The Coolest Cars You've Never Heard Of

[Eye of the Tiger]

Of course, I'm sure none of you guys have heard of these cars:

http://www.forbes.com/2009/04/24/car-cool-model-lifestyle-vehicles-car-cool_slide_2.html

1. Heard of it
2. Heard of it
3. Heard of it
4. Don't care
5. Heard of it
6. What's the big deal?
7. Didn't know about that option
8. Don't remember
9. Think I've seen it
10. Interesting...

[cawimmer430]

Roewe MG TF - like the name says, a rebadged MG TF. By now outdated and probably underpowered too. 

[Raza]

Roewe MG TF - like the name says, a rebadged MG TF. By now outdated and probably underpowered too. 

It's not really rebadged.  It's the same car that came off the market years ago, but with slick orange paint and sexy black wheels.  Limited to 500 examples, I believe, and they're all built in England.  This one batch (LE500, "Limited Edition 500") is anyway.  Future MGs will be Chinese built.  I'd personally rather buy a used MG TF and get the black wheels on the secondary market.  If I lived some place they sold MG TFs, that is.

I've heard of all of them. 

[the Teuton]

Didn't the old TF use the Rover 1.8 I4 from the original Elise with 118 hp?  Wouldn't it stand to reason that they use the same Toyota-sourced 2ZZ engines for the TF as Lotus uses for the Elise?

[Raza]

Didn't the old TF use the Rover 1.8 I4 from the original Elise with 118 hp?  Wouldn't it stand to reason that they use the same Toyota-sourced 2ZZ engines for the TF as Lotus uses for the Elise?

The LE500 has a 1.8L I4 with 133bhp.  0-100km/h in 8.4 seconds.  It's not really all that slow, but when the MX-5 is faster for the same money, it sure feels slow. 



Damn good looking car though.  I always loved those.

EDIT:  Apparently, they have been revised cosmetically and mechanically, but are largely the same car.
http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/MG-TF-LE500-2008-CAR-review/

[sandertheshark]

1. Heard of it
2. Heard of it
3. Heard of it
4. Don't care
5. Heard of it
6. What's the big deal?
7. Didn't know about that option
8. Don't remember
9. Think I've seen it
10. Interesting...

Same here except I heard of no. 10; and is Forbes not aware that Saleen Inc. sold itself up a river, and the S7 hasn't been made for two years?

[Madman]

It's not really rebadged.  It's the same car that came off the market years ago, but with slick orange paint and sexy black wheels.  Limited to 500 examples, I believe, and they're all built in England.

More like assembled in England from a box of parts shipped in from China.  High-spec LE500 model will be followed up by cheaper, lower-spec cars.  Not that the LE500s are exactly flying out the door.  Seems not many buyers in the UK are interested in a Chinese-backed sports car that dates back to 1995.  Longer if you count the Austin Metro bits underneath.

Didn't the old TF use the Rover 1.8 I4 from the original Elise with 118 hp?  Wouldn't it stand to reason that they use the same Toyota-sourced 2ZZ engines for the TF as Lotus uses for the Elise?

Not really.  Nanjing also bought the rights to the Rover K-Series engine so why wouldn't they use it?  Lotus fitted a Toyota engine to the Elise because it was already certified for US sale and the Rover K-Series wasn't.  Good thing for Lotus they did, too, because soon afterwards MG Rover went bust and Lotus' supply of Rover engines dried up.  Nanjing says they've cured the notorious K-Series head gasket issues but who's prepared to take the word of a Chinese company with a dodgy reputation which few people have ever heard of?


Cheers,
Madman of the People

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

Same here except I heard of no. 10; and is Forbes not aware that Saleen Inc. sold itself up a river, and the S7 hasn't been made for two years?

Why did Steve Saleen sell his company in the first place?

[93JC]

Didn't the old TF use the Rover 1.8 I4 from the original Elise with 118 hp?

It was available in several power outputs, up to 160 hp with variable valve timing (pretty good for a naturally aspirated 1.8).

Wouldn't it stand to reason that they use the same Toyota-sourced 2ZZ engines for the TF as Lotus uses for the Elise?

No, because Lotus redesigned the Elise's mounts such that the Toyota engine fit. The MG TF was always designed to use the Rover K-series four-cylinder.

[hotrodalex]

Why did Steve Saleen sell his company in the first place?

He resigned in 2007.

[S204STi]

1-4, 6-7 for me.  9 is freaky.  Cool, but freaks me out.

[Minpin]

Having to load that page 10 times. 

I am ready for internet 3.0 where they decide that slideshows are a bad fucking idea. Why couldn't they have just put those on one page, it wasn't like the wrote a god damned essay on each one.

I had heard of all of those except for the pininfarina one. But seriously a SEAT was on there? What was awesome about it? They are fairly regular around here, people bring them up from Mexico.

[BimmerM3]

Having to load that page 10 times. 

I am ready for internet 3.0 where they decide that slideshows are a bad fucking idea. Why couldn't they have just put those on one page, it wasn't like the wrote a god damned essay on each one.

I had heard of all of those except for the pininfarina one. But seriously a SEAT was on there? What was awesome about it? They are fairly regular around here, people bring them up from Mexico.

I've never seen a SEAT in the US. I agree though, there's nothing particularly cool about it.

[giant_mtb]

I knew all those existed (or was reminded of their existence after looking) except the Hyperion and Leblanc.


I guess us car guys have an edge.

[CJ]

I've seen a Leon or two up here.  They are very good looking.  That one pictured is NOT a two door model.  It is, in fact, a five door. 

[2o6]

I've seen a Leon or two up here.  They are very good looking.  That one pictured is NOT a two door model.  It is, in fact, a five door. 

Only the Ibiza is available in a 3-door fashion. There is no 3-door Leon.

[Madman]

Here's the only Seat I've seen in the US, a three door Ibiza I spotted a few months back.


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Cheers,
Madman of the People