"Special Cars" that existed in your country

[silverman_GT]

Special cars - whether if it's a one-off, a sought after classic or a retired racecar - may often end up getting sold into the hands of a collector to be transformed to a garage queen, a racecar driver who wishes to postpone the racecar's retirement, or for some reason, end up somewhere in your country.

Like these for example:

Mazda Cosmo 110S (L10B) - previously posted at the abandoned cars thread

Ford RS200 Evolution - also posted on the same thread as above

Matt Neal's 1998 BTCC Nissan Primera
(Photo credit of supertouringregister.com)

Or this story, for example.

So, anyone here have seen/known any of these sort of "special" cars that existed in your country?

 

[Rage Racer]

Well... Some American classics slipped past the Iron Curtain to the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Do they count?

1968 Pontiac GTO

1970 Pontiac Catalina

1970 Pontiac Catalina Wagon

1968 Oldsmobile Toronado

1969 Ford Mustang Fastback

 

[silverman_GT]

Well... Some American classics slipped past the Iron Curtain to the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Do they count?

1968 Pontiac GTO

1970 Pontiac Catalina

1970 Pontiac Catalina Wagon

1968 Oldsmobile Toronado

1969 Ford Mustang Fastback

Basically, these "special" cars can even be classic cars that are considered "unusual" or probably cannot be obtained legally at the country back then.

Like that RS200 for example: The original VIN plate has been swapped (to a VIN plate that belonged to the Sierra Sapphire Cosworth) to go against the import laws of Indonesia. (it's a pretty common practice among rare two-door cars here!)

 

[McLaren]

There are maybe less than 4 or 5 Zondas in the US, but this is reportedly the only legal one.

Wyclef Jean also had one for a while alongside his F1.

 

[Gotbeefboy564]

I guess this goes here.

 

[Tyger]

When a few years back I spotted what appeared to be a stunted Mk 2 Jaguar barely the size of a Micra, I thought either someone had completed a very badly thought out custom project, or that I was suffering some sort of stroke. Imagine my relief when I realised it was an imported Mitsuoka Viewt.

Yay thanks Mitsuoka!

 

[Crash]

There are maybe less than 4 or 5 Zondas in the US, but this is reportedly the only legal one.

Details on why some are illegal and one is legal? Is the legal one federalized or show or display exempt?

 

[McLaren]

Details on why some are illegal and one is legal? Is the legal one federalized or show or display exempt?

I wish I could find the article on the car from this year. This is the closest explanation as to why the yellow one is the only legalized example in the US.

There is also the yellow Zonda out in SoCal that the guy runs on MFG plates. his company does something with electric cars so he was able to bring it in and license it as a company "test" car or something like that. BUt like they said earlier, of the maybe 4 or 5 in the states, none are around here. And I believe Benny Cialo (spelling?!) who passed away had two of them, one being the red one pictured before as well as a large collection of other cars. Cool story about how he sent a hand written letter to Horacio Pagani stating that the Zonda was the most incredible car he had ever driven and put a check for $2000 in the envelope with the letter telling him to take all the guys at Pagani out for a nice dinner to thank them for making such a brilliant car.

 

[GT_Alex74]

What's special about this Venturi is that it was originally a 400 Trophy race car, which has been converted back for road use. It runs legally on open roads.

The owner also drives a TVR, which is pretty unusual to spot in France.

 

[Blitz24]

What's special about this Venturi is that it was originally a 400 Trophy race car, which has been converted back for road use. It runs legally on open roads.

The owner also drives a TVR, which is pretty unusual to spot in France.

Isn't the Venturi a French make? Or they are only known for their race cars and their production cars are only existing thanks to homologation?

 

[GT_Alex74]

Yes, Venturi is a French manufacturer. They mainly produced road cars, though they did some race cars as well. The 400 Trophy was a single make championship originally created to please a bunch of guys who proved very interested in that kind of formula after a discussion with Venturi's competition section director, Stéphane Ratel. 73 Trophy were built between 1992 and 1994, and after that, Venturi built 13 road going versions based on the Trophy during 1994, the 400 GT. But a few Trophy were converted on their owner's demand to road-legal state. I heard the 25 figure multiple times, but it's not clear if it is the number of converted cars, or the total number of road legal cars existing.

 

[Tyger]

Damn I love me some Venturis (well the old ones anyways). Any performance figures for that? The 400GT was quick enough. On a similar tip I was reading about the Lotus Elise GT1 road version yesteday, after I saw a Drive video that covered it. A Venom GT 17 years before the Venom GT, and 0-60 in 3.2 seconds? Oh go on then.

(Apologies may be a little off topic! Will look for more cars that seem to be "lost" in the UK)

 

[GT_Alex74]

For the Venturi, the 400 GT was built upon the Trophy specs. The engine remains the same (which is based on the PRV V6), while a GT or a road converted car should be a tad heavier.

The Trophy cars were limited to either 320hp (first customer testings and the first two races, ans also the last season because they opened the Trophy to Porsches) or 400hp by tweaking the turbo pressure.


For the Elise GT1, it is definitely special as it seems to be the only car of that kind to have been actually sold (in 2005) and driven on the road, aside the CLK GTR and 911 GT1. Other GT1 homologation cars, such as the GT-One and R390 road cars, has never been actually sold or driven on public roads. And, well, there's only one of it.

 

[McLaren]

What's special about this Venturi is that it was originally a 400 Trophy race car, which has been converted back for road use. It runs legally on open roads.

The owner also drives a TVR, which is pretty unusual to spot in France.

I'd say any of the last Venturis made before 2000 could be considered pretty special for any region. As you noted, they didn't build a whole lot, so it's a treat for any enthusiast to see one; the 400GT & Atlantique have soft spots for me. I'd be amazed if any managed to get on US soil in the past.

 

[el fayce]

Mclaren X-1 (2014 Bahrain GP)

The owner is one of the royal family, But from what I heard, it belongs to the Crown Prince of the country.
It is a 1 off, Based on MP4-12C.