Cars to "discover"? Such a thing?
 

I saw an ad in the BMW section that described an older BMW from "before people knew what they were".

Is there any such thing today? With the global markets, internet, magazines, etc are there any cars that are being imported in small numbers or whatever that could be "discovered" these days? Doesn't have to be a car we as car people like.

I can think of in the recent past perhaps Merkur might qualify. Daewoo? Suzuki seems to come and go. There was a dealer near here that was around for a few years. I live in the DC area, and despite SAAB being owned by GM (at one point) there was only one new SAAB dealer around and you had to look for it. There's a lot of independent SAAB repair shops. Fiat seems to be coming back due to the Chrysler thing.

What say you?

Daihatsu, Jensen, Bricklin, and Avanti? I can only think of these now, I am sure there are more.

Sterling

Avenger....from FiberFab

Nowdays, with new cars? Not so much. SmartCars, maybe.


If you go back to the 80's....
Go buy a Lancia Scorpion here in the US, if you want to 'discover' a niche...

Well if you're in the US there's the whole wonderful world of French cars.

I rented a new Citroen C6 a while back, and what a gorgeous land-yacht that was. Amazing and so different on so many levels. I can't think of anything comparable in the US.

And of course there are some very fine Peugots and Renaults being built these days, none of which make it stateside.

And BTW there's an interview with Michael Schumacher where he is asked which car he would own if he could own only one. He replied "Renault Laguna" without hesitating even a second.

We're just now finding out about the new Mustang.

This forum is so 'Car Aware' that it would be mighty difficult to come up with an 'unknown.
I saw a Skoda at the Halifax airport a few years ago and knew at a glance what it was, as it's VW ownership/lineage was apparent.

Now most folks have no clue about the origin and lineage of vehicles. I mentioned a BMW to my MIL one day a decade or so ago and she asked, "Who makes that?"

Having said that, for North Americans, a visit to Europe would expose you to all sorts of cars that fly under our radar because they don't get press here. Hopefully, we can forget the Dacia. Maybe you were spared, south of the border.


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Les

They just opened a Fiat dealership here. I would say most Fiats are off radar for most Americans.

Fix It Again Tony is pretty much how most folks feel about them. Driving by the dealership Fiat has some little commuter cars. They are completely off my radar.

As a car guy I understand Fiat is an old brand and had some cool old cars. I would be very cautious about buying a new Fiat however.

Avanti....that's a good example. There was this little dealer in falls church, va for years. Could never tell if they were open or the cars were abandoned. There's one in the opening scene of BH 90210.

Citron have always been interesting to me. They're different and beautiful.

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I had an Avanti for a short time - but the real deal - a Studebaker. Decent car - supercharged - had this weird thing with the transmission - it was an automatic - but it never 'creeped' at stop lights - you could take your foot off the brake and it would just sit there - up hill, down hill, whatever, it never moved until you hit the gas.

Called "Hill-holder" or similar. Not that unusual.

Subaru even had it even in the 90's, with manual trans, even. Kept pressure on the brake MC until you released the clutch. (Think the Forester still has it.)

Some Dodge Challengers have it also.

Borgward.

DKW.

I can't think of any modern cars that haven't been mentioned not being imported except that cheap thing from India, whatever it's called, starts with a T.

Tata

I think most would go along with different.

It's always worth 'discovering' an Audi A4. RS4 model aside, a good thrash in an Audi A4 (vintage is relatively unimportant) is a useful way of reminding yourself that it IS still possible to buy a ***** new car.

Bit disappointed with your 3 series or C-Class? Try an A4. It's what the Germans would call a mitgrebrachte abturner, and a little jaunt in the premium mid-segment's special needs child is a great way to rediscover love for some unloved nail that you're thinking of selling.

Unless it happens to be an A4, natch.

What did Audi do to you? I had two A4's - 99 and 05, both with the small turbo motor. Both were great cars in every way. And unlike BMW's - you don't look like a doooosh bag poser driving one. (Please note that I am not disparaging BMW, only the losers that buy them for all the wrong reasons - which makes me avoid the brand (you know who you are)).

I had a bad run with SIXT in Germany that saw me put in a variety of A4s during 2002-2008. I just didn't get it. Notchy, rubbery gearboxes, over-servoe'd brakes, completely lifeless steering, overly hard seats, pedals that are to heel and toe what cough medecine is to an after dinner liqueur, primary and secondary ride like a 2x4 plank and mammoth understeer resultant from engines thrown so far ahead of the front axle that they need numberplates from a different state to those on the back of the car. Compared to a similar vintage 3 series, which in any guise is a well balanced car with nicely harmonised controls, I couldn't for the life of me understand who'd buy an A4. On a side note, the guys you refer to above now buy Audis, and Audis, resplendent with grilles bigger than most domestic garage doors and festooned with more LEDs than the ship at the end of Close Encounters have totally supplanted BMWs as the fast-lane tailgaters in Europe, so over here, it's actually OK to own a BM again and it's Audis that are getting the rolleyes.

Not disparaging Audis (OK... maybe a tiny bit), I do think that the A4 is a pretty car, and I'm a big fan of the Ronin era S8, which is an untypically adjustable, oversteery thing and totally delicious in every way. Or the RS4, which is very tasty. Or the R8, which is surprisingly fun. I'm just not a big fan of cars that assume the owners don't like driving and prefer the default setting on control weights and chassis adjustability to be 'plank'.

Back in the day, a friend had a DKW. We got pulled over one night...cop thought the 2 stoke oil cans were beer cans...

Anybody remember the Renault Daupine? All those magazine ads with balloons...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_Dauphine