The European hot hatch market had started its decline in the early 1990s but it still had plenty of momentum. 1991 was a good year: Volkswagen had just launched the controversial third-gen GTI, the Peugeot 205 GTi was soldiering on in spite of its age and the 309 GTi was going head-to-head against the Renault … Continue reading »
Ran When Parked got to spend the better part of a weekend in Bangkok, Thailand, on our way back home from a business trip in China. Having never been to Thailand before, we were impressed by all of the old cars that are still on the road. Continue reading »
Volkswagen has a habit of keeping old models around for as long as there is a demand for them regardless of how outdated they are compared to the competition. The obvious examples are the Type 2/Transporter, which is still part of the Volkswagen lineup in Brazil, the Type 1/Beetle, finally phased out in 2003 in … Continue reading »
.The per-capita income in China has been steadily rising over the past couple of years and a sizable middle class with a healthy appetite for consumer goods has emerged. As a result, the few vehicles that were built locally during the 1980s and the 1990s have largely disappeared and automotive landscape is dominated by late-model … Continue reading »
Car-based vans have been incredibly popular in Europe since the end of World War II. Generally cheaper to buy, register and insure than larger vehicles, these city-friendly vans have been widely used as delivery vehicles, work mules and passenger haulers over the past couple of decades. Almost every automaker has offered one at one point … Continue reading »
Rover fielded a Mini Cooper in the 1994 edition of the Monte Carlo Rally to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the car’s first victory in the event. Finished in red with a white roof, the 1994 race car was a crowd favorite because it looked nearly identical to its 1964 counterpart – the two cars … Continue reading »
The 5 has gone down in history as one of Renault’s biggest success stories. It helped redefine the compact economy car at its launch in 1972 and it stayed ahead of the competition until the early 1980s. The story was admittedly a little different in the North America, where it was re-badged LeCar for a … Continue reading »
The E36 increased the distance between the BMW 3-Series and the 2002 that inspired it by moving the nameplate up a notch on the market. Bigger, faster and more opulent than its predecessor, the E36 alienated a small group of purists that longed for a simple, nimble and relatively affordable rear-wheel drive machine. Continue reading »
Remembered as one of the most popular versions of the Citroën 2CV, the Charleston started life as merely the latest in a long line of special editions designed to keep sales from embarking on a free fall. It was based on the 2CV6 Spéciale and introduced in France in October of 1980. Continue reading »
Introduced at the 1994 Turin Motor Show, the Alfa Romeo 145 / 146 was a two-pronged approach to replacing the eleven-year old 33. Both cars were penned by Chris Bangle, whose name became infamously linked to BMWs in the early 2000s, and shared the same 164-inspired front end but they were drastically different from the … Continue reading »
