Top 10: Cars that transformed their makers
When a car manufacturer suffers from stagnant or falling sales and its finances look decidedly dodgy, there’s a lot riding on its next make-or-break model. That’s why motoring history is littered with cars that have completely transformed the image of their own manufacturers – or even saved them from disaster.
So we’ve put together ten of the most obvious models that were image-changers in their day, the kind of machines that brought customers flocking to the showroom and gave real hope for the future. It’s just a shame that such success was relatively short-lived in some cases.
By Paul Guinness, Contributor
Thu, 01 Dec 2016
Let’s forget the fact that the new DB7 of 1994 was based on the same platform as the Jaguar XJ-S, because this is the Aston Martin that brought major business back to the marque – with around 7000 DB7s sold worldwide during its ten-year career. That makes it the best-selling Aston Martin of all time, and therefore one of the most historically significant.
The DB7 featured 3.2-litre (335bhp) straight-six supercharged power until 1999, when the new (420bhp) 5.9-litre V12 arrived. Any DB7 is a quick car – and early versions are now the most affordable way to enter into Aston ownership.
Peter McGuire on 3 December 2016
The Chrysler K car (Plymouth Aries / Dodge Reliant) should be on this list. Whilst pedestrian and boxy under Lee Iacocca it saved Chrysler's bacon in the late 1970's / early 1980's. I believe it was also the 1st N. American "budget" car with FWD. It spawned a whole series of other badge engineered vehicles, including the original Chrysler minivan.Add a comment