By Marcal Eilenstein
This installment of V.I.S.I.T. comes to you courtesy of Peter Edwards from Auckland. Apparently, Peter has quite the eye for unusual, classic, and just plain cool cars. Thanks, Peter! Come take a look below the jump.
I’ll be the first to admit I know little or nothing about this car. It kinda looks like a Honda Prelude from certain angles, but I know that’s not right. Educate me, fellow hoons. Go ahead; I can take it.
Ditto this interesting little car. It looks like something based on a VW chassis. Whatever it is, I want to take it for a spin.
Peter either found all these cars on the same day, or he’s a big fan of McDonald’s. Neither is a bad thing, mind you.
Sweet Corvette, but is that a 1987 Thunderbird I see in the left background?
Someone in New Zealand is collecting Indy 500 pace cars, apparently. I had forgotten about this 1993 Camaro. Those 15″ wheels look great, don’t you think? I wonder if they put the extra wing on the back because the integrated factory piece is useless.
This little Peugeot is the rolling definition of a hot hatch.
More classic American steel on display. I believe this is a 1973 Buick Riviera, one of the classic boat tail Rivieras of yore.
Pontiac Safari wagon, anyone?
A few more cars that look familiar to me, but that I don’t recognize. Please feel free to educate me, as I said.
Did you like what you saw? Do you want to see more? I have the remedy for the cure you seek. Submit your pictures of cool, weird, unusual, or wild cars, trucks, tractors, motorcycles, and anything else to ti**@ho********.info any old time at all. No, really – any time. Operators are standing by. We make it easy for you – just send us an email, and we do the rest. Remember, hit up the tip line at ti**@ho********.info.
Did I mention you can send us tips at ti**@ho********.info?
Antti Kautonen 
Joel Strickland 
Kamil Kaluski
That "VW chassis" above is a Lotus Europa.
<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/96/JPS26.JPG" width="600">
Cool. Thanks for the knowledgification.
More specifically, the red car is an S2 whereas the black one posted by Sjalabais is a Special version of the Twin Cam. The most noticeable external difference is the presence or absence of the "sails" along the top of the rear quarters.
Personally I'd be inclined to call them fins.
Yeah, but was it made in 1969 or 1970? I GOTTA KNOW!
Probably 1969, assuming it's the only one in New Zealand with an aftermarket sunroof:
http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/lotus/a…
Dang, man.
I second that.
On a seriouser note, dang that thing is short.
Does it have the most reflection-free windscreen in the history of the automobile? Or did the buyer forget to check "windscreen" on the options list…? Never really liked the Europa, probably because it's stats in Top Trumps were pretty rubbish and it sort of looks like a van.. but that red one above is really pretty. Maybe I've been mistaken all these years.
Anyway, greetings from a Norwegian hotel bar. It's completely empty, apart form the bartender who keeps serving me some local Aass beer.
Heia Norge! Somewhere in the southeast, I guess? I'd offer you a…:
<img src="http://www.bt.no/migration_catalog/article2204285.ece/BINARY/w780/hansa_m54ee8720k122514c2aefkm8000.jpg" width="600">
Seems like the owner cleaned his windows the strike-age-British way. Efficient, and highly satisfying for a couple of minutes. Then regret kicks in. Like when having bought an Europa instead of, say, an Elite.
<img src="http://files.conceptcarz.com/img/Lotus/61-Lotus-Elite-S1-DV-10-AI_01.jpg" width="600">
Yeah I spent about four days in Norway driving around in a GT86. I was in Drammen close to the Aass brewery when I posted that. I drove from there to Sandnes, mostly on road 41/42 IIRC(whatever it was it was pretty awesome), and then back on some even smaller roads over more mountains. I have to say some of the locals drive pretty quickly… Drove back again trhu Drammen and hopped on the ferry from Stockholm back to Finland yesterday.
A couple of times I drove along with some local for a couple of hours not actually wanting to go any faster. But the slower drivers also pull over to let you pass as soon as they see you coming. Or most do, me and a few locals were stuck behind another local for over 50km at one point, on single-file roads with absolutely no room to pass unless the car in front pulls over at one of spaces designed for that… Anyway, it was a fun but rather expensive trip 🙂
Cool! Nice car to test Norwegian roads with. My drive to work is very scenic and of high interest for tourists. So, actually, in the summer I get pretty annoyed by all the slow driving that is happening, but I wouldn't honk at tourists. =8^) I got my driver's licence in Germany, but I only really learned to drive in Norway. Bad infrastructure forces you to get to know your car well. You should try one of these mountain passes in winter time!
I've waited for a car like this for ten years, now I've just got to wait a few more so I can afford a used one… I can imagine wanting more power and stickier tires on a track, but for the street it's pretty much perfect as is. Sure you can't even outrun a E46 328i in a straight line, but all the fun happens between the straights anyway.
And I actually saw very few tourists. Pretty much none on the roads I drove, some were roads that are closed in winter. Driving one of those in winter would be cool, but I think something from Arctic Trucks would be more appropriate for that.. 😉 I wanted to drive to Lysebotn and Trollstigen but figured I don't really have the time and they will just be full of tourists watching the scenery and not the road anyway.. I wasn't so much looking for scenery as twisty roads with little traffic, yet the scenery was still awesome.
And trust me, if the road ahead was free I wasn't holding anyone up.. 😉 The locals that passed me did so when I was stuck behind a couple of other cars and they usually passed the whole queue in a place that I didn't even think about attempting a pass, and then half an hour later I catched up to them and they pulled over to let me pass. Then some time later I got stuck in a queue again and they would catch up and pass me the whole queue again, then I got past the queue and catched up to them some time later and they let me pass again. No need for either to even slow down if you time it correctly, just a few blinks or a wave as thanks. This happened with a few cars and they almost felt like friends after doing this for a couple of hours 🙂
Sometimes I catched up to a local and they went to ludicrous speed and it was fun just keeping up. I've never seen a nineties Passat TDI wagon with a roof box carry so much speed.
Haha, if I needed any more "proof" of you actually driving in Norway, your last sentence really hit it.
I see my thoughts were slipping in that messy post above, but what I wanted to say is that this habit of letting faster traffic pass is incredibly valuable for traffic flow – I'd agree to that. That's the problem with people from foreign countries who are not used to doing that, and who may be used to having traffic behind them at any time anyway.
How did you end up test driving the Toyota in Norway? I wouldn't have suspected you to hold up traffic, being a Hooniverse regular and all. I've actually never driven a two seater. My first cars were all 70s Volvos, and I will never forget how I got to think that my boss' car was a quick one when I had to borrow it a couple of years back:
<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Hyundai_H-1_front_20070928.jpg" width="600">
I had the opportunity to test it for a week and figured I'll head somewhere with some more interesting roads, and Norway seemed like the best place. I had just a couple of days to prepare so basically I just packed a bag, booked the ferry, picked up the car and drove straight to the ferry terminal. The rest I just figured out on the way.
How did you end up thinking a Hyundai van is a quick car? Though I suppose most modern things are if you compare them to a 40-year old Volvo.
Cool, will there be an article here?
The Hyundai had a diesel and I went to pick up someone with an empty van. It was so incredibly quick to start, felt like jumping ahead. But 70s Volvos are definitely on the slow scale of what one can get oneself into, which this is the best illustration of.
Sorry about the late reply.. I thought about about posting a day by day thing in the forums, but since I didn't have anything worth posting after driving 550km of E18 from stockholm to drammen I deleted that… I was too busy driving to actually stop and take pictures for the rest of the trip too so it wouldn't be much of an article. There will be a Finnish article about the car in general though, but I suppose I could write something about driving a sportscar with hand controls on a roadtrip so i might post something in the forums later.
Damn, I forgot to send in the picture of the humvee pickup with flames. I need to remember that, maybe it'll make the next V.Y.S.I.T. post.
The bottom car is a Triumph Stag.
That first car is an R32 (89-94) Nissan Skyline. Second if a Lotus Europa. The 87 Thunderbird is a 3rd generation (82-92) Camaro.
The one behind the Camaro, I mean. See that fat silver C-pillar? 🙂
Oh yeah… But the Thunderbird's rear window comes more to a point, where that one kinda drops off. Looks kinda Bertone-ish, and the pillar badge kinda agrees with that… I was originally thinking Volvo 780, but the chrome is thicker, and pillar isn't quite as large on the Volvo.
That's a first generation Lincoln Mk VII LSC. Also, that Pontiac wagon is a version of the Chrysler Dart. We never got them in wagon form here in the States. I love the fact that someone is driving a '73 Riviera over there, which makes no sense at all but gives me much happiness!
Oops- thought this post got dropped, hence the second one.
A second generation Chrysler Valiant in the rare wagon form,( but like the Pontiac wagons called Safari ) 225,245 or 265 cubic inch head straight six or Mopar small block V8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_Valiant
The Australian Valiants both shared a lot ,and yet differed in many ways from their US cousins. They ended up with their own six cylinder engine used nowhere else, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_Hemi-6_Engi…
T-Bird is close. I'm fairly sure it's a Lincoln Mark VII LSC, which shares the platform.
Yes, it's a Mark VII LSC.
That C-pillar belongs to a first generation Lincoln Mk VII LSC. That Pontiac wagon is actually a Chrysler Valiant Safari. Love the fact that someone drives a '73 Riviera over there, which makes no sense, but makes me very happy! http://imgc.classistatic.com/cps/blnc/130520/435r…
Nah, pretty sure they are all NSXs.
First car is an R32 Skyline GT-S. It's one of the more iconic Japanese cars. 😉
Thanks for the information. I hear the name a lot around here.
No worries. Everyone learns what one is at some point.
I plan on sending a horrendous Raptor I saw at the gym to, oh, what is the tips email? something tips something hooniverse dot something.
Just want to make sure we're all clear 🙂
The green wagon is an Australian-model Chrysler Valiant, looks to be a VF or VG series.
The tipoffs for me were the hubcaps that look like mid '60s US Valiant, and the profile looks like a mid to late '60s Dodge Dart.
Like this:
<img src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3125/3143331591_0561c69cbb.jpg">
Love it…
<img src="http://www.productioncars.com/send_file.php/plymouth_valiant_green_wagon_aus_1968.jpg">
"Sa-FAI-ree!"
(in my best Aussie accent)
Vehicles I've seen in traffic? It wasn't actually in traffic but I snapped this picture of a Daihatsu Midget today. With a snazzy red box in (on?) its bed. I see this thing parked all the time, but I don't think I've ever seen any Daihatsu Midget moving under its own power in my life.
<img src="http://i44.tinypic.com/2s0bjmf.jpg" width="600">
Notice it's flanked by two very different Pininfarina creations.
The baby sh!t brown car – is that a Rover? The greenhouse has that look.
Triumph 2500 mk2, if 'm not mistaken.
<img src="http://engineact.com/pics/60/70/Triumph-2500-PI_8a651.jpg" width="600">
The brown car is one of these…
<img src="http://homepage.ntlworld.com/jasmine.allam/Brochures/T.1077.jpg" width="660/">
Oh yeah! The big brother to the Dolomite, correct?
Exactly! The Dolomite is the only reason why I knew what car this was.
Yup, a Triumph saloon, the base car for the Stag. Made in NZ at the time from CKD (Completely knocked Down) kits supplied from the UK on the same line as Rover P6s and Jaguar XJ6s in Nelson. http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/cars/triumph/2000… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_industry_…
The yellow four-door looks to be a Mitsubishi Colt.
I thought so too at first… But it's probably a Mitsubishi Lancer (1976-1979).
<img src="http://www.autowp.ru/pictures/mitsubishi/lancer/autowp.ru_mitsubishi_lancer_sedan_23.jpg" width="660/">
Same car, different names. It was the Colt here in the US.
Aparently they really had a lot of trouble sticking to one name for this car…
Chrysler Lancer, Chrysler Valiant Lancer
Mitsubishi Lancer, Mitsubishi Colt Lancer, Mitsubishi Celeste, Mitsubishi Colt Celeste,
Dodge Colt, Dodge Lancer
Plymouth Arrow, Plymouth Colt
You couldn't make this up if you wanted too!
Crap- hit the thumb down button by mistake. Sorry. You are correct, same car.
This picture is begging for a caption.
Yeah, Fred's a little strange. He's got this crazy idea that if his car hangs out with horses, it will somehow unlock some of their secrets and gain more horsepower. Yeah, like I said, crazy. But he shovels horse shit really well, so we don't really want to let go of him.
For their first anniversary Valliant got his Celeste two Colts.
One is called Arrow, the other is called Lancer.
<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0g2o8Oo8p1rqhyvko1_500.png">
Yikes!
That's for "Honda Prelude" and "VW chassis".
/wink
… as well as "Pontiac" Safari. I'm glad we're clear on that.
Yeah, don't people know a mid '70s Toyota Corolla when they see it?
/oh never mind
This is Pete from Auckland here. Wow!! I got a whole post to myself. I feel honored, but annoyed that I forgot to caption the cars.
The bulk of these were taken in one day within a 2km radius of where I work, and only a few days after the others I took for the previous VISIT post.
I must say that a few were low hanging fruit as theyre cars that I see every day pretty much (like the yellow Stag, the guy works in a garage, uses it to get to work daily, and it ALWAYS has its roof down, apart from the ONE day I got to take a photograph of it) it slowly gets more and more worn out looking and then one day it'll be like new!
Anyway, for clarification, the yellow car in the lead is a Nissan Skyline (R32) GTS-t, so RWD with a RB20DET, and I cant remember if thats a Thunderbird or not, so Ill guess I have to go take more photos then.
Chur bro
Pete from NZ
Well done Pete . Sweet as!!
Congrats Pete. Choice car finding, eh bro!
km? NZ? Oooooooh! that explains the pace cars. Youre not in the states. I see these almost daily. honestly its probably the same 2 or 3 of them but they are daily drivers around here.
In the picture with the Peugeot 205 there's a Maserati Quattroporte.
Thats a Gt homie. Not a Qp. its hard to tell with so little to look at but i see the two parked next to each other everyday at work.