Oh 
oi, I never meant this XD I completely forgot about this generation of Kadett XD
Thankfully, this is the post where it’s gonna change. Or not.
1975: Square bois and Survivors - Mk3 Mesaia and Mk2 Plebia second facelift
In 1965, the Mesaia II took over the Mesaia I that was launched ten years prior.
1965 was ten years ago.
Yup, it is time.
This pretty square body is issued from the numerous bodystyle studies FAAL did during the great 1965-1974 era where literally no new or updated car came out. Well… Great, as in long. Even though the start of the era was promising, both the economy and the possibilities were going down the drain as years went on…
…
I mean…
Y’know what?
Emission Crisis Interlude:
So as I said, the economy and possibilities were both going down the drain, but it wasn’t as bad as what was happening in the USA, though… USA that they tried to conquer, by sending their most buffed out, yet still efficient Foreia, fitted with a 236S23Ce3-US engine with hypereutectic cast pistons that prevented it to run faster than 5700rpm… not like americans cared, heh.
The 1972 Foreia 233L US spec:
Same facelifted Foreia as you know, with white headlights, no license plate support… And thus, the trademark “two grilles wrapping around the license plate” FAAL design cue had to go, too, replaced by a continuation of the upper grille.
Permanently lit blinker repeaters found their way on both side, front and rear. The taillights ditched the amber light and grew larger, covering the entire surface between the license plate and the sides.
And of course, the one and only thing you need to make sales in the USA
With a three speed Prendell™ The car had a top speed of 94mph, did 0 to 62 in 15.4sec… But a pretty poor fuel rating of 16.1MPG (the fact that decimals matter says it all) thanks to the same slushbox that allowed it to sell. It wasn’t an economy car, after all.
And while they were building that, the same year, discreetly, the Plebia 102S, Mesaia 162S and Foreia 234S all got discontinued, because they didn’t meet the emission standards and every attempt at replacing them with the same kind of punch ended up a failure.
RiP S trims, 1960-1972. Press F to pay respects.
… Thankfully, better days were to come when the technology advances.
So anyway, back to the
1975 Mk3 Mesaia, fo real this time.
So yeah, the square boi you saw earlier was set to replace the quirky boi hatchback-wagon looking thing that sold like chocolatines.
…
“Pains au chocolat”, said someone, threatening me with a knife. He would be right.
No surprises in the styling, except probably those big plastic bumpers, that were meant to lessen body damage. Apart from that, the headlights and grille evoked the outgoing model, the “license plate wrapped in grilles” was still here, and so was that plastic bar between the taillights.
The car was 3.82m long, could weigh as low as 791kg, and was made of untreated steel. It retained the same chassis elements as the outgoing model: McPherson suspension on the front, torsion beam on the rear, transversal FWD engine.
It was available in both 3 and 5 doors variants, though all the press cars shown below were 5 doors. A 3.99m sedan version was also available, even though it had borderline anecdotic sales and wasn’t really marketted.
Let’s talk trims and engines.
The Mk3 Mesaia was available in three trims, that were… not really equivalent to those of the outgoing model. Especially the lower ones.
The base model was the 1.1BL, badged 1.1 only. It came with fully unpainted bumpers, no rear foglights, no radio, no power steering, nothing. As for the engine, that 1.1L unit was a 133S derivative: The 133S11CeUE, developing 46hp and mated to a 4 speed gearbox. To put it short, it’s a stroked version of the engine from the Plebia 102S, tuned for economy. A Plebia engine in a Mesaia… hmpf.
At least it worked, and the car sipped on 8.9l/100 of fuel, while topping up at 134km/h and reaching 100km/h in an agonizing 19.5sec.
Pictured here in the very rare sedan configuration:
The mid-trim model was the CL. It was basically a BL, with factory options that… actually made the car liveable, like power steering, and a radio. Other changes were mostly cosmetic, with half painted bumpers and rear foglights. With no options, the car weighed 871kg.
The base engine was a new 1.3L derivative of the 184S family, the 184S13Ce2UE, mated to a 4 speed gearbox. It developed 60hp, propelled the car to 100km/h in 15.8sec, topped up at 147km/h with a fuel consumption of 9.7l/100. But you could option it up to the engine from the base model Foreia, the 184S16Ce2UE 1.6 unit developing 71hp. Just like you could option up a 5 speed gearbox, nicer seats, a better stereo and more safety options.
…
OR, you could also have every option box ticked AND add alloy wheels and progressive suspension and get the upper trim: The Mesaia GL.
The only options you could add were front foglights and fancy paints, like the Bleu Lagon Métallisé showed below, because… you already had everything else.
The car was only available with the 1.6L, 71hp engine mentioned earlier, mated to a 5 speed manual. With this, the car weighed 979kg, 0-100km/h in 13.9sec, and had a top speed of 157km/h. Fuel consumption was 10.4l/100, though.
No S model… as I said, every single attempt ended up in something not worth selling… And the car itself relied on heavy marketting, a modern design, and a generous option list to sell, because, well… People were starting to see fuel like they see caviar, at that time.
…
GUESS WHO DIDN’T GIVE A SH*T THO
PLEBIA OWNERS. THAT’S RIGHT.
1975 Mk2 Plebia - second facelift
A little quickie for this one, because, well… It’s the third time you see that car now.
So, the ole’ 1955 Plebia was still here, and still selling 20 years later (especially during the fuel crisis, OBVIOUSLY) and… Yeah, in fact it was selling so much that FAAL found it deserved a second facelift.
The cosmetic changes were mostly in the front fascia with:
- A new, wider grille with a… somewhat familiar design, I can’t put my finger on it…
- The updated “plate surrounded by grilles” cue, with rounded edges
- Square blinkers and repeaters
- The replacement of the trunk latch by a simple lock-push button… And if you looked closely the pictures of the three last posts, that means that THE 29YO MK1 PLEBIA DOOR HANDLE CAN FINALLY BE DISCONTINUED.
#GoneButNot4gotten 1946-1975
As for the technical changes:
The Plebia 81 is replaced by the Plebia 900BL (simply badged Plebia) with the very last revision of the now ancient pushrod 123P engine, the 123P9CeUE. 35hp, 606kg, 8.7l/100km/h, 112km/h top speed and I won’t even publish the 0-100 time.
The Plebia 101L is replaced by the Plebia GL, with… The 1.1 engine from the base Mesaia, just to rub the fact that the base Mesaia ACTUALLY has a Plebia engine. 46hp, 690kg, 9.9l/100 (yeah, worse than the Mesaia. Boom.), 121km/h, 18.2s to 100.
Neither the 101M nor the 102S had following this year.
…
But if you look closely at the badging on the 1978 model year that is shown, due to fixture errors on the 1975 cars… more is to come in later years for FAAL’s sport car legacy.
UH OH, S🅱OILER ALERT.