Link the cars – what do these cars have in common?
Cars might be at entirely separate ends of the market and maybe as different as night and day, but very often some commonality will be shared. Do you know what links these cars?
By Shahzad Sheikh
These Link the Cars questions were original posted on our social media channels and readers invited to respond to them. Search for #LinkTheCars
23 June 2014
2001 Mini and McLaren P1
Got a number of answers for this one, starting with both makes starting with the letter ‘M’ – true, but I was looking for something a little more substantial!
Someone said that Bruce McLaren, after whom McLaren is named, used to race Coopers in the 1960s and the Mini featured is indeed a Cooper edition. So fair enough.
The answer I was looking for was much simpler they are both by the same designe.
American car designer Frank Stephenson worked at BMW for 11 years and penned the new Mini that launched in 2001 – and the current car still follows pretty much the same design.
He also designed the BMW X5, but joined Ferrari-Maserati in 2002 where he designed the sensational Maserati MC12 and Ferrari F430. But of course he now works at McLaren which he joined in 2008 just in time to put the finishing touches to the already designed MP4-12C. The McLaren P1 represents the first whole Stephenson design.
Here’s another Stephenson fact for you though – he started his career at Ford and was responsible for the double rear ‘Whale Tail’ spoiler on the back of the 1992-6 Escort RS Cosworth. His original proposal was toned down – he wanted a triple deck spoiler!
21 June 2014
1966 Batmobile and 1956 Lincoln Mark II
Finally one that seemed to leave most people stumped. But the answer was actually quite simple.
The Batmobile started out life as the 1955 Lincoln Futura Concept Car, which despite being a one-off show star was actually a fully working car powered by the 368 cubic inch Lincoln engine and powertrain and the chassis from a Lincoln Mark II.
The Futura was designed by Ford’s lead stylists Bill Schmidt and John Najjar Ferzely, but built by Ghia in Turin, Italy. It actually cost $250,000 to make, which in today’s money is over $2m!
Even before it became the Batmobile it was a movie star. Repainted from pearlescent white to red, it was a major part of the plot of ‘It Started with a Kiss’ staring Debbie Reynolds and Glenn Ford in 1959.
Famed Hollywood car designer and custom car builder, George Barris, actually purchased the car from Ford for a single dollar.
After its movie appearance it sat in his back yard for several years until he was commissioned and given only three weeks to come up with a Batmobile for the debut television series. So together designer Herb Grasse and customiser Bill Cushenbery he turned the Futura into the Batmobile at a cost of just $30,000.
The car was already ten years old and once filming started it suffered from mechanical issues, so the engine and transmission were replaced with those from a Ford Galaxie.
Barris actually continued to own the car (he leased it to the studios) until January 2013 when it fetched $4.2m at auction. He also built three replica Batmobiles on 1965 Ford Galaxie chassis and all are now in private collections.
19 June 2014
1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am and Ford Mustang Shelby GT500KR
Got some mixed answers for this one. But several said that they were both TV stars and movie stars. Which is kind of correct, but not exactly spot on.
Of course some readers got it straight away. They both played versions of KITT the talking, self-driving all-action car in Knight Rider.
The Pontiac was KITT (Knight Industries Two Thousand) in the original TV series that ran from 1982 to 1986 producing 90 episodes across four seasons.
The Mustang took over for the 2008 revival which saw the original hero, Michael Knight’s estranged son take up the mantle with a new KITT (actually Knight Industries Three Thousand).
16 June 2014
Lotus Esprit and DMC Delorean
Some of you got this one, though a lot of you said they were both movie stays. That wasn’t the connection I was looking for, but I’d have to take it as a correct!
Both cars are brilliant and fascinating in their own right, but both were elevated to truly iconic status after staring roles in major movies and the sort of unprecedented action that burned itself into car-fans and movie-goer’s.
The Lotus Esprit was Roger Moore the vehicle of choice of Roger Moore’s James Bond, and in its first outing turned into an amazing submarine after a spectacular car chase with a helicopter that has become the stuff of movie legend.
And of course the DeLorean will always be remembered for the cult-classic Back To The Future trilogy as the time-travelling car that needed to hit 88mph to travel to the past or the future. Read more about the DeLorean here.
Having said that the original answer I was looking for was that DeLorean went to Lotus for help whilst developing the car and ended up using some of the Esprit’s components and particularly part of the chassis.
12 June 2014
Jeep Grand Cherokee and Mercedes ML
A few of you got this one correct, although some said that the current Grand Cherokee was based on the old ML chassis. Actually it’s probably truer to say that the new ML is based on the same platform as the current Grand Cherokee. Even after the Daimler Chrysler divorce they collaborated on the development of this SUV platform, and Jeep came out with it first for its 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The ML came out in 2012. The platform also underpins the Dodge Durango, and is rumoured to be the basis for the forthcoming Maserati Levante luxury SUV.
Read our twin test pitching these two against each other by clicking here
9 June 2014
Volkswagen Beetle and Chevrolet Corvair
Most of you answered this one easily across our Facebook and Instagram pages. Despite being from different sides of the Atlantic, they are indeed both rear-engined and air-cooled. In a feature on MME, Fraser wrote: ‘hevrolet introduced this car as an ‘American’ Beetle – all the economy of the economy cars of its day, but with seats and dimensions to suit Americans who were used to driving chromed, bewinged barges. Introduced in 1959, and influenced by the Volkswagen Beetle when it was at its height in the US…’
Read the full feature by clicking here
8 June 2014
BMW Z8 and original Aston Martin DB9
Many of you got this one right. The connection is of course that they were both designed by Henrik Fisker.
50-year old Fisker from Denmark, graduated from the short-lived Swiss campus of California’s Art Center College of Design in 1989. He was at BMW in the 1990s where he worked on the Z07 concept car and came up with the beautiful Z8 Roadster.
He joined Ford in 2001 when it still owned Aston Martin and became design director for the British sportscar marque, progressing member of the board of directors at Aston Martin. He was reponsible not only for the design of the gorgeous DB9 but also the wonderful little V8 Vantage. It’s fair to say his design template is still being used by Aston more than a decade later.
In 2004 he started his own luxury car company, Fisker Coachbuild in Southern California – later Fisker Automotive. This gave birth to another of his sensational designs – the Fisker Karma. You can read our review here.
Fisker resigned from the company in 2013 however, and it declared bankruptcy. No new cars have been built since summer 2012 but in February this year the company was bought by Chinese car part company, Wanxiang Group, which is looking to restart production soon.
The James Bond connection
Some of you suggested the link might be James Bond, and you’re kind of correct. However whilst Pierce Brosnan’s Bond drove the BMW Z8 in The World is Not Enough – where it got spectacularly sawed in half (none of the Z8s used were real, by the way, they were replicas as the actual cars were too new and hadn’t been finished!), he got an Aston Martin Vanquish as his company car in the following final outing as 007, Die Another Day – that’s the one that went invisible.
Daniel Craig took over Bond in Quantum of Solace and famously barrel-rolled his company Aston a record number of times. However that car was supposed to be an Aston Martin DBS which was launched at the time of the movie’s release. Having said that, once again the cars weren’t ready for filming, so the ‘DBS’ was in fact a DB9 dressed up to look like a DBS – although, isn’t that was a DBS is anyway?
7 June 2014
Fifth gen Ford Mustang and Jaguar XF
Great effort from you guys on this one. So before I give the answer that I was looking for, I’ll address some of the responses given across Facebook and Instagram on the MME and my personal feeds.
Both were designed by the Callum brothers?
Moray Callum, design chief at Ford is indeed the younger brother of Ian Callum, the legendary design boss of Jaguar.
However, whilst Callum has been involved in the design of the all-new 2015 Mustang, J Mays was responsible for the 2005 Mustang. He has now retired and was replaced by Callum.
Both owned by the same company?
Actually this is almost true – at least at the time they were introduced. Ford did indeed own Jaguar in 2005 when the new fifth gen S-197 Mustang was launched, but sold the company to Tata at the beginning of 2008.
The XF was launched in 2007 whilst Jaguar was still under Ford ownership. However the pictured Mustang is technically a 2010 onwards edition.
Both sold by the same dealer?
In some markets this might be correct. For example in the UAE, both brands are sold by Al Tayer Motors.
Both have the same V8 engine?
No. The AJ-V8 unit which lives in the XF was developed by Jaguar engineers. But it was used by Ford in a number of vehicles including Aston Martins, the 2002-2005 Ford Thunderbird and the Lincoln LS. The engine also appears in other Jaguar-Land Rover products.
The 4.6-litre V8 introduced in the 2005 Mustang is part of the Ford Modular series units (introduced in 1991) which were built and fitted to numerous Fords including the 2005 Mustang. The current 5.0-liter Coyote engine in the Mustang is still part of the Modular series.
The answer we were looking for:
Actually I was looking to link the core of these cars, and the answer relates to their platforms.
The Jaguar XF is a modified version of the platform used by its predecessor, the S-Type. That was the Ford DEW98 platform which underpinned a number of cars including the Lincoln LS (2002-2006) and the Ford Thunderbird (2002-2005).
The same DEW98 platform was chosen for the 2005 Ford Mustang as many of the development team came from the LS and Thunderbird programs. Having said that, by the time they finished adapting DEW98 only the floorpan and front frame rails were carried over. The front suspension had been heavily modified for quicker response, plus of course at the rear there was that solid-axle and the chassis had to be widened.
7 June 2014
Original Honda Legend and Rover 800
Underneath they are both the same car. It was a joint venture development between Honda and Rover when the Japanese company part-owned the British marque – which later was wholly bought by BMW.
I have driven both, and they were great cars in fact, and the Honda Legend was revolutionary for a Japanese manufacturer at the time.
The Rover version offered more engines, but the flagship used the Legend’s V6. Rover built the Legends in the UK for Europe.
Great fun.
Do more.
Let readers submit their own pairs, as long as they are sensible!