Wednesday, July 8, 2009

The Thursday Quiz XC

The Thursday Quiz!

The Thursday Quiz is a twelve item is-it-or-isn't-it test of your knowledge, reasoning, stamina, and moxie!

Remember always the Fundamental Rules of the Thursday Quiz:
1. The Thursday Quiz is a POP quiz. No research, Googling, Wikiing, or use of reference books. Violators will never be able to look at themselves in the mirror again.

2. Don't get all stressed out about it! It's supposed to be fun!

Cars!

Automobile sales figures are tough to compare because a single design may have several different names and variants, or several different generations of a design may all have the same name. That hasn't stopped those energetic amateurs who contribute to Wikipedia from trying, though! Some of the following cars are on the Wiki's list of the 15 best-selling vehicles of all time! But in other cases, I am lying right to your face. Which is which?

1. Chevrolet Xpress (1950-present) - Almost unheard of in the United States, the Chevy Xpress is marketed only in South Asia -- until 1990, more than half of the cars in India were Xpresses -- and in Brazil. Over 11 million of them have been sold.

2. Ford "F-Series" Trucks (1948–present) — These big trucks were the bestselling vehicle in the United States every year from 1983 to 2005. Ford has built about 32 million of the F-series Trucks over eleven design generations.

3. Ford Fiesta (1976–present) — Selling over 12 million units in seven design generations, the sub-compact Fiesta is among the Ford Motor Company's leading products. It has not until very recently been sold in the United States, however, because of that country's well known proclivity for very large vehicles.

4. Ford Model T (1908–27) — In one long design generation, the Model T became the first car to have 5 million units produced... and then the first car to have 10 million units produced... and then the first car to have 15 million units produced.

5. Honda Civic (1972–present) — Popular in the United States and a chronic best-seller in Canada, the Civic has sold over 16 million units over eight generations.

6. Lada Riva (1980–present) — Basically a copy of a 1960s-era Fiat, the Lada Riva sold around 21 million units in its native Russia and throughout Europe. Most of these cars were made before exports to Western Europe were discontinued in 1997, but smaller scale production continues in both Russia and Egypt.

7. Lamborghini Gallardo (1984–present) — Americans think of Lamborghini as a company that makes sports cars, but the Gallardo, a budget compact sedan sold throughout Southern Europe, is the Italian company's bread-and-butter product. It has made over 12 million of them.

8. Oldsmobile Cutlass (1961-81; 1997-99) - Originally designating a sporty compact, then a popular large car during the 1970s, then retired in favor of the "Cutlass Ciera," then slapped on a slightly modified Chevy Malibu for a year or two in the late nineties, the Cutlass name covered a variety of cars. Taken together, it was the name of almost 12 million individual vehicles.

9. Toyota Corolla (1966–present) — With around 35 million cars sold over ten design generations, the Corolla is the bestselling car model in the history of the world.

10. Volkswagen Beetle (1938–2003) — With more than 21 million cars hitting the road in one single, long design generation, the original Beetle was the bestselling single design in history and the first car to reach twenty million sales.

11. Volkswagen Golf (1974–present) — Including varients like the American "Rabbit," "Cabrio," and "Jetta" and the Mexican "Caribe," 25 million Golfs have been sold over six design generations, making it the third most popular automobile of all time.

12. The Yugo (1980-1992) - The sporty, inexpensive Yugo was among the best-selling cars in both Europe and North America for most of its production run, and around 14 million were sold. Its Yugoslavian designers had increasing problems meeting the demand for their product, however, and after the collapse of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s were put out of business by a supply-chain breakdown.


Submit your answers in the comments.

16 comments:

Eversaved said...

As usual, I am practicing my guessing skills on this quiz...
1-n
2-y
3-n
4-y
5-y
6-n
7-y
8-y
9-y
10-y
11-y
12-n
?

Nichim said...

Hey, I have a car! And I'm first!

1. No
2. Yes
3. They buy Fords in other countries? I don't believe it. No.
4. No.
5. Yes. No wait, 8 generations? There haven't been 8 generations since 1972. I don't even have children yet. Oh, you mean car generations? Ok.
6. I want to believe they still make Ladas. Yes.
7. No. Lamborghinis only exist on posters in teenage boys' bedrooms.
8. Yes. I like the Cutlass Supreme, personally.
9. Yes.
10. Yes
11. I refuse to believe that the VW Rabbit is the same as the Golf. No.
12. No.

Wow, I seem to have some pretty strong opinions about cars. Interesting.
8.

Nichim said...

Oh, well, I thought I was first. At least I didn't say bleen.

The Calico Cat said...

1 nope
2 Yep, the blokes on Top Gear even did a segment on this one!
3 Yep
4 (Oh wait a minute, I'm not reading.... this a NOPE, Milions were not available in the dark ages.)
5 yep
6 yep (guess, I only ever heard them referred to as Lada, like there was not differentiation)
7 NOPE (reading almost got me again) Again, I know everything about cars from Top Gear
8 Yep At which time I throw up my arms & say they all sound plausible - so I should stop reading at 3 a.m.!
9 Yep
10 Yep
11 Yep
12 Yep

Elaine said...

Oh, no. Another area of extreme ignorance! I go by red, blue, green...
1. Nah
2. Yep (have one in the driveway right now)
3. Hmmm. No
4. Yep
5. Yep
6. Hmm, Nah
7. Nah
8. Yep
9. Yep. Though I bought a Corona myself-- in 1968. We used to wave when we saw another Toyota on the road in those days.
10. Yep
11. Yep. Had a rabbit, too.
12. Nope. Why is the Yugo a good car? because when it breaks down, you can use it as a backpack.

I guessed on all but about 2.

Cartophiliac said...

1. no va
2. va
3. va
4. va
5. va
6. va
7. no va
8. va
9. va
10. va
11. no va
12. va

Christine M. said...

Cars. Hoo boy. Here goes:

1. no
2. yes
3. no
4. yes
5. yes
6. yes
7. no
8. yes
9. yes
10. yes
11. no
12. hahahahaha! no

blythe said...

no, yes, no, yes, yes, yes, no, yes, yes, yes, no, no

d said...

1n
2y
3y
4n(of course there was a model t, but i have a hard time believing that many were sold),
5y
6sure
7sure
8y
9y
10y
11n(again. of course there is a golf, but i think it's always been distinct from the other models listed)
12n - poor, poor yugo

i can't believe the el camino wasn't on the list.

mrs.5000 said...

1 no
2 yes
3 no
4 yes
5 yes
6 no
7 no
8 yes
9 yes
10 no
11 no
12 no

Kritkrat said...

1. No
2. Yes
3. No
4. Yes
5. No? The Canada part threw me.
6. No
7. No
8. Yes
9. Yes
10. No
11. Yes
12. A Yugo? I highly doubt it.

Ben said...

1. Since Brazil isn't in South Asia, I'm going to say isn't.
2. Sounds reasonable. Is.
3. I've seen old Fiestas ('90s, I think) in the U.S., so I'm going to have to say isn't.
4. Really, that many? OK, I'll bite. Is.
5. Is.
6. Could be--but I'm going to guess isn't.
7. I THINK the Gallardo was one of the cars in one of my computer racing games, and if so, this would definitely be isn't.
8. Sure. Is.
9. Well, we had one, so it must be true. Is.
10. What about the new Beetle? Or is that called something else. Sounds fishy--isn't.
11. I wouldn't have thought of the Jetta as a Golf variant--unless it's the same car in a sedan version. But, even so, I don't think it's the 3rd most popular of all time--isn't.
12. As soon as I read the word "sporty" I wanted to say no to this one. Isn't.

How'd I guess?

DrSchnell said...

1. Nope
2. Yup.
3. Yup
4. yup
5. yup
6. nope
7. nope
8. I used to own one of those, but nope.
9. yup.
10. yup.
11. nope
12. nope

boo said...

1. isn't
2. is
3. is
4. isn't
5. is
6. isn't
7. is
8. is
9. is
10. isn't
11. isn't
12. isn't

I am so horrible at this one. I seldom can tell what make and model a car is.

Michael5000 said...

And now, the findings:

1. Chevrolet Xpress -- NO. They never would have left off the "E" in 1950.

2. Ford "F-Series" Trucks -- YES.

3. Ford Fiesta -- YES.

4. Ford Model T -- YES. They built a LOT of those suckers.

5. Honda Civic -- YES.

6. Lada Riva -- YES.

7. Lamborghini Gallardo -- NO. Lamborghini is a company that makes sports cars. In batches of a few thousands.

8. Oldsmobile Cutlass -- YES.

9. Toyota Corolla -- YES.

10. Volkswagen Beetle -- YES. The new Beetle, incidentally, is called the "New Beetle," and is considered a different make from the original.

11. Volkswagen Golf -- WELL. Some of you objected to the idea that the Rabbit and Jetta are the same as the Golf. The Rabbit, however, IS the Golf, with few differences except a nameplate. Sources are a bit dodgey on the Jetta, however; on balance, it looks like it is a entirely seperate model, albeit not all that different from a Golf. To simplify matters, we're tossing the question out.

12. The Yugo -- Um, no. The Yugo, despite its very attractive price point (4 grand) sold fewer than a million units.

Michael5000 said...

So, the smoke clears on Auto Enthusiast and all-time Gold Star Magnate Cartophiliac once more on top with the TQXC title.

His close associate Auto Enthusiast la gringissima is right behind him, taking home the Silver.

The Blue Star goes to Auto Enthusiast Nichim.

And Green Stars aplenty go to Auto Enthusiasts Elaine, Blythe, d, Ben, and drschnell.

Thanks and kudos to all who took the Quiz! Ninth Season roundup next week.