"Margin Of Error" (marginoferror)
05/06/2015 at 15:20 • Filed to: FORGOTTEN CLASSICS, FC, ESSAY
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"Margin Of Error" (marginoferror)
05/06/2015 at 15:20 • Filed to: FORGOTTEN CLASSICS, FC, ESSAY | 12
| 18 |
Canada is not known as force in the automotive industry, but it once had its own car company, Asüna.
CDM as Föch !
Welcome to Forgotten Classics
As demonstrated in the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , the goal of this series of essays is be to bring cars that are getting no love back in the limelight. FC is also a thorough analysis of why such cars remained obscure and never got the praise they deserved.
Asüna was inaugurated in 1993, its mission was to replace the ill-fated Passport marque that was selling various re-branded cars like the Passport Optima (Opel Kadett). Passport got little success mainly because the most interesting cars were sold under the Isuzu company.
One of the “more interesting” car was the Isuzu Impulse, a cheap sport car that looked like an Alfa-Romeo Montreal and handled like a Lotus Esprit Turbo. As a matter of fact, the handling was outsourced to Lotus in England and the results were phenomenal.
The Sunfire was in reality just a second generation Isuzu Piazza living under an assumed name with a counterfeit passport, but who cares because the car was a real treat. The car was sold for only for one model year, 1993, to ensure its rarity. As far as rarity is was concerned, it was huge success, but on February 12th 1994, Asüna was officially dismantled and the leftover Sunfire, Sunrunner and SE/GT models were sold with huge discounts to a few opportunistic Canadian citizens.
Asüna was supposedly meaning sun in some in some language, hence the model names : Sunfire, Sunrunner, SE/GT , but the sun didn’t shine for long on the brand, one the most short-lived brand in GM’s history. Turns out Asuna meant Vegetables in Japanese.
The Sunfire was exclusively powered by the most powerful engine available, an 1.8L 4 cylinders motor producing 140hp. This may sound a bit weak by current standards, but the car only weighed 2400 pounds.
After the death of Asüna, the Sunfire moniker was recuperated by Pontiac for its J-body car, but it was nowhere near as good as its predecessor.
If you can get your hands on a clean Asüna Sunfire, do not hesitate as it is most definitely collector’s material.
Thank you for reading.
deprecated account
> Margin Of Error
05/06/2015 at 15:25 |
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From the small picture on the page, I thought it was a rebadged Buick Reatta. Then I clicked on the article and it looked like a rebadged Geo Storm GSi. It’s been a long day.
dogisbadob
> Margin Of Error
05/06/2015 at 15:26 |
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ooo an Accord DX with manual windows!
SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
> Margin Of Error
05/06/2015 at 15:27 |
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handled like a Lotus Esprit Turbo
Ehh......
MegaSuper
> Margin Of Error
05/06/2015 at 15:29 |
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Awesome work, love reading about cars from more obscure automotive nations.
It would be cool to see the Ford Frontenac on here!
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SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
> deprecated account
05/06/2015 at 15:32 |
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It’s a first gen Mazda MX6.
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Margin Of Error
> MegaSuper
05/06/2015 at 15:33 |
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Whoa that is some obscure shit, thanks for the tip
Twism
> Margin Of Error
05/06/2015 at 15:36 |
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There was a few of these around my hometown 10 years ago.
I remember seeing a pristine one for like 2K$. It was dark blue, like this one:
Ended up buying something more recent.
I regret this decision.
JR1
> Margin Of Error
05/06/2015 at 15:37 |
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Was it available in the US?
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Margin Of Error
> JR1
05/06/2015 at 15:38 |
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As the Geo Storm, yes
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MegaSuper
> Margin Of Error
05/06/2015 at 15:42 |
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Some other obscurities that may inspire you for future articles:
Gillet (Belgium)
Spyker (Netherlands)
Isdera (Germany)
B Engineering (Italy)
Cizeta (Italy)
Venturi (France/Monaco)
Iso (Italy)
Bitter (Germany)
HTT (Canada)
Just about anything from the UK that isn’t Aston, McLaren, Jag, Mini, Vauxhall, etc...
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Margin Of Error
> MegaSuper
05/06/2015 at 15:43 |
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Thanks you !
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deprecated account
> SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
05/06/2015 at 15:45 |
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Ah. Saw one of those (the Mazda, of course) on craigslist the other day.
CB
> Margin Of Error
05/06/2015 at 15:47 |
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Fun fact: these are still listed in the paper books for oil and air filters at Canadian Tire.
Birddog
> Margin Of Error
05/06/2015 at 15:56 |
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Being a T chassis, I wonder if the Lotus bits would swap over to the Chevette?
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JR1
> Margin Of Error
05/06/2015 at 16:27 |
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I always forget about the Storm!
BenLikesCars
> Birddog
05/11/2015 at 03:12 |
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The first-generation Impulse/Piazza was the t-chassis. This Asuna Sunfire is on a fwd-based chassis.
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BenLikesCars
> Margin Of Error
05/11/2015 at 03:14 |
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And Isuzu Impulse, of course
J C Lafontaine
> Margin Of Error
05/22/2018 at 12:38 |
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I have one Asune Sunfire 1993. the interio is very clean but the body needs to be repare. Very low km but did not be on the road for the last 10 years. Can you tell me how many of those cars are on the market....Thanks J Claude Lafontaine