceived by owner Paul Lewis who wanted to build a cheap car for the masses with a price tag of just $300. His idea was a 3 wheeler, why? As its chassis doesn’t twist unlike a 4 wheeler, which means less bracing and therefore makes it cheaper to build.

Footman James Manchester Classic Car Show Pictures

You may have seen the write up of this show from a few weeks ago-

Manchester Classic Car Show

The pictures can now be seen on the Footman James Manchester Classic Car Facebook page as well-

Footman James Manchester Classic Car Facebook

Ferrari Pinin

This is one of those “what if” concepts, what if Ferrari built a luxury four door saloon? This concept was built by Pininfarina to celebrate the design studio’s 50^th Anniversary, better than a cake I suppose!!! It was also Sergio Pininfarina dream to build an Italian car that could compete with the likes of Jaguar and Mercedes.

The car was built on the chassis of a 400GT but unfortunately only had a mock up flat 12 engine so it was show and no go. It was debuted at the 1980 Turin Auto Show and after Enzo Ferrari showed interest in it, it was toured around the world’s best car shows and even did a customer tour in the US. However this was to no avail and the Pinin remained a pure concept.

Random Picture: 6 Wheel Mazda 323

6 wheel drive, 4 wheels steer, 2 rotory turbo engines and massive amount of awesomeness. Thats about all I could find out about the New Zealand racer, if you know more get in touch-

Record breaking attempt Porsche 935

Well record breaking is only slightly true, the car really helped break a record. But what a car to help you hey!!! We’ll get back to that huge wing arrangement on the back in a minute or so, let’s start with the car, Porsche modified one of its 800bhp racing monsters for the record attend. They were not the only German manufacturer to lend a helping hand. Volkswagen loaned them their Ehra-Lessien test track, you know the one James May topped out the Bugatti on, as it had a 9km long straight. So what record could possible need an 800bhp racing porker wearing one hell of a rear wing and really long straight? Cycling

Ferves Ranger

 In 1966 Ferves (Ferrari Veicoli Speciali) introduced the world to the prototype of the Ranger, a small off road vehicle, at the Turin Motor Show. As you can probably guess from its proportions it’s based on the Fiat 500, utilising its 499cc engine with 22bhp mounted out back as well as steering and suspension as well as the brakes out of the Fiat 600. When it was put in to production the following year it was offered in two versions the Ranger and the Cargo. The Cargo, despite its small engine, could carry loads up to 300kgs.