Unique cars

IF YOU want a car that stands out, that is really different, you can opt for something unique. And it's not always money that brings that.

Spend $320,000 on a Porsche Panamera and you can say you have a four-door version of a high-performance exotic brand. But if a Maserati Quattroporte pulls up next to you at the lights you'll see it, too, is a four-door supercar.

Unique cars are hard to find. But they do exist.  Sometimes it is difficult to find a direct competitor for some vehicles. For example, the Mazda MX-5. It's the only true sports car - a two-seat, open-top with excellent handling - under $50,000. You'd have to go to a $70,000 Lotus Elise otherwise.

The Jeep Wrangler stands out as a tough, highly competent offroad four-wheel drive. Yet it has a soft top that can be peeled off for open-air rock hopping, even as a longer, four-door version.

For four-seat convertibles, is there another beside the Fiat 500C for less than $30,000? The Smart fortwo cabrio is a two-seater.  Mazda RX-8 is the only car with a rotary engine (and a pair of small, rear-hinged back doors on a coupe).

Mini Clubman is the only station wagon under 4m long (the baby Peugeot 207 wagon is 22cm longer).  Smart fortwo is shortest car at just 2695mm.

But its 999cc three-cylinder engine of 52kW is "beaten'' by Suzuki Alto, which has the smallest engine and least power of any car on our market - a three-cylinder 996cc and 50kW. Alto at $11,700 is also the only car with a list price under $12,000.

Price? Length? Engine size? Let's look at the Rolls-Royce Phantom. The EWB (long wheelbase version) takes 6090mm of garage space and costs $1.25 million. But the convertible hits $1,355,000. You can buy 116 Suzuki Altos for that. And Rolls-Royce has the largest engine on sale, a 6749cc V12.

Runner-up in engine size is the 6496cc V12 of the Lamborghini Murcielago LP670-4 SV, the only car on sale in Australia with a power rating of 500kW or more. (Mercedes-Benz AMG engines manage 450kW.) Cars have three, four, five, six, eight, 10 and 12-cylinder engines but each of those configurations has more than one brand with such an engine, so nothing unique there.

FPV's new supercharged V8 in its GT has 335kW, making this Falcon-based car the most powerful of any Australian-built machine (HSV weighs in at 325kW).

Torque? Try a Queen Mary-towing 1000Nm, available in the Audi Q7 six-litre turbo-diesel and in the Mercedes-Benz S 65 AMG L.

Ford Fiesta diesel is the only car that on the official fuel ratings uses less than 3.8 litres/100km. It is rated at 3.7 while the Mini diesel and Volvo C30 DRIVe each are at 3.8 and the hybrid Toyota Prius at 3.9 litres/100km.

Power for value? Try Toyota Aurion AT-X at $35,990. Its 3.5-litre V6 engine gives 200kW. The only other car with 200kW at less than 40 grand is the RAV-4 with the same engine. Holden's 210kW SV6 Commodore is listed at $42,790.

Think the Nissan GT-R is a standout? Not quite. It's got 357kW and all-wheel-drive for $158,000. But the BMW M3 comes close with 309kW for the same price.

Holden Caprice is the only Australian-built long-wheelbase version and so the only Aussie car more than 5.1m long, and therefore the only LWB car less than $70,000.

Ugliest car? That's a matter of subjective opinion. Let's just say that Ssangyong Stavic is an interesting design.  Much of the above is based on data in Glass's Guide.

ROLLS-ROYCE PHANTOM EWB
Claim: Longest car. Shares largest engine with $1,355,000 convertible version that is most expensive car.
Price: $1,250,000
Engine: 6749cc V12. 338kW power @ 5350rpm. 720Nm torque @ 3500rpm
Dimensions: 6090mm long, 1990mm wide, 1640mm high; 2670kg.

MAZDA MX-5
Claim: Only true sports car under $50,000 (or $70,000)
Price: from $44,265
Engine: 1998cc, four-cylinder. 118kW power @ 7000rpm. 188Nm torque @ 5000rpm
Dimensions: 4020mm long, 1720mm wide, 1245mm high; 1135kg

FORD FPV GT
Claim: Most powerful Australian-made car
Price: $71,290
Engine: Five-litre supercharged V8. 335kW power @ 5750rpm. 570Nm torque @ 2200-5500
rpm.
Dimensions: 4970mm long, 1868mm wide, 1453mm high

MINI CLUBMAN
Claim: Only station wagon under 4m
Price: from $34,400
Engine: 1598cc four-cylinder. 88kW power @ 6000rpm. 160Nm torque @ 4250rpm
Dimensions: 3937mm long, 1683mm wide, 1426mm high; 1145kg.

SUZUKI ALTO GL
Claim: Lowest-priced car, smallest engine, lowest power.
Price: $11,790.
Engine: 996cc, three-cylinder. 50kW power @ 6000rpm. 90Nm torque@ 4800rpm.
Dimensions: 3506mm long, 1600mm wide, 1470mm high; 880kg.