Automotive adopted children: the same in green
Sometimes successful cars were not what they seemed. We give three examples of models that were the children of other brands - and why we say «the same in green».
Renault Espace: The almost-Peugeot
The Renault Espace was Europe's first large family van in 1984 and heralded a huge trend - see VW Sharan and Co. But as innovative as Renault is in inventing vehicle categories: The first Espace was not a Renault. It was developed by supplier Matra for Simca. But now Simca, still desperately renamed Talbot, was dying. And new owner Peugeot failed to recognize the potential when Matra came knocking. It was only when Matra approached Renault that the opportunity became apparent. Renault seized it: a hit! As an aside: Peugeot had the right instinct for another Simca heir. Talbot had developed the Arizona compact car. It was then successful as the Peugeot 309.
VW Passat: An emergency solution from Audi
At the beginning of the 1970s, VW was struggling to survive: Beetle sales were falling, larger rear-engined models were flopping, modernity was far away. Salvation was found in the adopted child: in 1965, VW had bought Auto Union from Mercedes, including DKW and the Audi name, in order to build Beetles there. However, because Mercedes had developed a good new model at DKW, the first post-war Audi was then launched under VW. When VW died years later, Audi had the new 50 and 80. VW bolted a VW logo onto the 50 - the first VW Polo. The Audi 80 was given a hatchback - the first Passat from 1973 was ready. The emergency solutions were a success and bridged the gap until the Golf.
Opel Laubfrosch: The green Citroën
In the 1920s, France was the leading car nation. So Opel looked over the fence. The successful first German mass-produced car, the Opel 4/12 PS launched in 1924, known as the «Laubfrosch» because of its green paint, was a 1:1 copy of the Citroën Type C from 1922 (which was yellow ex works). A court - a German one, mind you - dismissed the claim from France: the radiator grille and color were different, that was enough. Opel was neither punished by the courts nor by its customers, but by the vernacular: the expression «The same in green» was coined.
