Well now. Ford owned Jaguar for a while and a much modified Ford V8 engine was fitted to Jaguars and still is in some models. The Buick 3500cc engine has been fitted (extensively modified)to (Land) Rover for decades. Many parts for cars are "off the shelf" and not specifically made for any particular car or even make of car.
Shit American cars are well known to be just different bodywork fitted to mechanics years old. This is why the US car industry is in trouble. Lack of developement. Old technology. And the oil companies.
Happens when accountants are put in charge of things instead of engineers/enthusiasts.
I read something about BMW getting Rolls and VW getting Bentley with all sorts of machinations going on about BMW supplying V12 engines for the big cars. O_o
A friend has a 2011 or 12 & I have long though it was a fine looking car--- Then I saw a 2013-- Gotta give them credit for that one. I'm a GM guy, but I hear the siren's song. . . . Hope my 2001 Impala is nice to me for 4-5 more years.
Interestingly, VW paid millions for Rolls Royce - but did not do their due dilligence. They got everything except the NAME. They can NOT build Rolls Royce cars. That's whay they are all Bentleys. No Rolls Royce cars being built any more - and very possibly never will be.
I'd have to agree - since the "rebound", as slow and mild as it has been, more people ARE buying new cars - so more used are hitting the market again - so at least untill the flood, used car prices were softening a bit. Doesn't hurt that the new cars have been heavily discounted - and even the MSRP has dropped in many cases.
Just because AMC and GM both had a 327 does NOT mean they were the same engine. Even Pontiac, Buick, Chevy and Olds used to have their own totally separate 350 (and 400 I believe) and checy had both BBC and SBC 400 engines at the same time.
Of course today there is a LOT more cross-polination than there was back then. The "world engine" DOES come in many different displacements - shared among the same players. Audi and Mits do not share. Mits does share with Chrysler, Hyundai/Kia ( and possiblya couple of others)
There were plenty, even back then. My parent's '64 Saab was powered by a Ford V4. Perhaps not a factory offering, but Jag XJ's with small block Chevy engines are a common mod in CA. So much so, you can shop for one. Ford made Anglia's in UK starting in the late 30s. Opel was a German subsidary of GM... yada yada....
Looks like VW bought the Bentley and Rolls manufacturing rights etc but not the Rolls name - as I stated - BUT, the Rolls name was "licenced" to BMW - so BMW can build a car and call it a Rolls, but they cannot build the old rolls - while VW can build the old Rolls, but has to sell it as a Bentley.
What a screwed up sale that was.
Rolls was devided into Rolls PLC and Rolls Motors. back in 1973. Renamed Bentley Motors it was sold to VW in 1998. Bentleys were using BMW engines at that time - and BMW and VW battled for what was then still known as Rolls Royce Motors - VW won - but did not get the Rolls Royce name, and now operates as Bentley Motors. Rolls Royce PLC licenced the Rolls Royce name to BMW who then formed RollsRoyce Motor Cars as a wholly owned subsidiary
Anglia was to Ford UK what Galaxy or Fairlane was to Ford North America. Also known as the ford "Pop", for Popular, it was the 2 door car, while the Ford 4 door Pop was called a Prefect.
Opel Was GM Germany - and Vauxhaull became GM Great Britain - Taunus was Ford's German arm, and Rootes (singer, sunbeam, humber,) became Chrysler's british arm, with Simca the french Chrysler
Australia had Holden as GM Australia until it (I believe) separated off into it's own company - stilll closely allied with GM.
GM bought the bankrupt Daewoo in Korea - and owned the majority of Japan's Isuzu. Not sure what the current status of Isuzu is.
Ford has cross polinated with both Mitsubishi and Mazda over the years
- and mitsubishi also with Chrysler.
Nissan and Renault are basically the same company today.
Over the years, designs crossed from one "division" to the other - with the Chevette being one of the first "world cars" built and sold as a Vauxhaul in GB, an Opel in Gemany and a Chev in North America (as well as a Pontiac Acadian or T1000 in Canada) while the Vauxhaul HC (while not a "world car) was sold as a Pontiac Firenza in Canada -.
The sunbeam (rootes)was sold in north america as a plymouth cricket and Plymouth Arrow for a year or so, and then the Mitsubishi colt was sold as both a Dodge Colt and a Plymouth Cricket as well as a Dodge Challenger and a Plymouth Sapporro.
I drove mostly GM for many years. The last one, 2001 LebSabre, turned to crap in my driveway. When thing started going bad after two years (but more than 36k miles) GM was no help. They wanted to give me a few bucks off a new car.
Heated seat (they wanted $672 to replace it), transmission, power windows, heat and AC, brake lines, wheel bearings, steering wheel controls, bunch of other stuff in five years. I finally just gave it away. No more GM here.
The same thing that almost killed the US auto industry, namely upper mgt awarding themselves ever more $$$$ while failing to upgrade their own product and mfg processes. Harley would have died too if the brand didn't have such a legacy and middle class geezers hadn't come outta the woodwork in droves to relive their too-poor youth. Plus, the Brit govt wasn't so stupid as to bail out the failing Brit car/motocycle industry at its citizens expense.
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