– Photos and Captions By Frank Howard – While attending a Mexican wedding in 2013, I photographed some interesting cars not sold in the U.S. I thought I’d save them to share with InterMarque during a pandemic!
Probably the most interesting car I saw on the trip, a Renault Megane II. I just can’t get over the rear end styling. Looks like a sedan but it’s actually a hatchback. Too bad they dropped this design with the next generation.
Here’s something you don’t EVER see in the states. A front wheel drive Mercedes A160. The owner was kind enough to open the hood for me.
The VW Sharan (Carrier of Kings) is a mini minivan utilizing conventional doors (no sliding doors until the second generation). The first generation consisted of the Mark 1, Phase 1 (1995 – 2000) the Mark 1A, Phase 1.5 (2000 – 2004), and the Mark 1B, Phase 1.75 (2004 – 2010). I’m holding out for the Mark 1C, Phase 1.875. This is an example of the latest first generation van using the same 1.8 turbo found in the Jetta. VW also badged it as a Seat Alhambra whatever that means. All of these vans were assembled in Portugal. As the Sharan was based on the European Ford Galaxy platform, VW was not allowed to sell it in Canada or the United States for fear of introducing competition to the Ford Aerostar minivan. Eventually, VW abandoned development of the van opting for a badge-engineered Chrysler minivan naming it the Routan so the inventor of the minivan had gone full circle from the microbus to putting their name on Chrysler products. Who’d a thunk?
This VW Pointer has to be a Mexican version of the fourth generation VW Gol. That’s right. A Golf that’s missing a letter.
This is a VW Lupo, the absolute bottom of the VW line.
This is a Nissan Aprio also known as a Mahindra Verito (India). It’s actually produced by Renault and Dacia (a Romanian manufacturer) as a Logan. It’s a popular cab in Mexico. That’s Jane, our daughter Beth, and her fiancee Tyler in the background. They married a couple of weeks later in St. Paul.
This is a first generation (2007 – 2011) Renault Sandero Stepway. Not sure what “Stepway” means. Hatchback perhaps?
This appears to be a Mark 4 Jetta with different front and rear styling. Fourth generation Jettas came out in the middle of the 1999 model year and were produced into the middle of the 2005 model year. All Jettas are made in Puebla, Mexico.
Named after the Spanish island of Ibiza, the Seat Ibiza is made in……….Spain. This third generation Ibiza (2002 – 2008) was Built on the VW Polo platform. With all the good car designers around, how could Seat come up with this?
Finally, a Nissan March. Obviously no connection with the fabled F! team!
