Wow, Motor Trend lays down an intersting thoughtful piece here. Brings back a lot of bad cars and their memories for me. Uhhh, that's "TOP" ten by the way.......not ten ten....Doh!!
Here's the linky:
http://wot.motortrend.com/6296294/miscellaneous/the-top-10-worst-rebadges-of-all-time/index.html
Something completely different:
Bob Lutz on The Colbert Show discussing the Chevy Volt:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVtfpYgoLcc
ApexC
Reader
9/20/08 8:38 p.m.
So, um, all rebadged cars then? Are there any rebadges that didn't make their list or the honorable mentions?
i actually think they didn't put any thought into that list, the escalade sold well, and is to this day Cadillac flagship model really. also found these on the honorable mentions:Dodge Stealth/Mitsubishi 3000GT, Ford Crown Victoria/Lincoln Town Car/Mercury Grand Marquis the stealth and the Mitsubishi 3000gt's were great cars, and the ford Vic and town car are terrific vehicles, one of the best sedans of all time.in terms of sales.
mt=dumbasses
I think the article is not how well a model sold or how "good" it was thought to be only how blatantly the manufacturer re-badged one model in order to give it to another division, presumably to save development costs. Once again GM seems to have to be the master and continues to this day with the Chevy Aveo and G3.
i think they're still steamed because they told their readers to just spend 7k less than the first escalade and buy the just as well-equipped GMC Yukon Denali. i think the article said something like they don't see any reason at all why people would buy the caddy.
Bwahahahaha! My first car was an '82 Cadillac Cimarron. Click and Clack named it the 10th worst car ever built. I had one friend who drove it once and vowed never to do so again. He was convinced the car was possessed by a malicious demon that wanted to run him off the road and kill him.
1) Cadillac Cimarron/Chevrolet Cavalier/Oldsmobile Firenza/Buick Skyhawk/Pontiac 2000 and Sunbird. No one knows rebadging like GM does. In the 1980s, you couldn't swing a cat without hitting a GM J-body. All based around the sad little Cavalier, the worst rebadge offender of all time is the Cadillac Cimarron. If a Cavalier-based Cadillac wasn't a bad enough idea to begin with, the dismal quality sealed it's fate as the worst car to ever carry a Cadillac crest. The "Cadvalier," as it was called, was priced almost double what the Cavalier was and yet somehow, it managed to hang on and defile the brand name for six long years. Put out of our mercy in 1988, we can only hope a retro Cimarron is never even considered.
no mention of the saabaru. kind of a sales failure wasn't it?
probably gets a pass for being a decent car. idk.
I BERKELEYING hate the peice of E36 M3 W-bodies. Those alone...AARRRGGG!!!! Those are what instilled my contempt for GM, and after not dealling with one in 4-5 years has made GM's tolerable.
924guy
HalfDork
9/21/08 11:26 a.m.
hmm, okay what about "good" rebadges?.. how about the Camaro/firebird? at least they had a few differences ... the firebird, always seemed to me to have at least been re worked by pontiac to some extent, both outside and inside..but all in all still a re badge/shared platform no? in the late 70's early 80's youve got the mustang/capri.. for some reason i liked merc version a little better..dont ask me why though.. more?
neon4891 wrote:
I BERKELEYING hate the peice of E36 M3 W-bodies. Those alone...AARRRGGG!!!! Those are what instilled my contempt for GM, and after not dealling with one in 4-5 years has made GM's tolerable.
Poor GM. That's exactly how I feel. After dealing with one of those turds for several years I can barely stand the thought of ever riding in a GM product let alone purchasing one. I am sure they are much better today but it's like dating an ex that you had a bad break up with. They might still look good on the outside but you just know they will cause you nothing but pain.
I looked at this thread topic and said "If the Cimarron isn't number one I call shenanigans."
It was Hahaha.
Funny, the starquest is there. They bagged on those cars SO hard.
Twin_Cam wrote:
I looked at this thread topic and said "If the Cimarron isn't number one I call shenanigans."
It was Hahaha.
I thought the exact same thing.
seriously, what was so bad with the StarQuest? I would say the Eclipse triplets were just as bad if not worse.
Twin_Cam wrote:
I looked at this thread topic and said "If the Cimarron isn't number one I call shenanigans."
It was Hahaha.
I can't even imagine what was going through the heads of who ever made that decision. "Hey let's badge our cheapest, crappiest little s***box we have as a Cadillac". Were they insane? On drugs? Ford had the Escort and Tempo/Topaz, also disgusting little wheezers but at least Ford didn't badge them as a Lincoln.
I don't think the DSM triplets count as a re-badge.... one car originally designed and manufactured by a joint division of two companies (Diamond Star Motors). Not a car built for one company (or division) and sold through another to spread out sales.
mtn
Dork
9/21/08 4:23 p.m.
They're missing the Chevy Prism? and Toyota Carolla. I don't think that there was any difference between the two. And In the honorable mentions, they have the Mazda Navajo/Ford Exploder, but make no mention of the Mercury?
I don't think the Exploder/Navajo,and Mountaineer were ever out at the same time. Navajo,and Exploder were,but that was it I think.
I think there are a LOT worse cases than the Starion/Conquest, that's a great car. Does their list refer to the laziest rebadging? The least clever? I mean, everyone rebadges across makes it seems, unless you're buying the super luxurious or exotic. I don't know, MT had some valid points there . . . I just don't agree with the entire list . . .
I don't think they mentioned the Holden Monaro re-badged as a Pontiac GTO. Even though it was a good car it didn't do well sales wise and was pretty well universally hated by GTO purists. Not quite as bad though as when they re-badged the Daewoo as a Pontiac Lemans. Talk about pathetic. Geeez.
suprf1y
New Reader
9/22/08 8:45 a.m.
Wow, Motor Trend lays down an intersting thoughtful piece here.
Interesting and thoughtful?
What colour is the sky in your world?
You actually read garbage like this, and take it seriously?
I think the Cimaron was a gas mileage ploy to bring Caddys corporate average up.
Joey
924guy
HalfDork
9/22/08 9:54 a.m.
I remember clearly the "reveal" or a press viewing, not sure which, of the 86 LeMans. I was working the summer in Manhattan (had to be 85'), saw a bunch of people forming at the GM building on 5th ave, and walked in to see what all the hubbub was about. they had one sitting in the lobby. I remember saying "Lemans??? they mean new Le'Car right?? My question was genuine, I couldnt see any badges on the car, but they didnt find it very endearing. then they threw me out...