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2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
The problem I have always noticed with all the Buick/Rover V8s was that they were very particular about build quality. You could just slap together a traditional American all iron V8 without too much fanfare but the all aluminum Buick motors needed special attention. Build and machining quality was not all that high in Britain at the time. Parts just were not machined and or cast to the tolerances necessary for reliable operation.
Our 59 Rover has had both its axles resealed with the highest quality gaskets you can buy but they still leak. They still leak because the axles themselves just don't have tight enough tolerances.
Some of those Rover V8s can make stupid power and do it reliably if they are built very carefully. I have Range Rovers around here with 300,000 plus miles on that engine with out a rebuild. On the other hand we have had Range Rovers and Discos that blew their engine with less then a 100 miles on it. That 100 miles engine was slapped together by a monkey, might have been sabotaged too as their were problems with that a few years ago, and the 300,000 mile engine was assembled properly by a real professional.
This one?
hudsonthedog, "Mystery car pix...." #12040, 13 Aug 2007 9:23 am
And don't go confusing your posts with your blog entries. Long live the minivan! :shades:
You mean early 2000s, the Mangusta was made between 2000 and 2002.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
(deep threatening voice)
"They thought it was dead...but it was only waiting....and now.....it's PAYBACK!"
MYSTERY QUESTION:
I brought this up in another topic on Electric Vehicles and the new Tesla
Question:
What was the last, SUCCESSFUL, UNIQUE car (not made up from parts from other manufacturers) introduced as a car built for rich people and made by a small independent manufacturer with limited capital?
Again, pay attention to the criteria....
unique (so no Shelby or Saleen)
successful (still around or had a good long run)
for the wealthy (at least at first)
small independent (no Big Three launch like Continental)
limited capital (less than a couple hundred million).
My answer was Ferrari in 1948 (???) but I have a sneaky suspicion I've forgotten someone or some car.
Ideas on the Mystery Question?
Edit what about Spyker?
http://www.spykercars.com/
Or koenigsegg
There are companies like Shelby (remember the Series 1?) and Saleen (S7) and Panoz and Bugatti (pre VW) that worked.
There's also Lamborghini (16 years younger than Ferrari) and deTomaso and Lotus, which fit all of your criteria.
Like Subaru, there's Hyundai and Kia and Proton and Mahindra and Tata and a dozen or so Chinese companies that fit the criteria with the exception of "for the wealthy."
How about Stutz (1969-1985?)?
About the most recent red Anglo-American V8, what's the little chrome strip above the rear wheel for? Looks?
Yep, AFAIK it's just a chrome strip, here's a nice close-up>
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
james
Subaru Hyundai etc don't work because they aren't undercapitalized, and as you say the others don't work because they weren't for the wealthy.
Spkyer? Tell me more. Who financed it? What engine does it use?
Lotus doesn't qualify because it wasn't a car for the wealthy---quite the opposite---it was kind of a kit car...well...a car you put together yourself at any rate.
But Lamborghini probably qualifies as the correct-est answer so far. I think the first Lambo is 1964.
What I was driving at in the Tesla topic was to show how incredibly difficult it is to be successful if you are trying to build a unique car for the wealthy with very little capital (relative to the auto industry I mean, where 50 million bucks is chump change.)
As for the term "successful", I guess we'd just have to apply some common sense to it...if a company built 100 cars and struggled all its life, well...'nuff said. That's not very successful.
A "409"? :confuse:
A "409"?
The Bristol is a 411, the Chrysler is a 6.9L (426CID?).
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
But does Tesla count? They buy bodies from Lotus!
That Malaysian group, then Chrysler, then VWAG.
Going bankrupt and having to sell the company 3 times or more doesn't spell success by my standards.
Plus, don't they use VW/Audi engines? At least derivates of those?
They get some help from VW on the Cayenne, but let's pretend that thing doesn't exist.
Lamborghini was an entrepreneur in the true spirit I think. Not a volume producer of cars for the rich but he had a good run on his own and he did give Ferrari fits in the marketplace (made the Ferrari look very old fashioned). But Lambo never raced so Ferrari could always rub that in their faces.
TESLA--I didn't know they bought bodies from Lotus. That's always a bit scary, that the bodies of your cars are not under your own control.
STUDEBAKER -- that '66 was built in Canada I believe. The swan song of the company, although I think it still exists in some molecular form.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93
That Malaysian group, then Chrysler, then VWAG"
To be picky, it was Chrysler, then the Indonesians, and then Volkswagen (technically, Audi). They nearly went bankrupt back in the 1970s, but they're desireable enough that three companies have acquired it in the past 15 years...sounds successful to me.
The Gallardo does use an Audi-derived V10, but the Murcielago is entirely Lamborghini design.
Porsche started as a company AFTER World War II.
Looking at the state of the French auto industry over the past 30 years and the condition of France itself, perhaps old Mr. Porsche looks down from wherever and has a chuckle now and then today.
"Professor Ferdinand Porsche initially started the company called "Dr. ing. h. c. F. Porsche GmbH" in 1931, with main offices in Königstrasse in the middle of Stuttgart. The company primarily were offering development work or consulting for motor vehicles, so no cars were initially built that had the Porsche name. One of the first assignments the new company got was from the german government to design a car for the people, a "Volkswagen" in german."
My apologies.
From a source I trust more than Wikipedia (AutoHistory.org) your chronology is correct and the pre-war Porsche company evolved into the post-war car company. But the prewar company was an engineering firm exclusively and didn't turn to car production until after the war (and everyone was out of jail).
"Professor Ferdinand Porsche initially started the company called "Dr. ing. h. c. F. Porsche GmbH" in 1931, with main offices in Königstrasse in the middle of Stuttgart.
FWIW the link to Porsche USA on my computer is labeled
Dr. ing. H.C.F. Porsche AG. I believe Porsche still maintains offices in central Stuttgart but their HQ is now in Zuffenhausen IIRC.
2001 BMW 330ci/E46, 2008 BMW 335i conv/E93