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Sounds like my first car. '82 non-turbo diesel Mercedes. I usually refer to as 0-60 in: maybe.
Yeah, the first car I rented in Europe back in the mid 1980s was a Fiat Uno Diesel; if I recall correctly, the engine was 1.3 liters of rockin' diesel power; I'm quite sure it didn't even have 50 hp. I tried to teach my girlfriend how to drive a manual transmission in that thing; she gave up after stalling it like a dozen times on an incline in southern Germany.
IIRC, the 2.4 I4 diesel in the W123 240D was something like 62hp/97tq when new. After 20yrs & 300k miles (stopped ODO around 320k when we bought it) who knows what it was actually making.
Hindsight, perfect car for a 16 yr old. Made it really tough to get a speeding ticket.
i think i might have smashed that car out of frustration. The slowest car i have owned so far is the 108hp first gen xB 5mt. It never felt slow until i took it to Vegas and sold it right away after the Vegas trip.
i think i might have smashed that car out of frustration. The slowest car i have owned so far is the 108hp first gen xB 5mt. It never felt slow until i took it to Vegas and sold it right away after the Vegas trip.
Too funny, I bought a "fast car" back in 1982, an Audi GT Coupé with a 5-cylinder 2.2 liter engine putting out 100 HP. I got pulled over one time north of Chicago in it and the officer told me I needed to watch out, these new "Sports Cars" are fast.
I got the option, a new Saturn (2002) or the Mercedes.
Knowing full-well it was slow, I chose the Merc. Still miss that car, for being 20 yrs old when I got it, it was in great shape.
What do you mean what's the story? It's a beater race car someone decided to have fun with, simply due to the name similarity between Nissan and Liam's last name. I've seen funny looking race cars all over the place, though this one might take the cake.
Specs: 5.0-liter V12 BMW mid-mounted engine with 300 horsepower, four-wheel drive, nearly six meters (236 inches) long, five-speed manual gearbox, 20-inch wheels, 210 kph (130 mph) top speed
Why We Remember It Now:
There was nothing mini about this minivan as the highly unusual Italdesign Columbus took the odd shape of a gargantuan seven-seater vehicle with a large V12 engine of BMW origins.
Say what you will about minivans in general, but this one is not your typical family hauler. Like the Toyota Previa minivan, the Italdesign Columbus had a mid-engined layout, but instead of sending output only to the rear wheels, the BMW-sourced naturally aspirated power was channeled to both axles.
Like a McLaren F1 or the more recent Speedtail, the driver sat in the middle of the ample interior, which looks more like a living room than the cabin of a minivan. Thanks to its massive wheelbase stretching at 3820 mm (150.4 inches), there was plenty of space in the back for six passengers, each benefitting from a monitor hooked up to a VHS. The interior was adjustable in the sense that seating capacity could’ve been increased to nine (including driver) or configured with fewer seats to turn the minivan into a commercial vehicle.
Described back in the day as a “sailing ship for dry land,” the oddball MPV was conceived with a carbon fiber body featuring a bulge in the roof above the front seat to free up more headroom since the driver sat higher than the passengers for improved visibility. The BMW-sourced engine was actually installed right underneath the driver’s seat, just like in the aforementioned Previa.
In regards to the concept’s name, Italdesign decided to go with “Columbus” as a nod to Italian explorer Christopher Columbus. Back in 1992, the odd showcar marked the 500th anniversary of what popular culture refers to as his discovery of America in August 1492, although it’s technically not correct, but that’s a story for another day and perhaps a different kind of website.
MB fanboi #1 here, and I vote
Hard to tell if it's just an E-Estate with the roof chopped, or if they lengthened it, may be camera trickery, but it looks longer than OE.
Saw this the other day when I was meeting a buddy for happy hour and it really made me appreciate my 1st gen even more and really not want to sell it anymore. WTF was someone thinking!?
Saw this the other day when I was meeting a buddy for happy hour and it really made me appreciate my 1st gen even more and really not want to sell it anymore. WTF was someone thinking!?
Uhhhh, trying to look like the white "chibi" (on the left) from My Neighbor Totoro?
Sounds like my first car. '82 non-turbo diesel Mercedes. I usually refer to as 0-60 in: maybe.
