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CitroĂ«n in many ways were like the Tesla of the 1950âs and 60âs. Where other car manufacturers were making normal, everyday cars, CitroĂ«n were ripping up the rulebooks and reinventing just what a car could be in their own mad, Gallic way. Their approach to almost every aspect of the car was unique, new, and, well, CitroĂ«n-esque. And itâs not like different meant âwrongâ. The CitroĂ«n SM introduced innovative features such as self-centering steering and rain-sensing wipers years before they became mainstream. So, with a pedigree like this, why arenât we all driving around in CitroĂ«nâs today? Why did the SM only sell 13,000 cars before taking CitroĂ«n into bankruptcy?
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Mercedes is the purveyor of high-class limousines, so it might be odd to think of them selling a go-anywhere pickup thatâs more used to lugging a few bags of cement back from the DIY shop. But itâs not that strange an idea, after all, theyâve been producing vans, trucks and buses for almost a century. But the Mercedes X-Class wasnât going to be sold alongside their commercial vehicles, this was for the type of customer who bought their luxury cars. Just why did Mercedes decide to make a pickup, and why did it last less than three years before being axed?
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Fehlende Folgen?
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The Maestro was the car that killed Austin Rover. Poised on a knife-edge in the early 80âs between survival and disaster, this car, and its booted Montego sister, caused its death. Not right away â plenty of Government subsidies and deals with Honda and BMW gave the company another 20 years, but this was the critical moment when it all went wrong. When the company lost its ability to chart its own destiny. So why were these cars such poor-sellers, and why did a company that made the critically successful Metro, get it all wrong with its follow-up?
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You probably know Vauxhall and their German cousin Opel as the makers of reasonably prices cars that maybe arenât that exciting. But in the 60s and 70s Vauxhall produced several amazing sports car and supercar concepts that rivalled the best Lamborghini had to offer. And Vauxhall didnât just make concepts, there was the VX220 â a car that was a lot of fun with great handling. But why didnât these 60s cars or the last concept ever make it to production?
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This is a video charting the history of the Ford Capri. It includes the Mercury Capri (both 1970s, 1980s and 1990s).
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Renault is rebooting the classic 5 and itâs available for pre-order right now if youâre in France with deliveries starting later this year! So, whatâs it like, whatâs good, whatâs bad, and what do I think about it?
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The Rover 200 more than ever encapsulates British Leyland as it went from Government ownership, through its Honda collaboration, to the disastrous BMW marriage, and finally its last gasp for survival as an independent company. And it was one of Roverâs few big successes, having an amazing 29-year lifespan over its many and varied history. The Rover 200 had many guises, from the blue-rinse Triumph Acclaim to the hot hatch MG ZR, and itâs a beloved British car. So why was it such a hit, and why did it all go wrong in the late 90âs?
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Otto von Bismarck, the man who oversaw the unification of Germany in the late 19th century called politics âthe art of the possibleâ. Heâs saying that you might have grand lofty dreams, but you have to go with whatâs actually possible to achieve. Iâd argue that applies to many things in life, including car design. Thereâs always a compromise with a limited budget and limited time. That was never more true than with the CitroĂ«n Visa. Borne out of CitroĂ«nâs bankruptcy in the mid-1970s it was a modern car that was still clearly a CitroĂ«n, with all its innovative features. But just how did they produce such a competent car in such a short time?
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The Triumph Stag has looks and sophisticated style. Those Italian lines of this easy Grand Tourer looked epic when it was released in 1970, and the lucrative North American market beckoned. With a throaty 3.0L V8 engine, it had the power to take on its 6-cylinder rival, the Mercedes SL. Yet in just seven years production ended and it was all over. So, what happened? Why did this beautiful car falter and die?
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Ford just dropped the news that they have a new Capri in the works. Iâve done a lot of the history of the Capri, Iâve done the original Capri and another video about all the times theyâve tried to reboot it. This is another time theyâre trying to reboot it, so I thought you might be interested in what I thought about the new model.
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Steve Saxty has been given unprecedented access to BMW to tell their story through a series of books, and heâs let me pluck this one from âBMWâs Hidden Gemsâ â the story of how BMW created a reimagining of the 2002. So, with Steveâs help, hereâs the story of BMWâs 2002 for the year 2002!
Link to Steve's BMW books: https://www.stevesaxty.com
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If ever the phrase âDonât judge a book by its coverâ was appropriate, itâs with the Fiat Multipla. With an exterior described as âDesigned by a group of people who seemingly never metâ, and an instrument cluster resembling âNightmare on Skull Rockâ, this isnât a car to easily love. But thatâs a shame. Under the comical looks lives a truly great car thatâs made a quantum leap in automotive design like the Beetle, 2CV or Mini. Top Gear summed it up best when they named it Car of the Year in 2000, and at the same time the Ugliest Car of the Year. Why did the absurd Multipla morph into the king of bland, and why did its designer have the last laugh?
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Letâs discuss if EVs can make the shift to widescale adoption, or are they doomed to become a niche product?
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The mid-70âs were an optimistic time for British transport. We got the Triumph TR7 and Rover SD1, the Intercity 125 took us across the country at 125mph, and the thunderous Concorde took us over Mach 2. Britain was proving it could still do amazing engineering. Then there was the Lotus Esprit, turning heads with its crisp, folded lines and supercar styling. By using a tiny engine, it would go on to have the largest power output per litre of any car. And it would clean up so effectively in American motor racing that it was effectively banned from competition. Itâs been a Bond car, twice in its amazing 28-year long production run, and Lotus keeps tantalising us with glimpses of what it will be in the future.
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This video is going to be a little different to my normal ones. I usually need to do lots of research to get the story straight. But not this one â this was basically a brain dump! If you donât know, I once, many moons ago, worked for Microsoft in the Automotive Business Unit or ABU, in fact this is an ABU t-shirt. I started working on the Auto PC â the car stereo you see behind me there â and although I missed ABUâs crowning glory, the Ford SYNC system, I was back in the team to witness first-hand the chaos of the infamous MyFord Touch project. Not much is out there about some of the background to what happened, and Iâve always wanted to tell the real story, what Fordâs PR department didnât want you to hear.
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If you wanted to have the latest cutting-edge technology in your car in 2007 you wouldnât buy a BMW 7 series or a Mercedes S-Class. Youâd own a 2008 Ford Focus with SYNC. It was the crowning achievement of Microsoftâs Automotive team; a device that plays music from media players and supports hands-free phone calls. It was revolutionary at the time and was included in over 1 million vehicles. But it almost never happened. It was the last roll of the dice from a team that had spent years in the wilderness trying to break into the car market.
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In 1990 Vauxhall was on top of the world. Fordâs serious misstep with the Sierra in the early 1980s, meant Vauxhallâs well put together Cavalier had cleaned up. The third generation Cavalier had continued those inroads in the late 80s, along with the excellent Astra and Nova that completed their mass car lineup. So, surely the next generation car, the Vectra, would do just as well? Iâm sure you can tell from the build-up, that that didnât happen, but why?
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The Jaguar E-type name is iconic, but not so much in the USA. There it was known as the XK-E. But whatever the name, itâs a car thatâs like no other. And itâs looks are backed up with handling born from motor racing; this wasnât a car that was all flash and no substance.
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Iâm not sure why, but the Triumph TR7 is not a popular car, so many Triumph TR fans tend to wax lyrically about the TR6 and ignore its successor. I thought it was brilliant when I saw a new one on the road in the 1970s, it was something futuristic. But every Triumph TR car is loved in its own way, and to this day thereâs a strong community keeping each one of them on the road.
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So, weâve covered the Rover SD1 and its replacement, the Rover 800. Now we come to the last large Rover, the 75. Itâs a shame that this was probably the best quality car Rover ever made, but maybe the least popular. But Rover was like a cat on its 9th life, and thereâs only so many opportunities you get before itâs game over.
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