Throughout automotive history, automakers have created many legendary models. And sometimes the model becomes so successful and well known, with so many possibilities for expansion, that the company creates a new model line around that nameplate. Here are just nine examples.
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AMC Eagle
The AMC Eagle was arguably the world’s first crossover vehicle, available in 2-door coupe, convertible, notchback and hatchback body styles, as well as 4-door sedan and wagon. But what made the compact American-produced car unique was its 4-wheel drivetrain, which at the time was mostly a pickup and SUV feature. The car was introduced in 1979 and made it to 1987, following the takeover of AMC by Chrysler.
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Eagle
Following its acquisition of AMC, Chrysler (which made the purchase to obtain the Jeep brand) branched off a line of import-fighters that included AMC-imported Renaults. Eagle carried on as a brand, initially applied to the Canadian-built (Renault-designed) Premier and a series of rebadged Mitsubishi sedans, coupes and wagons, culminating in the Eagle Vision version of Chrysler's LH sedans. The only one of those latter-day Eagles to offer all-wheel drive was the sporty and wildly-successful Eagle Talon sporty coupe, shown here.
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Born out of necessity
In Britain in the late-1950s, fuel rationing arising out of the Suez crisis resulted in an influx of German bubble cars and the Fiat 500 into the country. Outraged by the popularity of the “Axis” cars on British soil, the British Motor Corporation (BMC) commissioned a “proper miniature car,” leading Sir Alec Issigonis to design the diminutive, front-engined, front-wheel drive, two-box city car that would end up marketed as the Austin Seven (and later Austin Mini) and Morris Mini-Minor (meaning it was smaller than the Morris Minor).
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Mini
When the Austin Seven was renamed Austin Mini in 1962, it created a common identifier for car buyers, since both the Austin and Morris marques had the car pegged as “Mini,” leading the company to create the Mini marque in 1969. Variations from the original city car included a pickup, van, wagon and a Jeep-like buggy called Moke. All were 2-door bodystyles (except the Moke, which had no doors). Mini reverted back to model status under Austin and Rover ownership in the ’80s, until BMW bought Rover and again resurrected the Mini name as its own marque in 2001.
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Hyundai Genesis
Hyundai surprised the automotive world at the 2007 New York International Auto Show with a rear-wheel drive, V-8 engined, mid-sized sedan model named Genesis. It was meant to expand the company's offerings into the premium sedan segment, where it would battle Acura, Infiniti and Lexus, as well as Buick and even Lincoln. A year later, the company introduced a premium coupe carrying the same model name to replace the Tiburon coupe. Its was intended to compete directly with Camaro and Mustang, both rear-wheel-drive models as well, but also bigger.
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Genesis
In 2015, amid speculation of a new Equus luxury sedan, the company announced it would spin off Genesis as a premium brand (an idea reportedly floated to management during the creation of the Genesis in 2007), again targetting Japanese rivals Honda, Nissan and Toyota (each of which had created luxury brands to justify higher investments and, therefore, prices). Genesis now markets the G70 (compact), G80 (mid-sized) and G90 (full-sized) sedans as well as the GV80 utility vehicle.
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Dodge Ram
The Dodge Brothers made their first car in 1914, and trucks followed soon after (at first derived from the passenger car chassis, but then with dedicated platforms toward the end of the ’20s, about the time that the leaping Ram first appeared as the Dodge hood ornament). The name had been applied to truck models since the early ’30s, disappeared during the ’60s and ’70s, and was resurrected in 1981 as a rebadge of the aging Dodge D/W Series (D for rear-wheel pickups; W for 4WDs) and the latter’s subsequent replacements.
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Ram
The name Ram had been applied to other vehicles — SUVs, vans, compact SUVs and even a car with a pickup box — but with the Chrysler acquisition by Fiat, Ram formed its own brand in 2010 around the full-sized pickup. The division soon rebadged imported full-sized vans under the new marque, which has become highly successful in the marketplace, claiming second-place in truck sales in Canada.
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Volvo C60/V60 Polestar
Volvo started using Polestar Racing to modify its production cars back in 2009, getting its motorsport partner to create a performance version of the C30 compact coupe/hatchback. The company produced three concepts (C30, S60 sedan and V60 wagon) before releasing the latter two as production models clad in the Polestar Racing signature Cyan bodypaint, and with appropriate performance upgrades to suspension, wheels and powermaps.
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Polestar
Upon acquiring the Polestar brand in 2015, Volvo announced that it would create a line of dedicated performance vehicles, and subsequently decided they would be high-performance electrified models (to compete with Tesla), given the ownership of the Volvo Group by Chinese company Geely (which is one of the world’s leaders in electric propulsion). The company introduced its first model Polestar 1 (a Grand Touring coupe), followed by the Polestar 2 hatchback, soon to be followed by the Polestar 3 CUV.
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Studebaker Avanti
Reportedly inspired by Studebaker President Sherwood Egberts doodling in 1961, the Avanti was something of a 'Hail Mary' to save the company's floundering auto business. Marketed as a personal four-place coupe, it featured a dramatic fibreglass body designed by the famed industrial designer, Raymond Loewy, who was also responsible for the iconic 1953 Studebaker Starlite Coupe. Offering a range of supercharged V-8engines, the Avanti provided performance equivalent to that of a Corvette, with the added benefit that you could take more than one passenger.
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Avanti II
When Studebaker collapsed in the U.S. in 1963, barely 6,000 Avantis had been sold (the company planned to sell 22,000 per year; Corvette sold over 23,000 during the time Avanti was on sale). The Avanti plant and tooling was acquired by Indiana dealers Nate Altman and Leo Newman, who planned to sell replicas and build new cars. Since then, Avantis have been built by several owners on various chasses (Chevy Monte Carlo and Ford Mustang, among them) and in various bodystyles (including a convertible and sedan) right up to 2006, when the last one rolled off the line in Cancun, Mexico … last one for now, at least.
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Willys Jeep
Willys Overland applied for a copyright on the Jeep name in 1946 (granted in 1950, as it was the only company still building the vehicle based on military designs), under protest from the other companies and government departments (most notably Bantam and Ford) that contributed to its styling and also produced the vehicle for wartime use. After WW2, Willys Overland had decided to not go back to its passenger car business, concentrating on Jeep production that resulted in the introduction of the CJ-2A in 1945 (CJ standing for Civilian Jeep) and following that up with station wagon and pickup derivatives in subsequent years.
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Jeep
When Willys was bought up by Kaiser in 1953, the company rebranded itself Kaiser-Jeep, and from 1955 was building only Jeeps. Losing money, Jeep was bought up by AMC in 1970 and that company was, in turn, bought first by Renault and then by Chrysler in 1987, shortly after the iconic Jeep Wrangler was introduced. From early in its civilian life, Jeep has marketed a full line of 4WD vehicles, including compact, mid-size and full-size SUVs, and pickups, with many bearing a stunning resemblance to the military vehicle of the 1940s.
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Following in Jeep footprints
When AMC bought Jeep from Kaiser, it branched off Jeep’s General Products arm (which was responsible for military and other commercial products, such as US Post Office vehicles) and created AM General, subsequently acquiring a contract to develop and build a new Jeep-type military vehicle for heavy-duty military service. The result was the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV, or Humvee for short). AM General was bought by LTV Corporation in 1982 when Renault acquired a controlling interest in AMC (US defense contracts cannot be held by foreign governments and Renault was partly owned by the French government) and with rising market interest, made a civilian version of the Humvee, called Hummer, in 1992.
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Sheep in wolfs’ clothing
When General Motors acquired the rights to the Hummer name in 1999, it decided to create a family of vehicles, with the original Hummer rebranded Hummer H1. It added the larger H2 (on a modified Heavy Duty pickup platform), which was softer and less Spartan in its looks, ride and amenities, and then the smaller H3 and its derivative pickup H3T (both of which were built on the GM compact pickup platform). When GM restructured, the Hummer name and products were shopped around but folded when no takers came forward. Now it's scheduled to be revived again as a GMC model - with electric power!
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Chrysler Imperial
The Chrysler Imperial was launched in 1926 and spent the better part of three decades at the top of Chrysler’s product hierarchy. It was initially positioned as a rival to other American prestige lines, such as Cord and Duesenberg, as well as Cadillac and Lincoln. After several decades as a make of its own, beginning in 1955, it was resurrected at the top of the Chrysler sedan line in 1990 but was discontinued again in 1993 when Chrysler introduced its cab-forward LH sedans.
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Imperial
To better compete against luxury rivals such as Cadillac and Lincoln, Imperial was given its own line of cars in 1955, carrying on for two decades and five generations until the fuel crisis of the mid-’70s created a shift to smaller, more fuel-efficient cars. Lee Iacocca attempted to resurrect the marque in 1981, even naming a trim level after friend Frank Sinatra, but sales were not up to management’s expectations and the Imperial make was relegated to history.
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