History originally published in Sport Compact Car November 1998; republished by the author Shakespeare said, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Sure, Bill, but would it sell? When Renault began importing its new econobox in 1976, they use their current practice of numerical model designation and called it the “5.” A […]
1957 Simca Vedette Versailles: Nee Ford, Simca’s star of the 1950s
History/driving impressions originally published in AutoWeek March 27, 1995; republished by the author Two of the least frequently noted developments regarding automobiles in France were (a) it becoming illegal to honk one’s horn in Paris except in extreme emergency and (B) Simca’s purchase of Ford of France lock, stock and manufacturing plant in 1955. Simca […]
1967 DAF 55
History/driving impression originally published in Sport Compact Car March 2000; republished by the author The Amsterdam Automobile Show in early 1958 was an unlikely venue for a new car introduction, but then the car being introduced was rather unlikely. Powered by a horizontally-opposed twin-cylinder air-cooled engine and sporting peculiar shovel-nosed front end styling that could […]
2005 Chevrolet Classic: You can’t buy a Classic day in paradise, but you can rent it.
Contemporary review originally published in CarBuzzard August 6, 2005 You can’t buy a Classic day in paradise, but you can rent it. You can rent a Classic day in Newark, New Jersey, too. You can rent a Classic day just about anywhere. The Chevrolet Classic is, in fact, a mainstay of the rental car business, […]
Yugo GV and GVC: Yugo, he gone
History originally published in Examiner.com 7/17/2010 and news item November 16, 2008 What a deal it was! Look, Ma, a new car–they call it a Yugo–for only $3,990. A Chevrolet Chevette, in comparison, sold for about $5650. Even used cars with dubious priors and suspicious sellers could set you back more, and that’s not considering […]
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