It’s very late, I’m in a hotel room in Charlotte, NC, where I made the mistake of “testing” the bed, knowing full well I had to write a Cold Start for the morning, and unsurprisingly I gave the bed a vigorous and comprehensive slumber test for several hours. But now I’m up! And I have to re-awaken in just a couple hours to attend this Ford Performance event, but first I need to tell you about a fascinating Ford concept car from 1976, the Ford Prima.
This car was based on the small subcompact FWD Ford Fiesta, and that may make you suspect that it shouldn’t be considered a performance car at all, seeing as how those came equipped with 1.1-liter engines making all of 50something horsepower. But I maintain that this car did, in fact, perform – it was, after all, a concept car, a show car, and it’s whole raison d’etre was to put on a performance for people, to make their imaginations run wild with possibilities and instill a deep desire for whatever Ford was selling at the time. Mustang IIs and shit, I suppose.
The kind of performance the Prima gave wasn’t about driving, it was about changing. Or having options to change. Because the Prima, designed by Ghia in Italy, was one of the early examples of a car with swappable body panels, allowing for the car to become four different kinds of vehicles.
I love this concept. Here, check this thing out; first, there’s the baseline vehicle, which is really sort of a little truck with an upholstered bed:
Here’s a view from the rear, where you an see it sports a real tailgate :
…or a view from the Chicago Auto Show, where the Prima was shown the year after it was introduced in Turin in 1976:
That’s a fun little open-backed pickup truck! Not a lot of weather protection, sure, but if you prefer to not be soaked in rain, you could transform that little truck into, say, a nice hatchback/fastback:
Note that it still retains the tailgate, which is a pretty slick touch. If you need more room, you can make it a wagon:
A tailgate is a bit more expected there, I suppose. That’s a roomy little shooting brake! And finally – which is, if you’re counting, fourthly, you can stick on a notchback panel and make a tidy little coupé:
Styling-wise, I think you can see a lot of what would become the 1979 to 1993 Fox-body Mustang, especially in Coupé form:
The hidden grille on the front end of the Prima is interesting, and while Ford never quite built anything quite like that, they did flirt with some near grille-less designs for the Taurus and the EXP, among some other cars.
The Prima is a really clever and novel design, a modular idea that car designers have been toying with for decades, and only really made it to market in a mass-produced car once, in the form of the Nissan Pulsar NX:
There may have been some other smaller-scale attempts, but Nissan actually did bring to market in a significant way a car that had a removable rear body panel, and you could take it off completely for a convertible-type experience, or put on a notchback one for a coupé, or a wagon-type back to make a little shooting brake.
It was very cool, but Nissan didn’t keep pursuing this idea, perhaps because the realities of people owning multiple body sections and figuring out where to store them is a non-trivial problem. I think Nissan dealers should have kept a little “library” of rear sections that owners could rent or swap out. Maybe you like a coupé normally, but you’re going on a road trip and need more room – so you rent or borrow a wagonback.
Maybe Nissan comes up with a special truck bed back, or a canvas-topped one? You try them out! Nissan could release new ones for specialized things like holding bicycles or skis or a small hot tub! The possibilities are dazzling!
Anyway, Ford definitely predicted the Pulsar NX here, then did nothing with it. Oh well. Maybe there will be a new take on the Prima at this event?
I bet there will be! I’ll get my hopes up now!
Former Charlotte resident here. I’m debating which is more exhausting for you: flying to LA or driving to Charlotte.
I like every configuration here. Was this Elizabeth Taylor’s last modeling job?
Cool idea, and a Fiesta with a 1.6 was actually pretty quick for the era.
Wow, this thing was really clever! We need more of this in cars. Yeah, the Pulsar was awesome
I do not like the new Cold Start graphic for some reason. It’s too something and not enough something else. I can’t quite figure it out.
I know how much my thoughts on these matters mean. lol
I really liked the styling of the Pulsar NX back then, particularly with the wagon back section.
A girlfriend of mine had a ’76 Fiesta, which, in the States came with a 1600 cc engine. Hers was a stick and quite fun to drive briskly.
The notchback variant is by far the least attractive of the bunch.
I’d like to recognize Ford Prima’s studio photography team, who put in extra effort to make every variation look unique. They clearly had a single car and a lone backdrop. But when the panels were switched out, they also changed up the lighting and the model changed into a different outfit. The camera angles may have been deliberately changed up as well, but that is less conclusive as it may have just been an effect of photo selection afterwards.
I appreciated that more than Nissan’s Pulsar pictures with same angle/lighting/people/outfit.
Love the Pulsar mention, it was my first thought!
I believe that in Japan you could just go to the dealer to get your shooting brake top when you needed it since most people didn’t have room to store the spare top in.
This is an example of an idea that sounds great on paper, but Ford certainly was not well-positioned to execute on this and turn out a quality vehicle at that time.
Ribbed for your pleasure
Hatchback with the tailgate! Why isn’t there more of this?
The most common example of this is the EG (1992-96) Civic hatch.
Which, at the time, I thought looked ridiculous. Still do.
Looked weird, but was very functional!
If you squint really hard at the hatchback you can almost see the tofu delivery potential 🙂
Now I am forced to remember the Mustang II Ghia and Granada Ghia. *shudder*
Think about the euro Granada for a bit til you feel better
Does it actually have tail lights though? Is Jason posting about something that doesn’t actually have tail lights? Who at the taillight bar do we need to inform? This is scandalous!
It also brings to mind things like the Amigo, or even a Wrangler, open back, can put a different back on it, I’ve seen Wranglers with notchback style covers for the back too, or whatever flavor you want from the aftermarket.
I came to say this about Jeeps. I remember CJ-5s in the 70s You could get a staggering array of tops. Convertible, yes. Pick-up, hatch back, square back, yes yes and yes
I had an ’86 Toyota Forerunner which had a removable rear cap. It was ungainly to handle and in short order the gasket started to fail leading to leaks. People soon learned they ought not remove that cap.
I recently wondered why Toyota didn’t bring back the Forerunner with a removable top as their answer to the Bronco, especially since they didn’t make a removable top Land Cruiser. Now I know at least one the reasons they stopped making the original ones. That said, my friends had great times in those.
Imagine if Ford had brought the interchangeable rear panels to the EXP — which this car also looks a lot like.
I would have gladly taken that over the 1974 Mustang II that I had.
I like the idea and the design. Now, if someone would just sell custom garages with a lift mechanism and overhead storage for the panel options. Fun to dream.
That is exactly what dad did after building a cap for the bed of our truck. Eyes in the ceiling with ropes to lift it up from the hooks on the cap. Didn’t last long as dad built walls for the cap so we could haul bicycles standing up (there were five of us). It basically stayed on the truck after that, well, until the hand of god removed it, a whole difference story.
I bought an official Mazda hardtop hoist for my Miata hardtop back in 1990. It suspends the hardtop over the car in the garage until you want it and then it is an easy one person operation to install. And when the car is out of the garage, it makes a great skull cracker.
Aside from the potential incompatibility between 70s Ford build quality and interchangeable body panels, I can’t come up with a single reason this wouldn’t have sold incredibly well other than the reluctance of domestic automakers (then, as now) to invest in small cars without practically holding a gun to their head.
It is the same amount of effort (design and labor) to build an affordable product as it is to build a profitable product. So the car makers have been concentrating on their profitable product.
It will eventually be their downfall, but that is where we are now
Convertibility is one of those ideas that everyone seems to love except actual customers. The costs and inconvenience of extra seals, body parts, and storage usually exceed the joy of having the perfect configuration just when you need it. Just ask anyone with a convertible hardtop taking up space in their garage.
Point. I left my hardtop on through leaf season last fall for lack of storage
I’ve got a collection of Timex watches b/c I love their classic cheap but fun ethos, and the Timex Weekender of the 2000s is a great example of this – it was a casual watch that came on a nylon strap, the idea being you could swap out the strap on a whim. Timex rolled out a ton of spare straps, different colors/designs and…nobody bought them. I ended up picking up a bunch at Target on clearance for like 2 bucks each. Which I almost never use. And these are just small pieces of fabric, not heavy metal and glass panels.
They do still make the quick swap straps. I really, really like my primary Timex mechanical. Only brand i’ll spring for a new watch from (i occasionally take a chance on ebay for other makes) but because Timex’s are so cheap, i couldn’t find a repair shop to touch it when the stem jammed last year. Fortunately the obstruction eventually cleared or dissolved. Decent sized dial, but not too big, clear high-contrast numbers without much clutter, and i can quick swap leather straps for silicone or nylon, depending on my plans for the day.
I’m a watch snob and nerd, snob because I have opinions, not because I spend money. Personally, Timex is punching so far above their weight lately, in terms of style, functions and price. Even their “colabs” that generally boost a watch price to the moon are still affordable and more importantly a value. It’s great to see.
I actually hate watches but I respect Timex because they do the job without a lot of b.s. I remember when indiglo came out and I still think it’s neat. I have an analog Indiglo Explorer (?) and a digital Expedition. That’s all you really need.
My Marlin mechanical is starting to have problems after about 4 years, and I’m also wary nobody will touch it. But I keep telling myself I just need to wear it more so whatever’s causing the stopping gets cleared or ground up or …
Marlin brand, or Timex Marlin? Honestly a competent watch service is $500, that’s disassembly, cleaning, reassembly and lube. I have about 6 automatic Seiko based watches I have build over the years. One recently stopped and I’m replacing the movement with a new one ($25 in “bulk”). The most expensive on cost about $120 to build (not including a band) so I would never bother having it serviced. Obviously that’s personal choice. You are correct though that watch lubricant gets dirty, and thickens with age, so wearing it could help.
Timex Marlin – the new mechanical one that Timex put out in the late 10s.
I do have a few older “classic” Marlins from the 70s/80s too. Rarely wear them but have done a little repair work on them myself (though for those, like you point out, it’s easier to just buy a replacement movement).
It looks like a little bit Mustang a little bit Suzuki X 90 a little bit Subaru brat.
My buddy in high school had a brand new Nissan Pulsar in silver and he got the shooting break top because he really wanted a DeLorean and the Nissan pulsar in silver was like a reliable DeLorean?
The wraparound strakes give it Lincoln Blackwood vibes. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/2002_Lincoln_Blackwood%2C_rear_left%2C_5-23-2021.jpg
In the nineties there was a Dutch startup named Max Motors which developed the Max Roadster. It too was designed with a modular back, but only the roadster (cabriolet) came to fruition. Before the other options were developed and available, the company went bankrupt. For a brochure with the different options, see: https://haringbrochures.jouwweb.nl/m/max-motors . The car itself was interesting, underpinnings from a Citroën AX, and the rear lights, well, let’s see if Jason can see from which car they originate.
edit: to be clear, they did produce real cars, 17 before they went bankrupt and another 6 afterwards with the remaining parts.
Peugeot taillights!!
Looks like the 405 to me – classy.