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

[Rallywagon]

Yeah... its that too...

 

[TheOverdriver]

how is this possible though

Yeah thats right, a holden sponsored by buick which from a far might seem like a buick
its not exactly a rebadge but it sure is odd

look at this chevrolden (if you notice at the bottom hsv is replaced with csv)

 

[Turbo]

While on the topic of Chevrolet & Buick rebadges, there's been some pretty peculiar rebadges of the Opel Corsa.

2001-2009 Buick/Chevrolet Sail, basically a sedan version of the Opel Corsa B exclusively for China.





Chevrolet Prisma, another Corsa C badge-over for Brazil.





The hatchback version of the Prisma was the Chevrolet Celta.





And then there was the Chevrolet Classic, the same concept of the Sail but was sold in Argentina only.




Weirdest of all was the 2006-2009 Chevrolet Corsa SS, for Brazil and other Latin-American markets. It was powered by a 1.8L Ecotec 4-cylinder making 123hp.





Finishing off the list of GM Corsa rebadges was the Chevrolet Chevy (yes, it really was called that) for Mexico:

 

[VXR]

I love these frankencars sold in other markets.

 

[TexRex]

*cough*

Toyota Hilux built in Hanover and sold as the Volkswagen Taro.

 

[Turbo]

Here's some more rebadging madness... I present the second-gen Isuzu Trooper. It was rebadged ten times, under GM, Honda, and even Subaru badges, making it the most rebadged SUV in history!

This is the traditional second-gen Trooper, sold in America, Europe, and in Japan as the Isuzu Bighorn.





In Indonesia, Brazil and Colombia, it was the called the Chevrolet Trooper.



For Aussies, it was the Isuzu Jackaroo/Monterey.



Along with the traditional Isuzu Trooper, many European markets also got an Opel/Vauxhall Monterey



Honda Horizon, for Japan.



Also for Japan only was the Subaru Bighorn. A strange car to wear the Subaru badge...



For USA/Canada there was a more upscale version of the trooper called the Acura SLX.

Saving the most bizarre rebadge for last, here is the HSV Jackaroo. Only 79 were ever made and all were sold in Australia. Very odd for this SUV to wear the HSV name; HSV cars are usually sporty sedans and coupes, while the Jackaroo is anything but that. The only things to differentiate the HSV from the Holden Jackaroo was an LSD an lower body moldings; even the engine was the same as normal.

 

[Turbo]

GMC Sprint, nothing more than a rebadged Chevrolet El Camino.

The later models were badged as GMC Caballeros.

The Sprint/Caballero was sold in the American market alongside the El Camino, which was strange. Typical GM logic prevailed.

 

[Volksauto]

The Sprint/Caballero was sold in the American market alongside the El Camino, which was strange. Typical GM logic prevailed.

That is pretty much how GM and the other American giants like Ford and Chrysler worked though the 1950's till about the mid 1980's. Almost every single car that was made by them was "rebadged" from another brand. But the different brand models usually had different front and rear end designs along with different trim, features, and engines.
Here are the "rebadged" GM full-size cars of 1960 (going from low end to top of the line):
Chevrolet Impala

Oldsmobile 98

Pontiac Bonneville

Buick LeSabre

Cadillac DeVille

 

[Tornado]

GM rebadging wasn't usually really rebadging as the term is known today until the second fuel crisis made it so having a bunch of essentially competing brands all trying to meet the same regulations under the same company wasn't feasible and they responded (under Roger Smith, of course) by forcing everything to be run through corporate engineering resulting in things like the Cimarron. There were exceptions (like Canadian market cars especially), but up until that point there were usually completely different engines, very different interiors and sometimes (as is the case with the 1960 cars above) even different frames that the similar looking bodies were placed upon; with transmissions usually being the only main thing that was "corporate".

 

[RandomCarGuy17]

Um, a Daewoo badged Speedster.

 

[Turbo]

That is pretty much how GM and the other American giants like Ford and Chrysler worked though the 1950's till about the mid 1980's. Almost every single car that was made by them was "rebadged" from another brand. But the different brand models usually had different front and rear end designs along with different trim, features, and engines.
Here are the "rebadged" GM full-size cars of 1960 (going from low end to top of the line):
Chevrolet Impala

Oldsmobile 98

Pontiac Bonneville

Buick LeSabre

Cadillac DeVille

Except there really was no differences between the El Camino and Sprint/Caballero, unlike the examples you provided...

Um, a Daewoo badged Speedster.

The Daewoo G2X roadster was also a rebadge, this time the Saturn Sky.

To an American, the idea of a Daewoo-badged roadster might appear perplexing, but in actuality it isn't. It makes perfect sense to badge those two GM products as a Daewoo, a GM brand. Since Opel and Saturn have no brand presence in Korea, it's more logical to offer the Speedster and Sky as a Daewoo and sell it in Korea only rather then not offer it at all, especially since Daewoo's lineup lacked a sports car.

 

[TexRex]

The Monteverdi Sahara from the aforementioned Swiss marque is an ever-so-slightly reworked International Harvester Scout.

 

[Tornado]

To an American, the idea of a Daewoo-badged roadster might appear perplexing, but in actuality it isn't. It makes perfect sense to badge those two GM products as a Daewoo, a GM brand. Since Opel and Saturn have no brand presence in Korea, it's more logical to offer the Speedster and Sky as a Daewoo and sell it in Korea only rather then not offer it at all, especially since Daewoo's lineup lacked a sports car.

So, much like the Isuzu Trooper further up the page (which proliferated around the world for the same reason), neither ugly, weird, silly or just plain stupid?

 

[Turbo]

So, much like the Isuzu Trooper further up the page (which proliferated around the world for the same reason), neither ugly, weird, silly or just plain stupid?

Some of them were more unusual than others (Honda, Subaru, HSV,).

 

[Crazy Taylor]

There was the Opel Corsa and Vauxhall Nova. Corsa sounded too much like coarser (or rough), thus was changed. Ironically no va means won't go in Spanish.

 

[Danoff]

I don't think it's ugly but it is weird and silly... GT86/BRZ/FR-S

 

[TexRex]

I don't think it's ugly but it is weird and silly... GT86/BRZ/FR-S

What about it is? Toyota has a not insignificant stake in Subaru parent Fuji Heavy and the cars were developed together.

If anything, I wonder how long Toyota planned to axe the Scion brand...specifically if the decision had been made prior to the release of the FR-S in lieu of the 86 here.

Edit: Remember these?

 

[Dennisch]

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.

​

Gravedigging in progress.

This was based on the C Kadett. From 1973 till 1979. So the design was dead for 13 years, and was 19 years old when they resurrected it.

 

[Danoff]

What about it is?

Rebadging seems a bit weird and silly to me in every instance. Why do we need the same car with different badging? I'll give a little bit of a pass to luxury brands such as Acura/Infiniti/Lexus (for example the Honda NSX being rebadged an Acura for US sales). That strikes me more as just nation-specific marketing than rebadging. It's automatically weird to me that practically the same car is sold under two different names in the same market. And even weirder and sillier when it's 3.

 

[TexRex]

Rebadging seems a bit weird and silly to me in every instance. Why do we need the same car with different badging? I'll give a little bit of a pass to luxury brands such as Acura/Infiniti/Lexus (for example the Honda NSX being rebadged an Acura for US sales). That strikes me more as just nation-specific marketing than rebadging. It's automatically weird to me that practically the same car is sold under two different names in the same market. And even weirder and sillier when it's 3.

I can appreciate that--particularly when there's a glaringly obvious connection between brands, such as Toyota and Scion, and to a lesser extent Subaru. I mean...I don't watch the modern auto industry like a hawk and I was still aware of their connection.

The brand-hopping rebadges and badge engineering examples like the Toyota Matrix and Pontiac Vibe are a little more unusual on the face of it, but more justifiable when you consider the project introduces a segment to a brand that it hadn't otherwise known. And it costs a fraction of developing a new platform or even modifying an existing one.

 

[Tornado]

For the BreesFreez twins, I think it was just Toyota's last ditch effort to save the brand.

 

[Turbo]

Some funny North Korean rebadges, because why not. Meet Pyeonghwa... not Pyongyang, but Pyeonghwa, DPRK's only automaker.

Pyeonghwa Zunma: a rebadged VW Passat NMS



Pyeonghwa Hwiparam, rebadged Fiat Siena.



Pyeonghwa Ppoggugi, rebadged Kia Sorento.



A few other models, which I can't find the names to.

Rebadged SsangYong Chairman.



Rebadged Volkswagen Jetta



Rebadged Chevrolet Colorado

 

[TexRex]

Pyeonghwa Hwiparam

 

[Tornado]

I sat in a 9-7x not too long ago and was surprised to discover that GM actually bothered to move the ignition switch:

 

[RandomCarGuy17]

A small thing I found stupid, VW calling the Golf Mk.6 Wagon in the US a Jetta SportWagen. It never made sense to me with it well, looking like a Golf. To add on, I'm slightly annoyed that they just call the Golf GTI, just plain "GTI". It just sounds so basic, I prefer it when a manufacture actually treats it like a variant of a model.

 

[Volksauto]

A small thing I found stupid, VW calling the Golf Mk.6 Wagon in the US a Jetta SportWagen. It never made sense to me with it well, looking like a Golf. To add on, I'm slightly annoyed that they just call the Golf GTI, just plain "GTI". It just sounds so basic, I prefer it when a manufacture actually treats it like a variant of a model.

Kind of the same when VW of America called the Golf "Rabbit" in the 1970s:

 

[Turbo]

Definitely the most depressing Subaru product ever offered, a Toyota BB/Scion XB/Daihatsu Materia rebadge called the Subaru Dex. Not Rex, but Dex.

 

[The Vanishing Boy]

-> ...

What about it is? Toyota has a not insignificant stake in Subaru parent Fuji Heavy and the cars were developed together.

If anything, I wonder how long Toyota planned to axe the Scion brand...specifically if the decision had been made prior to the release of the FR-S in lieu of the 86 here.

Edit: Remember these?

^ At least in the case of the Toyota Matrix & Pontiac Vibe/Toyota Voltz, each of those cars are distinctive to one another. There weren't any shared parts on its rear-ends!

Unlike the BRZ/Toyota GT86/86/Scion FR-S, the only things differ between the Subie & Toyota are:
1. Badges
2. Fender trim
3. Headlights
4. Front bumper facia

^ In short, the Toyota-GM NUMMI hatchback twins did a better job of separating the similarities of the two cars than Toyota-Subaru FA20 coupe.

 

[TexRex]

-> ...

^ At least in the case of the Toyota Matrix & Pontiac Vibe/Toyota Voltz, each of those cars are distinctive to one another. There weren't any shared parts on its rear-ends!

Unlike the BRZ/Toyota GT86/86/Scion FR-S, the only things differ between the Subie & Toyota are:
1. Badges
2. Fender trim
3. Headlights
4. Front bumper facia

^ In short, the Toyota-GM NUMMI hatchback twins did a better job of separating the similarities of the two cars than Toyota-Subaru FA20 coupe.

Yeah, not so much badge engineering as platform sharing.

 

[Turbo]

I think I may found an even more depressing Subaru rebadge. I present you the 2001-2004 Subaru Traviq, nothing more than a badged-over Opel Zafira, an already dreary and badly-engineered GM product, for the Japanese market. More like "Subaru Tragic".




Strangely enough, it appeared in a racing game, GT Pro Series, released 2006.