NEWS

THE reasons why Rover doesn’t exist today are perhaps epitomised by the launch of the Metro. In development for more than half the 1970s, it was nevertheless rushed to launch and then, well, never really achieved the goals set for it.  Sure, it did pretty well in terms of sales – it wouldn’t be a legend [...]

THINK Volvo, think square estates, think 240. The maker is still intent on changing this – senior managers have stated their determination to do so to Car Dealer Magazine – but, for now, the image remains. Thing is, though, the 240 may be square, but that sure doesn’t make it bad. It was launched in [...]

THE Rover 200 was one of the best cars Rover ever made. Sure, it wasn’t quite the most dramatic-looking. Nor was it the most interstellar to drive. It wasn’t even history’s most innovative Rover. But, in terms of market-hitting success, probably nothing can beat it.  No, not even the iconic original Mini. Controversial? Maybe. But [...]

TWO seats, soft top and rear-wheel drive – three ingredients that form the basis of a recipe for success. Add in a dash of affordability, a pinch of cute styling and lashings of handling prowess and you’re well on your way to a Michelin Star winning banquet of a car! When Mazda designed its MX-5 [...]

FIAT was in strife in the early 1980s. Not an unfamiliar situation for the Italian firm, in all fairness. But this particular predicament was especially bad. It needed a car to save it, to replace the ageing 127 and give the automotive giant the all-important volume it needs.  Basically, it needed a winner. A car [...]

SO, the latest Astra is a ‘vital’ car for Vauxhall? A ‘make-or-break’ model in many ways? Well, no change there. It’s always been so, ever since the very first was launched back in 1980. Back then, Vauxhall was in strife. It had a grim reputation, an ageing model line-up of rear-drive cars… one of the [...]

NISSANS didn’t used to be Nissans in the UK. They were Datsuns, and models such as the supermini-sized Cherry made the firm’s name here in the 1970s. Reliable, cheap and sturdy, they were pretty dire to drive, but reassurance-seekers didn’t care. The cars were fuss-free enough to establish the idea of Japanese cars in the UK. [...]

HARD to believe that Renault used to be known as a conservative, middle of the road brand. Oh, sure, it had funky cars such as the 5 supermini. But, alongside these were Renaults 9s, Renault 11s; even the Fuego coupe somehow managed to make sporty boring. Today, the brand is one of Europe’s most forward-thinking. [...]

Pre-Quattro, Audi didn’t really stand for much. It was a posh Volkswagen, little more, in the eyes of car buyers; it had the same sort of quirky standing as Saab. Case not helped by building models such as the Audi 50 – a badge-engineered first-generation VW Polo… This approach was never going to turn it [...]

IN 1960s US, they had Steve McQueen. They had San Francisco. They had the Mustang. They had so much that was cool, and fun, and modern, and enviable. In the UK, we had Brian Blessed, Slough, and the Austin Maxi. Thank the lord then for Ford. Ever the savvy marketeers, the mighty Blue Oval spotted [...]

THE car that saved the company. Le sacre numero. The car of the decade. Yes, there are no shortage of plaudits for the Peugeot 205. Quite simply, it is the most important car the company has ever made. Remains so. And still, for many, is irreplaceable. To understand why the 205 was so significant, you [...]

It was the car that brought Mercedes to the masses and looks as fresh today as it did back in 1983 – it’s our latest Sales Legend, the Mercedes 190. THE Mercedes 190 was launched as the most affordable Mercedes ever. Which, you must note, is a relative term. It’s like saying Richard Branson is [...]

The sixth-generation Golf is hitting dealer showrooms right now. Volkswagen’s most important car is ideally timed to help dealers through the gloom of the plunging new car market. Thing is, 35 years ago Volkswagen dealers were similarly doom-laden – and also looking to the Golf as the great white hope. Back then, the Golf was [...]

Out with the old, and in with the shock of the new. Company car drivers were brought straight into the 80s with a slap in the face back in 1982, when Ford launched its most controversial car ever.  Replacing that old favourite, the Cortina, the Sierra was as radical as a pound coming in coin [...]

  MiTo fever is well under way in Alfa Romeo dealers. And how they deserve to have a ‘pizza’ the action (sorry)! Boss Christopher Nicholl has slashed the network, encouraged those who remain to pull their socks up, and the result is the strongest state of health the dealer network has seen in years.  It [...]

Ground-breaking technology, handsome looks and great engines gave the Cavalier the ammunition it needed to crack the booming family car sector. Little wonder buyers loved it… DESPITE being absent from new car price lists for nearly 14 years, the Cavalier name remains one held in high regard by Vauxhall nuts. Why? Because it helped bring [...]

You can’t have missed the launch of the latest Fiesta. Ford is undertaking perhaps its most co-ordinated campaign yet, incorporating TV, radio, internet, even local pubs and clubs. It’s the culmination of a process that started this time last year, with the unveiling of the dramatic Verve ‘concept’. Which, we now know, was actually the [...]