Are my cars that odd that nobody knows what they are?

In reply to Jensenman: I get that all the time. I always thought the JH looked like the love child of a Spitfire and a 240Z.

Appleseed wrote: I've never personally seen an RX-4. so... yeah, I could see that happening.

I get that it is a rare car,and one may not know what it is,but if he had waited maybe 10 seconds he could have seen the Mazda RX-4 logos on the side of it. But instead he guess a Datsun 210!!!!! That really ticked me off. The RX-7 is common enough(well not around here) that I would think any "car-guy" worth his salt would get that one,but I have had it mistaken a bunch as well.

The REPU I am thinking about just taking anything off of it that says Mazda,and let 'em all guess whatever they want,because the way it is now they have no clue. Make 'em really guess. Maybe put some TVR badges on it,and really mess with 'em.

Lets see... My RX-7 has been called a Porsche (not surprising since Mazda cribbed the design off the 944), an Integra, a Celica, and even a Corvette (!). It's the headlights, I guess. More often than not, though, it will be correctly identified as an RX-7 since they were once popular in this area.

Most people who see my Mazdaspeed3 will identify it as a regular Mazda3 unless they look at the badge or I tell them otherwise. Fine by me, since one of the reasons I like the car is because it's somewhat stealthy. Someone once called it a Toyota Matrix

ReverendDexter wrote: I think you were looking for "Helen Keller", not "Anne Frank".

Something about burning her hand trying to read a waffle iron?

Back in the mid '70s at the BMW dealership we used to have BMW 2002s accused of being British, and calls trying to find MG and Triumph parts. Y'know, BMC? (or) British Motor Works?

Heh, I love it when someone tries to suck up by regurgitating something that was erronious in the first place: "Yeah my dad used to run a Jaguar motor in his Lotus. You know that's the way they originally came."

Even better were the hippie kids who thought my Sevenesque was electric - till I fired it up and they could smell and hear all the dinojuice sweetness!

I used to have a Sunbeam Alpine - that was confuse-a-cat material - it was a 1954 series I

oldopelguy wrote: Try driving an Opel for a while. "Opel, who made that?"

Yeah, I get that everytime I take the GT out. They look at me real funny when I tell them Opel was/is owned by GM. Also, everytime I take it to a car show, someone says I should drop a bigblock into it while we're standing next to it with the hood open. I glance down and say where will it fit? A friend with a 79 MG Midget had a kid chase him down and want to know what stealership he can buy one at and was disappointed when he found out the car was older than he is. 2 days ago I saw a Lexus rebadged on the trunk with "GATER", a clean job. Also the same day I'm at a charity carwash with the wifes car and a Miata w/top down pulls up. The steering wheel looks different than mine so I ask the guy if it's a 99 or 2000. He says it's a 97 or 98 he didn't remember, he got the car off his inlaws. I remarked they didn't make 98's and 97's had pop up headlights, 99 was the first year of that body, I have a 99 but the interior is a little different and just curious. He walked away, his wife pulled out the registration and read to him 99 and drove off. A guy at work recently bought a new Hemi Challenger and said Mopar built the first Hemi and now remaking them. I said maybe for American cars but Daimler built one in the late 50's and I believe there was one earlier than that. He just looked at me and said only you would know that. I mentioned only because the Daimler SP250 Dart with the 2.5L Hemi V8 is on my wish list. Then explaining Daimler is a British car company and not German was interesting also. Parking my wifes new Hyundai Sonata next to a Kia Optima is difficult to tell the differences. And she wouldn't look at the Optima's because they were ugly but bought a Sonata. Came down to she didn't know anyone with a Kia but did know people with Hyundai so now my Korean wife is driving a Korean car.

Guess I'll show my age and say I remember RX4 when they were new but don't remember the last time I saw one. I do know someone that races an RX3 though.

I've had one drive through clerk and several random people in parking lots ask me how I like my hybrid...reffering to my '02 EP3.

Winston wrote:

Mazdax605 wrote: ... but wow Anne Frank could see the difference. Bad joke I know. What movie was that in again? Oh maybe it was a TV show I was watching.

Funny! Clerks II was the movie.

Thanks man I knew I heard it somewhere before,but couldn't remember where. I loved that movie(but the 1st was better),and loved that running joke.

friedgreencorrado wrote: Maybe it's my age, but *I* find it difficult to tell a new Camry from a new Accord. With few exceptions, I don't think many modern cars have much personality.

I concur. Everything looks alike now.

Oh yeah, and BTW.. it IS our age..

I LOVE my 87 Camry!!

Really, nobody is better than Mitsubishi at copycat styling.

You don't have to squint too hard to see Porsche 924 in the 1G Eclipse.

A guy at work recently bought a new Hemi Challenger and said Mopar built the first Hemi and now remaking them. I said maybe for American cars but Daimler built one in the late 50's and I believe there was one earlier than that.

Chrysler first put a hemi V8 in a production car in 1951, but other auto manufacturers used a hemispherical head design decades earlier than that (for one, Peugeot built a hemi head, DOHC, four valve per cylinder engine around 1913.)

NYG95GA wrote:

friedgreencorrado wrote: Maybe it's my age, but *I* find it difficult to tell a new Camry from a new Accord. With few exceptions, I don't think many modern cars have much personality.

I concur. Everything looks alike now. Oh yeah, and BTW.. it IS our age..

IMO, newer cars seem to be a slave to the c/d quotient...so that they can get their fat asses to get better fuel economy with all those powered cupholders & heated headliners & BMW E36 that add so much weight. Every time I have the misfortune to drive a friend/family member's post-2000 car, when rolling on the throttle, all I can hear is Dennis Hopper's line from "Waterworld"..

"..now, let's get this tub of BMW E36 up to speed!"

Mazdax605 wrote: Are these cars that different looking that I should just plan on having this mistaken identity for as long as I drive them,or are people just that clueless? I know they are not cars that are seen much if at all especially around these parts,but wow I guess Japanese cars are forgettable from the 70's. Or maybe it was just Mazda's from the 70's that were forgettable.

My 74 Celica has been called many things, from a Porsche, BMW, to even a Camaro!? I guess it's just all the cars from the 70s that kind of faded from history. Some people don't even acknowledge the 70's Mustang II as a Mustang. No one remembers the early Capri from FORD not Mercury. The Mid to Late 70's is just a black hole in automotive history.

Huh, my collection messes them all up