Been thinking about the model designations used over the years and was wondering why nobody seems to badge their cars GLS any longer?
Thinking back to the '70s, you could buy a Ford Cortina L, GL, GLS or Ghia. I seem to recall that '80s Vauxhall Cavaliers had a similar lettering system, with the CD or SRi at the top of the pile. It was pretty straightforward to work out how far up 'the pecking order' each car was. BL seemed to favour L, HL and HLS for the Maestro and others.
Somewhere along the line, all this changed and I can't bring to mind any cars that can be purchased now as a GL or GLS.
A few other oddities:-
Peugeot in the '80s using different designations for the 205 depending on whether it was a 3 door or a 5 door (XL/GL, XLD/GLD etc.)
From memory, Citroen were one of the first to abandon letters in favour of names for the ZX. Who can recall the correct place in the model range for the Avantage, Furio, Volcane, Aura and Reflex?!
Things are pretty unclear in the current Peugeot 208 range, where nearly all of the designations start with 'A'. Who knows whether an Allure is higher up the range than an Active, or an Access and does the Feline come with a free furry friend?
One that used to amuse me was TDS on the back of diesel Astra's in the mid '90s. Probably was a lot more TeDiouS than a BMW 325 tds!!
So what's changed and what was wrong with a straightforward progression of letters for specification levels. Not aspirational enough?
Cheers
Moo
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