Oil shocks, bad economics and an extraordinary run of records.
The first-generation Volkswagen Scirocco, internally the Typ 53, replaced the Karmann Ghia. Giorgetto Giugiaro styled it on the Golf's platform with almost every part re-engineered. It went on sale in 1974, six months before the Golf, and its GTi entered production before the Golf GTI was unveiled.
The Fiat 130 Coupé is a 1971 Pininfarina design by Paolo Martin — a production car, not a concept — built on the Fiat 130 saloon platform. It uses a front-mounted V6 engine driving the rear wheels. Its influence lies in its resolved, copied-but-never-equaled balance of sharp angles and soft curves.
The Alpine A310 is a French sports car, launched in 1971 as Jean Rédélé’s final Alpine model. It debuted at the 1971 Geneva Motor Show. It used a tubular steel backbone chassis and a one-piece fiberglass body. Its engine was mounted longitudinally in the rear and drove the rear wheels via a five-speed manual gearbox. The driving position was low and sporty, with footwells angled toward the car’s centre.
The Aston Martin V8 Vantage (1977) is a British grand tourer and high-performance variant of the Aston Martin V8. It was launched as 'Britain's First Supercar', citing 170 mph top speed and 0–60 mph in 5.3 seconds. Its engine shares architecture with the Lagonda but adds high-performance camshafts, increased compression, larger inlet valves, and bigger Weber carburettors. Early models produced 380 bhp. William Towns did not design it — he left Aston Martin in 1977.
The Cadillac Seville redefined American luxury scale and electronics. It was not a sports sedan. It was not a technology showcase for its own sake. It was a calibrated response: smaller, smarter, and feature-dense — built to hold ground against Europe, not chase it.
The Opel Manta A is a rear-wheel-drive German coupé launched in September 1970. Built by Opel on the Ascona A platform, it offered a clean two-door, three-box silhouette and competed directly with the Ford Capri. It was never sold in the UK under Vauxhall until the Manta B. Its name comes from the manta ray. 498,553 were built before 1975.
The Opel Monza is an executive fastback coupe. It was built from 1977 to 1986. It replaced the Commodore Coupé. It shared its layout with the Senator A1. It used only overhead camshaft six-cylinder engines. The 3.0-litre version made it Opel’s fastest car at the time. It had no direct replacement. 43,812 were built.
The Opel Kadett C is a small family car produced by Opel from 1973 to 1979. It is the fourth-generation Kadett and Opel’s version of General Motors’ T-Car platform. It was the last small Opel to feature rear-wheel drive. Most customers opted for the two-door 'Limousine' saloon. A four-door variant was produced mostly for export. The Limousine accounted for just under 63% of production. Eleven percent were three-door estate-bodied Kadett Caravans. Slightly under 10% were two-door coupés. The Kadett City, a three-door hatchback, was added in May 1975 to compete on price with the Ford Fiesta.
The Porsche 924 is a two-door, 2+2 coupé produced by Porsche in Neckarsulm, Germany, from 1976 until 1988. It was the first production road-going Porsche to use water cooling and a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, and the first Porsche to be offered with a conventional fully automatic transmission. It began as a joint venture with Volkswagen and its overall styling was created by Dutch designer Harm Lagaay. A turbocharged version was introduced in 1978.
The Volvo 262C is a luxury coupé made by Volvo from 1977 (as a 1978 model) until 1981. Designed in-house by Jan Wilsgaard. Built by Bertone in Turin, Italy. Based on the 264 six-cylinder saloon.
The 1978 Toyota Supra is a purpose-built response to dealer demand: a longer, six-cylinder Celica liftback engineered to match the Datsun 280Z. It is neither radical nor revolutionary—just a calibrated evolution of existing parts, packaging, and powertrain. Its value lies in continuity, not disruption.