Jeep and Ram etc |
Post Reply |
Author | |
alabamatoy
Admin Group I dont work here anymore... Joined: 16 February 2004 Location: Signal Mountain Status: Offline Points: 9366 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Posted: 01 November 2019 at 7:27am |
From Slashdot:
This puts Jeep, Dodge, Chrysler, and Ram in with some really outstanding automotive company, none of which have ever had any real success in USA. Opel perhaps in early 70s for a few years - remember the "Kadet"? Back then, Opel was part of GM, I think. Fiat? Remember the X1/9? Yeah, most people don't either. It was correctly pronounced "X one nine" and was kinda the model on which the Pontiac Fiero and Toyota MR2 were based. In 1982, the Fiat X1/9 became the Bertone X1/9, and persisted for a couple more years through Bertone, a company run by Malcom Bricklin, whose name you may recognize. The Fiat 124 Spider (kinda like a MG) had some success, and the name has recently been reused on a rebadged Mazda Miata. Its been difficult to convince American buyers to pay more for a rebadged Miata with a less reliable Fiat engine that makes more HP than the Mazda motor but results in a poorer performing car, and I just can't imagine why it hasn't flown off showroom floors. The most recent Fiat 500 has had miserable sales in the US. I had one as a rental on travel a couple years back, and it was not so awful, just bloody tiny. I mean like tiny like I couldnt sit straight in the driver's seat because my shoulder was jammed against the B pillar tiny. One of my first car resto projects was a 1970 Fiat 850 Sport Spyder, which belonged to a girl I was dating at the time (around 77 or so). The engine had died on hers, and the car was a pukeworthy faded light blue with some forgettable interior color like white or dark blue. She paid for all the parts for me to buy a wrecked, newer model which had a bigger engine and some other upgrades along with a black interior. I swapped everything over to her car, and she paid to have it painted British racing green. It came out really well, and actually was fun to drive, albeit slow since it had only a 900CC engine. I remember removing the dead motor and installing the bigger one by hand - no lift or hoist - it was small enough that I just wrestled it by hand. I dont know what happened to her or the car.
|
|
"If you didnt buy your 1st gen 4Runner new, then YOU are a newbie!!"
BRC Life Member |
|
Recon
RCRC Club Visitor Joined: 10 April 2017 Location: New Market Status: Offline Points: 588 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
The Opel Gt was a cool little car. It has a small GM emblem on the back window I think.
|
|
98TJ
RCRC Club Member RCRC Club Treasurer Joined: 10 May 2005 Location: Maysville, Madison County Status: Offline Points: 8368 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
Those Opel GTs were cool littler cars. I had a buddy who had one back in the early 70s. The other kinda similar car I always wanted back then was a Triumph GT6. But we were trailer park poor and didn't have money for either one.
|
|
1998 TJ 4.0 5spd Atlas 36" Swampers RE4.5 ARB's 44/44
|
|
Post Reply | |
Tweet
|
Forum Jump | Forum Permissions You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum |