What's in a Name? It Depends on the Plate

By Bill McLauchlan

Well, here we are again, easing into a brand new year with all that entails in the way of automotive developments to keep you on the edge of your seat.

But before we turn our gaze forward, today presents an ideal opportunity for a timely glance in the rear-view mirror. After all, this site is geared toward those readers just cresting the Baby Boom rise and the rest of us now picking up speed on life’s downhill run.

Pretty soon we’ll be awash in new car debuts, concept creations and all the other glitz and glamour emanating from the 2014 auto show season. Actually, the Los Angeles show in November last year was the curtain raiser, but this month we’ll have the North American International Auto Show in Detroit mid-month as well as the Montreal Auto Show, followed in February by the Toronto International AutoShow and a host of lesser venues all across the continent.

But, in pondering the imminent arrival of this year’s newcomers, I came across something in my notes that got me thinking about some of the nameplates that have been around for a while. In fact, a good few were actually born before most of us.

It all started with the realization that 15 years ago today, on January 6, 1999 to be precise, the last Oldsmobile 88 produced, a black 50th Anniversary Special Edition sedan, rolled off the GM division’s Lake Orion, Michigan, assembly line, ending a 50-year continuous production run for the popular 88 nameplate.

© Wieck

The final 88 was donated to the R. E. Olds Transportation Museum in an “official” ceremony in Lansing a few weeks later.

© Wieck                         1949 Oldsmobile Rocket 88

Since the Rocket 88 debuted in 1949, powered by a “rocket” V8 engine, Oldsmobile went on to sell more than 10 million 88s, the highest production year was 1955 when more than 460,000 were produced. Incidentally, a Rocket 88 was also the first Oldsmobile model to serve as an Indy 500 pace car. That happened in its debut year.

Sadly, the 1999 demise of the 88 was an early sign of impending doom for Olds which GM bought in November 1908 for a mere $3 million. Little more than five years later, the last Oldsmobile ever, a metallic cherry red Alero, rolled out of the automaker’s Lansing, Mich., plant. That was the end of the line for the oldest automotive brand in the U.S.

Though the Olds 88 did enjoy a long 50-year continuous production run it was by no means the elder statesman among familiar nameplates. So I thought it might be interesting to look at some of the others still going strong into their senior years.

© Wieck   75 years of Chevrolet Suburban (clockwise from left), 1936, 1946, 1951, 1966, 1972, 1990, 1999,
2002 and 2010 75th Anniversary Diamond Edition (centre)

Consider, for example, the Chevrolet Suburban now in its 78th year and counting. Introduced in 1935 in the midst of the Great Depression, it came with a signature two-door body style that would last through 1967 before any significant redesign took place. Power came from Chevy’s stalwart 60 horsepower “Stovebolt” inline-six – a nickname derived from the large, slotted fasteners in the engine that resembled those in popular wood-burning stoves of the time. Oh, and it cost $675 U.S.

Another old-timer worthy of note is the Morgan 4/4, an English sports car that looks the same today as it did when first created in 1935. This 78-year-old’s 4/4 nameplate designation has to do with the number of wheels/cylinders (not seats) in the design and was the first Morgan produced with a wheel at each corner. Its motor cycle-engined predecessor was a three-wheeler, two up front and a single rear.

© Wieck          Original 1948 Ford F-1 (rear) with F-150

Some other long-in-the-tooth candidates can be found in Ford’s F-Series light truck, appearing for the first time in 1948 as the F-1 model. Today, at 66 years of age, the current F-150 is Canada’s best-selling pickup (has been for almost 50 years) and even managed to surpass the ubiquitous Volkswagen Beetle in 1995 as the best-selling nameplate in history. Closely tailing the Ford truck is Chevrolet’s iconic Corvette sports car, a spry 60-year old with style and performance today that belies its geriatric years. Also from the same generation are Mercedes-Benz’s 60-year-old SL sports cars – the 300 SL, based on the racing 300 SL, and its little brother, the 190 SL – both of which were big hits when shown for the first time to North American buyers at the International Motor Sports Show in New York in 1954.

Slightly more youthful are a pair of 50-year olds: Porsche’s 911 celebrated its half-century in 2013 while the venerable Ford Mustang hits the big 5-0 this coming April.

© Wieck                                          1955 Jeep Willys

The sharp-eyed among you might have noticed a couple of names missing from this list. What about Jeep and Land Rover, you ask? Well, although they’ve been in continuous production and sold in North America, they should be considered as brands rather than nameplates. Jeep has had many owners since its birth in 1940, and many more nameplates within the Jeep “brand” throughout its lifetime. So, too, with Land Rover, first launched at the Amsterdam motor show in April 1948. While that would make it 66 this year it also has had several owners and model nameplates (Discovery, Defender, etc.) within its “brand” identity over the years.