If you’re one of those people who likes to out-geek your car-mad mates, cast your eye over this lot and see how many you’re familiar with.
All of these automotive cul de sacs sold in tiny numbers and as a result they’re now pretty much forgotten. In some cases that’s entirely deserved as we don’t fancy the Asia Rocsta or Sao Penza being revived any time soon. But not all of these cars were dogs – some deserved a better fate:


1. Goliath GP700 (1950)

Despite being blessed with a mere two-cylinder two-stroke 688cc engine, the GP700 was highly innovative with front-wheel drive, full-width styling and from 1952 there was even fuel injection, a production car first.
•manufactured by Goliath in Germany
•2-door soft-top body type
•FWD (front-wheel drive), manual 4-speed gearbox



2.Volvo P1900 (1956)
No, that's not a typo. Before the P1800 came the P1900 but just 68 were made. It was a glass fibre-bodied open-topped sportscar, inspired by the plastic Chevrolet Corvette.

3. Fiat Dino (1967)
Fiat's Dino used the same 2.0 or 2.4-litre V6 engines as Ferrari's car of the same name. all came with left-hand drive with Pininfarina responsible for styling the spyder edition while Bertone designed the coupé.

4. Iso Lele (1969)
Italian firm Iso started out building the Isetta bubble car. BMW bought the rights to this, leaving Iso to make big, costly V8-engined luxury cars such as the Lele, 317 of which were made


Source; msn

5. Lamborghini Jarama (1970)
Effectively a cut-down edition of Lamborghini's Espada, the Jarama featured the same 3929cc V12 up front, 2+2 seating and 350-385bhp. In three years, 327 were made between 1969 and 1974.

6. De Tomaso Longchamps (1972)
A short-wheelbase edition of the Jaguar XJ-esque Deauville, the Longchamp featured a 330bhp 5.8-litre V8. Offered as a coupé or convertible, 302 were produced in all.

7. Citroen LN (1976)
Nothing more than a rebadged Peugeot 104 with a 2CV engine, the LN was remarkably unremarkable; it was sold only in its home market. But UK consumers were able to buy the LN’s successor, the four-cylinder LNA with Pug 104 power. Few did though

8. Dacia Denem (1982)
Romanian car maker Dacia reckoned the Renault 12 was cutting-edge in the early 1980s, so it jumped at the chance to produce its own version. But when the marque was introduced to the UK, buyers steered clear.

Lovely thread...

9. Alfa Romeo 90 (1984)
Alfa Romeo has made some odd decisions over the years, but this must rate as one of the barmiest. It sat between the equally forgettable Alfetta and disastrous Six and even for a 1980s Alfa Romeo it was unbelievably badly built.

10. Monteverdi 375 (1967)
Swiss BMW importer Peter Monteverdi moved into building ultra-exclusive exotica in 1967; over the next decade there would be a string of Chrysler-engined specials including the splendid 7.0-litre 375L High Speed pictured here.

11. Paramount 1.5-Litre (1950)
Throughout the 1950s there seemed to be a new low-volume British car maker springing up every week. Paramount was based in Derbyshire and built Ford-engined sporting cars but just 70 or so were made before production ended in 1956.

12. Marauder (1950)
George Mackie and Peter Wilks left the Rover Car Company to build their own sportscar in conjunction with Spen King; the Rover P4-based Marauder was the result. All of 15 were made though.

These cars seems like top notch during their era, wonder why they faded out.

Deawoo racer 1995