More obscure than even the early “Swallowtails,” the Mk1 Volkswagen Golf Van might be the rarest of all Mk1s, and one of the most interesting.
1987-89 Mercury Tracer: Hecho En Mexico
Sometimes a car is less significant for what it is than what it represents, and the original Mercury Tracer definitely falls into this category. Although it had a Ford sibling, the Asia-Pacific market Laser, both…
1963 Trabant 600: An Early Trabbi Becomes A Car Show Hero
The Trabant 600 was the last of the early series Trabbis and a car still competitive with Western alternatives when new, but it was built for just two years.
Suzuki SC100 Whizzkid: Saving The Best For Last
We saw this Suzuki SC100 Whizzkid almost a decade ago and haven’t seen another one in the States since, but this little car is much more famous in other countries. Built from 1978 to 1982,…
Zaporozhets ZAZ-968A: Ukraine’s People’s Car
While it was often associated with Russia in the west, and indeed it was the most common car on Russian streets before the advent of the Lada, the Zaporozhets was actually built in Ukraine, and…
Nissan Figaro: The Retroest Ride
People seeing a Nissan Figaro for the very first time are always charmed by those cute and happy looks. Few cars look so winsome and even fewer are capable of defying the forces of time,…
Ford Fiesta Mk1: The Blue Oval’s Supermini
“Mini cars,” Henry Ford II infamously once said, equal “Mini profits.” Ironically, what he’d have termed a “mini” car turned out to be the Blue Oval’s most important product of the 1970s: the Mk1 Ford…
1969-73 Opel GT: GM’s International Sports Car
It must have been an odd sight – a miniature Corvette sitting in a showroom across from herds of loaded Buick land yachts, but the Opel GT was a success for Opel and for U.S. Buick dealers.
Mercedes W111 250SE Coupe: The Finer Things
Even in the long evolution of Mercedes-Benz style, few cars have looked as timeless as the W111/W112 coupes. They were designed 60 years ago, but they don’t look like a car of 1960. The coupes…
BMW L6: The Luxury Liner
Everybody knows BMW’s M cars. Those fastest and most electrifying of Bimmers, date back to the M1 in 1978 and the M535i that soon followed, are of course more well-known and varied than ever today….
Matra Rancho: Birth Of The Crossover
Almost nobody realized it at the time, but 1977 was the year “crossovers” were born. They took two very different forms, and it was 20+ years before such vehicles started to become commonplace in the…
1988-92 Toyota Corolla All-Trac Wagon
Most Americans buy their cars off the lot, but in Japan built-to-order is the norm. Customers tailor what they want from a wide array of models and buy them from an equally wide array of…