Big Car

Early version of this audio with lots of echo. It needs to be re-recorded, but throwing it out now as it's all that I can do right now.

Citroën in many ways were like the Tesla of the 1950’s and 60’s. Where other car manufacturers were making normal, everyday cars, Citroën were ripping up the rulebooks and reinventing just what a car could be in their own mad, Gallic way. Their approach to almost every aspect of the car was unique, new, and, well, Citroën-esque. And it’s not like different meant “wrong”. The Citroën SM introduced innovative features such as self-centering steering and rain-sensing wipers years before they became mainstream. So, with a pedigree like this, why aren’t we all driving around in Citroën’s today? Why did the SM only sell 13,000 cars before taking Citroën into bankruptcy?

Mercedes is the purveyor of high-class limousines, so it might be odd to think of them selling a go-anywhere pickup that’s more used to lugging a few bags of cement back from the DIY shop. But it’s not that strange an idea, after all, they’ve been producing vans, trucks and buses for almost a century. But the Mercedes X-Class wasn’t going to be sold alongside their commercial vehicles, this was for the type of customer who bought their luxury cars. Just why did Mercedes decide to make a pickup, and why did it last less than three years before being axed?

The Maestro was the car that killed Austin Rover. Poised on a knife-edge in the early 80’s between survival and disaster, this car, and its booted Montego sister, caused its death. Not right away – plenty of Government subsidies and deals with Honda and BMW gave the company another 20 years, but this was the critical moment when it all went wrong. When the company lost its ability to chart its own destiny. So why were these cars such poor-sellers, and why did a company that made the critically successful Metro, get it all wrong with its follow-up?

You probably know Vauxhall and their German cousin Opel as the makers of reasonably prices cars that maybe aren’t that exciting. But in the 60s and 70s Vauxhall produced several amazing sports car and supercar concepts that rivalled the best Lamborghini had to offer. And Vauxhall didn’t just make concepts, there was the VX220 – a car that was a lot of fun with great handling. But why didn’t these 60s cars or the last concept ever make it to production?

This is a video charting the history of the Ford Capri. It includes the Mercury Capri (both 1970s, 1980s and 1990s).

Renault is rebooting the classic 5 and it’s available for pre-order right now if you’re in France with deliveries starting later this year! So, what’s it like, what’s good, what’s bad, and what do I think about it?

The Rover 200 more than ever encapsulates British Leyland as it went from Government ownership, through its Honda collaboration, to the disastrous BMW marriage, and finally its last gasp for survival as an independent company. And it was one of Rover’s few big successes, having an amazing 29-year lifespan over its many and varied history. The Rover 200 had many guises, from the blue-rinse Triumph Acclaim to the hot hatch MG ZR, and it’s a beloved British car. So why was it such a hit, and why did it all go wrong in the late 90’s?

Otto von Bismarck, the man who oversaw the unification of Germany in the late 19th century called politics “the art of the possible”. He’s saying that you might have grand lofty dreams, but you have to go with what’s actually possible to achieve. I’d argue that applies to many things in life, including car design. There’s always a compromise with a limited budget and limited time. That was never more true than with the Citroën Visa. Borne out of Citroën’s bankruptcy in the mid-1970s it was a modern car that was still clearly a Citroën, with all its innovative features. But just how did they produce such a competent car in such a short time?

The Triumph Stag has looks and sophisticated style. Those Italian lines of this easy Grand Tourer looked epic when it was released in 1970, and the lucrative North American market beckoned. With a throaty 3.0L V8 engine, it had the power to take on its 6-cylinder rival, the Mercedes SL. Yet in just seven years production ended and it was all over. So, what happened? Why did this beautiful car falter and die?