E1 Series 1966 - 1970
1966 Bogliq Exordium
Revolutionary design innovations hidden beneath inoffensive exterior styling
During 1961 Bogliq USA underwent a major upheaval. The traditional company structure was removed and a more progressive, flexible and equitable structure put in it’s place. This resulted in delays for new models and the original line-up was forced to soldier on until the end of 1965. But the wait was worth it. Bogliq R&D had come up with some interesting quality of life enhancements that had been ignored due to the managers failing to see why the change was worth implementing. The mamagement upheaval saw these concepts being dusted off, trialled, then implemented in the new Exordium.
So what was the big deal then?
Simple really. The Exordium was a hatchback. One of the junior boffins had watched his wife struggle to load the boot of their Bettong with the shopping. There was plenty of room, but when stuff escaped the bags, they were hard to retrieve without hitting your head on the bootlid. His colleague also realised, when they discussed the idea over brunch, that a high opening rear door, or “hatch”, would compliment his idea for a folding rear seat-back, turning the little car into a little van!
So the Exordium became a hatchback, with a split-fold rear seat, with the hatch hinge being cammed so it would lock into place without falling down, should a gust of wind hit the door, or the car be parked on an unfavourable slope and/or angle. The Exordium was then targeted towards women who wanted a car for shopping and errands, light duty delivery work and city folk who wanted a practical mode of transport. The Exordium would also be exported to Garcia, since the Bettong was discontinued and it’s successor was too large to make a 1.4L powerplant a viable option…
1968 Refresh
In lieu of a full facelift, Bogliq USA conducted an immediate refresh of their entire range, following initial reports from the motoring press, customer feedback and general public commentary. For the Exordium, this would entail an increase in capacity, detail improvements to ride quality and an attempt to improve real world fuel useage. The Garcia special export model, now available in manual gearbox form as standard, would again become a separate model. US buyers could order one if they so desired, however it wasn’t specifically marketed as being available in the USA.
Exordium Mk 1 Model Range
514C - $1,549 Driveaway, $57 p.a. servicing (3dr Hatch, 1.4L I4, 35Kw, 3A, 150Km/h, 21.9 0-100, 10.8L/100)
514F - $1,549 Driveaway, $57 p.a. servicing (5dr Hatch, 1.4L I4, 35Kw, 3A, 151Km/h, 20.4 0-100, 10.8L/100)
Exordium Mk 1 Model Range - 1968
516C - $1,699 Driveaway, $61 p.a. servicing (3dr Hatch, 1.6L I4, 35Kw, 3A, 152Km/h, 19.6 0-100, 10.4L/100) Reliability: 62.5. (Strongest Category: Fun B - C: 99.7 A: 39.3%)
516F - $1,699 Driveaway, $61 p.a. servicing (5dr Hatch, 1.6L I4, 35Kw, 3A, 151Km/h, 20.6 0-100, 10.5L/100) Reliability: 62.6. (Strongest Category: Fun B - C: 105.4 A: 39.1%)
514G - $1,599 Driveaway, $54 p.a. servicing (5dr Hatch, 1.4L I4, 31Kw, 4M, 150Km/h, 20.6 0-100, 9.1L/100) Reliability: 64.1 (Strongest Category: Passenger Fleet - C: 93.8 A: 78.2%)
1966 Anhultz Puck Mk I
Left to Right: Puck C, Puck B, Puck D. Easy on the eye, easy on the wallet and easy to own; the Puck has it all!
In the early 60’s Anhultz suffered a major factory fire, which destroyed their next generation designs, prototypes and the future of the company. News of this tragedy reached the head of the Bogliq Workers Union (BWU) who decided to test the new CEO of Bogliq USA to show solidarity with the Dutch workers and help them out. This resulted in Bogliq R&D sharing their new model designs with Anhultz to help them recover.
In the end, only two Bogliq models were needed as salvage efforts managed to save the engineering data on the remainder of the Anhultz range. The Puck was the first of these “rescue” models, with three reference trims, but could be purchased in any combination the customer desired. The Puck has a simple two and four door sedan variation choice and had a brace of powerplants; two inline fours and an inline three. All were frugal, performed well and were well received in the marketplace.
Puck Mk I Model Range
Puck C: $1,635 Driveaway, $70.28 p.a. Servicing (2 dr sedan, 1.2L I4, 48hp, 4M 157Km/h, 16.7 0-100, 8.8L/100)
Puck B: $1,471 Driveaway, $42.94 p.a. Servicing (2 dr sedan, 0.9L I3, 37hp, 4M 142Km/h, 21.9 0-100, 8.2L/100)
Puck D: $1,888 Driveaway, 73.70 p.a. Servicing (2 dr sedan, 1.4L I4, 58hp, 4M 167Km/h, 15.2 0-100, 9.4L/100)
Please Note: All prices are estimates only and will vary based on spec level, engine choice and your local dealership. Contact Anhultz directly if you want a specific quote or would like a test drive!
@Elizipeazie: History has been made, much joy will ensue!
1970 Bogliq Exordium Mk 2
The Mk 2 version of the Exordium proved to be an unsuccessful evolutionary step sideways…
The 1968 mid model refresh was a success, but it revealed a flaw with the original design; not enough engine bay room. The engineers in Powertrain then scratched their heads until inspiration came! Lop a cylinder off and the clearance problem will go away… At least in theory. The reality was that the bay was still too cramped, besides, the highway network revealed that the Exordium needed more power, not less capacity! The Exordium also was powered by Clean Air engine variants; tuned to run on 91RON unleaded fuel, which slightly confused some buyers, but the engines still ran fine on the old 92RON fuel; it was just optimised for the fuel of tomorrow!
Buyers didn’t take to the new engine as well as Bogliq hoped, plus Garcia was still being supplied with the old engine, so Product Development set about developing a more suitable replacement… The Garcia export cars, for the sake of parts chain efficiency, still received deliveries of the Mk 1 Exordium with the 1.4L inline four installed.
Exordium Mk 2 Model Range
515C - $1,869 Driveaway, $61 p.a. servicing (3dr Hatch, 1.5L I3, 37Kw, 3A, 149Km/h, 20.1 0-100, 9.5L/100) Reliability: 62.7. (Strongest Category: Passenger Fleet - C: 95.9 A: 77.1%)
515F - $1,869 Driveaway, $61 p.a. servicing (5dr Hatch, 1.5L I3, 37Kw, 3A, 149Km/h, 20.6 0-100, 9.8L/100) Reliability: 62.7. (Strongest Category: Passenger Fleet - C: 103.1 A: 76.7%)