Doppelgangers are everywhere. You’re totally unaware of it, but somewhere in a far off place like Serbia or Taipei there’s a person that looks nearly identical to you. You could be walking down a street in Buenos Aires and all of a sudden they appear; it’s like looking in a mirror. Who knew?
Cars are the same way. Often it’s intentional, but other times it’s mere coincidence. I think it’s the case above, since the cars shown are from such different times and places, yet I guess it’s still possible. The two vehicles shown above are a French Matra 530 and the very American Buick Reatta, both of them sort-of sports cars (the Buick definitely more sort-of).
Matra’s 530 was a mid-engined targa-topped coupe that still managed to find space for a tiny rear seat. The rear glass lifts to access the Ford Taunus-sourced V4 engine, and a trunk exists at the very rear of the car. If you’ve never heard of it, the 530 was the successor to the Djet that Jason has driven and the predecessor to the more well known Matra Bagheera with three across seating.
Buick’s Reatta was a two-seat coupe based on the front drive Rivera; The space where you’d expect to find the rear seat was just utilized for extra cargo to complement the trunk (yes, the Matra was far more space efficient).
The Reatta shared much with that overly downsized Rivera, including the chassis, V6 engine and the infamous CRT touch screen in the middle of the dash.
Built decades apart and in different sides of an ocean, it’s quite surprising how similar the overall profile of these two cars is. It’s also rather uncanny considering that the drivetrain layouts of the pair are totally different. I seriously doubt that any copying was going on at GM; at most maybe tangentially some designer subliminally penned a shape similar to some cool French coupe he’d been exposed to years before. Yet the similarity is there.
This is an odd occurrence, but surprisingly there is another Buick near-doppelganger in a far-off European nation. However, this one was almost certainly an intentional rip-off. You might not know of the Fiat 130 coupe, but in the image below you’ll be shocked at how much it looks like a certain big Buick.
Always a fan of Italian design, GM creative leader Bill Mitchell told Motor Trend in 1977 that he thought Paulo Martin’s Fiat 130 Coupe was one of the finest designs he’d ever seen from Pininfarina. It’s no surprise then that one of the last cars Mitchell worked on bears an uncanny resemblance to that not-sold-in-the-US coupe. The 1977 full sized B-bodies were some of the most popular and durable cars GM ever made, and the coupe versions of the Chevy (with hot-wire-bent rear glass) and Buick were notably nice designs. It is with the Buick Lesabre- particularly the black-out-trim Sport Coupe shown- that the aping of the Italian car is most evident. Come on, Bill, could you have at least tried to change the taillight design a little for Chrissake? I mean, there’s “inspiration” and there’s downright copying.
What cars (or trucks, or vans) can you think of that, despite not being badge-engineered variations or same-maker platform mates, look like they’re related? The Autopian is asking!
The first gen Toyota Celica without the U.S. market bumpers looks a lot like the 1971 Ford Torino.
Had a Mac back in the mid 1980s and came across a 3.5″ diskette with promotional material for the Buick Reatta. It had animations and you could “test” the functions of the radio and other switches in the car, also had an animation of the V6 engine. All in glorious 2-bit pixel art.
Wow y’all are bringing up some interesting parallels.
My first car was a ’72 VW squareback; often thought of it as a mini ’55 Chevy nomad wagon.
The 1959 Suzulight 360 TL Van and the 1959 Mini. The Suzulight was actually presented in July 1959, whereas the Mini was first shown in August. Dimensions are as close to identical as can be. The similarities are just a coincidence, though: the Suzulight was actually a close copy of the Lloyd LP400 beneath the skin, and the dimensions were dictated by the kei regulations.
https://s3.wheelsage.org/picture/s/suzuki/suzulight_360/suzulight_360_2.jpeg
https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod/amv-prod-cad-assets/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/1959-Austin-850-exterior-626×382.jpg
There are some very strong similarities with the Aston Martin V8 and the Ford Mustang.
Ford Probe : Geo Storm
That’s funny, because I adore the looks of the Storm but the Probe (I assume you are referring to the 1st generation) just looks depressing. Not as dumpy as a Fuego or a Hyundai Scoupe, but close.
1975-1980 Chevrolet Monza Spyder and a Ferrari Daytona. The Ferrari is far better looking but there is a similarity. It helps if you are drunk, high, or a GM executive in the 70s (redundant?), but it is not completely necessary.
For me the answer is obvious, and I’m reminded every time my S12 200SX is mistaken for an AE86.
An obscure one: Ford Corcel first gen and Renault 12 (https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kfvpkDnT3oQ/Vr5WtjmvSXI/AAAAAAAASoM/BJqcIxSrjkQ/s1600/Corcel%2B1%2B4p%2B0.jpg).
Actually, there is a connection between them. Renault owned Willis Overland Brazil, wich produced the Dauphine there. WO helped develop the platform of the Renault 12 by the time Renault sold WO to Ford. Ford just hurried the development and hurled the Corcel to the market, a few months ahead of the Renault 12.
They share an awful lot of components and basic architecture.
Oh wow I had totally forgotten about the Corcel!
Kia Amanti/Jaguar S-Type
I saw an Amanti the other day and I was deeply, deeply confused until I got close enough for a better look. My lord, though, did it sound awful!
Every crossover built since 2014. Proof: the piece David did where the community helped ID a perp for the police.
Cybertruck – Aitekx Robotruck
An ’08 Taurus looks a lot like Ford yanked from Audi on the A6 of that era on a lot of fronts.
https://tinypic.host/image/taurus-audi.0NRRx
https://tinypic.host/image/Taurus-Audiyah.0NjlM
Right click those into a new window, obviously the butt of the Ford looks worse, they had to deviate and and fit their design language. Ford tried.
You probably don’t need to look too closely under an early aughts Kia or Hyundai designers desk to find the crumpled up tracing paper they pretended not to use.
The third generation Elantra borrowed heavily from Saab.
The Spectra5 didn’t even try to pretend it wasn’t competing with the Protege5.
Forte= Accord.
Sportage =Tracker
A simple mishmash of look a-likes seemed to be their entire business model at the time.
Less expensive doppelgängers was the style of the time. And they nailed it.
It was the introduction of vehicular homogenization as we know it today.
Everything looks the same.
But nobody was paying attention at the time.
Who knew Korea would become such a big player in the worlds automotive market?
Now they own a huge chunk of it due to mimicry, innovation and perseverance.
Kia boys be damned.
I recently saw a late 80s/early 90s Fiat Tipo and was reminded of my ’95 Seat Ibiza
You’re making me travel sick (I would say homesick, but those two were both sales failures in Sweden).
The same in Australia, for Seat – its mid-90s range was sold here, briefly. The Tipo wasn’t available, with Fiat absent in the 90s.
Honda Prelude and Subaru XT
Yes, as an XT owner I’ve noticed some similar lines
I’ve got another one, Alfa Alfasud 2 door and Lancia Beta estate 2 door.
Do you have eyes?
They look somewhat similar from the front, they both have the double headlight setup, and from certain angles they look similar.
Ferrari Daytona and Rover SD1. Yes, I know the Rover was inspired by the Ferrari.
And the SD1 is better looking. Yeah I said it.
I do agree, and it’s a lot cheaper!
There’s no way the lead designer of the Reatta didn’t have a crush on the Matra 530. It’s just too similar. As for your question, the answer is the first generation Hyundai Tiburon (pre-facelift), which shares multiple lines with the ’92-’95 Pontiac Bonneville.It’s not obvious at first because it’s all squished and mushed into different proportions, but it’s blantant and clearly deliberate cribbing.
The Reatta has to have been inspired by the 530, regardless of how obscure it might have been to the mainstream American audience in the 1980s, professional auto designers at the world’s largest multinational car company would have absolutely been familiar with it
Triumph GT6
Mini Marcos GT
“…at least tried to change the taillight design a little for Chrissake?”
The Buick lights slope out toward the bottom instead of the top. Totally different.
I’ve always thought the 70s – 80s Aston Martin V8 is a fraternal twin of early 70s Mustangs.
Ferrari 365GTC and Chevrolet Monza fastback. Another intentional aping by GM of a Pininfarina design.
Also 1976 Toyota Corolla lift back and Volvo 1800ES.
you gotta have a lot more than the window for that to be true on the Monza
Ferrari 456 and a Ford Probe.
I’ve always thought that the A31 Nissan Cefiro looked like a 3/4 scale 94-96 Impala SS. It’s especially apparent when you compare the rear 3/4 view
https://imgur.com/a/Cq0UTyH