What Are Some Automotive "Lasts"?

  • Thread starter Thread starter GranTurNismo
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The Vauxhall Victor (FE), launched in 1972, was the last independent Vauxhall with no commonality with Opel. It did look superficially similar to the Opel Rekord but they shared no interchangeable parts.

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Vauxhall had been gradually sharing its designs and parts with Opel since GM consolidation in the 1960s and after the Victor's 1972 launch, all Vauxpels would share a common design and common parts, ultimately seeing Vauxhalls become badge-engineered Opels.
 
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GranTurNismo
Maybe a base spec Versa or Mirage? I wonder if those screens are just for the backup camera and nothing else.
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I had a 2016 Impala (W-body) as a rental car which was probably the last time I had a no-screen dashboard on a U.S. market vehicle.
 
The 2009 Mercury Grand Marquis was the last production vehicle with factory optional white wall tires. However the 2010 Lincoln Town Car was shown with such tires in the brochure but was not available.
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Would it also be fair to say that the 1998-2011 Grand Marquis was the last car (and one of the only cars that I can think of) to be marketed primarily to senior citizens?
 
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Word up. However, the Camry is still around. ;)

I’d probably say the Toyota Aurion. That was last built(in Australia) in 2017.
 
GranTurNismo
Would it also be fair to say that the 1998-2011 Grand Marquis was the last car (and one of the only cars that I can think of) to be marketed primarily to senior citizens?
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Buick Lacrosse would like a word
 
GranTurNismo
Would it also be fair to say that the 1998-2011 Grand Marquis was the last car (and one of the only cars that I can think of) to be marketed primarily to senior citizens?
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The Honda Jazz is sold with a glovebox stuffed full of Werther's Originals straight from the dealer.
 
The 1996 Oldsmobile 98, Cadillac Fleetwood, and Buick Roadmaster are all tied for the last cars sold in the US to have rear fender skirts.
 
Those three weren't even the last GM products offered* in the US to use fender skirts, as much as GM would prefer it that we believed they were. That and Honda were selling the Clarity with its angled rear skirts up until 2021.

*I guess EV1s weren't "sold" exactly so it might not count based on that wording.
 
  • The last vehicle to use AMC designed parts was the 2006 Jeep Wrangler. The door and tailgate handles as well as the engine block were AMC designed parts that had been carried over.
  • The last car produced with a standard front mounted hand crank to manually start the vehicle was the 1998 Lada Niva.
  • The 1949 Triumph 2000 Roadster was the last car produced with a Rumble Seat (AKA Dickey Seat).
  • The Checker Marathon was the last American car to have a flathead engine, being produced all the way until 1982.
  • The 1967 Lincoln Continental was the last 4-door convertible ever made.
  • The final gen Toyota Tercel (in addition to being the last car in the US to have a three-speed manual as aformentioned), was the last car in the US to not have a passenger side mirror as standard equipment.
 
GranTurNismo
You’re completely right about the Maybach Landaulet. But the Wrangler and Bronco aren’t really convertibles in the traditional sense because they have modular roofs and doors with removable panels rather than a convertible top.
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A convertible, by definition, is a car that converts between open and closed configurations.
 
You can still get soft top Wranglers and Broncos. The Wrangler's design is extremely janky and clearly was an afterthought to upsell you to turning your Unlimited into a fake G-Wagon, but the 4 door Bronco's is no more fiddly than literally an entire industry of British convertibles. I suspect whatever the current Morgan Plus 8 has isn't any better.
 
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