It’s too late for a Friday Fiat, but how about a Sunday SEAT? Por qué no los dos? The Fiat 600 was designed in Italy by Dante Giacosa and Co., but starting in the spring…
Browsing Category World Cars
Argentine Flashback: Siam di Tella 1500
Another distant trip today through the OldMotors archives, this time to Buenos Aires, Argentina, in the 1960s. That’s el Teatro Colón in the background, Argentina’s most famous opera house and no doubt the primary subject…
Ford Cortina MkV: A Family Favorite’s Final Call
Just a few months later, it would be swept aside by the radically aerodynamic, lozenge-shaped Sierra, but in early 1982 the Ford Cortina MkV was still a market-dominating machine in the U.K. Indeed, even after…
Dacia 1300: The Original Romanian Renault
Something different today! Like many Eastern Bloc cars, the Dacia 1300 had an unnaturally long life. Changing economic and political circumstances, and some clever updating and modifying, meant that what began as a licensed 1969…
Ford Escort Mark II: Project Brenda
By the summer of 1980, Ford of Europe’s Escort Mark II was starting to feel old, and the automotive world was abuzz with news of its much-anticipated front-drive successor, “Project Erika.” However, while it was…
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…
Buick Opel Isuzu: All Dressed Up For Nobody
We love unusual badge-ups, and this one brings together a very odd trio. It looks like an Opel Kadett C, but it’s actually called the “Buick Opel Isuzu.” Confused? Well, all three brands were part…
1987-93 Pontiac LeMans: Partners at Odds
It seemed like a great idea – take a respected small car designed in Germany, where engineers know about good dynamics and quality cars, manufacture it cheaply in South Korea, then sell it in America…
Hongqi CA770: China’s Official Limousine
A Chinese car for Chinese New Year – a 1974 Hongqi (pronounced “Hong-Ch’i,” meaning “Red Flag”) CA770. The CA770 replaced the earlier CA72 in the mid-1960s (though it retained much of the older car) and…
Alpine Fire Brigade: Volkswagen LT 4X4
Hundreds of thousands of VW LT vans were built over the truck’s lengthy lifespan – 1975 to 1996 – but just 1,250 of them were the lifted, go-anywhere 4X4 models. LT stands for “Lasten-Transporter,” loosely…
Jinggangshan: Once Upon a Time in China
In the past 30 years, and in particular the last ten, China’s car industry has grown exponentially. In the mid-1980s China built only a few thousand cars a year, mostly licensed designs or CKD kits,…