A sizable portion of North Americans have travelled to the Bahamas, but for those of us who haven’t, WilliamRubano has uploaded a number of interesting non-US models either sold there or imported later in their lives. As traffic drives on the left-hand side of the road, many cars are imported from Japan or the UK, though many come from the US, as the country lies just East of Florida. A lot of it falls into the “crap we didn’t get here,” camp and isn’t exactly forbidden fruit, depending on your viewpoint.
The best model to illustrate this point is the Smart Forfour, or what I like to call Europe’s Saturn Ion. Based on Mitsubishi’s last-generation Mirage/Colt, which was well-received upon its intro in 2002 only to fall back to also-ran status, it lost the donor car’s sharp Olivier Boulay-penned lines in exchange for Rubbermaid-inspired switchable body panels and is best remembered as an embodiment of Daimler-Benz’s abusive relationship with Mitsubishi Motors (so calling it Europe’s Dodge Caliber would be just as valid).
So, it was not innovative like the actual rear-engined Smart, nor was it as pretty as its platform mate. Americans almost got the car, built at NedCar after Volvo’s contract with Mistubishi expired (in an abortive attempt to bolster the wretched Smart franchise) but as it didn’t last more than two years in Europe (the Colt lasted through some ugly facelifts until 2012), I wouldn’t say we exactly missed out on a great small car. But moving on, we have this Hyundai Terracan.
Traditional Japanese body-on-frame SUVs have never failed to please, and this second-generation Montero-based wagon seems like a mostly-faithful copy. There are typical late ’90s/early ’00s Korean car touches as evidenced by the less-than-sharply defined grille and headlights set in a square-rigged overall shape, but it’s an overall honest proposition which would’ve been an interesting slow seller. Note, also, the scoop on the hood for the intercooler, indicating that this has a 2.9 liter turbodiesel. I actually like it quite a bit (but don’t tell anyone).
Next, we have this mid ’90s Ford Laser, basically our Mazda Protege with different head and taillights. Considering how lucky Mazda salespeople would’ve been to get people to pay full price for the mid ’90s Protege, it’s best that this car stayed outside the American market. In those days, their US operation was desperate to lease four-cylinder 626s with leather seats and steel wheels and thanks to the disastrous implementation CD4E automatic Ford foisted onto Flat Rock built examples, a high proportion were built with the five-speed, further limiting sales.
I’m sure bystanders assumed WilliamRubano was taking a picture of this gorgeous sunset when in reality he was capturing these obscure workaday cars for us, but that’s part of being a car geek. Thanks to CC, we don’t have to feel so weird on such occasions. Behind the “Ford” we see the Honda Stream, a seventh-generation Civic-based minivan we never got (I imagine it may have enjoyed minor success with a 2.4 liter K-block, owing to its badge) and behind that, a third-generation Nissan Primera, a desperately unremarkable testament to another Japanese tragedy, Nissan’s bankruptcy.
Luckily, we in the US have the 2003-2008 Maxima to more clearly remind us of that disaster. This car, the Nissan Teana, is basically the same car and sold in the Japanese and Asian markets since its North American equivalent was deemed too tacky to pass muster there. It looks as though this was no more convincing, though, since it’s been discontinued as a unique model and replaced with a rebadged version of the current Altima (which explains why that car’s profile now looks so similar to this model’s). But don’t get me wrong, cars like the Smart ForFour at the top show that tackiness is by no means limited to the US and that for all their famed good taste, Europeans are just as guilty of propagating it.
It’s odd that a country so close to the US has such a different automotive culture, but as Cuba proves, proximity is no guarantor of similarity. Got any interesting shots of cars from trips abroad? Post them to the Cohort!
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The car geek comment reminds me of a quote from famous photographer Robert Frank. On an ‘Americana’ photo shoot in the 1960’s he was asked by an elderly man why he was taking so many pictures of cars. Frank’s response was along the lines of, ‘Look around. It’s all you can see.’
I like that small Hyundai SUV too, so honest looking.
On the Teana it was basically an Altima for the Asian markets, not a Maxima. Just like here the Camry and Accord segments are the big ones. Right or wrong cars like the gen 3 and 4 Altimas (and more so the Maximas) are thought to be “too sporty” for China, not too tacky — there is plenty of tacky in China! The Altima and Teana now are the same car like Accord and Camry. The new Alty seems to be doing great in both markets. All three cars are actually.
What’s the diff? The Teana replaced the Cefiro, which was our I30, and the later Altima and Maxima were differed in terms of trim and available engines, but were the same otherwise.
The Cefiro lineage is tricky because the first was a rear driver coming off of the Laurel, long after the Max had gone FWD, and later ones sort of ended up where the Bluebird line had been. Cefiros were called the Maxima in some markets making it just about impossible to follow.
Modern Altimas and Maximas share a platform and differ in sheetmetal, dimensions, trim and engines as you say. This has been the case for a long time, even when Altimas were called Stanzas. Everyone’s favorite Maxima, the ’89-94, was an ’87-92 Stanza underneath.
Yes, I understand, I just don’t know why you’re saying it was an Asian Altima and not an Asian Maxima (not that there was much difference by this point), especially since it specifically replaced the Cefiro which at that point, was the same as the Infiniti I30; i.e. ever-so-slighty upmarket.
They still use the Maxima badge on JDM cars the Cefiro is gone
The current Maxima is too sporty and wide to be a high volume car in Asia/China. Also it would have needed to get a 4-cylinder; there are no 4-cylinder versions of the Max. Why go through the trouble of making one and taking the risk on the styling and size when you can just use the Teana (and later the Teana/Altima combined car) for China?
That J31 shape Teana was sold as the Maxima in NZ and had an unusual Renaultesque interior design. The J32 Teana/Max has just been replaced by the L33 Altima here; the official Nissan NZ line being that the average age of the Max was too old and they wanted to attract a younger audience.
Our Altima only has the 130kW/230Nm 2.5l 4-cylinder, a mere shadow of the 3.5 V6 in the Max – even our current Pulsar ST-S and SSS has more power (140kW) and torque (240Nm)! Then again, the J32 was targeted more in the big 6-cylinder segment, whereas being smaller, the L33 is targeted at the Mazda6/Ford Mondeo mid-size 4-cylinder segment.
The Altima is thus more a Primera replacement in our market than a Maxima replacement. It’s a fine car, probably, but I’m not sure how Nissan will do without a 6-cylinder sedan in our market.
Wonder how many U.S plated cars are in the Bahamas? Perhaps if I get filthy rich I’ll ship my vehicle over there while on vacation. Sure looks like a pretty place and I like the license plates.
That Ford Laser screams rebadge especially with the Ford emblem applied to the fake turn signal instead of the sheet metal which makes me laugh. The Laser looks like a typical older Florida car with its patina. I wonder why the owner parked on the walkway, I thought it was nearly in the ocean at first.
Surprised that Accord and the quirky Terracan do not have any UV damage. Several Accords of that vintage have it as do several Santa Fes.
I was reminded of a Haliquin Golf when I first saw the Smart Forfour and I do not know why. Sure looks interesting though what with the color scheme, dirt, and missing hubcap.
That Smart ForFour was built in the NedCar factory in the south of the Netherlands. Formerly known as the DAF (car) factory, taken over by Volvo in the seventies.
The VDL (Van der Leegte) Group now owns the plant, hence its current name VDL NedCar. Production of BMW’s Mini started just a few days ago.
Here’s a whole bunch of ForFours on the factory’s parking lot.
We were in the Bahamas just last winter. While the traffic convention is to keep to the left (a la UK), most (about 80%) of the vehicles are LHD.
I remember the joy I had 10 years ago of seeing that a lot of taxis in Nassau were late 80’s-early 90’s JDM vans (e.g. Delica Space Gear, Townace, you know the ones with loads of moon roofs, skylights, and curtains) and knowing I now had the chance to ride in them. It was also my first time to see some of my JDM dream rides in person rather than on Gran Turismo, Skyline and FTO come to mind. Caribbean islands, especially former British colonies, are excellent places for carspotting, with cars from almost everywhere.
The Bahamas suffer from the same used JDM cars we do the Laser is a rebaged 323 Familia/Protege. Teana who cares anymore its a generic Nissan they all look the same now theres no money to design anything and just wear different badging. The Terracan is based on the Mitsubishi Pajero but is a more durable car for some reason Hyundais Mitsu knockoffs are better than the originals.
Why do you reckon most of these cars are sold in other countries, but not the USA? I think the Smart ForFour would’ve been more practical than a ForTwo. It’s better looking, too.
Getting a car to meet US requirements (emissions, safety, ect) is costly and takes years. It’s not worth it for a vehicle that isn’t likely to sell in large numbers.
Jamaica seems to be full of older 80’s and 90’s Japanese RHD cars, I am guessing that there is probably someone who does a good business of importing them from Japan once they get to be too to renew/pass inspection in Japan. Some of the older cars even still had the mirrors way out on the fenders that used to be part of Japanese regs, most of the taxis are big white box Toyota Vans, like large versions of the 80’s ToyoVan were received here, though I did manage to snag a ride in what must be one of the only if not THE ONLY 1984 Cadillac Seville in Jamaica.
Somewhere out there is a little Sunbeam Alpine…
Somewhere I have a list of the Bermuda only features for my Hillman mostly to deal with even worse petrol than NZ/OZ had back in the day.
Underneath the mango tree….
Did you visit Goldeneye?
I did not go to Goldeneye, we did go to a James Bond beach, which is right in that area, drove past the Ian Fleming International Airport! Goldeneye is was later bought by Bob Marley and then sold to Island Records founder Chris Blackwell.
Knew about Blackwell, turns out Fleming was having an affair with Chris’ mum. I didn’t know about Marley’s ownership.
It’s a real shame Honda never brought over the Stream. I saw it on a trip to China and thought it would have been a nice compliment to the Mazda5. It would have sold well here in Soviet Canukistan.
It has 2-3-2 seating, much like the 7-seat Rondo, making the mid-row more usable than the Mazda5. I thought it looked nice and sleek, like a stretched previous generation CR-V.
ahh the wretched CD4E.. I had one in my 2000 Contour… the worst automatic transmission I’ve sampled to date. it was hilariously dimwitted and made the 4R55E in my 95 Explorer seem rather intelligent, and the TH350 in my Chevelle downright psychic.
I see nothing in this list of cars that I would even remotely think twice about, except as a rental car.
Another island ‘sanctuary’ for cars the US fails to claim is Saint Pierre & Miquelon – off of the coast of Newfoundland. One can actually drive from Continental US & then ferry to this tiny island where there are dealers (albeit very small) that still sell new Renault, Peugeot and presumably Citroen. Anyone want to try and smuggle a Citroen C6 into the US, hahahaha!
B3
Here’s a great 2011 Car & Driver story about driving a clapped-out Citroen from New York to Saint-Pierre.
http://www.caranddriver.com/features/retour-a-lenvoyeur-driving-a-citroen-cx-from-new-york-to-france-feature
I’m kinda pissed they crushed it at the end. I’m sure they could have found a buyer.
Thought I was looking at NZ for a moment – all the pictured cars are plentiful here (albeit our market’s Hyundai Terracan was RHD).
Don’t forget my aunt and uncle’s Italian CC finds, Perry: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/blog/a-klockau-in-italy-curbside-classics-in-that-boot-shaped-country/