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25/04/2023

Volkswagen ID.7, the electric fast-back sedan that promises 700 km of range
Made in Germany In the second half of 2023, series production of the ID.7 for Europe and North America will begin in the German plant in Emden. The launch of the new flagship ID. model on the European market is scheduled for the fall; the start of pre-sales is planned for the summer. Also in 2023, the ID.7 will be introduced in China. Market introduction in North America will follow in 2024.

24/04/2023

The best cars from dead car companies
De Tomaso: Pantera (1971)
Ferruccio Lamborghini (1916-1993) went through the excruciatingly difficult process of developing an entire car from scratch to take down Ferrari. Alejandro De Tomaso (1928-2003) took a simpler route: he designed a breathtakingly gorgeous car and bought a V8 from Ford to stuff behind the seats. America’s appetite for performance cars ensured a steady cash flow for De Tomaso in spite of the Pantera’s quality issues.

Unreliability caused Elvis Presley to shoot his Pantera on numerous occasions, presumably as a punishment. It’s not known if this helped. Ford stopped importing the car to the United States in 1975, but production carried on for other markets (including Europe) until 1992.

So what happened to De Tomaso? De Tomaso merged with Maserati in 1975 and that brand was always more prolific, but De Tomaso sales carried on in small numbers until 2004 when the firm died. The trademark was sold on, and a De Tomaso concept car appeared at the 2011 Geneva motor show, but nothing’s been heard since.

23/04/2023

The best cars from dead car companies
Jensen: Interceptor (1966)
The Jensen Interceptor provided buyers with an alternative to the archetypal British sports cars made by the likes of Triumph and MG. It catered to buyers who cared more about silky-smooth low-end torque than razor-sharp handling and low running costs. It died without a successor when Jensen collapsed under the burden of its financial troubles.

So what happened to Jensen? Jensen ceased operating in 1976. It was revived in 2001 with a new car, the S-V8, but promptly died again after just 20 were produced.

22/04/2023

21/04/2023

2005 Mitsubishi Evolution 8 SSL, Electric Blue

20/04/2023

The best cars from dead car companies
Matra: Rancho (1977)
Matra likened the Rancho to cooking a last-minute meal using only leftovers. Starting with the VF2 van, engineers installed an 80hp 1.4-liter engine from the 1308 GT, brakes from the 1100 TI, and a four-speed manual transmission from the 1307. While the outdoorsy design suggested it could go anywhere, four-wheel drive was never offered for cost and packaging reasons. It was a trailblazer for the crossover class, but arguably a couple of decades too early. In an odd twist of fate, the Rancho’s intended replacement morphed into the original Renault Espace, Europe's first minivan.

So what happened to Matra? Matra in the automotive sphere became a contract manufacturer for Renault, but this work ceased in 2003, and some other assets were acquired by Pininfarina. The defense and aerospace part of Matra is now part of Airbus.

19/04/2023

The best cars from dead car companies
Morris: Minor (1948)
Morris today is perhaps best known as the ‘M’ in MG, a company that blazed a trail after the second world war for lightweight sports cars in Britain, America and elsewhere. But in terms of Morris-branded cars, it’s hard to beat the Minor. While performance was sedate even by the standards of the time, steering and handling was impressive, and this was a primary way Britain got back on the road after the second world war. It later spawned van, wagon and convertible versions, and more powerful engines that arrived later helped a lot. A cool 1.4 million examples were built until 1971.

So what happened to Morris? Morris merged with arch-rival Austin in 1952 to make the British Motor Corporation. In turn this merged with various other companies to form British Leyland Motor Corporation in 1968. The last Morris-branded car, the Ital, was built in 1984. Part of the old Morris factory in Oxford today produces the Mini for BMW.

18/04/2023

The best cars from dead car companies
Pontiac: Firebird (1967)
General Motors didn’t allow Pontiac to build a two-seater sports car out of fear it would compete directly against Chevrolet’s Corvette. Instead, Pontiac received permission to launch a sports car based on the same platform as the then-new Camaro. Affectionately called “Screaming Chicken,” the Firebird carried on alongside the Camaro for four generations until it was sent to the automotive slaughter house in 2002.

So what happened to Pontiac? The Pontiac brand was discontinued in 2010 as GM rationalized its brands after its near-death experience in the 2008-09 global financial crisis.

17/04/2023

The best cars from dead car companies
Saab: 99 (1968)
The 99 marked the beginning of a new chapter in Saab’s history. The Swedish brand ditched the 92-inspired design of earlier cars in favor of a more contemporary look characterized by a wrap-around windshield, while a Triumph-sourced four-cylinder engine relegated the 96’s DKW-derived two-stroke engine to the history book once and for all. The 1978 Turbo remains the best-known evolution of the 99. It paved the way for every high-performance Saab from then on.

So what happened to Saab? Saab was wholly acquired by GM in 2000. Saab was sold to Spyker in 2010, but ceased making cars in 2011. A Chinese firm called NEVS then bought Saab’s automotive assets, but it seems that the brand won’t be used on any vehicles; this is a complex and contentious area since the Saab name is still used by the military aircraft maker that bears the name; cars and planes were under the same ownership until 1990.

16/04/2023

The best cars from dead car companies
Simca: 1000 Rallye (1970)
Abarth applied its magic to the Simca 1000, but it’s the three factory-built Rallye models that replaced Renaults and NSUs in the heart of enthusiasts seeking rear-biased driving thrills. Although it was aerodynamically-challenged, the 1000 was the ideal base for a high-performance sedan aimed at buyers on a budget. The first two editions of the Rallye were hot-rodded production cars, but the Rallye 3 was a full-blown street-legal race car released for homologation purposes. All three models are still widely used in hill climb events today.

So what happened to Simca? Simca was bought by Chrysler in 1970, and then PSA Peugeot-Citroën in 1979, and the badge died thereafter in favor of Talbot.

15/04/2023

The best cars from dead car companies
Sunbeam: Tiger (1964)
Originally formed in 1901, Sunbeam disappeared after 1935, but was revived in some style in 1953 with the pretty and successful Alpine – which was perfectly times to surf the 1950’s American open-top sports car wave. Wanting more power, Sunbeam enlisted Carroll Shelby to help fit a 164bhp 4.3-liter Ford V8 into the car. Twice as powerful as the Alpine but only marginally heavier, the car was a scintillating hit, shifting over 7000 examples in just three years.

So what happened to Sunbeam? Already part of the Rootes Group, Rootes was absorbed by Chrysler and then Peugeot. The Sunbeam name disappeared in 1981.

14/04/2023

Triumph: Stag (1970)
While some would choose Triumph’s successful and pretty line of TR sports roadsters from the ‘50s and ‘60s, we reckon the Stag deserves more credit as the British V8-powered would-be answer to the Mercedes SL. Moodily handsome though blighted by reliability issues, it was a nice drive when it worked.

So what happened to Triumph? Triumph was run down by owners British Leyland, and the oddball TR7 was the last car developed in-house. That was followed by the 1981 Honda-based travesty that was the Triumph Acclaim, and the name ended in 1984. However, someone in Munich has a long memory: somewhat intriguingly, the Triumph Cars name today belongs to BMW, a relic of the firm’s Rover ownership but retained when it sold that firm. Triumph and BMW went head-to-head in the small sports sedan market in the 1970s in Europe.