Dinosaurs: Cars you cant believe they made so late

[rudecherub]

Can't believe people are still building Palladian homes....?

Seriously I don't get the need to slavishly follow fashion, good design is good design - the reason car makers update models is to sell you a new car whether the new one is actually better or not. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't.

The fact is before CAD cars lived a long time.

The Lamborghini Countach - 1974 to 1990.

[Twincam16]

rudecherub said:

Can't believe people are still building Palladian homes....?

Seriously I don't get the need to slavishly follow fashion, good design is good design - the reason car makers update models is to sell you a new car whether the new one is actually better or not. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't.

The fact is before CAD cars lived a long time.

The Lamborghini Countach - 1974 to 1990.

I agree (although I really wish more people would build more modern houses - this country looks like a '50s timewarp sometimes, and not in a good way, like the Daily Mail is running all the building firms when I'd far rather it was Wayne Hemingway).

Interesting you note the Countach, because all manner of radical designs appeared around the same time - early '70s - and continued to look contemporary enough to stay in production all that time - Citroen CX (1973-1991), Ferrari 365GT4 (1974-1990 as 400i, then 412), Porsche 928 (1976-1996), Lotus Eclat (1974-1992 as Excel), Jaguar XJ12 (1970-1992), Jaguar XJS (1974-1996), BMW 6-series (1975-1991), Ford 'Fox' Mustang (1978-1993) - there were loads. I reckon once the designers had got over the oil crisis and the safety scares, the early '70s were the most radical and fertile time for car design we've seen before or since (although the mid-'60s, when mid-mounted engines were allowing designers to 'think aloud', and the early '90s, where all the advancements made in '80s motorsport started appearing on normal cars, come close).

[10JH]

Haven't they just relaunched the MG TF?

[CDP]

10JH said:

Haven't they just relaunched the MG TF?

That was years ago. Production will be ending soon as they're readying Longbridge for the MG6 which is already selling well in China at £18K. A lot of money for a Focus rival.

[AndrewW-G]

Twincam16 said:

Interesting you note the Countach, because all manner of radical designs appeared around the same time - early '70s - and continued to look contemporary enough to stay in production all that time - Citroen CX (1973-1991), Ferrari 365GT4 (1974-1990 as 400i, then 412).

Last 412 was produced by the factory in 1989 and if I was being really picky they were produced as 365GT4, 400, 400GT, 400i automatic, 400i GT, 412 automatic & 412 GT

Edited by AndrewW-G on Sunday 3rd October 13:57

[Swoxy]

Daimler DS420 from 1968 to 1992. In 24 years they managed to change the front, a little bit ...



Bentley Arnage from 1998 to 2009. In 11 years they managed to change the front, a little bit ...





Mercedes SL from 1989 to 2002. In 13 years they managed to change the front, a little bit ...





Saab 9-5 from 1997 to 2010. In 13 years they managed to change the front, a lot ...

Edited by Swoxy on Sunday 3rd October 14:05

[Gizmo!]

davepoth said:

I think I win...

That's the one I was going to say

Came out in 1983 iirc - and registered (albeit not made) all the way from A-reg to Y-reg.

[CDP]

Gizmo! said:

davepoth said:

I think I win...

That's the one I was going to say

Came out in 1983 iirc - and registered (albeit not made) all the way from A-reg to Y-reg.

I think there might be some very early 'Y's.

No, they were sold later than that. Maestros were shipped in CKD form to Bulgaria and the Bulgarians sent the kits back.

A company in BSE was selling them and there are some 51 plates about.

It would have to be really cheap...

[k-ink]

Mini 1959 - 2000!

No space, no performance, no comfort, no suspension damping, no safety, loads of rust straight from the factory Yes it looks cute, but as a car - utter rubbish.

[iva cosworth]

Twincam16 said:

Horns said:

Mine:



1993.

You could get the convertible version of that right up to 1995.

Wrong ,the "new " 900 convertible came into production shortly after the hatch in 1993 ,i was working in a SAAB dealer at the time .......BTW all the early new 900s were garbage

[Wayne King]

k-ink said:

Mini 1959 - 2000!

No space, no performance, no comfort, no suspension damping, no safety, loads of rust straight from the factory Yes it looks cute, but as a car - utter rubbish.

5,387,862 cars made in its life... Really rubbish indeed.

[AJS-]

Great thread. Surprised no one has mentioned this yet



1975 - 1996

[Steamer]

There is a L-plate 1993 on of these that pops up every now and then around town. (I'm sure many other PH'ers will already be familiar with the Golf Citi) But for months I did double takes - and non of my friends believed me: (not the one below - this one was a tin top)



I don't think it exactly fits in the thread as its an import (SA iirc) and I'm fairly sure you get even newer examples.

Although in a similar fashion we still had MK1 convertibles over here too until 92/93 ish... not a bad run!

[k-ink]

Wayne King said:

5,387,862 cars made in its life... Really rubbish indeed.

That just confirms there's lot's of poor people out there. I'm sure Argo's sell quite a few £4 toasters as well

[blueg33]

AJS- said:

Great thread. Surprised no one has mentioned this yet



1975 - 1996

The chassis went on for much longer as it was used in the XK that replaced the XJS

[CDP]

blueg33 said:

AJS- said:

Great thread. Surprised no one has mentioned this yet



1975 - 1996

The chassis went on for much longer as it was used in the XK that replaced the XJS

And the DB7.

[Hitch78]

CDP said:

Gizmo! said:

davepoth said:

I think I win...

That's the one I was going to say

Came out in 1983 iirc - and registered (albeit not made) all the way from A-reg to Y-reg.

I think there might be some very early 'Y's.

No, they were sold later than that. Maestros were shipped in CKD form to Bulgaria and the Bulgarians sent the kits back.

A company in BSE was selling them and there are some 51 plates about.

It would have to be really cheap...

Surely it would be.

[k-ink]

CDP said:

blueg33 said:

AJS- said:

Great thread. Surprised no one has mentioned this yet



1975 - 1996

The chassis went on for much longer as it was used in the XK that replaced the XJS

And the DB7.

My old XJS chassis used to creak and flex like a wooden shed when driving into corners. I guess at least it was smooth, comfortable and had effortless pace in a straight line.

[sato]

The Volvo 240 launched in 1975, hardly chaged up until they stopped making them in 1993

[CDP]

sato said:

The Volvo 240 launched in 1975, hardly chaged up until they stopped making them in 1993

And that was an update of the 144 from 1966:



The big bumpers didn't improve the look.