#Imports
Rare Rides: It's a 1977 Reliant Scimitar GTE, You Know
Today’s Rare Ride is a sporty shooting brake from the days when there were still many British manufacturers building cars like it across England.
Let’s travel back to the Seventies when everything was brown, excepting this particular Reliant.
Rare Rides: The 1976 Maserati Kyalami, Obscure Italian Luxury
Today’s Rare Ride is a very luxurious Maserati which flew in under the radar and was offered by the Italian firm for a short while. A four-seat coupe, it was named after a race track in Africa.
Let’s find out more about Kyalami.
Rare Rides: A 2003 Volkswagen Passat W8 4MOTION Wagon, for Low-cost Motoring
The Rare Rides series featured a Passat wagon once before, in the long ago time of 2018. It was a 1992 G60 with all-wheel drive, a manual transmission, and supercharged engine. Staying true to quirky form, today’s newer and more luxury-oriented Passat pairs its all-wheel drive grip with an eight-cylinder engine.
Rare Rides: A 2019 Alfa Romeo Disco Volante Spyder, One of Seven
Today’s Rare Ride very likely a vehicle you’ll never see in real life. Extremely expensive and limited in production, just seven were ever made.
It’s pretty spectacular.
Rare Rides: A 1994 Fiat Coupe, as Legal Immigrant
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen an imported two-door Fiat on these pages which required some paperwork to get into the country. But it is the first time it’s all been done above board.
Let’s check out this 25-year-old Italian.
Rare Rides: The Xedos 6, a Small Luxury Mazda From 1996
While researching information for the recently featured Mazda Lantis, your author came across some other Nineties forbidden fruit from the good people at Mazda. Particularly interesting was the Xedos 6, which, like the similar-looking Millennia, was also a part of Mazda’s early Nineties luxury push.
Rare Rides: A 1971 Monteverdi High Speed 375/L, Where L Means Luxurious
Rare Rides featured a Monteverdi once before, the large and luxurious 375/4 sedan. While that limited-run model marked the culmination of the High Speed series of cars from the brand, today’s 2+2 coupe represents the brand’s mainstream product offering.
Rare Rides: The Absolutely Epic 2002 Renault Avantime, a Big Sales Flop
Today’s Rare Ride is one of those that’s always been on the to-do list, but never floated to top of mind. That changed the other day, when this very tidy example was posted on Twitter.
Let’s talk about Privilege.
Rare Rides: The 1999 Maserati Quattroporte, and It's Pink
We’ve featured a Quattroporte at Rare Rides on two prior occasions: a beautiful first-generation model, and one in its more modern form which was reworked into a slinky wagon.
Today’s Nineties model is … neither of those things.
Rare Rides: The 1995 Mitsubishi Pajero, Montero's Forbidden Sibling
Rare Rides has touched on the first generation Pajero (Montero to North Americans) once before via the Raider, a captive import Dodge dealers could shift while the company had zero small SUV action of its own. Today’s Pajero is a second-generation version – the three-door never sold on our shores. Surprisingly, it even maintains the same color scheme as the Raider.
Rare Rides: The Original Infiniti, a Q45 From 1991 (Part II)
In Part I of this two-parter, we discussed the birth of the Infiniti brand, and Nissan’s decision to reinvent the large luxury car with the Q45. Today we talk technology, advertising, and aftermath.
Rare Rides: The Original Infiniti, a Q45 From 1991 (Part I)
We’ve covered the second album of Infiniti’s ill-fated Q45 flagship previously, in a stunningly clean example from 1998. However, the first generation is much harder to find; they just didn’t have the longevity or caring ownership profile of the Lexus LS 400. But someone in Japan maintained this one, and it’s been imported to the US just for you.
It’s time for blue-green, grille-free luxury.
Rare Rides: The 1995 Mazda Lantis V6 Type R, Don't Call It 323
Today’s Rare Ride comes to us courtesy of commenter Bumpy ii, who linked this imported JDM Mazda on the Thunderbird Rare Ride posted a few weeks ago.
Let’s check out a compact five-door liftback with a very small V6.
Rare Rides: The 1986 Nissan Pulsar NX Coupe, Economy From Long Ago
There were precisely two generations of the Nissan Pulsar sold on North American shores, and we’ve covered the latter previously in an absolutely excellent NX Sportbak from 1988. Today’s Rare Ride is a final-year 1986 example of the first generation Pulsar, which wasn’t quite as versatile as its replacement in 1987.
This one’s as clean as they come.
Rare Rides: A 1968 Glas 1304, One Last Glas Before BMW
This isn’t the first time Rare Rides has featured a car from long-deceased automaker Glas. That honor goes to this luxurious 2600 V8 coupe from 1967. But while the 2600 was the most expensive car Glas made, today’s 1304 is one of the least expensive.
Let’s check out a compact wagon built just as Glas was being consumed by BMW.
Recent Comments