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If you're an average Mopar enthusiast you may be wondering what the front of a Plymouth Valiant is doing on a 1963 Dodge Dart. Unlike urban legends about cars with front ends from one brand and rear ends from another of that automaker's brands that was being built on the same assembly line, and unlike custom car mashups, this was factory built and sold by authorized dealers. If you were born after the Beatles first appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show you can be excused for not knowing this, but Dodge Darts and Plymouth Valiants weren't always badge engineered twins. In 1963 they were more like bigger and smaller brothers, with an odd Canadian cousin in the family.
The Dart brand had previously been used by Dodge for both full size and intermediate cars but by the early 1960s compact cars were a growing segment of the market. AMC was selling record numbers of Ramblers, VW was on it's way to importing a half million Beetles a year, and GM and Ford were both introducing compact cars like the Pontiac Tempest, the Chevy II and the Falcon. When Plymouth dealers got the compact Valiant, Dodge dealers got a more luxurious version and it was decided to use the Lancer nameplate. For whatever reason, the 1961-62 Lancer didn't thrive, perhaps because it was just a badge engineered Valiant. Today it's hard to realize it, what with Hyundai Genesis trying to compete with Mercedes Benz, but in the late '50s and early '60s there were fairly rigid class distinctions between car brands. Ford, Chevrolet and Plymouth were not embarrassed to reference themselves as the "low priced three" and if you could afford to drive something more aspirational (though they didn't use that term back then) you didn't want your ride confused with an economy car. Alfred Sloan's business model reigned supreme, and not just at General Motors. For the 1963 model year, Dodge's compact was renamed the Dart and to distinguish it from the Valiant it was given a 5″ longer wheelbase, 111 inches, a different roofline and unique rear passenger windows. So an average Mopar fan would notice that this is a long wheelbase 1963 car with a Dart's sheet metal from the cowl back but it's wearing the front clip of a Valiant. Is it a Dodge or is it a Plymouth?
An average Mopar fan might notice the difference and scratch his head, but a serious Mopar fan, or one located in the Great White North, would know that actually it's not either a Dodge or a Plymouth, it's a "Valiant", made exclusively for the Canadian market and sold at both Chrysler-Plymouth and Dodge dealers in Canada. Chrysler had previously marketed the Valiant as it's own brand in Canada, so it could sell it through both Chrysler-Plymouth-Fargo and DeSoto-Dodge sales channels. It's not unusual for the American car companies to use slightly different branding in Canada. Beaumonts may look like Pontiacs and even carry the arrowhead logo, but you won't find the word Pontiac anywhere on those cars. There are Canadian Ford Monarchs that don't say Mercury anywhere on the cars. So this is a Valiant.
With the Valiant brand established in Canada, it made sense to continue with that nameplate. They were already selling the identical car in both Canadian sales channels, so it didn't make sense to sell two different wheelbase variants. Since it was sold in Chrysler-Plymouth dealers the Valiant name was identified somewhat by Canadian consumers with Chrysler, an upscale brand. In the 1960s larger equated to more luxurious so using the longer wheelbase car made sense. Using the longer wheelbase Dart necessarily meant using its rear end sheet metal. Swapping out front clips is a simple process, everything bolts on. Changing the rear end of a car's sheet meta, though,l means welding on different quarter panels and other panels plus labor to finish the seams. That's assuming the stock Valiant rear panels would mate up to the Dart midsection without modifications. They might have had to stamp completely different rear "Valiant" panels for everything to go together properly. The Dart wasn't being sold in Canada so why spend the money if nobody would notice the difference? The Canadian Valiant also had a Valiant instrument cluster, which was different from the Dart's, Valiant hubcaps, Valiant trim on the interior door panels, and seats embossed with the Valiant crest. On the rear deck lid, instead of a plastic insert inscribed with"Dodge GT", on the stainless steel panel between the backup lights there's a black plastic insert with "Signet" flanked by two Valiant crests. Of course, making a unique model for Canadians, a relatively small market, costs more money than selling them a car identical to the American model, so the unique Canadian Valiant was fairly short lived. Also, in 1965, the United States and Canada signed the U.S.-Canada Automotive Trade Pact, a precursor to NAFTA, which was the death knell for unique Canadian variants of American cars. When the compact Mopars were restyled with the "fuselage" look for 1967, the wheelbases of Darts and Valiants were rationalized and Canadians got Valiants that were identical, save for no Plymouth logos, to what Americans were buying. This 1963 Valiant Signet 200 was photographed at the 2012 Orphan Car Show, in Ypsilanti, Michigan. It's owned by Terry and Marge Metcalf of Ontario. The Signet trim line was equivalent to a Dart GT in the States so this is as fancy as a Canadian Valiant got. If I understand the story correctly, Terry's family had one when he was a kid and he resolved to find one to own. After searching high and low across Canada and the US for one, his wife spotted this car parked in a driveway not far from their own home and they bought it and restored it. The restoration was easier than with some Canada only cars. With the exception of that trim on the back of the car, you can find parts – what isn't identical to a '63 Dart you can retrieve from a '63 American market Valiant. Ronnie Schreiber edits Cars In Depth, a realistic perspective on cars & car culture and the original 3D car site. If you found this post worthwhile, you can dig deeper at Cars In Depth. If the 3D thing freaks you out, don't worry, all the photo and video players in use at the site have mono options. Thanks for reading– RJS          from The Truth About Cars http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com | |||
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Sunday, September 30, 2012
What’s Wrong With This Picture? Valiantly Different in Canada
Junkyard Find: 1987 Isuzu I-Mark
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Who can forget the "Joe Isuzu" ads of the 1980s? Let's watch a few for the I-Mark.            from The Truth About Cars http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com | |||
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North Americans bought the post-Chevette 
These things were cheaper than a Corolla, had front-wheel-drive, and… they were cheaper than a Corolla.
The 1.5 liter four delivered 90 horsepower, which wasn't so bad in 1987, and the I-Mark proved more reliable than, uh, the Hyundai Excel?
All in all, a forgotten commuter appliance that now serves as a reminder of The General's musical-marques efforts of the 1980s and 1990s.Most-Read Car Reviews of the Week
| The new 2013 Ford Fusion is far more stylish and fun to drive compared to is competitors, including the Nissan Altima and Toyota Camry, says Cars.com reviewer David Thomas. The new front seats and driver's controls leave something to be desired, though. Read more about the new Fusion, and our other most-read reviews of the week, with the links below: 1. 2013 Ford Fusion2. 2013 Nissan Altima 3. 2012 Toyota Camry 4. 2013 Honda Accord 5. 2013 Ford Escape 6. 2013 Hyundai Elantra GT 7. 2013 Toyota Highlander 8. 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport 9. 2013 Acura RDX 10. 2013 Cadillac XTS from KickingTires http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/ | |||
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Best Selling Cars Around The Globe: What Europe Buys Right Now
| While the European car market is slowly but surely falling into another recession that could well last much longer than the previous one, let's take the opportunity to have a look at what cars sell best there – if they sell. Couldn't care less about Europe and you just want to know which cars sell best in your own backyard? Easy. You can visit 168 countries and territories in my blog, one by one, in the comfort of your own lounge. That's right! Back to Europe. And there's one French newcomer pointing its bonnet up at the top of the ranking… New car sales in Europe are down a worrying 8 percent year-on-year in July to 970,271 registrations, bringing the year-to-date total to 8,035,439 units, down 5 percent on 2011. (August data is available but July has more detail so far which is why I'm focusing on it) Most analysts predict an 8 percent year-on-year overall fall by the end of the 2012, but it could get worse. And no one predicts the market to rebound in 2013, on the contrary it could fall further down.
There are only two models in the Top 10 losing less than 10 percent year-on-year so not a good look this month… The VW Golf keeps the lead by far but is at down 17 percent on July 2011 to 32,403 sales, followed by the VW Polo at -23 percent and the Ford Fiesta at -11 percent. Year-to-date, the Golf is #1 at -5 percent ahead of the Fiesta (-8 percent) and Polo (-13 percent).
In spite of sales down 20 percent on July 2011 to 18,124, the Opel/Vauxhall Astra is up to #4, its best European ranking since… September 2010!
But the big event this month in Europe is the arrival of the Peugeot 208 in the Top 10 for the very first time, only 4 months after its predecessor the 207′s last Top 10 showing in March. It sells 17,986 units this month, adding up to 55,598 year-to-date and is already the best-selling French car on the continent. For reference, the 206-207 changeover took one less month back in 2006, with the 206 last appearing in the European Top 10 in April and the 207 breaking into it for the first time in July.
Another great performer this month is the Nissan Qashqai, reaching its highest-ever ranking in Europe at #6 with 16,750 sales, down 6 percent year-on-year. The Qashqai is now #8 year-to-date with 134,166 units, up 2 percent and the only model in the 2012 Year-to-date Top 10 to see its sales increase on 2011. It is the 6th time the Qashqai ever ranks within the European Top 10 after July 2010 (#9), September 2011 (#10), January 2012 (#9), March 2012 (#7) and June 2012 (#9). This is potentially the highest monthly ranking ever reached by a Japanese model in Europe. Europe July 2012 Top 10
Outside the Top 10, let's have a closer look at the year-to-date ranking. The Fiat Panda is up to #11 thanks to its outstanding performance in Italy, but is still a good 13,000 units away from a spot in the Top 10 most popular cars in Europe. The Skoda Octavia is #12 while the BMW 3 Series is #14 and the VW Tiguan up one to a best-ever #17 vs. #35 in 2011! You can check out the entire Top 325 best-selling models in Europe over 7 months 2012 here
The Mercedes B-Class is up to #30, the Nissan Juke up to a record #34 and the Opel Zafira up to #39 thanks to the new Zafira Tourer. The VW Up! is one of the two newcomers in the Top 50 (with the Peugeot 208), landing at #45 with 59,328 units. Further down, notice the Kia Cee'd up to #59, the Audi Q3 up to #63 and the Mercedes M-Class up to #108.
Among other new models for 2012, the Mazda CX-5 is up to #136, the VW Beetle up to #142, the Dacia Lodgy up to #163 with 9,200 sales, the Skoda Citigo up to #168, the Seat Mii up to #185, the Kia Optima up to #233, the Peugeot 4008 up to #251 and the Toyota GT86 up to #257.
The Toyota Prius has now a little more room to breathe in the hybrid/electric cars ranking, pointing its bonnet at #138 with 13,552 sales while the Lexus CT is down to #155 at 10,520 units. The Opel Ampera is up to #221 ahead of the Nissan Leaf down to #231 but passing the Honda Insight, down to #236 while the Toyota Prius+ makes its first appearance in the European ranking at #243 with 1,640 sales, followed by the Honda CR-Z down to #250. Note overall European sales of Chevrolet Volt are unavailable at this stage.
A few other models show themselves for the first time: the Volvo V40 lands directly at #246 with 1,588 sales, the Chevrolet Camaro ranks #248 with 1,586 units, the Lexus GS is #258 with 1,187 sales, the Lancia Flavia is #286, the Ford B-Max is #298, the Peugeot 301 #314, the Citroen C-Elysee #316, the Dacia Dokker #319 and the Renault Zoe #324 with 11 units sold.
The second half of the ranking still features a good number of luxury cars totally unaffected by the gloomy European sales context. The Porsche Cayenne is up to #143, the Mercedes CLS at #177, the Porsche Panamera at #201, the Bentley Continental GT/GTC is #261, the Ferrari 458 Italia #262, the Mercedes SLS AMG #271, the Audi R8 #277, the Aston Martin V8/V12 Vantage #283, the Ferrari California #284, the Maserati GranTurismo #290, the Rolls Royce Ghost #299 and the Lamborghini Aventador at #304. You can check out the entire Top 325 best-selling models in Europe over 7 months 2012 here Note: The Top 325 ranking include sales in Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the UK. Matt Gasnier, based in Sydney, Australia, runs a blog named Best Selling Cars, dedicated to counting cars all over the world. from The Truth About Cars http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Saturday, September 29, 2012
LeMons Texas Day 1: 280ZX Leads, Audi Quattro Likes Rain, LeMons EV Makes Debut
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from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com | |||
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