The Sao Penza: Sao What?

 

A Sao Penza, or it might as well be (it's a 1988-1989 Mazda 323).

The Sao Penza is not an unusual car per se; it gets its unusual status from being one of those odd badge-engineer jobs. The Sao brand produced this one model, known as the Penza, from 1991 to 1993. Only 1,000 were sold, and just one remains in an unroadworthy state. 

If you want to experience the Penza for yourself, it's not quite the unicorn you think it is. It's just a 1986-1989 generation Mazda 323. There's nothing unusual about the 323 of that vintage; it was a pretty standard compact car sold in large numbers, your basic, functional commuter car. 

But the Penza was made by the South African Motor Corporation (Samcor), which operated from 1985-1998 and was a merger of the Ford Motor Company of Canada's South African operations and Sigma, which built a mixture of Mazdas, Peugeots, Citroens, and Mitsubishis for the South African market. Samcor produced Ford and Mazda models for the South African market, badged as what they were: Fords and Mazdas. 

Except for the Penza. The Penza was, peculiarly, only sold in the United Kingdom. It was only available in two colors - a pinkish red and a light blue. The SAO name has been speculated to stand for "South African Origin". Penza? I'm stumped. There are quite a few vehicles named after geographic locations, like the Chevy Malibu and Bel Air, Chevy Tahoe, and Buick Riviera, but Penza is an industrial city in Russia, hardly the vacation spot that most of these names are based on. 

The naming and marketing for this one left me scratching my head. 

Model Year Madness

 A model year will tell you, generally, when a car was built. Usually, a new-model car will launch in the second half of the previous year; for instance, most 2021 cars are launching in the second half of 2020. Usually, a model year denotes a period of production of about a year; for instance, my car, the 2011 model Honda Accord, was made from about August 2010 to August 2011 (mine was built in March 2011). While cars launched in the latter half of a calendar year are usually cut-and-dry, what do you do if your new model is ready for sale in the early part of the year? Start the new year early, or call it the current model year?

One car with a model year could be more than two years older than another with the same model year, and vehicles with model years two years apart could be the same model year. Here's why:

Early-Launched Vehicles: A vehicle can legally be sold as a model year on January 1 of the previous year, for instance, 2021 vehicle can legally be sold as early as January 1, 2020. This has led to cases where vehicles have been made two years before their labeled model year. 

The 1995 Dodge Neon, for instance, went into production on November 10, 1993, and went on sale in January 1994 - just late enough to be called a '95. 

The 1997 Ford F-150 was another example, going into production on December 5, 1995 - and on sale in January 1996. Ford actually made the new design and the previous-generation F-150 alongside each other for several months in 1996, but called the new design the '97 and the old design the '96. 

Late-Launched Vehicles:  

The first-generation Ford Mustang is a famous example of a vehicle that launched late in a model year. Launched on April 17, 1964, it was still called a 1964 model (technically a 1964-1/2). There are more recent examples of spring-launched vehicles that carried the old model year. Two consecutive generations of Nissan Sentra - the 1995 and 2000 redesigns - launched after the first of the year, leaving new '94 Sentras on sale into early 1995 and new '99 Sentras on sale into early 2000. The "2008.75" Dodge Challenger went into production on May 8, 2008. 

Update Post: The Acura ZDX, Test-Driven (+ face reveal)

Since this blog was created, it's been on my bucket list to test drive a car featured in one of the original cycle of posts from early 2014 (and preferably not one of the "common" ones like the Saturn, Smart, or Mercedes CLS, but something rarer). Being in Tennessee, that was easier for some cars than others. Many were only sold in foreign markets. Many are not just rare, but EXTREMELY rare. Many are very old and/or unsafe, meaning they would be more difficult to drive and most would have disappeared from use due to attrition. A big shout-out to Gary Force Acura in Brentwood, TN, for letting me come down and test drive this ZDX, which was the first ZDX they had gotten in at least four years (and Gary Force is a sizable dealership, the only one in the Nashville area, and there are no others in a 100 mile radius). I saw this one on CarGurus just after midnight, and set up a test drive as soon as possible: the actual test drive started around 1:25 pm that same day, July 15, 2019. That's me in the green "W" shirt.

Here is the ZDX's original post from February 4, 2014. It's worth a read alongside this one.

With only 7,191 made from 2009 to 2013, the Acura ZDX could definitely be considered "rare". Torque News said in 2015 that it's "destined to be a collector car". It was definitely a niche vehicle: sort of a cross between a sports coupe and an SUV. It sat near the top of Acura's lineup during its production, starting at $45,495 in 2010 (compared to the MDX SUV at $42,230 and the RL luxury sedan at $46,830). Its design is striking, with flush rear door handles to complete the coupelike look. You'll definitely notice this one in a crowded parking lot.

The ZDX shares a platform with the Honda Pilot and Acura MDX, but the interior is largely the same as a fully loaded TL of the same vintage; button-filled and high tech, but easy to use. It drives as good as any Acura sedan of the era and doesn't feel like the 4,458 lbs that it weighs. The seats are quite comfortable, and the driving position is good. Despite the coupe-like roof line, I still felt like I had plenty of room, and I'm 6' tall. Also, the one I drove had about 170,000 miles and still drove like it was brand new.

My post in 2014 was right: the ZDX is a thoroughly unique car that's easy to live with. The only issues are visibility, which isn't great from the rear; however, all ZDX's come with a rear view camera, and a blind spot information system is optional.

The Coda Electric Car

Coda Electric Car, from here. Photo by Mario Roberto Duran Ortiz, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Despite the fact that this car looks straight out of 1999, the Coda electric car was produced in 2012-2013 and competed with the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf. "Competed" is used loosely here, as only 117 Codas were sold. Even though the Coda was sold only in California, this is still, to put it lightly, a dismal number. Codas were $38,145; the Volt started at $39,145 and the Leaf $35,200.

As its looks suggest, the Coda was built off of outdated bones. It used the body of the Hafei Saibao, a Chinese car built from 2005-2008 which was loosely based on the 1997-2001 Mitsubishi Mirage design. Coda did modify the design to improve safety, but it was still largely a 7 year old design with 16 year old underpinnings. The Volt, on the other hand, shared its platform and much of its design with the Cruze, a well-reviewed, thoroughly up-to-date small car that came out for the 2011 model year alongside the Volt. The Leaf was an all-new platform also introduced for the 2011 model year, and looked and drove like something from 2011 as well.

Speaking of safety, the Coda only received a 2 star front-impact driver crash test rating from NHTSA (out of 5 stars). It got 4 stars for the front passenger in the same front impact and 5 stars for both front and rear occupants in the side impact, although there were still problems: the side curtain airbag did not fully deploy in the side impact, allowing the rear passenger dummy's head to hit the window, and the Coda only got 3 stars in the "side pole" crash test. The Volt? All 5-star except for the front-impact front passenger, which was still 4 stars. The Leaf had 4 stars for both occupants in the front impact, a 5 star safety rating, and 4 stars in the side pole crash test/ In addition, they both had an IIHS Top Safety Pick rating; the Coda was never tested by IIHS.

Car and Driver said that the Coda "incorporated all the charm of a late-’90s Daewoo Nubira for the price of a well-equipped Audi A4.", pointing out that the Coda had no cruise control or auto up-and-down power windows. 

Wow. 

The Buick Envision: A Chinese SUV in the USA

Buick Envision. Photo by Alexander Migl.

Back in the 2000s, there was widespread talk of Chinese-built vehicles entering the USA market. The Chinese economy was growing rapidly, and a large middle class was emerging there, causing car sales and production to skyrocket. As late as 1985, only 5,200 cars were built in China. By 2008, China was the number-one country for automobile production in the world. Chinese cars were exported to most of the world, with the United States being one of the main holdouts. Safety was a big concern; many Chinese cars then were known for folding up like tissue paper in crashes. The Landwind, Brilliance BS6, and Chery Amulet were three well-known examples whose crash tests were seen around the world.

Times have changed. Chinese cars of today are much better in quality than they were a decade ago. Today, over a third of cars in the world are built in China, a total of over 24 million. Four models sold in the United States are built or have been recently built in China. The Buick Envision and Volvo S90 are exclusively imported from China. The Cadillac CT6 plug-in hybrid is built in China, but the standard variant is still built in Hamtramck, Michigan. The Volvo S60 Inscription was previously built in China, but since late 2018 all S60 variants have been built in South Carolina. 

Of these four models, the Envision was the first to launch and is by far the best-seller. It is a compact premium crossover SUV that starts around $32,000. Reviews have been good, but worse than many vehicles in its class. Sales have been around 30 to 40 thousand per year.

Why a Buick? Believe it or not, Buick has been a very prestigious brand in China for over a century. Today, about 80 percent of Buicks sold in the world are sold in China. 

The Battronics Van - Made for 20 years, less than one a month

A 1977 Battronics van, from NHTSA crash test footage, October 1979

Following the gas crisis of 1973, there was a bit of an electric vehicle fad. Gas prices remained elevated from 1973 to about 1981, peaking around 1979-1980 during the second gas crisis. As such, from about 1975 to 1983, electric vehicles experienced a surge in popularity. While their sales figures remained minuscule compared to gas vehicles, there were a wide range of electric vehicles available during this period - most of which were hasty conversions of already existing gas-powered vehicles. Vehicles such as the Ford Escort, Ford Fairmont, Renault LeCar, Dodge full-size pickup, and many others were given electric conversions. Given their limited market penetration, these vehicles in themselves could be considered somewhat unusual. 

The Battronic electric van, however, was a true oddball. It's perhaps best known today for a 1979 crash test conducted by the federal government in which the entire body came off of the frame. But horrifying safety, even by the standards of the late 1970s, is only a small part of this van's story.

The company that designed the Battronics van, Smith Electric Vehicles, was founded in 1920 in England. At that time, the automotive industry was still in a relatively early stage, and there were two schools of thought on what should power a vehicle: petroleum-based fuel or electricity. (As we all know, petroleum-based fuel won out, at least for the next century or so). Smith built electric vans, buses, trams, and delivery vehicles. In 1962, looking to enter the United States market, they formed a partnership with Boyertown, a coachbuilder from Boyertown, PA, and Exide Batteries, forming a company called the Battronic Truck Corporation. Their only product was this van. 

Production started in 1963. Smith withdrew from the partnership in 1966, but this van continued in production until 1983. Even though it was made for 20 years, less than 200 were produced. 

The van could go from 0 to 30 mph in 11 seconds and was capable of carrying 800 pounds of cargo.

The first-generation Acura RDX: The Shape of Things To Come

The first generation Acura RDX isn't a 10 on the unusual scale - it is a recent vehicle (sold new from August 11, 2006 to early 2012), sold by a major automaker, in a a traditional form factor. I've even ridden in one. What makes the RDX unusual is its turbocharged four-cylinder engine and status as a pioneering compact luxury SUV. 

At the time of the RDX's introduction, turbocharging was relatively rare outside of sports cars; in the 2010s, many mainstream vehicles began to use smaller-displacement engines with turbos in an effort to improve fuel economy. 

The RDX was also the second compact-sized luxury SUV introduced, following the BMW X3 by three years. At the time of the RDX's introduction, there were plenty of compact crossover SUVs - including Honda's own CR-V, which donated its platform to the RDX - and the Toyota RAV4, Jeep Liberty, Ford Escape, and Kia Sportage, to name a few. Following the RDX's introduction, Audi, Infiniti, Volvo, and Mercedes introduced their own luxury compact SUVs by the end of 2009.

Sounds like a formula for success. Honda's CR-V sold over 170,000 units in '06. The RDX was just as well-reviewed as its rivals. But sales weren't very good. The RDX sold 23,356 units in its first full year - 2007 - and less than 16,000 each year from 2008 to 2011. During this period, the CR-V hovered around 200,000. 

The main reason the first-gen RDX didn't sell well was the market. There just wasn't much of a market for luxury compact SUVs in the late 2000s and very early 2010s. Taking 2010 sales figures vs. 2018 sales figures:

BMW X3: 6,075 in 2010, 61,351 in 2018 (10.10x increase)

Audi Q5: 23,518 in 2010, 69,978 in 2018 (2.98x increase)

Infiniti EX35/QX50: 8,312 in 2010, 25,389 in 2018 (3.05x increase)

Volvo XC60: 12,031 in 2010, 32,689 in 2018 (2.71x increase)
Mercedes GLK/GLC: 20,946 in 2010, est. 87,728 in 2018 (4.19x increase)

The RDX, meanwhile, sold 14,975 units in 2010 and 63,580 units in 2018, an increase of 4.24 times.

The first-gen RDX was replaced with a more conventional design that included a non-turbo engine in spring 2012. Sales jumped from 15,196 in 2011 to 44,750 in 2013. But the new RDX, launched on June 1, 2018, includes a turbocharged engine, and sales are better than ever.