Oops, here goes my plan to upload everything in chronological order. But, I think this break is still worth it! Also, another reminder that the Sisten Motoring Corporation is the company in which Corsica is a sub-brand in, alongside Sisten and Taluvec.
From Arion’s side:
Around 1988, the executives at the Sisten Motoring Corporation started taking notice of Arion Automotive, a company located in the Greatest of Britains. They started having talks with the higher-ups at Arion about acquiring a large stake in them in hopes of not only borrowing engines and technologies, but also in order to increase the size of Sisten size in the European market.
By '89, Sisten acquired a 29.6% stake in Arion, and this resulted in their first collaboration car, the Arion Starling & Corsica Zeta.
The Zeta and Starling were unveiled in 1990, both going on sale the same year. The three versions offered for the first three model years were the GL, GLX and Sport.
The Zeta was designed to be the more “budget-friendly” version of the Starling… something that didn’t make too much sense as the Zeta was offered exclusively in the US market.
When it comes to the engine, both of the twins used the same Arion designed 2.0 V6 engine, outputting 193 horsepower and achieving a 0-62 mph time of 5.3 seconds. This engine was mounted either to a 5-speed manual (standard in the base GL trim) or a 4-speed Corsica G-Tron automatic (standard in every other model).
In 1992, the Zeta became available with All-Wheel Drive with the CS Altrive trim (pictured above). The CS used a basic AWD system borrowed from a 10-year old Sisten and only managed to get through to 1995 before being discontinued.
When it comes to the design, the exterior was mostly done in-house by the designers from Arion. However, the interiors for both the cars were very different. As the Starling was the more luxurious offering with leather seats, it was in stark contrast to the Zeta’s black plastic dashboard and cloth seats.
The suspension of the Zeta was cheaper and more basic too, as were the brakes.
Specifications
2.0 V6 Turbo | 1990
Horsepower: 193hp @ 6800 RPM
Torque: 267 Nm @ 3500 RPM
Top Speed: 155km/h
0-100km/h: 10.7 seconds
Transmission: 4-speed automatic, 5-speed manual
Price: Starting from $25500 (1990)
The collaborations between Corsica and Arion would not end after the Starling/Zeta twins, as was showcased later in such models as the 1998 Cheetah CR Superspeed. Corsica’s next model would be the 1992 C900.
