Okay we’re back.
1988 - Minivan Boom: The Mk2 Ochlosia
By the second half of the 80s, the Ochlosia was starting to show signs of being outdated. Too boxy. Too small for the evergrowing van market. But what made FAAL take the decision of replacing it was the recently booming minivan market.
Chrysler. Renault. Both of them found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow with the Caravan and the Espace, and were rolling on sales. This was unacceptable. FAAL had to do something, and despite attempting to boost the sales of the Ochlosia Camper as one of them, people didn’t buy it. At the end of the day it was a van, and lacked the practicality and comfort of its competitors.
So. A van, to get back on the rails on the utilitarian market? Or a minivan, to try and get a share of magic? Both, my dudes. Both.
By 1985, FAAL decided to take on the development of an actual minivan, all while still producing the Mk1 Ochlosia. And also called for a partnership to build an actual new van, which was gonna end up being the PUCV.
While the PUCV project took five years to get released, the Mk2 Ochlosia saw the light of day, after much teasing, in 1988, arboring the new grille design first adopted on the 1987 Foreia facelift.
…
Oh yeah btw 1987 Foreia Facelift interlude
Trims roughly stayed the same, engines stayed the same. The facelift gets you thicker, one piece bumpers front and rear, and a new, more modern grille. The Klinos also got the same bumpers, although body coloured.
But anyway back to the Mk2 Ochlosia:
Remember the first generation Ochlosia? Well forget completely about it. This may look like a van from afar, but when you get closer, you’re greeted by a sleek, aerodynamic profile, and a flank that has way more design elements than any van would have. The Mk2 Ochosia is fitted with square fenders, and tough plastic wrapping the car from bumper to bumper, meant to give it a tougher look reminiscent of the very popular Ochlosia Camper 4x4 by Steer&Push.
The fact that it looks like a Foreia isn’t completely irrelevant, too: In fact, it’s sitting on Foreia underpinnings, and therefore inherits of its longitudinal engine layout (including TETRA Option), but more than that, of its double wishbone all around suspension, making it extremely comfy and drivable, on par with many cars on the market. Emphasis on cars.
Its party trick though, as a minivan, was its entirely modular interior that was fitted from the factory.
- Two seats on the front with individual armrests, both of them swivel.
- On the back, the entire area from the back of the front seats to the rear hatch is a flat floor fitted with two long rails on which both the second and third row of seats fit. So on those rails you get:
- The second row of seats, a bench with three separately adjustable backrests, that all slides on the rails as one piece
- The third row of seats, an uncomfortable two seat unit that can either be used as seats, be folded up to only take 25cm of the trunk’s height, or be completely removed.
This seat combo has been arranged to be able to make a bed out of the second and third row of seats, the two of them folded flat with the backrests at 180°.
Since it’s on Foreia underpinnings, it’s also using Foreia/Klinos engines:
- Gas 2.0L 115hp 204R20Mpi
- Gas 2.5L 144hp 255R25Mpi
- Turbo Diesel 1.9L 90hp 194P19TD2
- Turbo Diesel 2.5L 116hp 255P25TD2
TETRA AWD was an option on both 2.5L gas and diesel engines, and there were only two trims:
- Base trim, with either the 2.0i or 1.9TD engines. Basic everything, all the goodies were optional, and it was sitting on hubcaps.
- GL Trim with either one of the 2.5L engines. Power everything standard, optional leather seats, optional automatic gearbox
… but you aren’t listening to any of that because it seems like the cat is out of the box already. So I’m gonna talk about the elephant in the room: Yes, it has asymmetric mirrors.
Because of the unusual shape of the minivan, there were two gargantuan front quarter windows that were two third the size of the front door windows. And That gave FAAL an opportunity to cheat a little to get better visibility. Which is why the driver mirror is on the door, in order not to be hidden by the door pillar…
… and the passenger mirror is sitting right on the A pillar, and is fitted with a wide angle glass in order to get better visibility.
Oh yeah and since we’re talking about quirks and features, here’s some retractable roof bars.
The very first retractable roof bars of their kind. Tucked in when not needed, but when you do need them, they can slide wherever you want on the two roof rails, just like the second and third row of seats.
The Mk2 Ochlosia was a very welcomed asset in FAAL’s ever growing lineup. As it turns out, the 1980s were a time when you could create cars that followed a trend, and they’d still turn out to serve an actual purpose other than keeping up with the times not like those GOD DAMN CROSSOVERS AAHGIRJKSEFVOI
… Hem.
Next up, the death of the Coupe and entering the nineties.