My Og! That thing is ugly.
Oh, and here’s another 70s 'Vette wagon. Just can’t see the appeal of it.
Looks like the Pinto Sports Wagon. Scroll down to “…the other “decal” scheme” pic.
A friend of mine’s dad, when I was a kid, had one of those Ford Pinto Crusing Wagons, and thought it was the coolest car ever. Personally, whenever I hear of Pintos, I can’t help but think of my father trading the 68 convertable Mustang for one.
:eek:
There were also Vegas like that. I had a Vega Mini Van plastic model that was probably from the same company that made that Pinto. Tried to find a picture of one but ran across Mustangs instead.
Ahhh! Mine eyes! Ze goggles, ze do nutzing!!!
The Volvo 1800ES is a rather nice-looking wagon, IMHO.
Cayenne 2.0 Sigh, if someone were to hook up a dynamo to old Ferdinand right about now, we could power the world!
Why? When Dr. Porsche was 25 he built the Lohner-Porsche which had four electric motors(one in each hub) powered by a gasoline engine. This was in 1900, BTW. I don’t think the good doctor would care what powered his cars, perhaps he would be a little suprised by the direction the company has taken, but not by the powerplant.
Yeah, but it’s going into an SUV! Not a high powered sports car, which is what he intended the company to make.
I’m missing a key bit of information here … do you think that VW-Audi are part of the same group as Porsche? There’s a lot of German automotive incest, it’s true, but Porsche think
"Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG went public in April 1984.
The share capital of Porsche AG (EUR 45.50 million) is currently divided into 8,750,000 ordinary shares - which are held by the members of the Porsche and Piëch families - and 8,750,000 officially listed preference shares. The share categories are individual bearer shares to which a proportionate share of EUR 2.60 in the share capital is allocated.
Around 50% of the officially listed preference shares are held by institutional investors, who are predominantly domiciled in the USA, Germany and the United Kingdom. The other 50% of the preference shares are widely distributed among private investors in Germany, although the ordinary shareholders of Porsche AG also hold preference shares. "
I don’t think there’s any corporate link, just some common shareholding.
I think they’re all members of the same group of companies. I’ll need more coffee before I can find a cite though.
In any case: The first Porsches were tuned VWs. Fast-forward a quarter-century, and you’ll find the 914. VW engine, VW components. It was badged as a VW in Europe (I have a photo in one mf my Porsche books somewhere). The 924 was supposed to be a VW sports car to replace the Karmann Ghia, but the corporation(s) decided it should be an Audi. Finally, it was decided that it would sell better as a Porsche and it was so-badged. The 924 used an Audi 100 water-cooled in-line four. The electricals were marked VW. The VW Fox of the 1970s was the same as the Audi Fox (as it was known in Europe). The Audi TT uses the same planform as the VW New Beetle.
‘Audi’ has been around for over 100 years. In the 1930s it joined with three other companies to become Auto Union. Dr. Porsche was with VW for a long time. I don’t recall if he had his own manufacturing company before going to VW. After WWII, Porsche arrived as a sports car company, using VW components.
I don’t remember if Buick/Pontiac/Cadillac/Chevrolet were separate companies before becoming GM, or if they were always divisions of the same company. My interest in American cars is minimal. Assuming they were always the same company, then it’s a different situation than VW/Porsche/Audi, which were different companies. But they are corporately connected, and use many common parts.
GM was created by the merger and acquisition of something like 25 different car companies. The companies you listed were all seperate companies before being purchased by GM. Cadillac, was founded by Henry Ford, who lost control of the company and had his name stripped off it. The Chevrolet brothers got so pissed at what happened to their company after GM bought it, they went to work for Henry Ford.
You may be right - I’d certainly be interested to hear what you discover. The quote I gave on share ownership is from Porsche’s own corporate information, which I took as clearly asserting their independence from any other group. Of course there are still shared parts and engineering, as there are between many non-related car companies.
I remember a friend of mine joining the staff of a roadside automotive rescue organisation after working in the garage trade for many years. He was called out to a broken down Porsche and approached it with some fear: an expensive car of which he had no experience. Anyway, when he looked under the engine cover he couldn’t help saying aloud (in relief) “thank God for that - it’s just a beetle!”. He reckoned the Porsche owner was more than a little annoyed …
This is one thing I just don’t get. Granted, I like cars for what they are; not for ‘status’. (Which, BTW, is why I’m not too fond of Harley-Davidsons. 
) I just don’t understand why some Porsche owners want to deny the VW connection. As I said, the first 550 Spyders had modified VW engines. The Porsche/VW 914 had VW engines, but the suspension was off the 911. The VW Beetle was in production for 70 years. Just because it wasn’t as powerful as its racing cousins is no reason to disparage the marque. If the Porsche owner was miffed, then I think he bought one for the wrong reason.
I agree - should have enjoyed the engineering heritage as a core part of the brand. Still, I wish I was rich enough to irritate myself by owning one for the wrong reasons!
I used to have a 911SC, until I sold it in 1999. They’re not that expensive, used. The engines are pretty-much bulletproof. Just be sure to check/replace the timing chains, as failure can result in expensive damage. I heard of one guy who decided to see how long his engine would last. He blew it out on a hill-climb race – at 300,000 miles.
As you said, there has been close cooperation from day one, but there is no legal relationship.
You mean, like the Porsche 597?
Yeah, but based on this comment from your cite
it seems pretty obvious that Porsche was merely trying to get a military contract, and when that fell through, they tried to foist them on the public (with little success). It’s sort of like the LMA that Lambo produced back in the 80s, which has been quickly forgotten (even though it would haul ass).