Models with the most variants/versions/engines...

[MrBig]

Thinking about this the other day during a lunchtime walk. A bit of nerd trivia. What examples are there or cars having the most engine size options or number of cylinders? What about the most different bodystyles?

For engine sizes, I was thinking the W203 series Mercedes C-Class:

1.8 Petrol
2.0 Petrol
1.8 Supercharged
2.0 Supercharged
2.2 Diesel
2.5 Petrol
2.6 Petrol
2.7 Diesel
3.0 Petrol
3.0 Diesel
3.2 Petrol
3.2 Supercharged
3.5 Petrol
5.4 Petrol
5.5 Petrol

Then I remembered the W212 Series E-Class:

Petrol Engines
1.6 (Turkey only?)
1.8
2.0 
2.0 Turbo
3.0 V6
3.5 V6
3.5 Hybrid
4.0 V6
4.7 V8 Turbo
5.4 V8 Turbo
6.2 V8

Diesel Engines
2.2
3.0

Which doesn't have as many 😄 But is probably a contender for the biggest variation in displacement at (6.2 - 1.6) = 4.7.

How about most different numbers of cylinders? I'm thinking VW Touareg Gen1.  with 5, 6, 8, 10 and 12 cylinder engines available.

Or is it just me?

[adw1977]

11 minutes ago, MrBig said:

What about the most different bodystyles?

Opel Kadett B with the rather pointless two different 2 door saloons, two different 4 door saloons and two different coupes.

[Missy Charm]

I don't know enough to comment regarding engines, but the car model with the widest range of body types will be one of the separate-chassis American lines from the sixties and seventies.  They were made following some of the same principles as the old coachbuilders, so pretty much anything could be, and was, plunked on one's chassis of choice.  

The 1960 full-size Ford could be had as two types of two-door sedan, three sorts of two-door hardtop, a four-door hardtop, a four-door sedan, a two-door cabrio, a two-door station wagon, a four-door station wagon and a sedan delivery (car-derived van)!  

Other lines, such as the Chevrolet Chevelle, also included car-derived pickups (in that case the El Camino) - the Chevelle passenger car types included a hardtop coupe, a convertible, a two-door sedan, a four-door sedan, a 'sport sedan' - four-door hardtop, a two-door station wagon and a four-door station wagon!  Phew!  

In case anyone is wondering, a four-door hardtop is semi-pillarless.  A four-door sedan isn't.  

[willswitchengage]

How about sold under the most badges?

The current generation Fiat Ducati has been sold as a Fiat, Peugeot, Citroen, Iveco, Dodge, Ram, Toyota, Vauxhall and Opel.

[agent]

The Japanese have had some moments of going completely overboard with different body styles, just off the top of my head the E100 Toyota Corolla has the:

3-door hatchback (Europe)

5-door hatchback (Europe)

Estate/wagon/van (you could make the case that the high roof version of the van also counts as a different body too)

Corolla saloon (worldwide)

Sprinter saloon (Japan only, similar looking but different body altogether)

Corolla liftback (based on the sprinter instead of the corolla body to be extra confusing, but only sold in europe/australia and not japan like the normal sprinter)

Corolla Levin/Sprinter Trueno coupe (Japan only)

Corolla Ceres/Sprinter Marino hardtop saloon (Japan only (of course))

The next gen Corolla E110 is similar too, with the Asian models having entirely different set of body styles to the European ones, neither of which is the same as the American market body despite all being Corollas of the same generation and platform

Might not be the most amount of body styles overall but must be up there for number of bodies available on a relatively "modern" car, with them being sold from the 90s into the early 2000s

[Snipes]

I always liked the A70 Supra because it could be either a 2.0, 2.0 twin turbo, 3.0, 3.0 single turbo or 2.5 twin turbo. They were at least all straight sixes. 

[Knotty Ash Towers]

The Vauxhall Viva HC/Firenza/Magnum range had a fair few engine options:-

1.2

1.3

1.6

1.8

1.9 (South Africa)

2.0

2.3

2.5 (South Africa)

4.9 V8 (South Africa)

The 1.2 & 1.3 were also available in South Africa, as was this hatchback version, which looked like a Chevette on steroids:-

[dozeydustman]

Peugeot 205

4 families of engine, broken down to many variants.

954cc XV8 
954cc TU9
1118cc E1 Simca Poissy engine 
1124 XW7
1124 TU1
1204cc F1 Simca Poissy engine
1219cc XZ5 early French models only <85
1294cc G1 Simca Poissy engine
1294cc TU24 (1.3 Rallye)
1360cc XY7
1360cc XY8
1360cc TU3
1360cc TU3S
1442cc H1(?) Simca Poissy engine
1580cc XU5
1580cc XU5J & 5JA
1592cc J1 Simca Poissy engine
1775cc XU8 - Turbo16 only
1769cc XUD7 ‘1.8’ diesel
1769cc XUDT7 (STDT & DTurbo)
1905cc XU9 (some auto models, mostly Japan)
1905cc XU9J
1905cc XUD9 (some markets)

The Simca Poissy was used in Spanish market phase 1.5s between 1987 and 1991. I am assuming local content rules were in play, and Simca had quite a following in Spain.

 

[MrBiscuits]

Probably doesn't fit the brief in terms of engine variants, but the R21 deserves a mention for being concurrently available with either transverse or longitudinal fwd layout. 

[quicksilver]

Engine-wise the Citroen Visa has to be a contender, not least because it had both air- and water-cooled options, and the diesel is nearly three times the size of the smallest petrol.

	652 cc V06 air-cooled H2 954 cc XV I4 1,124 cc XW I4 1,219 cc XZ I4 1,360 cc XYI4 1,580 cc XU5 I4 1,769 cc XUD7 diesel I4

[chaseracer]

1 hour ago, MrBiscuits said:

Probably doesn't fit the brief in terms of engine variants, but the R21 deserves a mention for being concurrently available with either transverse or longitudinal fwd layout. 

...and consequently FOUR different wheelbases.

[MrBiscuits]

1 hour ago, chaseracer said:

...and consequently FOUR different wheelbases.

Never knew that, I'm pretty sure the 2 litre versions had longer front wings and bonnet too. How did such madness ever get signed off...

[grogee]

Golf IV has to be a contender, 1.4 to 2.8 pez and dizzle from Slowest Diesel Imaginable to 150PS PD. 

AFAIK there were even 2 different GTI options. 

Likewise Passat, probably same underneath like Maestro/Montego were. 

[chaseracer]

1 hour ago, MrBiscuits said:

Never knew that, I'm pretty sure the 2 litre versions had longer front wings and bonnet too. How did such madness ever get signed off...

Nearly!  The wings were the same length but the wheel arches were in different places.  Vraiment Français.

[D.E]

How far back in time do we go? 

[JakeT]

BMW were at the height of 'slap every engine in a car' with the fifth generation (E60) 5 series. I'll only list out actually different displacement engines, not the same engines with slightly different power ratings.

Petrol engines:

2.0 4cyl (N46) - 520i

2.0 4cyl (N43) - 520i

2.2 6cyl (M54) - 520i

2.5 6cyl (N52) 523i & 525i

2.5 6cyl (N53) 523i

2.5 6cyl (M54) - 525i

3.0 6cyl (M54) - 530i

3.0 6cyl (N52) - 530i

3.0 6cyl (N53) - 525i,528i,530i

3.0 6cyl Twin Turbo (N54) - 535i

4.0 V8 (N62) - 540i

4.4 V8 (N62) - 545i

4.8 V8 (N62) - 550i

5.0 V10 (S85) - M5

Then there's the diesels...

2.0 4cyl (M47) - 520d

2.0 4cyl (N47) - 520d

2.5 6cyl (M57) - 525d

3.0 6cyl - (M57) - 525d, 530d

3.0 6cyl Twin turbo (M57) - 535d

 

Mixed into that, there was 11 different gearboxes in it over its lifetime. It also has the biggest spread of cylinders I can think of, from 4-10 cylinder engines. The B5 Passat or C5/6 Audi A6 probably had a similar mental spread of engines for various markets when Piëch was at his most insane.

[dozeydustman]

I would also put the Capri in all its guises up there as a contender, the Mk1 appearing to have been fitted with nearly all of these engines.

Kent Crossflow 1.3 & 1.6 litre
Cologne V4 1.3, 1.5 & 1.7 litre
Essex V4 2.0 litre
Pinto I4 1.6 & 2.0 litre
Cologne V6 2.0, 2.3, 2.6 & 2.8 litre
Essex V6 3.0 & 3.1 litre
Windsor V8 5.0 litre (South Africa - Capri Perana)

7 engine families with 15 variants, let alone the millions of trim specs and add-on packs the blue oval provided.