Ten Obscure Automotive Facts
1. The first generation Isuzu Impulse was based on the same platform as the 1976-1987 Chevrolet Chevette.
2. The 2.5 liter inline six in the 1987-1991 BMW 325i was not the largest engine ever offered in the E30 3 series. From 1984 to 1986, South African customers were able to order a 333i, with a longer stroke 3.2 liter inline six.
3. The Lamborghini LM002 was developed from a prototype called the Cheetah, designed with sales to the US military in mind with a rear mounted V8 engine. Plans for military use did not transpire and instead, Lamborghini went on to produce a limited run of vehicles with a front mounted V12 engine from the Countach supercar.
4. For model years 1984 and 1985, you could order a Lincoln Mark VII coupe with a 2.4 liter six cylinder, turbocharged diesel engine from BMW. Only a few hundred copies were built, with some of the engines finding a home in the Continental sedan, as well.
5. Jaguar originated from the Swallow Sidecar Company founded by Sir William Lyons in 1922. After World War II, the company name was changed to Jaguar as the initials SS had negative connotations stemming from the Nazi combat organization.
6. The Porsche 924 was originally commissioned by Volkswagen to serve as their flagship sports coupe. As a result of the 1973 Oil Crisis, the project was shelved in favor of the front wheel drive Scirocco. Porsche decided to go ahead with the project, making it the first front-engined, water-cooled Porsche to be sold when it hit the market in 1976.
7. Along with popularizing innovative powerplant designs such as the Rotary and Miller Cycle engines, Mazda produced a diesel engine with a pressure wave supercharger for the 1988 626 Capella sedan and wagon. About 150,000 were produced before the engine was taken out of production.
8. Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company, was awarded the Grand Cross of the German Eagle, the highest medal awarded to foreigners by Nazi Germany.
9. The first car to employ power front disc brakes was the Citröen DS in 1955.
10. The name Cadillac derives from the French explorer, Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac. Cadillac founded Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit in 1701, which served as the beginnings of the City of Detroit. Part of the fort occupied land on which the Civic Center and Cobo Hall now reside.