Economy car
DefinitionThe precise definition of what constitutes an economy car has varied with time and place, based on the conditions prevailing at the time, such as fuel prices, disposable income of buyers, and cultural mores.[6][7][2] It typically refers to a car that is designed to be small and lightweight to offer low-cost operation.[8] In any given decade globally, there has generally been some rough consensus on what constituted the minimum necessary requirements for a highway-worthy car, constituting the most economical car possible.[2] However, whether that consensus could be a commercial success in any given country depended on local culture. Thus in any given decade, every country has had a rough national consensus on what constituted the minimum necessary requirements for the least expensive car that wasn't undesirable, that is, that had some commercially attractive amount of market demand, making it a mainstream economy car.[2][4][9][10] In many countries at various times, mainstream economy and maximum economy have been one and the same.[2][10] BackgroundFrom its inception into the 1920s, the Ford Model T fulfilled both of these roles simultaneously in the U.S. and in many markets around the world.[11] In Europe and Japan in the 1920s and 1930s, this was achieved by the much smaller Austin 7 and its competitors and derivatives.[12] From the 1940s and into the 1960s, the Volkswagen Beetle played both roles throughout much of the world, particularly in Germany and Latin America – due to high fuel consumption, British, French, Italian, and Japanese models, all with better fuel economy, were able to capture the maximum-economy position in their home countries. By the 1970s the hatchback had become the standard body type for new economy car models. From 1960-1994 the Zastava Koral (Yugo), was being sold as the cheapest new car on the U.S. market. South Korea's Hyundai models also sold well in the U.S., and have gone on to be successful around the world.[7]
Since the 1990s, the Formula 1 and McLaren F1 designer, said when designing his new Murray T.25 city car: "I would say that building a car to sell for six thousand pounds and designing that for a high-volume production, where you have all the quality issues under control, is a hundred times more difficult than designing a McLaren F1, or even a racing car. It is certainly the biggest challenge I've ever had from a design point of view."[13][14]
History1886-1920The Veteran era and Edwardian era to 1918. The U.S. Veteran era is usually dated pre-1890.
In the 1890s and into the first decade of the twentieth century; the motorized vehicle was considered a replacement for the carriages of the rich, or simply a dangerous toy, that annoyed and inconvenienced the general public. For example, the 1908 children's book The first car to be marketed as an 'economy car' was the 1901–1907 Oldsmobile Curved Dash - it was produced by the thousands, with over 19,000 built in all.[15] It was inspired by the buckboard type horse and buggy, (used like a small two-seat pickup truck) popular in rural areas of the U.S. It had two seats, but was less versatile than the vehicle that inspired it. It was produced after a fire at the Oldsmobile plant, when the prototype was saved by a nightwatchman named Stebbins (who later became the Mayor of Detroit) and was the only product available to the company to produce.[16] Although cars were becoming more affordable before it was launched, the 1908–1927 FR layout first used by the French car maker Panhard and so did the Model T.[citation needed ]
Henry Ford declared at the launch of the vehicle:
The River Rouge Plant which opened in 1919, was the most technologically advanced in the world, raw materials entered at one end and finished cars emerged from the other. The innovation of the moving assembly line, was inspired by the 'dis-assembly' plants of the Chicago meat packing industry, reduced production time from twelve and a half hours, to just an hour and thirty-three minutes per car.[15] Black was the only colour available because it was the only paint that would dry in the required production time. The continuous improvement of production methods, and economies of scale from larger and larger scale production, allowed Henry Ford to progressively lower the price of the Model T throughout its production run. It was far less expensive, smaller, and more austere than its hand-built pre-first world war contemporaries. The size of the Model T was arrived at, by making its track to the width of the ruts in the unsurfaced rural American roads of the time, ruts made by horse-drawn vehicles. It was specifically designed with a large degree of axle articulation, and a high ground clearance, to deal with these conditions effectively. It had an under stressed 177 cu in (2.9 L) engine. It set the template for American vehicles being larger than comparable vehicles in other countries, which would later on have economy cars scaled to their narrower roads with smaller engines.
In 1912 railroad industry. He worked with the Pullman Company on a contract for Pennsylvania Railroad , building the first all-steel railcar.
In 1913 in the UK, the 1018 cc Second World War Morris Motors, having swept in Riley, merged with the Austin Motor Company together forming the British Motor Corporation .
In 1913 the British epicyclic gearbox , to simplify gear changing, and a chain to the rear wheels. Solid tyres were used, even though these were antiquated for car use, to prevent punctures and very long springs used to give some comfort. Before production could start war broke out and from 1914 to 1918, the company made tools and gauges for the war effort.
In 1914 Ford was producing half a million Model Ts a year, with a sale price of less than US$500. This was more than the rest of the U.S. auto industry combined and ten times the total national car production of 1908, the year of the cars launch. Also in that year Ford made headlines by increasing the minimum wage of his workers from $2.83 for a nine-hour day to $5.00 for an eight-hour day, to combat low workforce morale, and employee turnover problems because of the repetitive and stressful nature of working on the production line, and more radically, to turn his semi-skilled workers into potential customers.[20] The Ford Model T was the first automobile produced in many countries at the same time. It was the first 'World Car', since they were being produced in Canada and in Manchester, England starting in 1911 and were later assembled in At the New York Motor Show in January 1915, William C. Durant the head of Chevrolet (and founder of GM), launched the Chevrolet Four-Ninety, a stripped-down version of the Series-H, to compete with Henry Ford's Model T, and went into production in June. To aim directly at Ford, Durant said the new car would be priced at US$490 (the source of its name), the same as the Model T touring. Its introductory price was US$550, however, although it was reduced to US$490 later when the electric starter and lights were made a US$60 option. Henry Ford responded by reducing the Model T to US$440.[23] In 1916 Edward G. Budd's first big order for the Budd Company was from the Dodge brothers, who purchased 70,000 bodies, mounting the steel bodies onto conventional chassis frames. 1920sDuring the 1920s unibody , pressed-steel automobile. Budd also pioneered the use of electric arc welding in automobile manufacturing. It would be the 1930s before this technology was generally applied to economy cars.
The cyclecar was an attempt in the period before 1922 in the post-First World War austerity period, as a form of "four-wheeled motorcycle", with all the benefits of a motorcycle and side-car, in a more stable package. In 1920 Model T Ford.[24] Nothing was conventional. Rather than a chassis the car had a punt shaped tray which housed the engine and transmission below the seats. This is a similar idea to the chassis-less design of the contemporary 1922 Italian Lancia Lambda luxury car. The transmission used a chain to drive the solid tyre shod wheels. The 1527-cc engine to the ingenious Hounsfield design was started by pulling a lever on the right of the driver. To prove how economical the car was to run, the company ran the slogan "Can you afford to walk?" and calculated that over 200 miles (320 km) it would cost more in shoes and socks than to cover the distance by Trojan car.[19]
The astronomical success of the Model T accelerated after the First World War, and by the time Ford made his 10 millionth car, half of all cars in the world were Fords. It was so successful that Ford did not purchase any advertising between 1917 and 1923; more than 15 million Model Ts were manufactured, reaching a rate of 9,000 to 10,000 cars a day in 1925, or 2 million annually,[25][26][27] more than any other model of its day, at a price of just $240. The need for constant reductions in price through the 1920s reflected increasing competition from newer designs for the relatively unchanged and increasingly obsolescent Model T. In 1923 Chevrolet developed a new car to compete with the Model T, the Charles Kettering, (who invented the points/condenser ignition system that was in use until the 1980s). It was a rare failure for him, due to uneven cooling of the inline four-cylinder engine.[28][29]
The most development of small economy cars occurred in Europe. There was less emphasis on long-distance automobile travel, a need for vehicles that could navigate narrow streets and alleys in towns and cities (many were unchanged since medieval times), and the narrow and winding roads commonly found in the European countryside. Citroën 5 CV of 1922.
On an even smaller scale, European cars, such as the 747 cc Austin Seven, (which made cyclecars obsolete overnight.[30][31]) The Austin 7 was considerably smaller than the Ford Model T. The wheelbase was only 1,905 millimetres (6 ft 3 in), and the track only 1,016 millimetres (40 in). Equally it was lighter - less than half the Ford's weight at 360 kilograms (794 lb). The engine required for adequate performance was therefore equally reduced and the 747 cubic centimetres (45.6 cu in) sidevalve was quite capable with a modest 7 kilowatts (10 bhp) output. It would also start to catch on in Japan during the same time period, as a Datsun Type 11 that may have been pirated, at the start of their own automobile industry. It was also produced as a BMW Dixi and BMW 3/15 in Germany, Rosengart in France with French styled bodywork, and by American Austin Car Company with American styling, (later American Bantam) in the U.S. It displaced the motorcycle and sidecar combination that was popular in Europe in the 1920s. It spawned a whole industry of 'specials' builders. Swallow Sidecars switched to making cars based on Austin Seven chassis during the 1920s, then made their own complete cars in the 1930s as SS. With the advent of Nazi Germany the company changed its name to Jaguar. The Seven continued to be produced until the late 1930s along with an updated and restyled closed body, known as the "Big Seven" until World War II, but still on the early 1920s running gear, but with a slightly enlarged chassis and widened track. In the late-1920s, General Motors finally overtook Ford, as the U.S. new car market doubled in size, and fragmented into niches on a wave of prosperity, with GM producing a range of cars to match. This included a Chevrolet economy car that was just an entry level model for the range of cars. It was only a small part of the marketing strategy - "A car for every purse and purpose" of GM head Model A. The Ford Model T was voted Car of the Century on December 18, 1999 in Las Vegas, Nevada.[2][3][4][5]
In 1929 Chevrolet replaced the 171 cu in (2.8 L) 1932 Ford V8 (Model 18) coupe became the car of choice for post-war hot rodders . It was the first V8 engine in a low priced car, and along with the Chevrolet 6, showed how the U.S. was diverging from the rest of the world in its ideas about what constituted a basic economy car.
In 1928 Morris launched the first Morris Minor (1928) in Britain to compete with the Austin Seven. Also that year German motorcycle manufacturer DKW launched their first car, the P15, a rear-wheel-drive, wood-and-fabric bodied monocoque car, powered by a 600 cc inline two-cylinder two-stroke engine. Also, in the 1920s, Macpherson strut by Ford in the 1950s), until the late 1970s and early 1980s.
1930s-1945In 1931 the Communist Poland's FSO Syrena until the 1980s.
In the late 1920s in overhead-valve cylinder head version of the Austin 7 based engine. After a demonstration of the Adler Maikäfer by Ganz, the German Standard Fahrzeugfabrik company (unrelated to the British 'Standard' company), then purchased a license from Ganz to develop and build a small car according to his design. The prototype of this new model, which was to be called Standard Superior, was finished in 1932. It featured a tubular chassis, a mid-mounted engine, and independent wheel suspension with swing-axles at the rear. At about the same time from 1931, two years prior to Hitler's accession to power, Ferdinand Porsche founded Dr. Ing. h. c. F. Porsche GmbH - the Porsche company to offer motor vehicle development work and consulting. Together with Zündapp they developed the prototype Porsche Type 12 "Auto für Jedermann" ("car for everyone"), which was the first time the name "Volkswagen" was used. Porsche preferred a 4-cylinder flat engine, but Zündapp used a water-cooled 5-cylinder radial engine. In 1932 three prototypes were running but were not put into production. All three cars were lost during the war, the last in 1945 in Stuttgart during a bombing raid.[41][42]
In 1932 ASAP-Škoda in Mladá Boleslav Bohemia Czechoslovakia, produced a type Škoda 932 prototype of a streamlined 4-seater two-door car with a rear air-cooled flat-four engine designed by Karel Hrdlička and Vsevold Korolkov. This car's bodywork closely resembled the small car designs yet to come.[43] In Berlin in February 1933, the first production model of the Standard Superior was introduced at the IAMA (Internationale Automobil- und Motorradausstellung). It had a 396 cc 2-cylinder 2-stroke engine. Because of some criticism of the body design, not in the least by Josef Ganz in Motor-Kritik, it was followed in April 1933 by a slightly altered model. In November 1933, the Standard Fahrzeugfabrik introduced yet another new and improved model for 1934, which was slightly longer with one additional window on each side and had a small seat for children or as luggage space in the back. This car was advertised as the German Volkswagen. During the early 1930s German car manufacturers one by one adopted the progressive ideas published in Motor-Kritik since the 1920s. In the meantime in May 1933, the Jewish Josef Ganz was arrested by the Gestapo on trumped up charges of blackmail of the automotive industry, at the instigation of those that he had ferociously criticized. He was eventually released, but his career was systematically destroyed and his life endangered. He fled Germany in June 1934 – the same month Adolf Hitler gave Ferdinand Porsche the brief for designing a mass-producible car for a consumer price of 1,000 ℛ︁ℳ︁.[42][44] Production of the Standard Superior ended in 1935. The Standard company was forbidden by the Nazis from using the term 'Volkswagen'. The labour organization of the Nazi Party, which replaced the various independent trade unions in Germany during the process of Gleichschaltung or Nazification. Now working for the DAF, Porsche built a new Volkswagen factory at Fallersleben, called "Stadt des KdF-Wagens bei Fallersleben" (Wolfsburg after 1945), at a huge cost which was partly met by raiding the DAF's accumulated assets and misappropriating the dues paid by DAF members. The Volkswagen was sold to German workers on an installment plan where buyers of the car made payments and posted stamps in a stamp-savings book, which when full, would be redeemed for the car. Due to the shift of wartime production, no consumer ever received a "Kdf-Wagen" (although after the war, Volkswagen did give some customers a DM 200 discount for their stamp-books). The project was not commercially viable and only government support was able to keep it afloat. The Beetle factory was primarily converted to produce the Kübelwagen (the German equivalent of the jeep). The few Beetles that were produced went to the diplomatic corps and military officials.[48]
After the war, the Volkswagen company would be founded to produce the car in the new democratic West Germany, where it would be a success.
From 1936 to 1955, It was facelifted with American influenced 'full width styling' of the frontal panels after the war, with headlights integrated into the wings/fenders.The overhead-valve engine. Drive was to the rear wheels through a four-speed gearbox, and for the period, its comfort, handling, and performance were prodigious,[54] making it "the only people's car that was also a driver's car".[55]
The Steyr-Puch. The car had a water-cooled four-cylinder boxer engine driving the rear wheels through a four-speed transmission. It had a similar engine and radiator layout as the Fiat Topolino that was launched at about the same time. To save room and weight a dynastarter was used, which doubled as the axle of the radiator fan. It was regarded as the "Austrian Peoples' Car" and was affectionately referred to as the Steyr "Baby". Professor Porsche had, despite rumors, not been involved in the design or production of the 50. Moreover, the little Steyr offered better seating and luggage space than Porsche's Volkswagen with shorter overall length, a large sheet metal sliding roof and was available with hydraulic brakes (instead of the early Volkswagens' cable-operated ones). In early 1938, the car was revised. It got a more powerful engine and a longer wheelbase. The new model was called the Steyr 55 and went on sale in 1940. A total of 13,000 Steyr "Babies" were sold. The production of Steyr cars was discontinued during World War II, after bombing of the factory. After the war, the factory was rebuilt and specialized in Austrian versions of the Fiat 500 and Fiat 1500. Today the Steyr factory produces the BMW X models for Europe.
The pre-war European car market was not one market. Trade barriers fragmented it into national markets, apart from luxury cars where the extra cost of tariffs could actually make cars more exclusive and desirable. The only way for a car maker to enter another national market of a major European car making country, (and their colonial markets of the time), was to open factories there. For example, Citroën and Renault opened factories in England in this period. This situation only changed with the post-war growth of the EEC ( Model A in Europe in 1932 and ran until 1937. It was a much smaller and lighter car, weighing one third less, with an engine two thirds smaller in capacity than the Model A. The basic Model Y 'Popular' was an important milestone in British economy cars, being the first steel-bodied four-seater saloon to sell for £100; previously the only four-wheeled car to sell for that price had been the two-seater tourer model of the Morris Minor. The Model Y was reworked into the more streamlined Ford 7Y for 1938-1939. This was restyled again into the 1939 launched Ford Anglia. Initial sales in Britain actually began in early 1940. Production was suspended in early 1942, and resumed in mid-1945. Production ceased in 1948 after a total of 55,807 had been built. The Anglia was restyled again in 1948. Including all production, 108,878 were built. When production as an Anglia ceased in October 1953, it continued as the extremely basic Ford Popular entry level car until 1959. The Ford Prefect was a differently styled and slightly more upmarket version of the Anglia launched in October 1938 and remained in production until 1941, returning to the market in 1945. The car was face lifted in 1953 from its original perpendicular or sit-up-and-beg style to a more modern three-box structure. It was sold until 1961. The Anglia, Popular and Prefect sold well for a long time despite their old fashioned technology using transverse leaf springs and beam axles for front and rear suspension, side valve engines and only partly synchromeshed three speed gearboxes. They sold on price because of limited car supply on the used car market due to the Second World War, and new car market because of the British government's post war policy of exporting cars. The Morris Eight, introduced in 1935, was a deliberate close copy of the Ford and served as a lower cost, more profitable replacement for the 1928-vintage Morris Minor which had not achieved the hoped-for success. Prices for the Morris started at £112 and it offered more equipment than the Ford and a much more modern design than the ageing Austin Seven, which meant it became the UK's bestselling car by 1939.
General Tire and Rubber Company .
1945–1960In anticipation of a repeat of the post First World War economic recession, GM started the "Chevrolet Cadet" project (a compact car intended to sell for less than US$1,000), that ran from 1945 to 1947, to extend the Chevrolet range downwards in the U.S. new car market. Chevrolet head of engineering Earle S. MacPherson was in charge of development. It had a unibody structure, an over-square over head valve engine, a strut-type front suspension, small-diameter road wheels, a three-speed gearbox, brake and clutch pedals suspended from the bulkhead rather than floor-mounted, and integrated fender/body styling. It was light and technically advanced, but GM's management cancelled it, stating that it was not economically viable - the anticipated post Second World War U.S. car market recession hadn't materialised. The MacPherson strut, probably the world's most common form of independent suspension, evolved in the GM Cadet project by combining long tubular shock absorbers with external coil springs, and locating them in tall towers that directed the vertical travel of the wheels and also formed the "king pin" or "swivel pin axis" around which the front wheels could turn. It was elegantly simple, with just three links holding the wheel in place - the strut itself, the single-piece transverse lower arm, and the anti-roll bar that doubled as a drag link for the wheel hub. MacPherson took his ideas to Ford instead. They were first used in the French 1948 Ford Vedette. Next in the 1950 British Ford Consul and Zephyr (British mid-size cars, the same size as the Cadet), which owed more to the Cadet than just the MacPherson strut suspension, and caused a sensation when they were launched. In 1953, a miniaturised economy car version, the Anglia 100E was launched in Britain.[56][57][58][59] These early 1950s British Fords used styling elements from the U.S. 1949 Ford 'Shoebox'. As Europe and Japan rebuilt from the war, their growing economies led to a steady increase in demand for cheap cars to 'motorise the masses'. Emerging technology allowed economy cars to become more sophisticated. Early post-war economy cars like the looked extremely minimal; however, they were technologically more advanced than most conventional cars of the time.The 4CV was designed covertly by Volkswagen, and that the politicians should presume to send Porsche to advise on it. The government insisted on nine meetings with Porsche which took place in rapid succession. Lefaucheux insisted that the meetings would have absolutely no influence on the design of the Renault 4CV, and Porsche cautiously went on record saying that the car would be ready for large scale production in a year.[63] Lefaucheux was a man with contacts, as soon as the 4CV project meetings had taken place, Porsche was arrested in connection with war crimes allegations involving the use of forced labour including French in the Volkswagen plant in Germany. Ferdinand Porsche, despite never facing any sort of trial, spent the next twenty months in a Dijon jail. The 760 cc rear-mounted four-cylinder engine, three-speed manual transmission 4CV was launched at the 1946 Paris Motor Show and went on sale a year later.[64] Volume production with the help of Marshall Plan aid money, was said to have commenced at the company's Parisian Boulogne-Billancourt plant a few weeks before the Paris Motor Show of October 1947, although the cars were in very short supply for the next year or so.[65] On the 4CV's launch, it was nicknamed "La motte de beurre" (the lump of butter); this was due to the combination of its shape and the use of surplus paint from the German Army vehicles of Rommel's Afrika Korps, which were a sand-yellow color.[66]
The VW featured a 1.1-litre, rear engined air-cooled 'boxer' flat four with rear-wheel drive, all round fully independent suspension, semi monocoque construction and the ability to cruise on the autobahn for long periods reliably. This cruising ability and engine durability was gained by high top gearing, and by restricting the engine breathing and performance to well below its maximum capability. Production was restarted after the war by the British Army Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, under Major Ivan Hirst after it was dismissed as valueless for war reparations by the Western Allies. In 1948 Hirst recruited Heinrich Nordhoff to run Volkswagen GmbH and in 1949 ownership was handed over to the West German government.[67][68][69][70] The Volkswagen Type 1 'Beetle' was to become the most popular single design in history. Its production surpassed The Ford Model T on February 17, 1972. It was withdrawn from the European market in 1978. The Volkswagen Beetle was an icon of the post-war West German reconstruction known as the Wirtschaftswunder. The 375 cc Citroën 2CV had interconnected all round fully independent suspension, rack and pinion steering, radial tyres and front-wheel drive with an air-cooled flat twin engine and four-speed gearbox. It was some 10 to 15 MPG (Imperial)[clarification needed] more fuel efficient than any other economy car of its time – but with restricted performance to match. It was designed to motorise rural communities where speed was not a requirement. The original design brief had been issued before the Second World War in the mid-1930s. It had been completely redesigned three times, as its market and materials costs had changed drastically during its development period. Engine size increased over time; from 1970 it was a still tiny 602 cc. It was in production until 1990. The water-cooled two-cylinder, two-stroke based on a DKW design, driving the front wheels. It had aircraft derived monocoque construction, with an aerodynamic (drag coefficient) value of 0.30 – not bettered until the 1980s. It was later developed into the Saab 93, Saab 95, and Saab 96. It was produced until 1980, switching to a V4 four stroke engine in the 1960s. The mechanicals were used in the Saab Sonett sports cars.
Also in the immediate postwar period, the monocoque BMC A-Series engine. It had a strong emphasis on good packaging and roadholding, with independent front suspension and rack and pinion steering, and American influenced styling. It was produced in different body styles including a 2-door and 4-door saloon, a 2-door convertible, a 'woody' estate car / station wagon, a van with a rear box and a pick-up truck. 1.3 million had been built by the end of production in 1971. It was designed by Alec Issigonis .
The 1947 right hand drive was offered. Toyota engineers (including Dr Kumabe) had visited Germany before World War II and had studied Porsche and Volkswagen designs (independent suspension, aerodynamic bodies, backbone chassis, rear-mounted air-cooled engines, economical production cost).[72] Many Japanese companies had ties with Germany during the war years. But unlike other Japanese car firms Toyota did not partner with Western companies after the war, so it was free to use German designs. Many features of the prototype Beetle were subsequently put into the SA, although the Beetle's rear-mounted air-cooled engine feature was not used. Later on, Toyota revisited the economic principles exemplified by the Beetle when designing the 1950s successors to the SA and the later Publica and Corolla .
In the post war austerity of the late 1940s, when most of the Japanese population could not afford a car, but could afford a FF layout. This market has thrived ever since, with the cars increasing in size and engine capacity, including sports cars such as the Honda Beat and Suzuki Cappuccino , and even miniaturised MPVs.
In 1953, in Japan Hino entered the private car market, by manufacturing the Renault 4CV under licence. Also, in 1953 the Fiat 1100 in Italy was completely redesigned as a compact four-door sedan, with a modern monocoque bodywork and integrated front lights. While economy cars flourished in Europe and later Japan, the booming postwar American economy combined with the emergence of the suburban and interstate highways in that country led to slow acceptance of small cars. Brief economic recessions saw interest in economical cars wax and wane. During the early 1950s, the independent lower volume American auto manufacturers launched new 'small' cars. They were designed to be smaller than contemporary American cars, but would still have mainstream appeal, because they could still accommodate five passengers comfortably with conventional engineering and Karmann Ghia coupé, that was developed from a 1953 concept car. Production doubled soon after its introduction,[77] becoming the car most imported into the U.S,[77] with more than 445,000 imported.[78] Initially the stylish Renault Dauphine derived from the Renault 4CV, looked like it would follow the VWs footsteps, but then was a failure due to mechanical breakdowns and body corrosion. This failure on the U.S. market in the late 1950s, may have harmed the acceptance of small cars generally in America.[79]
In 1955, the Japanese RR layout Mitsubishi 500 . The Publica and the Mitsubishi 500 were essentially "kei cars" with engines larger than regulations permitted at the time.
In the late 1950s the DDR two-stroke engine and front-wheel drive, using DKW technology.
In 1957, Fiat in Italy launched the 479 cc 'Nuovo' Fiat 500 designed by Dante Giacosa with frontal styling by Claus Luthe. It was the first real city car. It had a rear-mounted air-cooled vertical twin engine, and all round independent suspension. Its target market was Italian scooter riders who had settled down and had a young family in the post war baby boom, and needed their first car. It was also produced in Austria as the Puch 500. Fiat had also launched the larger 1955 Fiat 600 with a similar layout but with a water-cooled in-line four-cylinder engine, it even had a six-seater people carrier / MPV / mini-van version called the 'Multipla', even though it was about the same size as a modern supermini. Car body corrosion was a particular problem from the 1950s to the 1980s when cars moved to IBM 360, the thickness of sheet metal in bodyshells was reduced to the minimum needed for structural integrity. However, corrosion prevention / rustproofing, that had not previously been significant because of the thickness of metal and separate chassis, had not kept pace with this new construction technology.[80] The lightest monocoque economy cars would be the most affected by structural corrosion .
1960sThe world's first estate cars / Station Wagons so it is largely forgotten.
The next major advance in small car design was the 1959 848 cc Riley, Wolesely and Vanden Plas versions. It was for most of the 1960s, the top selling car in Britain, and was sold until the mid-1970s. It was sold as the Austin America in the U.S., Canada, and Switzerland between 1968 and 1972.[83][84][85] It was also sold in South Africa - Austin Apache and Spain - Austin Victoria, with Triumph type Michelotti re-styling, built in local factories.
BMC had hedged their bets after the launch of the front wheel drive Mini and 1100 and to meet the demands of more conservative customers, by keeping their rear wheel drive Austin A40 Farina in production until 1967 and Morris Minor until 1971, while front wheel drive was being accepted by the UK and European markets. Demand from older customers in particular kept the Minor in production, despite it being very outdated.
Ford in the UK in 1959 launched the Anglia 105E. It had a new overhead valve engine and a four speed gearbox, which was a great improvement over the previous model Anglia 100E that had a side-valve engine and only three speeds. It was rear wheel drive using a rear beam axle and leaf springs, with front Macpherson struts used like its predecessor. It used much miniaturised late 1950s American-influenced styling that was very fashionable, including a sweeping nose line, and on deluxe versions, a full-width slanted chrome grille in between prominent "eye" headlamps. The car also sported a backward-slanted rear window and tailfins. This dated the car over its nine-year production life. The Anglia's Ford Kent engine was in production in a developed form into the 21st century. The launch in the 1960s of the Vauxhall Viva GT and Brabham SL/90 HB in the late 1960s opened up this market still further in Britain. Meanwhile, from the 1950s Abarth tuned Fiats and Gordini tuned Renaults did the same in Italy and France.
Also in 1959 the Volvo 340. The 1960s Austin Mini/Austin 1100 compact and innovative automatic gearbox, developed by Automotive Products (with a conventional epicyclic / torque converter coupling) was much less efficient at transmitting drive.
In the 1960s the semi-monocoque/platform chassis 750 cc Renault 4 (arguably the first small five-door hatchback, but viewed as a small estate car or station wagon at the time) was launched in France. It had a very soft but well controlled ride like the Citroën 2CV. In layout, it was essentially an economy car version of the 1930s designed Citroën Traction Avant, in particular the 'Commerciale' derivative, but with fully independent rear suspension (the Commerciale used a flexible beam axle, similar to 1970s VW twist-beam rear suspension). The Commerciale had been smaller than an estate car with a horizontally split two-piece rear door before the second world war. When it was relaunched in 1954 it featured a one-piece top-hinged tailgate. Citroën responded with the 2CV-based 1960 602 cc Citroën Ami and hatchback 1967 Citroën Dyane. Also in France, in 1966 Renault launched the midrange Renault 16 - although it was not an economy car, it is widely recognised as the first non-commercial mass-market hatchback car. The hatchback was a leap forward in practicality. It was adopted as a standard feature on most European cars, with saloons declining in popularity apart from at the top of the market over the next twenty years. The hatchback improved the versatility of economy cars that were more limited in load carrying ability than larger cars. In the 1960s the Japanese Datsun Sunny refined the conventional small rear-wheel-drive economy cars were widely exported from Japan as postwar international competition and trade increased. Japan also instituted the "Shaken" road-worthiness testing regime, that required progressively more expensive maintenance, involving the replacement of entire vehicle systems, that was unnecessary for safety, year on year, to devalue older cars and promote new cars on their home market that were available for low prices. There are very few cars in Japan more than five years old.
In 1962 Fiat introduced the third generation FR layout Fiat 1100, called the 1100D. It was restyled into the 1100R from 1966. The Fiat 1100D was made in India from 1964 onwards. In 1973 (for that model year alone) it was named the Premier President. From 1974 onwards until it was finally discontinued in 2000, it was known as the Premier Padmini .
In 1964 PSA X engine , until the only car in production with this transmission layout by the 1990s, was the then long obsolescent Austin (Rover) Mini.
The American Motors (AMC) marketed a version with sealed-beam headlamps and reinforced bumpers as the 'Le Car' in the U.S. from 1976 to 1983.[89]
GM's British and German subsidiaries re-entered the small car market with then conventional General Motors (GM) models such as the Chevrolet Impala/Caprice of the period. It featured the same basic engine as the HA, but enlarged to 1,159 cc, but with the added weight of the larger body the final drive gearing was reduced to maintain performance. The Opel Kadett B was launched in 1965.
In 1968 Ford replaced the outmoded Anglia with the Ford Escort which was sold across Western Europe. It was longer and wider than its predecessor to fill the gap left by increasing the size of Ford's next model up in the range the Ford Cortina. It had the same mechanical layout and suspension as the Cortina and Anglia, but with contemporary 'Coke Bottle' styling. It struggled to compete with the larger and more comfortable second generation 1965 Opel Kadett in West Germany. In the U.S. market, in 1959 Chevy II / Nova line of conventional compacts first offered with 4- and six-cylinder engines. These American vehicles were still much larger than fuel-efficient economy cars popular in Europe and Japan. The Corvair is twenty inches longer, seven inches wider, eight hundred pounds heavier and includes an engine almost twice the size of the Beetle that inspired it.[93][94] Corvair offered VW's rear engine advantages of traction, light steering, and flat floor with Chevrolet's six-passenger room and six-cylinder power American buyers were accustomed to. Later versions of the Corvair were considered sports cars rather than 'economy' cars including Monza Spyder models, which featured one of the first production car turbocharged engines. The Corvair Monza was followed by the Falcon-based Ford Mustang, introduced in 1964, establishing the "pony car" class which included Corvair's replacement, the Chevrolet Camaro in 1967, expanding the domestic pony car market segment started in mid-1960s.
The 1960s also saw the swan song of the rear-engined rear-wheel-drive car FR layout cars. They could have road-holding issues due to unfavorable weight distribution and wheel camber changes (rear wheel tuck under), of the lower-cost swing axle rear suspension design. These were highlighted and a little exaggerated by Ralph Nader. These problems were ameliorated on later Beetles and were eliminated on the second-generation Chevrolet Corvair with the switch to a four-link, fully independent rear suspension. The Hillman Imp, NSU Prinz 4 (styled by Claus Luthe) and Soviet Zaporozhets all had styling cues derived from the original Corvair.[96][97][98][99][100][101][102][103] Connections to the Corvair are mentioned on their respective Wikipages. The only economy cars with this layout launched since the 1960s have been the turn of the millennium ultra compact two seater city car Smart Fortwo and Indian market Tata Nano .
RR layout cars launched in the 1960s include:
1970sThe captive imports .
AMC was determined to have the first subcompact offering and 1970 AMC Gremlin sales began six months ahead of the all-new 1971 models from GM and Ford.[107][108] The Gremlin used the AMC Hornet's existing design with a shortened wheelbase and "chopped" tail, and had an important low-price advantage.[109]
The Chevrolet Vega, featuring attractive miniaturised Camaro styling, introduced in September 1970, was GM's first subcompact, economy car. Nearly two million were sold over its seven-year production run,[110] due in part to its low price and fuel economy.[111] By 1974, the Vega was among the top 10 best-selling American-made cars,[112] but the aluminum-block engine developed a questionable reputation.[113] Chevrolet increased the engine warranty to 50,000 miles (80,000 km) to all Vega owners, which proved costly for Chevrolet. The 1976 Vega had extensive engine and body durability improvements and a five-year/60,000 mi (97,000 km) engine warranty.[114] After a three-year sales decline, the Vega and its aluminium engine were discontinued at the end of the 1977 model year. Iron Duke inline-4 engine.[115] Lower priced versions of the Chevrolet Monza were introduced for 1978 and rebadged variants of the discontinued Vega were also added to the Monza line - the Monza wagon using the Vega Kammback body was sold for the 1978-79 model years, and the Monza S hatchback, a price leader model using the Vega Hatchback body, was also offered for the 1978 model year.[116]
The Ford Pinto was introduced one day after the Vega. It was small, economical, and a top seller. Controversy over the design of the fuel system and a Ford cost benefit analysis presented to the public as specific to the Pinto destroyed the reputation of the car.[117][118] The Ford Pinto engine though was successful in European Fords for twenty years, in successive mid and large European sized mainstay models of the; UK Ford Cortina, German Ford Taunus, the Ford Sierra, and the Ford Granada amongst others. By 1970, Nissan released their first front-wheel-drive car that was originally developed by California emission standards - nearly every other U.S. market car for that year needed exhausts with catalytic converters.[119][120] The Japanese, who had previously competed on price, equipment and reliability with conservative designs, were starting to make advanced, globally competitive cars.[120]
The supermini three door hatchback car launched in 1974 and produced until 1978, and sold only in Europe, 180,812 were built.[121] A re-badged cheaper, lower equipment version was marketed as the Volkswagen Polo Mk1 (1975-1981) sold more than 500,000.[122] It impacted sales of the Audi, causing production to come to an end early compared to the Polo. The Volkswagen Derby was the booted two door saloon (three-box) version of its Volkswagen Polo Mk1 supermini, between 1977 and 1981 in Europe.
Ford had sold 2 million Escorts across Europe by 1974, the year the MK2 was launched with a squarer flatter panel body re-style.[123] The most successful market was the UK. The Escort's success was greatly helped by its numerous rallying successes in the 1970s, and the performance versions like the Escort Mexico and RS2000 that traded on that success, and provided a halo effect for the lesser models. The Isuzu Motors of Japan.[124]
Plymouth Horizon from 1978 to 1990.[125][126] It had been re-engineered with a federal emission VW Golf 1.7L engine and MacPherson strut suspension for the U.S. market.[127] Chrysler Europe was sold to Peugeot in 1978, due to mounting operating losses in Europe and the U.S. that required a U.S. government bailout.[127]
Captive imports were the other response by U.S. car makers to the increase in popularity of imported economy cars in the 1970s and 1980s. These were cars bought from overseas subsidiaries or from companies in which they held a significant shareholding. GM, Ford, and Chrysler sold imports for the U.S. market. The Buick Opel, Ford Cortina, Mercury Capri, Ford Festiva, and Dodge Colt are examples.
Technologies that developed during the post-war era, such as disc brakes, overhead-cam engines and Ford of Brazil Ford Corcel .
1980sGM Europe (Vauxhall/Opel) introduced their first European market front-wheel-drive car, the Opel Kadett D/Vauxhall Astra , Golf-sized car in 1979 by Opel in Germany and 1980 by Vauxhall in the UK.
In 1980, Fiat introduced the Giugiaro designed Mk 1 Fiat Panda. It was originally designed to be produced in China at its 1970s level of industrialisation. It was a utilitarian front-wheel-drive supermini with Fiat standard transverse engine and end-on gearbox. It featured mostly flat body panels and flat glass. Also in 1980, the all new hatchback and front wheel drive third generation Ford Escort Mark III (Europe) was launched. Previous Escorts were saloon/sedans with front engine and rear wheel drive. In 1981 Ford launched the American version of the Ford Escort. In 1982 GM launched their first front-wheel-drive supermini, the Opel Corsa /Vauxhall Nova in Europe.
In 1983 Fiat launched the next step forward in small car design, the Kamm tail achieved a drag coefficient of 0.34, and it won much praise for an airy interior space and fuel economy.[133][134] It incorporated many packaging lessons learnt from Giugiaro's 1978 Lancia Megagamma concept car, (the first modern people carrier-MPV-mini-van)—but miniaturised.[135] Its tall car, high-seating packaging is imitated by every small car today.[136] It showed that not just low sleek cars could be aerodynamic, but small boxy well packaged cars could be too. It was voted Car of the Year in 1984.[137]
Also in 1983 Peugeot launched the Pininfarina-styled CAR magazine in 1990.
In the US Chevrolet offered three new small economy cars in the 1980s to replace the Chevette: the Chevrolet Nova built by NUMMI in California, a GM-Toyota joint venture.
1990sChevrolet offered the Geo brand in the US in the 1990s featuring the Suzuki-built Geo Metro (marketed as the Suzuki Swift in Europe, Suzuki Cultus in Japan, and Holden Barina in Australia), the Isuzu-built Storm, and the NUMMI-built Prizm. In Europe in 1993, Fiat launched the boxy and conservatively styled but very well packaged front wheel drive Fiat Cinquecento that could accommodate four adults that was only slightly larger than an Austin Mini. It eventually replaced the first Fiat Panda and also the aged rear engined rear wheel drive 1970s Fiat 126, as the smallest car in the Fiat range.[139][140] But the real breakthrough in small car design was the 1993 Renault Twingo which was a revolution in styling by being the first 'one box' small car to reach production.[141] The early pre-production Citroën AX supermini launched in 1987 was a 'monobox' design, but the production version was much more conservative after negative reactions in focus groups.[142] Both had the interior space of a much larger car. The Twingo and Cinquecento relaunched the city car market in Europe - for decades the only competitors in this market were the Austin Mini and the Polish built Fiat 126 (developed from the 1950s Fiat 500). Economy cars since 2000Today economy cars have specialised into market niches. The small city car, the inexpensive-to-run but not necessarily very small general economy car, and the performance derivatives that capitalise on light weight of the cars on which they are based. Some models that started as economy cars such as the Volkswagen Golf and Toyota Corolla, have increased in size and moved upmarket over several generations, and their makers have added smaller new models in their original market niches. The 2003 Mclaren F1 designer, said when designing his new Murray T.25 city car:
"Today with all the promises of hydrogen and hybrids and electric cars, if you could take ten percent out of the weight of every car, the effect in the next ten years would be more than that of all the hybrids and electric cars on the planet."[13][14]
The Orbital engine,[145]
[146]
[147]
steering rack and final drive unit to maximise floor space for passengers. It seats four adults in a car 2.985 m (117.5 in) long, 1.680 m (66.1 in) wide, and 1.5 m (59.1 in) tall, and achieves 65.69 mpg‑imp (4.300 L/100 km; 54.70 mpg‑US) with a 99 g/km CO2 rating. It also achieved the top Euro NCAP 5/5 stars safety rating.
A development in recent years in Europe, has been the launch of small MPVs/people carriers. This is a development of the supermini based cars like the Renault Modus, Citroën C3 Picasso, Fiat Idea, Nissan Note, and the Vauxhall/Opel Meriva that is also produced in Brazil. Their tall packaging designs offer the interior space of a larger car. The higher seating increases visibility for the driver that is useful in urban driving. They also make it easier to get in and out, which is useful for those with personal mobility problems, such as the elderly and the disabled.
The conflicting design goals for economy cars – small size with maximum usable interior space, low cost and light weight with acceptable safety performance (light cars have a higher ratio of Multiair' system, is an electro-hydraulic development of variable valve timing that allows the engine management computer to control valve timing, improving engine efficiency, giving better torque, power, economy, and emissions.[158][159] Safety design is a particular challenge in a small, lightweight car. This is an area where Renault has been particularly successful.[160] Sport compacts and hot hatches have developed into their own competitive genre. Although their economy has been compromised, these models offer higher performance because of the lightness of the platforms that they are based upon.
As an alternative to manual MINI Cooper. Tata Motors from India, recently announced that it too would use a variomatic transmission in its US$2,500 Nano.[161] CVT application to economy cars was pioneered by Fiat, Ford, and Van Doorne in the 1980s. Rather than the pulled rubber drive belts as used in the past by DAF, the modern transmission is made much more durable by the use of electronic control and steel link belts pushed by their pulleys.
A difference between the North American car market and the markets of Europe and Japan is the price of fuel. Fuel is heavily taxed and therefore relatively costly in most first-world markets outside North America; fuel is about two and a half times the price in the UK than the U.S. Fuel costs are also a much higher proportion of income, due to generally higher wages and lower living costs in the U.S. Only during occasional fuel price spikes such as those of 1973, 1979–81, and 2008-9 have North American drivers been motivated to seek levels of fuel economy considered ordinary outside North America. The growth of Citi Golf is an example.
Some mainstream European auto makers have developed models specifically for developing countries, such as the City Rover until the 2005 collapse of Rover, sold poorly as it was overpriced for a basic car.
The narrow profit margins of economy cars can cause financial instability for their manufacturers. Historically, Volkswagen in the 1970s and Ford in the 1920s almost collapsed because of their one model economy car Lincoln brands to diversify its product range. VW moved away from the narrow profit margins of economy cars, by expanding its range so that now it spans from very small city cars like the Volkswagen Up to Audis and Bentleys, and it also owns SEAT and Skoda .
China has become one of the fastest growing car markets, recently overtaking the U.S. as the largest producer of cars in the world. It is followed by India with a preference towards inexpensive, basic cars, but they are both moving upmarket in their tastes as their economic rise continues. India is becoming a global outsourcing production centre for small cars. Mclaren F1 designer, has pointed out the difficulty of making economy cars cost-efficient. His solution is a laser cut tubular steel space-frame chassis built with an automated tube mill, braced with bonded low-cost composite sheets that would be a cheaper and greener means of production. Murray's 'iStream'[165][166] simplifies each process with an eighty percent smaller factory with lower cost production, making light weight efficient cars. There are no sheet metal presses, spot welders or paint plants. It would be built local to its market. Murray was reported to be negotiating production licences.[13][14][167][168]
[169][170] The T25 and T27 were projected to be available in 2016.[171]
See also
References
Bibliography
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