Ford Pinto
The Ford Pinto is one reason why hatchbacks lost their luster in the U.S. market. The once-popular subcompact was a mainstay of the 1970s but, like so many hatchbacks of the era, it offered little in the way of creature comforts and other amenities. Making matters worse was the Pinto’s flawed gas tank design, associated with a number of deadly fires.
Chevrolet Vega
Though stylish in its day, the relatively stripped-down Chevy experienced a variety of quality and reliability problems that hurt the image of both parent General Motors and of the hatchback itself. Once one of the most popular body styles, demand for 3- and 5-door models slipped to barely 1 percent of total U.S. sales by the middle of the last decade.
AMC Gremlin
Few carmakers were more committed to the hatchback than American Motors.
It offered a wide variety of alternatives -- especially considering the size of the company. The Gremlin, shown here, was among its most popular hatch models, along with the Alliance, marketed under the brand of one-time French ally Renault.
But one of the most curious AMC offerings was the Pacer, originally designed to use the radical Wankel rotary, though converted to a conventional engine due to quality and mileage problems with the rotary.
No comments:
Post a Comment