For 1978
Retro Age Motors launches a new luxury marque …
Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present luxury’s best friend …
Diamond
Diamond - Luxury’s Best Friend
A division of Retro Age Motors
Parking Memories in the Driveway
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Morton’s Corsair III, introduced in 1985, put the nameplate back on track after the underpowered second generation disappointed longtime fans. As the first Corsair with multi-point EFI as standard, it was not only more powerful than its predecessor, but also more drivable and economical, making it a better everyday proposition than before.
With 225 horsepower on tap, it could exceed 141 mph and go from 0 to 60 in just 6.3 seconds, while recording a quarter-mile time of 14.7 seconds. Also, it could pull just over 1g on a skid pad, proving that the brawny Corsair could compete with domestic and imported rivals not just in a straight line, but also in the corners.
The Corsair III 5.0 sold very well during the model’s lifespan, and thanks to strong aftermarket support, still enjoys a devoted following to this day.
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Your car’s trim year is outside the eligibility period for this thread - if you feel like you have to post the '97 M10 Ansom, do it somewhere else instead.
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@loflyh That Continental Kit though
Pick your poison. Mine is ridiculous malaise luxury. Such as the 1981 Monolith A480DLS Permanent. An incredibly exciting name for an incredibly odd vehicle.
As you can see the A-Series is in fact a full size Pick-Up truck, a very american vehicle then. Even still, the A-Series was still manufactured in Germany, which resulted in one major problem. The Chicken Tax, a 25% Import tariff for foreign made light trucks that drastically increased the price of such vehicles, and caused many to either build manufacturing plants in NA or pull out of the market altogether. Not so Monolith. IMPs heavy trucks had been sold in the US, Mexico and Canada since the 1950s, with reasonable success too. But those weren’t affected by such tariffs and also included many locally sourced parts (Engines, Transmissions, Axles, Brakes etc.). Knowing that Monolith couldn’t compete with makes like Deer & Hunt on price alone, Monolith had to find a niche to remain a veritable option. As such Monolith was the first brand to offer diesel engines in light trucks as early as 1966, and from then on simply kept adding luxury features to their trucks. A north american Monolith between 1966 and 1985 nearly always came loaded with features such as AM/FM Radio, automatic transmission, Cruise control, Air Conditioning, electric windows and seats, cloth or leather upholstery, auxiliary working lights and a fridge for drinks etc. The only options were the choice between a Gasoline V8 engine of 4.1 or 4.5L Displacement or a 4.1/4.8L Straight six Diesel engine, and in case of the A-Series Pick-Up two or four wheel drive (The only other model was the 4WD M111/M112 Station Wagon).
Such was the case with this 1981 A480DLS model, notable for being equipped with permanent four-wheel drive, hence the name extension “Permanent”. The Name also gives away the 4.8L naturally aspirated diesel engine that produced a healthy 140hp. By no means fast, it was as capable as any competitor, with respectable economy to boot. Differences to the world market models were minimal, with sealed beam headlights, red indicators and side marker lights. Curiously absent from all 1978 to 1985 Monolith was Chrome, an intentional decision to give the vehicles a unique visual appearance from the norm. Monolith would not start to locally manufacture their trucks and SUVs until 1986, but when they did, the sales numbers unsurprisingly went through the roof.
(Note: as the truck is running a faksimile Diesel engine, and I could not find reliable information on contemporary regulations for Diesels in NA the truck in fact requires 98 Leaded fuel. If this is a violation of the spirit I’ll modify the submission.)
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Memory fail. Will try again :\
1971 Bogliq Mackaw Touring
In the early 50’s, Bogliq USA set up an independent subsidiary in Brasil, called Bogliq SA, to build variants of Bogliq USA cars tailored to local tastes. This included an engine plant as well as the main car factory. Bogliq SA started production of the first generation Alpha Four and continued to do so right up until the current day. The template for this engine was the same engine tune as in the 1952 Corso de Fruinia, which, as a package, was both sporty and frugal in equal measure.
The Mackaw was the Mutineer re-badged, then later re-designed, for the Brasillian market. In the mid 60’s it was decided that the market was mature enough for a re-bodied spin-off, dubbed the “Touring”. Designed to bridge the gap between stylish and practical, the Mackaw Touring was designed to turn heads without snapping them!
the 1971 update reached the US market via the new model sharing system devised by Konstantin Bogliq. A number of wealthy dealers in Miami, Florida saw a niche that the Mackaw Touring could fill and ordered as many of them as Bogliq SA could supply. Unfortunately, these numbers were less than the dealers hoped, since the demand in the local market for the Touring was strong and the factory was having difficulty keeping up with demand…
Still, the Miami dealers were able to average sales of 100 units per month with sales remaining strong until the Mackaw was refreshed in 1976.
Sale price (1971): $1,465 USD ($7,886 AMU’s)
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DAAG G Series (G01)
Built by DAAG from 1968 to 1977 and sold in Germany, Eastern Europe and a few South American countries. It was the first generation of the brand’s mini car.
This vehicle was made to compete with the economy cars of the time, while still aiming to be a little bit more upscale and a more fun vehicle to drive. It’s the brand’s smallest car ever built and that’s where its got it’s name from, G is the acronym of Gnom, which literally translates to “gnome”.
Powertrain wise, this specific unit comes equipped with a naturally-aspirated, reverse-flow head, 1.1 L I3 engine located in the rear, with a single overhead cam and two valves per cylinder, delivering 43 hp and 81 Nm of torque. Paired with a 4-speed non-syncronous manual transmission, power is sent to the rear wheels through an open differential. There was also a sportier version called the G11 DR that came equipped with a high lift cam, DCOE carburetor, sport exhaust and a 5-speed manual, among other modifications, that bumped the power from 43 to 74hp.
Chassis wise, the G11 has linear-rate springs and twin-tube shocks in all four corners. Combined with MacPherson suspension in the front and double-wishbone suspension in the rear, this ensures the user adequate levels of grip, comfort and handling in most situations.
In the interior, passengers will find seating for five, with two seats in the front and a bench in the back. In the technology department, the car comes equipped with a basic AM radio that plays sound through a single speaker mounted to the left of the device.
The reason behind the engine being in the back of the vehicle was to allow the passengers to have more room in the interior -because there were no exhaust nor transmission hump- and for the brand to experimentate with engine-free crumple zones.
TECHNICAL SPECS
DAAG G11 (G01)
- ENGINE:
Code: DZMA-11-E.
Displacement: 1127 cm³.
Bore and stroke: 75 mm x 85 mm.
Material: cast iron block and head.
Valvetrain type: 2 valves per cylinder SOHC.
Fuel system: eco-tuned single barrel carburetor.
Exhaust manifold: compact header.
Mufflers: single reverse flow mufflers.
Horsepower and torque figures: 43 hp @5300 RPM / 81 Nm @2500RPM.
- DRIVETRAIN:
Layout: rear mounted, longitudinal, rear wheel drive.
Gearbox: non-synchronous 4-speed manual transmission w/reverse.
- CHASSIS:
Type: galvanized steel monocoque chassis.
Front suspension: MacPherson struts.
Rear suspension: double wishbone.
Wheels and tires: basic design, steel, 135/80R12 front and rear hard compound tires.
Brakes: 205 mm drums on all four wheels.
Curb weight: 634 kg.
- PERFORMANCE FIGURES:
Top speed: 124,3 km/h.
0-100 km/h: 16 s.
Combined fuel consumption: 9,0 l/100 km
Skidpad: 0,78 G.
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What’s better than owning a late 70’s American car? Denver got you covered.
Introducing '78 Denver Quest, a perfect large and smooth American coupe that is baller to drive in it. With the huge 6.0L pushrod V8, it is capable producing up around 148hp. Not a lot of power sure but it is more fuel-saving engine than the previous models.
Climbing inside, it has your typical premium bench seat in the front and in the rear with column-shifter 4-speed auto installed. Oh! And also, premium radio also included.
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The 7 current entrants for the week have been photographed and loaded into the number cruncher. But one of my kids has a ridiculously early sports thing tomorrow, so I need to get a nap. Hopefully I’ll get these finished in about 24 hours.
Also, I apologize, the pictures for 2 of them will be at a different angle from the rest. Accidentally overwrote the preset I was using for these… WHOOPS!
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EDIT: The right poster helps
Along came 1985, and along came the '85 US spec Stamford. Driveability off the charts, prestige through the roof, safety galore. It was loved as a lights sports car, even though the body style itself was quite long in the tooth. It seemed that 11Kg/Kw (18lb/hp) was considered to be enough to make the market forgive it’s shortcomings, including its top speed of only 185Km/h (115mph). That price you see on the poster up there, that’s at 30%, and it still beats 100 in 3 categories – that’s an achievement for me.
FUN FACT: You could actually get kits from Leeroy Customs if you felt a need spice your 85 Stamford up a touch. A 60Kw turbo package for under $600 (8.7% of the new car price)? Take my money, @HighOctaneLove.
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When IP bought the bankrupt Kingston corporation in 1964, a new city car heavily inspired by the british Mini was already on Kingstons drawing table. The project was put on hold for some years, but in the late 60s there was a boom in the home market with lots of people that could finally have some room in their budget to replace their small 2-stroke scooters with a car, as long as it was very cheap and economical. In the export markets outside the Asian countries, it was more often bought as a cheap throwaway second car, or as the first new car for people that usually only could afford an used car.
Technically, it was simple, yet modern, for its era. The engine was advanced for a car in its class, being entirely out of aluminium with a DAOHC valvetrain. Very much emphasis was put on making the engine as friendly as possible to the environment, with hardened valve seats to cope with unleaded gasoline, that’s why it was called the LEE, “Low Emission Engine”. Up front was Mc Pherson struts, an easy way to make room for the driveshafts in the front wheel drive vehicle (the first one from IP ever), in the rear a light, coil sprung solid axle, which was said to be almost a copy of the unit used on the Swedish Saab 96.
Interior wise, it was the simplest possible, but functional, it was low on both comfort and safety equipment, but so was almost any car in its class in this era.
The first generation IP Colibri was produced between 1970 and 1979. With the second generation being both more refined and expensive, many people will rather see the 1982-93 Mk1 IP Urbana as the spiritual successor to the first generation Colibri.
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1977 Epoch M20 - Falconeer GT8
Since 1974, Epoch continues to provide affordable, reliable, and fun motoring with the Epoch M20 Falconeer. Whether you are after a zippy coupe that is safe and predictable enough for your whole family to drive, or a fire-breathing v8 monster to take to the track, the Falconeer range has a vehicle for you.
In order to celebrate Epoch’s 110th Birthday in 1977, comes a special edition of the Falconeer. Based upon the ‘standard’ v8 GT package (if anything about the car could be considered standard!), the Engineers at Epoch Motorsports Division have tweaked and tuned almost every aspect of the vehicle to create the ultimate expression of the M20 line - the Falconeer GT8. Highlights include the 3.0L v8 engine (descendant from the famous Artemus 3000), sport tuned suspension, 5-speed manual gearbox, larger brakes, a race-proven aerodynamic package, exclusive “Burnt Orange” paint and decals, and a premium sports interior.
Perfection doesn’t come cheap, but with the Falconeer GT8 selling for under $15,000, it definitely can be affordable.
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1978 Diamond Bureau Coupe
Do you even Brougham, bro?
RAM totally did, with the Diamond Bureau Coupe. And it transports us back to a simpler day. The days of spandex, fake leather wheel covers, gallons of AquaNet, and the constant threat of nuclear war.
Well, it sort of takes us back there, anyway. Then takes us on a weird-ass twist with its flatplane crank V8. Looks 100% American Malaise on the outside, looks 70’s Disco Americana on the inside, turn it on and… Italian Supercar? No, no, no no.
Whatever the reasoning back in the 70’s for RAM’s decision on this particular car, it has at least created a niche market for collecting this bizarre personal luxury coupe.
If you’re looking for one yourself, just beware of what you’re getting yourself into. They didn’t get a reputation of being money pits for no reason. Those lovely engines, while solid on the mechanical bits, tend to eat up ignition and electronic components like there’s no tomorrow. And the interior is made up of all kinds of wonderful early luxury gadgetry that loved to break, and provide the need for engineering R&D for decades to come for luxury manufacturers. In short: it was the bar for “bad” that everyone else learned from.
Scoring:
Counter Culture - Classics: Very Low (Currently in 12th)
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1985 Morton Corsair III 5.0
Tragedy struck the in 1972 and 1973, as rapidly tightening regulations strangled the life out of the American Muscle car industry. Thus began the Malaise that would cast a pallor over the states for a decade (or two, depending on who you ask).
But then, in 1985… Hallelujah, the performance was finally back!
Meet the third-gen Morton Corsair, with a good old-fashioned 5.0 liter pushrod, modernized with fuel injection. No longer did the “muscle” car wheeze along with 130-ish horsepower. New technology and computer-controlled injection allowed the smog-compliant Corsair to once again churn a healthy 224 horses. Along with its relatively light weight after going on a diet, this meant that the Corsair was able to do 60 in just a hair over 6 seconds once more.
Furthermore, Morton proved that the performance could easily be achieved without outrageous costs. It has earned every right to brag as being one of the most important muscle cars of our days, for they would truly be dark without this beacon of light.
Scoring:
Mainstream Culture - Muscle Cars: High (Currently in 2nd)
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Actually, I quite love the extent of lore you go to in order to do this, so no worries. However, as you’ll see by my writeup, your lore itself kind of dictates, and goes hand-in hand with, how the “leaded fuel” would have been handled anyway…
1981 Monolith A480DLS Permanent
The 80’s were an interesting time for many, many reasons. Today we’ll shine a spotlight on how politics, economics, and industry collided in a not-so-pretty way.
Going way back to the early 60’s, France and West Germany placed an import tariff on American chickens, and the States responded by placing a tariff on light trucks, brandy, dextrin, and potato starch. Eventually all tariffs except the one on light trucks would be removed; this sole survivor was kept in place at the behest of the UAW.
Fast forward to the 80’s, and manufacturers from all over are trying to figure out ways to import their trucks into the States without paying the tariff. Monolith, who had been selling luxury trucks for many years, had gone for as long as they could before the “chassis cab” loophole was closed in '79. For 7 more years they would struggle to sell their trucks with the insane tariff before they opened a North American assembly plant, and were finally able to build domestically and avoid the tax.
So this '81 Monolith A480DLS Permanent is a rather rare beast, as sales were pretty terrible during that timeframe. The “Permanent” moniker denotes the permanent four-wheel drive system (which we now just call AWD). Loaded with a diesel engine, auto trans, high end upholstery choices, cruise, air, and great (for the time) stereos.
Now, some of our neighbors weren’t involved in this little (and to this day ongoing) trade dispute. Rather than trying to scour the ends of the Earth, or at least of America, the easiest way to get hold of one of these is to go run south of the border. They are EVERYWHERE down there. And, now that they’re over 25 years old, you can just drive one back and pay a small duty and be done with it.
Scoring:
Counter Culture - Import/Export: Medium (Currently in 9th)
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1971 Bogliq Mackaw Touring
In the early 70’s, Bogliq had a definite desire to have downsized models and engines on the market. A variety of methods were tried, some were more successful than others, as evidenced by the Bogliq Fanatic’s zealous reception vs. the rather cold one of the Kitten Si. But even before those models, Konstantin Bogliq tried to bring in cars from his worldwide manufacturing facilities.
Starting in '71, dealers in Miami and similar southern areas could import Brazilian-built Mackaws, powered by a 2-liter, 80 horsepower mill. This was actually a quite peppy engine for the model, and reasonably efficient.
The Mackaw Touring enjoyed a brief spurt of relative popularity (when you consider that only around 10,000 were brought into the states over a 6 year period) during the Oil Crisis. But it was still too bizarre for American buyer’s tastes, especially with the “plus three” configuration of rear seats, which were basically useless.
The intent to use a newer model to steal sales from more venerable competitors such as the Ardent Sentinel failed; despite its old architecture and antiquated engine choices, buyers still preferred it over the Mackaw.
Still, once a glut of cheap Mackaws became available along the gulf coast, a specialty marque club was formed. In recent years, their small buy loyal following has started importing parts and even full cars from Brazil, in order to fuel the need for spares to keep their own cars running.
Scoring:
Counter Culture - Import/Export: Very Low (Currently in 14th)
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1973 DAAG G11
Today’s blog is all about another quirky car we love, but was never sold stateside. The 1973 DAAG G11.
This baby is a little micro-light “sedan” hatchback-type car from Europe, also sold in South America. It was never anything that was designed for North American tastes at the time, with 5 small but surprisingly comfortable seats rocketed around by a 1.1 liter 3-cylinder engine.
When I was stationed in Germany, I got a chance to drive a couple of these. They most definitely don’t feel as slow as their numbers on paper would suggest. Handling is decent, though not super sharp. There is something undeniably fun, however, about just letting loose in one of these things and throwing it around. Speed records be damned, all those kinds of thoughts go right out the window when you’re just skating around in a tiny little DAAG.
That’s why, at least to me, it’s not surprising to see one now and then on the roads around here. Invariably, some gearhead spent some time in Europe, fell in love with one, and brought it home with them to use as their personal “funabout”.
Scoring:
Counter Culture - Import/Export: Medium (Currently in 11th)
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1985 G&W Stamford Interceptor 2.2 M
For every story of a great rise, there universe demands a story of a fall from grace. Today’s sad tale is about the new-for-85 Godhap and Whent Stamford.
Billed as a lot cost, high content sports coupe, the Stamford Interceptor failed to deliver in any meaningful sense. Whereas the decade earlier the Seax was a fun, albeit quirky sporty family car with good bones, the Stamford that was delivered to US shores was continuously plagued with problems.
In seemingly true British fashion, foremost among those were electrical gremlins galore. But the “Henry I” engine doesn’t live up to either the glory nor the longevity of the English king of the middle ages. Instead, ring problems, cracked heads, and broken valves were the order of the day for the sad 2.2 liter 16-valve SOHC motor.
Leeroy Customs built a turbo package for the Stamford overseas, but virtually none made it to our shores, thanks to the poor taste in the consumers’ mouths with the original engine. It didn’t make sense at the time to invest that much money to probably blow up your engine faster.
Nowadays, the few Stamfords left are basically beaten and flogged on the track until they die. Truly sad to see, from a company that had such a wonderful car just a few years earlier.
Scoring:
Counter Culture - Motorsports: Very Low (Currently in 11th)
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…
Behold what happens when your lore doesn’t match your file…
1978 Denver Quest Coupe
While we’re on the topic of blunders, we have a bonus blog for you today. Legal debacles. They happen now and then in the automotive industry, and we’re reminded of one of our favorite SNAFUs where the manufacturer ended up eating crow.
The 1978 Denver Quest Coupe. Touted in some early material as having a full bench front and rear seat. Sounds totally like a late 70’s American personal coupe. Until you realize that Denver forgot two minor details: a front center seatbelt, and a rear center seatbelt.
See, with a litigious society, one really doesn’t want to argue the semantics of what a “full bench seat” means in either the court of public opinion or an actual court. Yet, that’s what ended up happening in the case of the Quest Coupe. Rather than apologize, give refunds, change their pricing, and/or reclassify their car, Denver doubled down.
Sure enough, the Quest has a split-bench front seat, which technically qualifies as a bench seat. But the legal implication there is that there is a seatbelt somewhere between the driver and passenger, so that another passenger (usually a kid) can sit there. Bzzt… nope. And the rear? It’s an honest to God bench seat, no splits, from side to side. But again, there was this omission of a center seat belt, which had consumers and consumer advocacy groups up in arms.
The thing was, the Quest wasn’t a bad car at all. It was, other than the legal hiccup and a slightly oversized engine, a perfectly normal-for-the-era car.
But Denver fought the law, and the law won. And now, people strangely collect these original, pre-refit coupes, without the extra belts, for fun. On purpose.
Scoring:
Counter Culture - Classics: Low (Currently in 9th)
9 Likes
Haha yes.
But for real tho, let’s just say Denver is creating uh… “creative” way to advertise the car to the consumers.
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