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The most pointless car ever


dhudd
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Ah yes the Jimny is indeed a seemingly very pointless vehicle. However allow me to suggest that the Subaru Vivio is also quite pointless. It's eyewatering ugliness should be enough but don't think you can escape from the Vivio by going for a walk in the country because those clever bods at Subaru gave it 4 wheel drive - presumably just in case Granny fancied taking a short cut across a ploughed field on the way back from collecting her pension.

vivio.jpg

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Nobody's mentioned the Renault Avantime yet. Is that possibly because nobody's ever even seen one? Even Renault admitted they'd made a turd and stopped manufacturing them. The ultimate example of a car designed by committee.

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I saw one once and I have to admit I think it's a beautiful design.

Just ahead of its time and too big.

avantime_3.jpg

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*Suzuki X90 (a really underdone sportscar/4WD)

*BMW 8-series (not a bad car, but an answer to a question that nobody asked, and not a patch on the reputation of the smaller, lighter and glorious 6-series before it)

*Ssangyong Stavic (so visually disjointed that no one is sure about what it actually is)

*Subaru Forester GT/XT/STi (not a great offroad device, but not a great performance car either)

*Maserati MC12 (rehashed Enzo costing $100,000 US more but missing around 30 bhp)

*Subaru Alcyone/Vortex (slow, wedgey-ugly attempt at a sportscar. Or is it a slow, wedgey-ugly attempt at a Grand Tourer?)

*BMW X3 (pile of twat that doesn't do anything particularly well, Bangle-ugly, and costs almost as much as an X5 when fully loaded)

*Renault Avantime (Only beginning to make sense today, but when released it made absolutely no sense at all. It's supposed to be a grand tourer, but as Carcoat Damphands would say, it's nailed to the gusset of the Espace...)

Enjoy

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[ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]

Nobody's mentioned the Renault Avantime yet. Is that possibly because nobody's ever even seen one? Even Renault admitted they'd made a turd and stopped manufacturing them. The ultimate example of a car designed by committee.

[/ QUOTE ]

I saw one once and I have to admit I think it's a beautiful design.

Just ahead of its time and too big.

avantime_3.jpg

[/ QUOTE ]

Pointless, but beautiful. I wish more car manufacturers were brave enough to knock out interesting stuff like this. I think in bankrupt the plant who made it (Matra ?) in France. pity...

I still say the Hummer is the biggest heap of dung.gif on this list...

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Thanx Tian! cool.gif

For those curios about the Avantime,

The deal was that Matra would build the Avantime for Renault, much as with the first series Espace people mover. But the public was wary on its first showing in 1999. The monovolume (one-box design) Avantime was meant to be Renault's Grand Touring flagship, but people questioned the curious tail (now widely accepted on the Megane), the transparent roof (now a much sought after feature on Citroen C4 and the like), exposed aluminium super structure, just four (very plush) seats, and two doors well over 1 m in length. Weighing 55 kg each, the massive slabs had twin parallel opening hinges that made them move forward as they swung out.

Much like the Espace, the Avantime's chassis consisted of a galvanised floorpan, to which the aluminium upper structure was attached and plastic panels were bonded. Below the glass roof, the interior was equally quirky.

Its name is fitting today - Avant came from French for "ahead", while English contributed time. The new model missed its promised 2000 debut, and finally got to market in October 2001. With sales barely reaching a dribble, poor build quality and sloppy dynamics nailed Avantime's coffin. Losing money by the bucket and highly annoyed with Renault (which released the Vel Satis as an in-house competitor), Matra closed its doors and quit the auto business in April 2003, a sorry end for a company respectfully remembered for the Espace plus a myriad of sports and racing cars, after just 8,450 Avantimes were produced.

Hope this answers all your questions! wink.gif

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Surely the most pointless car ever should go to something that completely missed its target audience, regardless of what it looked like.

The 1970 Range Rover fits nicely, designed as piece of farm machinary, but with shag-pile carpet? WTF? Plus 3mpg fuel economy at a time when the world was on the verge of fuel crisis. You win again BL...

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[ QUOTE ]

Nobody's mentioned the Renault Avantime yet. Is that possibly because nobody's ever even seen one? Even Renault admitted they'd made a turd and stopped manufacturing them. The ultimate example of a car designed by committee.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have also seen one. Beautiful from the outside, dunno about the inside.

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