The Unicorn sighting thread.

I spotted a Moto-Unicorn yesterday. A red Yamaha TDM850. It had a loud aftermarket exhaust, but sounded like music to my ears.

Just like this one. These were way ahead of their time, if they had been released after the year 2000, I think they would have been a big success. They sold alright in other markets, but they couldn't give them away here.

Lancer007 wrote: Just went out for coffee and saw this near the U of A

Not sure this qualifies as a unicorn.

The Fiat Jolly is though.

Spotted a Fiero GT on the way home yesterday, looking like it had rolled off the showroom floor.

Mitchell wrote: G-wagens are all over the place here. They're the Tahoe of Los Angeles. I've only seen one two-door model, though:

A guy up the street has a 2-door. I didn't realize they were rare.

Lime Rock last weekend. Has a license plate and everything. Quite a thing to see it negotiating the unpaved paddock area.

I saw a Saturn Astra hatch yesterday in the parking lot at work. Does that count? I didn't know they even sold those here.

In reply to Tim Baxter:

I've always thought those were pretty good looking hatchbacks. But I hardly ever see them.

Saw an unmodded, rust free, 1987ish, CRX HF a few days ago and thought of this thread. The exhaust pipe on the thing was about the size of a quarter.

Saw a Fiat X1/9 up in Linville Falls NC last weekend.

Living in PA, anything spotted on the road that's older than 1995 and not rusted to the ground is considered a unicorn.

Two-door, non-sunroof Jetta at the 'Ring. Not sure how rare they were in Germany, but they were basically hen's teeth in the US.

We get unicorns at work every now and again... Zl1 Camaros, 9-5 with a 5 speed and a weird factory aero package I'd never seen (w/euro plate mounts), etc... I'll start snapping pictures lol

This afternoon, I saw a completely original, pre-1980 Honda Civic 1200 two door with a trunk (not a hatchback or sedan). It was in very good condition and even sounded good. Trunkers were the ones to have for autocrossing, because they were lighter and stiffer than the hatchbacks.

Looked just like this one:

Honda CB-1 Over night parts from japan Suzuki Esteem Wagon (Hey all Unicorns aren't pretty)

Saw all this within an hour of each other.

In reply to Flight Service:

I see a Honda Hawk GT every time I go in my basement. How do those stack up in rarity to the CB-1?

HappyAndy wrote: I spotted a Moto-Unicorn yesterday. A red Yamaha TDM850. It had a loud aftermarket exhaust, but sounded like music to my ears. Just like this one. These were way ahead of their time, if they had been released after the year 2000, I think they would have been a big success. They sold alright in other markets, but they couldn't give them away here.

I've never even heard of them, so they must not have been advertised very well.

KyAllroad wrote: Just saw a Buick Reatta. How many of those were sold, like 12?

21,751 overall. They were handbuilt and mismarketed. I would buy one because of the dash

Cosworth vega...

Talked to the guy for quite a bit, he also has a 65 corvair corsa and a big block 67 corvette. The vega was cool...

TeamEvil wrote: Spotted this right out back . . .

These things are cool as hell on the race track.

saw a renault Turbo 5 race car in Bellevue, Wash the other day. I need to upload the pic.

Oh good I didn't know this thread was around. Saw an Alfa Romeo Brera a few days ago, first Alfa I'd ever seen in the country.

(not my pic, but just like this one)

In reply to singleslammer:

The Hawk GT was the Honducati and sold only OK being it was priced higher than a normal entry level bike and just slightly below the CBR600. Think the pre-SV650. Imported for 4 model years (88-91). A bike way ahead of it's time and is now very coveted. It was referred to as the RC-31. If you know Hondas you know what that means. Edit: Given you own I guess you do!

The CB-1 is a JDM import for 2 model years (89-90). 400cc inline 4 that revved to Pluto and back. As with most high revving engines low end torq was not a plenty. It was a throw back concept of sorts. Kind of the last hold out of the sport bikes before they came full faired. When you put a number plate on the headlight and went racing. But the tech in the chassis and engine were state of the art for the day.

Both are super bikes, that people are finally realizing they missed the opportunity when they were around then and they were way ahead of their time.

In reply to Flight Service:

And to top it all off, the CB-1 had gear driven cams. CB-1's didn't sell well (was almost as much as the CBR600) and the excess bikes were shipped off to Europe.

GameboyRMH wrote: Oh good I didn't know this thread was around. Saw an Alfa Romeo Brera a few days ago, first Alfa I'd ever seen in the country. (not my pic, but just like this one)

With your horror stories of import duties, what does something like that cost on the islands?

MadScientistMatt wrote: Spotted a Fiero GT on the way home yesterday, looking like it had rolled off the showroom floor.

Oh, so all the panels were mismatched, then?