Puzzle #878 - Solved! Quincey Centurion Diesel

[Otto Puzzell]

Quincey Centurion Diesel

Know what it is?

Please, respond below and let us know the make and model designation of the car posted here.

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[Quiller]

Quincy-Lynn Centurion from 1981, also sold in the UK as the Burlington Centurion based on a Triumph Spitfire chassis

[Otto Puzzell]

You're part-way there. In its current configuration, it is sold by another concern, and is promoted with some rather fantastic performance claims.

[JR]

I think it is still being sold by Robert Q Riley Enterprises (Riley was involved with Quincy Lynn) with a claim of 128mpg from its Diesel engine. It still retains the Centurion name.

JR

[Otto Puzzell]

That's the one!

[Quiller]

Without wishing to be picky - oh all right then, I am being! - that is the Quincy-Lynn Centurion (note: NOT Quincey). The plans sets for cars pictured on Robert Q. Riley's website are virtually all his designs from the early 1980s - including the Centurion - and the pictures date from then too!

[Otto Puzzell]

OK - a point for you, too.

[Otto Puzzell]

Know what it is?

Please, respond below and share your knowledge of the make and model designation of this car.

If you haven't registered yet, you need to do so in order to reply with your answer.  You can do so by clicking here.

Also, please be sure to check out our other puzzles, and, please post a puzzle of your own if you'd like - the more, the merrier.

Thanks!

[ID2007]

Urba centurion based on a triumph spitfire 

[Otto Puzzell]

Welcome to AutoPuzzles, ID

With your first post, you have earned your first point. 

[Tom_I]

Hasn't this appeared before?

http://www.autopuzzles.com/forum/index.php?topic=4362.0

It appears under several names, but the one which is common to all is Centurion. It was designed by Quincy Lynn Enterprises of Arizona, and marketed as a set of plans for home construction. It is still available in this form from Robert Q. Riley Enterprises, the successor to Quincy Lynn, and has also been mentioned under the name of Burlington. I'm not too sure about the last one. It's a Wikipedia entry, but Burlington Cars' web pages referenced in it do not mention the Centurion, so it may be a mistake.

But the most historically correct name seems to be the Urba Centurion, as that's what it was called when it appeared in Mechanix Illustrated magazine in February 1982.

One of these appeared as a background vehicle in the 1990 film Total Recall.

[Otto Puzzell]

Well, certainly connected, but not quite the same.

I'll throw myself on the mercy of the court, and will abide by their wishes to merge, or not.

[Tom_I]

It's certainly confusing.

Does anyone know if this design was ever offered as a turnkey vehicle by any company, or was it only ever sold as a set of plans for home build? If the latter, then presumably every example will have been slightly different.

[Djetset]

Like Tom, I was only aware of this being a Quincy Lynn product, self-built from plans, and didn't know of the Triumph Spitfire base, so the plot thickens...

[Arthur Dent]

Triumph Spitfire chassis, suspension and transmission and Kubota diesel engine (although you could use the Spitfire engine). Pretty sure that is the photo I took at the Lane Motor Museum 

[Tom_I]

Like Tom, I was only aware of this being a Quincy Lynn product, self-built from plans, and didn't know of the Triumph Spitfire base, so the plot thickens...

As AD says, it was always intended to be built on a Spitfire chassis, but with the Triumph engine being replaced with a small Kubota three-cylinder diesel. The Triumph engine could be retained if you preferred.

<<< link removed >>>

[Otto Puzzell]

Mr. Dent, I didn't connect the profile name on that other site with you. My bad; nice pic! 

Tom_I - please review the rules at the tops of each puzzle section - linking to external sites in puzzle threads is verboten.

As I stated, if a consensus exists to merge these, then merged they shall be.

I shall remain flummoxed by the juxtaposition of the attention paid to this thread, while puzzles abound about "Joey Jones bought the molds for the Crapwagon Cobra Replica, and renamed it the Crapwagon II, so it's not the same car...", and are ignored.

[Djetset]

Fair point.  BTW, I always thought the Crapwagon II was made by Jonesy Joe! 

[DeAutogids]

My understanding is -at least at this time- that Urba Centurion or Centurion Urba is simply a model name of Quincy Lynn

[Otto Puzzell]

Sounds like a consensus to me...

[Quiller]

I'd also agree - the name 'Urba' was used by Quincy-Lynn.

I can also clear up the Burlington connection. The UK-based founder of Burlington, Haydn Davies, saw a magazine feature on Quincy-Lynn and took the next plane out to the USA to secure the rights to sell Quincy-Lynn products in the UK. He then sold Centurion plans sets to the Brits (the Spitfire chassis was an obvious marketing point) but I don't recall ever seeing a Centurion on British soil...

[Carnut]

What's this (I don't have an actual name), based on what and powered by what - for 1 point?:

ANYONE FOUND GIVING ANSWERS OBTAINED BY USING GOOGLE SEARCH BY IMAGE MAY BE BANNED FOR AN INDETERMINATE PERIOD!

[Carnut]

Experts?

[kwgibbs]

Is it an American kitcar?

[Carnut]

Is it an American kitcar?

Yes it is..