American Cars That Got Weird Names Overseas

There was a time when "captive imports" were a big thing—in other words, when American automakers looked overseas for small, efficient, reliable vehicles from Asian manufacturers to sell in the U.S. badged under American nameplates. The Chevrolet LUV? That was an Isuzu. The Dodge Colt? A Mitsubishi. And so on. But what about American cars exported abroad (or designed here and built in their local markets) and given foreign brand names? That's another thing entirely, and a rarer occurrence. As you might imagine, success was also mixed.

That said, some of these are fascinating insights into the sometimes convoluted relationships (and deals) made between the automakers. Take a look and see if you think any of these are worth repatriating back to the States.

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Toyota Cavalier (Chevrolet Cavalier)

This is, for all intents and purposes, a Chevrolet Cavalier wearing Toyota badges and right-hand drive. The reason it exists is even less interesting than the Toyota Cavalier itself. As you might imagine, by the time the third-generation Cavalier came about, there were far, far more cars being imported from Japan to America than vice versa. It became a political sticking point, and the Toyota Cavalier was ginned up as a low-effort attempt to rectify the balance. The problem is, the Cavalier wasn't very competitive against Japanese cars in America. In Japan, it was greeted with extreme indifference. Running costs were comparatively high and build quality didn't meet local standards. By 2000, the experiment was mercifully over—and unsurprisingly didn't tip the balance of exports to Japan by any significant margin.

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Holden Camira and Daewoo Espero (Chevrolet Cavalier J-Body)

General Motors had a dream to build a true world car for years, realizing the efficiencies of production at massive scale while also reducing costs by sharing engineering resources. It's great in theory, but regional tastes vary significantly in terms of size, market position, and quality expectations. The original J-Body was an attempt to build just that sort of car, and while it wasn't the best-built World Car it did reasonably well in a few markets. In the U.S., it was badge engineered to several brands, like the Chevy Cavalier and Pontiac J2000. Abroad, it got weirder. Holden's version was called the Camira, named after an Aboriginal Australian word meaning "windy."

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But the weirdest was the Daewoo Espero, a J-Body car with styling by Bertone influenced by (but not a direct derivative of) the slinky Citroën XM. The Espero was even exported to Europe, where it did battle with the J-Body's European-adapted variants like the Opel Ascona C and the Vauxhall Cavalier Wagon (which was actually a Camira wagon, exported from Australia). Are you confused? More important, do you care? The J-Body's complex array of variants is offset by the overall mediocrity of the platform. But even so, the humble Cavalier sure had a strange life abroad.

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Mercury M-Series (Ford F-Series Pickups)

Ford has a long history if giving our neighbors to the north models with unique names for sale. In fact, Ford had several distinct brands only sold in Canada, like Meteor and Frontenac. The general pattern was to mix and match body parts, trim pieces, and interior features from American brands like Ford and Mercury to create unique combinations, but some were simply rebadged models. And while the Mercury M-Series pickups, based on the Ford F-Series and built from 1946 to 1968, were basically just rebadge jobs, we thought it was interesting to consider what might have happened if Ford in the U.S. had done something similar. Generations before the Lincoln Blackwood, would American buyers have been interested in a slightly upscale Mercury M-100? As an aside, the Meteor brand at one point sold a version of Ford's Ranchero car-based pickup called the (surprise) Meteor Ranchero.

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Lancia Voyager (Chrysler Voyager)

Lancia, for most of its long, long life, has been an automaker renowned for innovative engineering and a sporting character. But it's been a hard road for Lancia in the last decade or so, as it dies a slow death while its corporate parent Fiat Chrysler Automotive pays it little more heed than slapping Lancia badges on a bunch of American Chrysler products (and you'll see more of them here). That's how the Lancia Voyager came to be. It's nothing more or less than a Chrysler Voyager van with Lancia badges—and you won't be surprised that it landed with a dull thud. It didn't meet the market's needs or expectations in any regard, and for anyone who'd remembered the glorious Lancias of the not-so-recent past like the all-conquering Delta Integrale rally and road homologation car, it was a slap in the face. Still, if you have a Voyager (or Chrysler Town & Country or Dodge Caravan) and want to stand out, we're pretty sure the Lancia badges can be tacked on.

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Isuzu Gemini, Daewoo Maepsy (Chevrolet Chevette)

The Chevrolet Chevette was by any standards a lousy car. A hasty response to an oil crisis for which GM was ill-prepared, its cringeworthy execution didn't prevent it from donating its underpinnings—the T Platform—to a huge variety of international vehicles with outstanding names. Our favorite is the Daewoo Maepsy—a word which means "beautiful" in Korean but loses something in the transliteration. A variant was sold as the Grumett Color in Uruguay and the Aymesa Condor in Ecuador. All in all, the number of different rebadgings, body variations, and so forth is rather astounding. The Chevette even donated its platform to the incredible first-generation Isuzu Impulse based on the Ace of Spades concept car.

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Daewoo Lacetti (Chevrolet Cruze)

Another day, another GM attempt at a world car. At least the Chevy Cruze was developed with significant input from the relevant players in GM's global empire—Daewoo and Opel, in particular. The Korean-market version of the Cruze got the strange Latin-derived name "Lacetti," which means something like "youthful" but sounds more like a material your great aunt uses to make curtains. But after a corporate reshuffling of its division names, the Daewoo brand itself went away and became GM Korea, selling models with American brand names like Chevrolet and Buick. The Lacetti became the Chevy Cruze that it always was, and its goofy name was resigned to the parts bin of history.

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Lancia Thema (Chrysler 300C)

The Thema isn't quite as depressing a Lancia as the Voyager was, but it's still a hard sell against Lancia's legend. A reworked 300C, the Thema was built in Ontario and exported to Europe. It did get nicer interior trappings than the North American 300C, and while no V-8s were offered (the 3.6-liter V-6 was the only gas engine), it did get a few VM Motori diesel options. Suspension tuning was also unique to Europe. But its appeal was distinctly American, the car was large and soft by European standards, and the modern Thema never set the Continent on fire.

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Daewoo G2X (Saturn Sky)

Another Daewoo? The South Korean company's ties to General Motors birthed some funky export models. Essential the same vehicle as the Saturn Sky, the Daewoo G2Xpaired a 260-hp EcoTec turbocharged inline-four with an automatic transmission. Yes, it was a five-speed, but no, there was no manual available. Guess that's what the Korean market wanted. Other than some badging, there wasn't much to tell it apart from its North American counterparts, as was the case with a third version, the Opel GT.

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Fiat Freemont (Dodge Journey)

You might think a Fiat-branded Dodge Journey is the saddest and most cynical of FCA's European badge-engineered jobs, but if any Journey has a shot at being cool, the Freemont might be it. Its front-drive variants offered Fiat MultiJet II-injected, turbocharged inline-fours good for up to 168 horsepower—and asix-speed manual transmission. That's right, the undying budget family hauler that is the Journey got a manual in Europe. There were also gas V-6 and diesel options paired with all-wheel drive. Some suspension and steering changes and higher-quality interior fittings also helped. A manual-transmission Journey would never fly in the U.S., but it seemed to help with appeal abroad. The Freemont shuffled off into the sunset in 2016.

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