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78-453: The Talbot Tagora is an executive car developed by Chrysler Europe and produced by Peugeot Société Anonyme (PSA). The Tagora was marketed under the Talbot marque after PSA took over Chrysler 's European operations in 1979. PSA presented the first production vehicle in 1980 and launched it commercially in 1981. The Tagora fell short of sales expectations, described as a "showroom flop" just

156-852: A company owned vehicle. Early executive cars typically offered engines with displacements of 2.0–3.5 L (122–214 cu in), compared with 1.6–2.4 L (98–146 cu in) for an equivalent sized—but less luxurious—"large family car". Prior to the 1990s, executive cars were typically sedans , however in recent years they have also been produced in other body styles, such as estates ( station wagons ), convertibles , coupés , and five-door hatch versions. They typically need to be "comfortable, refined and display some form of driving pleasure" on occasion. In general, executive cars are 4-door saloons , though may include estate , 5-door hatchback or 2-door coupé variants. Rover , Saab , Renault and Citroën formerly have been known to prefer hatchbacks, with Ford also offering alternatives through

234-523: A decade after the Tagora had ceased production, the view of the car in the automotive press was that it was merely average though there was little actively wrong with the car. The view was that the Tagora had the advantage of refinement, good manners and, in V6 form, good performance. Rust was identified as the single biggest problem for the surviving cars, usually around the rear suspension mountings. Buckley suggested that

312-517: A double wishbone suspension. Notable examples include the Honda Accord and Civic , as well as the Mercedes E-Class , all of which adopted struts to improve crash performance . The overall simplicity of the design also means there are fewer joints in the suspension to wear, so there is less decline in handling and steering feel over time . Inverted monotube struts can also provide extra rigidity in

390-434: A market where character and status count for so much." The design of the Tagora was focused on practicality, providing exceptional cabin space at the expense of style. The steep windscreen formed a quite strange angle with the relatively short, wedge-shaped bonnet . The car was wider and taller than most of its competitors, and buyers were unaccustomed to such proportions. The PSA-sourced axles had very narrow tracks relative to

468-458: A mounting in the body shell of the vehicle. The line from the top mount of the strut to the bottom ball joint on the control arm gives the steering axis inclination . The axis of the strut may be angled inwards from the steering axis at the bottom, to clear the tyre, which makes the bottom follow an arc when steering. The MacPherson strut benefited from introduction of unibody construction, because its design requires substantial vertical space and

546-538: A new engine for the Tagora. One candidate was a straight-six manufactured by Mitsubishi , but it proved unsuitable for a car of this class. The other proposal was the Douvrin V6 engine (the "PRV"), a joint development of PSA, Renault and Volvo . Since the Tagora would be in direct competition with PSA models that used the PRV, it seemed unlikely that Chrysler would be able to procure that engine. Chrysler Corporation approved

624-455: A particular note of the advantage in handling and grip enjoyed by the older live-axled Volvo 244, underlining the point about the Tagora's lack of advantage in terms of road manners. Regarding the interior, the seats drew praise for their comfort and detail design. However, again, Car provided a counterpoint to the effect that the Volvo was as roomy, despite its shorter wheelbase. The steering wheel

702-416: A strong top mount, which unibody construction can provide. Unibody construction also distributes suspension stresses. The strut will usually carry both the coil spring , on which the body is suspended, and the shock absorber , which is usually in the form of a cartridge mounted within the strut (see coilover ). The strut can also have the steering arm built into the lower outer portion. The whole assembly

780-420: A wishbone, or a substantial compression link stabilized by a secondary link, which provides a mounting point for the hub carrier or axle of the wheel. The lower arm system provides both lateral and longitudinal location of the wheel. The upper part of the hub carrier is rigidly fixed to the bottom of the outer part of the strut proper. That slides up and down the inner part of it, which extends upwards directly to

858-521: A year after its launch, and PSA cancelled the model two years later. Fewer than 20,000 Tagora models were built, all of them at the former Simca factory in Poissy , near Paris, France. Chrysler Europe began development of the Tagora in 1976, under the code name C9 , with the goal of replacing the unsuccessful Chrysler 180 series. Following the same development pattern as with the Horizon and Alpine models,

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936-537: Is " Obere Mittelklasse " (lit. upper-middle class) as defined by the German federal authorities. Luxury cars larger than this are referred to as Oberklasse ("upper class"). Mercedes-Benz has produced large luxury cars since the early 1900s. Following World War II, Mercedes Benz's first all-new models were the Mercedes-Benz W120 executive cars. This lineage continues through to the present and has been marketed as

1014-402: Is not generally considered to give as good handling as a double wishbone or multi-link suspension, because it allows the engineers less freedom to choose camber change and roll center . Cars that have cockpit adjustable ride height generally cannot have MacPherson struts because of the camber changes that are an unavoidable part of the design. Ride suffers because the shock absorber has almost

1092-586: Is very simple and can be pre-assembled into a unit. As well, the elimination of the upper control arm allows for more width in the engine compartment, which is useful for smaller cars, particularly with transverse -mounted engines, such as most front wheel drive vehicles have. The assembly can be further simplified, if needed, by substituting an anti-roll bar ( torsion bar ) for the radius arm . For those reasons, it has become almost ubiquitous with low cost manufacturers. Furthermore, it offers an easy method to set suspension geometry. Many modern versions replace

1170-728: The Chrysler 300 was marketed in Europe as the Lancia Thema. Maserati's first executive is the Maserati Ghibli , which has been in production since 2013. Toyota has been producing large luxury cars since the 1955 Crown was released. The Crown remains in production today and is currently in its fifteenth generation. In 1991, the Crown-derived Aristo began production, and from 1993 until 2020 were marketed under Toyota's luxury sub-brand as

1248-592: The Citroën SM , including a front glass panel between the headlights to accommodate the number plate , round front wheelarches and rear spats . However, Chrysler management in the United States deemed these features too extravagant, so the design of the C9 became more conventional: front and rear wheelarches were squared off and the spats lost, and the license plate was placed on the front bumper as on most cars. To better balance

1326-772: The Ford Scorpio was released, being sold in the U.K. as a Ford Granada until 1994. Vauxhall entered the executive car market with the 1978 Vauxhall Carlton and related Vauxhall Royale/Senator , which were based on the Opel Rekord E. In 1986, the Vauxhall Carlton Mark II switched to the German-built Opel Omega A, which was replaced in 1994 by the Vauxhall Omega (a rebadged version of the Opel Omega B). In

1404-511: The Honda Legend and had a front-wheel drive layout. In 1999, the 800 series was replaced by the Rover 75 , which was produced until 2005. The 75 straddled the executive and compact executive categories due to its size, although a long wheelbase version was available. The first executive car to be badged a Triumph was the 1946–1954 Triumph 1800/2000/Renown versions. Triumph's next and final entry to

1482-758: The Lancia Lambda , Lancia Artena , and Lancia Aprilia . The Lancia Flavia was an executive car that began production in 1961 and was replaced by the Lancia 2000 in 1971. The 2000 was replaced by the Lancia Gamma , which was released in 1976. In 1984, the Gamma was replaced by the Lancia Thema , then the Lancia Kappa in 1994. The Lancia Thesis , produced from 2001-2009 is the last executive car produced by Lancia. From 2011–2015,

1560-568: The Lexus GS . Nissan's longest-running executive car began production in 1959 as the Prince Gloria , which was later renamed the Nissan Gloria, following the merger of Nissan and Prince. The Gloria was produced for 12 generations until 2004. Another Nissan executive car was the 1960 Cedric , which was produced until 2004 (although a taxi/fleet version remained in production until 2015). The Cedric

1638-614: The Mercedes-Benz E-Class since 1993. The Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class four-door fastback was added to the company's model range in 2004, with a shooting brake body style also produced from 2012-2017. BMW's first large luxury car was the 1936–1941 BMW 326 . After a hiatus of 21 years, BMW's next executive car models were the 1962 New Class Sedans . In 1972, the New Class was replaced by the BMW 5 Series , which remains in production today. Over

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1716-821: The Sentia , which was produced until 1999. The Millenia , also sold as the Xedos 9 and the Eunos 800, was produced from 1993 until 2002. Honda introduced their first executive car, the Legend (sold as the Acura Legend in the United States) in 1985. The Legend was produced until 2012, and then from 2014 until 2021. It is believed that the standard of Korean Executive Cars came from the 3rd generation Hyundai Grandeur model launched in 1998. Previous models, Kia Potentia and Hyundai Grandeur, belonged to

1794-526: The Volvo 760 in 1982 and then the Volvo 960 in 1994. The 960 was renamed the S90 (sedan models) and V90 (wagon models) in 1996. The Volvo S80 was released in 1998, and was replaced in 2016 by a new generation of Volvo S90 / V90 sedans and wagons that presently remain in production. Daimler Company produced luxury cars in various sizes starting in the late 1890s. The lineage that led to their executive cars began with

1872-505: The 1923–1929 Daimler 16 and Daimler 16/55 models, which were followed in 1932 by the Daimler Fifteen . The Fifteen was replaced by the 1937 Daimler New Fifteen and then the 1939 Daimler Consort (originally called the "Daimler 2½ Litre"). The Consort was replaced by the 1953–1958 Daimler Conquest . In 1962, the Daimler 2.5 V8 (later renamed the "Daimler V8-250") was released, based on

1950-501: The 1930s. Peugeot began producing large cars in the early 1900s. Following the Peugeot 601 being discontinued in 1935, Peugeot ceased production of large cars until the Peugeot 604 was introduced in 1975. The 604 was replaced by the Peugeot 605 in 1989, which in turn was replaced by the Peugeot 607 in 1999. Following the end of the 607's production run in 2010, Peugeot no longer produces any executive cars. Citroën's first large car

2028-580: The 1990s. Audi , BMW and later Mercedes-AMG have recently offered hatchbacks as separate models for their executive cars since 2010s. One of the first Chinese-built executive cars was the 2006 Roewe 750 , based on the Rover 75 . In 2012, the Roewe 950 was introduced, which is a re-bodied version of the 2010 Buick LaCrosse . In 2020, BYD Han officially goes on sale in China. Several overseas brands have produced long wheelbase versions of cars specifically for

2106-544: The C9 project was well advanced, PSA already had a crowded lineup in the large vehicle segment, including the renowned Citroën CX , the slow-selling Peugeot 604 and the newly launched Peugeot 505 . But with so much having already been invested in the project, PSA decided to press ahead and complete the development of C9, albeit with modifications to allow the use of shared parts with other PSA models. The Simca double wishbone front suspension gave way to MacPherson struts adopted from

2184-701: The Chevrolet Impala was launched, but was discontinued. Renault Korea sold the SM7 based on the Nissan Teana from 2004 to 2020. In the Korean market, semi-large cars boast significant sales volume as a symbol of the middle class, and the Hyundai Grandeur ranks high in sales in the Korean automobile market. Currently, the semi-large business sedan models sold in the Korean market include Hyundai Grandeur and Kia K8 , and

2262-513: The Chinese market, due to the preference Chinese owners have for being driven by a chauffeur. Examples include the "XF L" version of the 2016 Jaguar XF (X260) , the "Li" version of the 2017 BMW 5 Series (G30) and other models from Audi, Mercedes-Benz, and Volvo. In France, executive cars are known as " Routière ", a class of comfortable long-distance cars that first emerged on the French market in

2340-498: The Cottin-Desgouttes front suspension was in turn inspired by a 1904 design by American engineer J. Walter Christie . MacPherson designed the strut for all four wheels, but it is normally used for the front suspension only, where it provides a steering pivot as well as a suspension mounting for the wheel. The first production car to use MacPherson struts is often cited incorrectly as the French 1949 Ford Vedette , but it

2418-635: The Exeo, which is basically a rebadged Audi A4 on the B7 platform, with some minor modifications to the front and rear fascias. Although it was not an E-segment vehicle but a segment D. It remained successful as a company car until 2013. Also, it was used as a police cruiser for the Guardia Civil highway corps. It was available in sedan and station wagon variants. It was the first vehicle from the brand equipped with diesel direct common raíl injection. Saab's first executive car

Talbot Tagora - Misplaced Pages Continue

2496-646: The Jaguar Mark 2. In 1966, the Daimler Sovereign was introduced, based on the Jaguar 420. The Sovereign and V8-250 were produced alongside each other until they both ended production in 1969. Jaguar began production of executive cars in 1935 with the first of the Jaguar Mark IV models. These were replaced by the 1948–1951 Jaguar Mark V . The Mark V's successor increased in size to the full-size luxury car segment, so

2574-485: The Peugeot 505 and 604, and the rear axle was replaced with that of the 505, much narrower than the one originally planned, as it was designed with respect to the 505 body width, and thus compromised the C9's stance as the rear wheels were now badly inset within their arches. The C9 front end was extended to accommodate the optional PRV engine: now that the model belonged to PSA, using the PRV presented no problems. Following

2652-461: The Tagora a "usefully effortless, uncomplicated, simple-to-drive and very comfortable car". The recurring theme of published tests was the Tagora's lack of clear advantages or of a competitive edge. In comparing the car to its likely competitors, Autocar ' s verdict was that "the new Talbot is highly comparable with the others, and deserves to sell as any of them, although it does not come out with any startling advantages which you might expect of

2730-462: The Tagora in its 2.2 litre GLS iteration, and summed it up as "excellent, if not a great advance". L. J. K. Setright of Car magazine asked who could want one given the crowded market into which it came. Concluding a group test in Car , the Tagora was described as a "problematic newcomer" that did not exceed the standard set by the winner of the group test, the Volvo 244 GLE. However, Motor Sport considered

2808-626: The United Kingdom in May. The British billboard advertising campaign boasted "The new Talbot Tagora. Luxury and performance redefined." The Tagora was priced to overlap with high-end Peugeot 505 and low-end Citroën CX models, while slotting in beneath the Peugeot 604. Its pricing was also comparable to the Renault 20/30 and Ford Granada . The Tagora was in the 20,000–30,000 Deutsch Mark bracket in Germany. During

2886-527: The United States, executive cars are referred to as full-sized cars. The first executive car produced by a Vietnamese company is the VinFast LUX A2.0 , which debuted at the 2018 Paris Motor Show. Production started in 2019 and it achieved success in the Vietnamese domestic car market. MacPherson strut Earle S. MacPherson was appointed the chief engineer of Chevrolet's Light Car project in 1945. He

2964-518: The authors conceded that generally the Tagora did not feel under-engined when in use. LJK Setright dissented saying the Tagora was as "refined in its ride as should be expected of it" and that "the car also has a good deal more road-holding and cornering than might be expected". However, in December 1981 Car magazine judged the car (2.2 GLS model) to be prone to "untidy" handling, tending to under-steer first followed by excessive over-steer. The magazine made

3042-673: The brand was dissolved in 1967. Rover entered the executive car market in 1948 with the Rover P3 . The P3 was replaced by the Rover P4 in 1949, which was produced until 1964. The 1963 Rover P6 was the next executive car produced by Rover, which was replaced by the Rover SD1 in 1976 (marketed as the Standard 2000 in India). The SD1 was replaced by the 1986 Rover 800 series , which was a jointly developed with

3120-507: The car might attain collectible status by 2003. In terms of engineering, the Tagora had no major flaws (except perhaps for the poor cabin ventilation). The 1979 energy crisis , however, dealt a blow to the European automotive market: the large car segment contracted significantly, making Chrysler's initial sales projections unrealistic. The Tagora was ultimately launched under the Talbot brand, which

3198-504: The case of the four-cylinder engines. The available models were: The Tagora Présidence was a concept car designed by stylist Sunny Atri at the Talbot design studio in Whitley, Coventry . The concept was created to generate interest in employing high-end Tagoras as chauffeur-driven limousines by users such as business executives and government officials. The donor model for the Présidence

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3276-448: The correct type of tyre he would still opt for a Peugeot 604 instead. Car judged the chassis design to be one area "where [the Tagora] does not show the comparative youth of its design". The Tagora's handling was deemed "on the good side", wrote Autocar , and performance was described as "good but not outstanding". As such the car lay "uneasily close to being listed as under-engined" though

3354-486: The development of the C9, the management of the bankruptcy-threatened Chrysler Corporation decided to divest itself of its debt-ridden European operations. The buyer was the French PSA Group , formed in 1976 after Peugeot took over Citroën . The deal was finalised in 1978, in which the buyer paid US$ 1.00 for the entirety of Chrysler Europe and its obligations . The take-over was effective as of 1 January 1979. While

3432-458: The development of the model on the assumption that Chrysler Europe would sell 60,000 C9 models per year, which translated into a projected 5 percent share of the executive car market. This estimate seemed achievable because Chrysler had a 7 percent market share in Europe overall. The projected sales would have covered the car's tooling costs, with the development costs accounted for separately, as part of an independent annual budget. During

3510-453: The executive car market was the 1963–1977 Triumph 2000 , which was a sales success in Britain. Ford Europe's first executive car was the 1950 Ford Zephyr . The Zephyr— and related Consul, Zodiac, and Executive models— were produced over four generations until 1972. The 1972 Ford Granada was initially built in the United Kingdom before switching to being imported from Germany in 1976. In 1985,

3588-615: The executive car segment in 1975 with the Renault 20/30 models. They were replaced, in 1983, by the Renault 25 which featured a fastback rear end. In 1992, the 25 was replaced by the Renault Safrane . The Safrane was replaced by the Renault Vel Satis hatchback in 2002, which in turn was replaced by the Latitude in 2010 and later the Talisman . The equivalent class for cars in Germany

3666-624: The first fifteen months of the car's existence, in 1980/81, a mere 16,169 Tagoras were produced which was only one quarter of Chrysler's initial projections. Sales proved insufficient even for this production level, and volumes plummeted by more than 80 percent in 1982. In 1983 the sales figures prompted PSA to cancel the model altogether. By the time the Tagora was discontinued, only about 19,500 had been built; by comparison, over 116,000 Peugeot 505s and 74,000 Citroën CXs were made in 1981 alone. In December 2010, Practical Classics reported that 99.09 percent of all UK-registered Tagoras were no longer on

3744-593: The front suspension, as seen in the Porsche 911 GT3 and Cayman GT4 , as well as the Subaru Impreza WRX STI . Finally, struts can package more efficiently than other types of front suspension, which allows for significant front cargo space in rear/mid-engined cars, such as the Porsche 911 and Boxster . Geometric analysis shows the assembly cannot allow vertical movement of the wheel without some degree of either camber angle change, sideways movement, or both. It

3822-691: The large car position and were shopper-driven, but were relegated to owner-driven from the XG model. Afterward, the launch of Kia Opirus and Daewoo Magnus formed the semi-large car market. In the 2000s, Daewoo Motors (now GM KOREA) sold the Holden Commodore under the name Daewoo Statesman from the Australian Holden company and sold the Holden Caprice as the follow-up model as the Daewoo Veritas. Afterwards,

3900-404: The latest appearance on the scene". Those cars against which the Tagora 2.2 GLS was compared were the Ford Granada 2.3 GL, Opel Rekord 2.0S, Renault 20TX, Rover 2300 and Volvo 244 GL. Of these cars, the Tagora was the second most expensive but did not have a superiority among the significant attributes of speed, acceleration, interior room or chassis design. Out of the comparison group the Tagora had

3978-450: The latter patent citing designs by Guido Fornaca of FIAT in the mid-1920s. MacPherson's new strut design may have taken inspirations from other earlier designs as well. The strut suspension of the pre-war Stout Scarab could have been an influence, and long-travel struts in aircraft landing gear were well known by that time. The French Cottin-Desgouttes utilized a similar design, albeit with less sophisticated leaf springs , but

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4056-429: The lower control arm with a wishbone. An anti-roll bar is optional and, if present, is attached by a ball-jointed rod to the spring-damper, or by a ball or elastomerically jointed rod to the wishbone. Because MacPherson struts are packaged with a significant structure in the front crash structure of the car, it is easier to engineer cars that pass more stringent small overlap crashes with struts, as opposed to those with

4134-460: The luxury brand is the Genesis G80 . SEAT's first executive car was the 1963–1973 SEAT 1500 , then in 1973, it launched the 132 which was the same FIAT 131 of the era since all cars from the brand were produced under license from FIAT. It was produced until 1982 when it was replaced by the Málaga in 1984, which was the first to be produced in-house entirely, to be replaced afterward with the Toledo, in 1991. Many years later, in 2009, SEAT launched

4212-409: The next executive car was the 1955 Jaguar Mark 1 . In 1959, the Mark 1 was replaced by the Jaguar Mark 2 . In 1963, the Jaguar S-Type was introduced and sold alongside the Mark 2. Both models were replaced by the 1966-1968. The Jaguar XJ series began in 1968 and received updates (with a redesign in 2010) until 2019. Following a 30-year hiatus from the executive car market, Jaguar returned in 1998 with

4290-450: The non-luxury equivalent mid-size cars ), but smaller than luxury saloons / full-size luxury sedans . The term has also been adopted by Euro NCAP , a European organization founded to test car safety. The term was coined in the 1960s to describe cars targeted at successful professionals and middle-to-senior managers. It was used by businesses as an incentive for employees in senior roles and to exploit Britain and Europe's tax schemes as

4368-404: The renaming of Chrysler Europe's models to the Talbot marque, the C9 was christened the Talbot Tagora, and the first batch of cars rolled out of the former Simca plant in Poissy in 1980. The same year, PSA presented the Tagora at the Salon de l'Automobile in Paris. Following a hands-on demonstration of the model to the press in Morocco in March 1981, the car went on sale in France in April and in

4446-445: The responsibility for the Tagora's technical development remained in France, while the styling was devised at Chrysler's design centre in the United Kingdom. An early proposal for the name of the car was "Simca 2000". The original C9 prototype was a modern-styled saloon with a low beltline and large interior dimensions made possible by the long- wheelbase . The British design team initially proposed some stylistic features inspired by

4524-447: The retro-styled S-Type . The S-Type was replaced by the 2007 Jaguar XF (X250) and then the 2015 Jaguar XF (X260) , which currently remains in production. Humber's first executive car was the 1945 Humber Hawk . The Hawk was available with features such as two-tone and metallic paintwork, leather upholstery, wood trim, and a sunroof. Production of the Hawk, along with the similarly sized Humber Super Snipe and Imperial , ceased when

4602-453: The roads. The last UK-registered Tagora on the road, has been declared on a SORN (statutory off-road notice) since 2016. The last UK-registered Tagora has been put back on the road as of September 2022 As with most large cars of its time, the Tagora was a rear-wheel drive vehicle, with a longitudinally mounted engine. There were three engine choices, mated to four- and five-speed manual transmissions or an optional three-speed automatic in

4680-452: The same kinematic problems. Up until the 1989 model year (964), Porsche 911 used a similar strut design that did not have coil springs, using torsion bar suspension instead. Since then, all Porsche 911s have had front MacPherson struts, except the 992-based 911 GT3, which uses a double wishbone. In recent years, General Motors and Ford have introduced a modified strut set-up, "Hi-Per Strut" and "Revoknuckle" respectively, that split

4758-484: The same vertical motion as the wheel, so there is relatively little leverage to break the stiction in the seals. A standard single pivot MacPherson strut also tends to have positive scrub where the center of the steering axis is offset from the center of the front tires, which results in torque steer. Despite the drawbacks, the MacPherson strut set-up is still used on some high performance cars, because they tend to have relatively small suspension travel, and so do not have

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4836-432: The second highest top speed, was the third fastest to 60 mph though it had the best overall mpg (by 0.7 mpg). In terms of interior room, it had the fourth best legroom (front/rear). Motor Sport also noted the car's modest competence in comparison with the Rover 2300 (launched 1976), saying that the Tagora had more leisurely acceleration. LJK Setright noted the cars's overall "adequacy" going on to say that if fitted with

4914-472: The seven generations of the 5 Series, it has been produced in sedan, wagon, and four-door hatchback body styles. The first large luxury car produced by Audi was the Audi 100 , which was released in 1968. The Audi 100 was replaced by the Audi A6 in 1994, which remains in production today. In 2010, the Audi A7 four-door fastback model range was added. The Ford Granada is an executive car produced by Ford Europe from 1972-1994. Fiat's first large luxury car

4992-399: The size of its luggage compartment (572 litres). But the fact that a car launched in 1974, the Volvo 244 GLE, could offer better seats, disc brakes all round, better headlights, better ventilation and better handling for only slightly more than Talbot was charging for their car indicated that the Tagora had come to market with a vehicle that was uncompetitive in too many major respects. Nearly

5070-406: The strut into two components that handle the up-and-down flexibility and steering dynamics separately. The benefits of this design are greater surface contact and reduction in torque steer. The drawbacks are the additional weight and cost, but it is less expensive than either a double wishbone or multi-link setup. Honda introduced another variation strut set-up, called "dual-axis" , which is used in

5148-410: The tall silhouette, the beltline was raised. Over the course of development, the C9 also lost its vertical taillights in favour of more "fashionable" horizontal ones. The main competitors in the executive vehicle market offered engines bigger than the biggest 2.0-litre inline-four engine used by Chrysler Europe, and a six- cylinder engine was generally expected. Consequently, the company had to seek

5226-414: The width of the body, which provided an awkward look, especially at the rear. Nor did the plain, plastic dashboard stir enthusiasm among reviewers and prospective customers. Executive car Executive car is a British term for a large car, and is considered equivalent to the European E-segment and American full-size classifications. Executive cars are larger than compact executive cars (and

5304-434: Was "disappointment". Lacking a self-setting stay, opening the bonnet was "heavy work" and the boot, while large, had the demerit of an "unusual" locking method: "[the boot] is locked before being shut by pushing in a red handle set in the inside of the lid". In summary, the main competencies of the Tagora were its spacious cabin (though it was not class-leading), its comfortable seating, its fuel economy (in 2.2 GLS form) and

5382-485: Was criticized in the same review for being too close to the driver's legs. The ventilation temperature control was "not satisfactory" due to an unprogressive response at the cool end of the dial. There was no fan-blown cold air (cold air was by ram-effect) nor an option for cool air to be directed to the face at the same time as warmth being directed into the footwells. According to Car the ventilation "fell down badly" on account of its awkward controls. Oddment accommodation

5460-436: Was developed before MacPherson, with an independent front suspension based on wishbones and an upper coil spring. Only in 1954, after the Vedette factory had been purchased by Simca , did the revised Simca Vedette switch to using front struts. Following MacPherson's arrival at Ford, the first production car to feature MacPherson struts was the British-built 1950 Ford Consul and the later Zephyr . A MacPherson strut uses

5538-454: Was not established in the marketplace and had a confused pedigree, putting the car at an immediate disadvantage in an executive car market dominated by well established offerings such as the Ford Granada . In the view of Martin Buckley Talbot did not advertise the car effectively so "people did not know about the car". As the British magazine What Car? opined, the Tagora "has such a complete blandness of style as to disqualify it instantly in

5616-651: Was replaced by the 2004 Fuga , also sold as the Infiniti M from 2003 until 2012, and the Q70 since 2012. Mitsubishi began producing executive cars in 1964 with the Debonair . The Debonair was replaced in 1999 by the Proudia , which was discontinued in 2001 and then returned from 2012 until 2016 as a rebadged Fuga. Mazda's first executive car was the 1969 Luce . In 1991, the Luce was replaced by

5694-540: Was slated to be the first production vehicle with MacPherson struts, but the project was cancelled in 1947 and never saw commercial production. This was in large part due to GM's concerns about the Cadet's forecasted profit margins. After the Cadet project was shelved, a disgruntled MacPherson left GM to join Ford . Patents were filed in 1947 ( U.S. patent 2,624,592 for GM) and in 1949 ( U.S. patent 2,660,449 for Ford), with

5772-460: Was tasked with developing a new, smaller car for the immediate post-war market, an effort that led to the Chevrolet Cadet. The Cadet was poised to be a groundbreaking vehicle, and the three prototypes that had been built by 1946 displayed a wide range of innovations. One of these was a revolutionary new independent suspension system that featured what is now known as a MacPherson strut. The Cadet

5850-525: Was the Fiat 24-32 HP , which was introduced in 1903. Other large luxury Fiats produced before World War II include the Fiat 510 , Fiat 520 , Fiat 527 , and Fiat 2800 . In 1959, the Fiat 1800 and 2100 executive sedans and station wagons were introduced. These models were replaced by the Fiat 2300 in 1961. Fiat's last executive car was the Fiat 130 , which was produced from 1969 until 1977. Lancia produced several large luxury cars prior to World War II, including

5928-508: Was the 1934 Citroën Traction Avant . In 1955, the Traction Avant was replaced by the iconic Citroën DS , which was replaced in 1974 by the Citroën CX and then the 1989 Citroën XM . The XM was discontinued in 2000 and for five years Citroën did not produce an executive car. The 2005 Citroën C6 was produced until 2012, and Citroën has not produced any executive cars since. Renault entered

6006-447: Was the 1984 Saab 9000 , which was produced in sedan and liftback body styles. The 9000 was replaced by the Saab 9-5 . In 2010 the second generation of the 9-5 switched to a platform shared with various General Motors models until Saab went bankrupt in 2012. Volvo began producing executive cars in 1968 with the Volvo 164 . In 1974, the 164 was replaced by the Volvo 260 , which was replaced by

6084-555: Was the 2.6 SX, which had an interior appointed with Connolly Leather upholstery and brass highlights, plus a host of electronics including a telephone, dictaphone , text-message receiver, and television with VCR . Originally valued at £ 25,000, the Présidence now resides at a car museum in Poissy. The Tagora was not greeted with much acclaim by the British motoring press. Autocar reviewed

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