Cars that really were a stand out move

[danthecapriman]

37 minutes ago, adw1977 said:

Range Rover (the original one).

It really created a market segment that hadn't previously existed.

The Americans would probably dispute that. 
They had things like the Jeep Wagoneer wagon and Chevy Suburban quite some time before the Rangie which are probably the roots of the modern SUV’s.

[AnthonyG]

The Alfasud was launched in ‘71 and first became generally available in early ‘72.

Late ‘73 was when Britain first got them, maybe adapting for RHD took a little while.

I’ve a Brooklands Road Test book on them, the journo’s were genuinely blown away by them. They were also sold in all sorts of random places like Australia and Malaysia judging by the (English language) magazine titles. 

[Bazfr69]

1 minute ago, danthecapriman said:

The Americans would probably dispute that. 
They had things like the Jeep Wagoneer wagon and Chevy Suburban quite some time before the Rangie which are probably the roots of the modern SUV’s.

The collaboration with Vogue magazine created the luxury SUV market as we know it in Europe though. 

[Urko]

2 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

The Americans would probably dispute that. 
They had things like the Jeep Wagoneer wagon and Chevy Suburban quite some time before the Rangie which are probably the roots of the modern SUV’s.

Excellent point - Jeep had a try here (even had RHD Wagoneers) but didn't really catch on, even though they came first.  RHD suburbans came later but again didn't really catch on here - suspect it was the usual issue of using a lot of fuel for not much benefit on our roads.

[JeeExEll]

Toyota Landcruisers been around since 1951. I didn't realise they went back that far. Massively popular in Australia.

[Timewaster]

On 07/08/2024 at 19:44, HMC said:

mk1 focus. After the mk5 escort it was like being slapped across the face- in the best way.

We had a very early one as a hire car at work. Memory tells me it was on a W reg, but that may be wrong.

(Edit: That was wrong, it was of course on an S as many have pointed out).

First one I ever saw.  I've never seen a car create so much interest. 

People came out of neighbouring offices to have a look, it drew a crowd at petrol stations, people stared at traffic lights. Everyone wanted to take it out.

And it was genuinely great to drive.

[Niffleman]

Could a case be made for the R50/R53 MINI?  Up until then nobody had really done the premium small car in quite that way.  Small cars had tended to be cheapish and cheerful but the R50, especially with a few options, wasn't really very cheap.  Perhaps I am wrong.

[fatmanblue]

Citroen DS.

Mind-blowing now, let alone in 1955.

[RichardK]

AMC Eagle

Jeep Cherokee XJ

Toyota RAV4

[Urko]

14 minutes ago, Niffleman said:

Could a case be made for the R50/R53 MINI?  Up until then nobody had really done the premium small car in quite that way.  Small cars had tended to be cheapish and cheerful but the R50, especially with a few options, wasn't really very cheap.  Perhaps I am wrong.

I think you are right.  I was lucky enough to go to a press day at Brum motor show the year it launched - sat in one and it was streets ahead of anything of the type at the time - the design captured the retro style but was bang up to date - it hit the mark in the way the Rover 75 just missed a little I think.

[Timewaster]

10 minutes ago, fatmanblue said:

Citroen DS.

Mind-blowing now, let alone in 1955.

I don't suppose anyone here is old enough to remember it.

Documentaries tell us it "Wowed" folk at motor shows, but I do wonder if more people took the miserable "so much to go wrong. I'll stick with my simple Morris (or whatever) thank you" attitude.

Never a big seller in the UK.

Even in the 70s I remember foreign  cars being viewed with suspicion.

[colnerov]

 

 Rover P6 - clean sheet design, nothing carried over from previous models and a new target customer.

 Ford Transit - car like comfort and performance compared to previous norm of the Thames or the Bedford CA.

 VW K70 - first of the water cooled and gave Audi like comfort and performance.

[Timewaster]

Can I make the case for the Renault Espace.

(@JeeExEll beat me to it)

Launched in 1984 there was very little else like it, except perhaps the odd van with seats like the Space cruiser.

10 years later the roads were full of European 7 seater people carriers. Galaxys, Sharans, 806s as well as the Espace.

Then came the Scenic and Zafiras and Picassos, Tinos, Picnics etc.

Now all gone and if you want 7 seats you have to have a big SUV and the 2 extra seats are too small to be any use. And the boot space will be crap.

 

Progress?

[Urko]

1 minute ago, colnerov said:

Rover P6 - clean sheet design, nothing carried over from previous models and a new target customer.

Probably the last car where the engineers won (front suspension design and a rear De-Dion setup) over the bean counters.

[colnerov]

3 minutes ago, Urko said:

Probably the last car where the engineers won (front suspension design and a rear De-Dion setup) over the bean counters.

Front suspension design was to allow the fitting of the gas turbine engine. Lots of other considerations to safety in a hard frontal collision, Engine to go down under the car, bonnet to go up the screen pillars, wings to go out and clear the doors so they could still be opened, steering box on the bulkhead so no column to aim at the chest.

[ETCHY]

105e Anglia. First really modern small Ford. Big jump from the 100e.

[Rustybullethole]

13 hours ago, Peter C said:

Ford Sierra. Controversial styling that upset traditional Ford customers eventually became the template for modern family car design, antiquated engines and drivetrains aside.

Also see the Mk3 Transit. If only they had stuck with the antiquated engine and drivetrain they would still be the backbone of Britain.

 

[artdjones]

1 hour ago, ETCHY said:

105e Anglia. First really modern small Ford. Big jump from the 100e.

Yes, except it was several inches narrower.

[Dobloseven]

I'm going to be very unpopular and say the Vauxhall/Opel Zafira.Up to the late nineties the seven seat MPVs available were larger and the seats needed removing and storing somewhere if they weren't in use,to get any meaningful luggage space.Also the smaller,five seat Scenic/Picasso types were similarly constrained,without the option of the occasional extra seating.Almost every mainstream car maker ended up making their own Zafira clone.Even the MPV pioneers, Renault and Citroen ended up with Grand Scenics and Picassos, eventually giving up on their larger models.A true game changer.

[quicksilver]

I reckon all three of our family cars fit in this category.

Zafira: @Dobloseven has already explained this one above.

Mk1 Mondeo: so much better than the Sierra, it really moved the repmobile game on and proved Ford could make great cars after the disappointment of the Mk5 Escort. It's easy to forget just how good it was at the time.

Maxi: well ahead of its time. 5-door, 5-speed, transverse-engined, FWD hatchbacks were the standard for eighties and nineties family cars but not in 1969. So nearly a great car, shame BL in their usual fashion found a way to cock it up.

[quicksilver]

A couple of more left-field choices now.

Rover Streetwise: chunky plastic-clad 2wd crossovers are everywhere now, but Rover did it 20 years ago and got laughed at. If only they'd survived to take advantage of the trend, the Streetwise could be a best-seller.

Mitsubishi Space Wagon: the Espace gets all the glory for inventing the MPV, but the Space Wagon came first and offered much the same practicality in a smaller and more car-like package.

[EyesWeldedShut]

38 minutes ago, quicksilver said:

Mitsubishi Space Wagon: the Espace gets all the glory for inventing the MPV, but the Space Wagon came first and offered much the same practicality in a smaller and more car-like package.

Ran one of those for two years (2 litre petrol) and it was eminently practical - until the alternator went tits up and the battery got nuked on the M3 ..... I'd still give it an upvote as an ideal family + grand parents transporter.

[Alan_Green]

Mazda MX5, obvs.  Also the new Beetle. 

[Muniphobia]

Nissan Qashqai, it was a stand out move at the time when they stopped making the Almera and people thought they were mad but look at the cars on the school run now, nearly all SUV's.   They really popularised the SUV as a family car.

[cort1977]

13 hours ago, Timewaster said:

Even in the 70s I remember foreign  cars being viewed with suspicion.

My Mum still views foreign cars with suspicion. Got here in a mark 2 Ka right now and have given the garage strict instructions never to say it's a Fiat 500...

[Timewaster]

13 minutes ago, cort1977 said:

My Mum still views foreign cars with suspicion. Got here in a mark 2 Ka right now and have given the garage strict instructions never to say it's a Fiat 500...

Makes me think of my old gran. 

Long since dead, but would refer to any food more exotic than boiled carrots as "foreign muck!"

 

[Nullzwei]

Subaru Forester SF. First soft roader/ crossover? First high bhp one as well in S turbo, Sti or import st/b form.

[ETCHY]

5 hours ago, artdjones said:

Yes, except it was several inches narrower.

I'd agree on that, always puzzled me why the 105e was so narrow.

That narrow track did the handling & stability no favours at all.

[artdjones]

12 minutes ago, ETCHY said:

I'd agree on that, always puzzled me why the 105e was so narrow.

That narrow track did the handling & stability no favours at all.

Yes, even 3 or 4 inches narrower than a Morris Minor.

Which incidentally was a big move forward for British cars in 1948. Austin didn't catch up until the Farina A40. If the Minor had been fitted later with the planned Morris ohv engine that was killed off by the BMC merger it would have been even better. It actually regressed when it was fitted with a weedy 803 A Series, although the later 948 suited it well. The original interior styling was better, too.

[RoadworkUK]

3 hours ago, quicksilver said:

Mk1 Mondeo: so much better than the Sierra, it really moved the repmobile game on and proved Ford could make great cars after the disappointment of the Mk5 Escort. It's easy to forget just how good it was at the time.

It was much better than the Sierra, there's no disputing that. It was a much safer, more conservative design, though. It moved the game on when it came to sophistication and refinement, engineering-wise, but it wasn't the radical step forwards, design wise, that the Sierra was.

Also, it was rather unfortunate that the Sierra was allowed to run for 11 years without much in the way of mechanical development. It was pretty low-tech at the beginning (compared with the Cavalier Mk2), and was positively neanderthal, tech-wise, by the end, so the Mondeo didn't have to do much to be a better car overall!