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.

[Lacquer Peel]

On 06/08/2025 at 19:35, grogee said:

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. 

The contemporary Passat is based on the same platform as the Audi A4 complete with longitudinally mounted engines and double wishbone front suspension.

I don't find SDIs that slow, you do need to adjust your driving style. 

[Bear]

On 05/08/2025 at 22:19, Snipes said:

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. 

Wide and narrow body, aero top, and technically the Soarer derivatives and resulting "Soapra".

Car with the most derivatives? I'd vote for "The Citroen Visa" - the core origin of PSA's small car platform that has evolved, diversified, but never really been fully reinvented in one go on the route to CMP.

But the Daihatsu Boon, which spawned Yaris, Citybug, boutique cars, Scion, I suspect Suzuki and Daewoo/GM linking to Corsas, like GM T-body owing a reasonable amount to Isuzu as well as Opel input. The crossover on GM models around the world is truly astonishing.

[Bear]

4 hours ago, Lacquer Peel said:

The contemporary Passat is based on the same platform as the Audi A4 complete with longitudinally mounted engines and double wishbone front suspension.

I don't find SDIs that slow, you do need to adjust your driving style. 

And the SEAT Exeo!

[Lacquer Peel]

52 minutes ago, Bear said:

And the SEAT Exeo!

I'm thinking of the B5 Passat, the B6 Passat that was concurrent with the Exeo reverted to transverse engines. 

[Richard_FM]

Some American cars used to have a wide range of engines & a few different body styles.  GM ones would usually have the platform shared between their different brands.

[High Jetter]

Got to be Austin 7!

[dozeydustman]

21 hours ago, Bear said:

Car with the most derivatives? I'd vote for "The Citroen Visa" - the core origin of PSA's small car platform

The Visa was based on the 5-door Pug 104 floorpan, which with I believe various length, width and suspension changes served formed the basis of the 205 & 309, and I also believe the AX & 106. I could be wrong and talking crap.

[Bear]

1 hour ago, dozeydustman said:

The Visa was based on the 5-door Pug 104 floorpan, which with I believe various length, width and suspension changes served formed the basis of the 205 & 309, and I also believe the AX & 106. I could be wrong and talking crap.

No, you're right - the way PSA presented it was always "based on" preceding version - I thoght the Visa introduced the twist beam rear axle though, I don't know 104s well.

[New POD]

I had always assumed the AX evolved into the S.ax.O 

[New POD]

10 hours ago, Richard_FM said:

GM ones would usually have the platform shared between their different brands.

The J Type platform being a classic example.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_J_platform#:~:text=The General Motors J platform%2C or J-body%2C,from the 1982 to 2005 model years.

 

[Bear]

26 minutes ago, New POD said:

I had always assumed the AX evolved into the S.ax.O 

It did but the PR always presented "last out" as the basis. Otherwise it would have been "Welcome the new Peugeot 106 based on the 104 but with more bits stuck on".

Based on is always fun anyway. Very few actual pressings are reused these days outside of bulkhead and some reinforcements, depending on the process. From memory, there are some detail differences in 205 and 309 shells around the doors and the rear doors, but 309 doors do fit five door 205s - I used one when mine was damaged. What we hear as shared platform now is more like object-oriented programming where the platform is the library of proven components from OEMs and in-house - including actual software - from which you compile "an car".

The suggestion is that cars always involved reinventing the wheel before this - but in an IP and design sense, engineers in certain firms always worked this way, you see the shape of an interface between a door frame and door, or the style of suspension bushes and components, and it's like GM globally had the same playbook but it would be modified for local supplier need or scaled up or down for the weight and performance need.

Mercedes is amazing for this, you can see the engineering in everything from fintail to W140 once you lift the electronics has a long, evolutionary rather than revolutionary appearance. Audi on the other hand - that's more like "this was DKW, this was NSU, this was Audi, this was really VW"

[Bear]

When you look back at designs most car platforms have a 21 year lifespan with three major revisions - excluding spinoffs.

The Fiesta is a prime example. 2002 to 2023, you wouldn't look at a 2002 one and think it had much in common with 2017, but the shared platform with Mazda just got technology and styling changes - there will be details, I'm sure, and the engines changed a lot, but the core platform was merely tweaked each time.

Mercedes small and medium - 201, 124, 170, 129, etc. lasted 1983 though to 2004. It's also scaled for S-Class, but the defining concepts in suspension design and engineering remain consistent and the big change for the next generation is struts and rack and pinion steering. One of the reasons I like 1980s Mercedes - they are very predictable to take apart and understand...

[Noel Tidybeard]

On 06/08/2025 at 19:20, 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...

it was the wheelbase that was different- the strut towers are further forwards on the transverse lump- so the front overhangs are different as are the distance between door edge and wheel centre

you can see this in the 2 underbonnet pix