From Monteverdi to Rover and Simca: five car brands we miss

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In fact, it should be called “German-American”: like Swiss immigrant Louis Chevrolet’s Chevrolet, this other US legend was founded by two Germans. From 1913 the Duesenberg was essentially an American Rolls-Royce. The flashy XXL sleds ultimately fell victim to competition from the “Big Three” (Chrysler, Ford, GM): their cheaper all-steel bodies (e.g. from Cadillac) customizing bodies to purchased chassis destroyed the business model. Duesenberg died in 1937, but he still has fans: last year a Duesenberg won the main prize in the beauty contest at Europe’s top classic car event in Lake Como.

Prophet is least noticed in his own country: Swiss brand Monteverdi seems almost forgotten in this country. Worldwide it is often mentioned in the same breath as DeTomaso (another much missed brand). In the 1950s Peter Monteverdi (1934–1998) established a forge in Binningen BL for special cars such as the High Speed ​​(pictured with Peter Monteverdi) and the luxury SUV Safari. But ever-tightening crash and emissions standards could not be met by small series: in 1992 it finally ended, and Monteverdi’s last revival also ended in failure.

This little wheeler lord was the link between the middle class and the luxury class. But the “little man’s Jaguar” was forcibly merged with rivals such as Austin to form British Leyland (“British Misery”); This was the beginning of the end. For example, 1976’s SD1 was great but was handled disastrously. Hondas with the Rover logo followed. BMW took action and developed the 75 (1998 to 2005, picture 75 Tourer). Hope arose, but BMW sold Rover, kept Mini, sold Land Rover and the remnants of the once proud British car industry to China. The end came in 2005, the 101st year.

Instead of a long illness filled with owner changes, Saab would have been given a reprieve. Under GM, the Swedish brand was long misunderstood and diluted by collaborations – but also because the aircraft maker’s subsidiary, which started producing cars in 1947, had long had problems: loved for cars like the 900 (from 1979 to 1993, image 900) Turbo) remained inherently expensive and too small to meet technical demands. Saab couldn’t survive on designers and other turtleneck wearers alone; This situation ended in 2012. Is it completely over? No, because with money from Chinese real estate giant Evergrande, the Saab 9-3 converted to electric drive was supposed to continue rolling off the production line at the former Trollhättan (S) location, which never became a reality. Meanwhile, Evergrande collapsed with a bang, and Saab is now owned by Canada-Lebanon-based start-up EV Electra, which wants to produce the Emily GT electric sports car in Sweden.

5. Simca: French Alpha

Rear-engined vehicles, modern compact cars or (by French standards) sports sedan 1300/1301/1500/1501 (1963 – 1976, photo 1301 S) turned Simca, once a Fiat license manufacturer, into a successful, independent brand. Simca then went to the US auto giant Chrysler, which had no idea either about Europe or about the brand: the 160/180 failed, the SUV ancestor Rancho came too early, the Matra-built Espace came too late (hence the then Renault It could have put him in a difficult situation). success). Stellantis’ predecessor PSA (Citroën-Peugeot) stepped in, desperately turned Simca into Talbot, which folded in 1986. Only Talbot’s Arizona survives as the Peugeot 309.

Source: Blick