There’s something intriguing about a car that’s equally at home in Casablanca as it is in Calgary.
By mark Toljagic
Think globally, drive locally. The “world car,” designed to be sold on multiple continents with few changes, is hardly a new concept. The original Volkswagen Beetle was a pioneering example: it was sized right for every market with a simple air-cooled engine that needed little attention and worked with almost any quality of gasoline. Volkswagen sold more than 21 million of them over the decades.
The spiritual successor to the Beetle was VW’s front-wheel-drive wunderkind, the Golf. Unveiled in 1974, it was groomed to sell widely, too, although it was offered with a multitude of different engines to serve myriad markets. By definition, world cars are mass-produced and priced to sell in big numbers. Yet there’s something intriguing about a car that’s designed to appeal to drivers across all cultures, geography and climates. Here are 10 used cars that fit the bill in Canada as well as around the globe.
Ford admired the front-wheel-drive Fiat 127 and Renault 5 so much it set out to create its own universal chassis in 1973. Crisply styled by Italian design studio Ghia, the subcompact Fiesta began selling in 1976 in Europe. It came to North America in 1978, where the three-door hatchback sold for three model years – without an automatic transmission – and promptly disappeared. The model went on to be wildly popular in Europe and elsewhere, but it would not make a return engagement to North America until the sixth generation Fiesta was released for 2011.
North Americans got the Fiesta four-door sedan and five-door hatch (Europe also got a three-door hatch and microscopic van), powered by a 1.6-L DOHC four cylinder with variable timing on the intake and exhaust valves, good for 120 hp and 112 lb.-ft. of torque. It worked through a five-speed manual transmission or six-speed sequential gearbox that emulated an automatic. That complex dual-clutch automated transmission, supplied by Getrag, has frustrated some drivers with its jerky and noisy shifts, slippage and outright mechanical failure. The original Fiesta got it right: the stick is the better way.
The Honda Fit (or Jazz) is an almost-one-box subcompact that utilizes Honda’s global small-car platform, which also underpins the City, Airwave and Mobilio “superminis” sold in Japan and other lands. Marketed since 2001 – but not in North America until the 2007 model year – its claim to fame is an innovative floorpan that locates the fuel tank under the front seats. With that, and a compact torsion-beam rear suspension, the Fit provides an enormous cargo hold when the rear bench is folded down or up. Given its ability to swallow big items with ease, the “Fit” proved to live up to its name.
The Fit was fitted with Honda’s 1.5-L SOHC four-cylinder engine, making 117 horsepower and 106 lb.-ft. of torque. Fit pilots adore the car’s nimble handling, excellent sightlines, trick Escher-esque interior space and spunky attitude. And the Fit generally doesn’t break. Mechanical weaknesses appear limited to short-lived heater blower motors, some interior rattles, and uncomfortable seats for some. The air conditioning condenser is susceptible to damage by road debris, which service managers like to point out is not covered by the warranty. The Fit can be a little too noisy on the highway, too.
Fiat rolled out its retro-futuristic-styled 500 in its hometown of Turin in 2007 – 50 years to the day since the cinquecento debuted in Italy. Merely 3 metres long, the original was shorter than Alec Issigonis’ Mini, sported suicide doors and a rear-mounted 479-cc two-cylinder engine. The new 500 shared nothing with the original beyond its distinctive profile. The 2008 model was more than a half-metre longer, could seat four people (sort of), and utilized the contemporary front-drive platform of Fiat’s Panda econobox.
With the Fiat-Chrysler merger, the 500 was chosen to reintroduce the Fiat banner to North Americans, arriving in selected Chrysler stores as a 2012 model. The base 500 was powered by a 1.4-L SOHC four cylinder that produced 101 hp and 98 lb.-ft. of torque. A five-speed manual transmission was standard; optional was a six-speed automatic supplied by Aisin. There was also a 500C “convertible” model that used a fabric top over the roof structure. Despite working hard to hit its quality targets, Fiat resides at the bottom of J.D. Power’s U.S. dependability study, wracked by short-lived clutches, leaky gaskets, faulty ignition coils, worn wheel bearings and other bugaboos.
Keen to build a small car that people would “buy because they like it – not simply because it is cheap,” General Motors parlayed its international resources in South Korea (Daewoo) and Germany (Opel) to develop its world car, the Cruze, at a cost of $4 billion – no small feat for a company undergoing Chapter 11 reorganization at the time. Despite the mission, regional differences abound: North American cars got a reinforced engine bay, different suspension and electric power steering. And buyers here received only the four-door sedan, while others got the five-door hatchback and wagon models.
Base models made do with an aluminum 138-hp, 1.8-L DOHC four cylinder tied to a standard six-speed manual or a six-speed automatic transmission. Uplevel variants used a turbocharged 1.4-L DOHC four that also made 138 hp, but produced more torque – 148 lb.-ft. – a rare turbo that didn’t require premium fuel. A new option in 2014 offered an Opel-supplied 2.0-L four cylinder turbodiesel that made 151 hp and 280 lb.-ft. of torque. While stoutly constructed and reasonably refined, owners have reported some mechanical issues, including harsh-shifting automatic transmissions, coolant leaks, failing water pumps and electrical faults.
As the prototypical world car, the Golf has little left to prove. It has sold more than 30 million iconic hatchbacks since 1974 and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. For the sixth-generation car released for 2010, VW dropped the cutesy Rabbit nameplate in North America and reverted to Golf once again, citing the car’s universal name recognition. With the front-drive PQ35 platform carried over, the Golf represented a re-skin of the previous model rather than an all-new design. Its three- and five-door hatchback profile was made less rounded, slightly shorter and significantly lower.
Like many German cars, the Golf offered a surfeit of powerplants. Standard was a 2.5-L DOHC five cylinder that made 170 hp and 177 lb.-ft. of torque. The TDI used VW’s 2.0-L turbodiesel four, good for 140 hp and a helpful 236 lb.-ft. of torque. The GTI, a separate performance model, continued to rely on the 200-hp 2.0T turbocharged gas engine. Owners often cite the car’s reassuring door “thunk” as evidence this is a small car that’s built well. However, the diesel and gasoline turbo engines reputedly become troublesome over time, with disintegrating fuel and water pumps often requiring expensive replacement. The most reliable Golf remains the base 2.5 model.
Many world cars are built simultaneously in multiple factories around the globe, and Toyota’s diminutive Yaris is no exception. In fact, North Americans now source theirs from a Toyota plant in France. Returning in three-door and five-door configurations, the Yaris retained its tall seating, easy entry and egress, and lots of cheap-to-keep goodness after its redesign for 2012. The fresh, edgier exterior styling encompassed a marginally larger car: the wheelbase was stretched about 5 centimetres and overall length had increased by 7 cm. Cabin legroom was decent front and back because the seats were mounted well off the floor.
Safety got a boost with nine standard airbags, and the front seats were redesigned to reduce whiplash injuries. Visibility all around is excellent, with its single large windshield wiper seemingly pinched from a Greyhound bus. Underhood is the long-serving 1.5-L DOHC four-cylinder engine making 106 hp and 103 lb.-ft. of torque, paired with two outdated transmission choices: a five-speed manual gearbox and a conventional four-speed automatic. There are no mechanical setbacks to speak of; the Yaris is arguably the most reliable car you can buy. Niggly complaints decry the lack of a telescoping steering wheel, centre console and armrest, and seats that hardly rival Volvo’s for comfort.
The all-new Focus, already on sale in Europe, would go on to win accolades and awards on both sides on the pond after its North American launch in 1999. With its avant-garde styling and premium materials, it aspired to be more than just an econobox. It was a ball to drive, thanks to its stout platform and sophisticated suspension geometry. But Ford merely facelifted the Focus for 2005, eschewing the second-generation redesign that Europe received. Ditto in 2008. The stars wouldn’t align again until early 2011, when the new global-platform Focus was launched simultaneously in Europe and North America.
The third-gen Focus arrived here in four-sedan and five-door hatch variants, featuring a new direct-injected 2.0-L DOHC four cylinder, good for 160 hp and 146 lb.-ft. of torque. It worked through a five-speed manual transmission or six-speed sequential gearbox that emulated an automatic. There’s no mistaking the car’s European breeding: the ride is firm, body motions are nicely dampened, and it stays flat in the curves. Its electric steering is weighty and progressive. Too bad about the Getrag dual-clutch automated transmission, however. Drivers reported disconcerting clunks, jolts and clutch chatter at low speeds; some units broke altogether. The Focus works better with a stickshift.
In creating the third-generation MX-5 Miata for 2006, Mazda’s fussbudget engineers completely redesigned the rear-drive roadster for the first time since its 1989 introduction to give its growing fans a (slightly) more accommodating car. It was cast both 4 cm longer and wider overall, while the wheelbase was stretched 6 cm for better legroom. The all-new unibody was 47 per cent more resistant to torsional forces and 22 per cent less bendy. Despite throwing a bigger shadow, the base curb weight increased by less than 25 kg – a remarkable feat.
Underhood was the aluminum 2.0-L DOHC four cylinder out of the Mazda 3, tweaked with a two-stage intake manifold to boost low-end torque. Output was pegged at 167 horsepower (158 hp with the automatic transmission) and 140 lb.-ft. of torque. The engine employed a permanent timing chain for the first time. For 2007, Mazda offered a clever optional power-retractable hardtop that didn’t bite into the meager trunk capacity. Mechanical failures amount to short-lived batteries and plugged drainage tubes located at the base of the soft top. Owners of the world’s most popular roadster noted the interior plastics scratch too easily.
Saturn dealers welcomed Opel’s third-generation Astra in 2008, long after its 2004 European launch and near the end of its product cycle. It made use of GM’s front-drive Delta platform, designed to compete toe-link to toe-link with VW’s Golf, featuring an independent suspension up front and a torsion-bar suspension in back. GM engineers resisted massaging the Astra for North American consumption; instead, it arrived with much of its Germanic flavour intact. We received three- and five-door hatchbacks, while Europeans got the full range of sedans, wagons and even a hardtop convertible.
North American Astras offered only one powerplant: a 1.8-L DOHC four cylinder making 138 hp and 125 lb.-ft. of torque. It was tied to a slightly clunky-shifting five-speed manual or optional four-speed automatic transmission. If the powertrain felt a little sleepy, the Astra redeemed itself in the corners with an agile, well-sorted chassis and communicative steering. Reported mechanical hiccups include erroneous warning lamps, some minor shift flare, a few truculent ignition locks and power windows, as well as a sorry collection of interior buzzes and rattles. Note that service may be hard to come by in the future.
The Toyota Prius hybrid as a world car? Believe it. The Prius is sold in almost 100 lands largely unaltered, racking up almost 4 million sales to date. Engineers revisited just about everything in the third-gen Prius for 2010 to enhance its fuel-sipping ways. A new front-drive platform underpinned the car, although the wheelbase remained unchanged and overall length grew by one lone centimetre. Weight-saving aluminum was employed in the hood, rear hatch, front axle and brake calipers. Inside its familiar-looking wedge profile was a more hospitable interior, with better materials and a Lexus-like design ethic.
A larger 1.8-L DOHC Atkinson-cycle four cylinder put out 98 hp and 105 lb.-ft. of torque. The water pump is electric, making for a beltless engine. An AC electric motor contributed to the hybrid system’s combined output of 134 hp, fed by a nickel-metal hydride battery pack. It all works seamlessly to deliver 60 mpg (4.7 litres/100 km). On the mechanical side, Toyota recalled the Prius worldwide in 2010 to fix an anti-lock brake software glitch. Then again to fix a brake pressure accumulator. Then dealers reprogrammed the software to address a hybrid control unit glitch that could cause the car to shut down at speed. The perfect auto? Close, but no cigar.
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