In 1992, Audi struggled to move less than 15,000 cars in the United States. Ten years later, it moved more than 85,000. Although Audi reinvented its entire lineup in that time, one car more than…
Cream of the Crop: 1953 Cadillac Coupe de Ville
If you wanted to say you’d “arrived” in 1953, there were few better ways to get that point across than a Coupe de Ville. In the immediate postwar years Cadillac solidified its dominant position as…
Moretti 850 Sportiva: Dino in Miniature
Moretti as a manufacturer came to an end thirty years ago this month, after 64 years of producing motorcycles, sports cars, and what it was best known for by 1989 – Fiat based specials. The…
Sprezzatura, Swedish Style: Volvo 780 Bertone
At the time of Volvo’s first collaboration with Bertone in 1976, Volvos were still distinctly middle-class cars. By 1991, they were “premium” machines, at least in the U.S. At the very top of the line…
The Malaise Mazda: Cosmo AP/RX-5
It was planned when Mazda was riding high on Rotary success in the early 1970s. That decade was the golden age of “personal coupes,” be they Toyota Celicas or Lincoln MkIVs, so it made perfect…
The Cadillac of Minivans: Oldsmobile Silhouette
GM’s first attempt at minivans, the long-lived 1985 Chevy Astro/GMC Safari, were more “van” than “mini.” This wasn’t so surprising since they were designed in a hurry and therefore based mostly on off-the-shelf truck components….
Sachsenring P70: Designed in Duroplast
Chances are good you’ve at least heard of the Trabant, national car of the Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR); but the Trabant wasn’t invented overnight. This dour gentleman is standing next to a Sachsenring P70 –…
Glorious Swan Song:
Iso Lele
It ended up being the company’s last new production car, although nobody could have known that when the Iso Lele debuted in 1969. Meant to replace the original Iso GT, the Iso Rivolta IR300 that…
The Japanese Jaguar: Infiniti J30
“Let`s just say that Jerry Hirshberg is a real fan of Jaguar,” said Nissan USA CEO Thomas Mignanelli in 1992. The Infiniti J30 that Mignanelli was being interviewed about hailed from the opposite side of…
Renault Frégate: Une Parisienne très Américaine
It was November 30th, 1950 when Renault CEO Pierre Lefaucheux the company’s newest car – the Renault Frégate – to great fanfare. The car would be in production for a decade, sort of, but had…
Lincoln Continental Mark III: The Magic Number
It was one of Lee Iacocca’s greatest successes. It was exactly what its target audience wanted, it was extremely profitable, and it created the template for an era of unprecedented sales success for Lincoln. Introduced…
Three-Wheelin’: Reliant Robin Mk1
In time all Reliant 3-wheelers, including the earlier Regal and later Rialto, came to be commonly called “Reliant Robins,” (or worse – “Robin Reliants”) so familiar were they in the fabric of U.K. life. In…