American Reacts to Every "European Car of the Year" Since 1964
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NSU is an old german car brand. The RO 80 was a car with a Wankelmotor.
"Wankelmotor" he he he ... sorry
@@Ysundeneth rotary engine... yeah yeah ^^
@@Ysundeneth you could be a wanker with that one, turning the engine off and staying in gear whilst going downhill, then restarting the car and blasting the guy behind you with a partially combusted fuel/oil cloud.
NSU is actually the short form of Neckarsulm, the town in Germany the company was based in. NSU was merged with Audi, when Audi was owned by Mercedes-Benz and later sold off to Volkswagen, where the brand name was discontinued.
@@YesterchipsMIGNot a rotary engine, its a Wankel engine. Rotary engines are on WW1 aircraft.
Citroen were never afraid to experiment
And Elon Musk created the anti-citröen Cybertrvck because his son didn't think modern cars looked like the future when he could've taken him to a Citröen museum
...after all, the poor bloody customer paid for it lol....
Old Citroëns need a lot of love though. They tend to break down a lot, but drivers with basic engineering skills should be able to do most of the repairs themselves.
The citroen R&D department has lunch with wine .... a lot of wine.
@@anofsti He didn't take him to a Citröen museum for proof? That's very sad for a a Citröen enthusiast like me...
06:43 the Citroen XM is like one of those prototype designs of a car from the future that usually never get's manufactured but someone in Citroen's HQ just shrugged their shoulders and said "make it"
In Europa abbiamo sempre avuto i migliori Designers, e siamo tante Nazioni con diverse culture, perciò le Automobili rispecchiano questa varietà. Le auto made in USA erano e sono ancora oggi auto noiose, senza stile,quasi uguali fra loro. Solo grandi dimensioni e v8
Yes, they did. But unfortunately they forgot that there is some work to to after the prototype before the production 😢.
everytime i see it i feel like Doc Brown is supposed to jump out and drag me somewhere.
Actually, many movie makers used Citroëns of this era, a bit of makeup and they had futuristic cars for sci-fi movies. And in the Godfather II I think, the guy who gets his car bombed drives a DS. You can spot many of them in American movies of this era.
The xm had 13 windows. At the back was a extra window for if the trunk is open. Further if I remember well, the screen you looking for, is a cover for the Radio.
NSU merged with Auto Union GmbH, in 1969, becoming part of Audi NSU Auto Union AG, owned by VW. The brandname disappeared in 1977. That 1983 Audi 100 was my first car btw, got it when it was 10yrs old, 2l 5 cilinder diesel, no turbo, 65bhp. A snail ,or steamboat as my mates called it. Yet when we roadtripped trough europe everyone wanted to be in my car, slow but spacious AND very very fuelefficient and reliable. Brussels-Milan on one tank ( 1200km on 80l tank , effectively 75 tho) ,... in 1997 with already 200.000km on the meter, an under powered, already heavy car , filled to the brimm with 4 adults and luggage, crawling over the Alps.... .... it still blows my mind. Solidified my brandloyalty for decades. Good times 😊
My uncle had a green NSU Prinz... 🙂
And that NSU RO 80 had a wankel engine. Yes the same kind of engine that's in a Mazda RX7.
Auto Union itself was a union of multiple brands, 2 of which were founded by August Horch. It was Audi, Horch, Wanderer and DKW. The four rings represent the four brands that made up Auto Union. The name Audi is a Latin translation of the last name of founder August Horch. Horch is the German for "hear" or "listening". He sold the brand and started another car company but couldn't use the Audi name, so he used Horch.
VW became a world leader because of the purchase of Auto Union, as VW only had boxer engines and those were not the future. The Auto Union purchase came with a well-developed 4-inline engine (which started off as a Mercedes design), that made its way into the VW Golf, kicking off VW world domination. Big Car on YT recently did a video on VW and how this all went. Quite interesting.
Ah.. The roadtrips in tge 80's..
My family had a story about a Fiat 127 that made 300km with 6 adults and 2 kids on board..
@@sirsancti5504i can imagine it must have been quite a cozy situation in that car 😂.
The Ford Scorpio was actually sold in the US as the Merkur Scorpio, along with the Merkur XR4Ti which was a version of the Ford Sierra XR4i sold in Europe. The Merkur brand (Mercury in German) was set up to sell high-end European Fords in the US, it didn't last long though.
The us sierra was weird looking nowhere near as cool as the European one.
@@HA05GER It was pretty much identical to the european XR4i though, save for the engine.
@@mrspandel5737 I don't know it just doesn't look right I saw it on car wizard and car ninja I believe and it just didn't look right I think it may be the bumpers or the ride height it just looked wrong. I can't pin it down but it doesn't look like a euro sierra in my eyes.
@@HA05GER apart from the slightly bigger bumpers to meet US regulations the Sierra XR4i and Merkur XR4Ti are visually almost identical. Then again the XR4i is already quite unique compared to most normal Sierras
Cool was the Sierra XR8.
PS. I think Ford South Africa also created und build 2000 Turbo Versions of the XR4. Partly used as alternate to the Cosworth in the DTM.
This XR4 Turbo Version was better on Race tracks with high Speed.
With a lot of curves was the "Cossy" better.
I had a friend riding a Citroën CX Gti and you could take a bump at 80 km/h without barely feeling it! What a car!
The Renault 16 may look strange from a modern USA perspective, but it actually was the first mid market hatchback family saloon, and spurred a development that was dominant in the European markets until the 1990s - the hatchback was roomy, versatile, family friendly, but had a practical compact and socially acceptable size well suited to European cities and suburbs.
The Renault 9 was sold as AMC-Renault Alliance in the USA.
Ah, that kind of make sense, the deLorean had a Renault Alpine engine. ( I believe it was upside down for some reason)
@@buddy1155the engine in the DeLorean was the PRV V6. P for Peugeot, R for Renault and V for Volvo - yes Volvo co-developed the engine.
And also manufactured there for North America
@@hakansivertsen6520 Yeah, in Kenosha, Wisconsin i believe.
@@buddy1155Upside down, like with the oil sump on the top and the manifold on the bottom..? 😅
At 3:31 , the weird steering wheel was a safety feature introduce with Citroen DS about 10 years prior . In case of a crash it was meant to bend and direct the driver torso to the side and avoid smashing into the steering column.
1:56 the Fiat 124 was licensed by the Soviet Union back then, and it became the prestige car of the '70s in the Eastern bloc, the LADA 1200/VAZ 2101/2102.
In soviet union it called ВАЗ(VAZ) 2101/21011 or 2102(station wagon)
@@user-lt1qx3me1i exactly. :) We called it Zsiguli, Zsiga, "Dinnyés Merci" (the latter is a derogatory term, because they were used by watermelon sellers, often from Gypsy ethnicity, but we don't use the term anymore)
La differenza tra la Fiat 124 e la Lada erano abissali. La Lada era fatta con lamiere in acciaio scadente e di spessore ridotto. I motori costruiti su licenza Fiat, non erano per nulla come quelli prodotti a Torino, per la scarsità di tecnologia e di risorse della ex Cccp
@@cifani3fI heard the opposite. That Lada used steel that was too heavy and left the already low powered engine they were producing, completely useless. They weighed 100-200kg more than the Fiat depending on engine.
They also used drum brakes in the rear instead of disc brakes, simplified the excellent Fiat suspension and linkage making them handle abysmally and ruined the elegant design with small changes.
I had the Seat version of the 124... (and 600 and 127 my family)... the birth of spanish automotive revolution... the 124 was insane and fast for that age...
The "RO" for the model NSU RO 80 stands for "Rotationskolbenmotor" (rotary engine). This in contrast to another model developed by NSU and produced by VW after the takeover of NSU, the K70. The "K" in this specific model name stands for "Kolbenmotor" (piston engine).
The designer of both aforementioned cars was the genius designer Claus Luthe. He introduced the modern wedge-shaped car bodies and designed later other famous cars, like the Audi 100 C2 and at BMW the BMW 3 series E30 and E36, the BMW 5 series E28 and E34, as well as the BMW 7 series E32. Last but not least, also the famous BMW 8 coupé (850, E31).
By the way, the company's name "NSU" is - depending on which literature you cite - either a shortened version of the German city "Neckarsulm" where the company's headquarter was located, or it stands for "Neckarsulmer-Strickmaschinen-Union" (amalgamation of manufacturers of knitting machines), as they produced knitting machines for the textile industry before they started producing vehicles.
Did you see the black ball on top of the middle console in the Citroen CX? Thats a design ashtray. Coolest car ashtray ever... :)
Yeah, as a kid in Australia - I always wanted to know what the big ball was sticking out of the top of the dashboard was ? - then a long time later, I found out it was just an ashtray. Although I hate smokers, it does look cool but thought it would be something more important. 😅
Fiat Pandas have a richer history than just that 'more modern' one. (God, I feel old now, haha!) It'll be funny to look into the history of them for sure, especially when it comes to offroad/rally! It kind of crosses over with the Fiat Uno at the start of its life, though.
My father had a Fiat Panda 4x4 around 1984. There was a lever on the floor, when you pulled it, you were in 4 WD.😊
And they are the best little car for narrow streets in small Italian mountain villages! In fact any country near the mediterranian.
My mom used to drive a Panda back in the early '90s. I remember that the seats wasn't very comfortable. :D
Yea the old Pandas i love them. My Mom had one but not in 4x4 and i was in there as a young kid.
The Pandas after the first one are not that cool in my opinion.
A friend of mine had a Panda in the 90's, it was great (sometimes frightening for me in the passenger seat!) for a city car, we used to drive over 200km to go to the beaches in the south of the country, granted, it took it's time, but never failed on us.
The Ford Scorpio was sold in the USA for a short time as the Merkur Scorpio along with the Merkur XR4ti. Ford thought they would sell European Fords under a new brand (Merkur is German for Mercury), but the American public at the time were sceptical of this new brand.
The S-Max is a “cooler” minivan based on the mondeo, and there is a Ford Galaxy which is a more conventional minivan also based on the mondeo. The C-Max is a crossover based on the Focus.
The Opel Omega (but a later model) was also sold in the USA as the Cadillac Catera.
Simca was a French brand, founded with capital from Fiat in the 1930s, when the markets in Europe were highly closeted and importing cars cost prohibitive tariffs. In order to circumvent this, Fiat had Simca producing rebadged Fiats in France. In the 1950s, Simca slowly moved towards more independence and produced compact four door sedans. They also acquired Ford France’s factory and built a large saloon that was powered by the famous flathead Ford V8 from the 1930s, until the early 1960s. Simca was acquired by Chrysler when the latter became eager to emulate GM and Ford in spreading to Europe.
Chrysler however misinterpreted the needs of the European market and underinvested in Simca’s engineering. The 1307/08 and Horizon were last-ditch attempts at catching up with the competition, but suffered quality issues and despite bribing the ECOTY jury into giving the award to these cars, Simca ended up being sold off by Chrysler to Peugeot, after Peugeot had just absorbed Citroën. As a result, the whole PSA corporation almost perished, with three different lineups that were mechanically too diverse to offer a lot of economies of scale, but competed against each other in the same market segments.
Wasn't Simca also rebranded to Talbot?
@@passantNL oui, j'ai eu une talbot horizon en 1985
@@passantNL Indeed it was. This was due to the fact that Chrysler also had acquired the Rootes group in Britain (Hillman, Humber, Sunbeam, and Singer brands in the 1930s-1960s), which went to Peugeot with the package. The Brits didn’t like the thought of their brands disappearing in favour of the Simca brand, and the salomonic (or rather, moronic) decision was made that ALL former Chrysler of Europe brands were discontinued, and instead, an old brand name from the 1930s was resurrected, on the grounds that it had Franco-British mixed heritage. Talbot had made luxury sports cars until shortly after WW2. But by the late 1970s, it was all but completely forgotten by the profane run-of-the-mill car buyers these new cars were addressing. So the name choice did its part in the complete failure of the relaunch of the lineup Peugeot inherited from Chrysler Europe.
The culmination of brand confusion, by the way, was the most sporty version of the Horizon. It was initially called the Chrysler Simca Sunbeam Lotus, the only car with four brand names on the same actual car - now that’s badge engineering taken to the extreme... Rebadging it as the Talbot Sunbeam Lotus was but a marginal “improvement”.
@@thomasalbrecht5914 The Sunbeam Lotus was not a version of the Horizon, it was an Avenger with the back cut off to turn it into a hatchback, it was like how AMC Took the Hornet and turned it into the Gremlin. The Talbot Sunbeam was a RWD car where as the Horizon was FWD. I live in Finland where Talbot Horizons and Solaras were built and I also own a 1974 Sunbeam Avenger, which itself has an insane amount of rebadges around the world, even being sold as a VW in Argentina if i'm not mistaken. I am a Peugeot enthusiast and I love the little bits of History Peugeot shared with Chrysler back in the day, and now being with Stellantis. I also own a Peugeot 605 which is the sister car to the Citroen XM shown in this video.
@@Hipas_Account There was going to be a Lotus Horizon for '82, although it was more like the Renault 5 Turbo One in basically being a Custom Mid Engine Chassis with a Horizon Inspired Silhouette Body on it, however, after just Two Prototypes were made, Audi Released the Quattro, tore up the WRC Rulebook, changed Rallying forever overnight, and Peugeot pulled the Plug because they knew the Car just was not going to be Competitive, they also wanted *rid* of Talbot as it was damaging their Finances as the Militant Communist Trade Unions at the Linwood and Coventry Plants kept coming out on Strike and the Cars were selling Abysmally due to being Ugly, Outdated and Badly Made. Peugeot however did use one of the Prototypes in the Early Development for the 205 T16...so it was not a Total Loss.
Re your question on the XM: what looks like a screen to you was a cover that closed over the radio and other infotainment equipment, screens were too expensive then. And Citroën put more emphasis on a pretty sophisticated suspension on that model, which combined high pressure hydraulics, gas sphere springs, and computer control.
He's absolutely right. By the way, there are 2 displays just above the levers behind steering wheel. My father used to have an XM in late 90's and I am really thinking of buying one again as a youngtimer :)
@@jansebesta3112It was not only Citroen who had that cover. Maybe it was a French feature. The Renault Laguna in '99 also had such a radio cover.
@pipodeclown3782 peugeot 405 also had it, it was a parts bin situation.
@@jansebesta3112 yes, there were two small digital displays, but they were monochrome and really small. They could display a limited number of text messages in two lines. And if you look for an XM today, you’ll find that many of the displays have now places that refuse to light up.
@@thomasalbrecht5914 Well of course they were small and monochrome, it was the 90's :) And yeah, I don't really expect them to work like new, they are electronics in a Citroën, not a thing renown much for its reliability :)
The Panda 4x4 you talk about is the 80s version, not the modern one.
Also the most modern version of the Fiat Panda from the 2000 and the 2010 had a 4x4 version
all Panda 4x4s are great little off roaders
7:44 Fiat Brava 5 doors, Fiat Bravo 3 doors, this model had got a sport version of the Bravo: the 2.0l inline 5 20V engine Bravo HGT. Someone even put a 2.4l inline 5 from the Stilo Abarth on this car
Yeah, this engine is a lot of fun to drive! I drove it in the Coupé Fiat Turbo, the Edition with Brembo Brakes. It was a bit scary because I was 21 years old and never drove a car with more than 66 kW, 90 PS, before. 😅
@@nhcs2k you are a lucky driver
The most beautiful/cutest Fiat ever made was the X1/9 sports car. Mid-engine. Body by Bertone. A mini-Ferrari for the middle class. Built from 1972 to 1982.
And Saloon,Fiat Marea
Sedan and Station wagon versions of the same car was called Marea. Bravo HGT was really succesful actually because youngsters in 90s left their Tipo Sedicivalvoles and bought Bravo HGTs
The Peugeot 504 was actually sold in North America, I'm in Portugal and my next door neighbor imported a Diesel manual one from the USA and it's been his daily driver for years, so that's a testament of how good these cars are. My late uncle also imported a Peugeot 504 Diesel automatic from Canada and it still runs too. This was one of, if not the last model of Peugeot sold in the North America. The American version is also better looking because they used 4 headlights with a chrome trim instead of solid headlights.
Locally made Australian versions, in CKD form, also used the quad round headlights and tombstone seats.
and 405
The Peugeot 405 in the video was also sold in the States and was the last new Peugeot sold in that market before closing shop in 1991.
While in the US the quad headlights on the 504 were mandatory to comply with regulations, here in Argentina they used quad headlights due to the normal ones not being available until 1975 and honestly it looks way better with the quad headlight setup rather than the big ones
The 4 head light version was called 504 best line In Nigeria, it was assembled over here till 2004.
2:53 The GS came in a rare "Bi rotor" version, with wankel engine outputing 107hp in '73 (1000cc vs 65 regular GS).
I had the luck to witness a man who had 5 of them, with one engine open in the process to be rebuilt. It's quite rare to see a non Mazda rotary engine those days.
Not Ken Harris was it?
Citroën's one spoke steering wheel yielded under heavier pressure (not when you turned it, but when you hard pressed with both hands), so unlike the rest of the steering wheels, it functioned like a basic airbag if your body impacted it in a crash....Also, since 99% of the rim (in GS like my dad and consequently me had) was free of spokes, it was really pleasant to use! Besides that... that small rectangular gauge seen on the instrument panel of GS was actually a magnifying glass over a rotating illuminated sphere, that was color-coded for speed (like sections in yellow, green, orange, red), so at night you could roughly judge your speed by the color of the gauge light without taking your eyes off the road.... And each speed mark had a stopping distance written above it! Citroën is one of the coolest brands ever!!! I just hope they'won't be ruined and killed by Stellantis
Look at Citroen in 1990. Building multifunction-steeringwheels ten years before everybody else.
They also had active suspension before anyone else.
@@buddy1155 french cars get a lot of shit, especially (and mostly rightfully) for the early 2000s. But they were always pushing innovation. First folding roof = Peugeot, first curve lights = Citroen... And, till today, you get a pretty good package for your money, compared all over europes manufacturers.
And what about swivelling headlights in 1969 on the DS and later SM
If you find weird the first Renault Megane you should check for Vel Satis and Avantime
The 1984 Fiat Panda 4x4 is the most famous
Yep that's the car they are on about although the best 4x4 pandas were an older body shape with slightly raised suspension and as you'd expect 4 wheel drive
My first car was a Citroen Xm V6. Absolutely amazing car. Super Comfy and quiet on motorways. They were relatively popular in Denmark, along with Peugeot 605, opel Omega and ford Scorpio. Big nice cars for okay money. That marked is now almost only Bmw, Benz and audi. Im Sure glad to stand out with my Jaguar
Cars badged with different makers occasionally caused confusion when they were built on the same production line. I used to deliver cars across the UK, more than once I picked up a car that had Opel badges on one end and Vauxhaull one the other.
I remember back in 1992 working at a Vauxhall dealer and we had a new Calibra SE1 in that had Opel badges all over it. They obviously all had to be changed before it was sold.
NSU was one of the brands that were merged to create Audi in 1969 (the other being Auto Union).
Not really: Auto-Union was the "mother" after NSU, Audi, Horch, and DKW merged -- the four rings in the Audi logo are a relic of that merger, one ring for each of the brands.
@@McGhinch You know that AUDI is the Latin word for "Horch"?
@@McGhinch NSU was never part of Auto Union, the fourth Ring belongs to the Wanderer brand. After WW2 the four rings were mostly symbolic though, since only the low end DKW brand resumed car production after 1945. Some DKWs were sold badged as Auto Unions but the entire marque was relaunched with the Audi name in 1965, after Volkswagen had taken over, when they finally switched to a modern four stroke, four cylinder engine design. NSU were independent until they too were integrated under the Volkswagen umbrella becoming "Auto Union-NSU AG" in 1969
The DKW Munga off-road vehicle was build for the Bundeswehr from 1956 to 1968. 🤓
@@mrspandel5737 You're right, I should have investigated instead of relying on my memory, especially when I hesitated writing the company names. 🙂
The Rover 2000 (P6) was a very advanced car for its time. Its body panels hang on a frame and can all be removed individually. It has a very clever suspension set up for the time, and all round disk brakes.
It was extremely safe for its era with soft surfaces, dished steering wheel, crumple zones, of a sort and an engine and steering column would collapse under the car avoiding cabin intrusion.
It was relatively fast, comfortable and handled well. There were plans to build it with a gas turbine engine and the prototype still exists to this day as the T4. Eventually it was fitted with a 'Roverised' Buick-derived 3.5l V8 to become the 'ThreeThousand Five'.
They did sell the 2000 and the V8 version in the U.S briefly but it's sales performance was lacklustre, mostly due to a sparse dealership network and poor parts availability.
There is an argument that the Rover 2000 introduced a new era for junior executive cars, were high performance 2L models showed that luxury didn't need to have a big old 3L and lots of weight.
I currently own a 1970 series one 3500 P6, brought as my first car in the early 2010s.
The Rover 3500 (SD1) seen here from 1977 was a much simpler car underneath and not as technical or well built, but still a great car.
The other models of Rover that are better known in US are Rage Rover and Land Rover. Same Company.
Originally yes, however they did eventually split under different ownership. Later model Land/Range Rovers are a seperate entity.
From Rovers home country of UK, there is often a distinction made between Rover and Land/Range whereas some places in the U.S will just say Rover for the later.
Definitely check the 4x4 Panda you'll be amazed of how capable they are offroad!
Niva is better :)
@@AntonT oh yeah by far.. Nivas are unstoppable but they were purposely built to be so and those Pandas are just ordinary hatchbacks with 4x4 drivetrains thrown in them which happened to work great lol that's why they're so great
@@AntonT In what, rusting and breaking half shafts?
@@user-sy1ed9ex5m everything is rusting. My neihbour has a mercedes vito. It is a piece of rust with holes everywhere wish a shiny mercedes emblem
We running a 2006 model 4x4 and it will go to 95% where serious 4x4's go. On the road it handles like a normal small hatch and ride is better than most. Only problem is the small fuel tank and lack of power at highway speeds.
You should definetely look for the (for you unknown) NSU RO 80, which has been a benchmark and revolutionary at its time. It has been the very first serial car with rotary engine (Wankel engine) and a very modern design.
I owned a Opel Omega 1987. Loved that car. Very fuel efficient.
The Ford Scorpio was sold in the USA under the Merkur brand.
It is RWD, based on an enlarged Sierra chassis. Launched as a hatchback only, saloon and estates bodies added later.
13:28 Yes, both the Ford Scorpio and its smaller brother the Ford Sierra were RWD. Both had an AWD option available and both were offered as in that body style which is pictured, a wagon and a classic three box sedan. Indeed very awesome cars! They both were phased out in the 1990s.
At 12:30 it's the cover for the radio.
I thought it was the ashtray 😂🚬
The Renault 16 was exported in the US and had a moderate success (For a French car anyway).
It was a massive seller in France and it's a classic now.
The Peugeot 504 was almost exported in the US and was even used as a New York taxi. Believe it or not, it was made up until 1997 in Sough America and 2005 in Kenya.
The Citroen GS (then GSA) was the first middle-class car with oleopneumatic suspension. The engine was a flat-four air-cooled engine; which was literally made of 2 2CV engine glued together.
It was never exported to the USA but was a success all over Europe, even in Warsaw Pact countries due to the Citroën Cimos factory in Yugoslavia.
Simca was a French brand that started as a local importer of Fiat in pre-WWII, bought Ford France factory in 1950 and produced a range of Ford "Aquilon" V8-powered cars during the 60's. They got slowly bought by Chrysler which rebadged their cars all over the world (such as with the Horizon.) In 1980 Chrysler left Europe and sold Simca (and Talbot, And Chrysler Europe branding) to Peugeot. Some small Simca were exported in the US in the early 60's.
The Renault 9 was sold by Renault in the 80's in the USA as the Renault Alliance.
Peugeot officially exported a very few Peugeot 405 as 405 MI16 in the USA.
Citroën never exported XM in the USA but the US company CXA (who imported CX as well) imported a handful of WM in the USA.
My first car 1981
8:44
The reason for the sudden 'cut' is that its a kammback design. Airflow won't be separated in that case, thus lowering the drag and turbulence.
When you check out the cool classic Citroens go check for the "Citroen CX Loadrunner" and the "Citroen Tissier CX14". Those will blow your mind!
For the craziest Citroen ever check out the "Citroen DS PLR Milles Pattes" anything is boring compared to that! 😀
Ah the good old Alfa Romeo 147. I have 2 of them! Extremely fun little car! (well, one of them I jsut keep because it was my first car and I had to retire it because I bought it for like 800 euros as a beaten up car and in 3 years it had amazing reliability but now it has a faulty fuel pump and too much rust to worth repairing it, it has almost 380k km which shows how reliable it really is) Superb styling for the early 2000s (pictures rarely make it justice), extremely good handling, it was geared for acceleration, and it had some very fun 1.6 petrol engines (the infamous Twin Spark a.k.a. 2 sparkplugs/cilinder, that also had a VVT system and would rev to 7k without problem. They also had a CRAZY 3.2 l V6 GTA version, the 3.2 is the famous V6 Busso, you have to react to some of them, the sound is glorious!
The Ford Focus was an european car, even in the US and of course it was manual, cause it was developed at Ford Cologne in Germany for the German market and was later (or at the same time IDR) also introduced in the US market.
The first Ford Focus RS, which debuted in 2002, was not technically identical to the US version of the Ford Focus. While the Focus RS was developed for the European market and featured a powerful turbocharged engine along with a specially tuned suspension and braking setup, the US version of the Ford Focus was not as performance-oriented and offered different engine and equipment options.
Ford actually replaced Escort with Focus in Europe, after introduction of Focus Sedan and Focus Station Wagon, 6th gen Escorts were discontinued. Also Ford Racing Team would enter rally races with the new Focus RS instead of Escort Cosworth
@@thrashefe3523 of course. And like the Focus the Escort was also developed in cologne, but was not available in the US afaik
@@florianj6490 My father's friend who's been living in US since 1989 visited us 3 years ago and saw my Ford Escort so he told me about the Ford Escorts in USA, he worked in a car rental company in the early 90s and they rented a lot of Ford Escorts there, to him they were really slow and it took days to cars to launch etc. while my 6th gen is considerably quick and also said 90s Ford Escorts are now cars that sell for 3 figured prices there and mostly high schoolers and homeless people buy them. Meanwhile I observe Ford Escort prices in the UK are going up because they're becoming modern classics
Regarding 9:55, the Ford S-Max is basically the "bigger brother" of the Ford C-Max. While the Ford C-Max was a compact Van on the Ford Focus Platform, the Ford S-Max was considerably larger and a sucessor of the older Ford Galaxy Van that we had over here in Europe, which was basically just a rebadged VW Sharan.
Lancia Delta and Fiat Panda are just two italian masterpieces. Idk if you checked out Lancia Delta's rallys but it was the best in the 80s early nineties. The Panda you just saw is the second version, the first is from 1979 and the third version was released in 2013 or 2014 i think
The Lancia Delta was sold in Sweden as a SAAB 600 GLS.
1st gen Panda sold from 1980 to 2003, 2nd from 2003 to 2012 and 3rd gen is still on sale since 2011
@@marcofix and the new Panda e Pandina are about to be released
they are 2 piece of horrible jalopiness, trulySUCKS like italian car industry
The Ford Scorpio mk1 is a hatchback/liftback.
and RWD
You share my thoughts exactly on the Citroën XM: It does look like something out of Moonbase Alpha or "V"! Especially in white.
Fun detail that you can't make out in the picture but will increase the movie prop impression about the design: The black panel above the tail lights is actually tinted glass. The part on the trunk lid is a window to increase rearward vision in spite of the high waistline, and the parts on the fenders cover the rear turning signals (amber ofc), making them only visible when active.
See if you can find pics or videos showcasing this!
It's not very well known or appreciated, but Citroëns weirdness/quirkiness is for the most part beneficial to safety - passive and active. There's a lot to discover. Just an example: the single spoke on the steering wheel is there to divert (sideways) the impact forces in case of a collision.
Fun fact most old Ladas were licensed Fiat 124
NSU was generally predecessor of Audi. Audi was merge of NSU and Auto Union.
Simca was french car company, which licensed carsfrom Fiat and other brands and produced them under their name.
NSU has nothing to do w/ Audi. All first model Audis were DKWs.
@@altblechasyl_cs2093 Sure it does. Before it was called Auto Union. After merge with NSU it was renamed to Audi NSU Auto Union...
@@Arhey Häää ? Auto Union GmbH was aquired by VW as NSU was. Both was independent companies before selling to VW. The first Audis were rebadged DKWs.
Didn't Simca became Talbot?
@@buddy1155 I dont think so, Simca, Talbot, Citroen and Peugeot were merged into PSA by French government mithin the 70s and 80s.
The 4x4 FIAT Panda is the older first itteration of it, not the one here...😉
Cars like that Ford S-Max are officially classified as "Vans/Minivan".
But much more common called "Pampersbomber", literally Diaper Bomber, because considered as perfect family cars
- The Rover P6 was the British equivalent of a Citroen DS in the body panels were fitted to a steel skeleton.
- The Fiat 124 became the Lada.
- My dad bought a GS Club estate in 1979 which was the first hydropneumatic Citroen we had, replacing our Dyane 6. The rear tailgate opened right down level with the boot floor on both the saloon and estate versions. The dashboard is like an SM.
- The Citroen CX was by far my favourite and most fun car I've ever had with mine being the 2.5 GTi Turbo 2 (intercooled) model. The early dashboard has the globe ashtray above the radio - later ones (series 2) had the radio between the front seats.
- The Simca 1307 was also badged Chrysler Alpine and later Talbot Alpine in the UK.
- The Rover SD1 featured in the Human League's 'Don't You Want Me' video, along with a Saab 99 turbo.
- Again with the Simca/Chrysler Horizon, that became the Talbot Horizon. My uncle in France had a white one after replacing his old (white) Peugeot 404 as white was a more suitable and practical colour in the south of France because of the climate.
- Opel Kadett is the same as the Vauxhall Astra in the UK - the commercial van version was the Bedford Astra.
- The Ford Scorpio and 3rd series Ford Granada were pretty much the same car.
- Opel Omega was the same as the Vauxhall Carlton.
- Fiat Tipo adverts marketed heavily on their use of galvanised steel.
- While I had two Citroen XMs (a V6 Si manual and a 2.0 SEi automatic), both were plagued with all manner of problems despite them being stunning looking cars as well as practical with a hatchback (and the '13th window' inside the tailgate). I much prefer the first series styling over the 2nd series as the 2nd series dashboard looked more like something you'd find in a VW and the general feel of the XM was more solid and 'German' compared to previous big Citroens.
- The Nissan Micra was also called the Nissan March and was the basis of the '50s retro styled Nissan Figaro. You can often guarantee if there's a slow line of traffic crawling along at 30 on a 60 limit, there'll usually be a red Nissan Micra holding up all the traffic up front driven by an octogenarian called Beryl or Doris.
- My mum had a Toyota Yaris. Reliable car, but not a car you want to do any long journeys in as the seats are horrendous. I found her an 8th generation Civic (European version) as a replacement which is far more comfy, even if it looks like a UFO.
- Renault Megane - the car with an arse. The much larger Avantime had similar rear end styling (ie. with an arse).
- The 2010 VW Polo is marginally larger than the 1st series Golf (or Rabbit in the US) which shows how large cars are getting.
In all honesty, I could cry at your reaction and enthusiasm over the look of Citroens - you really do need to look into them more from the GS onwards which you did touch on in the suspension videos. The XM has a large flip-up panel in the centre console that hides the radio and a compartment with a flip down ashtray below it and the radio controls are the buttons on the single spoke steering wheel. Later 1st series XMs got a really ugly two spoke steering wheel, then the 2nd series (with the VW-like dashboard) got a chunky four spoke one with a massive hub containing the airbag. XMs also had hidden compartments in each door armrest cushion and had a foot operated parking brake (released by hand with a plunger) instead of a traditional handbrake.
I drove the 125S a luxury development of the 124. That was some fast and agile car. Loved it. Pity it was stolen.
@@corvanha1 In its day as a Fiat, it was a good car, then the Russians got Zhiguli with it. They even named the city where the factory was located Tolyatti (Тольятти) after Palmiro Togliatti, the leader of the Italian Communist Party.
I couldn't tell the Fiat 124 and Lada apart back in the '70s from the front (or the Seat 124 for that matter) unless I looked at the grille logo which was flipped upside down on the Lada, similar to the Triumph Acclaim and the Honda Ballade.
The NSU RO80 had a rotary engine…. Please watch a video about the Group B Peugeot 205 T16!
The Citroen Bx had in the middle console either a radio/cassette player with an ashtray below, a giant ashtray, radio player with storage, and more - depends on the customer.
Bx je imao vise dodatne opreme od drugih proizvodjaca, a tek xm. Danas bi se neki proizvodjaci vozila mogli samo sakriti u vezi opreme iza citroena koji je 50 godina stariji
my parents bought an opel kadett sedan in 85, everyone was staring at that car when we were on holiday.
it had a radio player with a casette and an simple clock lmao.
5:46 , my dad once owned one of these, and the Audi 90. He is one of the main reasons why i love Audis. All of his cars till date is an Audi.
Same here, Audi Coupe GT, Audi 90, A2, A4 and recently an A7. My dad has a thing for Audis. They're really amazing cars.
the old fiat pandas are meant. Google ''old fiat panda 4x4''
You see the similarities between the Simca-Chrysler Horizon and the Peugeot 205? Thats because Peugeot later bought Simca from Chrysler. Simca was big in the early days of Rallye, too. There was the Simca Rallye 2, already rusty at the dealership but an absolute beast with incredible 82 HP 🤭.
Simca was earlyer owned partly by Ford. (Ford UK and Ford Germany is wildely known, not many remeber Ford France) wich resulted in the (my opinion) most iteresting model: Simca Vedette. The latest car in production with a Ford flathead V8! Simca Horizon was (i believe) the last model sold as a Simca. Based on the fact that a local car dealership had new Horizons in stock of three different years simultaniously: Simca, Talbot and Chrysler. Same car, same model, different brands.
@@FridhemskenSimca bought Ford SAF in 1954 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_SAF .
@@GunnarMiller Yes and they paid with Simca Shares so Ford held a minority share of Simca.
The Peugeot 309 was originally planned as successor to the Horizon.
The Horizon was phased out in Central Europe around 1985/86, perhaps in Spain production ran a bit longer.
In U.S the sister models Plymouth Horizon and Dodge Omni phased out some where between 1989 and 1991, these models used a 2.2 liter Chrysler engine developed 1962 and brought into production from Lee Iacocca around 1980 in Dodge Aries and Plymouth Reliant.
European Horizons used Simca engines with 1.1 liters 53 bhp, 1.3 liter 65 bhp and 1.44 liters 83 bhp those were considered to be under volume especially these were carbureted variants without catalysts which would have cost several bhp especially as US used standard petrol with 84/88 octane as Germany used 90/98 octane for Normal/ Super fuel..
@@bennyhannover9361 thank you, i forgot that it was the 309, just doesnt fit in the numbering scheme 😅.
Great video! I own a 1992 Citroën Xm and i love it, the hydroactive suspension is like a carpet ride. Really big Citroen community in the Netherlands to, with lots of clubs and events
Rest assured on the Panda, it’s not THAT Panda, but the first generation that came out in 1980 that people want you to react to. It’s one of Giugiaro’s best designs.
Yeah, the interesting part of the NSU RO 80 is the Wankelmotor also known as a rotary engine.
Citroën XM: what you call a screen, is actually a cover of the radio flipping up by the touch of a button, as does the ashtray. The Renault 9 was also sold in the US as a AMC Renault Alliance
The opel kadett there was also a vauxhall astra, it was sold as a pontiac somethingortheother in the US
NSU is brand who base the recreation of Audi. Ro 80 had an rotor engine as Mazda. Futuristic with 0,26 cx.
They win on the basis of practicality and innovation. Sometimes they vote for a car that turns out to be a turkey
So true! 😂 hardly any survivors of the majority shown, at least up to year 2000. But thats also natural they are worn out and rustad away by now.
Even in modern times there's the Opel Ampera which nobody bought it and it's very rare to see on the streets
2:49 Now there's my car! (Slotted between the 2CV and the DS, it's arguably the best of both worlds.)
Yeah, I grew up with it, my father had 2 in a row. Startable from outside with a mechanic crank, hydraulic suspension and the last version (GSA) with the 2-satelites-dashboard beside the one-spoke steering wheel and the "bathroom weight scale"-speedometer!!! Was only beaten by the integrated dashboard of the Citroen BX!
@@lost___espandrillo8075 The better versions of the GSA had not only a "bathroom weight scale"-speedometer, but also a "bathroom weight scale"-tachoometer...
Seeing as you already know a thing or two about Citroën, you might appreciate watching highlights of Rallye Du Maroc (Rally of Morroco). Citroën entered their large models, the DS and later the SM, also used as state presidential limos.
Both ride on self leveling nitrogen gas spheres, no springs at all, providing excellent road handling in some of the harshest tarrain with rocky tracks and crossing rivers at high speeds.
They also have adjustable ride hight as standard, hydraulically powered steering, high pressure brakes.
Citroën dominated the sport with multiple wins & top spots, from 1967 through 1972.
P.S. On a side note, the DS helped save the life of President DeGaul when an attempt was made
The C-Max is mini-MPV on the Focus plan (I've got one), while the S-Max was more of a streamlined Galaxy (full-size MPV). (And the B-Max was a high-roofline Fiesta, as an even smaller MPV.)
NSU RO80 NSU was absorbed by Audi, they had rotary engines.
Yes the rotary piston had a diameter of 80 millimeters therefore the 80
@@bennyhannover9361 Sorry, that's no correct. The (rotating) piston had a diameter of almost 200 mm. When they started planning this vehicle the planned a 80 hp engine. That's were the "80" came from. Finally the two rotor rotary engine had 115 hp.
NSU belong to Audi. I guess.
Yep
Renault 9 was a comfortable ride despite the narrow tyres!
Rover is an old British car brand, mostly known for its Mini series (now owned by BMW).
Simca is an old French brand, later owned by Chrysler.
Lancia Delta, a legend. More or less a street-version of a famous rallye car, especially the Integrale version of it.
4:30 Porsche 928 the car that keeps the chicken warm
Biggest trunk in a sportscar!
Nice Clarkson reference.
Renault Espace with a F1 engine! And Renault Williams Clio!
The Ford S-Max was that one weird attempt by Ford to make a somewhat sporty Minivan, the top trim even came with a turbocharged 2.5L Volvo I5.
Its sister car was the Ford Galaxy (of no relation to the american 1960s full size GalaxIE sedan) which was a more conventional Minivan similar to a Honda Odyssey or Dodge Caravan.
The first gen Galaxy was done together with Volkswagen, and also sold as the Volkswagen Sharan and the Seat Alhambra too, with a mix of VW and Ford engines. Second gen that came out with the S-Max was Ford-only, but indeed also with Volvo engine options. S-max is slightly smaller, as an inbetween size between the Galaxy and the C-Max
The Renault 9 was manufactured in Kenosha, WI, as an AMC Renault Alliance for the american Market.
Opel Manta hahaha
NSU RO 80 ROTATION ENGINE ( WANKEL MOTOR)😊TAKE A LOOK TO AUTOSTADT WOLFSBURG (HUGE AMAZING EVERYTHING YOU DREAM FROM❤)
I used to own a Citroen BX in the early 2000s. The XM is like a bigger version of it.
What makes those "big" old Citroens special is the hydropneumatic suspension. They used to have a lever by the center console where you can adjust the ride height (even while driving).
The fiat panda your viewers are talking about, is the original panda from 1980. It was an incredible simple design, with flat glass panels to save money. My mum had one in 1983.
European?????? Most of these are British and not sold outside of the U.K.!
Not really most, some are but not most
Note, the UK is still on the European continent
There are perhaps 3 cars here that you could say are purely British design - The Rovers and the Austin (so European cars), and they were all sold in international markets.
It's funny how people think that UK is not in Europe, just because it left European Union.
So according to you, does that also mean that Norway and Switzerland aren't European countries because they were never in the European Union?
Apart from 2 Rover ('64/'77) and an Austin (1965) I didn't saw any other british car. Vauxhall uses Opel models (which sells in the rest of Europe). Vauxhall hasn't produced a model since 1980, so... BTW England is still in Europe, a continent, but it's not in the EU
The ford Scorpio is rear wheel drive. We had one for years and it had the full Ford RS body kit. The engine was a 2.9ltr V6 fuel injected affair which was a really good at the time. We loved ours.
The NSU became part of VW, the Citroen CX was sold in the US briefly, the Renault 9 was sold in the US as the Renault Alliance through AMC, the Peugeot 405 was also sold in the US the last vehicle they launched before withdrawing from the US market and finally the Rover 2000 was also sold briefly before they withdrew it due to reliability issues. Love your Channel btw.
I have so much to say on all of these cars. I learned via UA-cam the off-centre steering by Ciroen is/was a safety future.
The urban legend is that it was because French drivers liked to drive with an open window, with one arm leaning on the door.
@@Conclusius68 No serious. In case of an accident the steering wheel wil not penetrate the body. The one spoke steering wheel is safer with slightly off center.
@@FlixTraveler I never doubted that. It's just the urban legend of really casual French drivers.
@@Conclusius68 thats just BMW drivers
Simca was Talbot also in Europe, Henkka Toivonen won manufacturers title with it 1981 WRC. Talbot was a satellite team for Peugeot, first T 16`s were build in England at Talbot factory. Those Talbots had Lotus 2.2 liter engines, but it carries Chrysler logo on a grill, hah. The final version had some 300 bhps and the car with Henkka won the title still exist here in Finland .
3:40 My grandma and her hubby visited at new year's eve one year when I was a kid, and they came in a Fiat 127. As per tradition, people were out doing pranks in the night (like hanging christmas trees from flag poles and the like). When Grandma and hubby needed to go home, lo and behold, someone had turned the car across in the narrow driveway!
5:49 One of my friends once had the smallestt engine version of this one, the Uno 45 (45 hp). It was surprisingly perky for it's engine size. Not the best quality, Fiat, but they do know how to get the most out of a small package.
11:36 I have one of these, the top spec hybrid. Love that little thing to death. :)
Hey, nice video ! You should explore the Spanish make of Santana and it's history with the British and the bad standing Santana was given in the 80's by the Brits and in the end the purchase of Santana by the FIAT truck division of Iveco. Santana's may look very familiar to you, but where as the Brits basically gave up on their version of Santana since they wanted to replace their existing vehicles with Rang Rovers, Santana refused to give up on their vehicles and kept on developing their vehicles in a way that in the end the British product from a distance may look comparable, but barely anything was the same anymore, since the Spanish basically replaced all inferior parts and ways of fabrication in to far superior parts and superior ways of fabrication. They even switched from British standard measurements into Metrics, this also goes for all bolts, nuts and so forth and so the Santana vehicles turned out to be the far superior version of the old British vehicles that were still made the old and inferior way. In this Spanish evolution of their Vehicles they turned out to be so different that many parts were no longer interchangeable anymore. And this frustrated the Brits and so they demanded that the Spanish could no longer use the British make name any more and so they were called : Santana. In the end the Spanish sold Santana to the Italian Truck company Iveco and the Italians changed the name from Santana in to Iveco Massif. This is the brief/short version of a much longer story obviously...
The first model ''Panda'' also had a 4x4 version. The model was built from early 1980's to somewhere in the year 2000 I think. 20 years!!!
A fact about the Citroën brand: The latest model C5 had a fluid/air suspension so well made, Rolls-Royce adopted the system to be used in their own cars.
My Mom was given a Citroen XM company car with only 4000 miles on it in 1991 by her workplace as part of a bankruptcy redundancy package. She drove it as her daily until 2013 and then just on holiday/days out and weekends up until 2020 when it finally died due to electrical issues. it only went to the garage 3 times in 29 years. It is being repaired now, its a fantastic car.
A friend of ours had a Citroën GS exactly the same as the one pictured, colour and all. And of course, the wife's dad had a Citroën CX but it was silver. Both had the hydrostatic suspension that is basically like active suspension that can be raised and lowered by pulling a lever and drops the rear end under braking. Rolls Royce used the same suspension for years since Citroën came out with it because of its plush ride over bumpy roads to give them that magic carpet ride they were known for.
Many of the small cars had "spicy" versions as well, like the Fiat Uno Turbo or the Panda 100hp for example. These can be really interesting and quick for their time as well.
Citroen was a pioneer in so many areas of car design, including inventing pneumatic suspension. All three of the Citroens featured here (GS, CX, and XM) come with this. Pneumatic suspension means that when you start the car, it literally 'rises' up abit; and when you switch the engine off, the car sinks down abit. It's unique to Citroen, and as they owned the patent, no other car maker could use this technology.
I'm not sure if they have brought it back..... because their cars stopped using this technology in the mid 90's. But I think they have brought it back in the last few years ....albeit updated it.
Citroen cars all used to have a 'single spoke' steering wheel, but they stopped this about 25 years ago. And Citroens before the mid 90's used their own symbols - rather than the standard ones for features in the car, that all other manufacturers used.
Combine this with their habit of putting things in weird places, not places you would expect to have a particular button....and it made driving any Citroen from the 50's through to the early 90's and interesting experience to say the least!!
The C6 uses hydro.
Re. the hydro-pneumatic patent, Rolls-Royce bought a license from Citroen to use it in the Silver Shadow, Mercedes-Benz did the same for their 600 (W100, 'Grosser' ) 1963.
@@JblackSupportTeam There is reports that M Benz stole it and used it without permission than ceased using it.
@@JblackSupportTeam Iirc Rolls-Royce only used Hydropneumatics for the suspension whereas on Citroens the Hydraulics are also used to provide braking and power steering. The W100 Grosser actually had air suspension, as did the W109 300SEL 6.3, but Hydropneumatic Suspension was an option on the W116 and W126 S-Class
As an all time Opel fan, i didn't expect to see so many of them on this list. I just love them
The Ford Scorpio was sold in the US as a Mercur. I have a non 4x4 diesel Panda - we get 70mpg from it!. The Renault 9 was sold in the US as the AMC Alliance.
I had an 84 Audi 100 CD, and a Renault 10, Renault 12, 2001 Renault Clio RS172, 2002 Renault Laguna II Privilege LX, 2014 Megàne GT220, 2018 Renault Koleos, and now a 2022 Renault Arkana Intens. Love them all, but my favourite was the Clio 172, 172 hp NA 2 ltr 5sp manual in a small hatch back weighing 1050kg dry weight and cup car driving characteristics because they were used as cup car racing back in the early 2000s! So much fun to drive!😊 Also this was all in Australia because Aussie Aussie Aussie 😅
Hello ! I owned a Citroën XM 3.0 V6 24s 200 hp, a pure masterpiece. Hydro active suspensions with spheres. On the road it was a boat on wheels, leather seats. A very good car from the 90s.
The Opel Omega Mk II (not shown in this video, the one shown is Mrk I) was also sold in the US as Cadillac Catera.
Random ones to look up from my childhood here in the UK :- Hillman Imp (Terrible car that overheated a lot lol), Renault 12, Opel Ascona, Ford Escort Mk1, Lada 1500, Mini Metro, Renault 5 GT Turbo, Vauxhall Nova, Citreon BX Diesel look at the stats (mpg!), TVR Speed 12 (which was reputed to achieve 240mph+ in 1998 the original was never built as it was to scary fast!), The Beast which was handbuilt by John Dodds, look at the history of the car. 27litre's of complete madness!.
Simca is a French brand that was created by Fiat before WWII. In the 1950s, Ford bought a stake, and later sold some of the shares to Chrysler. In the 60s, Chrysler bought a controlling stake, as well as the British Roots group, and merged them to form Chrysler Europe. At some point, Fiat and Ford sold their stakes, but Crysler’s operations collapsed in 1977, and they sold it all to Peugeot.
Messy story, I know. And I doubt Stellantis is gonna revive the Simca brand anytime soon, as they have 14 or so brands to deal with already, including Peugeot, Citroën, Fiat, and … yes… Chrysler.
When Citroën went bankrupt in 1976, Peugeot bought them, and gave them a much kinder fate than Simca. The brand was funky enough that they kept it, and got the designers to work with platform sharing to keep costs down.
Also bear in mind that GM sold Opel and Vauxhall to Peugeot a few years before the latter merged with Fiat Chrysler to form Stellantis.
For the ones that don't know, all the Citroën in this list have hydropneumatic suspension system, that it was so advanced for their time that still rival in comfort quality with new cars.
In fact, is broadly said that Citroën GS was "the final true Citroën" because after that model they merged with Peugeot making the well known "PSA" association.
I had one Citroen BX back in the day and I still remembre how it drove because of the hydropneumatic suspension (The BX was the succesor of the CX and somewhat a cheaper/lower cost version).
The predecessor of the BX would be the GS.
The CX was followed by the XM
Check out the successor to the XM, the C6. Beautiful but high maintenance as a daily.
12:35 - The plastic panel in Citroen XM is cover. The panel is covering your radio, so nobody can see if you have good radio to stela or not. Same like in Citroen BX
The 2003 Megane "Ooh that's a weird way to do the back. Front looks Ok.." yeah that's pretty much what we all said at the time..
Funny thing about the Simca-Chrysler Horizon : it was a badge engineering job, also available as a Talbot Horizon. Simca and Talbot were french manufacturers, and Chrysler had a french department too. You mentioned the awkward Citroen GS and XM, yes, they were usually used as futuristic automobiles in some American science fiction movies ! The Fiat Panda 4x4 you mentioned, that was the generation before the pictured one.
The Rover 3500 has an engine based on a Buick V8. You may recognise the Ford Scorpio (called the Granada in the UK) as it was sold under the Merkur brand in the US it was RWD by the way. Behind that panel in the XM would be the radio/cassette and an odments tray