Ugly, weird, silly, and just plain stupid car rebadges

[INEEDNAWZZZ]

The Vauxpel Kadastra E also took on the glorious incarnation as both the Pontiac Le Mans and the Daewoo Le Mans Racer

Random point, but I love how you picked the most haggard, trashy examples possible. May not have even been deliberate; I suspect most of these are scrapped now!

 

[Turbo]

Random point, but I love how you picked the most haggard, trashy examples possible. May not have even been deliberate; I suspect most of these are scrapped now!

Here are some photos of these cars in better condition:

Pontiac LeMans:



Daewoo LeMans Racer:



Oddly enough, it appears the Daewoo version had both Daewoo and Pontiac badging on it...

 

[MedigoFlame]

Subaru Traviq, which is basically a rebadged Opel Zafira.

 

[ToyGTone]

Nissan Sunny (or whatever you call it in your area)

Was sold as a...Renault Samsung SM3

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Chevrolet Niva

Based on the Lada of the same name:

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Bitter Vero

Yep...this is based on the VE Commodore

 

[MedigoFlame]

Dacia Duster and the Nissan Terrano.

 

[jmsbrydon]

 

[SonicCharmeleon]

The proton evo?

 

[Turbo]

Just found out that the third-generation Dodge Caravan was rebadged as the Sanxing G-Star for the Chinese market.

 

[Cowboy]

How about the Mitsubishi Mirage Dodge Attitude?

 

[Turbo]

How about the Mitsubishi Mirage Dodge Attitude?

View attachment 676574

I had mentioned that rebadge earlier. It certainly doesn't live up to its name.

 

[Cowboy]

I had mentioned that rebadge earlier. It certainly doesn't live up to its name.

Must be a modern day reminder that the Challenger in the '80s was basically a Mitsubishi.

 

[MedigoFlame]

Never realized there was a rebadged Toyota Yaris as the Daihatsu Charade. Until Mighty Car Mods posted one up.

 

[RandomCarGuy17]

Pontiac Ventura

Buick Apollo

Oldsmobile Omega

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Ford Verona (it reminds me of the Tempo)

It got rebadged as a Volkswagen Apollo, I didn't think I would ever see a Ford rebadged as a VW, but whatever I guess.

 

[WOODSJeep]

Delete

 

[TheCracker]

Ford Verona (it reminds me of the Tempo)

It got rebadged as a Volkswagen Apollo, I didn't think I would ever see a Ford rebadged as a VW, but whatever I guess.

Which in it's self was a lightly restyled Ford of Europe Escort/Orion.

 

[TexRex]

Pontiac Ventura

Buick Apollo

Oldsmobile Omega

GM's been selling virtually the same car under several names for over 80 years, but on the subject of the Nova...

The '84-8 Nova was just a Corolla.

 

[RandomCarGuy17]

GM's been selling virtually the same car under several names for over 80 years

Oh, I'm well aware of that.

 

[Turbo]

Mazda Navajo, a rebadged first-generation Ford Explorer. Strangely enough, it was only available in 2-door configuration.





Compared to other rebadges, this was a massive sales flop. The explorer which it was based on was consistently selling over 400k units annually, while the Navajo couldn't even surpass 40k units even on it's best year.

 

[TexRex]

Oh, I'm well aware of that.

I'd argue that because it's what the company does, the existence of such vehicles shouldn't be seen as unusual. What I find unusual, or would if the reason wasn't apparent, is the inconsistency of badge engineering at GM...why was there never an Olds or Buick version of the Camaro/Firebird? The Corvette?

Ugly is subjective, of course, and while one might not find one or more of those examples particularly attractive, the areas where each differ from the base conform to design language exhibited on other models sharing the same nameplate. Perhaps what's ugly isn't actually ugly at all, but instead unfamiliar--unfamiliar because the one car most likely seen if the characteristics unique to each nameplate aren't in view is a Nova. That's probably due in part to that particular generation of the Nova (the third, for those interested) having been on the road for three years before the clones were made available; and this is the truly odd thing to me, when GM rollouts were, and still are, pretty synchronized.

 

[Turbo]

1992-1995 GMC Chevette







This rebadge had nothing to do with the Chevrolet Chevette or even the Vauxhall Chevette; instead it was based off the Opel Kadett D. The GMC Chevette is the only vehicle branded as a GMC that is not a truck, crossover, or SUV, and it was sold only in Argentina. And that's not even the strangest part; the Kadett D's design had dated back to 1979 and ended production in 1984, therefore the GMC Chevette had a 13 year-old design when it hit the market.

​

 

[EngieDiesel]

This rebadge had nothing to do with the Chevrolet Chevette or even the Vauxhall Chevette; instead it was based off the Opel Kadett D. The GMC Chevette is the only vehicle branded as a GMC that is not a truck, crossover, or SUV, and it was sold only in Argentina. And that's not even the strangest part; the Kadett D's design had dated back to 1979 and ended production in 1984, therefore the GMC Chevette had a 13 year-old design when it hit the market.​

I'm guessing the idea behind it was to do the same thing Nissan is doing with the revived Datsun marque, and use GMC in developing countries as their entry market brand. Around that time period it was still synonymous with utility vehicles and not option-gorged rebadge SUVs, so it wouldn't have been too out of place to be used as a cheap car brand. And it certainly wouldn't be the first time a carmaker had recycled an old European design for the South American market.

 

[Turbo]

1993-1996 Honda Jazz





Nope, not the compact hatch you're probably thinking of; this was the original Honda Jazz. Essentially, it was the result of Honda and Isuzu's partnership during the 1990s. The Honda Jazz was a rebadged Isuzu MU/Amigo exclusively for Japan.​

 

[Volksauto]

I wouldn't really call it silly but this is the oldest car rebadging in history...

1903 Cadillac Model A

and

1903 Ford Model A

​

​

 

[TheOverdriver]

The Last Gen Pontiac GTO was sold as a Holden/Vauxhall Monaro
And the G8 is a rebadged commodore

A Toyota iQ dressed up as the Aston Martin Cygnet.

Maybe the highest markup of all time for a rebadge?

Who wants to buy our luxury shopping trolley?

 

[ToyGTone]

The Last Gen Pontiac GTO was sold as a Holden/Vauxhall Monaro
And the G8 is a rebadged commodore

In South Africa and Middle East, the Pontiac GTO was also sold as the Chevrolet Lumina Coupe SS.

While the G8/Commodore was sold as the Chevrolet Lumina

I wouldn't mind owning one if I had money.

 

[I-Runner]

1993-1996 Honda Jazz



Nope, not the compact hatch you're probably thinking of; this was the original Honda Jazz. Essentially, it was the result of Honda and Isuzu's partnership during the 1990s. The Honda Jazz was a rebadged Isuzu MU/Amigo exclusively for Japan.​

OPEL Frontera ..in europe !

IR

 

[Rallywagon]

In South Africa and Middle East, the Pontiac GTO was also sold as the Chevrolet Lumina Coupe SS.

View attachment 746701

While the G8/Commodore was sold as the Chevrolet Lumina

View attachment 746704

I wouldn't mind owning one if I had money.

Meanwhile, this is what a lumina looks like in the states...

At least we got the GTO though.

 

[ToyGTone]

Meanwhile, this is what a lumina looks like in the states...

At least we got the GTO though.

We did get those Luminas before although they all ceased to exist nowadays. I saw one in Kuwait few moths ago.

 

[CSMDuty11]

Meanwhile, this is what a lumina looks like in the states...

Aw man, and here I thought the US Lumina was

Also most mainland-Europe got for Holden products was an unofficial import with the Bitter Vero that was stupid expensive
....And it was also ugly

 

[buickgnx88]

Aw man, and here I thought the US Lumina was

Also most mainland-Europe got for Holden products was an unofficial import with the Bitter Vero that was stupid expensive
....And it was also ugly

Well to be fair it is still a Lumina, just with the added APV. The Lumina (sans APV) was a sedan or coupe in the early 90's, with the coupe version becoming the Monte Carlo in the mid 90's.