What's the most obscure re-badge out there?

This thread provides some good entertainment for me. So weird seeing what was rebadged.

A special shoutout to the "sprinter vans" that have finally arrived at our shores:

Mercedes:

Ford

Dodge

Fiat

Renault

and the list goes on...

Most obscure?

ZIL-110:

Built from retired Packard tooling.

Not really a re-badging so much as outright theft.

Sure, Ferdinand came up with the Beetle all by himself.

Let's not forget the last Triumph car, the Acclaim.

Curmudgeon wrote:

Boost_Crazy wrote: In reply to trucke:

Mitsubishi Raider

What makes it weirder is that in the '80's, Dodge sold a rebadged Mitsubishi as the Raider.

Yep, the little 4x4 SUV.

So...uh... What's going on with the dog in this pic? Be honest.

Hungary Bill wrote: A special shoutout to the "sprinter vans" that have finally arrived at our shores: Mercedes: Ford Dodge Fiat Renault and the list goes on...

The Dodge is not a Dodge, it is a Ram, but is actually a Fiat, but used to be a Sprinter, which was a Mercedes, and is still sold here as a...Mercedes now, and Fiat, which is now in the US doesn't sell a Fiat version of the Fiat. That's not confusing.

NGTD wrote: In reply to Dave: You forgot Pontiac Beaumont:

In that year, Beaumont was a separate marque, sold at Pontiac dealers.

Hungary Bill wrote: My hat goes off to the Russians

No fair. The Russians didn't rebadge Fiats, they took the designs and made everything out of much thicker steel... Not so much a rebadge like an Isuzu Oasis (I used to service three separate ones! Loved the "Isuzu" F22 valvecover) but more of a bought-the-tooling-and-updated kind of thing.

Like this:

(holy crud, that is exactly what mine looks like. except mine has the mandatory prancing moose on the trunk)

However the chassis is actually that of this:

Coilovers, suspension links, everything chassis-wise interchanges. The only difference between it and a US market Mirage is that the front sway bar attaches to the struts (like an Evo) instead of to the control arms (like a Mirage/Precis).

And the gas tank has the filler on the other side. So no AWD-with-Mitsu-drivetrain shenanigans. This is probably for the best.

It's still pretty amazing... it has the same chassis as Mitsubishi, and you can see its genetics when you look at certain Hyundai Sonatas and similar cars (that goofy-ass multilink rear suspension). But it doesn't feel like a POS the way Mitsubishis and Hyundais do, it feels solid and taut like a proper European car.

It's like the difference between a SAAB 9-3 and a WRX, times five.

pinchvalve wrote: The Dodge is not a Dodge, it is a Ram, but is actually a Fiat, but used to be a Sprinter, which was a Mercedes, and is still sold here as a...Mercedes now, and Fiat, which is now in the US doesn't sell a Fiat version of the Fiat.

Confused? You won't be.. if you watch the next episode of "Soap"!

Curmudgeon wrote: I still think the strangest rebadge thing I've seen was a two door Suzuki (we called them Geo Metros up here) in Mexico with a 'Chevy' badge on it. At first I thought it was a Pep Boys stick on; uh, no. I can't find a pic of the car itself, but here's a pic of the badge on something different:

That would be the Chevrolet Chevy, but the Chevy metro was sold here in North America.

I'm still trying to remember what that car pictured is. I rented one in Aruba that was beaten pretty badly. Spectrum maybe?

dean1484 wrote:

Tom_Spangler wrote: The Trollblazer, aka Saab 9-7x:

I actually really wanted one of these with the 5.3. I think it is much better looking than the Trailblazer.

we have the exact truck pictured, it's pretty badass. drives way better than the buick variant i test drove, and 300hp makes for fun.

Raver 213 AKA Honda Civic

Innocenti Mini

Don't forget when VW sold the 914 here they left of the VW badges

In the 80s this was one of the hottest hatches available in Europe. When it came here they removed its testicles and turned it into milk toast and added a Daewoo badge.

Before clicking into this thread I thought I had it nailed hands down, but then two posts in I see that SFO beat me to it...

Swank Force One wrote: Daewoo G2X.

Fargo trucks.

NGTD wrote: Or how about the Pontiac Acadian Canso

If you're gonna post an Acadian Canso, you need to post the most badass one. Jud Buchanen's Targa Newfoundland monster. I have witnessed this beast at speed up close and it's excellent.

The saddest rebadge I've personally experienced was the aforementioned VW Rutan. A Chrysler VW, but with all the best/cleverest stuff taken out. It was a rental and it was junk.

Does it really count as rebadging when its done by the same company that builds the original? We had Fargo and Mercury trucks in Canada for a very long time, but they were wholly owned by Dodge and Ford. They quit with Merc about 1970 or so, Fargo about 73. I've always been a bit envious of your Plymouth trucks...

Appleseed wrote: Fargo trucks.

And I'm pretty sure 60's vintage Acadians and Beaumonts never really had a Pontiac badge. They were sold in Pontiac stores, but the only one I ever saw with a proper Pontiac sign was the last Acadian.

Canadian Pontiacs were built on the Chevrolet line, so they had Chevrolet motors here. You could buy a Parisienne or Laurentian with a 409 in the early 60's. To get a Pontiac motor you needed to buy a Catalina.

Brett_Murphy wrote: The Jeep Liberty remained the Cherokee in other markets. Here is a big list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_badge-engineered_vehicles

That's quite a list! Amazing.

pinchvalve wrote:

Hungary Bill wrote: A special shoutout to the "sprinter vans" that have finally arrived at our shores: Mercedes: Ford Dodge Fiat Renault and the list goes on...

The Dodge is not a Dodge, it is a Ram, but is actually a Fiat, but used to be a Sprinter, which was a Mercedes, and is still sold here as a...Mercedes now, and Fiat, which is now in the US doesn't sell a Fiat version of the Fiat. That's not confusing.

And.....you forgot the freightliner version.

The nissan lafesta touring star comes to mind as a "why" rebadge.

Badged here as a premacy for some unknown reason.

Mazda 5 (Premacy in other markets)

In reply to Keith Tanner:

You are right Keith! I should have posted Judd's Acadian. I know Judd through rallying and that car is cool.