American car manufacturing has been dominated by conglomerates General Motors, Ford and Chrysler for more than a century, but each held interests in smaller marques or even created its own niche sub-brand.
The big three in the states either acquired or created a sub-brand to fit into a new market segment or entice new customers to purchase its products, with many badge engineered models being offered at different specification levels.
The Repco Garage will reflect on the various brands to have disappeared from the showrooms leaving behind plenty of history and many iconic models.
Oldsmobile – 1897-2004
Originally beginning as the Olds Motor Vehicle Company by Ransom E. Olds in 1897 before it was ushered in as a division of General Motors in 1908 positioning above Chevrolet and Pontiac, but below Buick and Cadillac. Sales peaked in the 1980s courtesy of the runaway success of the Cutlass Supreme, however these dropped away during the 1990s as it was shut down in 2004. Thus, this closed one of the most innovative and oldest marques in the world.
Plymouth – 1928-2001
A part of the Chrysler Corporation, it was marketed as a low-price alternative to Ford and Chevrolet named after a binder twine used by farmers produced by the Plymouth Cordage Company from the township of the location found in in Massachusetts. A big contributor to the muscle car culture in the mid-1960s and 1970s through nameplates such as the Barracuda, Belvedere GTX as well as the controversial Superbird. The new models in the 1980s were mainly badge engineered Dodge or Mitsubishi variants leading to a fall in sales it never recovered from until the brand was closed in 2001.
Mercury – 1938-2011
A mid-positioned brand owned by Ford for most of its history, Mercury started in 1938 and was seven years later placed together with the upmarket Lincoln marque to form a dedicated division. Despite a strong start, by the end of the 1950s the Mercury-Lincoln Division was in severe danger of folding, but introduction of the Comet and Meter to join the Monterey. The rise of Mercury can also be credited to the disappearance of the Edsel sub-brand. Moving to more luxurious nameplates, but a failure to modernise its brand image and Ford discontinued the brand in 2011.
AMC – 1954-1988
American Motors Corporation was founded in 1954 after a merger between Nash-Kelvinator and the Hudson Motor Car Company. Rambler was its major model line as Hornet, Gremlin, Pacer, Ambassador, Rebel, Matador, Marlin, AMX, Javelin, Eagle and Jeep also part of the line-up. Compared to the big three, it was the smallest and punched above its weight before Renault acquired the brand in 1979. It used this platform to introduce its European offerings, but it was a controversial move from Renault and ended in 1987 when Chrysler purchased AMC purely for the Jeep brand being renamed Jeep Eagle Corporation the next year ahead of a full merger in 1990.
Saturn – 1985-2010
Set up by General Motors to compete with the flurry of Japanese imports during the 1980s, Saturn was a quasi-independent sub-brand introducing new models, dealer network, a fixed pricing structure and dent-resistant polymer exterior panels. It proved a drain on GM’s resources as it struggled to avoid bankruptcy during the 2008 economic collapse where it used badge engineered Opels primarily until it closed in 2010. This came after a failed attempt to sell to Penske Automotive the previous year. In turn, Japanese brands such as Nissan through Infiniti and Honda with its Acura division continue to sell cars to this day in the states.