Entry-level, Gothenburg style.
The opportunity was there for the taking. With Nimrod (my Volvo S90) in for his annual service, the weather dry and bright and only myself to fall out with, I wandered from Service Desk to Sales Area with some trepidation. There is always that certain feeling of unease when handing over the key — butterflies regarding the dreaded phone call, ‘nothing to worry about, Mr Miles, but… Continue reading “Sensitive Initial Conditions”
An Easter treat from Lancia.
Faith: (n) “A strong or unshakable belief in something, especially without proof or evidence”.
For the true believer, faith represents certainty, a confidence which strengthens and sustains through strife and adversity. Closely aligned with hope, in the absence of either quality, the penitent would find it almost impossible to abide.
It is also a word closely associated with the house of Lancia, for to be a Lancista is truly to believe. For observants, fealty to the historic and storied nameplate has carried with it an element of blind faith — a certainty that in the face of all known logic, not to mention the testimony of their own eyes, that somehow, the Turin-based carmaker would return from its latter-day revenant state to life and to light. Hope, on the other hand, has been in considerably shorter supply.
When it was announced in 2021 that Stellantis, under the stewardship of Carlos Tavares was prepared to Continue reading “Promised You A Miracle”
It was not just tailfins.
From the moment he stood upright for the first time, man harboured the desire to fly. It would take thousands of years before that dream would become a reality and, even then, with the likes of Freddie Laker, ValuJet, Ryanair, Easyjet and such still a few decades away, one reserved only for the very well-heeled. And then there was, of course, the exploration of space, an endeavour to be entrusted only to a select group of national heroes, but nevertheless food for the pride, ambitions and dreams of entire nations.
In post-war America(1), not everybody could afford to board an airplane, but a rapidly expanding section of the population was able to buy a car. Then perhaps more than nowadays, the car meant freedom and opening up new horizons. It was also a means to express one’s dreams and ambitions, even if those ambitions reached further than anywhere four wheels could take you. If you were as yet unable to Continue reading “Four Wheeled Jet Set”
Continuing our exploration of Ford’s many and varied Maverick badged models.
After a compact saloon for the Americas and a rebadged Nissan Patrol for Australia, to what would Ford next apply the versatile Maverick badge?
Ford Maverick, 1993 to 1999:
Ford’s third model to carry the Maverick name was, like the second, a rebadged Nissan, albeit from Spain rather than Japan this time. The Nissan Terrano II was a compact SUV for the European market(1) manufactured by Nissan Motor Ibérica S.A. It was also supplied in very lightly modified form to Ford of Europe, who sold it as the Maverick.
Following the highly successful launch of the Land-Rover Discovery in 1989, Ford observed the growing popularity of SUVs in Europe but had nothing to Continue reading “Unbranded Steers (Part Two)”
The keys to the executive lounge are hard-won. Sometimes you’ve got to force your way in.
Editor’s note: This article was first published on DTW in November 2016.
The 1986 E32 BMW 7-Series may not have been as polarising a styling statement as its E65 descendant, but if anything, it was to prove a more significant car. Bayerische Motoren Werke’s “Here’s Johnny” moment; it represented a point where BMW took a metaphorical axe to the boardroom door and gave their Swabian rivals the fright of their lives. Its style also inspired an entire generation of BMW saloons, introducing the distinctive (and patented) L-shaped tail-lamp motif.
Up to that point, BMW’s success had pivoted around more compact offerings, their upscale models proving a more difficult sell against the eternal benchmark Sindelfingen flagship. The 1977 (E23) 7-Series marked the Bavarian carmaker’s first serious attempt to Continue reading “Benz Buster”
DTW Considers The Alternative German Big Three
Editor’s note. This piece was originally published on DTW in May 2015.
At the end of the 1950s, there was a sizeable group of home-owned players in the German industry, but we shall concentrate initially on three of them — Borgward, NSU and Glas. Only the first few paragraphs of this piece are fact, the rest is entirely speculation as to how things could have worked out quite differently, yet might have ended up much the same.
Borgward had been making cars since the 1920s. They were fast to restart manufacture after the War, being the first German company to put an all new car into production, the Hansa 1500. This was replaced in 1954 by the mid-sized Isabella and that was joined in 1959 by both the larger six-cylinder P100 and the smaller Arabella, featuring a flat 4 boxer that Subaru is believed to have used as a reference point when developing their own engine.
Having a decent and attractive range, with innovative yet sensible specifications, Borgward’s pricing was keen, undercutting similar Mercedes models. The only problems were a reputation for introducing under-developed cars too early and, crucially, Carl Borgward’s attitude that the best way to Continue reading “Alternative Paths In An Unpredictable Industry”
In what seems to be a verbatim transcript of a period article, renowned motoring correspondent, Archie Vicar, provides a summary of his motoring week in late 1958.
Note: The article appeared in the Liverpool Evening Express, a newspaper based in Liverpool, England, November 2nd, 1958. Due to the lack of accompanying photographs, stock images have been used. Paper damage of the source means the transcript is incomplete.
The Fifteen-Sixty motor car is manufactured by the great English marque, Wolseley. In recent weeks it has been my task to assess this fine motor car’s merits in the course of extended driving duties. To that particular end I have driven the Fifteen-Sixty to my appointments around England, reported here. Regular readers may be cognizant of the fact that the Fifteen-Sixty is a recent addition to the Wolseley range and it stands at a shade over 59 inches high. To effect the forward propulsion of the car, Wolseley Continue reading “Motoring Week: A week of motoring by Archie Vicar”
Meaningless Retail Prices…
Money, the great intractable without which sees few cars sold. DTW is no financial advice institution; we’re more concerned with aspects of vehicle design and culture, but nevertheless understand the need and use of filthy lucre. Which is the jumping off point for today’s peregrinations, where I attempt to Continue reading “The Empty Handed Traveler Whistles His Way Past the Highwayman”
BMW’s reinvented flagship: Approach with care.
It’s a noisy world out there. Making oneself heard amid all the sturm und drang has become increasingly problematic, especially when the message from the disruptors, the futurists is that you represent the old guard, offer yesterday’s solution. Back in your box, grandad.
What are commonly derided as legacy carmakers — or in other words, those who have been in business for longer than a half-century[1] are facing several crises at once — and while not yet existential, the crisis of relevance they are facing now is exercising the occupants of legacy boardrooms from Sochaux to Sindelfingen, from Michigan to Milbertshofen as much as anything more pressing. After all, how do you counter those voices that claim the future, when not only your product portfolio, but your entire business model is rooted in the past?
These are thorny issues, and for now, they are problems which no legacy carmaker has successfully addressed. But that does not mean that they are sitting on their hands. Hence today, we journey to Hamburg to Continue reading “Where Are We Now?”
Memento Mori.
In well over a century since the birth of the automotive industry, many scores of automobile manufacturers have been established, with just a tiny minority of them ultimately surviving to the present day. This series aims to provide compact accounts of a selection of nameplates that have fallen by the wayside, starting with Glas. This is the story of how overambition fatally undermined a healthy company in the space of little more than a decade. Continue reading “Book of the Dead – Glas”
Think you know the Ford Maverick? Think again.
The Ford Motor Company has historically been expert at extracting maximum utility from its engineering, often repackaging old (and sometimes outdated) mechanical components into shiny new bodywork and cheekily presenting the result as ‘all-new’. The vehicles engineered in this manner might have been far from the cutting edge of automotive innovation, but owners were generally satisfied to trade novelty and sophistication for reliability and cheap running costs, and the company’s bottom-line benefited accordingly.
Ford has also been adept at recycling its model names, often for vehicles far removed from the original. The current Puma crossover bears little relationship to its Fiesta-based coupé predecessor, at least in market positioning terms, while the recycling of the iconic Mustang name as a sub-brand for a mid-sized EV crossover has caused no little disquiet amongst fans of the original.
Another name borrowed from the animal kingdom that has served many and varied uses within the Ford empire is Maverick(1), although the majority of models to bear this name were not Fords at all, but rebadged products from other manufacturers. Today we throw open the farmyard gates to Continue reading “Unbranded Steers (Part One)”
And Westminster. Quite a list for those interested in cars named after UK destinations.
Editor’s note: On behalf of the editorial team, I’d like to wish all our readers a very happy Easter. This article first appeared on DTW in December 2016 as part of the ‘Places’ theme.
They don’t do that anymore, do they? Yet the Americans are still happily driving around in their Aspens, Tahoes, Malibus and Colorados. Seat, to my knowledge still sell an Ibiza, Ateca and Leon. The French and Germans are less willing to use their place names for their products[1], are they not?
The case of the United Kingdom is curious. The French and Germans never really went in for celebrating their lovely towns: Bamberg, Bordeaux, Aix-en-Provence, Miltenberg, say. The Spanish are still doing it. The British did and gave up. That change makes it an interesting case. What has happened to the British (I am not British, by the way) to make them Continue reading “Places: Oxford, Cambridge, Blenheim, Hereford, Somerset”
The Farina-bodied BMC saloons would become ubiquitous Sixties fare. We examine an early verdict, courtesy of The Autocar.
Editor’s note: This piece was first published on DTW in January 2019.
The very first of a new generation of Pininfarina-bodied medium saloons from BMC, Wolseley’s 15/60 model was introduced in December 1958 before going on sale in early 1959. This new series would take BMC’s multi-marque strategy to previously unheard of heights (some might choose to invert that statement), with a succession of models quickly following, all sharing identical bodyshells and technical specifications, apart from minor changes to engine tune and detail styling. Widely derided as ‘badge-engineering’, it proved a commercial success for BMC, but one which ultimately came with considerable reputational cost.
The Autocar published its first road test of the 15/60 on 13 March 1959. The test car retailed at £991.7s, including purchase tax. Not (then) noted for sensationalism, The Autocar writer’s style was drier than a chilled glass of Gordon’s gin (other brands are available), but with a little gentle sifting one can Continue reading “Road Test Retrospective : 1959 Wolseley 15/60”
Every four years Toyota has a go at doing a new version of a really exceptional large saloon and tries to make it better every time. From whence might this drive for revision emerge?
The curious aspect of this unending drive to produce a really good, straightforward car is that the results can be deceptively plain. I had to Continue reading “Like the Light Touch of a Spanish Festoon’s Wingtips On Your Cheek”
Salut Grand-Austral, adieu Espace.
Established and trusted brand names are too valuable to be taken lightly or bandied about carelessly. Were this not so, why would businesses spend €millions dreaming up suitable examples, before market-testing them across global audiences, then expending years nurturing, marketing and developing them? Has Groupe Renault somehow missed a memo?
For decades now, Espace meant only one thing to those of an automotive bent. A large French monospace MPV — for many European motorists (and their passengers), the original (and best) of the species. Renault, as much by good fortune as outright bravery, got to market first with a product which would prove so utterly definitive that no other carmaker could Continue reading “Espace – The Final Frontier”
Commutable conundrums.
I used to enjoy driving. Manual gearboxes, open roads, the process of learning routes, freedom. These days most of my driving consists of commuting. This boils down to hoping the traffic light Gods remain green, that the pedestrian doesn’t ‘chance it’ or that we can make the next junction. Apex-carving or rewarding it’s not. Driving has become a chore but at least Nimrod, my Volvo S90 offers luxurious seats, excellent sound quality and the bonus of automatic everything. Steering involves the fingertips, the occasional furious (in more than one sense) braking manoeuvre and often futile attempts to Continue reading “Heaven 17”
More lessons in Italian.
The Bel Paese has been described as the only workshop in the world that can turn out both Botticellis and Berlusconis. Likewise, Italy’s automotive track record is marked by both triumphs and tragedies. Between these two extremes lies a wide, fertile area in which little known curiosities can be found, a selection of which we feature today. Continue reading “Il Secondo”
A properly old car is a rare sight in Ireland these days.
It has been about five months since my partner and I moved from Suffolk, England, to the town of Cobh on the south coast of Ireland. While Cobh is only a few miles(1) to the east of Cork city, it retains very much its own identity thanks to its location on Great Island, which is linked to the mainland by just a single road and rail line (and a ferry) . It is a delightful place and we are very much enjoying our new home and surroundings.
For me, our relocation marked a return to my native country after almost forty years living in the UK. While away, I observed the extraordinary changes in Ireland, both economic and social, and have taken great pride in the advances the country has made, in particular its recovery since the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, when the country was brought low by the grossly irresponsible behaviour of a small number of bankers and property speculators. After a tough few years, Ireland resumed its impressive growth and is once again a prosperous and successful country. Continue reading “Cobh Rambler: Wolseley 16/60”
A concept with a backstory.
Editor’s note: Owing to a mix-up on the chronology of the Car magazine article, the text has been altered to reflect the correct date.
It is hardly an unusual occurrence for a design concept to begin life as one thing before emerging some time later as something else — such after all is the speculative nature of freelance car design. This was certainly the case at the height of the design-consultancy era, when proposals would often undergo significant change to accommodate altered realities.
In 1974, the Italian house of Coggiola displayed a pretty concept coupé proposal at the Paris motor show. Dubbed Sylvia, the car was shown by Opel — intended it is said as a proposed replacement for the existing 1900 GT — it made a couple of appearances (also at Turin, later that year) before disappearing, like most such concepts into obscurity.
Although ostensibly a Coggiola design, the concept was in fact designed by British stylist, Trevor Fiore[1], who had by then made a name for himself with work for, amongst others, Fissore, Bond, TVR and Trident. A tidy, well composed shape, while the Sylvia might appear a little on the anodyne side to modern eyes, it was by contemporary standards, rather modish. Russelsheim clearly didn’t Continue reading “Plan B”
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”
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”
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”
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 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”
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”
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 28th, 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”
Ferrari’s quiet return to elegance.
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 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?
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”
Sifting through the debris
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]”
An insight into GM’s Irish satellite.
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”
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)”
Would new models bolster Chevrolet’s tenuous foothold in the European automotive market?
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)”
Desperate times – desperate measures.
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”
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”
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”
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]”
Driven To Write assesses an underdog.
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.”
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)”
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 20th 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)”
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”
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!”
Toyota presented the Celica as their response to the Ford Mustang of 1964.
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?”
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”
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]”
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”
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”
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 latest Superb is a very nice thing, but I’m concerned that it lacks the essence of Skoda.
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”
Dialling in Opel Ampera in Wikipedia summons a redirect to the Chevrolet Volt. They must mean Bolt (as it was known in the US).
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!!””
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”
Driven To Write 