The flop of the Lincoln-BMW Diesel and the SX4 AMC Cross over were basically similar to the 80 LTD and Fatstang era sales flops.
If the public have it in there mind that the concept is a social turkey rather than a focal swann, it'll take years to pare back ground. Of course, the Fox Mustang started off much like the 80 Panther Fords...seen as a cost expedient throw away stop gap car like an early Falcon, but soon, the Fox and Panther both just grew in public image, but it took a long time. The SX4 was messed up by the Applicance Motor Companies poor warranty claims. In a time when Chrysler Corp was bankrupt and got all the Federal funds, AMC was a leaper. It was probably in worse shape than Mopar, but didn't get the help the product deserved. AMC had in basic design and architecture, great product with awful annual styling changes, very poor detail execution, and it was seen, from the account of most of my American friends, as being a novel idea with too much to go wrong. Sad, cause a T5 speed 258 Jeep engined SX4 was a very cool car. But the swann genes of the AMX chassis it was based on could just as soon produce revert to a Gremlin, rather the "The Machine esque" SX4.
Info?
See this article from a June 79 Australian Wheels magazine. Its metric, tho
:
In the case of the BMW Diesel, it was around five years before in 1979, and in 10 psi boost turbo form, powered the worlds quickest and fastest diesel, the pre production 115 hp 324td. Maximum torque was 237 Nm, 175 lb-ft, good for 109 mph, 18 second 1/4 mile, 0-60 mph in under 11.5 seconds and a 5200 rpm rev range better than the 4700 rpm for the later gasoline 525e! It was later down rated to 165 lb-ft, or 220Nm.
Both it and the 325e/527e concept engines were based on the same Siamese 323i European market BMW block.
Water in fuel, high sulfur diesel and the Olds 350 diesel inoculated anyone from ever buying diesels again.
The Cummings Dodges have sort of brought acceptability back, but even in the 80's a 300TD Benz were hard to shift after the GM diesel.
Ford picked up a really great diesel, which
should have been a front line engine for other Fox bodies, but like the Magnum 3.81" bore spacing Mazda 626 2 liter diesel option in the Ford Tempo, it just fizzed out
So these great little engines with excellent 4 speed over drive ZF gearboxes and reliable BMW engine were just EPA/CAFE conscience cars, gap fillers which in which diesel means
DIE,
Sell and
Exchange..
Along with the LSC and all 108.4" wheelbase Foxes, it was the FoMoCo car I'd love to own the most.
