Badge engineering is when the same car is sold under different brand names, which can confuse buyers. It's like calling the same dish by different names at different restaurants.
The Chevrolet Cavalier is a small car that was made by a big car company called General Motors. It was popular because it was cheap to buy and good for everyday driving.
Škoda is a car brand from the Czech Republic. They make affordable and practical cars that are often compared to Volkswagen models.
Car
Hillman Avenger
The Hillman Avenger is a small car that was made in the 1970s. It had a rear-wheel drive system, which means the power from the engine goes to the back wheels.
The Dodge Avenger is a car that is a bit bigger than a compact car but not as big as an SUV. It was made to look sporty and was a cheaper option for people looking for a mid-size vehicle.
The Chevy Captiva is a small SUV made by Chevrolet that started being sold in 2006. It had different names in different countries, which can be confusing.
The Daewoo Winstorm is a small SUV made by a South Korean company called Daewoo. It's designed to be a versatile vehicle that can handle both city driving and some off-road adventures.
The Chevrolet Tracker is a small SUV that can handle rough roads and is good for city driving. It's a compact vehicle that's easy to park and maneuver.
The Geo Prism is a small car that was made by a company called General Motors but is actually based on a Toyota model. It was known for being reliable and saving gas.
The Toyota Sprinter is a small car made by Toyota that is known for being reliable and sometimes sporty. It was sold in different versions around the world.
The Suzuki Swift is a small car that's easy to drive and park, making it great for city driving. It's known for being fuel-efficient and fun to drive.
Car
Tata Aspire
The Tata Aspire is a small sedan made by Tata Motors, designed to be affordable and practical for everyday use. It's popular in India for its good value.
The Mazda MX-5 Miata is a small sports car that is very fun to drive. The 2025 version is the latest model, and it’s known for being light and easy to handle, making it great for driving enthusiasts.
The fourth generation refers to the latest version of the Mazda MX-5 Miata, which has been updated with new features and design since it started in 2016.
The Mazda MX-5 Miata is a small sports car that seats two people. The latest version, called the ND, was first made in 2016 and is known for being fun to drive.
A classic sports car shape is a design style that makes cars look fast and sporty. It usually has a long front and a short back, which helps with speed and looks cool.
A two liter four cylinder engine is a type of car engine that has four cylinders and can hold two liters of fuel and air mixture. It's often used in smaller cars for a good mix of power and fuel savings.
The Mazda 3 is a small car that is known for being fun to drive and looking good. It's a popular choice for people who want a car that is easy to handle and good for daily use.
LIVE
It's time for Mr. Morris driving Destinations, Tim thinks to do at the State Fair of Texas. Yes, sir, we can drive back over here.
This week, Texas State Fair started, so we're going to take a quick look at this. There's a lot of things to do. This thing can be true to this. This has hours for the 50 feet, free to everybody coming in. It's going to be a fair ground. It doesn't get out this far enough.
Yeah, it's going to look like a canyon. It's going to be the greening of the Fairvolo since 1952. Then the question for there, one of the things to do is, the annual pride food competition.
Good food, pride food. No matter what. And they also have some Cypherduring countries this year. You can taste all the finalists, cast your own.
What is that? What is that? A pickle with cereal on it or is that Mexican Mexican like a corn? I don't know. It talks about the bacon devil egg sliders, deep fried deli tacos. I think that's a banana in it. No, I don't know. Didn't ask.
Going on the Texas Fairs wheel. Now this thing is 212 feet tall, so it's not necessarily for me. Yeah, for people that don't want to get up high, but you can get some really panoramic views of Dallas itself on a good clear night as well as Fair Park.
It's 44 gondolas, so they can carry a lot of people and they really light it up at night. Now moving on to speaking of rides, the midway rides and games are over 70 rides down on the midway from kid rides up to the more adult type rides that kids can't get on like the 500 foot top of Texas tower.
There's the 1914 Denzel carousel, and they've also had Denzel Washington no doubt. They have the 177 foot portable swing tower. They'll give you some serious aerial thrills, I believe, but here's one that Don, this is for you.
Is this an aspire? No, this is inside the creative arts building. Visitors will find displays of fine arts photography, quilting home, and the world famous butter sculptures. Now this is historical tradition, and you can get all these things right here. This is just for examples of butter sculptures, including the mayor's own.
Look, there's Jeff over there in the right lower right hand side. I don't know how they keep it from all melting, but I did not know that was there, and so I've never been there and seen it.
Yeah, when you go inside, then you have to put it, make it a sweater, that kind of visit in the display, the display next to it is toast.
Yeah, they give you a knife when you go in there you go.
Moving on to the auto show. Now, this is one of the big things. This is generally where I go whenever I go up there. So they've got all kinds of.
You have been seen there in years.
I have the point when I have been, but you can go through and get you got vehicles on the outside on the inside.
They've actually got a few places that you can actually drive on some around some tracks. Look, it's got an aspire right there in the middle right there in the orange one.
Then if you want some other things with a little more active, you can also go to the rodeo.
They got the daily livestock shows judging full rodeos with bull riding, barrel racing and roping events.
Got FKJ, I mean, 4H and FFA participants. So you can do go through all the barns and do the rodeos in the evening under the lights and one another when I did not know was there.
They actually have Lagoon Park and this was not there the last time I was there for sure.
This is part of their family friendly attractions. They're anantronic dinosaur exhibits and interactive shows.
Put it in the Lagoon setting to make it more realistic.
Then if you're interested in stuff that's more sports because they are right there by the football stadium.
They have the women's soccer championship there. They have the state fair classic, which is an HPC football game between Preview A&M and Grambling inside the cotton bowl.
And of course, the big one, the Red River rivalry where Texas and Oklahoma play, which I believe is going on today. And of course, they have again back to the rodeo stuff.
There's lots of things to do up there, but this is just 10 of the bigger things. Some of them I didn't even know existed.
There you go. Once again, we don't know what we don't know.
Exactly.
All right. Well, thank you, sir. And we'll time car talk as continues right after this quick break. Let's see how you own a car.
Thanks for being with us today. Time to have for Jeff's car culture. Same car. Different names.
Yeah. It's sort of like a Cadillac SRX that turned into a V.
Yes. I remember that sort of.
So for decades, car manufacturers have confused buyers by offering models with an array of identities. Now that picture right there.
That is a Land Rover 11 different names that that vehicle has been on over the years.
Really? It's a practice known as badge engineering, not to be confused with platforms sharing or joint ventures, all of which have become increasingly common in recent years.
Some car companies have over and dulls why others know better than to mess with their branding.
Six decades of badge engineering cars.
And you'll see that some automakers crop up from time to time. You'll see that in this whole this whole segment.
So here we go, Michael, push the button.
Number one, simmer on Cadillac in 1982. There were two models of this vehicle when GM raised it in the early 80s that BMW and Mercedes were stealing sales and parts for the luxury car market.
It stuck Cadillac badges onto Chevrolet Cavaliers in a bid to compete with the smaller luxury car cars.
But the high prices and four cylinder engines made the simmer on, which is pictured here.
A laughing stock even in the introduction of a V6 in 1985.
It did nothing to make the car more sellable shame on them.
The next one is a Lancia Delta. It's a 2011 model.
There were two models. Yeah. That's a Chrysler.
When Fiat merged with Chrysler, it proved how shameless it could be with this abuse of brands.
First, we got the Lancia Delta. Then we got the Lancia Ipsilon rebadges a Chrysler for the UK.
Sort of like a Monage de Trois.
Oh, my God.
For the last two months.
Obviously ambitious premium pricing in the Chrysler 200, which is pictured here.
And Grand Voyager will rebadges Lancia's.
The former sold as the Flavia and was notably unsolicst.
The Flavia Lancia. I guess.
That's something to do with the verbs.
There you go. Speaking of Monage de Trois, check this one out.
Three Volkswagen 2011. There were three models.
Now check this out. The Volkswagen rules the ruse when it comes to rebadging.
It's first generation of the MQB platform.
Few of 15 different models, but sometimes we get the same car wearing different badges instead.
With no attempt to separate them, which is why Volkswagen pictured on the right, the right bottom one,
also came up virtually identical to the seat, my, which is pictured center and the Scoda sit-go,
which is pictured left.
Most global markets apart from North America.
So they weren't sold here, but they were in other places.
Scoda. It's a Scoda.
Isn't that a Swedish company?
I think a Scoda vodka drink, isn't it?
That's it.
It could be.
The Hillman Avenger in 1970, there were six models of this bad boy.
The Britain's Ruse Group.
Look at the bad boy.
And again, in the rear-wheel drive family car that arrived in 1970, originally sold as the Hillman Avenger,
there was also the Talbot, the Sunbeam, and the Dodge versions of it,
while in the U.S. it sold as a Plymouth Cricket, which is pictured there.
In Argentina, it was sold as a Volkswagen.
Wait a minute.
A Plymouth Cricket.
I remember that.
What year?
Seventies.
Seventies.
Seventies.
Seventies.
And then, of course, now it would be rebashed into a Volkswagen.
I think that's a 72-of-the-place.
Played on it.
It was a 72.
Pretty close.
Michael, the next one is a Chevy Captiva.
It's a sport model, and it's in 2006, and there were seven versions of this.
Seven.
Of course.
General Motors gave this car a different identity all over the world.
Australia got it as a hold in Captivia.
Captiva.
And in the UK, it was a Vox Hill and Terra.
Vox Hill.
While elsewhere in Europe, it was the Opel and Terra.
Sold as the Saturn view in North America.
In South America, it was the Chevrolet Captiva, which is pictured here.
And in South Korea, it was the Daewoo Windstorm Max.
Daewoo.
No, there's a big name in automotive history.
That's the last five times.
Michael, the last one we got for you, buddy, is the Suzuki Vittara.
Four models of this, depending on the markets in the Vittara, which is pictured here,
was sold as a Suzuki sidekick.
Chevrolet did it as a tracker and the Geo tracker.
GM's Geo brand, from 89 to 2016, consisted entirely of rebadging cars made by other companies.
The prism was really a Toyota Sprinter.
Look at that.
That's right in front of a renamed cracker barrel.
Exactly.
It was a Toyota Sprinter.
The storm was in the Susu Pulse, Chiquito.
And the spectrum was in the Susu I mark.
And the Metro, as we all see, was rebadged as a, what?
Suzuki Swift.
Hey, Mars, what was the name of that?
What was the name of that car that you had last hour?
That car that you talked about, that we, we all, the Tata car?
Tata, yeah.
Yeah, but what, but what was it?
What was the name of it that you called it?
Oh, no, that was the afforded spire.
Aspire.
Yeah, yeah.
Aspire.
Aspire.
You called it aspire.
Aspire.
Got more, got more.
East Texas point in there.
From the Tata Motor Company.
The Aspire.
Made by Dr. Bill.
Oh, my God.
Where you go?
Re-badged, renamed.
Okay.
All right.
So let's do this hour's car review, shall we?
Mm-hmm.
Had a chance to drive the 2025 Mazda MX-5 Miata.
Final assembly location.
Hiroshima, Japan.
Yes, home of the atomic bomb.
Available trim levels come in sport, club, grand touring,
and 35th anniversary edition.
If you're watching, what you're seeing there is the 35th anniversary edition.
This is a two-seater.
It's classified as a two-seater.
And exterior changes from last model year.
Well, it is part of the fourth generation that was originally introduced in 2016.
This is the best looking Mazda MX-5 Miata that has ever been in existence as far as I'm concerned.
I love the peaks on the fender wells up front.
Notice how it's almost a Corvette-like look up there.
Long hood, short deck, classic sports car shape.
Crisp top of the front fender, low to the ground grill, bulging rear fenders to carry the rubber back there.
Unique tail lights fit its unique overall design.
What I liked about it, everything.
I love the fact that the shape of it, including the grill, all proportionate.
Nothing is overdone, but what is there is really outstanding, I think.
Interior highlights.
Love your passenger because it's very tight confines on the inside.
And six footers, beware.
Modern infotainment system and instrument cluster.
Clean look dash design with no passenger side glove box.
The tiny storage area is behind and between the two seats.
It's interesting.
You can't actually look in there if you're driving.
I feel around in there and hopefully you've remembered where you put whatever it is that you put in.
Trunk room is tiny.
One overnight bag, that is all.
What I liked about it, the easy to use top.
It's a one click thing for the top.
And you put it down manually right behind you.
And the same thing to put it up.
There's no electric top or nothing like that.
It's manual, but it works so well.
It's unbelievable.
Nice.
The manual shifter that you see there, it is butter.
It works like butter.
I have never driven a car with a shifter like that.
It's so smooth, unbelievable.
What could use improvement?
Well, it is what it is.
It's tiny.
I remember when they came out with this car and they sent all the press out there to debut the car.
And everything about it.
There is a name that they used and it's a Japanese name.
I can't remember what it is.
For instance, like the steering wheel.
Where the steering wheel is placed in the car.
It's a dead center up front of the driver.
If you will notice your car.
Offset.
The steering wheel is a little bit offset one way or the other.
To accommodate the mechanics underneath the hood.
It's a bit of trivia.
Two liter four cylinder engine turns out 181 horsepower.
151 pound feet of torque.
But let me tell you this.
That is all about the fact power to weight ratio.
The car weighs nothing.
In a 181 horsepower.
It feels like it's got a great big block.
Chevy 400 horsepower motor.
Because you're in a small environment and you're loaded the ground.
And the car doesn't weigh any.
Tow rating.
No.
It's none.
Hall rating.
It holds butt.
How about that?
Manufacturers.
Set up.
As far as miles per gallon is concerned.
26 city 34 highway for combined at 29.
I got 34.5 miles per gallon over 453.1 miles.
But I liked about it.
Power to weight ratio is awesome.
What could use improvement?
This is a purpose built sports car that can cut a rug around a road course racetrack.
And if you want to go and have some real fun.
Get yourself one of these.
What I liked about it.
Handling on this thing is awesome.
What could use improvement?
Maybe a bit too stiff for those looking for a highway cruiser.
Because that it is not.
It will cruise the highway.
There's no doubt about it.
But the ride.
Well, it's a sport car ride.
Here's the pricing.
Base trim price is 37.485.
Price is tested 37.435.
Now, I don't know what happened to the $50 there.
Just by looking at it, I guess they want you to say, I like the car.
Base model price.
You can get in one of these for 29.530.
What?
Yeah.
So here are the competitors.
The Toyota GR86 starts at 30.400.
It's cousin.
The Subaru BRZ starts at 33.210.
Wow.
The other competitor, if you want to call it that, the Mini Cooper,
is $28,950.
That's my review of the 2025 Mazda MX-5 Miata.
Love the car.
As far as a six footer person is concerned, it's a little tight.
I was going to say so when you go to a amusement park, you have to be taller than this line.
Get into that car.
Yeah.
And with the car, if you're taller than this line, you can't drive it.
Yeah.
Well, I will tell you this.
So I have my buddy that I work with.
Matt.
Matt got in it.
Matt is a little heavier set than I am.
By golly, he could fit.
Now his knees did touch the dashboard, but he could make it work.
So I'm telling you, if you really want to, for no other reason, go out, take a look at it.
I think that you'll really have a good time looking at the car if you don't want to buy it.
You're going to step up from that.
It would be what the Mazda 3 to be a little bit larger.
Yes.
I guess.
But besides.
You lose the whole two wheel thing though when you do that.
Yeah.
You lose the performance.
Hey, if you'd like to get in touch with us in email, the address here is info at inwheeltime.com.
We're back after this quick break.
Steve was.
About this episode
The episode dives into the excitement of the Texas State Fair, highlighting unique attractions like the auto show, midway rides, and the famous butter sculptures. It also explores the concept of badge engineering in the automotive industry, showcasing how manufacturers often rebrand the same vehicle for different markets. The discussion includes various models like the Cadillac Cimarron and Suzuki Vitara. Additionally, a review of the 2025 Mazda MX-5 Miata celebrates its design and performance, while noting its compact interior and driving dynamics.
Step right up to a fascinating exploration of the Texas State Fair's hidden gems! Beyond the legendary fried foods lies a world of unexpected attractions waiting to be discovered. Did you know you could view world-famous butter sculptures in the Creative Arts building? Or that a 212-foot Texas Fair Swell offers breathtaking panoramic views of Dallas and Fair Park from 44 illuminated gondolas?
We take you on a virtual tour through ten must-see fair attractions, from the midway's 70+ rides (including the towering 500-foot Texas Tower) to the surprising Lagoon Park with its animatronic dinosaur exhibits. Sports enthusiasts will appreciate learning about the historic Cotton Bowl hosting both the HBCU State Fair Classic and the legendary Red River Rivalry between Texas and Oklahoma. Whether you're a fair regular or planning your first visit, these insider insights guarantee a richer experience.
The automotive world takes center stage in our "Car Culture" segment, where we unpack the fascinating practice of badge engineering. Discover how a single vehicle can wear up to eleven different brand identities around the globe! From the ill-fated Cadillac Cimarron (a dressed-up Chevy Cavalier) to the Hillman Avenger that transformed into the Plymouth Cricket for American buyers, we trace decades of automotive identity-swapping.
We wrap up with a comprehensive review of the 2025 Mazda MX5 Miata, celebrating its butter-smooth shifter, impressive power-to-weight ratio, and the pure driving joy that comes from this purpose-built sports car. Whether you're tall enough to fit comfortably is another question entirely! Listen now and share your own fair memories or badge engineering discoveries with us at [email protected].
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
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