12 Apr 2015 – Driven To Write

A Picture for Sunday: 1990 Ford Escort CLX

There is nothing remarkable about this car apart from its unusual state of preservation.

1995 Ford Escort CLX. This has a 1.6 litre 16v engine.

It’s a CLX, which is quite luxurious in Escort terms: swirly velour upholstery, rear armrest, rear head restraints, alloy wheels, colour coded this and also that. But it does remind me of the 1988 Chevrolet Corsica. Critics damned the Escort for its mediocrity and conservatism. Ford marketed the car as having “classical” style. Yes, classical Chevrolet style from 1988. Continue reading “A Picture for Sunday: 1990 Ford Escort CLX”

Fossil Traces – Autobianchi A111

Today we look at a short-lived and largely forgotten automotive artefact.

Autobianchi A111 - image via viva-lancia — Autobianchi A111 – image via viva-lancia

The Autobianchi A111 was produced for only three years and is notable for being the largest, most prestigious model the carmaker produced – in fact, the A111 was never directly replaced. From 1972, Fiat-owned Autobianchi’s sole offering would be the mini-sized A112.

The genesis of the A111 lay in the 1964 Autobianchi Primula, front-wheel-drive pathfinder to Dante Giacosa’s 1969 masterpiece – the Fiat 128. The A111 also debuted in 1969, and a feeler gauge was required to tell them apart. The 128 measured 385 cm in length with a wheelbase of 244.5 cm, while the A111 was longer overall at 402 cm, but shorter between the wheels at 236 cm.
Continue reading “Fossil Traces – Autobianchi A111”