Mass-market rarities

[Stephen M]

Passed a Mitsubishi Diamante VR-X on the highway yesterday. This reminded me of three things:

1) Mitsubishi made a VR-X model of the Diamante,
2) Mitsubishi made a car called the Diamante, and
3) Mitsubishi makes cars.

This got me thinking of what I'm calling mass-market rarities. Cars from major manufacturers, priced well below six figures, that nevertheless had extremely limited production, either due to marketing mishaps or other issues. Some of them make me smile whenever I see one (Solstice GXP coupe, Mercury Marauder), and others just make me scratch my head (Lincoln Blackwood). But I always enjoy spotting them, maybe as much as seeing a true exotic. Case in point: Saw a Porsche Carrera GT and Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet in the wild on the same road trip. In an odd way, the Murano sighting struck me more than the Porsche. Is this just me, or do you take special note of these mass market rarities as well?

[Otto Puzzell]

For 1967, AMC spent $35 million retooling it's 'senior' lines (Rebel, Marlin ans Ambassador), which including moving the fishy fastback Marlin to the larger Ambassador chassis. While the Marlin looked (somewhat) better, was well-equipped, and acquitted itself well in magazine tests, sales fell to 2,545.

Another Abernathy-era punt that would help put the company on the ropes for good.

[Ultra]

I love production rarities as well. 

Lil Red Express

Lil red Express by JohnStreeter

[Arthur Dent]

Li'l Red Express - Dodge Dakota

There is a Dakota based Lil Red Express that I see around here occasionally. That is a rarity but likely not a high dollar one.


Suzuki X90

An X90 always makes me smile. Any car (not SUV or bike) with a Suzuki badge is a rarity here.

[sixtee5cuda]

The greater Seattle area is a strange place for cars.  This is where all the strange cars go to retire.  Not to die, because they stay in use for a very long time.

There is a daily use Suzuki X90, 3 blocks from my house.  Most of the GMC Envoy XUVs sold seem to be up here.  I see Pontiac Aztek's on a regular basis.

I consider my daily driver to be rare, simply because it was one of the last, front-wheel-drive Ford 2-doors made.

[Paul Jaray]

There are a couple of Daihatsu Copen in my city...you never get used to those!

[nicanary]

There are a couple of Daihatsu Copen in my city...you never get used to those!

A friend of mine was driving with her 12-year old daughter when they saw one on the road. Her daughter could not be convinced it was a "real" car - she was sure it was some sort of toy car for a child.

[Paul Jaray]

There are a couple of Daihatsu Copen in my city...you never get used to those!

A friend of mine was driving with her 12-year old daughter when they saw one on the road. Her daughter could not be convinced it was a "real" car - she was sure it was some sort of toy car for a child.

...I think she was not that wrong, after all!

[Stephen M]

Spotted today: Toyota Paseo Convertible.

The intertubes say that ASC made a total of 1000 of them for Toyota. No idea how many are left on the road, but I can say with confidence the number is between one and a thousand.

[Carnut]

There is a daily use Suzuki X90, 3 blocks from my house.

I remember when this car first appeared Autocar magazine* being completely mystified as to its purpose and reason d'être....

*Autocar is the UK's best and most authoritative weekly car magazine.

[Hiawatha]

My daily drive is a mass produced rarity, at least in Italy, where they sold 100 units in five years..
MG ZTT facelift, bought new in October 2005 and with 410000 Km on the clock...

[Carnut]

My daily drive is a mass produced rarity, at least in Italy, where they sold 100 units in five years..
MG ZTT facelift, bought new in October 2005 and with 410000 Km on the clock...

My elder son had a ZT Turbo which was about 10 years old (or maybe more, I can't remember) when he bought it for very little money but was totally immaculate and could have been a brand new car from the showroom.  It cost him very little as I paid half too...
Unfortunately he found it too expensive to run and sold it after about 6 months (he has a Honda 600 cc bike as well which he preferred..)

I was very annoyed!  I'd told him if he looked after it then it would actually increase in value rather than depreciate.  But since when did a son listen to his Dad?!