WeiRD ONES In fact it has been a long time we want to write about this car, since seeing its unusual shape for the first time in one of the QuirkyRides's tweets in January 2021. At first, we were not sure if there was any one who willing to spend lot of money for changed the look of their cars by commissioned the automotive company to make it in such way to be look like this? We thought that's not make any senses.
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| 1970 Caruna Spider VW-Porsche 914 may seem it like a wheeled crocodile crawling to You. (Picture from: QuirkyRides) |
To be honest, it could be said that the cars is very strange, (sorry) tend to be very ugly or it could be one of the oddest cars you've ever seen in whole life.🙏 C'est la vie, as said by the French. That's life. It is undeniable, sometimes life is strange and beyond our reasoning, sometimes the favorite factor of something unique can bury one's sanity in judging an automotive work. Like the unique-shaped cars made by Caruna AG, a Swiss car company as follow.
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| 1970 Caruna Spider Porsche 914 may seem it like a wheeled crocodile crawling to You. (Picture from: QuirkyRides) |
This Switzerland's Spreitenbach-domiciled coachbuilder company founded by Erwin Schill in 1965, and was known active between 1965 and 2010. And the Caruna stands for "CARrosserien und NeuAnfertigungen". Initially, it's known as a company with its main bussiness to convert the coupé especially the Mercedes-Benz brand into a convertible or open air targa.
Even among the service users of the Caruna are the Dutch royal family who had once commissioned the Swiss-based auto company to change the appearance of the Mercedes-Benz 380 SEL coupé of they owned into a four-doors convertible limousine.
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| 1985 Dutch Royal Family's Mercedes-Benz 380 SEL four-doors convertible limoussine by Caruna. (Picture from: Jalopnik) |
But for some reason, the brand is also launched several vehicle models of its own, such as the Caruna Spider, which considered has quite an odd shape wedge-shaped body featured with protruded boxy headlights, and may seem it like a wheeled crocodile crawling. Because of its unusual shape and built using parts taken from other cars, and no wonder if the Caruna Spider had dubbed 'the Frankenstein of cars' at the time.
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| 1977 Caruna Staccato model remained using the wedge-shaped body profile includes folding headlights. (Picture from: Coachbuild) |
That's not ends up here, the model is built of many hodgepodge parts including Marcos windshields, Volvo bumpers, door locks of Austin Mini, windshield wipers from Citroen SM, taillights from Saab 99 and Ford Capri's headlights.
The Caruna Staccato was the Swiss coachbuilder's second unique car model was produced in 1976 and is powered by a rear-mounted 2.7-liter air-cooled 6-cylinder engine coupled with a 5-speed manual gearbox of the Porsche 911. And the model remained using the wedge-shaped body profile includes folding headlights.
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| 1978 Datsun 180B SSS Cabriolet by Caruna. (Picture from: Jacque-Leretrait) |
At glance the design is reminiscent of the popular beach party car of the day and apart from having the folding headlights, the car is also equipped with other features such as a retractable rear window, and turn signals. The Caruna Staccato was debuted at the Geneva Motor Show in 1977, and is recognized as the brand's first car presentation to an international audience.
Until the late 1970s, Caruna remained consistent with those weird wedge-shaped style and also offered its convertion packages for the Datsun 180B SSS, Pontiac Firebird, Jaguar XJ, and Cadillac Eldorado car models into convertible versions.
On November 21, 1991, Erwin Schill, the Caruna owner moved his business from Spreitenbach to Dietikon in the Canton of Zurich. And entering the 2000s, the company's financial condition deteriorated and was getting deeper into debt problems with the banks and investors.😔
The company was also doing some car conversion works on the Opel Manta, VW Golf and Peugeot 504 V6 during that time to the early of 2007s when bankruptcy was filed in and finally in 2010 this coachbuilder was declared bankrupt by the court and should ceased all the activity.😭 *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | WIKIPEDIA | BETTELBRUENNELICOLLECTION | KLASSIEKERWEB | JACQUES-LERETRAIT | JALOPNIIK | ALLCARINDEX | 47768 | QUIRKYRIDES | COACHBUILD ]
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