This car is the predecessor to the 1967 Hillman Hunter (Arrow) based Sunbeam Rapier featured yesterday. It’s a derivative of the previous generation of Minx (Audax). The original 1955 version of this Rapier, the Series I, was styled by Raymond Loewy Associates but the design had received a number of detail tweaks by the time this Series III version appeared in 1959. Pic: #GreatBritishCarJourney #SunbeamRapier #WeirdCarMastodon #davidsdailycar
@davidwilkins I remember when my dad had one of these (mid 70s) - I'm not sure exactly what version possibly Mk 2 or 3 - but the differences were minor, I think.
We never had any *ordinary* cars back then... they were all oddballs. #WeirdCarMastodon #SunbeamRapier
@davidwilkins (I should probably do a little series of "weird cars my dad had" for #WeirdCarMastodon on here...)
#WeirdCarMastodon As promised a short series on "weird cars my dad had" This one was from before I was born: an MG (I think it was the TD) This photo isn't the actual car, just one very like it.
2nd day of my thread of "weird cars my dad had" - Standard 8 Tourer. I guess Tourer meant something different then. He's told me very little about this and again it's before my time and not a picture of the actual car, just one like it. #WeirdCarMastodon
Day 3 of "weird cars my dad had" and the first motor vehicle I actually travelled in. A Ford Thames "Utilicon"
#WeirdCarMastodon
Day 4 of "weird cars my dad had" for #WeirdCarMastodon - a Wolseley 15/50
But hold onto your hats, things are going to get properly weird from now onwards...
Today's "Weird cars my dad had" is this bit of Eastern European 2-stroke luxury: a Wartburg
Day 6 of "weird cars my dad had" - and I think we reach the pinnacle or weirdness - the Citroen Bijou. A GRP bodied 2CV that was actually heavier, slower and less practical than the standard 2CV. #WeirdCarMastodon
Day 7 of "weird cars my dad had" - a lovely small coupe - a Sunbeam Rapier. I think we kept this one for quite a while. #WeirdCarMastodon
Day 8 of "weird cars my dad had"
- the Vauxhall Ventora 6-cyl auto. Less "weird" but still pretty rare. And leaky... dad says the rain used come through the dashboard.
#WeirdCarMastodon
Day 9 - and things start getting even more ordinary, but still a rarity. My school friends had no idea what a Chrysler 180 was, any more than my dad's previous cars.
#WeirdCarMastodon
Day 10. A surprise. My dad arrived to pick us up in a Cortina, bought as an interim while the Chrysler was being fixed. #weirdcarmastodon
Day 11. After the 180, dad bought a NEW car! A Renault 14. Not one of their most successful cars and sometimes known as "the pear".
#WeirdCarMastodon
@dorkomatic I've not seen one of those in so so long! Holds a special place in my heart, I had a Renault 14 toy as a kind 😄
