Weird cars! We all love them, but depending on the actual level of weirdness, some may be best appreciated in photos or at car shows rather than actually taking up residency in the driveway. That said, this is The Autopian, so I’m confident most of you are willing to get pretty weird, especially when the notions of practicality (if not downright feasibility) and cost constraints are removed in the interest of a fun Autopian Asks sesh.
As for me, I think it’d be a hoot to own a Fiat Multipla, and that actually would be a practical choice as long as it’s reliable. It’s definitely weird looking, but the weirdness doesn’t compromise it being a good mover of people and stuff. I must confess, though, I would tire of the interior pretty quickly.
I mean, look at this mess:
Antti was also Multipla-minded, and opined:
You say weirdest … I’d *like* to own. That changes the situation a bit, as there are a bunch of weird cars I’d love to drive and experience but I’m happy not owning them. I think it rules out cars such as the Citroen CX and SM due to their complexity.
I think the answer has to be the Fiat Multipla. They’re great to drive and well packaged! A Multipla would fit my family life perfectly well, as long as I found one that wasn’t rusty, didn’t have a sticky dash, an interstellar mileage on the odometer, or a hideous price tag due to being an actually nice example…
Yes, yes, no rust or sticky dash or big miles, of course, of course, of course. These are all forgiven in the fantasy realm of Autopian Asks, so consider a factory-fresh Multipla to be on its way to you, Antti. As for a Multipla driving report from the real world, have a peek at “How Driving ‘The Ugliest Car In The World’ Helped Me Discover The Masterpiece’s Real Flaws” from another pal across the pond, Adrian Clarke.
Back to my weird picks with this jolly Ukrainian offroader, the Sherp. Obviously, this thing isn’t road-legal, but in the universe where I have acres of land to tear up with all manner of dirt bikes and ATVs and the like, I’m absolutely getting a Sherp. Mostly because “just look at it.” You know it’s gotta be a barrel of unstoppable fun.
I can also get weird on two wheels, and bikes don’t come much weirder than the Alligator. Dan Gurney (as in “The Legendary Dan Gurney”) is the man behind this mostly-completely-normal motorcycle, save for the low low LOW seat height. The old motorcycle-review saw of “you feel like you sit in it rather than on it” is quite literally true for the Gator, and it’s reportedly a blast to ride. You can read more about it from Mercedes Streeter here.
OK, that’s enough of me. What weird wheels would you actually own?
Top graphic image: Sherp
A blue Renault Avantime with tan interior and the V6 manual.
The Avantime continues to be ahead of it’s time.
Citroen DS, of course. And a Corvair rampside. Also a Corvair Monza turbo hardtop. But that’s not really weird, just cool.
Nothing too out there for me, to be honest. I think it’s actually a tie between two portuguese cars built by the same company, and confusingly enough, with kind of the same name, despite not even being in the same category of car, or sharing any components.
A Datsun-branded pick-up truck/van called the Datsun Sado was built by a portuguese company in the 70s and 80s, and it’s one of the coolest-looking utilitarian vehicles ever in my humble opinion. Would love me one of these panel vans.
At the time the Datsun Sado was in production, the same company also built what’s considered by many the only 100% portuguese design ever to reach series production: the Sado 550 (“Sado” apearing here as the brand, rather than the model, although the 550 was literally the only car ever from the Sado brand). It’s closer to a microcar than a sub-subcompact, although it was an actual car for legal purposes. It was also something of an obscure percursor to the Smart ForTwo recipe: 2-seats and a vestigial cargo area, meant for city driving, where it could be parked sideways in half a parallel parking spot. However, the Sado had cartoonishly tiny wheels which are one of my favourite aspects of this design – maybe that’s where all the weirdness is. The model name came from the displacement of the 2-cylinder Daihatsu engines under the hood, used in contemporaty Kei cars.
The reason why the same company used Sado in separate, somewhat contemporary but very different cars is simply the fact that that’s the name of a river nearby, perhaps combined with the fact that no one really gave a fuck.
Good that Multipla looks like it was designed by Dr Seuss and it really has no upside where it is better than a normal car. But for weirdness I’d like an Isuzu Vehicross, oh wait I already got one. Count me content unless I get serious coin in the bank
I don’t know why but I’ve always wanted a Rokon 2WD motorcycle.
They are ok if you don’t fill the hubs with water.
First gen Spyker C8
I haven’t found a limit yet. What are you offering?
Gibbs Aquada. Though for the weird boat question, I’d probably go with an unlimited hydroplane.
While not technically a final production car, I aspire to own (a recreation of?) one of the Prangler prototypes one day. If I have to find half of a Prowler and an old Jeep body and recreate it, I will.
Go balls out and make a prowler half track.
A Velorex. What could possibly go wrong with a car covered in vinyl? As an added bonus for fans of Star Wars, you get an engine with the same name as those annoying droid scavengers from Tatooine. Cool.
Excellent points! So far I’m rather pleased with mine:
https://images-stag.jazelc.com/uploads/theautopian-m2en/Velorex_LF.jpg
Cool, I had never heard of that before!
Thanks! It’s towards the end of this:
https://www.theautopian.com/microcars-saab-stories-and-hondas-triumph-members-rides/
Thanks! You have a great collection.
Car would be a Lada Niva, but weird for weird sake would be a Yamaha GTS1000.
NASA crawler, mostly because I just to turn it into a mobile skyscraper.
Good one! Ever read Inverted World by Christopher Priest? Basically that idea taken to odd extremes.
I never heard of it but yeah, kinda what I was going for:
“Helward lives in a city called “Earth”, which is slowly being winched along at an average speed of 0.1 mile per day (0.16 km per day) on four railroad tracks northward toward an ever-moving, mysterious “optimum”. The city, which Helward estimates is 1,500 feet (460 m) long and no more than 200 feet (61 m) high”
(Mine would be smaller and much taller though.)
…
Only guildsmen (all male) have access to the outside world and are oath-bound to keep what they know a secret; in fact, most people do not even know the city moves
I don’t see how they could not know they are moving unless it’s out of willful ignorance, kinda like those people here who think the world is ending every fall because the days keep getting shorter.
I’ll take a Matra Djet please. Or a Gurgel X15
Oh wow those are two damn fine choices!
Oh man… Pinzgauer, Unimog, any Morgan, BMW C1… the list could go on, but I’ll start there.
Morgan isn’t weird IMO. its stunningly beautiful. Pinzgauer certainly fits the bill though.
Morgan is beautiful. I put it in the “weird” column because you just don’t see them in the states.
I have a Matchbox Morgan 3 Wheeler that I got b/c I thought it was an original, pre-war one. I was amazed to find it’s a model of what Morgan made in the 2010s!
I’ve seen a couple of three-wheels and a plus 4 here in the US.
I just rewatched the first Thor movie and forgot how good the Pinz was, just ahead of Natalie Portman.
The Kiss Volkswagen.
I will own a Kaido racer at some point- ideally a GX71 Mark II Hardtop, Z10 Soarer, or Skyline Japan. Full chibaragi style too, zero subtelty
Kei truck with dropside truckbed. I’ve also always wanted a tracked vehicle.
I think the Swedish Bandvagn might just combine the best of both worlds…
That is beautiful, and definitely never going to be licensed for road use. It also looks like it weighs 2-3 tons (depending on version) so maybe not so kei-ish. But at least I can claim that I am driving a Volvo!
Is a Kei truck with a dump bed considered weird? It just sounds like fun.
Brown station wagon. Aluminum alloy wheels. tan cloth interior.
Sounds like dad’s old ’85 Colony Park, but it had leather. Root beer brown, woodgrain sides and tan interior. EFI 302 and an AOD.
I really, REALLY want to own a Morgan Three Wheeler. They’re not sold here where I live (and even if it was, I probably wouldn’t be able to afford it). Maybe i could build my own?
I saw a handful in person a few years ago and they really are gorgeous and mind-bending, like they drove out of a different (cooler) parallel universe.
For me, an automatic. Imagine just giving away some of the control of a vehicle for no reason besides laziness.
Isuzu VehiCROSS, Citroen DS Safari, Skoda Felicia, BMW Z3 Coupe, Toyota Previa. Any of these will do.
One of those Stephenson military trucks always looked cool to me, I have no reason for this I just think they are neat. Also the FD Rx7, the car isn’t weird, but the rotary engine makes it weird.
Toyota Soarer AeroCabin. Looks fairly normal, but has an insanely neat top mechanism on top of being an odball JDM import. I was going to say Del Sol TransTop for similar reasons, but those mechanism scare me too much. Close second goes to the Pajero Jr Flying Pug, because I would LOVE to have one as an off-roader to really confuse the Jeep bros.
That Soarer is my absolute dream car. There are a tremendous number of desirable greats in automotive history, but I’d walk past all of them with nary a glance to own an Aero.
Campagna T-Rex.
It just seems so much better sorted than the Polaris one.