Carpinion and debate. Are second parts any good?: The worst automotive comebacks
During the last days, the new Countach has received a lot of heat from many aficionados. But there are way worse examples of sullied nameplates.
Throughout automotive history, many brands and models have come and go. Some left an imprint on motorists, becoming part of the history, some were quietly forgotten. But once a brand or a model is gone, it's usually gone for good. However, there are rare cases where a nameplate is revived.
The Fiat 500, the Mini, the Beetle, or the Alpine A110 are good examples of successful rebirths. All them were inspired by the old models, and were loyal, even if modernised, to the original idea, no matter if it was a small city car, or a rally machine. However, other monikers of those that were brought back to life, were complete disasters: a different concept, a treason to the roots, awful quality or even all at the same time, were the reasons why some of those comebacks failed miserably. An in my opinion, these are among the very worst.
Pontiac Lemans: From muscular elegance to a German - Korean subproduct.
Closely related to the GTO, the original muscle car, the Lemans was revived in the 80's in the form of a Korean made German small car. Why oh why?
In 1960 Pontiac introduced the Tempest, a small compact sedan (compact and small for American sizes) designed to compete against the groundbreaking Ford Falcon. Designed by a team lead by John DeLorean, the Tempest was a good family car in a quite nice package.
In 1961, the LeMans was launched as luxurious version of the basic tempest, adding more chrome, better seats and fancy paintwork among other features. As all the American compacts did, the Pontiac LeMans grew in size and power in its following generations. By 1964, when the second generation was launched, the LeMans was available in different bodies, and could be ordered with a choice of V8 engines.
In 1965, an optional package called "GTO" made the LeMans GTO the first muscle car ever launched. With its 389 c.i. V8 engine that developed 325hp and its sporty aspect, the LeMans GTO changed the American automotive history and became a true automotive icon.
The Pontiac LeMans, was a staple of the 1960's American automotive market. it evolved with the tastes, adopting the famous "Coke bottle" shape by the late 60's and again, by reducing its size and displacement in the 70's after the 1973 oil crisis, becoming a "personal luxury coupe". The LeMans lived until 1981, and despite its evolutions (and forced involutions) was always loyal to its roots, always was available with a V8, and was always luxurious and sporty.
Born in Germany as the Kadett E, the GM T platform became a worldwide success. Sadly, not all were equally well made. And some were an insult to a formerly glorious nameplate.
In 1984, Opel launched the sixth generation of the Opel Kadett, a long running moniker first used in 1936. During all those years, the Kadett was always the mid-size sedan of the Rüsselsheim based company, always rugged, reliable, a bit boring and always old fashioned with its FR layout.
However in 1979, Opel launched the Kadett D (and it's British counterpart, the Mk1 Astra) the first front wheel drive car General Motors car released in Europe. The Kadett D was a huge success in Europe, and finally gave Volkswagen a good competitor for their Golf. However, the very angular design started to look a bit old news, especially when the rest of the Opel range was featuring more aerodynamic designs.
GM chose to revive the LeMans name and used it in a Korean version of the European Kadett. Big mistake
The Kadett E in the other hand, was a handsome compact car, with a body shape full of curves that gave it a very modern and futuristic image and a great aerodynamic as well. The Kadett E / Astra Mk2 was an even bigger success for General Motors, and soon, the T platform was chosen to make the new vehicle a worldwide car. One of the main markets targeted was the US, where the Kadett could compete with the successful Golf / Jetta and with other captive imports sold by American companies, like the Dodge Colt, built by Mitsubishi. or the Chevrolet Spectrum, built by Isuzu. However, there was a problem, and wasn't a minor one: The exchange rates between the Dollar and the Deutsche Mark were very unfavourable, making the European Kadett too expensive to be competitive.
General Motors, with presence all around the world, found a solution in South Korea, where it held a partnership with Daewoo Motors since the 70's. The labour costs in Korea were way lower than in Germany, England or Spain, where the Kadett was being built and that would allow to sell the car at a competitive price. So soon, GM signed a contract with Daewoo to allow them to build the T-platform car for both the Korean and the American market. However, there was a problem. South Korea was by then, 1985, ruled by a military dictatorship, and the Korean people was already fed up with it. Among the social and political unrest, production of the Daewoo model was delayed until 1988, when the regime fell. Time was running against General Motors.
This brand new LeMans is already self destroying by rust and poor quality.
General Motors decided to gave the new Daewoo-built model an iconic moniker, reviving the old LeMans name. Many american customers raised a brow, but the worst was yet to come. The first cars arrived in 1988 and soon the penny dropped. The cars, despite looking like a federalized version of an European Kadett, with a Pontiac grille, was an absolute disaster. Build quality was dismal, reliability was poor and cars rusted already in the dealership. Customers complained and the relationships between GM and Daewoo were as tarnished as the LeMans name.
The car received a facelift in 1991, and was also offered with less glorious names in Canada, were it was sold as the Passport Optima or Asuna GT, but the damage was already done. The last cars were offered in 1993, and after that, the LeMans name was not used again. It shouldn't have been done in 1988 either.
Chevrolet Nova: From as american as apple pie to as Japanese as a sushi roll.
The Nova was the Chevy bet on the compact car segment after the Corvair failure. Regarded as a quintessential American car, the name was revived in 1985, in a way less yankee model.
The Chevy Nova was a very similar case to the aforementioned Pontiac LeMans. Born in 1962, the Chevy II was the Chevrolet answer to the Ford Falcon and the Chrysler Valiant. Developed after the lukewarm reception of the rear engined Corvair, the Chevy II was a traditional FR car, more suited to the American taste. The Nova was a sub model, top of the line of the Chevy II range.
In 1968, the Nova became a model on it's own. It had grew in size and engine power through the years and with the launch of the SS model, the Nova became a proper muscle car. And even more with thr Yenko tuned models. The small Chevrolet was a great success and an example of what America could offer as an affordable family car, that could be also a super fast sports car. During the 70's the Nova reduced its size like all American cars of the era, but was still loved by the buyers. And thanks to that famous advertising campaign ("Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet") the Nova was still regarded as the quintessential compact American car.
In 1979, Chevrolet decided to replace the Nova by an even smaller car, front wheel drive model, the Citation. The company kept the well loved Nova moniker in a drawer, but not forever.
Yes, it's a Toyota.
During the 70's, Japanese manufacturers began to take over the American market. Models like the Datsun 510, the 240Z, the Honda Civic or the Toyota Corolla sold extremely well in the U.S. especially after the first oil crisis in 1973. Well built, reliable, cheap to buy and cheap to run, Japanese cars became a headache for American manufacturers, still stuck with old fashioned production methods. That led to a commercial war against Japanese car makers, with American manufacturers pressuring the U.S. Government to put quotas on Japanese car imports.
The 80's Nova was a good car, but with the wrong nameplate
In the early 80's the Japanese government agreed with the American one to establish import quotas on Japanese built cars sold in America, starting 1981. That gentlemen agreement had an immediate impact: in late 1982, Honda opened its first factory in Marysville, OH. The rest of Japanese car makers followed behind, in subsequent years, so despite the quotas, Japanese manufacturers increased its market share, as they were able to sell without any restriction the models built in U.S. soil.
With the 1985 Nova, the "baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet" days were long gone
American manufacturers soon realized that the new rules were playing against them, and that their problems were beyond the quiality and price of Japanese imports. The "big three" were losing money and could not be competitive due their old production methods. The only way to try to recover some ground was to adopt the new Toyota Lean Production system, in order to be competitive again.
In 1982, General Motors closed the Fremont, CA assembly plant. It was one of the less productive and more conflictive workplaces in the American automotive industry. Later that year, GM signed an agreement with Toyota to start a joint venture between them. Toyota would get a new factory in US soil, and GM would have access to the new Toyota production methods. It was a win-win. Now, they only needed a car to be produced there.
In the spring of 1984, Chevrolet built the first unit of the new Nova, built at the Fremont plant (now known as NUMMI, New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc.) And it was nothing like the good old Nova. In fact, it was just a Toyota Corolla with a bow tie in the grille.
And don't get me wrong, it was not a bad car at all. It was well built, reliable and modern, but it was also Japanese. Very Japanese. Using a well loved moniker like Nova, a staple of the 60's American automobile, it was just a deceit. Goodbye baseball and apple pie, hello sumo and takoyakis, i guess. The Chevroletoyota Nova was just a stopgap model to tune up the new factory, and it was discntinued in 1988. And at the contrary than the original one, the 80's is now long forgotten.
Stutz: From sheer elegance to exactly the contrary.
The Stutz Company built some of the finest prewar automobiles. Luxurious and elegant. When the brand was revived in the 70's they became tacky and tasteless cars for people with full pockets.
The Ideal Car Company was founded in Indiana in 1911 by Harry Stutz and Henry Campbell. Their first vehicle, the Bear Cat, was a state of the art car: A four cylinder, sixteen valves transaxle gearbox road legal race car. How cool is that? Well, imagine it in 1911! The Bear Cat entered the first Indianapolis 500 race and ended in 11th place. The first of many success in motorsport for the company!
In 1913 the company became the Stutz Motor Car Company, and kept building the Stutz Bearcat, as well as developing the most advanced cars on America during the time, being the first vehicles to feature a 32 valve L8 engine, safety glass, low clearance chassis to improve stability, or even a primitive hill holder assistant.
The glorious Stutz name was destroyed in the 70's with a series of tacky retro themed cars
During the twenties, the Stutz cars were a symbol of wealth and good taste, and continued to make history in motorsport, setting various speed records later in th decade. Sadly after the Great Depression, the survival of small companies selling luxury cars was compromised and in 1935 closed its doors for good. Or that it seemed.
The Stutz name was rebirth in 1970. It was a retro looking, tacky-luxury car that had nothing to do with the original 20's models.
In 1968, banker James O'Donnell and former Chrysler designer Virgil Exner gave a new lease of lfe to Stutz. Exner designed a baroque, retro themed luxury coupe which prototype was built by Ghia. After introducing it in 1970, production began in 1971, with Elvis receiving the first vehicle manufactured.
The Stutz was marketed as the most expensive car in the world, and really one may ask why. Modern era stutz were just rebodied General Motors product (From Chevrolet to Cadillac, and including Pontiacs and GMCs) with a tacky and quite tasteless retro themed design. They were exclusive and well equipped, but had zero racing pedigree and the design was too kitsch. Nothing to do with the sheer elegance of the prewar cars. In 1995, after around 625 horrible cars sold to celebs and dictators alike, Stutz cars ceased production again. Such a relief for the eyes, and for Mr Stutz.
MG: From the roadsters that took over the world to shabby family cars. And then, to a made in China death of the ICE
MG specialized is sports cars, building some of the most gorgeous british roadsters. In the 80's things went wrong, but not as wrong as today.
MG is, and rightly so, part of the automotive history. Founded in 1920, very soon became famous for their small and affordable sports cars, a kind of cars that Morris Garages did like no one else.
During the 1930's, the small MG roadsters became worldwide famous, and even if the brand offered other models, from small family cars to flagship sedans, the small open tourers were always the core of the production. When in 1936, the brand launched the T . Type roadsters, MG hit the jackpot. The TA and TB models were a success that only the Second World War slowed down. After the end of the war in 1945, MG started to built the T - Type again, and this time the TC found a new and big market: The US. After a few more facelifts, the good old T series was discontinued in 1955 and replaced by a state-of-the-art car: the MG A
The MG A was modern, fast and affordable and took the US roads by a storm. When it was replaced in 1962 by the MG-B, things only improved for MG, now specialized in sports roadsters with the exception of the MG 1100. The MG-B along with it's small sibling, the Midget, became the staple of the British roadster during the 60's and the 70's.
MG was revived several times, with disastrous effects
By then, MG was part of British Leyland, the much maligned motor conglomerate that owned brands like Morris, Austin, Wolseley, Land Rover, Jaguar or Triumph. And things were not going well at all. Severely hit by the economic crisis, with a problematic workforce permanently on strike and with the funds going to zero, the future of the brands under the BL umbrella was very dark. MG was still selling the old models designed in the early 60's and the formula was starting to feel like old news. Also, the ever strict safety rules enforced in the US, threw the shadow menace of a ban on the roadsters. That would be the end of MG.
The MG brand revived in 1982 with this: A Mini Metro with pepperpot alloys.
In the end, the American ban on convertible cars never happened, but the rise of the hot hatch and the uncertain future of the roadsters, after a sharp decline in in demand during the late 70's finally killed the MG-B and the MG Midget in late 1980. And with them, the glorious MG brand died.
By then, British Leyland was gone, and with them many of its brands. Now, the remaining ones were part of the new Austin Rover group, that was still owned by the British government. ARG faced the very hard task of completely renewing the range with new models. The first one, launched still under the BL rule was the new supermini called Austin Metro, in 1980. The Austin Maestro, a mid size hatchback and the Montego, a sedan version of the former arrived in1983 and 1984.
As hot hatches were now the trend, the company thought it would be a good idea to offer some contenders on that market. And what better than do ir under a nameplate heavily associated with sport cars? In 1982, Austin Rover revived MG with the new MG Metro. And it could not be a more disappointing return. The Metro was not a true sports cars. Was not even a true hot hatch. With only 6hp more than the regular Metro 1300, the MG was just a Metro with fancy alloys and cool decals. Not a match for cars like the Fiesta XR2 or the R5 Alpine. A year later, a turbocharged version was released, and things improved quite a lot. The Metro Turbo was as fast and savage... as was unreliable and poorly built. The BL spirit seemed to be still there.
The Maestro was not worthy of the MG badge either
In 1983 MG launched its second attempt with the MG Maestro 1600. And again, failed miserably. The MG 1600 wasn't more than, again, the basic car with fancy alloys and decals and in this case, a voice synthesizer. All very 80's, but not very sporty. The 1.6 liter carburetted engine offere performances that were underwhelming, and the Maestro was not a match for the Golf GTI, the R11 Turbo or the Lancia Delta GT.
A few years later, the Montego got its MG version as well. This time, the car had a fuel injected engine, the same used on the new Maestro EFI, and this time, performances were correct. The Montego even got a turbocharged engine in 1986 that turned it into one of the fastest mid size saloons in Europe. But now the problem was different: The three "M cars" gained during these years a fame of unreliable and poorly built cars. In a market where competitors were harder every day, those circumstances finally killed the MG brand, again in 1989. The MG comeback had been a failure, just a marketing operation that didn't end well.
MG was revived again in 1992. with a new car that was very very old.
The British government sold Austin Rover to the British Aerospace group in 1988. And under the BA ownership, Rover, now the only brand used, lived a short but fruitful era. Of course, as all the owners did before, British Aerospace did revive MG once again. And this time, with a proper roadster. So British, so MG-esque that... was in fact the old B.
The British Motor Heritage Co. began to build again the MG-B bodyshell to make bodywork spares available for restorers. The MG-B was a popular classic back then and many of them were being restored. As there were entire bodyshells available, British Aerospace thought it would be a good idea to use them in a modernized version of the good old MG-B.
In 1992, the new, but old, MG RV8 was introduced. It was a profoundly restlyed MG-B Roadster with the well known 3.9 liter Rover V8 engine. The car developed 190hp and was fast and raw as 1960's car. A true MG. Production of the Rv8 lasted for two years, and was only built in RHD form. Despite that, it became a collectors car as soon as it was launched. Finally seemed that MG had find its way.
The MG F was a radical mid engine, two seater roadster, worthy of the MG badge. Sadly, it was too flawed to triumph.
In 1995, MG introduced the MG F, a two seater, mid engine roadster that was, then again, worthty of wearing the MG badge. Unlike the RV8, the F was a completely modern new car, and was powered by the modern K series Rover engine. The MG F was a great concept, but sadly there were some flaws as well: The Hydragas suspension was terrible, the K engines tended to blew head gaskets and service operations were difficult due the engine layout. In addition to that, the competitors were fiercer than ever, with contenders like the Mazda Mx5, the Fiat Barchetta, the BMW Z3 or the Alfa Spider 916.
All that played against the MG F that lagged behind most of its competitors in terms of reliability, quality or image. which affected sales. Seemed that the good times for MG could end soon. The MG F had been launched after the BMW aquisition of the Rover group, but the German company soon lost the faith in the project leaving MG on its own again in 2000. And that meant again, terrible news for MG.
Flashy colours, tacky accessories and tasteless aspect: The MGs for the 21st century.
The new MG Rover group made the same mistake Austin Rover made twenty years earlier. Instead of letting go the MG brand, or just keep it alive with the MG F, decided to broad its range with three new models, all tuned versions of the Rover 25, 45 and 75.
The result was disastrous: the new MGs were tacky and tasteless, poorly built and lacked of any of the elegance old MGs always had (except in the 80's) Despite some of the models being high performance cars, like the ZS 180 or the ZT V8, the image of those cars, regarded as old, poorly built and offered by a bankrupt company, killed any chance on the market. The introduction of a renewed MG TF, this time without Hydragas suspension or the extreme XPower SV, a restyled Quale Mangusta built in Italy, didn't help either.
In 2005 MG Rover collpsed and closed its doors. The Chinese SAIC group bought all the assets and started a new and ever worse chapter in the life of the once glorious MG.
If you take the MG badge off, this thing could be anything from a Toyota to a Peugeot.
SAIC kept the MG brand alive since 2005 with cars based on the old Rover cars until 2011 and with own developed platforms since then. The Chinese MG cars were offered first in China and then in the United Kingdom, with limited success. Now, MG is offering a series of electric cars in al Europe at a very competitive price. But none of those vehicles are up to the MG badge. They are soul-less vehicles, anonymous cars that have nothing to do with the past and heritage of the brand. MG is alive, but pretty much dead.
Talbot: From modern art on wheels to the PSA dustbin.
Before the Second World War, Talbot was building this. How wrong things went to end up building second rate Peugeots?
The history of Talbot is equally complex and exciting. Founded in England in 1903, it was one of the automotive pioneers in Europe. With business in both England and France, the company evolved until forming in 1920 a conglomerate formed by Darraq, Talbot and Sunbeam.
While the British branch was renamed in the 30's as Sunbeam Talbot, and specialized in luxury cars, the French one, under de direction of Antonio Lago, a British-Italian entrepreneur turned itself into one of the most reputed and high end brands of the time. Creations like the Talbot Lago T150, always bodied by the best coachbuilders like Saoutchik or Figoni et Falaschi, or the Talbot Baby, one of the most exquisite cars of its time gave Talbot worldwide fame. The Talbot cars of that era were highly coveted vehicles, as good and unique as were the Hispano Suiza, Bugatti or Rolls Royce.
The Talbot Lago Sport was the swan song of the brand in the late 50's. But it was still loyal to the heritage of the brand: Gorgeous, fast and incredibly expensive and rare
After the World War II forced hiatus, Talbot Lago continued with the production of luxurious vehicles, like the Lago Record and and the T26 Grand Sport. All them were as luxurious and rare as the pre war models, and were still dressed by the best. Talbot was also one of the F1 Pioneers with the Talbot T26C racer, which debuted in the 1950 first F1 season. However, the financial problems began to drown the company in the 50's and the last model, the Lago Sport, launched in 1955 could not save it. In 1959 Henri Pigozzi bought the company from Antonio Lago, and although the company ceased to make vehicles, the brand became part of the SIMCA assets.
The use of the Talbot brand in shabby cars like those built in the 80's was an insult to the brand heritage
SIMCA itself was bought by Chrysler in 1963, as part of the overseas expansion planned by the American company. The European Chrysler operation that comprised three big groups, SIMCA from France, Rootes from the United Kingdom and Barreiros from Spain was successful at first, but soon the problems begun: The oil crisis, the competition between Rootes and SIMCA and the ever worsening labour unrests during the 70's put an end to the Chrysler European adventure in 1978.
This car carried the Talbot name. Imagine a current shabby hatchback carrying the Bugatti or Hispano Suiza brand
As these cars carried two different names, and one of them couldn't be used and the other was quite worn in the market by then, PSA needed to make a decision: Or discontinue them all, keeping just the factories and workforce from Chrysler, or sell them all under a new brand. The company decided to do the latter, and in the way, they tarnished forever one of the most glorious automotive brands ever. They decided to unify those ranges until the Talbot name. Terrible decision.
In 1979, Talbot was reborn, selling a mixture of SIMCA and Sunbeam products. With some of the models on the range already ageing fast, PSA needed to revitalize the brand. In the following years, PSA positioned Talbot as a conservative brand, below Peugeot and targeted to a different customer base than Citroen. After getting rid of the British models as well as the old 1100 and 180, the company introduced the ungainly Solara, a sedan version of the 1310 / Alpine / 150 hatchhack in 1981. The new car, was already old news as it was based in a 6 year old model. Pretty much the same happened with the entry level model, the Samba, based on the enlarged chassis of the early 1970's Peugeot 104.
The Solara, based on the old 1307 underpinnings was not worthy of its Talbot name either
Like as if the karma was acting against PSA for destroying the reputation of Talbot, things started to go downhill fast for the company. Sales of the cars began a sharp decline, and PSA began to doubt of its three brand strategy. In an attempt of giving Talbot a true high end car, that could act as a flagship, Peugeot developed, at a high expense, the Talbot Tagora, a big sedan , related to the Peugeot 604 and that featured a very boxy but modern design. The Tagora, powered by a choice of four and six cylinder engines was well received by the press, buy was an absolute sales failure. By 1983 Talbot was a brand with a damaged reputation, their vehicles had a well earned fame of being rust prone and not very well assembled cars and in the end, its market position was really non existent. Not the best credentials to try to sell a car that in theory, should compete against Mercedes or Volvo..
The Tagora was the last nail in the Talbot coffin.
In 1985, PSA decided that enough was enough. The Talbot experiment had been clearly a failure and with low sales, an old range and continuous labour unrest at the Poissy factory, the red numbers started to stockpile. Peugeot pulled the plug on Talbot that year, with the brand living until 1987 in Spain and 1994 in the UK by selling a rebadged Peugeot J5 van for the British market.
The decision of keep selling the old Chrysler cars was, in the end, not the best one. But the use of a glorious brand like Talbot was even worse. Imagine a today shabby car like a Dacia bearing a Bugatti or Hispano Suiza badge. Sounds terrible, right? Well, that was exactly what PSA did in 1979. The best way of destroying one of the most evocative names on the automotive history. Very clever, Peugeot, very clever.
Epilogue: The Coutach affair
Is the new Lamborghini worthy of the Countach badge?
The last week has been very intense on the automotive world, as Lamborghini as revived the one that is probably its most loved nameplate: Countach. The new Countach LPI 800-4 has provoked a lot of reactions, favourable and unfavorable. And i understand why. In the next lines i'll give just my point of view, but i'll be delighted of reading your on the comment section?
The new Countach, let's be honest, seems to be a fantastic car, and a proper Lambo. It has all the madness and the power anybody could expect from a car built at the Sant'agatha Bolognese factory, from a big rear engine to the scissor doors. However, is it a good Countach?
The LPI 800-4 is a great Lamborghini, but maybe not a good Countach
I have my doubts. The LPI 800-4 is based on the Lamborghini Sian, and it looks too much like the Sian than like a Countach. There are Countach details here and there, yes, but they are not entirely well executed. The headlights reminds more to the ones on the late built Diablos, as happen with the wheels. The rear end is too much like the Sian one, and the side profile reminds too much to other current or recent Lambos.
Is it worthy of the of the Countach badge? Well, to me, not at first sight, but only time will tell.
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Comments (60)
Firstly, I must defend MG here. What MG did with the hot hatches was the right move for the time. The Maestro (after the reshash, the 2.0EFi was really rather good) the Montego and the Metro were all really good contenders in their classes, indeed the Metro would have a unique part of the market pretty much to itself, being an entry level hot hatch. As for the early noughties MGs, they were some of the best affordable performance cars of their generation, the ZR was a little rocket that sold in large numbers, the ZS was a little touring car for the road, and the ZT was just a masterpiece, a real British muscle car with a V8 engine, proper dynamics and a clever reskin. It must be remembered that these cars were developed with basically no money yet what they were able to make was astounding, and these cars are fast becoming modern classics because the Lairy colours and bodykits made them unique and characterful. Indeed they sold very well for what their outlay. It wasn't enough to save the company, but they have a reputation that is growing with each passing year and they have become Iconic faster than the MGF has. I do think the MG's golden age was the 1980s, as the Montego especially is perhaps my favourite model of all of them, the Montego Turbo was their first car in a generation to truly be competitive against its competition, being able to outperform the equivalent BMW at a not-insignificantly lower price. Now MG these days I just don't identify as MG at all. It is a crying shame that things like the ZS name have been tarnished by a Chinese Crossover. What is worse was that they were willing to scrap rare project cars and literally delete the company's heritage* which is absolutely unforgivable. As for Talbot, their cars were quite innovative, the Horizon won European car of the year in 1979, and the Tagora was an extremely competent car that was killed off because it was competing with Peugeot's 604, I think while they are not living up to Talbot of old, it is unfair to call them "Shabby" and a PSA "dustbin" - Yes they were left with some Chrysler duds, but they did make some good competent cars, and a Tagora V6 is on my want list. Not to mention there is also the Talbot Sunbeam Lotus and Ti, and the regular Sunbeam was a decent Golf competitor. Of course it rusted, everything did back then, even Audis. And Lastly, don't kick the poor Daewoo Le Mans, that's just depraved.
Well there we have it, sorry for some of my potentially strong willed commenting, but I felt I had to redress the balance on a few points. I don't particularly feel or care for any of the other brands mentioned, but it is not necessarily wrong, just unenlightened to slag off the post MGB MG, after all, that car was just a Morris minor in a party frock...
*www.aronline.co.uk/news/mg-rover-prototypes-in-jeopardy/
MG Prototypes possibly to be scrapped, not sure what came of it
I also recommend reading this essay (AROnline is the place for British motoring history)
www.aronline.co.uk/facts-and-figures/raise-a-glass-to/20-years-of-the-mg-z-cars/
I'll hand over to you
Thanks Ben. MG is probably one of the best marques to ever be around. And I agree with Ben with the hatchbacks and whatever. Yes they were unreliable, yes they were poorly built in some cases. But MG/Rover or Austin Rover whatever you want to...
Read moreA great article packed with information and history. I see from the poll that MG is rated the “worst” comeback, but for me the Stutz comeback went completely off the rails. There is no connection between the original Stutz Bearcat and the later monstrosity, which was a hodgepodge of mismatched design elements. I remember seeing photos of the “comeback” Stutz in car magazines of the day, and honestly believed it was a kit car, where you bought the body and chassis and installed your own transmission and engine.
You mention some of the successful comebacks like the Mini and VW Beetle. For me, the great comeback of all time (at least until now) is the Bugatti. With its lineup of the Veyron, Chiron and Bolide, Bugatti has now eclipsed its fame of the 1920s and 30s. Ettore Bugatti would be astounded by these new cars.
It’s true that there are mixed opinions of the new Countach. I personally like it very much. All the new super/hypercars are loaded with bells and whistles like real and fake ducts, all kinds of wings and splitters, and unnecessarily complex body panels that serve little purpose aerodynamically. The Countach designers have bucked this trend with a clean design that has cues of the original without being garish. It’s beauty is in its minimalism.
Good work!!
Thanks a lot for reading David! Glad you liked it!
Yes, those Stutz were absolutely... horrendous. The whole 70's pseudo classic revival was very naff, but the Stutz, being sold at astronomic prices, seemed to be a bad taste joke.
I...
Read moreGreat article Salvador. I respect your opinion of the new Countach. You must have been happy when Shelby added air ducts to the Mustang and launched the 350 and 500.
I also like air intakes, spoilers and other enhancements, but sometimes a...
Read moreIMO, the Mitsubishi Eclipse. Started out as a cool, fun sports car but came back as a f**king crossover.
300% agree Michael!!!
I wont say all seconds are bad. The ferrari TDF is good. Corvettes, Camaros and mustangs are still awesome. Golfs are still good. The ones you mentioned really took a turn to the graveyard though
Thanks for reading Brian! Of course they a re not. GM and VW did well keeping alive the nameplates you say, and the TDF honors the classic one.
And i forgot about the two modern gt40's honoring the old race cars
The weird thing about the new MGs is that they’re actually really good budget EVs. It’s just that the name is all wrong for them.
I agree Adam, and that's the whole point of the post. There are brands and models that don't deserve to see its heritage tarnished by using them in cars like the MG. A good EV? Probably, But please, not an MG. Not at all. NEVER!
For some of us that is true I agree, but for people who have no memory of the marque it makes no difference. The manufacturer believe it will give their new product a boost; at least get prospective buyers to have a look, but in the end the cars...
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