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These are unloved and yet mysteriously now quite expensive. This one is yours for €4000. It was designed by Paulo Martin who also did the Fiat 130 coupe and the Rolls-Royce Camargue. This is the nicer than the RR but not as nice as the Fiat.
bertandnairobi
06 September 2011
Average rating: 4.5
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bertandnairobi says
RE: Media Gallery Detail
It would seem to me that Opel can´t just wither on the vine as it provides GM with a lot of R&D for the international fleet. The Astra and Insignia are sold as Buicks, for example, and the Corsa platform is sold worldwide in various forms. GM USA could never do a car as good as the Ingignia and they know it. Opel is just a hair´s breadth from profitability but needs a shot in the arm regarding its marketing. Somehow people overlook the fact that the Insignia has got some great reviews from Car and other organs; the Astra wagon (in its be-chromed versions particularly) is a genuinely beautiful car too. But you still hear them all lumped as old man´s cars or somehow less worthwhile than a lot of other pretty unremarkable but well-regarded products by Kia and Hyundai, for example. Car doesn´t help here: the Cascada was written off by Anthony ff-C in a recent test solely because it gave him a chance to use up a few jokes. Other reviews seem to give it a much better rating. It might suit GM to make Opel look unprofitable as they do want to get rid of a couple of factories.
07 May 2013 21:48
gtrslngr says
B&N re; Previous comments about the future of PSA /FIAT SpA vs OPEL/Vauxhall On PSA/FIAT .... I'm in total agreement ..... on the issue of GM's ( not so ) dynamic duo of Vauxhall/OPEL though ..... not so much . Despite all the rhetoric coming from GM of late all bets in the business community here is that both are heading for the relagation bin ... along with GM's Antipodean Holden ( who's " Losin " ground by the day ) Do not be even the least bit surprised if GM in fact allows Vauxhall/OPEL to whither on the vine ..... and either like SAAB sell, them to somebody they know will bankrupt the company .... or simply allow them both to ' Just Fade Away ' GM here in the US is in such deep _____ ( Chrysler's even worse with now a -65% profit YTD ) there's literally no way they can keep Opel/Vauxhall going what with both's extensive losses in the EU/UK .... and the PSA deal by any measure's gonna wind up in tears .... for both I'm afraid
B&N
re; Previous comments about the future of PSA /FIAT SpA vs OPEL/Vauxhall
On PSA/FIAT .... I'm in total agreement ..... on the issue of GM's ( not so ) dynamic duo of Vauxhall/OPEL though ..... not so much .
Despite all the rhetoric coming from GM of late all bets in the business community here is that both are heading for the relagation bin ... along with GM's Antipodean Holden ( who's " Losin " ground by the day ) Do not be even the least bit surprised if GM in fact allows Vauxhall/OPEL to whither on the vine ..... and either like SAAB sell, them to somebody they know will bankrupt the company .... or simply allow them both to ' Just Fade Away '
GM here in the US is in such deep _____ ( Chrysler's even worse with now a -65% profit YTD ) there's literally no way they can keep Opel/Vauxhall going what with both's extensive losses in the EU/UK .... and the PSA deal by any measure's gonna wind up in tears .... for both I'm afraid
05 May 2013 22:00
kubrick says
What was your correspondence with Paolo Martin like? During my brief exchange of emails with him, I got the impression that either his grasp of the English language isn't particularly firm or that he is of a rather snotty sort.
04 May 2013 17:45
Correction to the picture title: Paolo Martin didn´t design it. I wrote and asked him. Martin Buckley is responsible for furthering the myth of Martin´s involvement. It´s just an anonymous Pininfarina design.
03 May 2013 22:17
eBay kindly sent me a copy of CAR magazine from August 1975. Mel Nichols concluded that the Mercedes 280E, BMW 525, Volvo 264, Fiat 130 and Jaguar XJ6 would have be challenged by the 604. They went on to say "such a carefully conceived and thoroughly developed car that one can´t help be utterly impressed". He called the steering system one of the best yet conceived. There was lots else to read in the August issue. The readers´letters were like small essays and the Giant Test of Ford Capri, Audi 100 coupe and Alfa GTV read with butterlike smoothness: intro, point, counterpoint, taking us step by step through each area of the the cars´competencies. It was a lovely piece of journalism. The Ford got a real kicking, so much so that it´s hard to understand how Gavin Green was so warm about the same car a decade later when he compared to, I think, another Alfa GTV.
03 May 2013 22:11
