Look inside for the full effect of this 1988 vintage.
Wordless Outtake: The Mercedes-Benz Fiesta
– Posted on August 16, 2016
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Curbside Classics Archives
Look inside for the full effect of this 1988 vintage.
Just because a cat has kittens in the oven, doesn’t mean that they’re biscuits.
I looked then thought : why the hell not ? .
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-Nate
This sort of reminds me of when I was working at a Mercedes Dealership and the Ford Granada cam out. Ford compared the Interior with Mercedes in some of their ads. One day a lady drives up to the service Isle and wants us to install the Mercedes hood ornament on her just purchased Ford Granada. We were all over the floor laughing so hard. a few years later was when the OG Rapper craze started, That was when all the wanna be Rappers were stealing Mercedes hood ornaments to hang on a chain around their necks. I wondered if that craze was started by the son of a U.S Mercedes executive
because we sure sold a lot of replacement emblems the next few years
That must have been when the hood ornament on my dad’s ’61 190Db disappeared, and someone tried to pry the ornament off the trunk lid.
I believe!
Before I saw the entire picture, I would have called it a Renault 5.
In the US, the Fiesta had more traditional headlights
That generation (2nd) was never offered Stateside, only the 1st & 6th.
When it comes to kitsch, manufacturers have nothing on owners. I hope that ornament wasn’t stolen, it was not rare to see Benzes missing them (per Surfin above).
Also reminds me of childish “I’m a Princess” etc. bumper stickers. All that proves is, they have no real class: “Noble is as Noble Does”!
On the other hand, many real nobles don’t either, so it all evens out or something.
Yeppers, Today, Tacky classlessness is “class”.
I once saw an MB hood ornament on a ‘2000 ish Neon. I’m gonna assume the owner was being sarcastic, but at least they technically had a case!
The shamelessly worst ‘rebadging’ job I had seen was a red Mitsubishi Cordia with Alfa Romeo grille attached to the nose, Alfa Romeo decal and script to the C-Pillar and tailgate, and so forth. The guy who drove that ‘Alfa Romeo Cordia’ was in his 50s and hopelessly trying to impress the women that he drove a ‘real’ Italian car. Sheesh!
I saw that odious car so many times in Cherry Creek shopping district in Denver. He was practically everywhere that drove me nuts, and I was silently praying for the fake Alfa Romeo to be magically vanished or destroyed by the divine intervention.
That is orders of magnitude worse than some jagoff calling his Chevette a “‘Vette”! At least the Chevette was made by Chevrolet and it’s owner could claim German engineering!
I actually rather like the Cordia, but I sure as heck wouldn’t try to play it off as an Alfa.
One of the more interesting rebadge jobs I saw was a MkII Jetta 2-door with full BMW badging. Grille, trunk, 320i script. Even the center caps for the wheels had BMW roundels applied over the VW emblems. I suppose they’re *vaguely* the same shape. And they are both German…
Ironically, The Cordia sorta reminds me of the Isuzu Impulse, Itself being a heavily re-engineered Chevette! ?
Seeing a Mercedes ornament on a Dodge Ram Sprinter Van, you know the one with the pituitary problem? That’s just weird… – Oh, wait… LOL
My only thoughts on this picture are, ‘What a waste of an end of group parking space’.
But, I suppose I shouldn’t discriminate. He has a right to park there too. ;o)
Oops, forgot the pic…
That looks like a Volkswagen Crafter with a Dodge nose.
Yeah, it’s so weird that these “Sprinter” vans came in so many different manufacturer names…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_Sprinter
I realize that Chrysler and Mercedes (and possibly Freightliner) were joined at the hip at one time, but apparently there was a Volkswagen version, too? Wow.
Here in the states, we see mostly Mercedes and Dodge, however I have spotted a Freightliner or two.
As an aside, the brand new Crafter model is a Volkswagen design and will be built by Volkswagen in a Poland-plant.
Freightliner is owned by Daimler-Benz AG, hence the Freightliner Sprinter. Probably a dealer sop.
I didn’t know that Consolidated Freightways (CF) owned Freightliner previously. I always thought Freightliner was a White Motor Co. brand, but actually they were merely sold thru White dealers, not made by White which had other brands like Autocar, REO, Western Star, Sterling, etc. Confusing.
Yes, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen had joint venture since 1996 to build Sprinter. The Volkswagen version was called LT (second generation) from 1996 to 2006 then is sold as Crafter since 2007. The difference is mostly cosmetic and motor range.
https://www.volkswagen-vans.co.uk/range/crafter
After absorbing MAN recently, Volkswagen terminated the joint venture with Mercedes-Benz and proceed to develop its own Crafter for 2017 on.
http://www.autobild.de/artikel/vw-crafter-iaa-nutzfahrzeuge-2016-vorstellung-8451009.html
Those vans are like USB cables, multiple brands of the identical product ?
Looks like the owner is going to have to get in through the passenger door.
Probably getting his comeuppance for wasting the aforementioned end of group parking space for that piece.
Well, the silver car that parked too close to him (noticed he’s over the line) looks to be a no-drive anyway… check out those scratches on that right front fender. An obvious side swipe. Bet he didn’t leave a note, either!
It is Israel:)
Honestly looks fine to me – just a “Rest of World” parking space, sometimes a bit of yoga is required.
Trust me, the spaces are getting too small here in the states, too. I refuse to park my Mustang in a parking garage because of it.
Many years ago I used to see a telephone company Astro that someone, apparently the regular driver, had zip tied a Mercedes grill over the front of the factory grille. I’m surprised that the fleet manager didn’t complain about it and it seemed to stay on for a number of years It or more likely its driver seemed to cover the area near where I lived at the time, so I’d see it every once in a while.
In the early 70s my mother’s uncle owned a 300 SEL 6.3. This was a guy in his late 70s or early 80s. Anyway, he and his sister decided to drive from Arizona to Pennsylvania via Memphis to visit me in my Navy electronics school. They showed up one friday after classes and a few minutes of talking, he wanted to show me the engine of this fabulous machine. I gingerly lifted the hood, inspected the engine, lowered the hood, and managed to break the 3 pointed star.
There it sat, still in it’s “holder”, but leaning at a crazy angle. My Mom’s uncle didn’t say a word, maybe he didn’t notice? I knew they had started using a “safety mount” for all hood ornaments but just assumed it was like one of today’s airbags….that is, 100% okay, or busted. After dinner that night, before I got into the car, I got to working on the star and with minimal manipulation it popped back into it’s correct/upright position.
BTW, I owned a 80 Fiesta, bought new in September 1980, and if that car “deserved” a more upscale hood ornament I would think a BMW blue and white badge would have been more fitting. When I think M-B I think old leather furniture….while BMW makes me think of motorcycles and sporty 2 door sedans.
We had one of these as our family car. 957cc 4 speed, only one door mirror. IIRC my parents splashed out on a parcel shelf and heated rear screen as optional extras. It cost 5300 gbp in 1988, which was about the price a 1300cc Ka went for about 12 years later.
Earlier Fiestas had more than enough overheating troubles. Why did Ford add to the problem with this Grumpy Cat face?
Mine hasn’t overheated once in 27 years and 120.000 miles. There is a large opening underneath the bumper, plus a small slit below the hood.
We got the Gen-1 Fiestas in the US, to about 1980. I did get a chance to test drive an ’88 or ’89 Gen-2 that belonged to the British embassy – with the steering-wheel on the ‘wrong’ side. That WAS a driving experience!
I owned a bunch of old Benzes over the years and lost my share of hood-stars.
Got so if I had to park in some questionable neighborhood, I’d pop the hood, pull the clip, and toss the whole dummy-cap & star assembly inside the car.
During Chrysler/Daimler’s brief, unholy marriage, I got hold of a chrome Chrysler pentastar hood-ornament. I considered mounting it on the front of my ’82 240D as a protest. But didn’t.
Happy Motoring, Mark
“During Chrysler/Daimler’s brief, unholy marriage, I got hold of a chrome Chrysler pentastar hood-ornament. I considered mounting it on the front of my ’82 240D as a protest.” – Best line today!
I know someone who owned a 300SD…the same one on which an electric window motor rusted out because somebody in Stuttgart had put a right-side motor into a left door, so condensed moisture couldn’t drain out of its weep hole. When he got it, thefts of Mercedes hood ornaments were already rampant. So he took his ornament and before putting it away for safekeeping, he used it to make a mould to create a homemade duplicate in plastic which he painted in silver. Sure enough, somebody stole it.
In Pawtucket, RI, I used to see a first-generation Jeep Grand Cherokee with all of its logos removed and Mercedes stars added to the grille, wheels, and rear. The last time I saw it was at least five years ago – maybe more.
As an owner I hate seeing these cars in such a state of disrepair. 🙁