I believe they just make the cars that are needed in high volume now, like the C-class.
Actually Saabs are just Opel underneath, it's all GM tech.
Well, a Dutch company (backed by Russian mob money haha) bought Saab and they are bringing out a new model. They have also stuck a deal with BMW to share technology.
So who knows? In 3 years you can buy a 9-3 with the M sports package.
However, what Saab always did have is the cutting edge in safety
technology.
They were the first to have seatbelts standard.
They had the ignition key between the two front seats so that in the event of a crash you don't get your house keys embedded in your kneecap.
They had the washable headlamps with wipers on them.
They had the impact absorbing bumpers BEFORE Volvo!
They were the fist to put those crossbars in their car doors, Volvo followed suit shortly after.
Etc... Those innovations continued under GM, and one of the last big things they did was design an engine that ran on biofuel.
Grrr. Just look at Volkswagen (for fugssake, that translates as "People´s Car") buying Bentley. How stupid can managers get?
Not that stupid. They sold ten times more Bentley GTs than they anticipated, there are lots of them around here. BMW on the other hand is selling a lot less Roll Royces than they had hoped for.
The stupid mistake by Ferdinand Piechs management team was buying Bugatti, they are making a loss on every car they sell plus the years of delay trying to sort out the overheating problems they had by cobbling 2 and 3/4 Golf VR6 engines together. The Golf itself was originally plagued by overheating.
As for safety (and Saab) it was Mercedes who first introduced the reinforced passenger cell, crumple zones, anti-lock brakes (if you discount the Jensen FF) and the airbag.
Except the V6 engine Saabs engines are based on the Triumph Dolomite Sprint motor, the first mass-produced 4 valve.
GM bought Opel in 1929. And yes this does mean that GM supported the war effort of the US and Nazi Germany at the same time but they are not alone in this.
Let's steer clear of politics. OT posts deleted.
I think Pit's point was that a company who's guts and core was a car for the common man went and bought one of the world's most elitist (and proud of it) brands.
Corporate culture is tainted by this sort of thing, no matter what CEO's might say. Companies with too many (And varied) marques end up confused and without direction. Look at GM juggling Opel, Suzuki, Saab, Pontiac and Hummer. Ford seemed to realize the folly (or more likely just needed quick cash) and has divested itself of Aston Martin, Mazda, Jag and Volvo.
Another prime example of this would be British Leyland. Now fairplay the British auto industry as a real power hit the dirt for a myriad of reasons, all of which self-imposed. But running itself like fifteen different companies certainly didn't help.
VW seems to be doing ok owning Audi, Seat, Skoda, Bentley, Lamborghini, Bugatti and producing the Ford Galaxy people carrier (made alongside the VW Sharan and Seats Alhambra in Seats spanish plant; the only difference between the 3 is the badge).
That said I hardly see any new VW around here because everybody who has tried them claims that Skodas are simply better built than the equivalent VW or Audi and cheaper than either. That said Audi has made good inroads into the market segment here occupied mostly by BMW and Mercedes. So it is VW sales which suffer but I do not think that management is loosing sleep over that as I presume Skoda workers earn less than VW workers.
Ford may have made a mistake selling Jaguar as their sales are rising faster here than any other brand by far this year. Aston, Volvo and Mazda are doing ok in their respective market segments too. Fords mistake was not to streamline production like VW since VW, Audi, Seat and Skoda all use the same engines, gearboxes and platforms, there are only slight differences in the bodywork.
Volvo for example never used Ford engines and their diesels are sourced from VW and more recently Renault.
That said I hardly see any new VW around here because everybody who has tried them claims that Skodas are simply better built than the equivalent VW or Audi and cheaper than either. That said Audi has made good inroads into the market segment here occupied mostly by BMW and Mercedes. So it is VW sales which suffer but I do not think that management is loosing sleep over that as I presume Skoda workers earn less than VW workers.
Ford may have made a mistake selling Jaguar as their sales are rising faster here than any other brand by far this year. Aston, Volvo and Mazda are doing ok in their respective market segments too. Fords mistake was not to streamline production like VW since VW, Audi, Seat and Skoda all use the same engines, gearboxes and platforms, there are only slight differences in the bodywork.
Volvo for example never used Ford engines and their diesels are sourced from VW and more recently Renault.
Yes but the sons of Ferdinand Porsche (VW and Porsche) are quite notable for always building very good Engines and Drivetrains.
Ford... eeeeehhhhhhhhhh I dunno. Their V8's are quite strong but not exactly a strong contender in non-american markets. Yes yes yes the Cortina was a very nice car and what not but would you really want to stand a Golf up to a Mondeo on reliability?
I think if Volvo and Mazda had been completely homogenized into the Ford fold they wouldn't have been worth anything to sell! Who would want a Japanese car with an american I4 and drivetrain, or a Swedish luxury sedan with a Duratech 25??
On the other hand I can say I'd vastly prefer a Czech or Spanish car with a german powerplant and transmission.
Ford... eeeeehhhhhhhhhh I dunno. Their V8's are quite strong but not exactly a strong contender in non-american markets. Yes yes yes the Cortina was a very nice car and what not but would you really want to stand a Golf up to a Mondeo on reliability?
I think if Volvo and Mazda had been completely homogenized into the Ford fold they wouldn't have been worth anything to sell! Who would want a Japanese car with an american I4 and drivetrain, or a Swedish luxury sedan with a Duratech 25??
On the other hand I can say I'd vastly prefer a Czech or Spanish car with a german powerplant and transmission.
It's not just Porsches relatives who make good engines. Mercedes and BMW are quite usable too.
The Chrysler hemi from the '60s was an excellent engine and was used by Jensen and Facel-Vega but after that the big three reverted to pre-war technology push rod motors. From what I read mostly because they chickened out from training their dealers to service technically up-to-date engines. Too expensive apparently; for this they are paying now!
Btw Ford Europe has been making some excellent (diesel) engines for a number of years now while american diesels are a few generations behind ie fuel consumption way too high while producing substantially less power than european designs.
European turbo diesels by now produce as much power as equally sized petrol jobs at a bit over half the fuel consumption. Not surprising that diesels outsell petrols here.
Going racing has helped I guess. After winning Le Mans in a diesel Alan McNish test drove an F1 car. Afterwards he said it felt under-powered compared to his Audi diesel!
The Chrysler hemi from the '60s was an excellent engine and was used by Jensen and Facel-Vega but after that the big three reverted to pre-war technology push rod motors. From what I read mostly because they chickened out from training their dealers to service technically up-to-date engines. Too expensive apparently; for this they are paying now!
Btw Ford Europe has been making some excellent (diesel) engines for a number of years now while american diesels are a few generations behind ie fuel consumption way too high while producing substantially less power than european designs.
European turbo diesels by now produce as much power as equally sized petrol jobs at a bit over half the fuel consumption. Not surprising that diesels outsell petrols here.
Going racing has helped I guess. After winning Le Mans in a diesel Alan McNish test drove an F1 car. Afterwards he said it felt under-powered compared to his Audi diesel!
Yes the death of the original Hemi was something of a defining moment for the Americans. A conscious decision to reject technological progress in favour of being completely humiliated by the Japanese at every turn. They held on to the solid rear axled-sedan until... well they still make the Crown Vic! Leaf springs adorn the Ford Mustang and Corvette to this very day, meanwhile top cryptoanalysts still strive to understand the meaning of DOHC.
What's quizzical is the disconnect between ford europe and ford america. Why not simply build the european designs over here?
What's quizzical is the disconnect between ford europe and ford america. Why not simply build the european designs over here?
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Not convinced by Porsches PDK gearboxes, but the watercooled engined of the 996 and 997 (and associated 986 and 987) were of terrible quality. Big ends too small, intermediate shaft bearing issues, RMS seal problems, cylinder head issues and cylinder wall cracking has ensured that only the GT3 and Turbo (if you ignore snapping timing chains) have any reliability in them. It's rare that you will see 100k miles out of a modern water cooled Porsche engine unless it was driven by a granny from day one.
Porsches reputation for quality built up by the idiosyncratic but solidly engineered aircooled models has not be comprehensively trashed as they continued year after year to make weak engines.
The latest ones are redesigned - hopefully properly.
Still. The Panther Platform still has it's appeal thinking about it.... I had a '92 Grand Marquis, the first year of the unstoppable Modular V8 4.6 and it was a nice car. Albeit stoneage. But poor road-holding and lethargic acceleration aside, I enjoyed it. It was always nice getting on the highway and letting the monster roar. Cruise control on, power seats, windows, mirrors all adjusted just-so, floating down the highway with "radar love" on the radio. Very american experience.
Whenever I see non-panther Police cruisers they seem just a little lame compared to the Crown Vics...
Whenever I see non-panther Police cruisers they seem just a little lame compared to the Crown Vics...
Fairplay, coils. But a live rear axle on a sports car is simply unforgivable. In fact, it's plain silly. The Mustang could potentially actually compete with German and Japanese competitors on acceleration if it had proper rear suspension to handle the torque being developed.
And yes, yes they have made DOHC's, I suppose my point was more that making ANY non DOHC engines in this day and age is pretty silly. And Ford makes more than one by a bunch. So does GM, and Chrysler. The Japanese petrol V8's in the Nissan Titan and Toyota Tundra make the American ones look.. well kinda sad.
Still life rear axles are about 50 years out of date, coils springs or not.
On rear-wheel drive cars they are particularly scary when the corner comes.
In Europe we've been building DOHC engines since 1912 (Fiat) for racing and 1924 (Sunbeam) for production cars.
No but on the topic of cars from the 70's here's one of my Dream Cars!! I'd love to buy one of those badboys brand new
SUEDE COCKPIT!!! Gooood lord.
Don't forget sprinkles on toast.
Dream Cars:
Delorean
Blenheim 3
Aston Martin Lagonda
1969 Dodge Charger
Mercedes Benz 320CE
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