[스크랩] 1960년대 영국에서 나온 현대 에쿠스같은 차?

영국 British Motor Corporation (BMC)가 Rolls-Royce의 4,000cc 엔진을 가져다 만든 Vanden Plas Princess 4-litre R은 대중차 메이커인 BMC가 내놓은 가장 비싼 차로 GM의 독일 자회사인 대중차 메이커 Opel의 가장 크고 비싼 차 Diplomat와 비슷한 존재였습니다.

영국에서는 지방도시 시장들의 관용차로 인기가 있었지만 미국에서는 더 고급 이미지를 가진 차들에게 치여 판매가 저조했다네요. 사업성을 뽑을 때 1주에 100대 이상 파는 것을 목표로 잡았지만 1967년 한 해에 겨우 200대 팔 정도였다고 합니다.

Vanden Plas Princess 4-litre R은 대중차 메이커 BMC와 고급차 메이커 Jaguar가 합병되어 British Leyland가 되면서 고급차는 Jaguar/Daimler 하나로 밀기로 결정되어 사라졌습니다.

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/motoring/features/the-opel-diplomat-564568.html

The Opel Diplomat

Opel ranks highly in the diplomatic corps

THE DIPLOMAT, WITH ITS HUGE BODYWORK AND MASS-MARKET BADGE, WAS THE LEADER OF THE PACK, SAYS DAVID WILKINS

 

TUESDAY 25 MAY 2004

When it appeared, the 1969 Diplomat was actually an inch or two larger in every direction than the S-Class. Only with the W116 of 1972 did Mercedes catch up, which begs the question of whether the S-class really had anything that the Diplomat did not. Apart from the three-pointed star on the bonnet, perhaps not much - but that badge was decisive. While the Diplomat faded away in 1977, the S-Class went from strength to strength, with new generations of Mercedes's range-topper being launched in 1979, 1991 and 1998.

 

Opel did introduce a new top model, the Senator, but that was half a size smaller. When the second-generation Senator came to the end of the road in the 1990s, it too was not replaced, leaving the smaller Omega as Opel's biggest car. Now the Omega, the last rear-wheel-drive Opel saloon, and therefore the last link with the Diplomat, has gone as well. Other volume makers have found it just as difficult to shift big cars without posh badges: Ford has abandoned the Granada, while Peugeot and Renault struggle on with the 607 and Vel Satis. Only Volkswagen, with its Phaeton, an expensive car with a mass-market badge, produces something truly comparable to the big 1970s Opels. And how is that doing? Let's just be Diplomatic and say that, in the light of sluggish sales, VW may be putting the Phaeton project down to Bitter experience.

1964-1968년 생산된 1세대 Opel Diplomat

 

1969~1977년 생산된 2세대 Opel Diplomat

출처 : When Computers Went To Sea

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