10 (US Market) Diesel Cars That Time Forgot

[Madman Of The People]

Inspired by this discussion about US-market diesel cars from the late '70s and early'80s....

 

.... I happened to come across an article profiling 10 USA-market diesel cars from the so-called 'Malaise" era.

Some diesels from this era were fairly popular.  The ones on this list, however, weren't those.  I wasn't even aware Renault made a diesel Fuego, let alone sold it in US!  And I'm the biggest Euro-car nerd in America!  Diesels that actually did sell well were the Volkswagen Rabbit (Golf Mk I) and Dasher (Passat Mk I), Mercedes Benz W123 and the W116 and W126 300 SD S-Classes, and a plethora of GM cars with the ill-fated Oldsmobile developed diesel V8.

Here are 10 (US Market) Diesel Cars That Time Forgot.....

https://www.autoweek.com/car-life/classic-cars/g36106078/diesel-cars-time-forgot/?source=nl&utm_source=nl_aut&utm_medium=email&date=120423&utm_campaign=nl33574480&user_email=c248eeb17740425fe3364440ef5e4debe3aed01fd2e1ed09d4c01f560b9aa75e&GID=c248eeb17740425fe3364440ef5e4debe3aed01fd2e1ed09d4c01f560b9aa75e&utm_term=TEST- NEW TEST - Sending List - AM 180D Clicks%2C NON AM 90D Opens%2C Both Subbed Last 30D

 

[MiniMort]

"The LF7 4.3-liter V8 diesel was on the menu as well, producing 90 hp."

This sums up American cars of the 70s perfectly.

[GeordieInExile]

Snorted at the idea that the Chevette was a "tiny" car. 

[danthecapriman]

Interesting article. I had no idea there was a diesel Fuego either. 
I didn’t realise the US got the diesel Volvo 240. I thought it was a euro option only.

[Asimo]

Last time I saw a Peugeot 604 Diesel was outside the Barnes and Noble bookstore in Modesto California. It was absolutely immaculate in that really classy metallic green.

[sierraman]

A diesel Fuego, Christ. Wasn’t that the 2.1 as per fitted to the 18? 

[Asimo]

Under that delightful* power bulge

[sierraman]

The bulge is for the huge erection I’d have in piloting such a machine. 

[garethj]

5 hours ago, MiniMort said:

"The LF7 4.3-liter V8 diesel was on the menu as well, producing 90 hp."

This sums up American cars of the 70s perfectly.

That’s about 5bhp less than a contemporary petrol engine 👍

[grogee]

I bet Rover would have survived if they'd thought to market the Ital Diesel in the states. 37bhp of utter wretchedness

[sierraman]

A very much misunderstood car. 

[yes oui si]

Obligatory WTYP. 

Victoria Scott is a shiter at heart as well, really enjoyed her articles about taking a '95 diesel hiace around the US: 

https://www.thedrive.com/category/vanscontinental-express

[Rust Collector]

At some point in my life I need to own something powered by that Oldsmobile diesel V8. I must experience the misery.

[Madman Of The People]

 

A couple of really obscure diesel offerings that article overlooked was a pair of Lincolns offered in 1984-85.  Believe it or not, you could buy a Lincoln Continental saloon or a Lincoln Mark VII coupe with a factory fitted BMW turbodiesel engine pinched from the contemporary 524TD.

https://totallythatstupid.com/2020/08/05/1984-lincoln-continental-givenchy-turbo-diesel-when-is-a-bmw-not-a-bmw/

 

 

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1984-lincoln-mark-vii/

 

 

[Dyslexic Viking]

2 hours ago, grogee said:

I bet Rover would have survived if they'd thought to market the Ital Diesel in the states. 37bhp of utter wretchedness

My Mercedes has 18 more horsepower but probably weighs half a ton more, so a diesel ital is probably fine.

[grogee]

19 minutes ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

My Mercedes has 18 more horsepower but probably weighs half a ton more, so a diesel ital is probably fine.

It is pretty much my dream car

[Dyslexic Viking]

3 minutes ago, grogee said:

It is pretty much my dream car

I also want an ital and then a diesel ital.

[Madman Of The People]

I should mention the reason Ford had access to BMW's inline six turbodiesel was because BMW already had the engine's emissions certified for its own 524TD, sold in the US with the requisite chunky battering ram bumpers.

https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-european/curbside-classic-1985-bmw-524td-the-ultimate-diesel-driving-machine/

 

[willswitchengage]

Interesting that the GM LF series is the only of those engines of US origin though.

[warren t claim]

A lot of those dizzlers were only thrown together so the maker could meet the CAFE regulations.

[D.E]

The  Dodge Darts  made by Barreiros in Spain often were diesels:

[brownnova]

Reminds me of this video… 

I’d not really realised about old American diesels until seeing this… 

[lesapandre]

1 hour ago, warren t claim said:

A lot of those dizzlers were only thrown together so the maker could meet the CAFE regulations.

That's really it - it was the legislation and it's loopholes that partly produced this. To reduce mpg across the range - diesels were an easy way. The fact nobody wanted to buy them and they were terrible did not matter.

The GM V8 diesel was terrible - a complete flop. 

https://www.curbsideclassic.com/automotive-histories/automotive-history-oldsmobile-diesel-v8-gms-deadly-sin-34-haste-makes-waste/

[danthecapriman]

I wonder what they were actually like to live with at the time they were current though?

Like a rep using one to travel across the states. Did they actually do an ok job of it or were they universally hated and didn’t do a good job at all! It’s rare to actually see them now but is that because they all got used hard and wore out, then nobody cared about saving them so none survived. 
Even over here in the 70’s and early 80’s diesels weren’t all that popular, or all that good really!

[egg]

49 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

Even over here in the 70’s and early 80’s diesels weren’t all that popular, or all that good really!

I guess that makes me think how the PSA XUD was a game changer...

[danthecapriman]

2 hours ago, egg said:

I guess that makes me think how the PSA XUD was a game changer...

Quite possibly. It was the late 80’s diesel’s seemed to take off more in cars. I don’t know why though? Did something change with diesel engine technology around that time to make them more refined and better suited to cars?? 
Before that it was mainly diesel engines for trucks and vans - generally they were bigger and quite agricultural! Diesel cars were unusual and the engine often came from something like a commercial vehicle or a boat or something!

Or maybe it was tax reasons diesel engines in cars took off more?

[2flags]

I remember such paragons of 'excellence' of the Ford York diesel and the BMC 1.5, as well as the Landrover 2.25. Woeful just doesn't seem to do them justice. If they could achieve 45mph then you were going downhill with a following wind. The Peugeot engine was a game changer. They have come on so much. I remember the advert for a Nissan people carrier, can't remember the name but I think it had a 2.3 diesel, might have been the Ford lump? 0-60? 23 seconds!!!  

[sierraman]

The XUD in the Peugeot was a bloody good engine but what was the competition? Ford were using a dreadful unit from the 504 as late as 1989, Vauxhall had the beefed up 1.6 diesel based on the old Family 4 units which was also horrible. Diesels were always a massive compromise until the common rail diesels arrived sometimes pumping out 150bhp, sub 9 second 0-60 times and some incredible fuel efficiency. Obviously later down the line some problems came about with DMFs not lasting and crap injector quality which seem to have improved dramatically as time went on. But let’s not forget a lot of these common rail units with proper maintenance have done 350-450k. They might have had a few four figure bills along the way but were infinitely more pleasant to drive than anything around in the early 90’s.

[Erebus]

10 minutes ago, 2flags said:

I remember such paragons of 'excellence' of the Ford York diesel and the BMC 1.5, as well as the Landrover 2.25. Woeful just doesn't seem to do them justice. If they could achieve 45mph then you were going downhill with a following wind. The Peugeot engine was a game changer. They have come on so much. I remember the advert for a Nissan people carrier, can't remember the name but I think it had a 2.3 diesel, might have been the Ford lump? 0-60? 23 seconds!!!  

Nissan Serena?

[2flags]

That does sound about right.