Saturn was created in 1985 as a response to the success of the Japanese automakers in the United States market, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of GM, and later on became the replacement for Oldsmobile after Oldsmobile was discontinued and scrapped out of pure fiscal reasons. If anyone remembers or knows about the early space program they will know that the Apollo Missions used the Saturn V rockets to make it to the mood – it is for this rocket that the company takes it esteemed name.

Saturn started with 99 people in 1982 that would create the new company, these 99 came from other areas of the automotive industry and were put together to create a new kind and style of company that would be more buyer friendly. Thus they came out with Saturn, and stationed it initially in Tennessee until 2007.

One of the developments from this melding of minds was the first company wide policy of no-haggle amongst the GM owned automobile brands. Following the formation of this policy sales have been strong and vehicles are usually sold at the MSRP price, whilst customer satisfaction ratings remain high, in fact some of the highest in the entire industry. The car manufacturer has also won several awards related to their environmentally friendly policies and their lack of polymer based products for the sides of vehicles, specifically on the paneling on many of their vehicles.

In 2005 the first non-polymer based side-paneled vehicle was the Saturn Relay, a minivan that was recently discontinued for an upcoming redesign in 2008 with even more eco-friendly materials along with much of Saturn’s other Original Stock. So far the products that Saturn manufactures are based on what they called the Z body, a platform with a standard Saturn engine, a 1.9L which was later replaced by other engines by outside sources in 2002. Recently some fiscal issued have plagued Saturn with some vehicles being poor sellers, and thus they had to can both the Ion and the L series.

Founded by Jack Pickard and Trevor Wilkinson in 1947 TVR was at first named Trevcar Motors, and later was renamed. One of the first manufacturers to used a reinforced by glass plastic based frame body over a tube styled steel internal framework TVR proved to be a sporty car. By the latter end of the 50s the cars used a 4 cylinder motor to power the 100 horse car, and most of these were sold in the English markets. During the first two decades, due to stringent tax laws that made selling vehicles less profitable, TVR offered many of the cars as a kit car model rather than a manufactured vehicle – however this was ended after the government caught on in the 70′s.

During the 60′s an American car dealer had a striking idea, and that idea lead to one of the cars actually being named after him. Jack Griffith took a 4.7 Liter V8 engine out of his car, at the time an AC Cobra, and then mounted it into a TVR car. Thus the TVR Griffith was born. Throughout the latter 60′s TVR used many engines before finally settling back in on a Ford engine that was capable of almost 130 horses, and easily modified for more. However in the 70′s more picking and choosing for engines came about, and many vehicles had several to choose from.

During the 80′s the company began to focus again on the power and performance of the mighty V8, moving away from smaller V6 based technology and engines so that more performance could be injected into the frames of the TVR Cars. This brought capacity from 3.5L to 4.5L almost instantly and gave the car a surge in horsepower. During the 1990′s they continued with V8′s, using Rover as a supplier and then modifying them until they eventually developed and tested their own engine designs, which culminated in a light weight alloy based V8 engine that could run as well as a traditional, but was a much lighter solution.

Recently in 2004 the company was bought and thus was now owned by a man named Smolensky, a Russian who intends to keep TVR in GB. However in 2006, due to declining sales, staff was cut and production was scaled back, and a new factory was to be chosen because the lease on the old one was up, and it lacked the adequate resources for more modern technologies. Later last year it turned out body production would be outsourced to Italy, and later a year ago this month Smolensky split TVR into three different companies. Current affairs are still in much turmoil.

Founded in 1992 Ultima Sports is a sports automobile manufacturer which builds cars in England. It was founded by ted Marlow and has been slowly building up its reputation with two models of vehicles. Right now the two offered are the GTR and the Can-Am; however they have mostly been sold as unassembled kits. The user must buy the kit and then construct and complete the vehicle himself in order to use and drive it, although an inconvenience it is the only way currently that markets outside of the European theatre can purchase and use the cars.

Currently the engine that the car uses is a Chevy Small Block V8 which is heavily modified by a third company and can be capable of up to 640 horses. Recently a new engine has been developed that can reach upward of 720 horses and has a 0-100 mile per hour speed rating of just 9.4 seconds.

The Ultima flagship model is the Ultima GTR that is sold as either a kit or as an assembled vehicle. The vehicle is a two door coup with a mid engine, and has the heavily modified Chevy V8 inside, however builders are able to use a large variety of transmissions and engines on the vehicles. It is possible to also go from 0-60 within 2.6 seconds with the optimal conditions met. In fact it has gone from 0-100 in 5.3 seconds, and has gone from 100-0 within 3.6 seconds. Being able to stop that quickly is a major plus for any high performance vehicle.

The vehicle can, if needed, be pushed to 1000 bhp. The frame is built to withstand and handle that kind of massive power and that kind of brute force. It is by far one of the most powerful performance vehicles manufactured by a small car company. On the Top Gear program which is very popular in England the car was able to beat the test track and set an all time fasted vehicle record, by completing the track in a minute and 12.8 seconds.

Toyota was founded in 1937 by Kiichiro Toyoda in Japan, and today is one of the most successful car manufacturing companies in the world, along with being the second largest. Furthermore, as GM might be the largest, Toyota ranks above GM for net worth and also for its sales, with revenue that outpaces GM, along with total profit and kept profit. As a spinoff company of the old Toyota Industries, Toyoda produced his first automobile in 1936 called the AA. His father, the head of Toyota Industries, helped to back his son’s research and development and allowed for the manufacturing.

Toyota has several company brands that it uses, such as Scion, Lexus, and its own name. During the Second World War the company was dedicated to production of Japanese military goods such as the military trucks used across the Empire. Because of the need for mass production the trucks were very easily assembled and extremely simplified in design. The Toyota manufacturing facilities were spared by the Japanese surrender, coming down to the wire – had the Japanese waited the allied command would have bombed the Toyota facility and surrounding infrastructure.

As soon as 1947 Toyota began again to produce domestic vehicles and continued to do so ad infinitum. During the 50′s they entered the U.S. market, well ahead of other Japanese auto makers of the time, and using developed techniques learned from the American automotive industry they soon began production of automobiles at comparable rates. With growing sales and obvious marketability Toyota opened a new R and D department in 1962, and along with that Automobile number 10,000,000 was also produced.

The 1960′s proved to be a stunning decade for Toyota and Toyoda. Because of the economical cars produced at the time in the late 60′s with their high fuel efficiency when the oil crisis hit the U.S. market Toyota became a primary seller of small and highly efficient vehicles with a larger market share driven to it by the high fuel prices. Along with Toyota of course, came Honda and the others who were also skilled in the economy car that could run with good gas mileage. At the end of the 1980s, in 1989, Toyota launched its first foray into the luxury car market with Lexus – and it was successful. Along with this Toyota began to produce SUVs and also established Scion, along with the famed Hilux/Tundra truck line. Today Toyota continued to develop new technologies and has many prototype and concept vehicles to show every year.

Tatra manufacturing company takes its name from the mountains nearby and was founded in 1850 as a really long name that no one who speaks English and doesn’t know other languages would ever be able to pronounce. It began as a wagon and carriage manufacturer and later on produced a motor based vehicle, the first of its kind in central Europe, in 1897. In 191 it changed its name to its current name and is today regarded as the third oldest manufacturer of automobiles in the entire world. Only Peugeot and Daimler are older.

The first Tatra car was the Type A Tatra, and was capable of 40 kilometers per hour. Following this was the – of course – Type B. Can you see where this leads? A B C D etc… Well the type B had a central motor and was barely produced. Following this a new design was made, scrapping the old ones, and thus in 1905 the Type S was born. World War One of course greatly affected the production ability, considering the Czech were invaded by the Germans. Not until after this war did the Tatra come again.

During the time between the Second World War Tatra built cars that could be considered as streamliners, along with those that closely resembled the famous Ford model T. Focusing on luxury during the 1930′s Tatra was known for having technically advanced and luxurious designs. In fact the Tatra 777 car, which was a rear mounded V8 vehicle, was the first “in-production” truly streamlined car, with a drag of only 0.212 – which in itself is a great number that cars today have a hard time obtaining, even those designed to be as drag-less as possible. It is also Tatra that designed the first beetle-like car, and after the War Volkswagen was forced to pay damages to Tatra for intellectual property violations.

After that, in 1946, the company was nationalized under the communist rule and continued production of its famed vehicles. During the 70′s new design improvements allowed for new vehicles, including the T613. However after the fall of communism and the orders plummeting to nothing Tatra discontinued the 613, and then in 1999 abandoned cars completely.

However in 2003 it began to produce a small number of trucks, followed by a slowly increasing demand. Last year they hit 1600 vehicles and this year they are on pace to build at least 2.5K. Tatra may not be finished entirely just yet.

Scion was founded in 2003 as a marque for Toyota and produces several economy cars. The Scion car marque was something that was spawned out of Toyota’s failed “Project Genesis” which was an effort and project to attempt to bring in new and also younger buyers so that they would, well, buy more Toyota stuff of course. All the cars produced by Scion are a simple front wheel driven hatchback model that remains somewhat economical.

Scion was first revealed in 2002 at a March auto show in New York, and with it they showed the bbX concept vehicle. By launch time a year later only about a hundred auto shops sold the Scion, and a year after that the rollouts in 2004 hit larger market shares by targeting regions across the United States.

Scion resorted to unique marketing campaign tools, such as using internet advertisements that could sometimes be seen as rather annoying, along with a large selection of after market accessories – which is always nice – but a limited support for anything to do with car tuning and kits, although some have been manufactured by custom kit makers in the past year or so. Scion’s marketing and sales approach is basically a clone of Saturn – attempting to emulate that of Saturn, who in turn was father of the idea to the other GM brand that failed really fast and was founded around the same time as Saturn – the Geo.

So far Toyota has been propping that little Scion company up as much as possible and also Scion has been releasing Limited Edition vehicles to help its own sales. One thing that is unique at the dealerships is a first come and first serve policy, which enables people to buy what they see and want. They also offer about forty accessories for the after market vehicle buyer, from better superchargers and injectors to some amenities such as mud flaps.

Here comes probably the most complicated business acquisition ever. Rolls Royce Motors was founded and created out of the ashes of the old Rolls Royce car manufacturer, which had been split into a jet engine manufacturing company, and the latter Rolls Royce was acquired by Vickers. However in 1998 Vickers sold Rolls Royce and they sold it to Volkswagen. Now, follow me here. BMW, a company that had already been a major supplier of parts to Rolls-Royce, was thought to have been the highest bidder until VW outbid them.

Well, what happened next was the Rolls-Royce PLC Jet Engine manufacturer decided to sell the trademarks for the Rolls-Royce name and the logo to BMW, while VW owned the grille and the mascot. This left VW with a mascot and grill, and BMW with the name and logo. A predicament that was resolved when BMW acquired the trademarks and mascot from VW, and VW got Bentley. So what happened was from 1998 to 2002 both companies cooperated and produced Rolls-Royce vehicles and parts until the divisions were split and Rolls-Royce was all BMW’s, whilst VW kept the Bentley.

During the VW join control era only two cars were produced, the Silver Seraph and the Corniche. Before that under the Vickers group there had been the Silver Spirit, the Silver Spur, and the Silver Dawn along with the Camargue and the continuing Phantom line along with the previous convertible Corniche II, III, and IV lines.

After the departure of Rolls-Royce from VW for good the brand was renamed from Rolls-Royce Motors to the new Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. During this time period the vehicles produced were of quality and thus far not many returns have been made, with both companies working on their asset and reputation of Bentley and Rolls-Royce. This quality of production would continue for both brands into their respective automotive companies.

Saleen was founded in 1983, and remains today as the last small vehicle manufacturer in the United States to have its status as an OEM company intact, and is markedly not a “tuner” company, and is subject to all the same laws and guidelines as any of the big manufacturing firms. Saleen modifies existing vehicles and sells them, and has so far breached the 8,000 car mark.

Many of their vehicles sell for as much as 400,000 USD, twice the value of a modest home in the United States. Saleen currently has its own manufacturing plant for its parts and has its flagship car, the Saleen S7, is NOT based on the Ford Mustang, but is of their own design and manufacture. The engine of this vehicle is an amazingly spacious 7 liters and is naturally aspirated V8, with a horse rating of 550. Along with this one a short lived model was the S-7 TT, which was updated and the predecessor of the S7, having a price of just 580k USD. These have been discontinued as of 2006.

Currently the lineup of Saleen supercars are the S281 3V, a 2008 model year vehicle that is naturally aspirated with three valves, and has a horsepower rating of 360 with several variants. The variants of the S281 are the S281 SC, with its massively supercharged engine that delivers 465 horses, and the S281 SR, a fully glass roof. They’re all extreme modifications of the Ford Mustang. Along with the S281 there is the S302, and its variants.

The S302 is a 620 horse monster of a car is the next generation that will be replacing the S281, and its variants include the S302 E has the Saleen Series 4 Super Charger that gives it that power rating of 620, whilst the H302 has just 390 horses, and the H302 SC, with its own supercharger at a handsome 580 horse rating. The last vehicle in current production is the S331SC, a supercharged Ford F-150 based monster of a truck, but not a monster truck, that delivers an amazing 450 horses and is available in supercab and crew variants.

Roewe is one of the newest car companies today, rising from the ashes of the Rover assets that were originally going to go to the SAIC, but because Ford took the Rover name they were unable to keep is. Thus Roewe was born. The current Roewe cars in production are the Roewe 250 and 750.

The 750 is a revised and re-planned version of the Rover 75 (just add a zero) and it has a 2.5L V6 engine with a five speed tranny along with a 150 horse output and the company claims that over 85-90% of the vehicle has been improved upon compared to the original 75. NAC also holds the right to make some of Rover’s assets theirs, however as they are a struggling company they are currently unable to meet production expectations or modernize designs much as Roewe has under the SAIC.

The latest development to the Roewe saga is the 450 W2 prototype and concept vehicle designed to be a descendant of the Rover K series. At the Shanghai automotive show it was applauded as being one of the best designs seen there and currently one of the most innovative to come from a purely Chinese design team.

The car makes use of many technological advancements including LED lightning, a sculpted metal frame and body, new audio surround equipment, advanced and individual climate controls, a satellite navigation system with GPS and uses the Z-axle system from BMW. The engines it should and will likely have are the gas powered 1.8L or the 2.0 Diesel which can use biodiesel fuel and a hybrid is expected to be developed later. Current projections have the car priced at roughly 30,000 USD American, with it already being NCAP ready and planned for distribution in European and Asian markets by the end of the decade.

RIP. That’s right, the mighty Rover has been slain – for now. At first the company was called the Starley and Sutton Company, and they made tricycles along with ‘ordinary’ bike (the bicycles with the giant front wheel and tinsy weensy back wheel) until 1888, when Starley made an electrified horseless carriage using all electric parts. He never put it into production; however it became a launching point to further developments.

A few years before Starley had made history with his Rover Safety Bicycle, the design is still used on 99.9% of all bikes today. The company was renamed the Rover Cycle Company after Starley passed away in 1901, and in the following two years Rover began to manufacture automobiles and motorcycles. Progress was swift, and by the Second World War Rover was a class car for the rich. During the buildup to the Second World War the British Government of the time authorized a buildup, choosing to use domestic companies for this, and Rover became one of them. Shadow production facilities were set up and paid for by the government but manned by civilians, and Rover had two factories set up. Their functions were to mass produce aircraft fighter engines and frames, and by early 1940 they developed the gas turbine engine prototype designs, and in 1941 a working prototype was built and tested. Rolls Royce took over the production of the engines in exchange for Rover getting a lucrative tank engine contract.

Post war boom times abounded and Rover was able to manufacture many experimental cars in the 50s, including the first gas turbine car ever made. In addition to this the 50s and 60s saw much improvements in designs at Rover, and their little Land Rover boomed as well, it became so successful that it was considered indispensible and was one of the main sources of income for Rover. In 1`967 Rover was acquired by Leyland Motors, which was them merged into the BMH Auto Corporation, and thus became British Leyland. Leyland soon floundered in economic downtimes, and it ended in Rover being partially held up by Honda during the 80′s. After this in 1994 Rover was taken over by BMW and then split into three parts, the MINI was maintained by BMW, Land Rover was sold off to Ford, and MG Rover was liquidated.

Following this the MG Rover Group ceased production in 2005, and the assets were sold to the Chinese auto group Nanjing Automobile. They then relocated many assets to mainland China and planned on producing Rovers again. However Ford bought the Rover name from BMW with accordance to a contract, and the plans that had been in motion collapsed. Not to be put off, the Nanjing Automobile group renamed everything to Roewe, and Roewe is currently ramping up production for a late 2007, early 2008 release.

However, Rover itself is for the most part gone. Ford has no plans to begin production of Rover and have effectively shut it down as a brand for good.