Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

Surprised by that. My mate had a Vito, here in Sydney and the roof rusted through around the a pillar gutter join and plenty of rust in the door jambs. He swapped for a Hyundai iload and has enjoyed that, trouble free for about 8 years. Lives by the sea so gets plenty of salt in the air.

Yeah, even the surf school sprinter parked on the esplanade 365 days a year is surprisingly rust free.

Hayden Paddon drags his rally car around on an iload crew van, which would also suit my needs, my only requirements are diesel manual and 5 seats.

Could also go full Ute but I don’t find the space in them that usable in some ways, even with a canopy

Also in Rally Adventures in NZ, I was roped into co-driving in a friends group A legacy at the Catlins coast rally last weekend and came home with two trophies

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Obvs that's an extreme wishlist, but wouldn't a VW Caddy "R/GTi" do a lot of that?

Or a modified Skoda Yeti.

Just had a conversation with these guys about a 'collaboration'

https://rivian.com

TBF, it does look pretty fucking awesome.

Would an XL full suspension 29er fit in the back, parallel to the long axis of the vehicle, with both wheels on?

Fitted my Built by Basil knob with the aid of a wish.com adapter and looks and feels pretty great. Could do with making a longer gear gaiter to account for the extra length and have spotted alcantara for sale on wish.com also... might place an order...

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and also considered a people carrier like a Touran

I really like my Touran. It's versatile with the rear seats out. Spare parts are plentiful as they share a lot with the Caddy, but don't seem to suffer the Caddy tax.

I used to green lane motorbikes with a fairly well off bunch got into a who can build the fastest van thing, there was a lot of compatibility between Mercedes cars and Vito vans, the competition went over 350bhp.

If you want more the guy (Nourish?) who tested the Jaguar XJ220 engine in a transit is a friend of a friend?

I'd hope so. The Merc's i've looked at are called Valente

Still not convinced they’re ever going to get to market. They were supposed to launch nearly three years ago and Covid had pushed it back a year again.

Would love them to come to the uk though. They have some really interesting packaging, battery and motor ideas.

Yeah but investors are shaky. Christ. Musk had to send some blokes into space and bring them back alive to get confidence. 😎

Does anyone remember the Renault Espace concept with a F1 engine in it? They should have just built that!

Yes! And the Transit one.

That's right, I'd forgotten the transit, Cosworth engine? For some reason the Espace is etched in my memory, must've been what my 15 year old brain wanted as a car!

Eyeballed these on the bonnet this morning too and they look better than I had anticipated. I don't hate the black finish as it is either.

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I have to ask... Why - is it to actually remove heat? Im all for personal choice with modified cars so it's not a dig ... I just never knew minis had this weird JDM inspired mod style?

I suppose you could make a V55 AMG.

I do like a bonnet vent- those on the Mini look great to my eye... I'm constantly tempted to put some RS ones on my Focus.

I think all you need to start is a RWD Vito and a desire to throw a lot of money at a project qualified engineers deemed inadvisable.

Absolutely, if you'd told me I'd be planning to vent the bonnet on a Mini six months ago I'd have laughed but they're ferocious for overheating at the best of times, nevermind with any mods!

A lot of people go for Focus RS vents or Jaguar Supercharged ones but I figured I'd try something a little different and more JDM style... I have also seen one with an excellent drilled bonnet although it seems like it would be even more open to the elements in terms of rain ingress so I'm not too sure about it...

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All I can think of is....

drillium

#dontcallitacomeback

Talking of cooling, any recommendations for decent universal windscreen and side window sun shades?

It's an older car so very doubtful any of the tailored companies would cover my model/year.

Check check and check