Three of these cars have something in common – which is the misfit?

Lloyd Alexander
Ford Escort Mk.2

Toyota Urban Cruiser

Vauxhall Victor F
Three of these cars have something in common – which is the misfit?
Lloyd Alexander
Ford Escort Mk.2
Toyota Urban Cruiser
Vauxhall Victor F
Could it be the Lloyd is the only one thats air cooled?
Actually that’s too obvious since it’s the only one with rear hinged doors, flat glass etc so it must be deeper than my guesses.
Actually that’s too obvious since it’s the only one with rear hinged doors, flat glass,2 stroke etc so it must be deeper than my guesses.
This is a superb teaser, simply because one can come up with a reason to make each one of the vehicles the odd man out. So it’s a stab in the dark to guess which is the one that counts.
The only one not equipped with leaf springs somewhere in the suspension is the Toyota Urban Cruiser.
One guess per reply, I think. So here’s my second:
The poor old Victor didn’t have rack-and-pinion steering.
There are, as Bill says, loads of “odd man out” possible answers, such as the Urban Cruiser being the only one with a double-barreled model name, or a hatchback, but I’m sure the answer Robertas is thinking of is much more subtle and obscure (so is certainly beyond me!)
The Vauxhall Victor is the only one that was exported to the USA?
As said, so many possibilities such as the Escort is the only one with square headlights.
Replies seemed to have bottomed out.
So, I’m going scattershot!
Victor only one with dog-leg windscreen and clap-hand wipers
Toyota only one made by primary company (all others made by subsidiary of parent company) but sold under many different nameplates all over the world, Scion xD here in North America, for example, where it bombed. The slightly bigger Matrix already existed.
Victor only one with three-speed gearbox, others have at least four. This is an F Mk1 that may not have had sychromesh on bottom, but the update in 1959 did and separate seats on the deluxe instead of park bench.
Lloyd only two cylinder engine and only ball-bearing crankshaft and only company that went bust.
The Escort (Mk1 and Mk 2) was the only one of these four NOT sold in the USA/Canada. We got saddled with the Pinto instead, and I say saddled after extensive experience with both.
I’ll give but one clue.
The solution requires a bit of lateral thinking, but no knowledge of automotive history or engineering.
So lets look like a child. Three on photos , one on the drawing. Vauxhall Victor F is guilty.
Alexander, Urban and Victor were nanes of popes, whereas there was never a pope Escort.
Simon – congratulations! That’s the right answer.
The slightly tatty Escort 1.1GL is there because it was formerly owned by a Polish gent by the name of Karol Wojtyla, and is thought to have been the first car privately owned and driven by a reigning Pope.
Brilliant! Well done, both to Robertas for setting the puzzle and Simon for solving it!
Thanks – although, I missed that little addition that Robertas provided. Popes’ cars would be another interesting story. I remember that Golf on Ebay that was formerly owned by Pope Benedict (Ratzinger) reaching ridiculously high bids.
Here’s another puzzle: what connects these four cars:
I was thinking all were made in Spain, but the Mazda 121 built at Almussafes was the next generation after the one pictured.
Nope, nothing to do with geography, Robertas. Don’t overthink this one!
That’s simple:
1430 : 11 = 130
121 : 11 = 11
1309 : 11 = 119
1100 : 11 = 100
…is the correct answer!
Well done, Simon!
It’s amazing just how many cars have numerical designations that are multiples of 11. I could also have chosen any of the following:
Austin/Morris 2200 (200 × 11)
Daf 33/44/55/66 (3,4,5,6 × 11)
Ferrari 275 (25 × 11)
Fiat 132 (12 × 11)
Porsche 924 (84 × 11)
Porsche 968 (88 × 11)
Renault 11 (1 × 11)
Saab 99 (9 × 11)
Annoyingly, there was never an OEM estate version of the Volvo 164!
But there was a Volvo 264 (24 × 11)
And…
Alfa Romeo 33 (3 × 11)
Ferrari 308 (28 × 11)
Ferrari 550 (50 × 11)
Peugeot 407 (37 × 11)
Peugeot 605 (55 × 11)
Skoda 110 (10 × 11)
Volvo 242 (22 × 11)
Volvo 440 (40 × 11)
Anyone else losing the will to live yet?
I was going to say that the Alfa and the Peugeot 407 were the only ones that were the product of primes: but the peugeot 605 is, of course, 5 x 11 x 11
And the Volvo is 242 is 2 x 11 x 11
And the Skoda is 2 x 5 x 11
Note: I am not a crypto guy….
BMW 528 (48 × 11)
BMW 2002 (182 × 11)
I’ll stop now.
Daniel, have you heard of the tv quiz show Only Connect? You’d love it, full of these kind of questions. My brain isn’t wired up for mathematics, much.
So, relax a little now. Breathe, in through the mouth, out through the nose…
Jolly well done to the quiz masters and those who answered
Good morning, Andrew. Yes, I have seen Only Connect, but I’m not good at answering such questions quickly enough to compete. My slightly atrophied brain needs more time to figure stuff out these days.
Interestingly, in researching the “11” puzzle, I came across only three cars that had four-digit model names that were prime numbers. Amazingly, the three names were consecutive prime numbers. Would anyone care to identify the cars?
Simca 1301, 1303 and 1307? I can find reference to a 1303 in an online parts store, but have no idea what, or if, it was.
Correct, at least as far as the numbers go, so well done Adrian!
The 1307 was simply another version of the Simca 1309 I posted above, aka the Chrysler Alpine. Here’s the Simca 1301, the Alpine’s predecessor:
Now, the 1303 was not a Simca at all, but a VW Beetle:
The VW 1302 and 1303 were early 70’s models, known as “Super Beetles”. They were distinguished by an extended front end with MacPherson Strut rather than torsion bar front suspension, an enlarged front boot with the spare wheel mounted horizontally. The 1303, which succeeded the 1302, additionally had an enlarged and greatly curved windscreen and different dashboard. Neither was a big seller and the basic model long outlived them.
Ah yes a VW, not a Simca at all. Funnily enough when I was just old enough to start noticing such things, our neighbours on one side had a Super Beetle (S reg, very shiny) and the other side had a 1501 (not a prime number 1301, sorry, but a very lurid green colour nonetheless). My parents had a Renault 12TS so it was quite a cosmopolitan corner. There was a strong network of Renault dealers in the 70s in Gloucestershire, and a smattering of VW and Alfa too, hence my eclectic tastes in vehicles over the years – I have only had one British car out of about 35 so far.
Perhaps due to my upbringing and secular education, I’d never heard of these popes, quite frankly. More than lateral thinking would have been required for me to come to the correct answer! But it’s a pretty clever quiz idea.
Seasons greetings to one and all!
I’ll never look at the number eleven in the same way again.
talking of popes, we watched The Two Popes the other night.
an intriguing film. much of it speculation, as in The Crown,
but very engaging.
Good morning Lorender. Thank you for the recommendation. That’s my Christmas Eve viewing sorted!