I don’t price the 914/924 regularly, but the 914 as a whole has definitely moved into the vintage collectible stage if it’s in original condition. So many of these were modified. A good condition early chrome-bumpered car or a ‘73 2-liter are getting pricey and definitely collectible.

An R53 Cooper S with the JCW package was about $25K in 2003 (higher with options), which means it would be around $33K today. It was a decent price but not budget. More than a GTI VR6 or RSX Type-S. But you’re right, it was lightning in a bottle and there’s no real chance Mini could replicate it. It would be like…

The $9K gap between this and an A45 is still pretty big. The A45 is more car, but whether it’s more special depends on the customer.... this GP is a limited thing I think.

Probably emissions testing... the manuals get last priority and there was a WLTP test backlog.

I’m sure VW would love Jeep as well as Ram, but acquiring FCA would gain it nothing in most other markets.

I’m not sure Mazda and Subaru have much in common—Toyota increased its stake in Subaru to 20% this year.

AMC did get a bailout. It just came from another government.

The BMW/EMW 340 wasn’t at all related to the later Wartburg, and it came out of an actual BMW factory. So I would say it counts. The 340 is more or less a pre-war BMW with a redesigned “pontoon” front end. From 1945-56 Eisenach produced the pre-war 321 and 326, then later the updated 340 and 327, a “sporting” model.

The early dual-row IMS was more robust but, still, many engines failed (1% failure rate vs 8% for single-row IMS 2000-2005). This mostly happened if the owner didn’t change the oil regularly and/or didn’t drive the car regularly. 10 bucks says the failure occurred after the car was put away for the winter without…

Yeah, I also prefer the droptop version of the narrow-bodied 996. It has a clean look; well-proportioned. And it’s not a rocket ship or track car so I’m not sure you need all the chassis rigidity in the world.

In the case of Toyota it’s not about corners being cut, it’s about the fact the Yaris (the Toyota Yaris, not the Mazda2 Yaris) is primarily designed for other markets—it’s continuing on in Japan and Europe, for example, and likely makes enough money for Toyota in those markets.

You’re right. In the U.S. at least, the Corolla from 1968 to 1979 (E10, E20, E30) was basically the size of the later Tercel/Echo/Yaris and it was the entry-level offering.

Another similarity: like Cadillac, Jaguar focused on driving dynamics for its sedans while dragging its feet on the hot crossover market. The F-Pace is good, and more attractive to the buyer than what Cadillac is peddling, but the E-Pace is awful, the I-Pace is not as good as it needs to be, and there’s no other…

Normally I would attempt to get rid of the XC70 but looking at your other vehicles, my choice would be easy: replace the XC70 engine. There’s LOTS of used ones out there for relatively cheap because these things get totalled so easily. Remove the transfer, propshaft, and Haldex up to the rear diff and enjoy a more…

It’s worse than that... Chrysler has a several completely unrelated platforms: LC/LA for the RWD cars, Mitsu GS/JC for the Journey, very old RT for the Grand Caravan, and a modified Fiat CUSW (also old) for the Pacifica.

Nice catch. Between 1954 and 1960 the Prince Motor Company—which named itself in 1952 after Prince Akihito—changed back to its original post-war name, Fuji Precision Industries. In 1961 it changed its name back again to PMC. The cars retained the Prince badges the whole time I think. I’m not sure the reason for the…

We got the 3-cyl Ecoboost in the Fiesta and the Focus for a few years. Sales were very small, though.

No biggie, it was a weird time in racing with the sponsorship money. Like you pointed out, Ferrari was a racing company that made money by selling both race cars and road cars. That’s what I think of when I think of a factory team.

I’m not sure how the source of the money matters. JWA scored a coup with the Gulf sponsorship because it allowed them to race full-time without having to build a bunch of customer chassis like Lola or others.

We shouldn’t forget that Wyer’s success with the small-block GT40 was largely enabled by the Ford-powered (and later Cosworth-powered) Mirages that JWA built and raced both before and after the 917 program. Basically, JWA was a factory team that happened to moonlight as a “privateer” for Porsche for a couple of years.