Obscure or unusual vehicles you see out on the road

[Diesel59]

In an endless sea of Toyotas, Hondas and F-150s, I sometimes see a vehicle that truly stands out. Not for being awesome, or even good at all. But for being truly unusual, obscure or a true relic from the past. Here are a few that have stood out to me.

I mentioned to @Yano in another thread that someone who worked at a store across the street from my job used to drive a Yugo. I looked through my files and found a photo I snapped of it in the summer of 2017. I think he didn't ditch this ride until around 2020.


An older lady that shops at our store drives a pink Geo Trakker, a truly small and odd SUV from the mid '90s. I still see a decent amount of Geo Prizms (a rebadged Corolla from the same era), especially when I'm in the neighborhoods where I typically see lots of '90s Toyotas. But those don't stand out like a Trakker. Picture this exact same vehicle but in more of a hot pink.



A guy in my neighborhood used to drive a Suzuki Equator, which was a very unpopular Nissan Frontier rebadging. I have otherwise never seen a single one in person.



How about you guys? What weird rides do your family and friends drive? Or what obscure vehicles have you seen out on the road that made you look twice?

 

[Yano]

My first car was my grandmothers old 64 push button Valiant. Then I got the hand me down 73 Dart Swinger lol Hated both of them at the time ,, would love to have them both today.

 

[Diesel59]

Here's another obscure truck I've seen parked out back a few times, but was never able to snap a photo. The Mitsubishi Raider...a rebadged late era Dodge Dakota.



It seems like a truck nobody likes, but I actually wouldn't mind owning one.

 

[RISE]

All I have is rare cars. Haha. My daily is a 2000 Isuzu trooper, my project cars include an 87 Fiero GT, 72 Riviera, 73 Satellite road runner and a 77 280z. My old daily that I'm about to put up for sale is a 2014 avenger, which ain't rare at all.

 

[PanamaVet]

1978 Oldsmobile Omega, my Nova clone. Not rare, but certainly unusual. Everywhere I go, I hear "Nice Nova, buddy!" Ok thanks?

 

[Diesel59]

All I have is rare cars. Haha. My daily is a 2000 Isuzu trooper, my project cars include an 87 Fiero GT, 72 Riviera, 73 Satellite road runner and a 77 280z. My old daily that I'm about to put up for sale is a 2014 avenger, which ain't rare at all.

Every once in awhile I'll see a Trooper out on the road. How many miles do you have on yours?

Those project cars sound awesome. Love the look of those road runners...pure classic. I'm guessing you have a pretty decent sized garage?

 

[RISE]

Every once in awhile I'll see a Trooper out on the road. How many miles do you have on yours?

Those project cars sound awesome. Love the look of those road runners...pure classic. I'm guessing you have a pretty decent sized garage?

It's got 102k atm, bought in mid last year with 96k on it. Interior looks brand new, but had some damage on the rear driver side I had to fix. Love it though. Rides great, just sucks on gas.

I have a 2 car garage, so it's not too big. The Z and road runner are in the garage and fiero in the drive way with the riviera on the side of the house. I want to extend the garage and build an extra area to hold parts and metal working tools, but im gonna wait til the price of concrete and lumber go down before I tackle that job.

 

[RISE]

1978 Oldsmobile Omega, my Nova clone. Not rare, but certainly unusual. Everywhere I go, I hear "Nice Nova, buddy!" Ok thanks?

I've never seen an omega on the road, so I think it's pretty rare.

 

[RISE]

Theres a local guy I see driving a volswagon thing. Those things are badass (no pun intended).

 

[Diesel59]

@RISE Wow, I've never seen one of those before. What time period is that from?

 

[RISE]

@RISE Wow, I've never seen one of those before. What time period is that from?

68-79

 

[JakeGoodfella]

I've seen a McLaren in my neck of the woods twice in the last year. Not sure if it is the same one or not.

Saw it about a year ago for the first time. I was stopped at a light going straight and he pulled up next to me in the right turn lane. I saw him coming up on my side and thought what the hell is that beautiful thing. When he got even with me, I realized what it was. He was only stopped for a second or two before he turned and gunned it. I needed a towel to wipe the drool off.

What a beautiful set of wheels...

 

[Parade]

I once had a 80-something Jeep Commanche pickup truck. Pretty good shape with fairly low miles. At the time I lived in a mainly Hispanic region and about 2-3 times a month I would have random Mexican dudes knock on my front door trying to buy that truck from me lol.

Good thread. I’m a Toyota truck guy. I really want a Toyota Hilux. I’m also really interested in finding one those van/trucks like an Isuzu NPR

 

[Diesel59]

I once had a 80-something Jeep Commanche pickup truck. Pretty good shape with fairly low miles. At the time I lived in a mainly Hispanic region and about 2-3 times a month I would have random Mexican dudes knock on my front door trying to buy that truck from me lol.

Good thread. I’m a Toyota truck guy. I really want a Toyota Hilux. I’m also really interested in finding one those van/trucks like an Isuzu NPR

I love those old Jeep trucks. I wish the Renegade looked more like those.

Are you in the US? How difficult would it be to get those vehicles here?

 

[Diesel59]

One of these old things was parked next to me when I came out of the gym. A first generation Mazda MPV. The one next to me looked like it had been driven to Mexico and back 15 times.

 

[notsoswoleCPA]

One of my friends used to have an LS swapped 1993 240SX. That car was a beast pushing over 450 HP to the rear wheels.

I knew someone else that owned an old Toyota pickup with a 1JZGTE swap in it. It was a 1987 single cab.

 

[Reader591]

No pic, but I saw a late 60s c10 bagged, single cab long bed baby blue, pulling a restored 35 foot or so air stream. Cruising 75 down the interstate, and the couple looked 75 too. Couldn’t get a pic, but was cool.

 

[Reader591]

And not too unique, but my set up gets some attention everywhere I go. 95 f350 and 45 foot fifth wheel

 

[Reader591]

Here’s a pic of the paw paw truck as my wife calls it

 

[Reader591]

One more pic with the 5r