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Esprit I wonder if it is ‘burglar proof’.

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The last of the ’Pets Not quite: the T100 was the last Corona to wear the Toyopet marque in Japan (photo below). I still have a toy third-gen hardtop somewhere.

Toyopet Corona Hardtop 1600S, 1965. The third generation T40/50 Corona was the last series marketed using the Toyopet marque in Japan. This model saw the return of Toyota to the American market after withdrawing temporarily in 1961.

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Nine two eight Still a great shape and nice in green.

Olive Porsche 928 at Skovshoved Petrol Station in Denmark

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W201 abbreviated Back in the day, there were scoop photos of this and I wondered what on earth it was. I dismissed it as a W201 test mule. Apparently there’s a whole extra story to it.

Mercedes-Benz 190E Stadtwagen, 1980. During the development of the W201 series Mercedes experimented with a short wheelbase (222cm) version for use in the WRC to compete in rally championships alongside the 190E saloon. It was felt that the compact hatchback would be more successful on tougher courses that demanded greater agility than the saloon was capable of. However Mercedes withdrew from the WRC in late 1980 and the project went no further.

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Reminder Sadly, even more relevant now … the parallels have been in plain sight for years, ignored by most.

The fact that this is 80 fucking years ago but still just as relevant is terrifying.

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Guess what Lone Skum is? Pretty simple.

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If Tesla ads were honest (part two)

Another swasticar ad, this time for the Model Y.

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1000 km di Monza Back in the day when racing car drivers literally risked their lives for the sport …

——– 1970 Monza —————-

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If Tesla ads were more honest

From April 2024—of course it was obvious what Lone Skum was.

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The Doctor beside himself with Joy

OK, so not quite beside, but close enough.

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Stabbed You definitely won’t want an Encore of this.

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Espace T-top SM with louvred rear was so ’70s. Improved on the lines of the original, too.

Citroën SM Espace Concept, Heuliez, 1971

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GM of the early 1970s There’s something very uncomfortable (to me) about the mid-Atlantic styling of GM products of this era, noticeable here but also in the Vauxhall Victor FE, the Chevrolet Vega, even the Colonnade intermediates. Normally I would say thin pillars and smooth panels are laudable goals but maybe it’s the curvature of the glasshouse (see the bottom of the A-pillar in the first and third photographs). The Holden HQ was probably the most elegant of this styling theme. The F-bodies were notorious for letting water in because of the fuselage design—a friend had a Camaro of this generation and faced that very problem. What I will say here is that GM didn’t lose its experimental edge despite going very corporate in this era, so good on them for at least considering this variant. We did, after all, have the Reliant Scimitar GTE, the Volvo 1800 ES, and the Lancia Beta HPE, so something was in the Zeitgeist.

Chevrolet Camaro K, 1970. For the second generation Camaro, the Chevrolet III Studio took a serious look at a sport wagon variant (K for Kammback) experimenting with different rear/side window treatments and also various tail light options. The project got as far as a fibreglass mock-up but when no further. Pontiac presented a similar Type K concept in 1977 but that didn't make it either

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Siebener Kombi Beautifully done. Not so sure about the 2002 taillights but, otherwise, it looks very high-quality.

BMW 735i Touring, 1981. A E23 7-series station wagon converted by German coachbuilder Euler GmbH is for sale in Switzerland. Euler did only a few of these conversions, using BMW 2002 taillights and a custom-made tailgate. The example offered has travelled just 15,400km

sales listing

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Ferrari for the ’70s Such a tidy design—a perfect successor to the Dino 246 GTB. More at Autocade.

Ferrari 308 GTB Vetroresina, 1975, by Pininfarina. The replacement for the original Dino 246 was designed by Leonardo Fioravanti and built by Carrozzeria Scaglietti. Introduced at the Paris Motor Show, early cars were made from fibreglass allowing a very light weight of 1,050 kg (2,315 lb). In June 1977 the bodywork converted to steel (the styling remained the same) but the cars weighed 150 kg (331 lb) more. They were powered by the same 90º 2.9 litre V8 as the Dino GT4

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Revolutionnaire! Wonderful cars, even if the accelerator and brake pedal were offset on RHD models and I could only drive them when in sneakers and not dress shoes … owned an AX14 TRS for years!

Citroën AX GTi, 1990. A high performance version of the AX using a fuel injected version of the 1360cc TU3 4 cylinder engine that made 100PS. Thanks to the car's lightweight (800KG) and good aerodynamics it was remarkably quick but it was only in production for a short time before EU emission regulations killed it

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Autocade Year of Cars 2025

Since I was last here regularly, I launched the Autocade yearbooks. Autocade began life as an online car encyclopædia, and last year we looked at ways to extend the brand. The yearbook, now called Autocade Year of Cars, was launched. The 2025 number is available in hardcover. You can see more on our online bookshop, Libriz.