The most exaggerated cars that have left deep marks on history but it didn’t take long to loose aspiration

It is the result of deep research about the cars that has made their solid existence in their times and even after that as well. Here are such top ten cars selected from the list of thousands of models in the world. These are the most pretentious cars in the automobile manufacturing history. Ford Mondeo Vignale is on the top,  it has recently been introduced at the Frankfurt Motor Show few weeks ago. It is a sub brand of Ford’s top ranging Mondeo however, Ford isn’t the only car-maker with upmarket ‘pretentions’ but also there are other  manufacturers that have had aspirations to push their brands up on the ladder. Here are top ten most brazen models.

Allegro Vanden Plas (1974 – 1980) 

The Allegro Vanden Plas was an ultimate built-up conceit for the people with low budget. It came with different interior changes like leather upholstery, but unfortunately the exterior wasn’t given much attention. The body panels had no changesapart from a slightly modified bonnet and a front grille that looked like it was taken straight from another car.

Vauxhall Viceroy (1980 – 1982) 

Vauxhall viceroy was a sort of a posh ride, used by the royal officials in the distant regions of British Empire. How that gave this immense Vauxhall of the 1980s the impression of being modern and practical is anyone’s guess.

Ford Cortina 2000E (1973 – 1976) 

Ford staggered on a captivating rule by mating the chassis of the mk2 Cortina GT with an extravagance interior to build the classic 1600E. The company thought it was a winning formula so they gave Cortina 2000 bright paint (mostly purple) and a wooden dashboard and called it a Cortina 2000E, however, this was not appreciated by the fans and the car maker was slammed for thrashing the ‘E’ badge.

Vanden Plas Princess 4.0-litre R (1964 – 1968)

The Vanden Plas Princess 4.0 litre R is without a doubt a gold medal winner in this class, Austin-Morris planned to develop a new luxury executive car with the help of Rolls Royce. As a result a prototype was conceived but nothing ever came out of it. To preserve reputation, a Rolls Royce 4.0 litre engine was fitted in the Austin Westminster to build-up this mongrel. A few susceptible consumers might be impressed, but most people recognized the engine was a prehistoric side regulator unit typically fitted to the military vehicle. It was also much highly priced which was a final nail in the coffin.

Chrysler TC by Maserati (1989 – 1991)

Based on the K-Car platform, the Chrysler TC was introduced by Maserati, bosses at Chrysler figured that by giving Maserati’s name to the Jane Chrysler will give boost its status. Maserati contributed more than its badge, they also tuned the engine to give 200bhp of output. It had new body panels but it wasn’t much better than any other K Car of the time. However, the price was ludicrously high which thrashed the company’s target of 10,000 unit sale a year down to a life span of 8000 units.

Rover 100 (1995 – 1998)

The officials at Rover had their marketing/branding concepts wrong, they must have thought that changing the name of Metro would make the car a prestige supermini. However, the plan was a total flop.  They could not even sell an extra ‘Metro’ and badly damaged the image of the company dropping its sales even to zero. The Rover 100 was dropped down after the NCAP crash testing and occupant safety as it achieved very bad remarks and ranks in 1997.

Maybach (1997 – 2012)

Maybach was a blunder made by Mercedes, the German car manufacturer was not feeling comfortable with BMW taking over the Rolls Royce and VW buying Bentley, therefore it decided to build up its own ‘super brand’. Maybach was moved ahead of travesty when it launched a last breath special edition with the name of Zeppelin.

Renault Vel Satis (2002 – 2005)

Vel Satis means ‘velocity’ and ‘satisfaction’, the car was even dafter than the name. Renault tried to introduce an executive car with roomy interior and extra luggage space (more than the BMW 5 Series), however the French car manufacturer failed to achieve this as anyone wanted more, went for the BMW X5 totally ignoring the Renault’s  Vel Satis.

Cadillac BLS (2005 – 2009)

One of the GM product gurus, Bob Lutz wrote on the idiocy of its peers, people at Cadillac should think thrice before blaming their predecessors. He championed the BLS which was based on Saab 9-3 chassis that was fitted with Cadillac badge and a classy new body to build the Cadillac BLS. Europeans will beam benevolently at Cadillac in 1958 with fins, however the emblem means nil when built-in to an wannabe BMW 3 Series wrestler. The realistically attractive BLS was dropped after about 10% of its sales target. Around 10,000 units were sold.

Lincoln Town Car (1981- 2011)

Conventionally, limousines were the safeguard of the majority of prominent companies, for example Rolls-Royce, Mercedes and Jaguar/Daimler. The Lincoln Town Car was contented to do business on those relations but, in fact it was closer to a Morris Marina than a Mercedes. It was assembled on the same podium as the Ford Crown Victoria (used mainly as a taxi in America).