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Useful info and links for identification » Unsold cars long after production ended
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Unsold cars long after production ended
Published 02/07/2015 @ 23:22:37, By dsl
Decided to start a thread after this discussion - http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle.php?id=14050 - of a "1997" Jag XJ220, registered 3 years after end of production in April 94 when Jag were left with a big heap of unsold stock, finally clearing them by mid-97.

Other examples:

1] Ford Cortinas.

Notorious for having unsold stock stuck in the dealer network and distribution networks whenever new models arrived. When Mk2 arrived in Oct 66, there were still several Mk1s in the system, some of which did not hit road until early 67 with E plates - eg http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_718528-Ford-Cortina-Estate-1966.html . The last Mk1 was a 2 door Super in Seafoam green, registered in April 67 as KTO 959E and modelled by Vanguards as VA07309.

Ford tried to sort this out when Mk4 arrived and delayed its UK launch until Oct 76 to get rid of the lingering Mk3s, over 6 months after the TC2 Taunus launch in Europe. UK Cortina production finished on 22 July 1982 with a 1.6 Crusader GHK 1Y, ahead of Sierra launch in Sept 82. However 11,598 Cortinas were registered in UK in 83, 139 in 84, and continued in trickles until final ones in 1987.

2] Lancia Beta Coupe Hi-Fi

When Lancia rust crisis exploded in UK, there were a few hundred unsold Beta S3 2.0 Coupes lurking on runways of dead airfields, and they mostly stayed unsold for a couple of years (overlapping into S4 era elsewhere), presumably gently rusting in the open air. Lancia eventually commissioned Tickford to upgrade/refurbish them as the 1982 Hi-Fi edition - new metallic red body paint, stripes, tints, racy wheel paint, spoilers, sunroof, interior bits and a cutting edge Voxson Hifi with graphic equaliser. And an edition numbered plaque on the body sides. Plus some rust-proofing - there were rumours Tickford had to to sort a lot of rusty undersides as part of the refurbishment.

Supposedly 300 done, but may have only been 150. Unique to UK - all RHD and never exported. http://ranwhenparked.net/2012/09/09/sunday-classic-lancia-beta-hi-fi/ , https://www.flickr.com/photos/47381765@N04/6928759686 , https://www.flickr.com/photos/47381765@N04/6385529885 , https://www.flickr.com/photos/47381765@N04/6385526571/

Any other contributions to keep this thread rolling??
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Unsold cars long after production ended
Published 02/07/2015 @ 23:49:44, By rtsbusman1997
I heard some Mexican Chevy Caprices were unsold until 1997-1998, although i've net seen anything offical
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Unsold cars long after production ended
Published 03/07/2015 @ 00:30:31, By eLMeR
Not really "after the end of production", but according to the Gazoline issue of June(1), the stock of unsold Renault Dauphine in USA by late 1960 went up to 45,000 cars, all cheerfully decaying in dealers parking lots in Boston, Los Angeles or Newark...
_____

1: Renault Dauphine 1093, Un volant pour les As (fr). Some US models were "imported back" to Europe and of these, a few were recycled to become the sporty 1093.

http://assets.hemmings.com/story_image/196201-250-0.jpg
Illustration of 1956-'67 Renault Dauphine - Wherein the French reputation goes down the American Standard on hemmings.com

Latest Edition: 03/07/2015 @ 00:39:54
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Unsold cars long after production ended
Published 03/07/2015 @ 00:46:50, By Sandie
There was something similar with the last of the US Peugeot 405s too, I think?

Another interesting story - The Alfa Romeo Rio: http://chris.home.xs4all.nl/rio.html

there came in 1974, the Alfa Romeo 2300 (Rio); a lengthened version of the Alfetta (sedan) -WHAH! So I thought! Several people have put me on the right track here... It's in no way comparable to an Alfetta, since it's based on the good ol' 1900.

And now the strange part:
I have this information from a 1979(!) "Autovisie jaarboek". (An annual edition of cars available in the Netherlands) Which states, "in 1978(!) this car came silently into the gamma. The
odd thing was that the copyright of the instruction manual was on
"Alfa Romeo Deutschland". Reading on I learned, the German Alfa Romeo Importer saw a market for these cars, where "Alfa Romeo Italia" didn't, and had ordered some 1000 cars to be shipped from Brasil to Europe.

What then happened, I don't know . . . So please fill me in!

From heresay I learned:
Those thousand cars were parked in a dead-end railroad in a forest and stayed there for four years (which complies with the 1974-1978 discrepancy) and, before they were shipped they stood on a quay for almost a year (imagine all the salty air).... So when you bought one back in '79, it was at least 6 years old already and rotting away.


EDIT: This link is better: http://www.italiaspeed.com/2005/history/01/fnm/0501_3.html

Latest Edition: 03/07/2015 @ 00:51:13
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Unsold cars long after production ended
Published 04/07/2015 @ 18:41:45, By weasel1984
On some markets Lancia Gamma. Series 1 and 2 seems too: http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_671224-Lancia-Gamma-830AB-1978.html
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