Trim levels. What was Wrong with L,GL,GLS etc?

[HMC]

Thanks for correcting me! Meanwhile untill the mid 90s or thereabouts names and trim levels themselves didn't exist at mercedes. A painted body will a few essentials was the starting point for the customer to add their own spec. So it's entirely possible to find a car from the factory with manual windows , electric sunroof, vinyl seats and air con. all at a price of course! My old 94 e class coupe had air con and leather- adding £4k to the list price which would buy you a lada at the time.

[Junkman]

I would buy a new car tomorrow

 

Hell no I wouldn't, even if it was the law.

[Leyland Lawrence]

D, DL, GL, GLS, GLT - Volvo 240

 

This was always my bread and butter.

 

240: DL, GL, GLE, (Didnt know about the GLS) GLT

340: DL, GL, GLE,

360 GL, GLT

440: GL, GLi, GLE, GLT, Turbo

 

I still compare modern cars for their model equivalence against these codes.

[gtd2000]

KIA seems to have gone back to commonsense with the LX or EX badging, in the USA at least...

[gordonbennet]

Thanks for correcting me! Meanwhile untill the mid 90s or thereabouts names and trim levels themselves didn't exist at mercedes. A painted body will a few essentials was the starting point for the customer to add their own spec. So it's entirely possible to find a car from the factory with manual windows , electric sunroof, vinyl seats and air con. all at a price of course! My old 94 e class coupe had air con and leather- adding £4k to the list price which would buy you a lada at the time.

 

We had a '94 built E320 estate.

Original buyer had ticked near on every option box, even down to a sump guard of all things.

Basic car was £31k in 94 and the options came to £19k...19 bloody k  i ask you.

 

Course it was easier then, a 320 has a 3.2 engine, 230 a 2.3 etc, simple.

[Asimo]

Hell no I wouldn't, even if it was the law.

 

That's the point though is it not? I won't be buying a new car either because no one is making anything I want. They are making crap to sell, not cars to buy.

[Sloth in a bowl]

This was always my bread and butter.

 

240: DL, GL, GLE, (Didnt know about the GLS) GLT

340: DL, GL, GLE,

360 GL, GLT

440: GL, GLi, GLE, GLT, Turbo

 

I still compare modern cars for their model equivalence against these codes.

Re: the 240 you are right it was GLE not GLS. I thought D was a fuzz only poverty spec (though wiki suggests it was L), not sure how many were made to this standard.

[Junkman]

That's the point though is it not? I won't be buying a new car either because no one is making anything I want. They are making crap to sell, not cars to buy.

 

I'm not sure.

A few buddies and I, all of us big time yank chod fans, once played the good old 'what if' game and the imaginary situation was like so:

 

It's 1957, you are living in small town America, and you are in the market for a new low priced car. Which one would you rather buy,

 

the Chevy BelAir

 

 

the Ford Fairlane 500

 

or the Plymouth Fury?

 

I thought long and hard, then said: The 1937 Packard V12.

[Asimo]

1937 - Sure you wouldn't prefer a  Cadillac V16 Sir?

 

I suppose I am sulking because one no longer purchases a chassis and has it delivered to one's coachbuilder.

Who, for a reasonable fee, will build exactly what the hell I like.

[barefoot]

I've asked this before and this thread is as good an excuse as any to ask it again...

 

What do, actually do CD, CS & CC stand for?

There from old Audi 100 C3's but CD has appeared on other motor cars.

 

I am led to believe that it is 'Consort Diplomatique' 'Consort Sportif' & that's as far as I ever got.

 

Please shed some light on this, it's driving me balmy.

[Split_Pin]

Our Chevy is an LT model. You can have LS, LT and. LTZ with only rudimentary differences between models. Doesn't have the same status as. GLS or Ghia designation though.

 

My dad had GL Volvos when I was growing up and he said it stood for 'Greater Luxury'. I therefore thought DL stood for 'Dumb Luxury' and laughed at them.

[forddeliveryboy]

base, L, GL, GLs etc and all the other takes on these letters were marketing gold - more profit, preying on the base human desire to be marginally better than a colleague or neighbour. I love buying a car which cost a fraction of what the extras cost, it makes it deeply satisfying. Mine usually cost a lot less than the leather option.

 

I've always thought car makers should also offer performance options along the lines of driver age - so a model aimed at a 25 year old has lighter flywheel, shorter gears, stiffer springs and so on and one for the more experienced driver has longer gears, more compliant springs to allow for more easily sustained high speeds, more expensive damping (he might be able to afford an extra £400), an analogue clock and an ashtray. Trim could match the different natures of the cars.

 

There should also be a version for female drivers, with a hook for the handbag, an automatic gearbox, a list holder and the holes for extra gauges and dials could be filled with photos of her loved ones. I think this version would suit many males, too - if they dared admit it.

[chaseracer]

2000, 2200, 3500.

 

Questions?

Yes sir, me sir.

 

3500S...?

 

[chaseracer]

...untill the mid 90s or thereabouts names and trim levels themselves didn't exist at mercedes. A painted body will a few essentials was the starting point for the customer to add their own spec. So it's entirely possible to find a car from the factory with manual windows , electric sunroof, vinyl seats and air con. all at a price of course! My old 94 e class coupe had air con and leather- adding £4k to the list price which would buy you a lada at the time.

My 300E has (very comfy) cloth seats and no air-con, but a leather steering wheel and posh alloys.

[Pillock]

I remember marvelling at an early 90s Ford "Cars" brochure, how the top spec Granada had so many badges it nearly made it all the way to the boot lock. Granada 2.9i Ghia X 4x4 I believe.

 

The act of putting "airbag" or "ABS" badges on the back of some cars puzzled me. Why not declare if it also had an electric sunroof and velour trim?

 

Ford tried the numbering scheme with the Ka didn't they? First models were 1, 2 and 3. But then they ruined it with special editions....

[quicksilver]

Course it was easier then, a 320 has a 3.2 engine, 230 a 2.3 etc, simple.

Sadly not true anymore, not even Mercedes can be relied on for German logic now - I recently found out my friend's SLK200 is only a 1.8 and I'm not sure what to make of that. Cartell also says it's an 'AMG Sport ED125 BL' whatever the hell that means.

My hideous pov-spec Corsa was called an 'Expression' - owning one of those would put a pretty miserable expression on your face.

[gordonbennet]

I didn't mind Corsas at all, it was that depressing bloody 3 cyl engine that made them into vehicles that could end your will to live.

[Pete-M]

A return to Base, Popular, Popular Plus, L, GL, Sport, Harrier, Mexico, Ghia, RS and RS custom all attached to small, light, tail happy RWD cars would make me very happy indeed.

[barefoot]

 

I've always thought car makers should also offer performance options along the lines of driver age ....

...... driver has longer gears, more compliant springs to allow for more easily sustained high speeds, more expensive damping (he might be able to afford an extra £400), an analogue clock and an ashtray. Trim could match the different natures ....

With an optional pipe rack?

[anonymous user]

The Ford Capri 3000 GT XLR nearly needed a wider bootlid to fit all the badges on.

 

 

 

[Timewaster]

I can top that, my old boss had a CX estate new. It was.... Ahem....

 

"Citroen CX25 DTR Turbo 2 Familiale ABS"

 

Acording to the badges.

[forddeliveryboy]

With an optional pipe rack?

 

And a dashboard with five dials, six knobs, a decent analogue clock, no buttons the size of a new-born's little fingernail and heater controls which take the form of three rotary knobs. A lack of computer screen would be good but no doubt impossible.#

 

 

 

I can top that, my old boss had a CX estate new. It was.... Ahem....

 

"Citroen CX25 DTR Turbo 2 Familiale ABS"

 

Acording to the badges.

 

 

 

 

Not TRD, as it should have been if you followed the logic of their badging system. Following the French problem with prouncing the Toyota MR2, they decided DTR would be safer for the British. Here's a Dutch one.

 

[Junkman]

Yes sir, me sir.

 

3500S...?

 

 

This question will never be answered, sir.

Seriously, nobody really knows what the 'S' is supposed to stand for, so the common convention among Roverists is 'Synchromesh'.

[The Moog]

A lack of computer screen would be good ]

 

 

It would be one of those clacking boards like old train stations had. All messages would be conveyed with a slight sense of superiority

[HMC]

I can top that, my old boss had a CX estate new. It was.... Ahem....

"Citroen CX25 DTR Turbo 2 Familiale ABS"

Acording to the badges.

Quite a few 90s Japanese imports seemed to have almost their entire option list plastered not only on the boot but down the flanks too, usually with an odd OTT phrase in English to denote that particular model "super lifestyle weekend special edition grand" etc

[mat_the_cat]

no buttons the size of a new-born's little fingernail

 

/\ That. All controls should be properly tactile, with a definite movement from off to on. None of those silly electronic buttons which you have to look at to see if it's on or off.

[Junkman]

Quite a few 90s Japanese imports seemed to have almost their entire option list plastered not only on the boot but down the flanks too, usually with an odd OTT phrase in English to denote that particular model "super lifestyle weekend special edition grand" etc

 

Nissan Skyline R34 GTR-Vspec Nismo G-Attack.

[Asimo]

/\ That. All controls should be properly tactile, with a definite movement from off to on. None of those silly electronic buttons which you have to look at to see if it's on or off.

My daughter told me last week that the only reason she drives a (BMW) mini is that it has a row of proper toggle switches.

[Lukas]

My Subaru is called "Subaru Leone Turismo 1.8 GL Full-Time-4WD Dual-Range"

[gordonbennet]

Thats one good thing about the vast majority of proper Japanese cars, switches always nice to operate, electrics do their thing trouble free for donkeys years, and usually simple enough to work without consulting the handbook.

 

Electric stuff has just reminded me, my old Landcruiser was the last word in being made to be fixed anywhere in the world in the field, every single electrical item was labelled in clear English what it was and the voltage...eg 12v Glow Plug Relay...if only every maker made vehicles like that.