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Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 45 general entries. We are selecting 30 for display.
Special Topics
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 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 Auto World
| How many wheels were on the Dodge T-Rex concept truck? | All Car Quiz
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| What was Ferrari's first sports car that could do over 198mph? | All Car Quiz
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| What was Porsche's first car when the company opened? | All Car Quiz
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yes . Even Lee Iococa said it was a failure!
| What automobile guru joined GM in 1935 and designed the 1938 Cadillac Series 60? | Classic Car Quizaroo
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six . There were only six made because it was a publicity stunt by Chrysler.
| How many versions of Ford's American Edsel were made before it was withdrawn (changes were made annually)? | Unusual Car Facts
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3. Though now a collectors item, the Edsel had a production run of 3 versions from 1957-8, 1958-9 and 1959-60. In 1960, after continually disappointing sales, it was withdrawn from production.
Daihatsu. No, it wasn't one of the big ones. Daihatsu exported a small number of its small saloon the Compagno to Britain in 1966.
Named after the rally it won there. As the Ford Escort won the London to Mexico rally in 1970, a rally version was first marketed in 1971 with the Mexico name.
Only one was made. This was a car designed by the Heinz company owner, who died before he was able to put it into production. History on http://www.automuseum.org/1938corsair.html
Piazza. The Isuzu Piazza was their first and only attempt to sell a saloon car in the UK, actually a 2 door coupe. As sales were disappointing, they pulled out, but continue to export MPVs there. Plaza is a Plymouth, Palio is a Fiat and a Piano is a musical instrument.
| Which current range of cars uses the designation 'classic' to refer to retro versions of existing models? | Unusual Car Facts
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Daihatsu. Though all these and more make retro versions (mainly for their home Japanese markets), Daihatsu use the classic tag to their versions with old-fashioned chrome grilles and round headlights.
| What is the origin of the name of the British car manufacturer Marcos? | Unusual Car Facts
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Marsh and Costin. Made in England from the 1950s, the name is a combination of Jem MARsh and Frank COStin.
Lincoln Futura. Though not ever made for the public, the design of the Batmobile was based on a concept model made by Lincoln in 1955 called the Futura.
Here are the 2 cars seen together, along with a full history. http://www.1966batmobile.com/background.htm
The Mercedes Benz SSK. The truly elegant, opulent Mercedes SSK is perhaps the marques most venerated model, more so than the 600 limousine, the 300 SL or the present day SLR supercar. Just one look at this work of art on wheels, developed supposedly by Ferdinand Porsche, the founder of Volkswagen, (though I don't believe it!) and you'll see why. Latter editions of this model, produced from the early 20s to the late 30s, were truly fabulous looking and worthy of the esteem.
The Excalibur Motorcar Company is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and started prducing its retro-models in 1963. It was one of the the first companies of its kind in the last six decades!
Studebaker. During a time between the late 50s and early 60s, when Mercedes-Benzes looked suspiciously like American Motors' Ramblers, Studebaker-Packard distributed Daimler-Benz automobiles to the American public. This was a time when Benzes had an enviable level of quality control, reliability and fit and finish, something the company is woefully lacking in today.
Renault. In a desperate effort to save itself, the smallest of American automotive companies merged with French automaker Regie Renault to produce the Alliance and Encore subcompacts. This was after introducing the AWD Eagle, (essentially rebadged and re-engineered Concords and Spirits/Gremlins,) to keep the public's interest in what it was doing.
Many of AMC's ventures in the 70s were two-edged swords that helped to both keep it alive and to presage its doom: The introduction of the Hornet and Gremlin did well for it, but the introduction of the outrageous Matador coupe, which looked like it was half freehand-drawn rather than drafted (especially the roof) the bad re-styling of the Javelin and the introduction of the quirky Pacer subcompact left the little company more strapped than it probably could recover from on its own. Retooling was supposedly expensive during the 70s, but somehow, AMC managed to do it several times. Majorly.
Supposedly, before it was bought out by Chrysler in 1987, AMC sold fewer cars, company-wide, than Chevrolet sold Corvettes, and the venerable 'Vette has 'always' been a marginal seller for that division! Nonetheless, the company left the market having surprised everybody with how clever they were for such a small company. There were some goofs, (like the restyled Javelin,) and near the end, some major quality control glitches forced it to rely on fleet sales for a semblance of a healthy existence.
| Chrysler has sometimes found itself behind the eight-ball due to marketing miscalculations. It's not a problem unique to the last 30 years! In the 1930s, which pair of models almost spelled doom for the young company? | Little Known Secrets of the Automotive World
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The Chrysler and De Soto Airflows. In 1934, Chrysler decided to be daring and introduced two cars that would eventually revolutionize automotive design: The Chrysler and De Soto "Airflow" models. What followed was a marketing disaster of the first water! First year quality control was abysmal, resulting in some gruesome horror stories. The public, also, was not ready for the iconoclastic styling, which would eventually travel all over the automotive industry by the end of the forties. By 1936, the "streamlined look" had pretty much had a major influence on domestic automobiles.
The Airflow debacle, however, proved awfully detrimental for Chrysler Corp. during the bad old days of the Depression, and you had to question their wisdom in producing such a striking new idea during those stringent days to begin with.
no. Nope. For some reason, GM has never seen fit to make the Corvette body out of anything but fiberglass reinforced plastic. This seems to be a theme for GM: Whenever they come out with a "breakthrough" model, such as the Fiero or the Saturn ...one of the main features always seems to be a plastic body.
Aluminum, a new stainless....come on, GM...! Use your imagination! You've only got the resources of the GNPs of most of Northern Europe to work with...!
The Monza Spyder. Yep! Factory installed and raring to go! The tiny Corvair, which weighed less than just about every domestic model at the time, had the innovative opposed and turbocharged six cylinder engine.
Comparisons were made to Porsche constantly throughout the production run of this unique American import fighter. Near the end of its run as a model, the high-performance 140, 150 and 180hp engines were terminated, and the Corvair gave way to the Camaro, a car that disintegrated before your very eyes.
Five. The MG-TA, TB, TC, TD and TF were all developed and produced between the beginning of World War II and 1955, the TF being the most elegant of the five models. There apparently was no "TE".
MG, which sprang from the Morris Motor Car Company, was formed in 1924. It became part of Morris Motors, and subsequently BMC and British Leyland. They then, after BL's troubles in the 70s, became part of Jaguar/Rover/Triumph and then the Austin-Rover Group, then MG-Rover.
The Sabra. Sabra models were made by Autocars, Ltd., headquartered in Haifa. The fit and finish of the bodies left a lot to be desired. The company was started in the 50s and ceased production somewhat later. Bodies were made of fiberglass.
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