Marques – Driven To Write

Ode to Joy

Mad niche car or CUV pathfinder?

_{Editor’s note: One of DTW’s founding aims has been to spread a little more joy to the world, so to this end, we offer this re-run of a June 2019 article on the HR-V.}

Had we known just how the mainstream motor vehicle would evolve, we might have paid a little more attention to the announcement of Honda’s HR-V, twenty years ago. As it was however, the automotive press were content to file it along with all the other amusing, but lightweight offerings from the more whimsical end of the Japanese automotive juggernaut.

The HR-V, which allegedly stood for High Rider Vehicle was previewed in conceptual form at the 1998 Geneva motor show as the even more memorably-coined J-WJ^[1], where the positive reception was said at the time to have stiffened Honda’s resolve to Continue reading “Ode to Joy”

The Red Underwing Skipper Alights On The Pernod

Two things to know about the Toyota Crown Comfort car: one, it won a design award in the long life design category. And two…

… in 2010 Akio Toyoda gave it an internal President’s Award for its all-round utility, ease of use and robustness. If you travel to Hong Kong you can’t help Continue reading “The Red Underwing Skipper Alights On The Pernod”

Staying Up. Not Keeping Up

Closer inspections can lead to sleep deprivation – or is it the other way around?

Temptation is a fickle mistress. Every single new iteration of the Range Rover series has made me, even for a moment, ruminate over the possibility of owning one. Many factors halt any form of progress in this area, usually, but not exclusively financial. I’ve enjoyed my Volvo S90 (Nimrod, for that is its name) for two and half years now, and the occasional thought of change does enter my mind. Why, is difficult to explain, for it never lasts long.

Recently, on a night when slumber evaded me, and having up to now successfully avoided any form of S90 update, I found myself looking more deeply. The results surprised me, not all of it being of the pleasant variety. Continue reading “Staying Up. Not Keeping Up”

Tick Tock

Ford’s Euro-pendulum swings, but is there time to Explore?

A number of years ago, Ford’s European marketing department initiated an advertising execution they called ‘Unlearn’, an attempt to nudge customer perception of the blue oval; essentially a variation of the somewhat clichéd ‘Think you understand brand X? Think again’ marketing trope. With Unlearn, Ford wanted us to Continue reading “Tick Tock”

The Stargazer of the Rue du Théâtre

The story of one visionary at Citroën’s Bureau des Etudes Avancées.

The Bureau des Etudes Avancées Citroën or BEA, under the direction of Pierre Jules Boulanger, was the idiosyncratic French carmaker’s creative ideas laboratory. Fittingly located at number 44 to 48 on the Rue du Théâtre in Paris, it exuded an air of secrecy and mystery. Not just engineers and stylists were employed there but also scientists, mathematicians, physicists and even an astronomer.

Born in 1891, Fridtjof Le Coultre came from the famous Swiss jewellery and watchmaking family of Jaeger-Le Coultre. He had worked as an astronomer at the observatory in Geneva for several years but left and moved to France in the early thirties after a dispute with his boss. There being not much demand for his trade, Le Coultre worked in various jobs to sustain himself and developed and sold an artificial marble-like material that enjoyed some popularity in decorative lamp-posts. Continue reading “The Stargazer of the Rue du Théâtre”

Hormone Replacement Vehicle

Long before the Evoque, there was the Honda HR-V.

If imitation really is the sincerest form of flattery, then Rover Group should have been mightily chuffed when Honda launched the CR-V in October 1995. The new soft-roader was uncannily similar to the Land Rover Freelander in conception, dimensions and even appearance. Those of you with a better memory than I will be quick to point out that the Freelander was not launched until October 1997, so how can the former possibly be an imitation of the latter?

Well, the story goes that during the characteristically tortuous and protracted development of the Land-Rover, which began in the late 1980s following the launch of the Discovery, Honda, as a 20% shareholder in Rover Group, had access to the company’s future model programme and immediately saw the potential of what would eventually become the Freelander⁽¹⁾. Because Honda was so much better focused and swifter in its development activities, the Japanese ‘Freelander’ beat its British counterpart to market by a full two years.

However, we are not here today to Continue reading “Hormone Replacement Vehicle”

Brisk Italian Style, Italian Values in Italy

In what appears to be a transcript from 1974, Archie Vicar reviews the all-new Innocenti Regent.

_{The article first appeared in the Kenilworth Gazette, Feb 28^th, 1974. Due to darkening of the paper, stock photos have been used. Original photography was by Edward Ian Dwindemere (sic).}

Although blighted by many endemic problems such as a casual attitude to time, indifference to accuracy and a fondness for garlic, some things about Italian manners can compensate to some extent and to some small measure. The cigarettes are cheap, the wine is inexpensive and occasionally they can Continue reading “Brisk Italian Style, Italian Values in Italy”

All Roads Lead to Rome

Ferrari’s quiet return to elegance.

Ferrari Roma Spider. Image: wordlesstech

It has been happening for some time, and while it hasn’t gone entirely unnoticed around these parts, it has until now been largely unacknowledged^[1]. Ferrari design has once more become a seat of elegance. This change in visual course from the visual coarseness of the post-millennial period has been a gradual one. It can probably be ascribed to the current design leadership, under the supervision of Flavio Manzoni, with perhaps some assistance by way of Pininfarina, while under the assured baton of Fabio Filippini.

This shift towards classicism was previewed by a number of low-volume, high-cost model runs aimed at the serious collector of Maranello ephemera, harking back to the much-revered designs of the 1950s, when Ferrari was first making a name for itself on the racetracks and amid the nascent jet-set. However, it was the 2020 advent of the Roma, a 2+2 coupé of surpassing elegance that this shift in stylistic direction truly landed.

In truth, Ferrari was on a losing pitch with its more combative post-millennial style, largely because no matter how aggressively outré their designs became, they would always be upstaged by their Sant’Agata Bolognese rival, for whom striking visual statements is their entire raison d’être. And latterly, with the likes of McLaren, Pagani and other more niche ateliers nipping at Lamborghini’s kitten heels, there really was only one logical direction for Maranello to Continue reading “All Roads Lead to Rome”

Benchmarks – Personal Luxury Coupés

Benchmarks come and then they go. Personal luxury coupes occupied the hottest sector of the American car market in the late ’70s and early ’80s. What were they?

1976 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme: America’s best selling car that year. Image: transpressnz

_{Editor’s note: This piece originally appeared as part of the Benchmarks Theme on DTW in March 2015.}

A personal luxury coupe is understood as a two door, four seat car with at least a V6 or ideally a V8. Whilst the advertising for these may have suggested sporting capability, the body-on-frame and bench seat reality spoke of cars whose main talent lay in getting quickly up to 65 mph and staying there from Baker, Ca. to Frederick, Md.

The image above is my idea of the archetype of this car. I don’t think Europe had equivalents of the PLC. Two-door Ford Granadas (such as the 1975 example owned by our stalwart contributor Myles Gorfe) don’t strike the same note. Whether with two doors or four they retain their Granada-ness (the Ghia fastback came a bit closer to the concept). The Opel Monza offered a sporty experience and isn’t formal enough. BMW’s 1976 633 CSi also promised and provided athletic capabilities. Perhaps Mercedes 450 SLC came closest of all as it was certainly luxurious, it had a V8 and the back seats were cramped for occasional use, despite the car’s length. Continue reading “Benchmarks – Personal Luxury Coupés”

Running With Scissors [Part Ten]

Sifting through the debris

“Top of the world, ma!” Image: Auto Bild

In the build-up to 1980’s Motorfair, where the crucially important Austin Mini-Metro was to make its public debut, BL’s TV advertising was to put it mildly, of a decidedly patriotic nature. An array of doughty Metros standing sentinel on Dover’s white cliffs to repel Britain’s foreign invaders certainly got the message across, but in any conflict situation, real or imaginary, there is always collateral damage.

Because within a year of Metro’s triumphant debut, Britain’s homegrown supermini had dealt Allegro a fatal blow. Despite their differences in size and mission, such was the level of domestic enthusiasm for Britain’s ‘car to beat the world’ that by the end of 1981, Allegro sales, already in freefall, had almost halved. For the BL board, the evidence was unequivocal, and under Sir Michael Edwardes’ pragmatic leadership, it was elected to Continue reading “Running With Scissors [Part Ten]”

Opel: Ireland’s No.1 Supporter

An insight into GM’s Irish satellite.

Arnold O’Byrne promoting his memoir. Image: newsfour.ie

It was somewhere mid-pandemic, and the book shelves had been exhausted. The situation could only be remedied with the delivery of a book called Shenanigans. Written by Arnold O’Byrne and with the sub-heading ‘Lifting the hood on General Motors’, it is the lively memoir of a Dublin native whose career in the motor industry began in 1966 as a senior financial clerk at Vauxhall’s Luton plant, to his retirement as Opel Ireland’s Managing Director at the turn of the millennium.

According to O’Byrne’s period characterisation of Luton, it was “not a pretty place.” The Bedfordshire town was home to a large Irish population at the time, many of whom worked either on building the new M1 motorway or in nearby factories, Vauxhall Motors being a major employer. O’Byrne’s account is littered with stories of him dealing with fiery senior staff, bullies and corporate ladder climbers – some better than others. His first encounter saw him about to Continue reading “Opel: Ireland’s No.1 Supporter”

On Your Marks (Part Two)

Continuing our tour through the illustrious history of the Lincoln Mark line, illustrated by the brochures that promoted each generation.

Concerns about air pollution and a fuel crisis being about a change in direction for the Mark line.

Mark 4 1972-1976

The larger, heavier but less powerful Mark 4, again based on the Ford Thunderbird, ushered in the (often clumsily executed) federally required ‘5mph’ bumpers⁽¹⁾, but also introduced the successful Designer Series. America and its roads were changing in the early seventies: the exciting muscle cars were all but gone and there was a shift towards luxury and convenience features as regulations effectively strangled the large V8s with anti-pollution devices. Those big blocks had never been designed with low fuel consumption or clean emissions in mind, so any expectation of stirring performance had now become futile. Continue reading “On Your Marks (Part Two)”

That’ll be the, er…Chevrolet? (Part Two)

Would new models bolster Chevrolet’s tenuous foothold in the European automotive market?

Chevrolet Orlando. Image: gmauthority.com

Chevrolet’s 2005 relaunch in Europe was, to say the least, a rather understated affair, with a model range that was composed entirely of rebadged and very mildly facelifted Daewoo models from South Korea. Although the first new Chevrolet model for Europe, the Captiva crossover, had been unveiled at the Paris motor show in September 2004, it did not go on sale until early 2006. Nevertheless, European sales for 2005 came in at 211,737⁽²⁾ units, representing a modest 1.87% increase over the previous year. This was respectable, but certainly not the step-change that General Motors might have hoped for following the rebranding.

Chevrolet abandoned Daewoo’s unique marketing proposition of fixed price sales and outsourced servicing. Instead, it set about establishing a traditional dealer network, often paired with existing Opel or Vauxhall dealerships. How this was viewed by the dealerships concerned is open to speculation: did it provide potential for increased sales, or simply unwanted internal competition and added complexity and confusion? Continue reading “That’ll be the, er…Chevrolet? (Part Two)”

Vroom the Bell Tolls

Desperate times – desperate measures.

It’s very much like the old look, so maybe don’t look too closely? Image: Troxel’s Auto Literature

Allegro 3 arrived onto the market in Autumn 1979 and the BL marketing machine, amid the grinding of E-Series gears, stirred into life. “SuperVroom”, the promotional copy declared, and a nation held its breath. Or perhaps not. Amid the lexicon of advertising taglines, it was no exclamative for the ages. Indeed for most casual observers, it meant little and bore even less relation to the product being placed in front of them. But amid the siege mentality that permeated BL’s Bickenhill corporate fortress circa-1979, the marketing teams, much like their equivalents elsewhere in the organisation had to Continue reading “Vroom the Bell Tolls”

Monday, Monday

Extra, Rapid, Express. Those three words sound well together. All of them did service as the badge of this Renault 5 spin-off.

For the UK and Ireland, the car bore an Express badge. In France, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Japan, Taiwan people knew them as Express. And if you lived in Germany, or Austria you had to Continue reading “Monday, Monday”

Love Is A Battlefield

A (power) ballad to Pontiac.

We are young, heartache to heartache we stand…

Idly perusing a non-car related website recently, the Pat Benatar tune in question popped into my head and refused to leave. The song was inspiration enough to look back at a time when power dressing, Miami Vice, blocky computer graphics along with a host of mediocre cars from the largest producers were prevalent. So dig out that shell suit and pop MTV on at full volume; today we peer into the Pontiac 6000.

The 1980s were not considered by many to be one of General Motors creative highs. After all, dishing up the same sauce with barely a badge flavoured difference was hardly a recipe to Continue reading “Love Is A Battlefield”

Running With Scissors [Part Nine]

Speed of Life.

The Allegro’s honeymoon period had been relatively short lived, falling victim on one hand to British Leyland’s parlous labour-relations and a rapid deterioration in the public’s confidence in the vehicle on the other; the latter being consequent to well publicised issues of build and design. By mid-decade, it was apparent that the car was not selling anywhere near the volumes projected and nor was it likely to.

The relaunched 1975 Allegro 2 was therefore what many observers believed the car ought to have been from the outset. Attention had been paid to concerns raised by customers and the press; in particular with regards to the suspension, which was better damped, and improved rear seat accommodation, the result of a redesigned seat pan^[1]. A large number of other, mostly minor changes (the cosmetic ones certainly were) led to a more rounded, better realised product, if one which steadfastly remained in the shadow of better selling (mostly) imported rivals^[2].

But with BL having to repeatedly go cap in hand to the UK government’s National Enterprise Board to Continue reading “Running With Scissors [Part Nine]”

Big and Dumb and Much the Better For It.

Driven To Write assesses an underdog.

2010 Chevrolet Epica 2.0 L6 Turbo diesel. All images: The author.

_{Editor’s note: This article made its first appearance on DTW in July 2014.}

Tinselly, crudely assembled and unattractive sums it up, but luckily that’s just the Chevrolet badge on the bootlid. The rest of the car surprised me by being vastly better than the reputation suggested. The Chevrolet Epica has ended its six year production run and perhaps its reputation needs a little burnishing. I’ll tell you why: there’s very little wrong with the Epica and a lot that’s right.

Regular readers will Continue reading “Big and Dumb and Much the Better For It.”

On Your Marks (Part One)

We embark on a tour through the illustrious history of the Lincoln Mark line, illustrated by the brochures that promoted each generation.

A glamorous start, a mid-life rewriting of history, and styling triumphs as well as miscues: during a lifespan of almost six decades, the Lincoln Mark line experienced it all.

Continental, 1940-1948

When Edsel Ford, Henry Ford’s style-conscious but medically frail son, commissioned Lincoln’s chief stylist Eugene T. Gregorie to Continue reading “On Your Marks (Part One)”

That’ll be the, er…Chevrolet? (Part One)

Just one of many indignities heaped upon the storied US marque by its abusive parent, General Motors.

Chevrolet is a truly iconic automotive name. The company was founded in 1911 by Swiss-born racing car driver and motor engineer Louis Chevrolet. His partners in the new venture were his brother, Arthur, and William C. Durant. The latter had been fired by General Motors in 1910, just two years after he had co-founded GM to be a holding company for The Buick Motor Company, which he owned, and the simultaneously acquired Olds Motor Works, manufacturer of Oldsmobile cars.

The US auto industry evolved very rapidly in the second decade of the 20^th Century. Chevrolet fell out with Durant in 1914 and sold his share in the fledgling but already successful company. The automaker continued to thrive, to the extent that Durant was able to buy a controlling stake in General Motors in 1918, folding Chevrolet in as another division of the rapidly growing conglomerate.

In the years that followed, General Motors tried to Continue reading “That’ll be the, er…Chevrolet? (Part One)”

Please Indulge Sensibly

Luxury on a smaller scale.

The North American car buyer has never been entirely comfortable with the notion of good things in small packages. I generalise of course, but in automotive terms at least, attempts at creating a more compact telling of the automotive fable have not met with rapturous success.

Not that all foundered on purely ideological grounds – these attempts frequently proving a somewhat difficult stylistic pill for the consumer to swallow, having been weaned on considerably more expansive nostrums of automotive desire. But as cities became ever more congested and environmental concerns grew, US carmakers sought more inventive ways to Continue reading “Please Indulge Sensibly”

VW Golf Plus In Nameplate Dropped Shock!

Goodbye, VW Golf Plus, we’ll miss you. Hello, VW Sportsvan.

_{Editor’s note: This piece originally aired on DTW in August 2014. The Golf Sportsvan ceased production in 2020.}

Some readers may have missed the news that VW’s much loved GolfPlus nameplate has been discontinued. The new name to watch is Sportsvan and doubtless it will win as much affection as the outgoing one. The replacement car was shown at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2013 and is now on sale.

Let’s Continue reading “VW Golf Plus In Nameplate Dropped Shock!”

Imagine the Spin of the Willowherb Hawkmoth, Can You?

Toyota presented the Celica as their response to the Ford Mustang of 1964.

1970-1977 Toyota Celica (A20; A30) All images: The author.

The Celica Mk1 lasted a surprisingly long time, staying in production until 1977. The Celica here, spotted in Oslo in 2021, doesn’t at all look as butch as a Mustang. This is the 2-door hardtop (there was a three-door liftback) which is more likely to Continue reading “Imagine the Spin of the Willowherb Hawkmoth, Can You?”

Mother Knows Best

America’s prime mover.

As a brand, modern day Chrysler has become something of an oddity. In the United States, they currently offer two vehicles, and once the soon to depart 300 shuffles off, a rather svelte mover of (mainly) families will (for the present at least) ply the Pentastar’s trade alone – the Chrysler Pacifica.

To ascertain the background to this vehicle, we must first Continue reading “Mother Knows Best”

Running With Scissors [Part Eight]

Show me my rival.

When the ADO16 1100 was introduced in 1962, it had few natural rivals, nothing comparable from a technological or conceptual basis at least – a matter which did much to enhance its appeal. A decade later, when Allegro landed as its successor (and not withstanding its relative qualities), the landscape had altered considerably. Front-wheel drive was becoming, if not quite yet the norm, certainly a good deal more common amongst the more progressively minded of Europe’s carmakers, if not the outposts of the American multinationals. Furthermore, BLMC’s European rivals were making rather a good fist of it.

From British Leyland’s perspective then, the advent of Allegro was an opportunity for the carmaker not only to Continue reading “Running With Scissors [Part Eight]”

New Positions in Car Design

If you suffer from metamfiezomaiophobia⁽¹⁾ you should look away now.

Within the circle of those who habitually frequent these pages, the Italian architect and industrial designer Mario Bellini (born 1935) is most likely best known for his contribution to the facelifted Lancia Beta and the Trevi: the controversial ‘Swiss cheese’ dashboard was his brainchild. Bellini ventured into the automotive spectrum on a few other occasions as well, one of which resulted in today’s subject.

Bellini, who among other things designed lamps for Artemide, office furniture for Vitra, fountain pens, coffeemakers and Olivetti typewriters, emphasises that he always designs like an architect, regardless of the subject at hand. The cultural aspect of architectural design, organizing the world for better living, was always close to his heart. When invited by the New York Museum of Modern Art in 1972 to Continue reading “New Positions in Car Design”

Missing the Marque: Volkswagen Fox

A developing markets car that was out of tune with European tastes.

The Volkswagen Group doesn’t do cheap and cheerful. Its four⁽¹⁾ mass-market brands all have a reputation for producing high quality⁽²⁾ cars. One can reasonably argue that these brands are insufficiently well differentiated from each other in terms of quality of materials, build and equipment. Hence, Volkswagen has too much overlap between its brands so has not maximised its potential total market coverage.

The company must have watched on enviously as Renault resurrected the moribund Romanian Dacia marque and turned it into a highly successful budget brand, which is exactly what Volkswagen might have done with Škoda. That appeared to be the plan when the first wholly VW-era Škoda, the 1996 Octavia, was launched. This was a larger but cheaper and plainer take on the Golf. Subsequent models, however, became increasingly sophisticated, to the extent that there is little to Continue reading “Missing the Marque: Volkswagen Fox”

Allegro Aperto

Aggro gets its top off.

The Allegro has never been a car synonymous with the notion of frivolity, not of the intentional variety at least. It was however, no stranger to satire or derision, not least its somewhat self-important looking flagship model^[1]. But while the Vanden Plas 1500 variant may have represented the zenith of Allegro’s upmarket ambitions, it was not the rarest of the breed. That plaudit rests with the most exotic of Allegri, the Crayford Convertible. Continue reading “Allegro Aperto”

The Superb Skoda – A Mixed Blessing

The latest Superb is a very nice thing, but I’m concerned that it lacks the essence of Skoda.

2015 Skoda Superb parkers — 2015 Skoda Superb: Parkers

_{Editor’s note: Back in January 2016, DTW author, S V Robinson expressed his concerns over Skoda’s direction of travel, which is worth revisiting anno-2023, as Mladá Boleslav prepares a new generation Superb.}

The other morning I had the pleasure of parking up at Milton Keynes Central Station car park early, and was struck by the profile and form of the two cars between which I had inserted my C6 (I still can’t drive a manual, which is no significant hardship really, but now I’m threatened once again with immobility as the Citroen’s power steering is definitely on the blink – there always seems to be something …) It was still quite dark, with just the dull glimmer of a January dawn to take the edge off the night sky, together with the drizzling amber tones of artificial lighting, and so it took me a moment to Continue reading “The Superb Skoda – A Mixed Blessing”

“Más vale tarde que nunca!!”

Dialling in Opel Ampera in Wikipedia summons a redirect to the Chevrolet Volt. They must mean Bolt (as it was known in the US).

Opel Ampera-e, Oslo, Norway, 2021. All images: The author.

None of the cars in the Wikipedia Volt article are this specimen, an Ampera-E. A site called EV database informs us the Ampera-E could be ordered in Germany and Holland. It provides some information such as that when fully charged the car could very easily Continue reading ““Más vale tarde que nunca!!””

A Game Of Two Halves

Three friends head out of deepest South Yorkshire to see how the Midland’s made cars in 2009.

On the 18th January 2008, Tata Motors purchased two illustrious British car brands from Ford, in the process establishing Jaguar Land Rover, aka JLR . Your author, along with many of our readership will no doubt remember the motoring magazines introducing this new Jaguar dawn, fresh with Indian money. At the time of our trip to the West Bromwich plant, the factory produced both XF and XJ models, considered by the press to be something of a relaunch for the Leaping Cat’s fortunes and capable of bloodying their German rivals’ noses.

Our November dawn was leaden, with heavy traffic heading south. As memory serves, we paid nothing for the privilege of the tour. Having registered our names sometime earlier, we were ticked off in school register fashion and like good school children wore our high visibility jackets and protective goggles without question. Informed the plant could be noisy, no ear defenders were proffered but we were told to Continue reading “A Game Of Two Halves”

Running With Scissors [Part Seven]

Aggro on the shopfloor

The early 1970s was a volatile time in Britain. Hopes of lasting prosperity were dissolving amid galloping inflation, socio-political strife, ineffectual government interventions to prop up a stalling economy and a seething dissatisfaction amidst the toiling classes, fed up with being overpromised and repeatedly brought up short.

Throughout the previous decade, car manufacturing plants across the UK had become a hotbed of political foment, and those of the former British Motor Corporation were amongst the most restive – owing to an array of factors which included a myopic and at times, barely competent management and successive government policies, which had the (perhaps unintentional) effect of denying workers a reliable source of income^[1].

The labour factor

Pay was a perennial issue, but so were working conditions, those within many British car plants being not too far evolved from the pre-war era. Neither plant, machinery nor working practices had been modernised, conditions were primitive and given the at best ambivalent attitude of management towards line workers, there was little incentive for them to Continue reading “Running With Scissors [Part Seven]”

All Aboard!

Leaving the car keys on the kitchen counter for a change and boarding a train…

…but with a twist, in that the rail vehicles described here today are well and truly connected to the car business. In the course of the twentieth century, several car manufacturers and one important supplier thereof have entered the train manufacturing realm for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it was a case of simple survival after economic depression or war undermined their existing business, other times it was a way of promoting the virtues of a core product, or an attempt to Continue reading “All Aboard!”

It Should Have Been Simple

The 1996 Octavia should have set the template for all future Škoda models, but it didn’t turn out that way.

In a piece I recently penned on another Volkswagen Group model, I opined that the group’s four mass-market brands are insufficiently well differentiated from each other, so the scope of their market coverage in Europe is narrower than it should be and there is a greater than optimal overlap between brands and models, inevitably leading to some cannibalisation of sales. Ideally, their market positioning should be broadly as follows:

Audi: premium luxury and sporting.
Volkswagen: semi-premium, nominally classless, but certainly perceived as upmarket of mainstream rivals.
SEAT: youthful, stylish, fashion-conscious but not too avant-garde or left-field.
Škoda: budget, practical, strong value proposition, car as domestic appliance.

How might we Continue reading “It Should Have Been Simple”

Something Rotten In Denmark: 1993 Nissan 100 NX 1.6 SLX

This is not so bad. And it’s cheap. It’s the Nissan 100 NX.

_{Editor’s note: This article first appeared on Driven to Write on 2 December 2015.}

As with so many of these types of cars, they dissolve into obscurity and when you eventually chance upon them they look much better than you remember them. We have discussed in these pages design rationalism of the French and German types. In the Nissan 100 NX we see some more of this. The way the shutlines and panel gaps are set up is very disciplined indeed. Look at the way the bonnet shutline goes without interruption from one side of the window base to the other. Continue reading “Something Rotten In Denmark: 1993 Nissan 100 NX 1.6 SLX”

Turin Type Transformation

Abarth is not the only fruit

Lasting forty four years – 1926-70, Siata, originally the Societá Italiano Applicazioni Trasformazioni Automobilistiche, started out as engine tuners but would become manufacturers of lauded machinery, available postwar from the via Leonado da Vinci, Turin.

Giorgio Ambrosino started out as an amateur racing driver, but before long developed an ambition to Continue reading “Turin Type Transformation”

Running With Scissors [Part Six]

Expediency starts with an E.

Nobody can truly escape their past, a statement that holds as true in the automotive domain as it does in the human one. Legacies, either from prior or existing BLMC products would become a leitmotif of Allegro’s dolorous story – a statement underlined by the issues surrounding its powertrain, which consisted of both the venerable A-Series engines and the more latterly developed E-Series units, inherited from the Maxi programme.

Allegro’s predecessor had been offered in 1098 and later on, in 1275 cc versions, the latter being something of a late addition to the range and one which proved popular with the buying public; improved performance having become a selling point with customers given the manner in which the UK’s motorway network had grown. It is likely that a further stretch in capacity would have gone down better still with more affluent buyers, but when a larger capacity engine did become available, it became earmarked for other purposes^[1].

The powertrain factor

The E-Series engine family had never been intended for ADO16. It came about primarily because former BMC Chairman, Sir George Harriman didn’t Continue reading “Running With Scissors [Part Six]”

Wolfsburg Wanderings

A rogue sporty Beetle, a not entirely successful Asian alliance and an aborted attempt at conquering the WRC crown: meet three Volkswagen oddities.

Mach 1: the word will produce a glint in the eye of muscle car aficionados, reminded as they are of manly Mustangs in lively hues powered by a good old fashioned big V8 burbling on premium leaded fuel instead of the watered down stuff that passes for gasoline nowadays.

There was however another Mach 1 which preceded the first so-badged Mustang by four years, and the vehicle first adorned with the moniker could almost not have been further removed from the Mustang in any knowable dimension; meet the Volkswagen Beetle Mach 1.

The Volkswagen distributor for Belgium since 1948, D’Ieteren Frères S.A., wanted to Continue reading “Wolfsburg Wanderings”

Missing the Marque: Renault Koleos

If you fail, try again. Of course, you might fail again.

Renault is rightly credited with producing the first European⁽¹⁾ MPV, the 1984 Espace. Whether or not the company was gifted with great foresight in doing so is a moot point, however. The Espace had been brought to Renault by Matra as an already completed design, one that had originally been commissioned by Chrysler Europe. After Peugeot-Citroën purchased Chrysler’s European operations in 1978, it struggled to rehabilitate the ailing business, hence it rejected the design as too niche and risky, forcing Matra to seek another partner.

In any event, the Espace was successful and this encouraged Renault to Continue reading “Missing the Marque: Renault Koleos”

Allegro Con Spazio

Making a case for Allegro’s load-lugger.

Allegro Estate. Image: classiccarcatalogue

Today, we take a brief hiatus from our analysis of Allegro and its commercial fate to return briefly to aspects of its style, and in particular, to the third ADO67 bodystyle to be offered.

Closely aping its predecessor, Allegro was introduced as a single format bob-tailed saloon – with two or four doors – and unlike its stablemate Marina, both Allegri employed the same silhouette and styling theme^[1]. Of the two saloons, the two-door might be considered the most cohesive, a factor which could be explained by its cleaner, less cluttered DLO treatment, which did away with the four-door’s rear quarterlight. In the photo appended below, one can appreciate this and just maybe, Continue reading “Allegro Con Spazio”

As Orange Tip Flutters To Garlic Mustard

It’s high time I turned your attention to some design details: K is for Kia.

For this post I will be trying to persuade you to Continue reading “As Orange Tip Flutters To Garlic Mustard”

Running With Scissors [Part Five]

The pen is mightier…

The power of the written word can be sometimes overstated, although this is not a position the gentlemen of the press generally care to acknowledge. Certainly, a poor review can hurt a new product, but it usually takes more than an unfavourable report to fatally damage its prospects, just as it takes more than one breathless review to create a hit. But for the historian attempting to Continue reading “Running With Scissors [Part Five]”

Meet Me In The City

Oh, Carol!

Upon a recent return to the old workplace, my peripheral vision was piqued by a small blue craft as I journeyed past the garage opposite. Office tasks completed in well under an hour, I sauntered across the road to inspect this gem a little closer. An Autozam Carol – goodness!

For the uninitiated (myself at first, included), in the 1990s, Mazda were not only cash rich but ambitious enough to launch five sub-brands: Xedos, Eunos, Efini, Amati and Autozam. Many of this parish will already Continue reading “Meet Me In The City”

No Parking

The first McLaren badged road-legal car built in series production wasn’t named F1.

Mrs. Muscat had a parking problem: it was not a case of a lack of available spaces at the Ford Motor Company offices where she worked, but the company’s strict ‘no foreign vehicles’ policy meant that she was not allowed to park her car, a R107 Mercedes-Benz SL, on the premises. Having to find a parking space within a reasonable distance each day was of course an inconvenience, but she loved her SL and its al fresco option for sunny days. Thus she asked her husband, Maltese born engineer Peter Muscat, to Continue reading “No Parking”

Light Fantastic (Part Two)

Continuing the story of the 1994 A8, the car that propelled Audi into the German premium car firmament.

After the very striking polished aluminium Audi Spaceframe Concept of 1993, the 1994 production A8, a car that majored on subtlety over ostentation, was bound to be something of an anti-climax, if only in visual terms. It was certainly not a car for those who wanted to flaunt their wealth and success. For those who looked at it more deeply, however, there was plenty to appreciate.

Car Magazine covered the A8 in an extensive eight-page feature published in the May 1994 issue of the magazine. Journalist Georg Kacher introduced it boldly as “a technical marvel, a marvellous car.” A source at Audi was quoted as saying that “the old V8 cost us a lot of money, but the new [A8] is going to lose us a small fortune.” In order to establish itself in the luxury saloon market, Audi expected to Continue reading “Light Fantastic (Part Two)”

Audi – Always the Pretender?

And What Is Wrong With Putting the Engine in Front of the Wheels?

_{Editor’s note: This piece first appeared on DTW in June 2014.}

Audi are in danger of becoming the Phil Collins of the petrolhead world, an act that even people who know little about music like to cite as being a bit off. Speaking as someone who can, hand on heart, swear that he has no murky Genesis related skeletons in his youthful musical vinyl rack and hopes he’ll never hear ‘Against All Odds’ on the radio again, I’d judge that Mr Collins is no worse than many, and better than scores.

Changing fashion means that he has just become a lazy symbol for bad comedians and the generally undiscerning to latch on to in order to suggest, quite undeservedly, their musical connoisseurship. Likewise Audi. In bars and on motoring websites everywhere, you will hear the drone of “overrated and overpriced …. style over content …. they’re all designed on a photocopier …. no driver involvement ….. they’ll never really be premier league until they Continue reading “Audi – Always the Pretender?”

Running With Scissors [Part Four]

Hydragas was Allegro’s big innovation. But was it the right one?

The Moulton factor

While scoping the successor to any best-selling product, there is always something of a tension between the urge to innovate and the desire to Continue reading “Running With Scissors [Part Four]”

Chiselled

Not by steel but water.

Alpine, they of sporting Renault-based pedigree, was founded by Jean Rédélé in 1955, since then carving out a niche of elegant, rapid machinery. Having made a name for itself, not to mention an illustrious competition record with the seminal Alpine A110, its radical looking 1971 GT successor – the A310 – featured a wedge-shaped design inspired by de Tomaso’s Mangusta along with Ferrari’s Daytona and was something of a directional change for the Dieppe-based manufacturer.

This dainty dart weighing just 900Kgs, with a steel backbone and fibreglass bodywork might just squeeze four humans inside and gave the Nunelfer something to Continue reading “Chiselled”

Bonsai Buick

Shrink-fitting the American dream to size.

In a now distant past, many car manufacturers located in the old world – as well as in emerging Japan – looked to the USA when it came to desirable features to adapt and styling to emulate. Several specific circumstances in areas of the globe outside America such as taxation laws, fuel prices, disposable income and available space on roads and in city centres resulted in the stateside amenities, and especially the styling, mostly to emerge elsewhere in reduced form.

To name just some, Peugeot’s 402, the Volvo PV444, Vauxhall’s Victor F and Cresta PA and the Japanese Prince Skyline all displayed a clear American influence in their appearance. Even Ferrari proved not immune to the trend, witness the finned 410 SuperAmerica.

Opel and Vauxhall especially – the European subsidiaries of GM – would find their styling direction in virtual lockstep with GM’s American brands for years, although the end-product would invariably not only Continue reading “Bonsai Buick”

Light Fantastic (Part One)

At the fourth attempt, Audi finally produced a luxury saloon to challenge the Mercedes-Benz S-Class head-on.

Audi is now a fully-fledged member of the German premium triumvirate. Together with rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz, it dominates the European market for such vehicles. However, its entry to this exclusive club was neither quick nor straightforward and its early attempts to join were met largely with indifference by the market.

The first car that Audi attempted to pitch above its traditional E-segment ceiling was the 1979 200 saloon. This was based on the 1976 C2-generation Audi 100 and was little more than a plushly trimmed version of that car, distinguished externally by slightly chintzy looking quad rectangular headlamps lifted from the US version of the 100⁽¹⁾ and a thick perimeter rubbing strip that ran along the lower bodysides and continued around the front and rear of the car above the bumpers. Continue reading “Light Fantastic (Part One)”