Niche versions which outlived the base car

[andyps]

Maybe not quite fitting the theme but there are electric versions of the Mini Moke still available new (niche version of a niche version?)

[andyps]

rtz62 said:

Would the Ferrari 458 Speciale count, as the model has been superseded by the 488, yet is still advertised on Ferraris own website to configure, order and buy?

Not sure if you can buy it. James May said he was getting the last one as Ferrari agreed to make him one or he could have a very early 488.

Very controversially, there is the Carbon Edition of the McLaren P1:


And maybe the GTR version also counts.

[Jim AK]

worsy said:

The Ford Escort was still sold alongside the Focus, and IIRC the Cortina alongside the Sierra, does that count?

Cortina stopped production before Sierra was released & im pretty sure the Escort was too. Escort van may have continued though.

Only reason they sold together was because they were old stock & proved very difficult to shift.

Most Ford dealers that had A Hire dept were allocated Cortinas for months after its demise!

[astrsxi77]

I think I am playing correctly by drawing to your attention another one from serial offenders VAG: the 2006-2010 City Golf/Golf City.

Its existence passed me by until a trip to Canada, whereby I noticed dozens of them - each one impressively removing what little elegance was afforded to the Mk4 Golf by applying Mk5-style front and rear styling. Blissfully Diesel-free, though. I believe it was offered alongside the Mk5 for Canadian tightwads and South American anybodies.

An review:
http://www.autoguide.com/manufacturer/volkswagen/2...

[andyps]

The Cortina pick up - P100 - continued until late 1987 despite the Sierra replacing the Cortina in 1982. In late 87 it got an update to the Sierra body.

[TurboHatchback]

The Clio Mk2 was renamed the Clio Campus and sold as a base model alongside the Mk3 for a good while.

[Dale487]

bazza white said:

Johnnytheboy said:

IIRC all the way until the Mk3 was introduced.

I'll add the not-very-niche Clio Campus (?), i.e. the mk2 Clio that for some reason continued for quite a while after the mk3 came out.

Didn't the mk3 cab stay into mk4 production. Mk4 headlights but mk4 chassis.

I think I've only ever seen one Golf MK3.5 but if I remember correctly the parts for popular in the modding community to up date the MK3.

I had a Clio Campus Sport & I certain that Renault sold some 08 plates - about 5 years after the MK3 Clio was released (I think it became a stop gap for the Twingo, as it was at the same price point but a bit larger).

The 205 soldier on after both the 106 & the 306 were released right up until the 206 was released - but on reduced range ie no GTI etc

Have you noticed most of these cars that out lived their related vehicle were the unloved ones.

[LewisR]

The Triumph 2000 was sold until 1977 alongside the V8 SD1, launched in 1976, until the 2300 & 2600 models were introduced.

[Andy S15]

The Nissan 180sx Type X S13 was produced until '97. The 200sx S14 started its production in 1993, which was then itself replaced by the S14a (facelift) in 96/97 so the Type X actually outlived the introduction of two newer models.

Edited by Andy S15 on Wednesday 10th February 13:56

[rastapasta]

Citroen made the BX estate into 1994 when the Xantia was well into full production

[JagerT]

The XJS went on till 1996 while the facelift DB7 began production in 1994.

[IDrinkPetrol]

Alfa Spider: Base 105 series ran until 1977 iirc and Spider until 1993

[anonymous-user]

JagerT said:

The XJS went on till 1996 while the facelift DB7 began production in 1994.

I think you're entirely missing the point of the question. What was the "base car" of the XJS? It went out of production as both coupe and cabriolet when the XK8 was released, neither variant lived on.

You could consider the Mk1 Volvo C70 Cabriolet. Based on the 850/V70/S70. The 850 was introduced in 1991, the V70/S70 were derivatives of that and were replaced in 2000 by the new P2 platform V70 but the Coupe V70 continued in production until 2002 and the Cabriolet continued until 2005 - 5 years after the other base models had ceased to be sold. Very similar with the Audi 80 Cabriolet as others have mentioned, anyone buying one when they were at the end of their production run must have been crazy as they were both very, very dated by that point and yet still very expensive.

[Munich]

This went on long after the Saloon/Estate was replaced by the 505.

[Munich]

The Citroen C15 is another van that long outlived the base car...

[sealtt]

I think 911 Turbos are always produced a bit longer than the base model.

[LankyLegoHead]

astrsxi77 said:

I think I am playing correctly by drawing to your attention another one from serial offenders VAG: the 2006-2010 City Golf/Golf City.

Its existence passed me by until a trip to Canada, whereby I noticed dozens of them - each one impressively removing what little elegance was afforded to the Mk4 Golf by applying Mk5-style front and rear styling. Blissfully Diesel-free, though. I believe it was offered alongside the Mk5 for Canadian tightwads and South American anybodies.

An review:
http://www.autoguide.com/manufacturer/volkswagen/2...

Yep, similar vain to the MK1 Citi Golf I mentioned earlier. Although, this obviously has the melted face whereas they didn't go quite as far with the MK1.

Munich said:

The Citroen C15 is another van that long outlived the base car...

Thats the one I was thinking of! There's one round here on a 52 plate.

[jamiebae]

A bit more background to a couple of the cars mentioned, first the Maestro. When production at Cowley was wound down circa 1,000 knock-down kits were produced to be built in Bulgaria before the line was removed. These were shipped out to Bulgaria to be built, but it turned out that even the Bulgarians didn’t want to drive around in a nasty BL relic and the venture collapsed. A few years later the left-over kits were bought by a garage owner who shipped them back to the UK for ‘assembly’ (there wasn’t much assembly required as they were kits purely for import tax avoidance) and sold them, I think the last ones are on a 51 plate.

The 58 plate mk1 Octavias were actually grey imported from India by a company which specialised in selling taxis. They were very cheap and ideally suited to being filled with sick weekend after weekend in provincial towns, so sold like hot cakes.

Another car which I don’t think has been mentioned is the current VW Scirocco, which soldiers on with its Golf 5 underpinnings two generations behind the current model. The Beetle was the same, running on a Golf 4 platform long after it’s more popular brother had been put out to pasture.

[Rod200SX]

Andy S15 said:

The Nissan 180sx Type X S13 was produced until '97. The 200sx S14 started its production in 1993, which was then itself replaced by the S14a (facelift) in 96/97 so the Type X actually outlived the introduction of two newer models.

Edited by Andy S15 on Wednesday 10th February 13:56

Gah, I came here to post exactly that

[shakotan]

ch108 said:

gazzarose said:

I think the Escort van carried on for a fair few years after the Escort turned into the Focus.

I remember a pal of mine had a hired Escort van on a 51 reg, must have been one of the last.

The Mk5 Astravan outlived its car variants, as did the Peugeot 305 van and 504 pickup.

The Mk6/7 Escort hatch was available up to 2001 also, there's a few on 51-plates still lingering.