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Historian and auto enthusiast, posting images of car and van brochures from my personal collection.

Andy

The Dodge name had itself replaced Simca on the UK vans after 1976 (left) as part of Chrysler UK's belated commercial vehicle marque rationalisation, which also saw the end of the Commer brand. Finally, from 1982, the elderly 1100-based vehicle was offically known in as the Talbot Half-Ton (right).

The marketing muddle which followed Peugeot's 1978 takeover of Chrysler Europe is exemplified by this British brochure, headed 'Dodge Half-Ton Vans'. Despite this the cover vehicle - which to most people was a Simca van - now had a prominent Talbot badge on the bonnet. #weirdcarbs

The Cosmo/929 coupé design dated back to 1991, and initially came with a different side pillar arrangement using a distinctive central window. It is shown in this earlier German-market brochure. These 929s were sold in fairly small numbers on a limited number of European markets.

The novel features of the Z1 gained plenty of publicity, and 3,500 were ordered even before production got underway in 1989, powered by the 325i's straight-six engine. Expensive at the time, all models were left-hand-drive, with the vast majority of the 8,000 Z1s made being sold in Germany itself.

The first of the modern BMW 'Z' line of roadsters, the pricey Z1, made from 1989 to 1991, was developed by BMW's recently-established Technik division. It featured futuristic removable plastic panels and electric doors which slid down to give the occupants a truly open-car experience. #weirdcarbs

The fourth generation of Mazda's 929 included a distinctive rear-wheel-drive hardtop coupé, shown in this 1984 Dutch brochure. Luxuriously equipped, it had a 2.0i 120bhp engine. In Japan the coupé was called the Cosmo and came with a choice of petrol, diesel or rotary powerplants. #weirdcarbs

The final, mildly updated iteration of the UK Ford Cortina is often termed the mk5, though Ford itself called it the Cortina 80. This late-1979 brochure introduced the full model range, then easily Britain's best-seller and beloved by many company car drivers at that time. #carbluesky

While Cortinas were everywhere on Britain's rosds at the time, one very rare variant was this Drophead Coupé conversion, undertaken by Coventry-based Carbodies (best-known for building the FX4 London taxi). This leaflet was produced by Ford retailer Quicks of Manchester, which sold the cars.

The latest Cortina (known as the Taunus in most of Europe) boasted a new grille, wrap-around front indicators, bigger bumpers, much larger tail-lights, plus an improved interior. Better rustproofing, revised suspension and lower-cost servicing were also promised. The Ghia adorned the brochure cover.

Alongside the coupé the Mazda 929 was also sold in Europe in a rather less exciting sedan version, based on the Japanese-market Luce. It had a very boxy look with a conventional nose rather than the coupé's pop-up headlights, but used the same 2.0i engine.

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Andy