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© Tony Baker / Classic & Sports Car
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© Tony Baker / Classic and Sports Car
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© Tony Baker / Classic & Sports Car
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© Tony Baker / Classic and Sports Car
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© Tony Baker / Classic and Sports Car
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© Tony Baker / Classic and Sports Car
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© Tony Baker / Classic and Sports Car
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© Lexus GB
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© Haymarket Automotive
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© Tony Baker / Classic and Sports Car
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© Tony Baker / Classic and Sports Car
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© Haymarket Automotive
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© Haymarket Automotive
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© Julian Mackie / Classic and Sports Car
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© Julian Mackie / Classic and Sports Car
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© Tony Baker / Classic and Sports Car
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© Tony Baker / Classic and Sports Car
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© Nissan
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© Tony Baker / Classic and Sports Car
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© Tony Baker / Classic and Sports Car
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© Jeep
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© Tony Baker / Classic and Sports Car
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© Malcolm Griffiths / Classic and Sports Car
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Because talent borrows, but genius steals…
The history of the car is filled with tales of pioneers, mavericks and bold technical innovations.
But it’s also one awash with engineers and designers who knew a good idea when they saw one and were happy to borrow heavily from the automotive visionaries who had gone before them.
Fancy playing spot the difference with us? Here are 11 classic cars that copied from the best.
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1. Toyota MR2
Hot hatches had almost killed off the affordable sports car when Toyota launched the MR2 in 1984.
Lotus-tuned handling and a revvy 1.6-litre 4A-GE 16-valve ‘four’ took care of the fun, while the huge rear boot (and a bonus one in the nose) meant it was far more practical than that two-seat, mid-engine layout suggested.
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Toyota MR2 (cont.)
But Toyota was only perfecting a concept Fiat had been offering since 1972. The X1/9’s superb handling made British sports cars of the time feel about as agile as an anchor, but even after the original’s 70bhp 1.3 had been upgraded to an 85bhp 1.5, it was still easy meat for the MR2.
The only thing the Fiat did faster was dissolve at the first sign of road salt. Mind you, the MR2 wasn’t far behind it on that front.
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2. Peugeot 205 GTI
The greatest hot hatch ever? Peugeot’s 205 GTI makes a strong case for itself. First came the 105bhp 1.6 in 1984, and power was then upgraded to 115bhp in 1986 thanks to bigger valves.
A year later the big one arrived, swapping revs for a torquey 130bhp 1.9, and adding rear discs and those iconic 15in wheels.
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Peugeot 205 GTI (cont.)
But however fantastic the 205 was, the shameless cribbing of the Volkswagen Golf’s GTI tag made it clear where Peugeot had found the inspiration.
Peugeot went on to use the GTI label even more liberally than VW, fixing it to the rump of everything from the little 106 to the 306, 309 and even the massive 505.
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3. Mazda MX-5
Neither Triumph nor MG had sold a two-seat sports car for nearly a decade when Mazda brought the concept of a cheap, light, front-engine two-seat drop-top back to life in 1989.
Simple sports car thrills matched to reliable Japanese engineering for the price of a hot hatch made the 114bhp MX-5 a smash hit; even 30 years on, it’s still hugely popular.
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Mazda MX-5 (cont.)
But you only had to look at the smiley air intake and hideaway headlights to know the MX-5 team went to sleep surrounded by posters of the original Lotus Elan.
Ironically, the runaway success of the MX-5 was one of the key reasons Lotus’ more expensive, front-wheel drive M100 Elan bombed.
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4. Lexus LS400
By the late 1980s, Japanese firms had succeeded in killing Europe’s motorcycle manufacturers and the Honda Accord was the best selling car in America – so an emboldened Toyota decided to have a crack at the luxury car market.
The first model to come from Toyota’s upscale brand Lexus, the LS400 featured a 32-valve V8 whose smoothness was matched only by that of its dealer service.
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Lexus LS400 (cont.)
The bluff nose, big lamps and prominent grille left no one in any doubt that Merc’s S-class was in the crosshairs, though the LS was gunning for BMW’s 7 Series, too.
The LS definitely ruffled feathers but Mercedes was soon back in the spotlight with its new-for-’91 W140, complete with double-glazed windows and power-assisted door latches.
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5. Chevrolet Camaro
Chevrolet had tried to beat the imports at their own game with the rear-engined Corvair, only to get hammered by Ralph Nader on account of its wayward handling
The manufacturer duly changed tack for 1967, spinning a sexy notchback coupe and convertible from its very conventional Nova saloon in a bid to tempt the baby boomers.
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Chevrolet Camaro (cont.)
To tempt the baby boomers away from Ford dealerships, we should say, because Chevy scrambled to come up with the Camaro in response to the phenomenal success of the original Mustang.
Though nothing special under the skin – the ’Stang was only a Falcon in fancy clothes – the cleverly marketed pony car sold more than 1m units in its first 18 months.
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6. Mazda RX-7
When Mazda’s second-generation rotary-powered sports car appeared in 1986 it was bigger, heavier, and massively more powerful than the version it replaced: an independent rear-end replaced the old live-axle setup, there was rack and pinion steering and also optional turbo power.
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Mazda RX-7 (cont.)
All of which you could also find on a Porsche 944 whose smooth nose, bulging arch flares and rear window line the FC RX-7 had blatantly copied.
Mazda did beat Porsche to a convertible version though (1988 vs 1989), and always to the garage forecourt: a hard-driven 13B rotary makes even a 944 Turbo look ideal hyper-miling material.
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7. Toyota 2000GT
Arguably the most beautiful car ever to come out of Japan, the 2000GT proved that Japan could build more than just commuter fodder.
Produced by Yamaha on Toyota’s behalf, it featured a hugely long phallic bonnet that definitely seemed to be compensating for the fact that the straight-six below was only packing 150bhp.
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Toyota 2000GT (cont.)
That power output made it more than 100bhp less muscular than the ageing Jaguar E-type whose lines clearly inspired it.
But with its steeply raked windscreen and the wide track pushing each of the magnesium rims to the edge of the aluminium wheel arches, it showed how much sports car design had evolved in the four years between the two cars’ motor show reveals.
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8. Volkswagen Polo
A year after coming over all front-wheel-drive and water-cooled with the Golf, VW shrunk the concept to create 1975’s Polo supermini (and its posh Audi 50 alter-ego).
Ford wasn’t far behind, using the same transverse engine and hatchback body recipe to create its Fiesta, which arrived in 1976, instantly making its Escort big brother look about as sophisticated as a Model T.
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Volkswagen Polo (cont.)
Both the Polo and Fiesta owe a debt of gratitude to the original Mini, but the real pioneer here was the 1969 Autobianchi A112.
Though almost unknown in the UK, this precursor to 1972’s Car of the Year, the Fiat 127, featured a lift-up tailgate and front-drive running gear from the Fiat 128, setting a template small cars still follow to this day.
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9. Datsun 510 Bluebird
The 510 was a rare sight in the UK, where Datsun was still finding its feet.
But it was a big hit in the US, riding high on a wave of publicity from Pete Brock’s blue, red and white BRE-branded cars nabbing the under-2500cc Trans Am title in ’71 and ’72.
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Datsun 510 Bluebird (cont.)
You only had to look at the two marques Datsun beat to the title to work out where the engineering team had found its inspiration – the idea of fitting a modern overhead cam 1600cc engine and independent rear suspension into a lightweight tin box was cribbed straight from BMW’s 02 (pictured) and Alfa’s Giulia.
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10. Range Rover
Spotting the potential in a civilian vehicle with the go-anywhere capability of a WW2 Willys Jeep, Rover created the first Land-Rover in 1947 – even using an actual Jeep as a base for its first prototype.
Convinced that there was a market for a bigger, more comfortable version of the same, the company then launched the Range Rover in 1970, instantly creating a whole new class of car, or so the current Land Rover marketing machine would have us believe.
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Range Rover (cont.)
The trouble with that idea is that Jeep (yep, them again) had already been building something very similar called the Wagoneer since the start of the 1960s.
The early Range Rovers featured simple, hose-out interiors, but they soon followed the Jeep’s lead and moved towards pushing the posh.
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11. Honda NSX
Japan’s assault on the enthusiast car market reached fever pitch in 1989.
Nissan dusted off the GT-R badge for its high-performance Skyline, Toyota took on Mercedes with the Lexus LS400, Mazda’s MX-5 reminded us how much we missed two-seat roadsters, and Honda went and built a Ferrari.
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Honda NSX (cont.)
Not as pretty a Ferrari as the 308 (pictured) and 328 it desperately wanted to be, but a better one in many ways; being able to slot second gear when the transmission oil was still cold was a first for the sector.
Purists scoffed, but the NSX forced a complacent supercar establishment to up its game.