cars per ha

There are cars nobody wants. And that is exactly the problem.

Not because they are bad. But because a wrong badge, a damaged reputation, or a design

that was too bold was enough to write them off forever.

Nine vehicles. Nine stories. And every one of them has more soul than most of what rolls off

the production line today.

Let's begin.

Audi 100 C3 — the most aerodynamic production car of its time.

1982. Audi drives onto a motorway with a prototype and switches off the engine. The car

keeps rolling. For a very long time. Because its drag coefficient of 0.30 is at that point the

lowest of any production vehicle in the world.

The Audi 100 C3 is not an exciting car. It does not want to attract attention. Fully galvanised

bodywork that is still running today. Engines that cover hundreds of thousands of kilometres

with proper care. An interior that looks like real craftsmanship rather than injected plastic.

Today it sits on used car listings for 800 euros. And nobody looks at it.

Because it does not tell a story that seems to excite anyone. But it tells exactly the right one:

some things simply work. Without fuss.

Mercedes W210 — the car that almost ruined Mercedes. And is still unforgettable today.

Late nineties. The E-Class W210 arrives on the market. Comfortable. Quiet. Voluminous. A

car that turns long journeys into a different experience.

And then comes the rust. Faster than almost any other post-war Mercedes. The sills, the

wheel arches, the door bottoms. Mercedes has to make corrections. The damage to the image

is permanent.

But underneath that flaw is a vehicle that still rides like a carriage.

Anyone who finds a well-maintained W210 with proper rust protection gets one of the most

comfortable mid-size cars Germany ever produced. Sometimes for less than 2,000 euros. The

ratio of quality to price is absurdly good — if you know what to look for.

Opel Omega B — the flagship of a brand that never learned to market itself.

1994. Opel presents the Omega B. Large. Quiet. Solidly built. With engines developed in

cooperation with Lotus and later even a V8. In top spec as the Omega 3.2 V6 a car that

seriously challenges the German mid-size establishment.

The problem: it was called Opel. Not BMW. Not Mercedes. Opel. And in Germany that meant

doctors and lawyers drove it quietly but kept a 5 Series in the driveway where people could

see it.

Today the Omega B has almost disappeared. Yet technically it was equal to the E39 5 Series

in many areas — and superior in some.

The Omega Caravan remains one of the most practical estates ever built. If you find one: buy

it.

Ford Scorpio facelift — the boldest and most unfortunate design experiment of the

nineties.

1994. Ford updates the Scorpio. The result: oval headlights, a front end that resembles an owl,

a rear end that nobody expected. The press is brutal. Customers stay away.

Two years later the Scorpio is discontinued. With it ends Ford's attempt to compete in the

European executive segment — permanently.

But underneath that front is a vehicle with genuine character. Comfortable. Spacious. With a

2.9-litre V6 that does not need to apologise for its sound. Anyone who can set aside the design

finds a car available today for a few hundred euros — that nobody recognises. Sometimes

anonymity is not a flaw.

VW Phaeton — Ferdinand Piëch's personal legacy. And the most loss-making

production car of recent automotive history.

It is 2001. Ferdinand Piëch, chairman of the Volkswagen Group, has an idea his engineers

consider impossible. A Volkswagen that should be better than the S-Class. Better than the 7

Series. Better than the A8. Hand-built. In a factory with maple parquet flooring.

The Transparent Factory in Dresden costs 187 million euros. For this one model alone. Over a

hundred patents are developed for the Phaeton. Its climate control system is to this day

considered the most complex ever fitted to a production vehicle. The boot lid hinges come

from Campagnolo — the manufacturer that otherwise builds parts for Tour de France bicycles.

The W12 Phaeton costs 140,000 euros. And loses around 28,000 euros on every single car

sold.

The problem is not technical. The Phaeton is better than its reputation. Many journalists who

test it blind against the S-Class prefer it. But nobody wants a Volkswagen for 140,000 euros.

The VW badge on the bonnet costs the car everything.

Today you can buy the W12 Phaeton for under 8,000 euros. A car that shares its platform with

the Bentley Continental GT. With 450 horsepower. Hand-built in Dresden. For the price of a

used Golf.

BMW 7 Series E65 — the boldest car BMW ever built. And the most misunderstood.

2001. Chris Bangle, BMW's chief designer, presents the new 7 Series. The reaction is fierce.

The crease above the rear — dubbed the Bangle Butt by the press — becomes the symbol for

everything allegedly wrong with this car. Petitions are launched. Dealers report customers

staying away.

At the same time BMW introduces iDrive — a rotary controller for almost all vehicle functions.

700 menu items in the first version. Journalists curse it. Customers complain.

Today it is clear: Bangle was right. And iDrive has become the industry standard.

The E65 was five years ahead of its time. That is never comfortable. Not for the car, not for the

brand, not for the customers. But cars that are ahead of their time have one quality: they do

not age. Today the E65 sits at dealers for under 5,000 euros and looks like no other 7 Series.

Peugeot 406 Coupé — designed by Pininfarina. Built by Pininfarina. And completely

overlooked by most people.

1996. The Peugeot 406 Coupé debuts at the Paris Motor Show. The design comes from

Pininfarina — the same studio that shapes Ferrari and Alfa Romeo. The resemblance to

contemporary Ferrari models is not a coincidence.

107,633 examples are built — the largest single commission in the history of Pininfarina. Every

one of them is made in the Pininfarina factory near Turin. Not at Peugeot. In Italy. With Italian

craftsmanship.

A Pininfarina coupé. Today for 3,000 euros. That is not an exaggeration.

When the 406 Coupé ends production in 2004, it also marks the end of the nearly 50-year

collaboration between Peugeot and Pininfarina. A farewell barely noticed at the time. Today it

is understood as the end of an era.

Saab 9-5 — the last real car from Trollhättan.

Saab does not build cars the way other manufacturers do. Saab comes from aviation. You can

tell. The ignition key sits in the centre console — not on the steering column. The reason: in a

collision, a key on the steering column does not protect the knee. Saab thinks like this.

The 9-5 has seats that prevent back pain like no others. A body that is revised after crash tests

until the engineers are satisfied — not until the schedule demands it. Turbocharged engines

that deliver driving pleasure in a way other manufacturers never quite understood.

In 2011 Saab goes bankrupt. The 9-5 is the last model to come out of Trollhättan. After that

there are no more Saabs.

A well-maintained Saab 9-5 is today one of the most individual cars available for under 10,000

euros. No other car in this class drives the same way. Because no other car was thought

through the same way.

Alfa Romeo 166 — the last Alfa Romeo where nobody compromised.

1998. Alfa presents the 166. Designed by Walter de Silva, who will later also draw the Audi A5.

A front end with genuine presence. An interior that smells and feels like an Italian tailor's

workshop.

Under the bonnet: straight-six and V6 engines that sound like no other six-cylinder in this

class. The 3.2-litre Busso V6 is to this day considered one of the most beautiful-sounding

naturally aspirated engines ever installed in a production vehicle.

And then there are the weaknesses. Electrics that do not always agree with themselves. Rust.

Small things that can irritate at 200,000 kilometres.

But that is exactly what makes it human. No car of this era has more character. No car of this

era sounds like this. And no car of this era sits so affordably at a dealer today. The 166 is not

perfect. It is real. And that is rarer than you might think.

Nine cars. Nine reasons why a badge sometimes counts for more than what is

underneath it.

None of these vehicles is perfect. But all of them have something modern cars are increasingly

missing: a stance. A personality. The feeling that someone took a risk during development.

Which one would you drive? Write it in the comments.

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