Cars and bikes I’ve come across in my travels

The last of the car club pictures: a clean Camaro street rod, an English Ford (possible Argentine mfg) and an SLC Mercedes.
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Looking closer there are several cool cars that I did not photograph. My excuse is that I was missing my lunch and cut the pictures short.
 
Alzero said:
VW vans!
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The last one is interesting, it seems to be water cooled with a snorkel.
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Possibly fitted with a liquid-cooled T3 engine. Slots straight in, more-or-less.

What's a lot more interesting is that it's still sporting a german export plate at the rear! These could be extended up to 12 months validity but generally expired after entering the country of destination. This type plate was phased out about 20 years ago...

piet
 
Yes, maybe Piet is right regarding the engine but it was never built in Germany. The front is T2 and the rear and the side doors are T1. I have seen a lot of these types in Brasil, where they were built in my opinion.
 
Rear plate has the same oval shape as old German export plate, but seems to be stamped in Uruguay. Agree with Andre, Brasil version of the VW van.
 
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I have not yet been able to figure out Uruguayan plates. Most have a blue band at the top with “URUGUAY” in white lettering, but lots seem to be white with black lettering and the name of the location on the plate. There are also the occasional oval plate like the German export plates. Who knows.
 
I had two of those bay window vans (for work) 1600cc air coooled, bloody slow, bloody thirsty (petrol) very awkward loading space, uncomfortable seats, and diabolical on a motorway and a side wind, never more than 82MPH flat out (governed by a centrifugal spring device on the rotor arm of distributor), I did about 80,000 miles in both in 18 months, I HATE THE BLEEEDING THINGS.
CLEM
 
There was an old split windscreen VW Kombi with a radiator on the front that used to get around my neighborhood a few years ago. One day I met the bloke in a service station and asked what sort of engine it had in it. I was expecting him to say something like VW Wasserboxer or Subaru, or possibly even a Mazda Wankel, but it was a bloody V8 (I forget what breed). That explained why the door to the engine bay had a big bulge in it. It made me wonder how long the VW tranny and diff would last with about 4 times the original horsepower going through it.
 
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An IKA-Renault Torino 300, a 1960’s American Motors coupe, built in Argentina. The Rambler American was given a facelift by Pininfarina when the nationalized factory was taken over by Renault and was built until 1981. It was the last front engine rear drive car made by Renault. The hot versions had an OHV six with Weber carbs.
 
that V8 may have been a Rover/Leyland (as they are known in Aus/NZ), there was a kit available a few years ago, it was let down by the fact that you can mount the rad on the front of the vehicle to get air in, but you still have to allow it to get out and not cook the cab, but in my experience of mega miles in two brand new ones, there is not enough weight on the front axle for it to ever be stable at speed, and that includes when the heavilly loaded, or even overloaded, as I said, I HATE THE BLEEDING THINGS. (Sorry Toddy, I know you love yours)

it Compounds because in the UK we have a 40 year rolling rule, after this age a vehicle does not have to have a roadworthiness check anually (MOT) and is also issued the anual road tax free of charge.This has caused two rusty wrecks , that have lain in front gardens in my village for decades to "suddenly" apear and be used on the roads, there is no way either of them are safe, as (on both) I was asked to do welding repairs years ago, which I declined, and I strongly think have either this has not been done at all or done badly to below MOT standards.
CLEM
 
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Alzero said:
My wife and I sold our home in Los Angeles several years ago and ran away to sea for a few years of living on a boat on the Eastern coast. Once there were Covid vaccinations we sold the boat, returned to California, sold off nearly all of the rest of our possessions (kept the Laverda!) and began our travels. All along I have been snapping pics of any interesting cars and bikes that have caught my eye here are a few in rough chronological order.View attachment 68176View attachment 68177View attachment 68178
Citroen DS, very rare in California.
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Some years ago, I went to Carmel by the sea. When I parked my car close to the ocean and walked up the hill to see one of the nicest towns I have ever seen, I passed a DS station wagon (even more rare, even over here in Europe!). It did not look as well in shape as this one but really rusty, dented, paint pealed off at some spots. The guy driving it was maybe in his late 60's/beginning of his 70's. A really slim, almost skiny guy, looking a bit rough with some longer hair, unshaved etc..
We got talking about the car and he said that he bought it used somewhere in the 70's iirc. He said he has a guy that can fix it when something isn't working, but up to now, he only really serviced it with some minor issues (like the ignition coil, fuel pump etc. not working properly). He likes the car for the comfort and the space it offers and also the look of it. When we finished talking, he opened the trunk and pulled out - a surfboard! That was the time when I recognized his swim-suite hanging around his hips. He took off his T-shirt, pulled up the suite and took the board, went down to the sea to catch some nice waves... awesome...
 
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