Unusual Cars

[5 Cylinder]

Put cars you dont often see here and we will rate them out off ten
No 1
Marcos Mantis


Love the classic styling and big V8
8/10

[Jay!]

Welcome to AF!

Have you seen our Other Cars forum yet?

[5 Cylinder]

Sorry, Found it

[Ssom]

never seen one......

[YellowMaranello]

Are these cars we've seen in person? On the road or in shows?

[2strokebloke]

Classic styling? if you can call that styling!

Maybe it's just me, but I think that as time went on the Marcos just got uglier - kind of like everything in this world!. (although I think the older ones look pretty good)

[450HPviper]

Never seen it, but it looks cool.

nice Viper right behind.

[tigermiata]

I'm not certain but perhaps the closest I can come the the framed Marcos picture I have on the wall of my garage (OK, there are a lot of car pictures in my garage), but IIRC it was a Mantula, not a Mantis.

I betcha the # of Marcos cars in the US is really low, bespite -- what -- 40 years of production?

[Jimster]

It's really Marcos' own fault they went bankrupt for the third time last year- very ugly looking cars :apuke:

[zackiedawg]

Cars we don't often see? Well that list is pretty big in the US. Here's a few cars I have only seen maybe once in my life actually on the road:

- BMW/Isetta
- Messerschmidt
- Toyota 2000GT
- Trabant (Eastern Europeans have seen plenty...I've only seen one on a trip through Berlin)
- Nash Metropolitan
- Corbin Sparrow
- Renault Alpine A100
- Lancia Stratos
- McLaren F1
- Ford GT40
- Plymouth Superbird
- Monteverdi Hai 450 SS
- TVR Griffin, Chimaera, etc.
- Maserati 3500GT
- Lamborghini Muira
- Maserati Quattroporte
- Aston Martin Lagonda

The main reason I don't get to see many of these is that they were never sold in the US, so I only got to see them on rare and lucky trips to Europe or South America...they may be common on the roads over there, but if I am only there for a few days, I rarely get to see the "good stuff" like TVRs and classic Italian metal. Every time I go to Europe, I see thousands of compacts and micro cars...mostly VWs, Peugeots, Renaults, Fiats, Seats, and Fords...with a few Nissans, Hondas, Hyundais, Skodas, Citroens, and others mixed in. Rarely do I even see more expensive metal like back in my town in the US, where virtually every car on the road is a Mercedes, BMW, Audi, or Jaguar.

Some of the other super-rare cars I was just lucky enough to glimpse...the Plymouth Superbird was in California driving north of L.A. along the beach...the Monteverdi was parked in Vienna on the side of the road like it was any other car, the Lagonda and Quattroporte I saw a few in Los Angeles by the eccentrics who wanted to drive something different, and the McLaren and Alpine A100 were both spotted on a trip to England, out in Devon.

[2strokebloke]

At last count, there were only 15 Trabants in the U.S., I've only seen one of them. I've seen probably hundreds of Nash Metropolitans, and a several Isettas, even a Heinkel Kabine.

[Hudson]

Originally posted by zackiedawg
Cars we don't often see? Well that list is pretty big in the US. Here's a few cars I have only seen maybe once in my life actually on the road:

- BMW/Isetta
- Messerschmidt
- Toyota 2000GT
- Trabant (Eastern Europeans have seen plenty...I've only seen one on a trip through Berlin)
- Nash Metropolitan
- Corbin Sparrow
- Renault Alpine A100
- Lancia Stratos
- McLaren F1
- Ford GT40
- Plymouth Superbird
- Monteverdi Hai 450 SS
- TVR Griffin, Chimaera, etc.
- Maserati 3500GT
- Lamborghini Muira
- Maserati Quattroporte
- Aston Martin Lagonda

The main reason I don't get to see many of these is that they were never sold in the US...

Most of those car were actually sold in the US. The Isetta, Messerschmidt, Nash Metropolitan (note the US "Nash" brand), Corbin (again, a US brand), Plymouth Superbird (see above note), Miura, Quattroporte, and Lagonda were all officially sold in the US. With gray market laws as they were in the 1970s and 1980s (and 1960s), the 2000GT, Alpine, Stratos, GT40, Hai, and even the Trabant have made it to American roads. I've been told that the TVRs have slipped through US Customs in recent years and everyone knows about the 6-9 F1s that have been "legally" imported. That only leaves 3500GT, which is offered in the US now in updated form.

The Hai and modern TVRs are the only ones I am sure I have never seen in the US.

[Aussie Racer]

Has anyone seen a Leyland P76.Outside of Australia, hey are pratically unknown.

[kfoote]

How about street car versions of the following, all of which are available, or I have at leas seen, in the US

Mosler MT900
Saleen S7
Corvette C5R