Fun fact.

"not for canada - australian in disguise" (for-canada) 12/24/2019 at 20:35 • Filed to: None

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As we all know, there is nothing 80s and 90s GM loved more than rebadging things in really weird ways. Here’s a great example!

Beginning in the seventies, Isuzu had a very close relationship with General Motors. Many many Isuzu cars and trucks made their way into foreign markets wearing the badges of more contemporary and “Western” brands.

One of those brands was Bedford, shown above is the KB pickup, based on Isuzu’s venerable KB pickup which also formed the basis for the Chevy LUV. If you’re not familiar with Bedford, think GMC but British and you’re on the right track. Bedford made commercial vehicles and other work vehicles. Buses, semi trucks, pickups, vans, that sort of thing. And Isuzu has always been heavily focused on commercial vehicles, so naturally a lot of Isuzus became Bedfords.

Enter the Bedford Midi. Meant to replace the CF series van which had at that point been in production for almost 16 years, the Midi was based on the Isuzu Fargo mid size van and competed with the absolutely dominant Ford Transit and slightly less dominant vans that weren’t the Transit so who really cares. Bedford built these vans in their Luton plant, and as the UK was quite small they decided to export them as well. And what better market to export them to than the market right across the Channel?

And that’s where shit gets weird. Enter the GME Midi. No, not GM C , GM E . For some reason, instead of using the Opel brand which had been used for vans previously (including the Midi’s predecessor, the also Bedford-based Opel Blitz), GM decided to say fuck it and called it a GME for some reason. Like GMC, but European. They even used an extremely similar badge that I’m not quite certain isn’t GMC’s logo with a line drawn on the C to make it look like an E.

Now, this strategy might have made sense if the Midi wasn’t GME’s only product, but no. GME was never a fleshed out brand. Just one van, that’s it. It would’ve made perfect sense to create a continental European equivalent to Bedford in the UK or GMC in North America, a brand dedicated to selling commercial vehicles in Europe, but nope. After the Midi was killed off in the early nineties, it was replaced by the Opel/Vauxhall Arena, a rebadged Renault Trafic. And that was the end of that. Bedford itself was killed off around the same time as GME was , and Bedford’s vehicles simply became Vauxhalls instead, including the Midi which lived on for a few years after Bedford’s death.

GM in the 80s and 90s was a wild ride.

Svend > not for canada - australian in disguise 12/24/2019 at 21:08

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I grew up surrounded by Bedford vans.

The local mobile green Grocer had a Bedford truck with a van body put on the back.

Ice cream vans

I can’t imagine GM were all that happy having a brand with Ford in the name.

Like when Ford bought the Rover name when the Chinese bought the Rover MG company. Ford thought that if the Chinese damaged the Rover brand, it would have an effect on the Range Rover and Land Rover brands. 

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > not for canada - australian in disguise 12/24/2019 at 21:26

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I enjoyed this astute aside about something entirely irrelevant but eclectically  e ntertaining

fhrblig > not for canada - australian in disguise 12/24/2019 at 21:27

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GM suffered from severe multiple personality disorder in the 80s. In 1985, you could theoretically walk into a US Chevy dealership and choose from the following:

Chevrolet Sprint

Chevrolet Spectrum

Chevrolet Chevette

Chevrolet Cavalier

Chevrolet Nova

Chevrolet Citation II

Chevrolet Celebrity

Chevrolet Impala

Chevrolet Caprice

Chevrolet Monte Carlo

Chevrolet Camaro

Chevrolet Corvette

Chevrolet El Camino

Chevrolet S-10

Chevrolet C/K

Chevrolet S-10 Blazer

Chevrolet C/K Blazer

Chevrolet C/K Suburban

Chevrolet Astro

Chevrolet Van (the Express name came later)

That’ s 12 different passenger car models (13 if you count the El Camino as a car) with a ridiculous amount of overlap. Except for the Corvette, every single vehicle could be found at at least one other GM brand’s showroom or an import brand’s showroom.

Even the Sprint, which was available as a Suzuki SA310 in a handful of Suzuki dealers. I’ve only ever seen one 1985 SA310 in my life, at a used car lot in 1992 in Colorado Springs . 1985 was the only model year for the SA310, as they changed its name to Forsa shortly after.

DutchieDC2R > not for canada - australian in disguise 12/24/2019 at 23:01

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I find it funny that Bedford don’t actually have a logo, but write BEDFORD on their cars. Imagine if they built a small car (like a Mini), it would probably say BEDFO. I kid, of course. 

carcrasher88 > not for canada - australian in disguise 12/24/2019 at 23:13

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Actually, the Midi wasn’t the only GME (which stood for General Motors Europe) branded model.

There was also the Rascal, which was another rebranded Bedford, which in this case was a rebranded Suzuki Carry.

While they were branded as GME, advertising would essentially feature logos similar to some GM branding in Europe at the time, with an Opel logo on the left, GME in the middle, and the GM Mark of Excellence on the right, or in other cases, the Opel and GME logos were reversed, as seen in these ads:

Essentially, GME was seemingly marketed as a secondary commercial division of Opel. The second ad here even shows the Midi and Rascal lined up in- between what appears to be an Astravan and a Corsavan.

pip bip - choose Corrour > not for canada - australian in disguise 12/24/2019 at 23:16

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Aka Holden Shuttle

not for canada - australian in disguise > carcrasher88 12/24/2019 at 23:42

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The Rascal completely slipped my mind. That does give the brand a little bit more purpose, but still makes the mind wonder why they didn’t just badge them as Opels.

Also, that GME logo in the last print ad is hilariously similar to GMC’s print logo from around the same time. They definitely didn’t try to hide it .

not for canada - australian in disguise > DutchieDC2R 12/24/2019 at 23:49

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They did have their own badge! And when I say that, I mean it was the Vauxhall badge with Vauxhall crossed out and Bedford written in in it’s place. And yes, that is a LHD Midi, and the ad’s in French. Seems like certain continental markets like France got the Midi as a Bedford instead of a GME. 

carcrasher88 > not for canada - australian in disguise 12/25/2019 at 13:12

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Agreed. Especially when, during the same period in the UK, you could get an Astravan or Astramax with Vauxhall OR Bedford badging.