Today, we are going to talk about an automobile called the Chevrolet Voltz. Never heard of it? Few have. That’s because it was one of the most bizarre and unusual rebadges of our entire automotive lives.
Here’s what happened: Toyota made both Matrix and Vibe at this factory located somewhere in Northern California. At some point, Toyota decided it liked the Vibe better (as we all did), so it snatched up some Vibes, converted them to right-hand drive, and sold them in Japan as the Toyota Voltz.
That’s right. The Vibe and Matrix were twins, but Toyota took the Pontiac version and sold it in Japan with a Toyota badge. They didn’t even change the Pontiac front grille – or the Pontiac emblem template, which remained on all the Toyotas when they sold them in Japan.
This is a pretty cynical rebadge. But I don’t think it’s anywhere near as cynical as some of the awful, inappropriate, horrible rebadges that have been forced on us over the years. So today I’m asking you: what’s the very worst rebadge you can think of?
There are some obvious answers here – like practically everything that came out of America in the ’70s and ’80s. So many different cars were literally just the exact same vehicle with different badges and – sometimes, but not always – different wheels, sold together under a different brand name just to try and convince as many possible people they were different vehicles. Don’t like the Oldsmobile Achieva? Here, try the Pontiac Grand Am!
If you go back through the long history of rebadging, you’ll find it very hard to name one that’s the absolute worst example – but a few attempts come to mind. There was, for example, the Chrysler “LH” cars, which included not just the Dodge Intrepid and Eagle Vision, but three different Chrysler versions – the New Yorker, the LHS, and the Concorde – all based on the same platform.
That was a bad time in Chrysler’s history, and they paid dearly for it later when the bankruptcy regulators came in and Chrysler told them, “Sorry, the reason we went bankrupt is because we have two platforms, one engine, and the Jeep Grand Cherokee.”
Although rebadges don’t happen as much anymore, there have still been some real whoppers in the last few years. Does anyone remember the Suzuki Equator, which was literally just a Nissan Frontier with a Suzuki badge inexplicably placed in front? How about the Volkswagen Routan, which was a mediocre minivan rebadged by an even more mediocre automaker and sold through its mediocre dealers? And then there’s the Nissan NV200, rebadged as the Chevy City Express, and sold to contractors whose cousin is the sales manager at Todd Johnson Chevy-GMC in suburban Fresno.
We also can’t forget some of the weakest 1990s rebadges. Remember the Honda Passport, which they tried to pawn off as a “Honda SUV” in the same vein as the Toyota 4Runner and Nissan Pathfinder? Remember the luxurious Acura SLX, which was a rebadged Isuzu Trooper? And then, do you remember what Isuzu got in return for these rebadges? The Oasis minivan, which was based on the original Honda Odyssey, with four opening doors, four cylinders, and zero interested buyers.
I personally think the Subaru BRZ and Scion FR-S are pretty stupid rebadges, too. The automotive community has spent the last two years debating which of these two cars is better, and I’m still trying to figure out how to tell them apart. C’mon, Subaru and Toyota. The least you could do is change the freakin’ wheels.
So I’ve clearly devoted several long minutes to thinking about this issue, and now it’s your turn. What do you think are the most cynical rebadges of all time? What can you not believe they actually thought the consumer would put up with?
Chrysler 300 to Lancia Thema??? WTF?
I think I am the only one who likes the 300C >> Thema rebadge. let me elaborate: once upon a time, back in the 1960s, Lancia was still an independent brand and had a drop-dead gorgeous car, the Flaminia. in spite of its three different coupes, the best-selling version was the sedan, which even had a run as the President of Italy’s car.
since around 1995, however, Lancia was left to its own devices – a lineup formed only by cheap Fiat rebadges. I took the 300C rebadge as a nod to the Flaminia sedan, which was a full-size for European standards, and at least this second Thema wasn’t a mere Fiat hatchback with better upholstery.
sadly, the Thema hasn’t got any V8 and it is not getting the last facelift. I’d love to see a Lancia Thema Ottovù, maybe teaming up with Maserati, as a rival for the E-Class and the 5 series.
DeMuro’s QOTD (REHASH BOOM):
– Boxers or briefs?
– Summer or winter?
– Blondes or brunettes?
– Harvard or Yale?
– Clinton or Bush?
– Diesel or petrol?
– Yankees or Red Sox?
– Scientology or Jehova’s Witness?
– Bottle or box wine?
I drive a yellow Hummer. I had a Ferrari. I also drive a Skyline. I’ve made Carmax pay millions in warranty claims on my POS Range Rover. I recycle these facts into endless stories.
Boxer briefs, because I’m a rebel like that.
Summer, because duh.
Probably blondes.
Neither Harvard nor Yale. Vanderbilt, my alma mater.
Bush if I have to pick one.
Petrol. Lol.
Yankees, though I really prefer the Washington Nationals.
No comment.
Bottle.
Doug also wrote THE SAME STORY already, here on TTAC, back in 2013.
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/01/474891/
“Doug also wrote THE SAME STORY already, here on TTAC, back in 2013.
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/01/474891/ ”
BOOM!
Great work, Corey! That’s what I’m talkin’ bout!
Doug DeMuro is a serial recycler of his own rehashed tripe.
Put that in your hash pipe & smoke it, Dal! ;-)
Sounds like you’re full of sour grapes, DW. I bet you could bottle that stuff and sell it in ghetto discount liquor stores as the next MD 20/20 or Thunderbird.
While this may be a rebadged version of a previous article, but I for one never read the original and have found this one informative, mostly for the Toyota -> Pontiac -> Toyota lunacy.
I always look up key words to Doug’s articles via Google and find out where he used everything before, but this one is ridiculous.
The worst part about this is that Doug DIDN’T MAKE THE ARTICLE ANY BETTER! In fact, this post is far worse. It has less words, shorter paragraphs, more pictures, more false information, and adds more filler via puns. Here, I’ll take my answer from that post:
I can’t believe nobody has mentioned AMC/Renault/Eagle rebadging their cars as the Monaco, Premiere, etc!
Maybe no one will notice that Corey said that two years ago.
Reduce, reuse, recycle.
Lol, I had a good answer then too. The AMC’s were a lot of rebadgeyness.
I think I’ve discovered Doug’s formula for creating TTAC articles in 10 easy steps:
Step 1 – Look over old material
Step 2 – Create a question out of it
Step 3 – Use old articles to write new one
Step 4 – Cut word count by half
Step 5 – Add more puns
Step 6 – Make fun of Chrysler or Mitsubishi
Step 7 – Add more pictures
Step 8 – Eat Nutter Butters and laugh
Step 9 – Submit to TTAC
Step 10 – Profit
PUNY HUMANS, DO NOT CHALLENGE THE DOUG!
Hahahaha. It’s always funny.
I think I’m just gonna refuse to click on things with his name on them. Dereck’s original assessment was correct – it’s just recycled Jalopnik crap. And he steals wheel center caps from rental cars.
I don’t even read Dougs stuff, just the comments. I cant wrap my head around why people even bother responding.
Back in ’07 we had neat articles like this, yet not even 20 comments:
https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2007/06/auto-biography-21-doing-an-e/#comments
Doug is waaaaay more Jalopnik/Gawker than TTAC.
“Doug also wrote THE SAME STORY already, …”
Hang on. You’re saying this article is the most cynical rebadge of all time?
Thanks for finding that original article. I actually enjoyed reading the other one better. It seemed like more effort was put into it.
Some box wine might do you good.
Plymouth Neon and Dodge Neon. Hands down.
Neon vs. Neon?
If they aren’t claiming the cars are any different, how can that be worst? Did all Chrysler dealers sell Plymouths as well (of course, there still is the issue of having fake “brands” in the same company).
Best selling pontiac at retail (in the end days) was the pontiac vibe.
Personally I thought the Vibe was a much more cohesive design than the Matrix. Even the 2nd gen. The one Pontiac that deserved to live.
Toyota iQ to Aston Martin Cygnet.
Wrong. The most cynical rebadge ever in 3. 2. 1. Go: Isuzu Rodeo–> Honda Passport. And Isuzu Tooper to Acura
Every Daewoo cars that became Chevys and Suzukis! They were unreliable and ugly as hell!
1953 Mercury Meteor ;-)
(Slow-clap), “that’s what Im talkin’ about.” (walks away)
How about the Saab 92 er Subaru WRX?
or the Saab 9-7X (Trollblazer) er Chevy Trailblazer
or the Volkswagen Routan er Chrysler Town & Country.
This isn’t complete though without the absolute two worst,
The Cadillac Cimarron nee Chevrolet Cavalier
and the Sterling 800 er Rover 800 er Honda i mean Acura Legend.
The Saab 92 was produced from 1949 to 1956. Was Subaru even in existence then?
Different cars. He’s talking about the Saab 9-2, the WRX rebadge. I think it’s a close second to the 9-7X in the awfulness that was Saab in its death throws.
It’s transparently a Subaru, but the 9-2 had a nicer interior, the STi’s steering rack, and frankly the slightly eccentric turbo wagon was much closer to a essence-of-Saab than most of their mid-2000s lineup was. It’s a transparent rebadge but still the last great Saab, IMO.
Agreed. And the best looking Subaru ever. They carry a premium on the used car market it seems.
It was actually named the 9-2x. Although I prefer to call it the “Saabaru”
Saab 9-7X (Trollblazer) gets my vote.
Also the Honda Passport, mostly because it sucked me into buying the original Rodeo. I figured if it was good enough for Honda to stick an “H” on it then it should be a decent vehicle… wrong.
I would actually vote the Trollblazer 9-7X as less cynical, because at least it used the “upscale” Olds Bravada/Buick Rainier’s bodywork rather than the “pedestrian” Trailblazer’s.
I would vote the Rainier as the most cynical rebadge, because it seems like someone solved the c. 2004 problem of, “oh, $hit, we just dropped our least profitable marque, but it still had a high-margin SUV in it! What to do?” with, “Eh, just shuffle it up to Buick. Those buyers are so senile they won’t know the difference, and there’s been no difference between Olds and Buick since the mid-’80s anyway.”
Can’t be the Sterling. I can’t imagine a Sterling owner who didn’t wish it was an Acura. It isn’t just a rebadge if one has Honda reliability and one has Rover reliability.
I heard a tale of Sterling, apocryphal, but cautionary, that when a rear axle, hub and bearing assembly was worked on, the car made horrible noises even though the mechanic was very careful to keep track of all nine shims, down to and including the direction they faced.
After much difficulty getting assistance from Sterling, since it was an independent shop, it was finally revealed that the nine shims not only had to be facing the correct way, but in the correct order.
When that was finally established, the grinding noise ceased.
But that is one car I would be afraid to do anything other than check oil on, and I’m not too sure about that.
Most cynical would have to be the Cimarron, though the Saab 9-7x would have a podium finish. Most inexplicable would be the Mazda Roadpacer.
+1
Cavallac is the winner here.
“Toyota made both Matrix and Vibe at this factory located somewhere in Northern California.”
That is a popular misconception. Toyota built the Matrix in Ontario somewhere.
The plant you refer to was NUMMI in Fremont, CA.
And when the rebadge twins were the Corolla/Nova (late 80s) and Corolla/Prizm twins (to ’02), they were indeed built there.
Cambridge, Ontario.
They did make some Matrixes at NUMMI, though.
NUMMI is now the Tesla factory.
You got it right. NUMMI had no RHD capabilities – so the Voltz came from Cambridge.
Lots of misinformation thrown around here about the Pontiac Vibe/Toyota Matrix/Toyota Voltz. I worked at NUMMI in 2002 when the Voltz was being produced there and NUMMI very well did have the capability and capacity to manufacture right-hand drive cars. The Toyota Matrix was produced at Toyota’s Cambridge, Ontario plant and was never produced at NUMMI.
“The Toyota Matrix was produced at Toyota’s Cambridge, Ontario plant and was never produced at NUMMI”
I thought NUMMI did make a small numbers of Matrixes. I assume they only did that for the Corolla?
The Pontiac Vibe was by far the better designed of the couple; kudos as well to the 9-2X.
I’m a huge Trooper fan, but I’d have to go with the Acura SLX, Honda Passport or Isuzu Oasis.
Nissan Cherry to Alfa Romeo Arna. Although it had an Alfa drivetrain, the Arna still smacked of Alfa’s corporate cynicism.
Damn, you stole mine! Yes, the Arna was awful. It should have been built by Nissan with Italian styling, instead we got a poorly built dullard of a car.
“However, such fears were quickly allayed upon the Arna’s release when it became obvious that the Arna exhibited the worst qualities of each of its parents.[4] The Arna featured tempestuous mechanicals and indifferent build quality courtesy of Alfa Romeo,[5] married to a Nissan body of questionable build and frumpy styling, with insipid handling common to Japanese cars of the time.[6]”
It’s just as bad as the Sterling 800, just not as famous.
Haha, I actually wrote that phrase on the Wikipedia article. I found the Arna so fascinating in its complete awfulness that I thought it deserved a proper tribute.
The 9-7X gave SAAB dealers the double-edged sword of a vehicle that probably rarely returned for any service work compared to the rest of their lineup.
I think the 1999 Oldsmobile Cutlass is a pretty good example of a cynical rebadge.
It barely looks different from the same year Malibu.
The Malibass was one of the worst products Oldsmobile produced.
I have to agree with that. The only noticeable difference was different color lamps. C’mon, at least make it so my mom would believe it’s a different car.
Sorry second generation Omega gets that nod…but who actually produced it?
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/Oldsmobile_Omega_sedan_2_–_09-03-2010.jpg/420px-Oldsmobile_Omega_sedan_2_–_09-03-2010.jpg
They had nicer wheels than the Malibu, at least.
I seem to remember they were the same wheels as the ‘bu but with different center caps.
Not in my experience, the Cutlass had two unique wheel designs. Though one of them might have been from another Oldsmobile product.
The most cynical of all was the Geo Metro. I saw a kid pedaling a Tonka Truck that looked just like it. It seemed to have the same get-up-and-go too.
The Metro has a surprising degree of fandom—small, sure but also quite direct and fun in the right hands. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re a cult item in a few years.
I can’t believe the article doesn’t mention the all time worst, the rebadge that marked the end of a once-proud name: the Cadillac Cimarron. The Crapalier was barely adequate as a low-end cheapo. Putting Cadillac badges on it and leather seats and expecting it to fool people into believing it was the same kind of car as a BMW 3-series or Mercedes 190 (Audi at the time was still represented by the 5000 and Fox and had not yet become the vehicle of choice for yuppie ar$#hol#s) was a bad idea on so many levels.
As far as Chrysler, they would have been better off had they just had “two platforms and one engine”. Instead, they could never leave well enough alone. When they introduced the JA cars (Cirrus/Stratus) they had FIVE engine choices, including (if memory serves correctly) a 2.4L four cylinder and a 2.5L V6, which were rated within 5 HP or so of each other, and a 1.9L diesel that was the only car I have ever driven that was so underpowered as to be truly unsafe. Meantime, in the same vehicle class, the Honda Accord had the small engine and the big engine, just two choices, for a car that sold probably three or four times as many units. Chrysler’s technical problems in my mind were that no one ever told the engineers to stop.
Back in the mid-80s I had a colleague who was driving a company car Ford Tempo/Mercury Topaz. The reason I call it that is not to use the generic description; it’s because one side of the car had Ford Tempo badges and trim, and the other side of the car had Mercury Topaz badges and trim. Wonder how that one got through final inspection?
And let’s not forget the disco-mobiles: Chevy Monte Carlo, Pontiac Grand Prix, Buick Regal, Olds Cutlass: “But it has Opera Windows! And look at all that dark blue velour!” Boy, that was a dark time in US auto history.
The Cimmaron is too obvious of a choice to even mention. If you want a really cynical ’80s rebadge, look no further than the Chrysler TC by Maserati.
Going back a little further, Ford did a good job on the consumer rebadging the Gran Torino Elite as the Thunderbird (though I like the ‘Birds from that era). Sales exploded as Ford (briefly) cashed in in a big way on the Thunderbird nameplate.
Not sure how much of a rebadge the TC was–it was a unique, one-off piece of junk that shamefully tried to exploit the Maserati brand, but came off as a two-seat Maserati LeBaron.
…oh wait…
I wouldn’t exactly call the TC a rebadge since it was a Q body.
It was a K-Car variant. I’m pretty sure it was effectively a LeBaron. It looks like one for sure.
The TC by Maserati was incredibly sad for reasons other than being a rebadge. All those millions in hookers-and-blow money paid off to some Maserati exec, and it looked identical to a $10,000 LeBaron.
I was looking for someone who said Cimmaron.
“When they introduced the JA cars (Cirrus/Stratus) they had FIVE engine choices, including (if memory serves correctly) a 2.4L four cylinder and a 2.5L V6, which were rated within 5 HP or so of each other, and a 1.9L diesel ”
Woah, where did you drive a diesel Cloud car? In the US and Canada they had 3 engines, 2.0L, 2.4L and 2.5L, all gasoline. In Mexico they had turbo 2.4L versions. If offered here, that engine would have made those cars a lot more credible.
I worked for a Tier One vendor supplying Chrysler from the late 80s through 2005. We got to see a lot of weird stuff. It inoculated me from ever wanting to own a car “engineered” (note the inverted commas) by Chrysler. The idea that Cirrus/Stratus would ever compete with Honda Accord/Toyota Camry/Nissan Stanza was immediately exploded as insanity once you got the Chrysler and one of its supposed competitors up on a lift, or put it in the NVH room.
While Chrysler were developing a never ending stream of different (and usually unreliable) engines, the Camry we had in the shop had the exact same engine as my Camry of 8 years or more previous. Toyota took the approach of continuous improvement; Chrysler constantly threw out the bathwater, the baby, the towels, the diapers, the nurse, the mom, the bathroom, the tub, the faucets…
Remember this is the same company that decided left hand threads on the lug nuts on the left side of the car would solve a problem that no one had actually experienced.
If you aren’t the top dog, you can’t continuously improve like the top dog. You’ll always be behind.
So That’s why I could never get those off!
“The idea that Cirrus/Stratus would ever compete with Honda Accord/Toyota Camry/Nissan Stanza was immediately exploded as insanity once you got the Chrysler and one of its supposed competitors up on a lift.”
What specifically did you notice with them on a lift that made the JA cars seem less competitive?
“Remember this is the same company that decided left hand threads on the lug nuts on the left side of the car would solve a problem that no one had actually experienced.”
It wasn’t just Chrysler that did this. GM and Ford did as well.
A more recent example would be the Chevrolet Captiva Sport. In 2010 GM killed Saturn and its CUV along with it.. But until last summer the Vue lived on as the Chevrolet Captiva Sport. The second generation Vue (and Captiva Sport) was itself a rebadged Opel/Vauxhall/Holden Antara built not in Europe or the U.S. but in Mexico.
And the cynicism runs deeper than that. For reasons known only to GM product planners the Captiva Sport, which is identical to the Vue save for the badges and which bears some resemblance to the Chevy Equinox, was not sold new through retail outlets. Instead, all production went to fleet sales first and then back to dealers to park on their used car lots. Apparently GM didn’t want the Captiva Sport sitting next to the Equinox in showrooms, perhaps out of fear that buyers would confuse them.
Actually this was a pretty smart move on GM’s part. The Equinox is a hot seller and they didn’t want to waste production on lower profit fleet sales, so they dusted off the Saturn Vue. Makes sense to me, more sense than continuing to sell old Impalas and Malibus as “classic” to the fleets like they still do. I’m surprised more automakers don’t develop fleet only models.
Smart and cynical are not mutually exclusive.
They did the same thing with the Acadia. It has the Outlook body shell with a new face. Put the right face on it and it sells.
Pontiac G3 is my vote. Rebadge a crappy Chevy that was already a crappy Daewoo rebadge. Zero reason this should have been made or fit in with Pontiac’s mission.
runner-up: The Toyota Cavalier. At least with the Voltz above it started out fully (or at least mostly) a Toyota
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Toyota_Cavalier_1.JPG
Yeah, it’s just a crappy Chevy with a Toyota badge. It sold like crap, too.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/Toyota_cavalier_coup_japan_export.jpg/800px-Toyota_cavalier_coup_japan_export.jpg
Forgot about the G3, that’s a good one. On the rare occasion I see on of those, I think, “what’s wrong with that Cobalt?”
Actually the Cobalt becomes Pontiac was a G5, the G3 was a rebadged Aveo – one of the shitiest GM cars of the modern era. My local GMC/Pontiac/Buick dealer once confided that there were times that he had to take a certain # of G3s to get other vehicles he wanted.
The VW Routan was pretty bad. It even touted “German engineering” in the ads! That’s quite a stretch.
Now, you can get the worst aspects of *two* car companies who don’t care about reliability in one convenient package! Why stop at just one?!?
The only thing you’ll miss are the stow and go seats, and you’ll me reminded of that fact every time you look et a T&C! Unless you follow the instructions on the Internet to bolt in the T&C seats….
Not to mention, didn’t the Chrysler versions come with much longer warranties than the Routan?
I found the Routan a much better looking van. It handled way better than the other two until all suspensions were amended to the Routan’s set-up in 2010.
Stow N Go is quite a gimmick unless you haul mostly people. Then SNG are nearly as comfortable as the non-SNG seats.
Do not hate on the Routan. It carries a premium on the used market…
The Routan gets my vote. A VW badged minivan for a company that used to make a unique and original micro-bus/transporter/camper.
Hahaha- I’ll bet the bones of that minivan were drawn up in the Daimler-Chrysler days. Clever.
I think the Cadillac Catera might be worse than the Cimarron because they already knew how that worked out for them and then do the same thing with the Catera.
“There was, for example, the Chrysler “LH” cars, which included not just the Dodge Intrepid and Eagle Vision, but three different Chrysler versions – the New Yorker, the LHS, and the Concorde – all based on the same platform”
This is rather disingenuous: what was done with the LH cars wasn’t rebadging, it was platform-sharing. Also, several of your examples aren’t contemporaries; it would be like saying the Pontiac G6 and current Buick Lacrosse are “rebadges”; I mean, they’re both Epsilon platform cars, right?
Not that Chrysler doesn’t have a few shameless rebadges up it’s sleeve (the K/E-Body New Yorker comes to mind), but this isn’t one of them.
“That was a bad time in Chrysler’s history, and they paid dearly for it later when the bankruptcy regulators came in and Chrysler told them, “Sorry, the reason we went bankrupt is because we have two platforms, one engine, and the Jeep Grand Cherokee”
I’m sorry to be crass, but do you make this stuff up?
Chrysler was actually very profitable when it was cranking out LH cars. The bleeding started when Daimler came in and killed the replacements for the Cloud cars and the PT/Neon, landing Chrysler with a slew of noncompetitive mass-market cars just as the Great Recession hit.
There’s been a lot of this kind of revisionism around here lately.
Why does it continue though? Do people really want to forget how successful Chrysler was in the 90s? Are they just lazy and it fit their narrative? I don’t understand…
“Are they just lazy and it fit their narrative?”
For the people who aren’t trolling, it’s this.
Then we get to the whole, “the LX cars we designed by the Germans and the platform was given to Chrysler” thing.
They shared some parts content initially, but that is basically all gone. The pursuit cars still use a Mercedes designed 5 speed transmission.
Agree on the disingenuous examples in the article. Sometimes I think Doug puts intentionally misinformed “facts” in the article just to spur post count replies of people correcting his seemingly amateur errors. Pre-emptive trolling perhaps.
Even the Achieva / Grand Am example is one of the least “badge engineered” of the GM era, as they used substantially different sheet metal in the 90’s.
The prior era ’80’s Grand Am / Calais / Somerset were some of the most egregious low points for “badge engineering”.
Yes I agree. It’s just Doug being Doug. Trololololo
“Yes I agree. It’s just Doug being Doug. Trololololo”
I’m going to have to agree.
This kind of vapid clickbait is really below TTAC’s standards.
Thank you, you beat me to the punch. The LH and LHS are platform sharing. You could say that the second gen Concorde and LHS were closer to badge engineering.
TTAC tends to bash/revise history when it comes to Chrysler especially.
Didn’t the LHS eventually become the top of the line Concorde and then the Concorde Limited?
With the 2nd gen cars, the LHS was always a tarted up Concorde, like the STS was a high end Seville, but they were advertised as separate models. For 2002, they combined the two nameplates and the LHS was the Concorde Limited.
I guess I never really though of the 2nd gen models as separate because they looked so similar.
Not many people did. Not that it mattered.
I owned a 2nd gen Concorde, so yeah, it didn’t really matter. I really liked the 3.2L and spacious cabin.
I currenly have a 2g Intrepid R/T in my collection. The interior space, especially in the back seat is remarkable. Hardly anything on the market today compares.
“I currenly have a 2g Intrepid R/T in my collection. The interior space, especially in the back seat is remarkable. Hardly anything on the market today compares.”
The last car that really came close to it was the Ford Five Hundred. After that, it’s been bunkermobiles all the way.
I’ve always wanted a 300M as a driver—which is a bit smaller—but I always liked riding in Intrepid taxis for the space and seat comfort. The Panthers rode worse and were a bit more cramped, and the W Impala was just awful
Certainly after the Iacocca K-car continuum of 1980-1993, the LH cars certainly were a revelation in ’93 and the cloud cars in ’95, but the relative poor quality and uncompetitiveness compared to Honda and Toyota caught up to Chrysler by ’96-’97. Eaton saw the writing on the wall and jumped in bed with Daimler in ’98.
A friend bought a Concorde 3 months after they were introduced, and traded it within 8 months for a Maxima. It had been back to the dealer 6 times for transmission or electrical issues, and with 2 small children she didn’t want to deal with the quality hassles any more. Needless to say she took a bath.
Are the BRZ/FR-S twins even a rebadge? Which is the original and which is the rebadge? Subaru did the mechanical design, Toyota did the fuel injection and the styling.
I guess I view a rebadge as an existing car that is plucked from the parts bin and reskinned for another brand (WRX already existed when Saab took it and created the 9-2x, Trailblazer/Envoy existed when Saab took it and created the 9-7x.)
Pontiac Pursuit and Chevrolet Cobalt. Same garbage, two badges.
jaguar x-type
…the cygnet at least had some ingenious packaging, a fairly rare donor platform, exclusive availability in an unexplored niche, and good-faith effort at upscale fit-and-finish in its favor…the x-type, though, didn’t even bother trying, and i’m torn whether it or the cimarron were the more-cynically brazen attempt to exploit brand cachet amongst new downmarket customers…
Europe got far worse. An example is the Chrysler Grand Voyager, which was basically a Dodge Caravan in Euro spec. The Sebring convertible was called a Stratus and the Eagle Vision was called a Chrysler. GM was bad as well when they used a Chevy badge on the Alero and on the Trans Sport
1980’s Pontiac LeMans.
Yes, because they could have called the Korean worm castings sitting on dealer lots any name at all, but they chose LeMans.
Mitsubishi Precis! Who decided that there was room for a car below the Mirage in Mitsubishi’s lineup, and that it should be a Hyundai Excel?
I was one of 10 people nation wide to get one of those. They practically paid me to drive it away. I knew exactly what it was and had no trouble with that.
I suspect dealers probably wanted a cheap car that they could advertise as “$5995” or whatever.
Mitsubishi was licensing a bunch of technology to Hyundai at the time, so that was probably part of one of their agreements.
Also the Mitsubishi Proudia – a rebadged Infiniti M / Nissan Fuga.
Lincoln’s entire lineup!
Plymouth/Dodge Colt Vista. Rebadged Mitsubishi Chariot.
I thought it was an excellent rebadge at least for the first generation. The Chariot was not sold under the Mitsubishi name in America and the Vista was a pretty useful car for what it was.
Our first family car was a Mitsubishi Colt. That cheap vinyl was punishing in the summer!
Isuzu should feel lucky they got the Oasis, that first generation Odyssey was/is an excellent automobile in many respects. My family actually had some friends with the Oasis variant, and some people on my block own a pretty rough example of one as well. My relatives in Moscow own a German-market ’96 Odyssey, very useful for trips to their ‘dacha’ (summerhouse) outside of the city. It was like a better Mazda5 IMO.
I remember seeing quite a few Oasises (Oiasi?) in NYC as cabs back in the day.
I wonder if part of it’s reason for existing was fleet sales that wouldn’t affect Honda resale values.
The 1957-58 Packard Clipper, which was just a Studebaker with gaudy taillights and dual headlights grafted on. Hence the nickname “Packardbaker.” Perhaps it was less cynical than desperate as the famous old Packard marque was in a death spiral, and would in fact end with this car. It’s pretty hilarious when seen close up, but there is something endearing about it. On the other hand, if you revere the classic Packards, then the goodbye car was like seeing a noble Shakespearean actor reduced to a carny sideshow.
You could buy a Dodge RAM cab/chassis truck badged as a Sterling. Exact same truck with a different logo. The only time I ever spoke to someone who had one of these was a tow-truck driver who told me he got the Sterling cheaper than the equivalent Dodge.
I only ever saw the Sterlodge on a TV show called Lizard Lick Towing.
Sterling used to be Ford’s heavy duty truck division. It was renamed Sterling when it was bought by DamlierChrysler, and then eventually taken out and shot.
It was a way for them to have a lighter-duty truck to sell through a different dealer network.
The Sterlodge (AKA Sterling Bullet) was actually the more imaginative of the Sterlings, as the Ford holdovers literally just had a different oval in the grille.
I’m looking for an example of this, but sometimes a manufacturer throws a rebadge out in the market because they don’t have their own model ready yet in a specific class, but they want to cash in on a market trend. The idea is to keep the brand loyalists in the fold. The Honda Passport might be an example of that until how they got their act together with the Pilot.
The VW Routan is the anti-example of this theory. VW has great vans in Europe, but chose to foist a rebadged Caravan on their customers.
VW probably sold more Routans in North America than they would have any of of their Euro vans. Over here, we expect our minivans to be not so mini.
Wasn’t the Eurovan pretty darn spacious? I think its moreso Americans like their vans cheap and transverse fwd, rather than anything ‘exotic’ that deviates from the accepted US format.
The Eurovan was expensive and unreliable. It loved to eat water pumps. It also suffered from the usual van problem: transmission not up to the task of pulling a van around.
I was referring to their more popular smaller offerings. You’re right that the Caravelle type things look pretty spacious.
It also costs a lot of money to make sure that a vehicle is compliant with US safety, environmental, and other regulations. Using a vehicle from another manufacturer that is already certified makes sense for a niche vehicle like the minivan. It gives their dealers something to sell if someone comes in and is debating about a minivan or a CUV, without the most-likeley unrecoupable costs of federalizing a Euro vehicle.
I’d say VW bringing one of their vans over would be a terrible idea for the low amount of sales, but at this point, VWNA is so out of touch that they should try bringing everything over and see what works.
Back in the 80’s all the Chrysler, Dodge, and and Plymouth Mitsubishi’s rebadged to keep the Chrysler brand going. Conquest was a Starion. Colt/Champ was a Mirage. Probably more.
Let me also just say, that the fruits of that NUMMI collaboration spawned the best, most reliable compact cars that GM’s ever had. The Corolla derived Nova, Corolla derived Prizm, Matrix (read: 5 door Corolla) derived Vibe. It was supposed to be an opportunity for GM to gain insight into Toyota’s quality and manufacturing system, not sure how much of that they took away. Judging by their bottom rung rating of relationships with suppliers, not enough.
Vibe, Matrix and Voltz were all made in the same production line at the NUMMI plant in Freemont CA, along with the Corolla; the other production line at that plant made the Tacoma pick up.
Don’t remember if they made the Vibe or Matrix at the Canadian plant but I guess they did also since that plant was also producing the Corolla.
The Toyota Matrix was never produced at NUMMI. The Pontiac Vibe was exclusively produced at the NUMMI plant and was never produced at Toyota’s Cambridge, Ontario plant.
The current JDM market-only Mitsubishi Dignity, which is a rebadged Nissan Fuga (Infiniti M). If Mitsubishi had any “dignity,” they would be producing their own sedans. The Toyota Lexcen, a rebadged Australian Holden Commodore, and a slew of other rebadged Holdens as part of Australia’s Button plan also comes to mind.
Eagle Premier and Dodge Monaco.
Wow, no one remembers Audi from the late 90’s? My wife-to-be was shopping for a new car in 2000, she knew it was going to be German, but not BMW or Mercedes (because women that’s why).
We went and looked the Passat which she really liked and then off to the Audi dealer, cause that was the only other German brand left. We sat in the A6 or A8 (don’t recall, but it was the Passat equivalent) and it is literally the exact same interior as the Passat but with Audi badges.
My wife-to-be mentions this to the sales guys and he replies that not only are they the same basic car, but come out of the same factory. She incredulously asked him why they were asking 10K more for an identical car and his response, “Well this is an Audi”.
We literally did not stop laughing until we were in the car on the way back to VW dealer.
No. The A6 or A8 never even had the same platform as the Passat. They 2000 Passat (B5) shared a platform with the contemporary A4, however both cars had vastly different exterior and interior (The Passat was also quite a bit bigger). If you check contemporary A4s and Passats today you will find that the Audis have a much better long term interior quality
This is the Passat
http://www.vwvortex.com/albums/Volkswagen/Passat/Passat%20V/Interior%20B5.5%20(Europe)/01.jpg
This is the contemporary A4
http://www.audiworld.com/tech/pix/dashbefore1.jpg
All A4s are built in Audi’s factory in Ingolstadt, while Passat’s are built in VWs factories in Emden and Zwickau. You were told typical dealer BS.
Anyone wonder just how many more Volts chevy could sell if they sold (maybe with less caddy styling cues) an ELR as a Volt? Sure they would lose 3 whole ELR sales, but it isn’t like it is going to change the cost to build at all, is it?
Pontiac Le Mans – the little penalty box they came out with in the late 1980s, compared to what it used to be.
The Toyota Voltz was indeed a lazy rebadge, but it was cleverer than you think. Back then, most Toyotas in Japan didn’t wear the “three ovals” badge, but wore their own, unique model badge, something that used to be done a lot more here in the states (e.g. Corvette, Monte Carlo, Aurora).
Since there were very very few contemporary Pontiacs in Japan (though I believe they imported a few hundred Saturns), the Toyota Voltz could proudly wear its Pontiac-derived arrowhead badge and they could just say: “Well, that’s NOT a Pontiac badge…it’s a VOLTZ badge!”
Still remains that way today for Toyota’s JDM luxury models (which why outcry over the Genesis and Equus badging was silly since Hyundai was just bringing over the East Asian way of doing luxury).
Figures that the Voltz flopped in Japan since it actually had decent lines (compared to the Matriz).
Cimarron, by Cadillac. And it’s not even close. A distant second, the Caddy that zigs: Catera. Luxury brands have to be knocked extra hard for this kind of behavior. Frankly, Cadillac has never recovered from its first mistake in this regard.
I always thought that Cadillac should have brought over the Opel Senator and Omega in the 1980’s instead of the FWD Roger Smith-specials they sold.
The worst thing is I once read that GMNA was deliberating between the Opel Omega or the heavily related, more robust and much more appealing Holden Commodore to be the donor for the Catera. And in typical GM fashion, look what they chose. While I’m off on a tangent, why the Omega had to exist instead of building Commodores worldwide is more GM ineptitude.
“How about the Volkswagen Routan, which was a mediocre minivan rebadged by an even more mediocre automaker and sold through its mediocre dealers?”
Thank you for being one of the seemingly-few to acknowledge that VW isn’t exactly the paragon of quality and reliability, and that perhaps they actually knew what they were doing by rebadging the best-selling minivan in America as one of their own.
In Canada the Asuna “brand” (cough, cough). Isuzus sold through Pontiac dealers badged as “Asuna” a myhical Japanese car company selling Toyota quality cars.
The US had Geo, which sold Suzuki, Isuzu, and Toyota rebadged cars. At least the Prisms were Toyota quality.
I’d argue that none of the Geo cars were bad from a quality perspective, and many of them were actually very good cars within their niche.
Geo Tracker: Suzuki Sidekick, capable little 4×4
Geo Storm: Isuzu Impulse, fun fwd coupe/shooting brake and a sleeper in GSi form
Geo Prizm: the aforementioned Corolla (actually a Toyota “Sprinter” body style)
Geo Metro: Suzuki Swift, incredibly efficient and well packaged runabout
Not to be confused with the GEO brand….
What about the mishmash which was the Chevy Tracker / GMC Tracker / Geo Tracker / Suzuki Vitara / Asuna Sunrunner / Pontiac Sunrunner?
And people wonder why GM went bankrupt.
Having spent a lot of seat time in a 2002 Suzuki Grand Vitara XL7 (4wd, 2.7L V6, 5spd manual) they are seriously underrated little trucks. Palatable fuel economy, outstanding handling for a BOF 4×4, and impressive ruggedness. I’m sad Suzuki left the US market, but when GM foisted the Daewoo junk on them I can’t blame them. They also basically abandoned the subcompact BOF 4×4 niche, albeit that segment was probably no longer profitable. The final Grand Vitaras (non-XL7) were a curious unibody compact SUV with independent rear suspension but still a longitudinal layout with a part time 4wd system. The final XL7s I believe were on the Equinox platform(?) FWD crossover junk, and ugly to boot.
My uncle had a 2002 XL7 and while I drove it once, I liked it. Was a honest little ute full of character.
However, the next Grand Vitara was a bad knockoff of the RAV4, most likely because Suzuki was furious that while they originated the small SUV market, other, more well-known Japanese companies ate their lunch.
The entire reason the final Vitara was so weirdly executed was that to save money, Suzuki came in early on the GM Theta project (Equinox) and reengineered it for the longitudinal layout.
Nothing else comes close to the Cimarron.
Even the Cygnet?
VW Routan. Purely a sop to American dealers needing product. It couldn’t have been less VW-like if it had been a Buick Roadmaster.
… now I’m imagining a Roadmaster with VW badges and bodywork.
I’ll take two.
Who remembers the Ford Granada/Mercury Monarch turned into the Lincoln Versailles? Somehow Ford unloaded 50,000 of these over three years. The Versailles cost 50% more than a loaded Mercury Monarch Ghia.
Speaking of the Vibe and NUMMI products, remember the Geo Prism? I always thought it was funny because it was GM’s entry-level import brand…yet the Corolla-by-another-name Geo Prism (later the Chevy Prism when GM axed the Geo brand) was clearly nicer and better in every way than GM’s in-house compact sedans of the time, the Cavalier and Sunfire. I don’t remember whether or not there was a big price difference.
Oh, and when Toyota, as part of that agreement, got the “privilege” to sell the Cavalier in Japan as a Toyota, I’m sure they cried foul…
My brother’s broke friend drives an incredibly beat up 5spd one of these, a ’95 I think with the 4AFE 1.6 motor. This car sees more dirt and gravel roads than my 4Runner, and shows it. Despite the abuse it still runs great with well over 200k miles, gets 30-35 mpg, and most amazingly doesn’t even have interior rattles. Credit that plush “fat” Toyota interior. Now it’s needed a fairly steady stream of Autozone parts to keep it running 100% in the past several years, but nothing unusual for the age let alone the type of use, and said parts cost a pittance.
My friend had one. It caught fire and burned to the ground. But to be fair, it’s because there was hay and kindling in the engine bay.
The Prism was a JDM Toyota Sprinter (and for everyone out there, there are other Sprinters aside from the AE86 Trueno), which slotted above the Corolla in the Japanese market and looked much more youthful and interesting than the bland Corolla.
They go for $1500 in my area, much cheaper than a similar year Corolla or an overrated Fast and Furious Civic of the same vintage… hmm, don’t give me any ideas..
The Land Rover Discovery I, rebadged for the JDM as the Honda Crossroad.
How could there be a more cynical, inappropriate money grab in all of history?
https://c3.staticflickr.com/3/2808/11356743576_e5687daf6a_b.jpg
Oh! I remember reading about that. It must have been part of the Honda-Rover agreement. That’s even worse than the Acura SLX/Honda Horizon that was a rebadged Trooper, because (a) Isuzu was also whoring the Trooper out to Subaru and GM, and (b) a Land Rover *only* looks like a Land Rover, so it’s very obvious that it’s not a Honda.
Right, and at least stick to the same continent if you’re gonna rebadge brands. Isuzu would have any bed partner who would take them!
Imagine the quality disappointment of buyers in the JDM who knew the Honda name well. I bet they lost long-term customers over that one.
And furthermore, is a JDM Honda store going to know how to properly service a Discovery? The Lucas electrics in there would be like some medieval alchemy shop to them in their white gloves.
Gosh. I’d be surprised if anyone in Japan actually *bought* the dang thing.
Tempo/Topaz?
Contour/Mystique?
Any Ford sold in the US as a Mazda. The Tribute and B-Series are good examples.
Pontiac Firebird, just a cynical Camaro re-badge with a fancier nose.
Most of the time I prefer the Firebird to the Camaro though…2nd and 4th gen come to mind, though I’m not a big fan of the 98-02 Firebird.
I prefer Firebirds myself, I just wanted to see what kinda responses I’d get.
I had no idea DDM was this meta. A cynical rehash story about cynical rehash car marketing.
Now my choice. I’ll rehash the question first:
DDM is to TTAC as what car is to GM?
Cimarron.
A DeLorean with a trunk full of “monkeys.”
But not a trained “Trunk Monkey”. Those have real value.
My kingdom for a trunk monkey.
B-Body, rehash after rehash until it got fat and ugly.
“I personally think the Subaru BRZ and Scion FR-S are pretty stupid rebadges, too. The automotive community has spent the last two years debating which of these two cars is better, and I’m still trying to figure out how to tell them apart. C’mon, Subaru and Toyota. The least you could do is change the freakin’ wheels.”
Fair.
But I don’t think they count as a RE-badge, since they were designed in partnership to be about the same thing and released at the same time, with nobody ever under any illusions that they’re particularly different.
It’s something, but it’s not like one was made first and the other just that first one with the badge changed and maybe a little sheet metal work…
Yes, I agree. It’s not a rebadge.
Chevrolet Voltz, eh?
I have to chuckle to myself every time I see a Mazda Tribute. What exactly is it a tribute to? A Ford Escape or a Mercury Mariner I can only assume.
Ford and Mazda did develop them together and it’s riding off of Mazda’s 626 platform so I think it’s a fair rebadge.
My dad had a early 2000s Tribute. Its buyers benefited the same way that Vibe buyers benefited – people bought more Escapes than the much less publicized Tribute. The one we got was fully loaded and cost less than a moderately spec’ed Escape.
Of course, it promptly fell apart shortly after 100k miles and we sold it for $1500.
Visiting Cananda in the 90’s I was amused to see a Pontiac version of the Geo Metro bearing the name Firefly.
Oh yeah not a rename, but a re-brand badge. A Chevy Cavalier, in New Zealand, Right hand drive model with the Toyota badge. I assume this was one of those ill fated ones sold on the Japanese market then resold used in NZ. I am told there is a used Japanese car to NZ market.
That’s correct. GM did, as part of its agreement with Toyota, export the Cavalier to Japan, where Toyota sold it under its brand. The Japanese public was, predictably, not impressed.
Actually, I think we have a winner in the Toyota rebadged J-body Cavalier.
The entire Mercury line. Not even Jill Wagner could save it.
You all are forgetting the pck up trucks-
Madza B-Sseries vs Ford Courier
Chevy Luv vs Izuzu Dmax and then later Izuzu Hombre vs Chevy S10
Dodge D50/Plymouth Arrow versus Mitsubishi Mighty Max
Dodge Dakota versus Mitsubishi Raider
I call it on the Plymouth Arrow/Mitsubishi Mighty Max because when did Plymouth have a pickup truck before or afterthis?
At least the Raider had different bodywork. All those others were slap-a-badge-on-and-call-it-good.
The Mitsubishi Montero based Raider, however, was very cynical indeed.
It had, what, a slightly different grille? If that.
Early Neons were sold as Chrysler Neons and in the glove box were Dodge and Plymouth Decals that buyer could install. Combining production of Similar types of cars is a good idea. Example: Matrix & Vibe. Dealers always want product in every price level so manufacturers must get creative.
Those Toyotas branded as Geo or Pontiac were great deals. My mother was looking at the Matrix 10 years ago, friend of the family told her the Vibe was the same car and $3K cheaper. Other than tires and brakes, nothing has failed in 10 years. We got the recall notice for the ECU, but I figured one that had gone 6 years was less likely to fail than getting a new one; infant mortality with solid state components and all. They should of had the Vibe branded Chevy or GMC and continue to make them after they killed Pontiac.
The circa 1983 joint venture between Toyota and GM resulting in NUMMI was close to expiration (or expired as the link claims) and GM wanted out of NUMMI in order to leave Toyota holding the bag for the plant (which they did).
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/1983/09/the-gm-toyota-joint-venture
“By December 1984, the first car, a yellow Chevrolet Nova rolled off the assembly line. And almost right away, the NUMMI factory was producing cars with as few defects per 100 vehicles as those produced in Japan.[6][7] But 15 years later, GM had still not been able to implement lean manufacturing in the rest of the United States, though GM managers trained at NUMMI were successful in introducing the approach to its unionized factories in Brazil.[13]”
” “After extensive analysis, GM and Toyota could not reach an agreement on a future product plan that made sense for all parties,” GM North America President Troy Clarke said in a statement. “Toyota’s hope was to continue the venture and we haven’t yet decided any plans at the factory,” said Hideaki Homma, Toyota’s Tokyo-based spokesman. “While we respect this decision by GM, the economic and business environment surrounding Toyota is also extremely severe, and so this decision by GM makes the situation even more difficult for Toyota.” Before GM decided to sever its stake in the NUMMI joint venture, Toyota was considering offering a version of its Prius hybrid to GM that would be built at the factory and sold as a GM model but Toyota has indicated that it was seriously considering exiting the venture also”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NUMMI
For the lux-crowd – the Acura CSX, Mitsubishi Proudia and Toyota Harrier.
The CSX was basically a JDM Civic (technically, other way around as the CSX came 1st).
The Proudia is a Mitsu badged Infiniti Q70 sold in Japan – so the Japanese can get the same car badged as a Nissan or a Mitsu.
The Harrier (up tp 2nd gen Lexus RX) was sold until 2013 despite the launch of the Lexus brand nearly a decade prior in Japan.
The Harrier nameplate continues but this time, totally separate from the RX (so the rare example of a model going downscale).
And while not exactly a simple rebadge, the Rover/Sterling 800 and the Acura Legend.
1997 Honda Civic –> Acura EL, eh.
How about this: what is the most cynically reworked and reintroduced article idea spun up by Doug DeMuro? Answer: probably the most recent one, because it looks so familiar. I’m sure I’ve seen it several times and places before, but I can’t recall any of them. But I’m sure I’ve seen it many times before, I just don’t recall if it was Doug’s byline or someone else’s.
Please, sir, may I have another?
Do you have any new ideas for a story like this?
Well, I have ideas for a story like this…that good enough? Have you seen them?
I’d bet on it.
The least you could do is share your Nutter Butters.
Once, in first grade, I didn’t have anything for show and tell time. So I drew an autumn leaf (which was season appropriate) with some crayons, and got up in front of the class and told them about my “autumn leaf”. The teacher told me that that wasn’t right, though I think she could have at least told me that I could have said it was a drawing of an autumn leaf that I had done.
But since I didn’t have a real, new autumn leaf, I didn’t make the cut.
I don’t know what made me think of that after all these years, reading this story. To my first grade mind that was a pretty creative effort. Looking back, I can see where some people might be troubled by my trying to fob off a cheesy remake as an original.
When I was a child, I saw as a child. But now that I am a man, such imitations of the work of others, seems to fall short of the mark. But it didn’t take me long to figure out that people weren’t fooled by such fabrications, even if they were cleverly done.
This reply has to do with something I saw on here, but I will let you figure out what it was. I’ve probably gotten myself into enough trouble trying to make sense out of imitation ideas.
Though they do seem to sell, and go over well, here on TTAC.
Actually, my reply is some kind of a rebadge, though I hope you won’t find it too cynical. After all, we all have to find a way to use our talents, even if it’s just to showcase ideas laying around on the junkheap of the internet.
Not technically a rebadge the way it is being used here, but calling whatever it was, the Mustang II, seems pretty egregious. Whatever it was, it was not a Mustang ans almost everyone conceives a Mustang to be.
The badge remained, but the Mustang was gone.
I never get tired of that story, Doug…
75-78 Dodge Charger. Basically a less glamourous Cordoba.