Discontinued Automobile Brands

You forgot Tucker.

integraguy wrote: Some of the GM names that are listed aren't so much BRANDS as model names. Asuna and Passport spring to mind.

How is Asuna not a "Brand", and Meteor, or Beaumont are?

Really, they're all just renamed models. Aside from the separate Meteor, there were Mercury Meteors.

Willys but I guess the continuation of the Jeep brand sort of keeps the name somewhat alive.

Appleseed wrote: You forgot Tucker.

tucker was a seperate manufactorer

IMHO

Jeep is a model that evolved into a brand and a strange way at that. The contract was for a General Purpose vehicle

In the end there were 2 manufactures and models of the General Purpose vehicle.

Willys MA (Military Rev A) and MB (longer wheelbase Rev B) and the Ford GP and GPW (General Passenger and General Passenger Willys because Willys couldn't meet the production demand required)

Say G (gee) P (pee) fast it is a Jeep. (We all know how military people give names based on designations. HMMV went to Hum Vee which went to getting a Hummer)

So the modern Jeep goes back to Ford building a model that Willys designed but couldn't build in volume

Jeep owes it's name to Ford. History is cool.

^^^ I wrote "pee"

16vCorey wrote:

petegossett wrote: Daewoo no longer exists?

I'm guessing they are referring to USDM. GM has a controlling stake in Daewoo, and Daewoo was killed in the US. They still exist and still make cars that sell in the US, just not under the Daewoo name. The Chevy Aveo and most of the Suzuki line up are Daewoos.

Only the Forenza and Reno where Daewoos.

Hmmm, the Meteor wasn't a brand? I was under the impression that the FORD of CANADA Meteors were sold either at Ford dealers or were a brand like Ford and Mercury. Yes, I am aware that Mercury in the U.S. also sold a car called the Meteor, but that was sold as the MERCURY Meteor...like the Ford Fairlane or Ford Falcon. And did ANYONE actually post that Beaumont was NOT a brand?

The Datsun is another model that evolved into a brand. DAT had made cars and trucks for a several years, but decided to make a smaller car. (At the time, no driver's licence was neded for a car with an engine<500cc. They wanted a car for that market segment.) The little car was originally the "son of DAT"; i.e. "datson." That name was quickly changed to datsun. The cars sold well, so the name was applied to other models...

an even stranger evolution....Maxima was originally a trim level instead of a model. If you ordered a Nissan 910 "Maxima" your car would have all the fancy options

integraguy wrote: Hmmm, the Meteor wasn't a brand...?

We had both. The word brand is so abused, does it really mean anything anymore? I don't think anybody suggested that Beaumont (the Chevelle you bought at the Pontiac dealer) wasn't a "brand", although clearly it was not.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_defunct_United_States_automobile_manufacturers

I had a book once on cars of the 1920s. I was amazed at the number of manufacturers in New York alone. Toss in the Great Depression and the Mom & Pop shops like ALCO in Schenectady closed up. Chevy, Caddy Pontiac, et al were separate and distinct vehicles until someone bought them all up and called it General Motors.

Interesting read, wish I could find the book.....

Dan

neon4891 wrote:

16vCorey wrote:

petegossett wrote: Daewoo no longer exists?

I'm guessing they are referring to USDM. GM has a controlling stake in Daewoo, and Daewoo was killed in the US. They still exist and still make cars that sell in the US, just not under the Daewoo name. The Chevy Aveo and most of the Suzuki line up are Daewoos.

Only the Forenza and Reno where Daewoos.

And the Verona. So maybe most of their line up aren't currently Daewoos, but what else did they have in '05 or so? The Vitara and the Aerio?

FlightService wrote: IMHO Jeep is a model that evolved into a brand and a strange way at that. The contract was for a General Purpose vehicle In the end there were 2 manufactures and models of the General Purpose vehicle. Willys MA (Military Rev A) and MB (longer wheelbase Rev B) and the Ford GP and GPW (General Passenger and General Passenger Willys because Willys couldn't meet the production demand required) Say G (gee) P (pee) fast it is a Jeep. (We all know how military people give names based on designations. HMMV went to Hum Vee which went to getting a Hummer) So the modern Jeep goes back to Ford building a model that Willys designed but couldn't build in volume Jeep owes it's name to Ford. History is cool.

Another reason Ford was picked was that they had done development work on a GP and participated in the three way test/trial. Willys won basically because they had the most powerful engine.

Something from the mists of time...

Built right here in South Cackalacke. The guy who started it was doing his damndest to compete with Henry Ford but in the end threw in the towel. Fords were just too cheap in comparison, you could buy one for around $300.00.

This is a picture of a poster my BIL has in his garage. It is rather old so I would imagine there are 20-30 more names that could be put on it.

Hal wrote: This is a picture of a poster my BIL has in his garage. It is rather old so I would imagine there are 20-30 more names that could be put on it.

Is there any way I could get a full sized copy of that?

mad_machine wrote:

Appleseed wrote: You forgot Tucker.

tucker was a seperate manufactorer

Yes. And supposedly killed by the bigger auto makers.

the jeffery's compong was the start of amc, then sold to nash in 1912 or 1914..have to go downstairs to find the book on the compaony. then kalvinatior the fridge compnay bought nash out in 1954 nash and hudson combined to form amc, in the 70's amc bought out jeep, then sold off thier am compnay that made the hummer and buss and bought by peugout in 79 i think..then in 87 they sold out to crylasler. i now i have been to the history center in kensaha and have a book on the hisorty of amc.

4eyes wrote: Is there any way I could get a full sized copy of that?

Don't know if you are refering to the picture or the actual poster. The full res picture I have is not clear enough to read the names because the actual poster is ~48" wide.

The poster came from White Post Restorations in White Post,VA. Maybe you could get one from them.

Can probably add Saab to GM's list. Just dying slowly at this point

egnorant wrote:

ddavidv wrote: The only relationship GM had with Studebaker, to my knowledge, was Stude bought some V8 engines from GM near the very end. Studebaker failed all on their own, and took Packard with them.

The rights to Studebaker and Packard are owned by Daimler Co. With the many acquisitions and mergers that went on it is hard to point a finger and say "there is Studebaker" anymore. Bruce

We have 4 Stude's. 3 with SBCs. One has a Mercedes sticker on it from the dealership.

I didnt see White Motors under the GM heading. I dont think they are still alive. Also, I think Bantam had a version of the GP for the governments consideration.

In reply to Hal: I was referring to the actual poster. Thanks for the info.

In reply to redrabbit:

If I remember correctly. Bantam made the version of the GP that the government wanted, but they couldn't produce the quantity of vehicles needed. The production was given to Willys and Ford. Bantam got a contract for trailers out of the deal.