The Forgotten Cars Thread

[Turbo]

Subaru Outback Sedan

Nearly did a double take after seeing one outside the library. Basically, it was the car for those who couldn't decide between a normal Outback and a Legacy sedan. These could be had with a manual transmission as well. For obvious reasons, sales very appallingly low.

The first generation sedan was badged as the SUS. It was initially supposed to be sold in the Northeast only, but ended up being offered nationwide.

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[The Vanishing Boy]

1996-1999 Tatra 700




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^ Hmm, why there are 2 rear-end designs? Just curious.

 

[CSMDuty11]

^ Hmm, why there are 2 rear-end designs? Just curious.

The former's the normal 700 with a 3.5L engine, the latter is the 700-2 with the bigger 4.4L engine and a significantly less savvy design team than the ones for the Porsche 930.

 

[homeforsummer]

Unlike a lot of its period brethren, I haven't seen one of these for some time now. They were bad, I know, but still, it was poor Europe's main transportation until at least 1995, so they build a ******** of them. It's almost as if there are little to no people out there willing to spend time and money to keep a ****** rustbucket like this on the road.

Another opportunity to bring up the badge-engineered 1989-1993 Pontiac Le Mans and the 1994-1997 Daewoo Nexia...

For the era, I don't think the styling was too bad, though by the time Daewoo did their thing with it, it was looking pretty dated and the updates removed some of the crisper lines of the Opel/Vauxhall variant.

 

[Turbo]

Another opportunity to bring up the badge-engineered 1989-1993 Pontiac Le Mans and the 1994-1997 Daewoo Nexia...

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For the era, I don't think the styling was too bad, though by the time Daewoo did their thing with it, it was looking pretty dated and the updates removed some of the crisper lines of the Opel/Vauxhall variant.

The sedan variant was called the "Daewoo Racer". Not a very fitting name.

 

[L8 Apex]

The Chevrolet Corsica sedan is itself a bit forgotten...but the Corsica 5-door, which was only offered for three years (1989-'91)? Now that's DEFINITELY forgotten!

And how many of you Canadian GTPers remember the Corsica's badge-engineered sister, the reborn (from '87 to '91) Pontiac Tempest?

 

[Tornado]

It always impressed me just how truly, staggeringly people in America did not want 5 doors, no matter how much they look like a regular 3 box sedan. The only ones that were ever bought in any numbers until BMW remade the Aztek and made the segment trendy were the Citation and family (which may actually have something to do with it) and the LeBaron GTS/Shadow.

 

[Populuxe]

It always impressed me just how truly, staggeringly people in America did not want 5 doors, no matter how much they look like a regular 3 box sedan. The only ones that were ever bought in any numbers until BMW remade the Aztek and made the segment trendy were the Citation and family (which may actually have something to do with it) and the LeBaron GTS/Shadow.

And it's not like they didn't try. Remember the Chevrolet Malibu MAXX? 2004-2007, with an SS version available the last two years.

 

[Turbo]

The Pontiac Vibe was another forgotten attempt at an American 5-door (though not 100% American; developed under the GM-Toyota NUMMI venture).

 

[-Fred-]

And how many of you Canadian GTPers remember the Corsica's badge-engineered sister, the reborn (from '87 to '91) Pontiac Tempest?

My grandparents had one when I was a youngster, theirs was burgundy over silver (I think they all were two tone), had the useless cargo rack on the trunk. My grandfather got rear ended by a Bronco and replaced it with a Crown Vic. That was around 91 or 92, one of our neighbors had a brown/gold Corsica as well. It's funny, they were pretty much everywhere back then, and then they all just sort of disappeared all at the same time.

 

[Turbo]

Not gonna lie, the earlier Corsica looked cool in a retro sort of way with period-correct body-colored wheels.

 

[VXR]

And it's not like they didn't try. Remember the Chevrolet Malibu MAXX? 2004-2007, with an SS version available the last two years.

I still find it most odd I've seen both a sedan and one of these here in England. We had Epsilon based oddity with the Vauxhall Signum, which looked somewhat better than that whilst still being absolutely awful.

 

[homeforsummer]

Couple of cars I've not thought about in ages, spurred on by seeing both on the road earlier today.

One was the original Smart Forfour, which only lasted from 2004-2006 and which shared its platform with the contemporary Mitsubishi Colt. Got reasonable reviews at the time, though it's the least Smart-like car the company has produced, being front-wheel drive and at the time, the only one they offered with a manual gearbox. Like the Colt, there was a performance version - in this case a 175bhp Brabus (second pic).

Next up was probably an even rarer car, a Renault Fluence ZE. The regular Fluence was never sold in the UK - I'm not sure it was even sold in Western Europe - but the ZE was Renault's first electric vehicle over here and its first in general, pre-dating the Zoe and Twizy, arriving at a similar time to the Kangoo ZE van, and on sale at a similar time to the first-gen Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt.

Sales were poor, not helped by the expense at the time and it being a misjudged experiment by Renault into battery-swapping as a means of extending range - in Israel and Denmark there were actually places you could drive in to swap a whole new fully charged battery.

I actually drove a Fluence briefly at the 2011 Geneva show, along with the Volt, and an electric second-gen A-class. Seemed pleasant enough and I suppose as long as the batteries haven't deteriorated too much in the past seven years or so, driving one today probably wouldn't feel "old" as such, as electric motors don't really age in the way the characteristics of an engine or transmission do.

 

[TexRex]

Smart Forfour ... 175bhp Brabus

Whaaaaat...

 

[ZGBox]

Whaaaaat...

As far as I know, smart presented an even more powerful version of the Forfour Brabus, called the SBr, but it never entered production.

It has 210hp (!)

 

[Turbo]

The main issue plaguing the Forfour, was not to do with build quality or lack of features or even the obscure styling, but it was the astronomical price. With a few options, the Forfour was upwards of 15k pounds, certainly expensive for a supermini, therefore it didn't sell well as Smart hoped, and only was produced for two years. People would rather have a less exciting Mitsubishi Colt or Ford Fiesta, since those were reasonably priced.

There were also rumors that the Forfour would be sold in the US alongside the ForTwo, but clearly that never happened.

 

[ZGBox]

People would rather have a less exciting Mitsubishi Colt or Ford Fiesta, since those were reasonably priced.

That reminds me, the Forfour was Colt-based with Mitsubishi engines (except for the 1.5 Diesel) and with some differences on the chassis (such as rear discs, and the Tridion cell).
It was better, but it wasn't enough, considering the price.

 

[SlipZtrEm]

Another opportunity to bring up the badge-engineered 1989-1993 Pontiac Le Mans and the 1994-1997 Daewoo Nexia...

View attachment 760724

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One of these existed in my neighbourhood back in the country growing up. My friend and I found endless humour in something so unfortunate-looking being named after a famous festival of speed. Then again, we didn't know of Pontiac's long history with the name, or the origin of the GTO. Still easily ranks up there with the Mitsubishi Carisma and Skoda Rapid in terms of ironic names, though.

Sticking with the theme, there's Asüna, the Canadian-market company GM created for a single model year (1993). It sold its own version of the Daewoo Le Mans, as well as a rebranded Isuzu Piazza, as the Sunfire (a name, in a sort of poetic way, circled back to Pontiac for its Cavalier twin the following year):

I remember coveting one that was always present in my grandma's apartment building parking lot as a kid, in a particularly '90s shade of teal. Another of its platform mates, the Geo Storm, had a hatch version that I still find oddly appealing, like a newer take on the Pulsar NX:

 

[TexRex]

but it never entered production.

Good.



175hp is obscene.

Y'know, I've appreciated the styling of those for a good long while now.

 

[ZGBox]

Good.



175hp is obscene.

It's clearly too much, and I don't think it has a limited-slip differential as standard.

 

[Turbo]

One of these existed in my neighbourhood back in the country growing up. My friend and I found endless humour in something so unfortunate-looking being named after a famous festival of speed. Then again, we didn't know of Pontiac's long history with the name, or the origin of the GTO. Still easily ranks up there with the Mitsubishi Carisma and Skoda Rapid in terms of ironic names, though.

Sticking with the theme, there's Asüna, the Canadian-market company GM created for a single model year (1993). It sold its own version of the Daewoo Le Mans, as well as a rebranded Isuzu Piazza, as the Sunfire (a name, in a sort of poetic way, circled back to Pontiac for its Cavalier twin the following year):

I remember coveting one that was always present in my grandma's apartment building parking lot as a kid, in a particularly '90s shade of teal. Another of its platform mates, the Geo Storm, had a hatch version that I still find oddly appealing, like a newer take on the Pulsar NX:

I find it perplexing how GM spent extra money and resources to develop and market Asuna specifically for Canada, when they could've just brought Geo over there and sold those models under that brand. Then again, it is GM after all.

 

[Northstar]

they could've just brought Geo over there and sold those models under that brand. Then again, it is GM after all.

They did, in fact the success of Geo in Canada is what led to the creation of Asuna. Dealers wanted a second "import" brand so GM conjured up Asuna.

 

[Populuxe]

Another of its platform mates, the Geo Storm, had a hatch version that I still find oddly appealing, like a newer take on the Pulsar NX:

I still find those appealing. It's a fun little practical car.

 

[homeforsummer]

With a few options, the Forfour was upwards of 15k pounds, certainly expensive for a supermini, therefore it didn't sell well as Smart hoped, and only was produced for two years.

That is... not at all the case.

The Forfour started at £8995 (according to the copy of Autocar from 2004 I have in front of me). That was pretty much ballpark for the time - less than some, more than others (a 1.3-litre Forfour with around 95bhp was about £10k - similar to virtually every other manufacturer's 1.3 or 1.4-litre equivalent, most of which had less power).

"With a few options" is wildly open to interpretation but as far as I recall the Forfour was hardly poorly equipped by class standards, so I'm not sure what options would take it to £15k. The Brabus might have been around that figure (I don't have a relevant magazine handy) but then that wouldn't have been excessive for the time either - a Clio 182 was only a little less and a Peugeot 208 GTI 180 slightly more.

 

[MedigoFlame]

Never hear about the Bentley Brooklands, though that may be due to a low production number of around 500.

Loving these more and more.

 

[mustafur]

That is... not at all the case.

The Forfour started at £8995 (according to the copy of Autocar from 2004 I have in front of me). That was pretty much ballpark for the time - less than some, more than others (a 1.3-litre Forfour with around 95bhp was about £10k - similar to virtually every other manufacturer's 1.3 or 1.4-litre equivalent, most of which had less power).

"With a few options" is wildly open to interpretation but as far as I recall the Forfour was hardly poorly equipped by class standards, so I'm not sure what options would take it to £15k. The Brabus might have been around that figure (I don't have a relevant magazine handy) but then that wouldn't have been excessive for the time either - a Clio 182 was only a little less and a Peugeot 208 GTI 180 slightly more.

I used to have one, it was well equipped but damn the suspension was non existent, not a good car to have if your not driving on smooth roads all the time.

Imo the regular version was inferior to the Mitsubishi Colt it was based on, it just had a funky interior and better styling.

 

[05XR8]

Subaru Outback Sedan

View attachment 758926

View attachment 758927

Nearly did a double take after seeing one outside the library. Basically, it was the car for those who couldn't decide between a normal Outback and a Legacy sedan. These could be had with a manual transmission as well. For obvious reasons, sales very appallingly low.

The first generation sedan was badged as the SUS. It was initially supposed to be sold in the Northeast only, but ended up being offered nationwide.

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View attachment 758931


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Just to piggyback on these. The AMC Eagle. Simply ahead of its time.

 

[Turbo]

1983-1984 Triumph Acclaim Avon Turbo, the last Triumph car ever produced. Based off the Honda Ballade, this compact sedan was powered by a 1.3L 1335cc turbocharged four-cylinder making 105hp, up from the standard 70hp. O-60 time was about 8.9 seconds. It was billed as one of the first turbocharged cars that was lag-free.

 

[INEEDNAWZZZ]

There's no doubt they're probably a bit cruddy today, but turbo BL models have a certain appeal. Interesting that the turbo system was made fairly local to me!

 

[05XR8]

One of the most copied rear tailights in car modification history(well, back in my days in The Bronx anyway).. I'm thinking about one. Fairly inexpensive out here in Australia($3500 on average), for manual or automatic.