Here Are the Most Bizarre Car Brand Partnerships Ever

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Most bizarre car partnerships! Here are the weirdest, most unusual, and most bizarre car company partnerships of all time, of the strangest cars around. You probably never knew about these car company partnerships, and they're all unusual -- check it out!
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[@tomhoward4905]

100% up for a part 2 of this. Never gets old hearing about these weird mashups!

[@bag2963]

I'm up for that too but honestly there aren't so many this insane mashups left.

[@tomhoward4905]

@@bag2963 you might be surprised

[@bag2963]

@@tomhoward4905 Well than I'm defiantly up for this xd

[@aaron-fauth]

@@tomhoward4905 Possibly. Possibly not

[@LowerYourExpectationsPleb]

What's up with the more doug demuro channel?

[@911rsr]

As a Korean I am impressed at how well Doug knows about the Korean car market of the past. We got shitty cars. We were also too poor to know if it was shitty. Mercedes in Korea durring the 70s costed more than a apartment unit in Seoul.

[@roshangomez]

Same was the case in India

[@theblackhand6485]

And in Poland with the FIAT 126p (-Poland).

[@HowItsEvenPossible]

But now you're making awesome cars! A lot of cars in my country are Korean ;)

[@RB26DEST]

@@HowItsEvenPossible Yes! And I'm so glad that Korean cars became so good. They make one of the best new cars at the moment. Top 3 easily. I'm also impressed with Mazda from 2013 and onwards when they finally ditched Ford and started making their own cars. The relatively recent partnership with Toyota was the right move. I'm excited about their upcoming cars, especially the I6 twin turbo RWD manual Mazda 6 *fingers crossed*

[@jarredmillan3811]

Korean cars are really good now, especially styling

[@hudsonja]

Definitely do a part 2! So much more weirdness to explore

[@jsinope2786]

Wow… everyone wins a prize. Lol. Scam alert.

[@donaldwilson2620]

I got another honorable mention, the 2004-08 Chrysler Crossfire. Intended to be the Chrysler brand's first sports car, the Crossfire was built on the same platform as the 1st generation Mercedes Benz SLK platform(R170) as part of the DaimlerChrysler merger and even had the same powertrain as the SLK. The styling of the Crossfire may be weird but the high performance SRT6(with an AMG powertrain) version was kinda badass.

[@TheBigDean18]

Damn, I had no idea about that, I knew of that merger, the 300c was based on an old Mercedes design, but didn’t realize the SRT6 was an AMG power train

[@Glock20AK]

They should have just called it the misfire

[@somebutter6755]

Probably one of the weirdest partnerships I know of is the Chrysler TC by Maserati. It was a Mitsubishi powered front wheel drive Chrysler with a Maserati body. It was intended to come out before the Chrysler LeBaron, but delays caused it to be released after.

[@Wheelman1966]

That's the car I thought of when this video popped up in my feed. Strange little car.

[@dermotfitzgerald7523]

there is one on new york CL

[@Gravelewy]

I had LeBaron and TC is my dreamcar 🤪

[@etoineschrdlu9382]

You would think that Chrysler and GM would both realize that building cars by shipping parts & assemblies back and forth across an ocean would be a disaster for which customers would be unwilling to pay the price. But the Chrysler TC by Maserati and the Cadillac Allanté both generated good publicity and good will even if their sales numbers were dismal.

[@griffins5655]

There’s also Lotus helping develop the engine for the C4 Zr1 Corvette 😂

[@Bluefire397]

Alfa Romeo and Nissan collaborated in the 80s and made the Arna, a hatchback that looked like a Nissan and had the mechanics of an Alfa. Fair to say that with that combination, it didn't succeed.

[@TBustah]

Yeah, I’ve read about that thing. It took thirty years for somebody to figure out the right combination with the Fiat 124 (“Fiata”): Japanese engineering and Italian styling rather than Japanese styling and Italian engineering. It’s like that old joke about what heaven and hell would be. It’s a shame the Fiata didn’t sell.

[@jagmodyoutube4264]

The opposite would’ve had better outcome

[@roddydykes7053]

Yeah thanks Clarkson’s Car Years for firebombing one

[@Scyrixus]

It was a fiasco. Absolute abyss for Alfa at the time.

[@SR3TG119]

@@TBustah also didn’t help that no one wants to buy a fiat of anything. Wish it was an Alfa instead

[@hereigoagain5050]

GM acquired a great deal of engineering knowledge when they bought Saab. GM's sedans improved considerably in ride, handling, NVH, and safety after the takeover.

[@coloradoriversurfer5421]

My mechanic says the chevy LS motor stands for "Lost Saab."

[@Realtime1501]

Saab also didn't take American advice,GM would bring over a car from Vauxhall or whatever and told Saab just put your badge on it nice and easy then Saab would reengineer the whole vehicle to conform to Saab standards

[@jackdough8164]

@@Realtime1501 you mean they made them good?

[@Realtime1501]

@@jackdough8164 yes it was a constant fight between Saab and GM management because they blew the budget on the re designs

[@MaximilianvonPinneberg]

The same thing happened when Ford bought Volvo. The underpinnings of the S80 and S40 dramatically improved all Ford group products at the time.

[@guilhermetavares4705]

There are some examples like this in Latin America as well. For example, the Dodge Journey was sold as the Fiat Freemont here in Brazil and the Ram Promaster is sold as the Fiat Ducato. Also, the Brazilian Fiat Toro is sold in other Latin markets as Ram 1000. I also remember the Suzuki Vitara that was sold as the Chevrolet Tracker.

[@superluig164]

Actually the Ducato came first, FCA brought it over to North America.

[@kamikazefmfa]

Rapaaaz, pior que a Freemont é uma versão piorada do Journey, já viu as specs? hahahaha

[@damilolaakanni]

It's not a partnership if both brands are owned by the same parent company.

[@evenoddsmiles]

Would be cool to see a video covering the partnerships with non-car brands, like the LL Bean Subaru, Eddie Bauer Ford, Nautica Mercury, etc

[@bpearr8266]

Love that idea. The Gucci fiat even 🤣

[@abhishekmadhosh1879]

Im a very bad person, i read Nautica Mercury as Naughty America 🥲🥲🥲😂

[@rogermoreno1152]

Gah I forgot about the Eddie Bauer Explorers I remember one of my classmates parents had one of those when I was a kid

[@marktwain8192]

Nautica wow. There's a brand I haven't heard in years and years.

[@alexzz1234]

Hermes Bugatti comes to mind

[@Staticclism]

I worked at at VW dealeship when the Routan was new. The sales team pushed the "van with German Engineering" really, really hard; eventually we got one that came in with a missing relay box cover: VW wanted $400 and some change for it. The Dodge dealership up the street had it for $23. And the sales team refused to get the one from the Dodge dealership.

[@joshdemarco4308]

Ridiculous

[@Dennis-E92]

lmao

[@MrBrno]

It wasn't the first partnership between VW-Dodge. Here in Argentina we have the Dodge 1500, which was sold as the Volkswagen 1500 years later, and it was exactly identical, so if you see one of those cars you're never sure which brand it is from.

[@ezdubbin97]

We had one come into the dealership that came off the truck for PDI, when we pulled it in, the right side had wheel caps with the VW logo, the left had the Dodge ram head logo.

[@InfiniteForces]

@@MrBrno Manitos,you were lucky. Here in Brazil,when VW bought Dodge,they canned the car ASAP because it was going to compete with the new compact lineup for the 80s,aka the Gol and Passat B1. Just as the car,renamed the Polara,finally shook off its initial reliability problems and got an autobox which proved decently popular amongst disabled people.

[@warn1ngc0ntainslulz]

You forgot about another weird product of the Toyota-GM partnership, the Toyota Voltz. That car was a Pontiac Vibe, in right hand drive, with the interior from the Matrix, made in California and only sold in Japan. In effect, it was the Japanese version of the American version of a Japanese car.

[@05Forenza]

My first car was a Suzuki Forenza, only sold with that badging in the US. It was a partnership with GM Daewoo and was sold elsewhere at the Chevy Lacetti...or Buick Lacetti, and a few other names. The Daewoo-ness was also apparent even in the US model as it had the split 3 piece grille that was a trademark of earlier Daewoo's. As far as I could determine, it was the replacement to the Daewoo Nubira.

[@1Legofilms]

How does it feel to have been a permanent star in a reasonable priced car

[@randrewp]

The Saabaru was awesome because it basically added some "luxury" touches to an Impreza

[@beatenbytheclown]

The Maserati MC12 had a (slightly) faster time around the Top Gear test track than the Ferrari Enzo. And there hasn’t been a collaboration like it since.

[@automation7295]

@UCQOjFRndQpkUsFyMO4teIVg But even if two car share engines, it's still possible to tune the HP a bit.

[@Jon-mo9ks]

I don't understand how that's possible. The Enzo is 300lbs lighter and has more hp?

[@altergreenhorn]

Maserati and Ferrari are owned by Fiat now Stelantis.

[@gunsandcommissions]

@@Jon-mo9ks The Top Gear test track not being anything close to a perfect test site for evaluating them against each other would be my guess. And testing them under very different conditions. And tires, probably. The Enzo is, by far, the better vehicle. Better looking and classier. And, I think, much more desirable.

[@Jon-mo9ks]

@@gunsandcommissions that makes sense. Is that the sole definitive answer?

[@kahumike]

There's a couple of oddball ones that were missed... The Alfa Arna, a Nissan Cherry (Pulsar in some markets) with an Alfa flat four and Nissan suspension. The electrics were Italian so you can imagine how that worked out... The other was the Triumph Dolomite being turned into the Panther Rio, a luxury mashup of an ordinary British sedan.

[@MaximilianvonPinneberg]

Yes the Arna/Cherry. Possibly the worst exercise ever. Japanese styling, Italian mechanicals built by Italians.

[@MaximilianvonPinneberg]

Also, the Triumph 2 litre engine became the backbone of all SAAB engines and the infamous Turbo.

[@pavunistao]

Here in Brazil/Argentina we got the Autolatina, that was kind of a joint venture between Volkswagen and Ford to share engines/platforms to cut production costs. In fact, the Ford Escort in Brazil (up to the Mk5) was powered with VW engines.

[@raulv98]

Well the Mach E uses the same platform as VW ID

[@Hipas_Account]

If you looked at some of the stuff happening in Europe you'd be amazed, the Chrysler 300C is sold as a Lancia Thema. Alot of Chryslers are sold as Lancias here in Europe. But then, there is all of the French stuff you've not covered. Asia is the king of this whole badge engineering stuff, take a look at the Pontiac Solstice and what it was sold as all around. I absolutely love knowing the different partnerships of manufacturers, and specific cars that were sold under many different brands, like i own a 1974 Sunbeam Avenger, which is a British car sold in the UK as a Hillman Avenger, or later on as a Chrysler Avenger since it was during the time the Rootes group was owned by Chrysler, but then in the United States it was sold as a Plymouth Cricket along side a Mitsubishi that was also sold as the Cricket, and then the whole deal was sold to PSA (Peugeot Citroen), and it got turned into a Talbot. Where as that same car was built in Argentina if i'm not mistaken, where it was sold as a Volkswagen. Stuff like this is so interesting and totally trivial and i love it.

[@rkifismo8215]

Also the Citroen/Maserati collaboration - The Citroen SM. Maybe the best of them all

[@dma6548]

There's a lot of weird cars which is really actually hh 🤣

[@strat0871]

@@rkifismo8215 And the Merak, Bora, Khamsin shared the Citroën high pressure brake system, but not the suspension that remained Citroën's exclusive.

[@MrNegativecreep07]

There was also a craze of people sticking Bentley badges on their 300c's, which was truly tragic.

[@izno73]

@@rkifismo8215 well...Citroen bought Maserati, so it was not really a collaboration ;)

[@bryanm.4869]

Here in Europe the Mercedes-Renault/Nissan partnership was very successful in the compact segment. The compact Mercedes vehicles have Renault/Nissan engines and are very reliable and nice cars, probably the most reliable Mercedes vehicles nowadays.

[@hardcorehardo]

Hold up. Only the small engined compact cars share parts and mostly the block. The big exception is the Citan/T-class.

[@ChristianHiroseRomeoGraham]

According to Scotty Kilmer, though, Nissan reliability has gone down the drain, as soon as they began to partner up with Renault.

[@bryanm.4869]

@@ChristianHiroseRomeoGraham but it's still much better than Mercedes reliability.

[@sk8rboy509]

@@bryanm.4869 their CVT’s would say otherwise 😂

[@ChristianHiroseRomeoGraham]

@@bryanm.4869 For the most part, that's true.

[@boutinboy]

Had a Saab 9-7X Aero for a long while. Loved it! Absolutely loved it. But....Saab enthusiasts HATED me for even considering such an "abomination". An SUV with a V8...everything Saab would never be! I could care less though. It was a fantastic vehicle and I loved every moment of it.

[@Robo-xk4jm]

not too keen on the looks of the saab but definitely would like to upgrade to a trailblazer ss, can only imagine how much better it is with AWD & the ls2 engine from the c5 corvette instead of the 4.2 inline 6 atlas

[@stuartpenney2444]

Between 1989-97 there was the Australian built Toyota Lexcen. It was actually a rebadged Holden Commodore sold with auto transmission only, plus V8 engines and sporty trim level. It was named after Ben Lexcen who designed the Australia II yacht which became the first non-American yacht to win the America's Cup in 132 years. Because it appeared around the same time as Toyota's luxury Lexus brand was launched there was some confusion surrounding the name of the car.

[@TritonAdventures-AU]

At around the same time Holden badge engineered an early Camry as the Holden Apollo. So it seemed to be a kind of swap between GMH and Toyota. Timing seems to line up with Doug's Toyota/GM collaboration timeline.

[@stuartpenney2444]

@@TritonAdventures-AU And the Holden Nova which was a re-badged Toyota Corolla appeared around the same time.

[@gavascars]

The Honda Land Rover tie up was interesting to hear. They did the same thing with the Honda Passport early on which i think was a rebadged Isuzu Rodeo.

[@benjaminrobinson3842]

That one made some good sense for Honda. They didn't have an SUV of their own at the time, and Isuzu made some competent ones, so this gave Honda a quick way into the market while they developed their own in-house SUV.

[@vXelerate]

And Acura SLX which was a rebadged Isuzu trooper

[@dazednconfusedrn]

@@benjaminrobinson3842 and it gave isuzu a minivan

[@benjaminrobinson3842]

@@dazednconfusedrn That's right. I knew there was some reciprocal deal but forgot what the other vehicle was.

[@MrNegativecreep07]

There was also the Triumph Acclaim, which was the last car the marque ever made.

[@atnit86]

Hey Doug, Take a look at all the Australian badge engineering in the 80s and 90s - mainly between Toyota, Ford, Mazda, Holden (GM) and Suzuki… it’s a video in itself. Also, worthy of mentioning….the Australian Holdens being sold as GM in USA (Pontiac GTO etc)…. And all the GM/Daewoo stuff being sold in Australia up until GMs exit

[@YusufGinnah]

Yup, same in South Africa. Multiple unashamed _badge-engineered_ siblings sold alongside each other, each with their own fanbases... 😎👍🏼

[@brandonroberts73]

yes!! this is a whole video on its own, the Ford Falcon Ute sold as the Nissan Ute, the Holden commodore sold as the Toyota Lexan or the Toyota camry sold as the Holden Apollo, and they hardly scratch the surface, capris sold as mercury’s, mazda’s into fords, isuzu’s into holden the list goes on

[@joelcarterramadge183]

Otherwise known as a video on the rabbit-hole that is older GM brands and shared cars on Wikipedia. You can spend hours clicking on the "related" links there...

[@rsubie]

And the Mazda roadpacer. HZ Holden powered by a rotary

[@efftee]

The Qvale Mangusta/MG XPower SV is one of my favourites. It used the 4.6 modular engine from the Mustang. It was inspired by TVR and was originally planned to be badged as a De Tomaso but instead got rebadged as a Qvale when De Tomaso fell out with Bruce Qvale. 284 cars were sold before the assets were acquired by MG Rover in 2001 who restyled it and included a lot of existing parts (including fiat headlights and tailights) then released it as the MG XPower SV. Only 9 were sold before the automaker went bankrupt in 2005.

[@SpitfireFortyFour]

As shame as well, they're super cool and great to drive. 82 were completed in total while the company was in administration, my boss has one of them! Tbf all the MG Rover cars if that era were loads of fun to drive. Unfortunately they functioned in a similar way to Saab, making interesting cars and hemorrhaging money.

[@p.informatico1320]

The Mangusta is way more beautiful than the XPower, which kind of reminds to the Audi TT (or maybe it's just me).

[@roscoecoltrane6867]

Loved your comments about the Honda Crossroad. I live in New Zealand, and many years ago actually bought a Crossroad! The first thing I did was remove ALL of the Honda/Crossroad badges and decals and then replaced them with Land Rover ones. Instant Land Rover! Didn't even need to change the badging on the engine as it already had the Land Rover name on it! 🤑😁

[@frankiemouse992]

The MC12 only exists because of homologisation. Maserati wanted to join the GT World championship, so they took the Enzo, gave it a different body kit, retuned the engine (the MC12 has less hp but more torque than the Enzo) made 50 road versions to comply with the regulations and started racing with basically a stock Enzo. And they demolished the opponents.

[@303sebas3]

& designed by frank stephenson 👍

[@JK061996]

The MC12 also had gear-driven valve timing instead of the Enzo's chain

[@mxrz]

25 cars, not 50. And it's not an Enzo with a body kit (Doug is wrong on this one)... The suspension geometry and components are different, the wheel base is different, it's a targa with a stiffer chassis, MUCH better aero, over and under the car as well, gear-drive quad cam, upgraded dry sump, and many other modifications other than just a "body kit"... it's a superior vehicle in almost all respects, despite the corporate dictated engine output handicap.

[@KABIPPO]

also is a targa and hasn't a timing chain, I don't know the English term for ingranaggi a cascata distribution which is noisier but also more reliable for racing, I think that it has been stiffened in some place for example you have no windows in the cabin to the engine bay. still a badass car

[@damienlee1165]

The Enzo/MC12 thing still goes on in VW land with the R8/Hurracan, Taycan/ETron GT, etc.

[@falagarius]

Those aren't really hypercars

[@edb5956]

I totally love all of your videos. One very strange car/mini-van partnership not mentioned here was the Mercury Villager which was actually a Nissan Quest. Ford could have used the Ford minivan at the time and rebadged it a Mercury like so many other Ford / Mercury models instead of going outside of their company.🤔

[@jonlosito2004]

He also didnt mention the Izuzu Ascender, which is also rebadged as a Chevy Trailblazer/ GMC Envoy back then, and id say theyre even more stupid rare than the SAAB 97x aero.

[@threeer02]

To make matters worse as far as the VW Routan goes, it missed the one feature that was the Dodge/Chrysler’s biggest selling option…the Stow -n- Go seating.

[@bmjs9487]

Still had stow n go third row but second row had much nicer cushy tall back captains chairs in lieu of the small hard as a rock second rows the FCA versions had. It also still had the second row stow n go floor compartments for storage. So the only thing it lost was the ability to fold the second row but the seats were much better because of that.

[@rlg1976x]

As absurd as the Saab 9-7x was, I always thought it was by far the best looking SUV on that GMT360 platform. It looked like they at least went through some effort to make it look like a Saab. The Isuzu Ascender, however, just looked like a knockoff Trailblazer.

[@Misaniovent]

It's more directly based off the Rainier, which probably sounds like splitting hairs, but means it has a lot more sound-deadening and other improvements than the Trailblazer.

[@anthonyrivera0917]

The Saab 97x is actually a continuation of the Oldsmobile bravada same thing with the Buick Rainier, the ladder lasted through 2007 before being replaced by the Buick Enclave, the overall design of the third generation Oldsmobile bravada basically lasted through 2008 when Saab's spin-off of the third generation Oldsmobile bravada was discontinued

[@moogle68]

@@anthonyrivera0917 I don't know anything about the Oldsmobile Bravada or it's platform, but I remember one of Doug's VERY old videos (like 2-3 years+ old) covering a pretty exciting car (can't remember what it was unfortunately), the owner made an appearance at the end of the video in a Saab 97x Aero to show off/compare the exhaust note (97x Aero sounded AMAZING, btw) with the car that Doug was actually reviewing, and there was a long comment thread on that video of people flipping out over the 97x, paying no attention to the interesting car actually being reviewed. The fact that a number of people, that clearly knew some pretty specific details, were more hyped over the 97x than whatever Doug had been reviewing stuck with me, and I've been keeping half an eye out ever since then for more info on why it was special since most people/places seem to have just thought it was just a rebadge as Doug said in this video, but I don't entirely buy that description anymore since Saab had a history of thoroughly reworking cars it was given that were meant to be rebadges. According to Top Gear, that was pretty much the reason that GM decided to shut them down in the end. They had been given the Cavalier (or something) and were supposed to give it a Saab look and call it the 9-5, but they changed almost everything about it because it didn't meet their safety standards in particular, and they even developed their own bespoke navigation system for it. That was apparently roughly the 3rd time in a row they'd done so, which obviously took the car way over budget each time it happened, so GM shut them down to avoid the inevitable continuation of unintended losses.

[@Robo-xk4jm]

at least one has many options to find parts for the platform in every gm brand except cadilac & saturn, maybe one day ill have an SS with the AWD & 6L C5 engine (LS2) instead of the 4wd straight 6 atlas engine (weirdly the vortec 4200 is an atlas while the 5300 vortec is an LS)

[@jackdough8164]

@@moogle68 I’ve heard the exact same thing. By the time they were done with the cheap platform they were sent by GM they weren’t cheap anymore but they ended up actually being pretty good cars. It’s a shame what GM did to Saab tbh. They were always pretty decent quality and quirky cars

[@EpicJacobE]

I'd love to see a video covering unique Canadian market cars that weren't sold in the US! I see some once in a while in Detroit and it's always so interesting!

[@brandonblanco8379]

There was a Nissan March (not sold in the US) spotted in NYC one time. Not sure if it came from Mexico or from Canada.

[@damilolaakanni]

The Acura CSX. It's a rebadged 8th gen Civic that was sold only in Canada.

[@smar1208]

in terms of more recent cars the new (post 2018) german-made mercedes a class hatchback is a canada exclusive in north america despite being available alongside the mexican-made a class sedan. the base model a class hatchback (a250) also offers more power than the base model canadian market a class sedan (a220) which is interesting.

[@christianabad9982]

Two of those cars that I know are the Acura CSX (a Honda Civic with similar styling to the Asian ones, different from North American versions) and a Hyundai Stellar (I only knew that from Cars and Bids).

[@donswier]

😊👍 Mercury pickup Chevy Orlando Pontiac Firefly Hyundai Pony 1st gen Integra 4 door (not hatch)

[@user-sl6kc4yx8z]

On the Louts Elan, it originally was a mashup from the minds of Lotus/GM/Isuzu. The Kia version did remove the Isuzu power train. The mashup also produced an Isuzu Trooper/Bighorn and Isuzu Impluse/Gemini with green "Handling by Lotus" badging and tweaked suspension components.

[@dilovanamedi5161]

I actually really learned something, I thought I knew it all lol. I didn't know about Honda Crossroad, Chevy Forester and the Enzo. Thanks Doug

[@ENL219]

someone needs to make Doug a 32.5 plate in a custom shape to fit around that electrical outlet on the wall...

[@bag2963]

You are a German or smth? xd

[@Neil-ii3dp]

Agree, maybe a motorcycle plate?

[@avsystem3142]

OCD much?

[@ackvig]

The Sterling 825 and 827 definitely deserve a video review by you, Doug! Also, that Pathfinder at min 2:24 definitely deserves a video, as well!

[@Thanos.m]

It would definitely be an interesting video in the UK and Europe the Rover 800 was a popular car would interesting to see an American take

[@schlehke]

I had a 9-7x back in the day, it was awesome and was glad it wasn't the same as every other trailblazer on the road

[@etoineschrdlu9382]

The picture of the "Chevrolet Forester" is hilarious! The oddly misshapen bowtie emblem is pasted backwards and crooked on the grill!

[@TrustworthyFox37]

Aaaa yes, I’m so glad Doug has given me even more fuel to ruin first dates as fast as possible

[@marcusgriffin279]

This can easily be a three or four part series. More please!

[@jackdough8164]

Yes I agree he should cover more of these. There’s so many examples of this. I drive one such example lol. The only decent fords that were engineered by Mazda lll

[@sutherlandA1]

In Australia we had what was known as the Button car plan (motor industry development plan) named after senator John button the federal Minister for commerce, trade and industry. The plan was to get the remaining 5 manufacturers (Holden, Ford Toyota Mitsubishi and Nissan) to consolidate models by sharing resources, what we ended up getting was a bunch of lightly facelifted badge engineered models where you got Nissan badged Ford's, Holden badged Nissan's, Holden badged Toyota's etc. Needless to say it was found to be a failure

[@brendanbelcher4623]

Honda struggled for a while before building its first suv on its own. Even as recent as the late 90’s the first Honda Passport was a rebadged Isuzu Rodeo and then the Acura SLX was a rebadged Isuzu Trooper

[@FamilieWheelman]

The X-Class with some additional Mercedes interior accoutrements, my personal opinion, would’ve sold INCREDIBLY well in North America. Especially the US.

[@krm1292]

It's done pretty well here in Turkey. They are everywhere like the Ranger and Hilux. And I don't see Navara's all that much even though I see older models a lot. People don't care if it's a Nissan underneath, they want a lifted Benz pickup which is tragic imo.

[@FamilieWheelman]

@@krm1292 Maybe they’re afraid it may steal sales from the G Class here in North America? 🤷‍♂️ I just think with the partnership they had they could have built that truck or something based off the Frontier out of Canton, Mississippi.

[@SantiagoAntonutti]

In Brazil and Argentina it would sell pretty good too, since that truck size is the best selling in our car market. And there's a need for luxury mid sized trucks

[@automation7295]

The X-Class probably wouldn't even comply with US regulations and emissions, Mercedes X-class was discontinued in 2020.

[@FamilieWheelman]

@@automation7295 Ok.. European version aside, they could use the Frontier as the platform, toss in the 264, 260, or keep Nissan’s V6. Voilà! A Mercedes X-Class that is US compliant. Totally doable.

[@siliconinsect]

I vibe with a 5MT Pontiac Vibe. 213k miles and the little 1zz SOHC is still running strong. Great vid as usual!

[@1mlb704]

My dad had an '03 GT 6MT with the Yamaha tuned 2ZZ engine. He bought it new, drove it for 14 years, then gave it to my brother. The odometer stopped counting at 299,999 miles and was driven for another 2 years after that. It was a great car, also the car I learned how to drive stick on

[@fernandoavila1410]

Our first gen vibe is getting close to 200k. Super reliable cars.

[@AnotherYoubue]

How much oil do you burn per stop light? 1ZZ-FE is a shit engine, it’s why you see more of them in the scrapyard. 2ZZ-GE is the only option.

[@1mlb704]

@@AnotherYoubue my '07 Corolla S 5MT with that same 1ZZ has 213k miles and doesn't burn a drop of oil

[@cds401]

The 1zz is DOHC

[@joshvelez2679]

These Sunday videos are often some of my favorites. Great job Doug!

[@2nd-place]

I had a late 90s Chevy Cavalier and had it until several years ago when I gave it to my brother-in-law and he’s still driving it to this day. It has been surprisingly reliable. The biggest things I’ve ever had to fix are the alternator, a cooling pipe, and the a/c. I don’t believe he has had any major issues and it’s pushing a quarter century old, maybe some stuff with the a/c which happens. Guess I got a good one but I also take care of my cars doing regular maintenance. I’ve had to do way more work on my Subaru Outback.

[@-SlyKer]

Toyota has 2 rebagded Suzuki cars in India to lower average emissions Toyota Urban Cruiser (Rebadged Vitara Brezza) and Toyota Glanza (Rebadged Baleno) Renault also collaborated with Mahindra to enter Indian Market with Mahindra-Renault Logan, and it was a total disaster...!

[@Farnox1]

Chrysler TC, joint venture between Maserati and Chrysler. I remember Lee Iacocca introducing the car. Interestingly enough, someone had one in my small Kansas home town. Great content Doug, I would like to see another episode.

[@ackvig]

There was (is?) a pristine mayonnaise-colored one always spotted in the Kroger parking lot here in my small hometown in Kentucky. I last saw it about 5 years ago, but I'm not there nearly as much as I was, so I can't say the owner is not still driving it.

[@trentpettit6336]

@@ackvig Is your local Kroger store a "greenhouse" Kroger building from the 70's, with a Kroger "cube" sign in the parking lot?

[@ackvig]

@@trentpettit6336 No, the original Kroger has been redone twice, long ago. New modern store, now. And on store number two back the last time I saw the TC. Not from the 70's.

[@trentpettit6336]

@@ackvig Thanks for answering me! Do you suppose the owner of this TC would be a Kroger worker?

[@ackvig]

@@trentpettit6336 No problem. I really don't think it was a Kroger employee, but I honestly can't say. Ironically, I was there yesterday, (I live in the next town over, now), and was thinking about this thread. But I honestly haven't seen that TC for about 6ish years now. But it was MINT.

[@LordBumSniffington]

Doug, so many fun and quirky facts in this one. Loved it.

[@doohresarf321]

My primary takeaway is that first gen pathfinders were absolutely badass looking and I was COMPLETELY unaware of them.

[@jheath4031]

Yeah the original Pathfinder was just awesome. Shame that the new ones have strayed so far from their original design.

[@shiftmotorsports9803]

Haha, I took a screenshot of it! I had an identical one back in the late 90's. They were tough. The Nissan Hardbody pickup was pretty badass too

[@grunkohlaktionar7474]

9:40 also the Subaru Traviq, a rebadged Opel Zafira MPV 😂

[@PimpJogi]

Another fun one was when the production run for the Audi A4 B7 ended and they just sold the production line to Seat to produce the weirdly similar Seat Exeo

[@MrTomTom1964]

Doug marvelous line-up. Have you ever thought about the Alfa Romeo ARNA (nightmare cooperation with Nissan) or the Citroen-Maserati SM?

[@bradpiovesan8550]

Great video, often wondered about many of these mashups.

[@fredrikz]

@doug de muro, IF you still read comments: Saab died as a unique Swedish innovative brand when they where purchased by GM, but before that they had the weirdest cooperation with Lancia, which led to the SAAB-LANCIA 600 and SAAB 9000 or Lancia Thema and the rare Lancia Thema 8.32, with a Ferrari sourced V8. Fun local fact, in the small town I live, there is a Saab 9-4x. Probably the only privately owned Saab 9-4x I Europe.

[@aceman0000099]

Saab & Lancia doesn't seem like too much of a stretch to be honest

[@worawatli8952]

The 9000 was what killed Saab, Fiat engineering wasn't what Saab expected, instead of producing it as is with Fiat's quality, Saab cut the deal to share parts and built everything on their own. This eat into development cost so much they couldn't make any profit from it. It was like spending on 2 projects and got 1 out of it.

[@Flies2FLL]

What about the Porsche-Lada tie up? Porsche basically designed the engine in the Lada Samara, and the Russians built a FWD car around it with Porsche assistance.

[@deadpoet415]

Didn't know you could make a different style of video that would BLOW MY MIND! That was insanely interesting. Please do more of these, Doug! I make have to watch this video a few times over to let it all sink in. An Infiniti that was actually a Mercedes?

[@ammarisrar2005]

I was baffled too when I learned that the QX30 was actually a Mercedes

[@chriskonte1909]

@@ammarisrar2005 Here in Germany Infintiti left the market in 2020 due to bad sales. But when I see an Infiniti on the road it's often either an QX70, a G37 Coupé or an Q(X)30 (there is also a version of the older third gen. Mercedes A-Class BASICALLY the same car as the GLA not making this up A-Class is 97% equal in comfort and space to the GLA and so is the Q30 to the QX30). It's an ok car not super unreliable but like all Infinitis sold poorly over here.

[@gwidget93]

Fantastic video, loved the background on Saab/GM especially, eye opening

[@benjaminrobinson3842]

2:23 - I love how the two "S"s in Crossroad look like dollar signs -- as if Honda wanted to signify how blingy "their" new SUV was. (Or warn people how much it would cost to maintain!)

[@monkofbob]

Doug, could you do a video on modern classics that are reaching the point where in a few years they will either be collector cars or maintenance will become prohibitively expensive, cars like the ‘97-‘03 Jag XJR? Basically cars to get now before they cost too much and it’s too late.

[@fabiobernardes974]

Great video Doug!

[@brianspence7479]

Loved this video.. can't wait to see more like this

[@jorgerodrigogomezflores5711]

Many of these happened when the brands were under the same corporate umbrella, GM sold many Subaru, Isuzu, Suzuki, Lotus, Lada and other brands vehicles under their brands. Mercury also sold a Nissan minivan, Fiat sold the Chrysler 300 as a Lancia, Renault also got a version of the same Frontier/Navara that was used for the X-Class.

[@Big.W.]

The grand caravan was also sold as a lancia in Europe

[@sva60_cyyz59]

15:15 what makes the Routan even weirder is that VW literally just re-used the badging from the European Touran, but re-arranged the letters to form the name ‘Routan’. As if it could get any lazier! Other bizarre badge engineering examples: Mitsubishi Valiant (old Chrysler A-Body that looked like a Challenger but built in Australia by Mitsubishi) Proton Perdana (Honda Accord 8th Gen) Bitter Insignia Original Vinfasts (rebadged BMW’s with Chevy V8’s) Holden Astra (actually a Nissan) VW Sharan minivan 1st Gen (a rebadged Ford)

[@rogersmj]

This is true car geek stuff and I am totally here for it. Thanks Doug!

[@alvinssonko4941]

I can’t believe Doug forgot to mention the mighty Puch G! A collaboration between Mercedes Benz and Daimler Puch. From that resulted a Mercedes G wagen and it’s brother the Puch G. Basically a rebadged G wagen.

[@MmmmMmmm-yc5we]

Now that you pointed out the Infiniti QX 30 and the Mercedes GLA being the same car. I always thought the infinity looked just a bit nicer.

[@saimk4239]

Saab was such a nice brand, developed innovative technologies etc. Then GM came and ruined literally everything. Saab was known in Europe for being a very nice and prestigeous brand, but GM took that and ruined it completely.

[@Fedex52738]

Tbh, GM shouldn't have bought them. I think they would still be around. But again, GM wanted as much car brands as possible and they ended up doing horrible

[@bryanm.4869]

It was Opel that ruined Saab. In order to lower costs they start using Opel chassis which were crap for a premium brand.

[@aaditjalal5788]

Vauxhall /Opel vectra and cavalier

[@bryanm.4869]

@@Fedex52738 "I think they would still be around" I don't think so, first of all the german competitors were very agressive, Sweden is not a large market and don't forget that even Volvo which was much biger worldwide only survived with chinese money (Geely).

[@Fedex52738]

@@bryanm.4869 That makes sense now that you say it. I think in that case they would still be around if they got bought by another company other than GM which would allow them to be unique like before. Then again, I didn't think of the Sweden part of these companies and how that severely affects their sales

[@Mettiherjou]

Great list you got. Keep it up with this type of information. I would like to add, in down under there was a camry badged as Holden. Like it was copy/paste.

[@maxomans]

Love the cygnet sooo much!! Saw two on vacation to Monaco and Nice! Also love the x-class because of the crew 2

[@mikeholmes1313]

Might be interesting to do another similar theme where there were odd partnerships were made for major and unexpected vehicle components, for Example, when the 1st generation Saturn Vue Redline came out equipped with the same Honda 3.5L V6 that was pulling Odyssey minivans and Honda Pilots around. Could be interesting!

[@gunsandcommissions]

A LOT of gray area when it comes to sharing engines and engine architecture. There could be volumes written on that topic. Heck, there could be volumes written on just the engine sharing programs in F1 and Indy Cars, let alone NHRA, CART, NASCAR, etc.

[@doyallsellcrablegs]

also i there was a cancelled saturn minivan based on the honda odyssey I remember seeing somewhere

[@bryang9290]

Some of the best hidden gems in cheap reliability are the ones where the GM cars that were actually almost entirely Toyota like the Vibe and the Prism.

[@Wordsnwood]

Had a vibe, loved it.

[@boutinboy]

My mom got an 09 Vibe from the Cash for Clunkers initiative when she traded up her 88 Silverado. Vibe was newly remodeled at the time. She's still got it, daily driving it every day. Pushing 280k miles. It's a tank. Bulletproof reliability.

[@Robo-xk4jm]

as much as the body suspension & various parts of the gmt360 platform (trailblazer & saab 9-7x) the engines are stupid reliable compared to other GMs, just sucks none of the options got good gas mileage, cant say much for the 5.3 LS v8 but the 4.2 straight-6 atlas runs like a champ, and is one was to get an SS or aero would have the ls2 engine from the c5

[@rustemsadvakassov1787]

Thanks, Doug! You never stop surprising us. Cheers to you! And congrats on the Carrera GT!!!

[@YS3Caero]

About korean market, Daewoo bought the late 80s Opel Kadett platform to build the Daewoo Lemans in 1986. The facelift called Nexia was lanched around 1994, when the brand arrived at western europe. My parents bought one brand new and it was very good value for money, a very elegant sedan in anthracite grey, often mistaken by a Volvo or something (not by petrolheads of course). Some interior materials were terrible but the back seats were ergonomic perfection and the 1.5 16v with a short gearbox was quite lively. It later became my first car. There was a facelift in 2008 and I think it was sold until 2016 on some asian countries. So the platform was in production for 31 years.

[@elgringiototote]

I’ve seen a ton of the Merc X-class in Spain. They’re not cool, obviously, but it give you a glimmer of what it might be like if MB made a truck.

[@mxhddr]

Yea they're quite popular here in Australia where utes are a bit of a status symbol

[@chiseldquartzregaliablock6020]

Doug is the type of guy to look up weird cars

[@scottjoao]

So are we, we clicked on the video, did we not?

[@mikemata623]

You must be new here

[@welshrarebit9238]

Your the type of guy who thinks he is funny….Not

[@bpearr8266]

I spend hours on wiki and other sites reading about info nobody cares about lol, one of my favorite passing times

[@chiseldquartzregaliablock6020]

@@welshrarebit9238 uhh ok

[@hbosch5223]

What is even crazier about the Infiniti QX30 aka GLA was that the US version was made in Northumberland, UK. Japanese-German fusion fused together by Geordies.

[@MaximilianvonPinneberg]

Yes it was partly what saved the Sunderland plant. The high cost of production meant that only premium products could be made there. Currently they only produce the Leaf and Ariya there.

[@AnnieKeller]

I did a series on TikTok of rebadged cars, and most of these were in it! I love learning about weird car company partnerships and rebadges that come out of them.

[@nealfraser4636]

Loved this video. I couldn't help but think of the Ford Probe, which I believe was a Mazda, but around before Ford formally bought Mazda? (Not sure I have all the details nailed down) But, when I cleaned the showroom and swept the shop floor at a Ford dealership back in the 90s, all the mechanics would always complain when a Probe came in. Some even claimed they didn't have all the right tools.

[@jackdough8164]

I think Ford was already in 25% control/ownership at that point. And only ever got to around 30 so they would’ve had about the same amount of control. They had been rebranding cars together before that too I’m pretty sure. Was a cool car non the less though

[@claudiobizama5603]

The Mazda truck and the Ford Courrier and Ranger are the earliest examples of that partnership.

[@Secrecy30]

@@claudiobizama5603 Also the Fiesta and the Mazda 2

[@pearlsammo1638]

My folks bought a Probe when they first came out in 1988 - the turbo caught fire within a year. It was a good reminder not to buy a first year model.

[@donaldwilson2620]

For those of you that may have forgotten, Mazda also sold a rebadged version of the Ford Explorer called the Mazda Navajo from 1991-94. I believe the main reason why the Mazda version failed was because it was only offered as a 2 door and when that first SUV craze began in the early 90's, 4 door SUV's were far more popular than 2 door models.

[@Gnometower]

honorable mention: VW Taro, a rebadged Toyota Hilux

[@leftofloss.]

This is one of the best videos in a while. Do more like this!

[@SoylentGamer]

That Aston Martin story was super cute, I love imagining AM fans seeing promotional material for it, saluting, setting their tea down, and going out to buy their cheap hatchbacks to save their beloved company from regulations.

[@trelee9865]

I've always liked the styling of the GLA and QX30, never knew they were connected

[@tsmith76092]

I never cared enough about the QX30 to look. But Doug’s right! At a glance, it looks like all of door assembly and switches were just lifted out of a first gen GLA.

[@alanmoncus2331]

GLA,s are built just outside of Birmingham, and nissan has a strong presence in Tennessee, not sure how they worked that out

[@cedrikfd]

Someone I used to work with wanted a small Japanese CUV and got a QX30. He was incredebly mad when he found out it was actually German.

[@bpearr8266]

I adore my 9-3 aero wagon :) a gm produced motor tuned by Saab, and built in Australia. There’s only around 700 in the US so I feel special haha

[@BartDemandt1]

A Saab produced in Australia? I know that the 9-3 convertible was made in Austria for a while, but as far as I know the sedan and wagon just came out of Sweden. A previous gen was made in Finland

[@fringe2804]

@@BartDemandt1 the base engine was built by Holden in Australia not the cars

[@bpearr8266]

@@BartDemandt1 yea sorry I didn’t clearify, the motor was made is Australia like the other fella said.

[@johanneswielenga6902]

Love that black 73 there, Doug! Love the GT40 window frame for it!

[@epsilontiger]

This is probably one of the funniest videos Doug has ever made. I'm up for part two

[@shipbuilding1000]

One of my friend’s parents in elementary school had a sterling. They were fairly common sights in the early 90s. Extremely rare now. Glad you covered the Saaburu….my boss at my first job had one of these rebranded WRX wagons and he let me drive it a few times. That thing was a ton of fun….it eventually became an extra vehicle for their family and got loaned to a family friend who totaled it 😢

[@PeakVT]

South America had some wierd combinations. In Brazil, Ford bought the former Kaiser-Jeep-Willys factory, so Ford ended up manufacturing the Jeep Station Wagon (as the Rural) and the Jeep pickup (as the F-75) until 1981.

[@toka100]

Doug can do an entire episode over the s American cars.

[@jasonkolker9444]

Need a part 2. Amazing

[@redcatxb125]

8:50 to be fair the trailblazer might have actually been one of the most reliable trucks/ suvs they ever made. I still see em going on the street daily, they’re relatively easy to work on and parts are cheap and plentiful.

[@danielerickson4893]

Here are some of my favorite partnerships/origins: The Isuzu Piazza/Impulse (rebadged by Holden for AU), with "handling by Lotus" (only some UK first gens, and on all second gens). I love this car, the first generation was designed by Giugiaro (you can probably tell), but I don't think the second was, since it was on a GM platform. The second generation has interesting looks, like it's sleepy or angry. The second gen also had rear wheel steering, and was available as a wagonback/shooting brake. Also, the Volvo whiteblock engine (I have a 2000 V70R) was developed with Porsche. And the Volvo V8 from the 2000s was made by Yamaha. And Volvo and Mitsubishi shared a platform, the Volvo S/V40 and Mitsubishi Carisma. And, famously, Koenigsegg started with the Ford modular V8 that was in a bunch of stuff, like the Crown Vic; of course it was extremely modified and I'm not sure how much of the engine was actually the Ford V8.

[@whatamisupposedtoputhere]

There was also the GAZ Volga Siber, a rebadged second gen Chrysler Sebring that sold terribly.

[@Hipas_Account]

Wow, that is tremendously niche stuff i just love to learn. There is nothing like trivial info that helps nobody at all. I would love to know more of these types of "Russian" cars.

[@whatamisupposedtoputhere]

@@Hipas_Account One of the other ones I know of is the Chevrolet Niva. So sort of the opposite, an “American” car. Now sold as a Lada it used to be sold as a Chevrolet. The design wasn’t majorly changed until 2021, a trait that most Russian cars have in common. I wouldn’t have known about it if it weren’t for CCD.

[@robinturner9786]

great information!!!

[@kisumiri]

Another honorable mention is the first and second generation Dodge Attitude, which was a Hyundai Accent just called a Dodge (they still had Hyundai badges) The third gen is a Mitsubishi Mirage, but at least it has Dodge badges

[@Luscious3174]

The Australian Holden Commodore was sold in Germany as the Opel Ascona and in the UK under the Vauxhaul badge back in the 80's -- missed that one! SsangYong was a Korean brand that rebranded cars from Mercedes in the 90's for their local market, the Musso for example was a rebranded ML. The reverse is true as well. While the Ford Falcon as a model died in it's US home market decades ago it continued to live on in Australia. Many Japanese only models also get rebranded when they come to Australia (Nissan Sylvia in Japan sold as Skyline in Australia).

[@jennydonne8946]

The Opel Ascona/Vauxhall Cavalier from the 1980's was nothing to do with the Holden Commodore infact it was part of the GM J car platform, which was the Holden Camira, also included the Chevrolet Cavalier and Cadillac Cimeron. The Vauxhall Cavalier is a rebadged Opel Ascona but Vauxhall did sell a Cavalier wagon/Estate which used bodywork from the Camira wagon which Holden shipped from Australia to Britain.

[@EmyrDerfel]

Holden/Open/Vauxhall all the same company so not relevant to this list.

[@MichaelEilers]

Doug, you are the man. The best. This was a great idea for a video and I loved your choices and research. HOWEVER the acoustics of these garage videos are A W F U L my dude. A cupola hundred square feet of acoustic tiles would work wonders, just cover everything not on camera. Also, where is the dog???

[@gaufrid1956]

Loved your Queenstown T-shirt with the kiwi on it as a lead in to the Honda Crossroad Doug! GM subsidiary Holden in Australia also sold rebadged Toyotas and Nissans as Holdens back in the 1980's. They were actually better than the Holdens. The world of cars is indeed very strange, as is witnessed by the Aston Martin Cygnet. There has never been as luxurious a small Toyota hatchback as that one!

[@PyroKP]

This is the kind of shit I LOVE! Great topic, Doug!

[@adeptusmechanicus7572]

Doug, I have a weird combination for to think about if they decided to build it, it might have worked: The Lamborghini-Vector Diablo W8. The Lamborghini-Vector Diablo W8: The bottom part of the Vector W8 combined with the top part from the Lamborghini Diablo. Let me know what you think about this.

[@roddydykes7053]

He’ll make a video on it next week

[@2AMinLosAngeles]

I think the vector that came after the w8 shared the same chassis or engine as the diablo as well? both companies were owned by megatech at the time

[@GlippyLotion]

This is the closest youve come to mentioning my car!! I have an XUV with a saab front end

[@dariogarciacapel7524]

Doug, you could also talk about the Cadillac BLS and BLS wagon that were essentially Saabs 93 an 93 wagon. They where made in Sweden, sold in Europe mostly, maybe eastern Europe too and Russia, kinda interesting car

[@seanbremner6127]

I second this - as a proud owner of the Cadillac BLS 2.8 V6 in South Africa! :D

[@KevZJ]

The most interesting video you have ever done. More like this please