Yesterday the Typ14 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia, today its bigger, less well-known sister, the 1961 Typ 34, the car replaced by the VW-Porsche 914 on the VW side. One curiosity - the Typ 34 was never sold in the US, which later became the 914’s best market. Based on the Typ 3 saloon, which made it a little larger and more advanced than the Beetle-based Typ 14. Multiple pics to give an idea of the colour palette. #WeirdCarMastodon #davidsdailycar #Volkswagen #VW #Karmann Ghia

I explained the other day how the VW-Porsche 914 replaced both the Porsche 912 and the Typ 34 Volkswagen Karmann Ghia. I’ll come back to the Typ 34 tomorrow but today the car that started the Karmann Ghia story, the Beetle based Typ 14, produced between 1955 and 1974. Origins of the Karmann Ghia name - design by Carrozzeria Ghia of Italy and bodywork by German coach builder Karmann. From Techno Classica Essen 2014. #WeirdCarMastodon #davidsdailycar #VW #KarmannGhia

A day off from alternative bodywork materials in order to explore an interesting link with the GRP-bodied Daimler SP250 featured recently (red car). The blue car is a Daimler 2.5 V8. Launched in 1962, it’s based on the body of the Jaguar Mk2 but in place of the Jaguar XK straight six engine, it uses the small Daimler 2.5-litre V8 that first appeared in the SP250. Seen at Techno Classica Essen in 2013. #WeirdCarMastodon #WeirdCar #davidsdailycar #Daimler

Lotus has always been all about boosting performance by taking out weight, so fibreglass has been the material of choice for many of the company's most successful designs. The Esprit was introduced in 1976 and stayed in production, with upgrades and modifications, for almost thirty years. This mid-eighties example was seen at the British Motor Museum at Gaydon in 2013. #WeirdCarMastodon #WeirdCar #davidsdailycar #Lotus

After experimenting with MODAR on the SZ featured yesterday, Alfa Romeo made the more obvious, if still pretty exotic, choice of carbon fibre when it came up with the mid-engined 4C. I grabbed this slightly blurry (apologies) phone shot on the first press day at the Geneva Motor Show in 2014, although the 4C had already made its first appearance at Geneva the year before. #WeirdCarMastodon #WeirdCar #davidsdailycar #AlfaRomeo

Yesterday plastic, today fibreglass. It has always intrigued me that such an apparently old-fashioned car should be made of this modern material - a Daimler SP250 at the British Motor Museum Gaydon in 2013. Daimler originally called it the Dart until Chrysler objected. Launched in 1959. Jaguar acquired Daimler in 1960, so it later lived in the shadow of the E-Type, which cut a bit more of a dash. Fascinating machine. #WeirdCarMastodon #WeirdCar #davidsdailycar #Daimler

Today, the Citroen Mehari, a small leisure/off-road vehicle based on the 2CV. The orange car (Techno Classica Essen 2014) shows the standard European look. I think the red car (Retromobile Paris 2016) is a US-spec model (round sealed beam headlamps). Bodywork was plastic, not fibreglass. BLMC was already doing a similar conversion on the Mini, the Moke. More cars with alternative body materials over the next few days. #WeirdCarMastodon #WeirdCar #davidsdailycar #Citroen

Another Volkswagen with postal connection - the 1964 Typ 147 ‘Fridolin’, a bespoke vehicle made for the German postal service that drew on components from several of VW’s air-cooled models of the time. A very common sight on German roads in the sixties and seventies. This one is in the livery of the Swiss PTT, which also operated the type. Seen at Techno Classica Essen in 2012. #WeirdCarMastodon #WeirdCar #davidsdailycar #Volkswagen (1/2)

After K70, Passat, Scirocco and Golf, Volkswagen's fifth FWD car, the Mk1 Polo from 1975, seen here in the distinctive yellow livery of the German postal service at Techno Classica Essen in 2018. And with that, we come full circle to the short-lived Audi 50 featured about a week ago, which was rebadged to become the first Polo. Tomorrow an altogether more unusual Volkswagen with a postal connection. #WeirdCarMastodon #WeirdCar #davidsdailycar #Volkswagen

After the K70, Passat and Scirocco, Volkswagen’s fourth front-wheel drive car, the 1974 Mk1 Golf. As the main Beetle replacement, it was the Golf that really cemented the company’s switch to FWD and away from air-cooled rear-engined cars. Twist in the tale - with the ID.3, the Golf’s electric sister, VW has returned to its rear motor/drive roots. Mk1 Golf GTI seen at the press launch of the Mk7 GTI in France, 2013. #WeirdCarMastodon #WeirdCar #davidsdailycar #Volkswagen

After the recently featured K70 and Passat, Volkswagen’s third front-wheel drive car. The 1974 1st-gen Scirocco was mostly a Golf underneath but was introduced a few months earlier, partly in order to sort out any snags before the company pressed the button to make far larger numbers of its sister model. The Scirocco line was revived for a single generation in 2008 but there is no similar car in VW’s current range. #WeirdCarMastodon #WeirdCar #davidsdailycar #Volkswagen

After yesterday’s first-generation Volkswagen Passat B1, we bring the story right up to date with the current eighth-generation (depending how you measure it) B8 model, which I snapped at the international press unveiling at Potsdam in 2014. The sedan version shown here was recently discontinued - buyers lost interest. The US Passat line diverged from the European version in 2011, and China is a different story too. #WeirdCarMastodon #WeirdCar #davidsdailycar #Volkswagen

Yesterday, Volkswagen’s first front-wheel drive car, the K70. Today, its effective replacement, and Volkswagen’s second FWD car, the Passat. Like the K70 and the first-generation Polo, the Passat didn’t start life as a Volkswagen. It was based on the Audi 80, although the two brands offered different body options. Seen here - a 1974 Passat estate/station wagon at Techno Classica Essen in 2014. #WeirdCarMastodon #WeirdCar #davidsdailycar #Volkswagen

The last of the current run of cars with an NSU link - the VW K70, which was going to be the NSU K70 until the Volkswagen takeover. In Germany it is well known for being an early example of a so-called ‘Erlkönig’, a prototype caught on camera and publicised in the press against the manufacturer’s wishes before the formal launch. Also the first front-wheel drive VW. Snapped at Bremen Classic Motor Show, 2014. #WeirdCarMastodon #WeirdCar #davidsdailycar #Volkswagen

Another car with an NSU connection - an Audi 50 at Techno Classica Essen in 2014. The Audi 50 is often assumed to be a rebadged Volkswagen Polo, but in fact the Audi came first. The 50 in turn had its origins in an NSU project, the K50, a car that was intended to replace the rear-engined Prinz line. BTW apologies for the slightly blurry photo - my pics are mostly just phone snaps rather than proper photography! #WeirdCarMastodon #WeirdCar #davidsdailycar #Audi #NSU

NSU’s Prinz line culminated in the 1200 which was produced until 1972, although no longer under the Prinz name. There was no NSU-badged successor model, but the Prinz replacement story has an interesting twist to which I shall return tomorrow. From Techno Classica Essen, 2014. #WeirdCarMastodon #WeirdCar #davidsdailycar #NSU

After the rotary-engined NSUs featured in this series a few days ago, I thought I’d do some piston-engined cars with an NSU link - here a 1958 NSU Prinz seen at Techno Classica Essen in 2014. This small rear-engined car was much more typical of NSU’s output than the much fancier Ro80. More over the next few days. #WeirdCarMastodon #WeirdCar #davidsdailycar #NSU

A tenuous link to yesterday’s Mazda MX-3 photo - another example of an old car on display in the foyer of a Japanese manufacturer’s UK HQ. The tiny rear-engined Suzuki SC100 ‘Whizzkid’, launched in Europe in 1979, achieved something of a cult following in the UK thanks to glowing reviews by the legendary British motoring journalist LJK Setright in CAR magazine. Snapped on a visit to the Suzuki UK head office in 2019. #WeirdCarMastodon #WeirdCar #davidsdailycar #suzuki

Mazda has been by far the largest producer of rotary-engined cars, from the 1967 Cosmo to the 2002-2012 RX-8. I caught this 1973 RX-3 on display at Mazda’s UK HQ in 2017. The rotary engine will return to Mazdas next year in the form of a range-extender for the MX-30 EV. Audi, heir to the NSU Wankel tradition, presented a similar rotary range-extender concept at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show but never put it into production. #WeirdCarMastodon #WeirdCar #davidsdailycar #Mazda

Mazda has been by far the largest producer of rotary-engined cars, from the 1967 Cosmo to the 2002-2012 RX-8. I caught this 1973 RX-3 on display at Mazda’s UK HQ in 2017. The rotary engine will return to Mazdas next year in the form of a range-extender for the MX-30 EV. Audi, heir to the NSU Wankel tradition, presented a similar rotary range-extender concept at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show but never put it into production. #WeirdCarMastodon #WeirdCar #davidsdailycar #Mazda