Zel's Fleet Blog - BX, Jag XJ-S, Sinclair C5, Mercedes 208D & 230TE, AC Model 70.

[xantia_v6]

One of the Lotus 7 look-alikes?

[bobins]

A Reliant Robin or Regal ?
......but hopefully with a Hayabusa engine conversion just for added giggles

If you add up the wheels in your Invacar and Reliant Robin you get the same number as in an Alvis Stalwart...... and there the similarities end. Go on, you know you want to

[Zelandeth]

I'm wondering if there is a Bug floating around your world Zel?

They're just too expensive for a decent one now. I'd love one, don't get me wrong. Plus that's the sort of car which would really need to be garaged. Assuming you're meaning the Bond variety rather than VW...though I do admit I'd really like to drive a VW Beetle that's in good order one day so I can form a proper opinion of them. I feel like I'm probably doing them a disservice with the poor opinion I have so far.

A Renault 4 by any chance Zel? I had two back in the 70s and they blow the silly old 2CV into the weeds in every possible respect...

If so, you won't be disappointed... I loved mine and would still be very happy with a rust-free example now...

I hope it's not a soggy old moggy minor...

Renault 4 is one of those cars that I'd really like to at least have a shot of one day. Especially as I would like to compare it more to the Dyanne than the 2CV, as that's probably the Citroen I've had the chance to drive that I really least wanted to hand the keys back for. Somehow felt a lot more "grown up" than the 2CV, and at least the one I drove felt better screwed together.

It's not a Renault 4 though. Nor is it a Morris Minor. I personally don't have any real dislike for them, but equally they don't really hold any interest for me. Would far rather have an MGB.

Bambino?

Not sure if you'd fit any better than you do in a Mini - and no idea what they are worth in the UK, but they can fetch serious money in the Antipodes!

I had to Google that, known as the Fiat 500 over here. They do fetch decent money here too. Fun little cars let down I feel by a really coarse engine I felt, which really does struggle to keep up with traffic anywhere outside a town centre. If I were to go after one of those it would be the Polish made ones - as they came with the 600cc version of the lovely little Steyr-Puch engine that's in the Invacar. They have just as much charm as their Italian counterparts, but run rings round them in performance and refinement terms.

No, I really don't fit in them either - better than the Mini though, and the suspension not being so firm at least meant I didn't just about give myself concussion every time I hit a bump.

One of the Lotus 7 look-alikes?

Nope, it has a fixed roof. There will be a very silly open topped car in my future one day when we've somewhere proper to store one, in the form of the revived Morgan 3-Wheeler (the original "new" one not the latest revision). That to me is a car which has been devised from the ground up with one and only one purpose in life, and that's to put a huge grin on your face.

That's a longer term plan though for several reasons...one it being something which really needs a garage, two, them being just a *little* on the expensive side. When I last looked they were also kind of hard to come by.

A Reliant Robin or Regal ?
......but hopefully with a Hayabusa engine conversion just for added giggles

If you add up the wheels in your Invacar and Reliant Robin you get the same number as in an Alvis Stalwart...... and there the similarities end. Go on, you know you want to

Not a Reliant. Though that's a good shout, and is one I'd like a shot of again now. Both because I've a lot more driving experience than when I last drove one, plus it would be really interesting to compare how they behave on the road to the Invacar.

Bike engine though? Nah, I remember the engine in the Rialto I drove being one of the best parts of the car. Lovely smooth, rev happy thing with an unreasonably rorty sounding exhaust note.

There are some similarities in certain design elements though.

If we end up somewhere with a bit of land you can bet I'll try to get hold of a Stolly. I have driven (and swum) one, and they are absolutely hilarious. Not something you really want to do any distance on road with though. Especially at 3mpg on a good day...

I guess one of the biggest clues I can give is that it's a car about which there is nearly as much misinformation and nonsense urban myths out there as there are about the Invacar.

[myglaren]

[Zelandeth]

Oh now that's an interesting one...and definitely not one I'd say no to! Rather more decadent than what I'm looking at (well, have basically said yes to and we're just working out the logistics) though. Definitely no chrome here! I think the rear window heater was about as far as accessories went.

[Gibbo2286]

I've owned many of the cars in your list and many more I've traded but most I think would disappoint, the Metropolitan was dire as was the VW Beetle, (my opinion) the Fiat 500 one of my customers bought a used one from the dealer on a Saturday and ran the big ends the following Monday, the dealer took it back and gave him another in its place, that one had to be towed back to the dealer when a stub axle broke a couple of weeks later and the wheel fell off in the rush hour traffic, the dealer fixed them up and told him to keep both.
The Renault 4 was one of the best, I took a LHD one in, a customer bought an Austin 1300 off me and asked me if I'd give him a tenner and take his R4 off him, I sold it later the same day to a farm girl for £65. she ran it for five years then the floor fell out, she passed it on to a pal who fixed it up and ran it on for several more years.

[myglaren]

I bought a Renault 4 from a girl I worked with, the brakes had failed and she ran it into a drystone wall and crumpled the wing and bonnet.
Brakes were allegedly fixed but weren't. Easy fix, as was fitting a complete new exhaust, that cost as much as the car

Brilliant car, cost next to nothing to run and the amount of stuff it could drag around was amazing.

Rear suspension snapped on a roundabout that it completed by hopping round.
Was going to be an expensive repair so bought an Hillman Imp to replace it. Probably not the best choice.

[NewcastleFalcon]

With so many well-thought guesses and no answer as yet, and the field of possible answers as a result narrowing, a restatement of what you have revealed Zel, and my own further guesswork.

In relation to the Fiat 500

No, I really don't fit in them either - better than the Mini though, and the suspension not being so firm at least meant I didn't just about give myself concussion every time I hit a bump.

Conclusion...the mystery car must be bigger than a Mini or Fiat 500

Nope, it has a fixed roof.
Conclusion...unsurprisingly...not a convertible or indeed one of those CC things, rag top etc, but not ruling out a fixed head coupe of the two-seater type

Not a Reliant. Though that's a good shout....There are some similarities in certain design elements though.( refers to the Rialto)
Conclusion...a good shout for similarities ie glass fibre or a good shout because Zel would have another one.? The comment rules out the Scimitar as well for me

Lets have a look at the Rialto...what does that front end remind you of

Reliant Rialto - Flickr - mick - Lumix(1)
Mick from England, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

I guess one of the biggest clues I can give is that it's a car about which there is nearly as much misinformation and nonsense urban myths out there as there are about the Invacar.

Conclusion A trawl through much maligned car models may pop the mystery car out.....Most of Eastern Europe's offerings and which Zel has had much experience of from Lada, to Skoda, and others possibly extending into FSO Polonez, Wartburg, Trabant etc. and the habitual British Favourites for the maligners, Hillman Imp/Avenger/Hunter; Allegro/Maestro/Montego/Marina/Ital and even the absolutely gorgeous now TR7; Vauxhall's Chevette, Viva, Nova, Belmont etc.

for something else I've always wanted a shot of. Not something I'd ever pictured as a long term fleet member, but something it would be fun to have around for six months or a year as a bit of fun. However prices have generally climbed to a point which always felt rich for how much car you're actually getting these days, so I've not ever really gone looking.
Conclusion....Oh Dear. that comment rules out most of the maligned list either on cheap as chips grounds or complete lack of "fun" grounds ...Maybe a variant of the Hillman Imp could survive those comments or a Hillman Avenger Tiger.

and the final Zel clue for now which again strikes out most guesses

motoring very much reduced to its bare minimum of components and moving parts in the same vein as the philosophy of the 2CV (and sharing a number of technical similarities with the little blue thing in my garage). Also similar to the 2CV and it's German counterpart in having a stupidly long production run.
Conclusion....no idea really but permit me two guesses.

I am left with a "Metro" possibly of a more sporting variety, although I wouldn't describe the production run as stupidly long, (18 years 2 million units) has a slight design similarity to the Rialto..scallop down the side, bit of similar headlights front end, bog standard in simplicity did it have hydragas or whatever they call it suspension or just those rubber cones? Not confident on that one.

or a
Suzuki Jimny....Production started 1970, total units sold by 2018 2.8 million....reasonably stupidly long production run, bit of fun, 4 wheel drive would rule it out on the bare minimum of moving parts score...

Neil

PS then again 4 million and counting The Fiat Panda

The Panda is like a pair of jeans: a simple, practical article of clothing without pretense. I tried to give it the essential quality of a military design — in particular a helicopter: something light, rational, and optimized for a specific purpose.

—?Giorgetto Giugiaro

[bobins]

With so many well-thought guesses and no answer as yet, and the field of possible answers as a result narrowing, a restatement of what you have revealed Zel, and my own further guesswork.

motoring very much reduced to its bare minimum of components and moving parts in the same vein as the philosophy of the 2CV (and sharing a number of technical similarities with the little blue thing in my garage). Also similar to the 2CV and it's German counterpart in having a stupidly long production run.
Conclusion....no idea really but permit me two guesses.

Neil

Hmmmm.... 'technical similarities'. Perhaps we should consider the variomaticness and aircooledness of the Invacar as being a key ingredients. Is there anything that has had a relatively long production run and has one or both of those items ?

[CitroJim]

I thought Metro Neil but discounted it as there's no real disinformation or myth about it - as far as I know... And no relation to the Invacar except being British...

Zel, you really have us guessing now... And scratching a lot of heads...

Robin, you may have it, having a CVT.... It'll flower in spring if it is My best guess will be an early Volvo 343 or a Volvo 66...

[NewcastleFalcon]

I thought Metro Neil but discounted it as there's no real disinformation or myth about it - as far as I know... And no relation to the Invacar except being British...

Zel, you really have us guessing now... And scratching a lot of heads...

Robin, you may have it, having a CVT.... It'll flower in spring if it is My best guess will be an early Volvo 343 or a Volvo 66...

I did think DAF, and its volvo successors. but never a long production run, and prices rising? I would have thought very little market for them. Little Fiats on the other hand very over-priced for what they are, and big production runs. I edited in another guess of the FIAT Panda in its original form and design to my two guesses in my summary post of Zel's clues.

Neil

[Gibbo2286]

Change 'Volvo' to 'Daf' maybe?

[bobins]

A stab in the dark - an Allegro on hydragas ?

[CitroJim]

Change 'Volvo' to 'Daf' maybe?

Hence my little clue about it flowering in the spring

The DAF, across all models, had a very long production run using virtually the same Variomatic transmission...

[NewcastleFalcon]

I'm still in FIAT Mode where I discover that the Panda's designer also designed the FIAT UNO. and it had CVT and was produced in millions. But would Zel fit in it! I think so...

Then the Fiesta in some of its incarnations also had CVT.

Neil