So I thought it'd be fun to make a video featuring cars that aren't quite as original as some
may think.
Badge engineering as some people call it, has been around for sometime now.
Essentially it allows car manufacturers to take an already existing platform, tweak it
and make it their own, well kind of.
Because some manufactures don't even try to make it their own and just slap their badge
on it.
Of course I expect most car enthusiasts to already be familiar with the rebadged cars
I included in this video but for non car people, you're in for a big surprise!
First car on the list is the Chevy SS.
First things first, this car is here is one hell of a sleeper.
It may just look like an ordinary lifeless Chevy Malibu when see on the road, but what
you get is far from it.
It started it’s life a Holden Commodore and then radged and brought over to the United
States as the Chevy SS from 2014 to 2017.
The SS is essentially a complete copy and paste of the Commodore, the only thing really
differentiating them is the badging of course.
And speaking about badging, I find it very funny that you can actually go on Chevy’s
official website under accessories for the SS and you can literally purchase Holden Emblems
for $250!
I gotta say that would be a great way to keep people guessing here in the US as to what
car you’re driving.
That said, the performance package you get with the SS is something only car enthusiasts
can really appreciate.
It comes equipped with powerful naturally 6.2L LS3 V8 that produces 415HP and 415lb-ft
and it sends all that power to the rear wheels.
0-60 is acheived in just 4.5 seconds.
And when you think it couldn't get any better, well it can.
It comes with a traditional 6 speed manual.
What’s not to like?
Over 400HP, rwd, naturally aspirated, stick shift, all packaged in a low profile family
sedan that nobody expects to be fast.
It’s definitely a rare breed especially in the modern era and it’s a shame they
aren’t produced no more.
Sadly, it just didn’t sell well, it flew under the radar and that could be for several
reasons.
Price point which started at over 40K, no advertising from Chevy because honestly they
really didn’t care about the SS and was just fulfilling an agreement with GM Australia
and because of the industry shift to more fuel efficient vehicles.
Even though you can’t find them new anymore you can buy them used for much less than when
they were first released.
Not only will you get a family car with straight raw performance but you also get handy features
for it that can assist with daily driving like heated and ventilated seats, a heads
up display, blind spot monitoring, lane departure warning, rear park assist and chevy’s awesome
magnetic ride control which adjust based on the surface you’re driving on.
And if you want to take it to the track, then go for it.
It’s track ready tuned and comes standard with brembo brakes on all 4 wheels!
2nd car is the Subaru BRZ.
So this one is a bit tricky, as some would say the BRZ is just a rebadged Toyota GT 86
or Scion FRS, while others will say vise versa.
I ultimately decided to classify the BRZ as the one that did the rebadging since Toyota
first came up with the concept and then brought it over to Subaru in a way to get them to
work together on new sports car.
Result was probably one of the best joint collaborations between two auto manufactures.
An affordable RWD, front engine sports car that is not a MX-5.
Sure one of its drawbacks heard by many car guys is the underwhelming lack of power coming
from Subabru’s 2.0L Boxer engine.
It only manages to produce 205HP and 156lb-ft of torque.
But see what many fail to realize is that, straight line performance is not what Subaru
and Toyota wanted from it, but more so having an emphasis on handling.
And let me tell you from a person that has personally driven both the FRS and BRZ, these
cars are more fun to drive than some of the more powerful sports out there especially
on twisty roads.
The main difference between the BRZ, and the GT 86 is the front end, the suspension tuning
and and the emblems.
Other than that they are pretty much identical.
Same platform, same flat 4 engine and even and the interior are very alike.
And for those that are not aware the BRZ, GT 86 and FRS all came out as 2013 models,
The GT 86 was not sold in the US and it wasn’t until Toyota decided to close the curtains
on the Scion brand that they reintroduced the triplet as just the 86 in 2017.
I figured I’d clarify that since for those that may find all these models a bit confusing.
That said, the BRZ is a pretty sweet car no matter how bad people talk about it.
For the price there is not much more you can get.
If you’re in the market for one I’d recommend the face lift version from years 2017 and
up mainly because you can get it with the performance package that features specially
tuned shocks, brembo brakes and wider aluminum wheels and tires.
I know I was a little unfair to the BRZ in past on one of my old videos, for it’s lack
of performance but for what it’s worth we are lucky to have such an affodable nimble
sports car in today’s market.
I mean 0-60 in 6.2 seconds isn’t too slow, or is it?
What do you guys think?
3rd rebadged car is the Dodge Stealth.
Manufactured from 1991-1996 the Americans and the Japanese came together and created
this bad boy.
Essentially the Stealth was nothing more than a restyled Mitsubishi 3000GT.
You see back in the 90s this was very common practice for manufacturers to collab and make
two similar cars since the industry was so competitive.
Just like the 3000GT the Stealth had multiple trims to choose from which include the base
model that carried a 3L V6 that only produced 164HP to the cream of the crop R/T twin turbo
model which featured an awd system, all wheel steering and performance that was seen as
insane at the time.
The R/T turbo engine produced 300HP and 307lb-ft of torque!
0-60 happened in around 5 seconds, and keep this in mind, this was back in the 90s!
That goes to show you how ahead of their time both the Stealth and 3000GT were!
This car definitely fulfilled what Dodge wanted it to be, a sporty and quick sports car.
And just when you thought things couldn’t get any better, in 1994 the Stealth R/T turbo
received a pretty sweet makeover which included 6 speed manual which replaced the 5 speed,
upgraded brakes, 18 inch wheels, and 20 horsepower bump.
And yes I’m mainly talking about the R/T turbo model because in my opinion that was
the only one that was really worth buying.
Whether iit was in a straight line or around the track the Stealth did not disappoint.
The combination of it’s two mode suspension, 4 wheel steering and 0.33 drag coefficient
made this car one of the best performers of it’s time.
Sure the exterior design wasn’t very innovative mainly due to the partnership between mitsubishi
and dodge, i mean it was literally built in the same factory in Japan as the 3000GT.
Either way it was a solid partnership and the Stealth ended up being a sports coupe
that combined the best of what each manufacturer had to offer.
Which one would you prefer?
The Dodge Stealth R/T turbo or the Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4?
4ht car on the list is the Chrysler Crossfire.
It first made an appearance as a show car in 2001 before launching in 2004.
While it may not seem like it, this car is more European than one might think.
It shares most of it’s design with the Mercedes Benz SLK.
At the time Chrysler was combining forces with Mercedes from the 1990s to the late 2000s,
so something like this was bound to happen.
Yikes what a combo, makes me wonder which team of two would Scotty Kilmer hate more,
Chrysler with Fiat or with Mercedes!
Compared to some of the others featured in this video, the Crossfire and SLK are not
exactly twins but you can definitely see the resemblance.
The interior mainly from the vents down look very similar except that the crossfire has
a much cheaper finish with this odd silver coloring to the center console.
But at a starting price of 10K dollars less than the SLK, what do you expect.
Both the transmission and the engine the Crossfire carries is pulled directly from the SLK320.
It’s a 3.2L V6 that produces 215HP and 229lb-ft.
Not exactly impressive for such a heavy car but if you wanted more power there was an
SRT 6 version available with a supercharger that increased the power to 330HP.
Now that’s more like it.
This was definitely a bizarre and interesting car at the time and surprisingly out sold
it’s competitors during the first year.
It sold around 36K units which was more than both the BMW Z4 and Audi TT.
I know some may question those two luxury cars as Chrysler’s competitor, but see the
Crossfire has quite of bit of Mercedes in there, you can pretty much call it a bargain
SLK.
If you’re interested in one well you can get it in two flavors with either a fixed
roof or a fabric topped convertible.
And both come included massive heavy wheels!
5th and final rebadged car on the list is the Opel GT.
And no we are not talking about the iconic GT that existed from 1968 to 1973.
Opel actually decided to do things a little bit different this time around.
They took their well known GT nameplate slapped it on a Saturn Sky, which was based off the
Pontiac Solstice.
The only major changes the Opel GT received involved the badging just like every car featured
on this video, the tail lights and grille trim.
Back then many praised that the Opel GT and Saturn Sky stood out in what was one of the
most exciting classes.
It’s RWD, has a wide stance, long hood, has an interesting shape many actually thought
was pretty cool and while it didn’t appear to be fast, it actually kind of was.
It comes equipped with a 2.2L 4 cylinder turbo engine that produces 264HP which helped the
GT sprint from 0-60 in 5.7 seconds.
Weight distribution is spot on which is expected from a RWD front engine car.
There is something special about this car.
I remember in my young teenage years seeing a Saturn Sky for the first time and thinking
it was must have car.
I mean I don’t quite feel the same now as I did before but it’s definitely very unique.
Even though the Opel Gt was built in the US at Wilmington Delaware along with its other
siblings, I never got to see one in person since it wasn’t sold here in the US.
But honestly, seeing the Sky and Solstice was close enough.
I’m glad Opel decided to continue the tradition of the first Opel GT but was it the right
way to do it?
By rebadging an already existing car?
IDK.
Either way the reintroduced Opel GT nameplate did not last very long because by 2010 Saturn
and Pontiac pretty much reached the end of the road as brands which ultimately lead to
the end of the Opel GT.
I'm curious, how many of the cars on this list did you already know were rebadged.
Let me know in the comment section below.
I really do hope you guys enjoyed the video and if you did make sure to like it, these
types of video normally take me around 15-20 hours to complete and liking them really does
make a huge positive impact on my channel.
Oh and don't forget to subscribe with notifications on that way you don't miss out on my next
upload.
As always thanks for watching.
Till next time.