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Ugly, weird, silly, and just plain stupid car rebadges
- Thread starter Turbo
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Is it bad that I actually kinda like the look of the one on the right?The Toyota Cavalier. What an insult to the Toyota brand name, eh?
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- Rallywgn81
To each their own.... But kinda....
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A result of FCA coming into being. Presumably they figured rebadging would be more successful than trying to re-establish the Chrysler name in an already crowded European market. And far as I can tell, most Lancias from the late '90s were largely Fiats with slightly different sheetmetal anyway, so it's more just swapping one badge job for another. Not that this makes it okay or anything, but y'know.
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If I recall correctly, the entire reason for this was to raise the brand's overall MPG figures to keep the EU from dropping heavier taxes on them. You couldn't even buy one unless you already owned an Aston Martin!
A Toyota iQ dressed up as the Aston Martin Cygnet.
Maybe the highest markup of all time for a rebadge?
MedigoFlame
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The Toyota Cavalier. What an insult to the Toyota brand name, eh?
Made slightly better with the TRD kit
And even better because racecar
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When it comes to rebadging, no one does it better than GM, especially on their Opels!
(Yes, that's a Subaru badge!)
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Atrocious, counter-productive marketing aside (hey, let's deliberately attack our flagship model designed as a 5-Series competitor to puff up our entry level model!), that might have worked if the drivetrain was the bulletproof 3800/4lL60E from the Commodore that GM already built in America for the Camaro instead of the hand grenade Opel V6 and transmission that also both needed to cross the Atlantic to get any parts for. They could have lowered the production costs significantly I'm guessing, and more importantly not have to recall every single one due to seemingly imminent and random catastrophic failure. Performance would have been much better as well for the price.
Car and Drive sampled a Commodore circa-1999 when it first got the LS1, and they were pretty much shocked how easily it was to make what was essentially still a Catera a legitimately competitive car with the 5 series with a better drivetrain that GM already had, and GM still didn't bother.
Though it is still a dead-ringer for the Malibu, so maybe not anyway.
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Because GM, from when Roger Smith took over to when they declared bankruptcy in 2008, consistently and sometimes seemingly intentionally did things that were very god damned stupid for no discernible reason.
The Cimarron was mentioned earlier. Cadillac had access to a V6 that would connect to the drivetrain that the Cimarron (and its brethren) already utilized since they were based on the X-Body that the V6 was designed for. That alone probably would have been enough to justify the Cimarron over the Cavalier/Omega/Sunbird/Firehawk in its first couple years where the differences were so blatantly lacking. Maybe the debut year would have been a stretch to implement, but certainly it should not have taken 4 years for the Cimarron to get a V6 the car already could have accepted with ease. GM had two J-Body interiors that were considerably better designed and more modern looking at the time than the volume leader Cavalier.
Cimarron launched with only the same 1.8 piece of crap every other American J-Body had (and only got the V6 when the Cavalier did anyway) and the interior of a Cavalier but with leather and power windows.
Catera was the same way. The VT Commodore was designed with the chance of American sales in mind before being cancelled at the last minute, just like Zeta was the decade following. It had a drivetrain package that GM already produced in America and had already implemented into American market RWD cars for years; and was well regarded for its smoothness, being lightweight-ish, being fuel efficient and with a track record as fairly indestructible. There was also a more powerful version of that engine already designed and on the market, even ignoring the space for a V8 the car always was supposed to accomodate. It almost certainly would have been cheaper for GM to utilize the Commodore version of the platform instead of the Omega one, both in costs per car and in maintenance costs for the company. GM imported the European version instead, with its fussy transmission and overly complicated, catastrophically unreliable engine that were both produced only in Europe and contributed to a less powerful, more expensive and much heavier car.
Put another way, everything the original CTS was lauded for (except the styling), up to and including the BMW M5-chasing CTS-v, were things Cadillac could have done with the Catera 7 years earlier because they had almost all of the same pieces in place. They just didn't use them and used something else instead.
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I'll add to that and say the MC12 was much better looking in every conceivable way. I've said before I'm not a fan 21st century/"modern" Ferrari's since they've looked really quite ugly. And the Enzo is up there as one of the worst with the F430 for me. Besides, as many have pointed out earlier, Maserati took the Enzo, redressed it in a prettier body, and designed a beast to go racing with it, and go racing it certainly did, as it was really rather successful.
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I'm sure there was a lot of infighting and resource mismanagement going on between project teams and middle management that contributed to it as well. Granted, incompetent leadership never helps matters.
Silver Arrows
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In fairness to VW, if you are going to use a platform for a minivan, you can't really do no wrong with using the Grand Caravan platform. Considering it's weathered the storm that is the death of the minivan, it must be doing something right. (Though I noticed Chrysler trying to do some in brand competition with the Pacifica)
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So here's the Toyota Matrix...
...which was given slightly different bodywork and also sold as the Pontiac Vibe...
...which was then converted to right hand drive and sold in Japan as the Toyota Voltz.
Why Toyota didn't just make an RHD version of the (in my opinion) better looking Matrix to sell in Japan I'll never understand, especially since the Voltz was a total sales flop.
...which was given slightly different bodywork and also sold as the Pontiac Vibe...
...which was then converted to right hand drive and sold in Japan as the Toyota Voltz.
Why Toyota didn't just make an RHD version of the (in my opinion) better looking Matrix to sell in Japan I'll never understand, especially since the Voltz was a total sales flop.
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I always thought that it was a strange thing for Toyota to have done. Perhaps they thought the Vibe looked better than the Matrix? The Vibe/Voltz does look more "rugged" though, so perhaps Toyota tried to market it as a car with some off-roading capabilities? If someone knows or wants to take a guess on Toyota's decision, do tell.
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I'm figuring it was a failed ploy to make the car more attractive to younger buyers by having it look different from the rest of the Toyota lineup, although nobody I know ever thought that chunky, poorly fittted body cladding looked good. It's just such an obvious mish-mash of two design languages that have nothing in common with each other.
Also, the Voltz wins the prize for lowest-effort rebadging attempt...
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- TenEightyOne
- TenEightyOne
How about the Austin Allegro dressed up as a Vanden Plas 1500.
That's not a rebadge any more than a Ford Cortina Ghia is. It was just the top spec/trim with a goofy grill and sexy little walnut shelves on the back of the front seats.
OT: Here's one that always freaks me into full-Aspergers mode when I see one, the Mazda 121 aka the Ford Fester.
Does anyone remembers the Daihatsu rebadge of the Toyota bB, the Daihatsu Materia?
Turns out they also sold it as Subaru Dex as well.
The first one was sold only in Canada i think while the Honda Civic version was sold in Asian regions i believe. The difference was probably in luxury equipment but nothing more. The third one is something i never heard of before, any more info on that?
Turns out they also sold it as Subaru Dex as well.
Acura CSX
Honda Civic
Dongfeng-Honda Ciimo
The first one was sold only in Canada i think while the Honda Civic version was sold in Asian regions i believe. The difference was probably in luxury equipment but nothing more. The third one is something i never heard of before, any more info on that?
