The lines needed to be something new and out of the ordinary hence the car’s appearance was somewhat controversial and awkward in some ways, mainly because of the long wheelbase compared with other cars its size Matra entered the world of four wheels in 1963 with the Djet, developed on mechanicals derived from Renault. We … More Non-conformist innovation
Erhardt purchased the licence to produce a car locally from the French company Decauville. The name he chose was Wartburg, inspired by the name of an ancient castle located in the area. When we think of the cars from former East Germany, what usually comes to mind is the funny one, the Trabant, or Trabi … More Not just Trabant
The initials “IM3” merged the initials of the two brands Innocenti and Morris, whilst the “3” referred to the third model produced in collaboration with the British group, after the A40 and the Spider. In almost forty years of activities as a car manufacturer, Innocenti di Lambrate is remembered mainly for the Mini models produced … More The Anglo-Italian
The innovative glass-fibre reinforced polyester bodywork meant certain decisions aimed at containing costs faded into the background. In the early 1960s, sales of the American marque Studebaker were not going at all well following the 1954 merger with Packard; the fate of the two brands now seemed to be sealed. Hopes were resting on a … More Too far ahead
The first series was produced from 1978 and it became the first Eastern European car capable of withstanding the very tough USA crash tests, which meant it could be exported all over the world. Poland is not famous as a car manufacturing nation and we only know it as one through the Fiat models built … More Dancing… from Poland
Due to its mechanical characteristics the Imp was successful in rallying, winning the Rally of the Tulips in 1965. In the 1960s the British Rootes Group, which included the marques Sunbeam, Singer, Humber, Hillman and Talbot, decided to start on the design of a car capable of countering the growing success of the best-selling Mini. … More The anti-Mini
At the 1961 Frankfurt Motor Show, NSU then presented the Prinz 4 series, the best-selling and most loved of this model. If we think of the small cars of the 60s that circulated, for example in Italy, surely come to mind, first of all, the Fiat 500 and 600 among the most popular. In reality … More The German’s Corvair
Selling alongside the 1000, the 1100 was one of the cornerstones of production and went through the stages of the acquisition of Simca by Chrysler, which started as early as 1958 and culminated some years later. There are fewer and fewer people today who will remember the French marque Simca, founded by the Italian Enrico … More The 1100 lives of Simca
In its lifetime the Bertone Mini project saw numerous updates, amongst the most important of which was the adoption of Japanese components and 3-cylinder engines supplied by Daihatsu, which led to the MiniTre Replacing the original Mini was always going to be an almost impossible task, but despite this, during the 1960s we saw various … More The Italian Mini
It’s a famous car in the collective American imagination, particularly thanks to its appearance as a co-star with Robert De Niro in the Martin Scorsese film “Taxi Driver”. As the first post in my blog, dedicated to historic and defunct marques, I’m going to tell you about a car which many of you will surely … More The story of an American taxicab
Cars Forgotten - Stories 