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About This Quiz
America has a long and proud tradition of car manufacture, going back more than a century. Many kinds of cars evolved in America because America has seen the need for many types. How much do you know about them?
What is the best-selling American vehicle?
The Buick Regal
The Chevy Malibu
The Ford Taurus
The Ford F-150
The Ford F-150 has sold over 34,000,000 units in the United States alone
What is the best-selling Chevy of all time?
SS
Impala
The Chevy Impala sold over 13,000,000 units from 1958 to 1996
Camaro
Sonic
What American car introduced the world to "optioning" a car?
The Ford Escort
The Chevy Corvair
The Ford Mustang
The Ford Mustang could be had as a base model back in the 1960s, but it was created with trim options, allowing buyers to tack on mostly cosmetic changes they would otherwise have to make by hand.
The Jeep Wrangler
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Which of the following brands is not American?
Lexus
Lexus is the luxury brand of Toyota, which is Japanese
Cadillac
Jeep
Lincoln
What kind of car was the iconic New York taxis of the 1940s?
Dodge
Checker
The Checker cabs of New York, so called by most people because of the checkered design down the belt line, was actually named for the brand. It is noteworthy that other brands also made New York taxis, including DeSoto. All of these companies are now defunct.
Mercury
Elio
Which of the following brands used to be American?
Aston Martin
Aston Martin was owned by The Ford Motor Company for many years, and shared many components with Ford cars available in the USA and Europe.
Fiat
Lada
Daihatsu
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What car was featured in the film Vanishing Point?
Dodge Challenger R/T
For the film Vanishing Point, the filmmakers decided to use a Dodge because Chrysler had done a lot of favors for 20th Century Fox over the years, and they wanted to show their gratitude. Strangely, Dodge Challengers are often villains' cars.
Ford Boss Mustang
Chevy Camaro
AMC Hornet
What was the car the hero drove in the film Bullitt?
Dodge Charger
Ford Mustang
Steve McQueen, a huge car enthusiast, drives a Ford Mustang in the film, including in the iconic chase scene through San Francisco.
Dodge Challenger
Chevy Camaro
What was the car from the Steven Spielberg film Duel?
Plymouth Barracuda
Plymouth Valiant
Duel wasn't exactly an endorsement of the Valiant, as it is shown constantly breaking down and putting the life of the hero in danger, but without the car, the plot of the film would not be the same.
Plymouth Special De Luxe Coupé
Plymouth Prowler
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Who was the most transformative figure in the American car industry?
Lee Iacocca
Lee Iacocca changed the way both Ford and Chrysler did business in the 1960s, '70s and '80s, retiring in 1992.
Henry Ford III
Mary T. Barra
Sergio Marchionne
What was Iacocca's major innovation at Ford?
He backed the Mustang.
Lee backed the development of the Mustang, the most iconic of muscle cars.
He pushed for F-series development.
He was the first non Ford family member to run the company.
He introduced colors as options.
What was Lee Iacocca's innovation at Chrysler?
He organized all the brands under Chrysler to use the same parts to make different cars, like a taco stand.
Lee Iacocca realized that if you put a big engine from a truck in a car, you got a muscle car, and if you could detune a V8 from a muscle car to produce fewer horses, you could stick it a luxury barge and it would last a thousand years. These decisions changed the face of car manufacture, and is the reason you can buy a Lincoln MKZ, which underneath the nice leather and fancy bodywork, is just a Ford Fusion.
He pushed for the development of the Ram brand.
He spearheaded SRT.
He sold to Fiat.
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What is the stereotype of the American drive type?
Front wheel drive
All wheel drive
Four wheel drive
Rear wheel drive
American cars were long resistant to the pull of other drive types, but eventually they made their way into the American car landscape.
What is the reality of the American cardrive type, in Chevy?
Mostly front wheel drive
Perhaps because of the influence of Lee Iacocca, since GM shares Chevy engineering with brands it owns all over the world, most of the current Chevy car lineup is front wheel drive.
Mostly rear wheel drive
Mostly all wheel drive
Mostly four wheel drive
What type of custom American car has evolved from the culture around "chopping" motorcycles?
Hotrods
Ratrods
Ratrods are cars that have had all the bodywork stripped off so you can see their works, like Harley Davidson motorcycles
Ramrods
Rodrods
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Where in the USA do people go to test their cars' top speeds, off road?
The Mojave Desert
The Great Plains
The Bonneville Salt Flats
The Bonneville Salt Flats are a prime destination for speed freaks who want to put the pedal down, but due to the nature of racing on a salt surface, getting up to speed doesn't work the way you'd think it would.
Central Park
What model of car was used to make the time machine in Back To The Future?
DMC-12
The DMC-12, the only car made by the DeLorean Motor Company (DMC) was a bit of a cultural icon even before Marty McFly. There were charges of drug crimes, and there were manufacturing issues, never mind that the eccentric car came in one color: no paint at all.
Escort
Countache
Testarossa
What car was used as KITT in the television series Knight Rider?
Pontiac Trans Am
The Trans Am was the "affordable" GM "wedge car" in the early 1980s. Essentially a less nice version of the Corvette, it was more interesting-looking because it didn't hew completely to the lines of its iconic, Iacocca-inspired cousin. As a result, it created its own look, like the child of a celebrity. Now these machines are worth more than their (at the time) more expensive cousins.
Dodge Turbo Interceptor
Buick Grand National GNX
Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z
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Why did Pontiac stop making the Trans Am
It didn't sell.
It was purchased by another brand.
Pontiac went out of business.
They were forced to.
The Trans Am Series, an organized race that had allowed GM to include "The Trans Am Package" as a trim level, stopped allowing GM to do so, because the car could not qualify for the race under the rules at the time.
Is the Trans Am, sorry, the "Firebird" making a comeback?
Yes! Pontiac is coming back!
No, it's dead.
Yes, but from a Chinese company.
It never really went away.
Trans Am Depot has been making modified GM cars into "Trans Ams" for several years, and there are rumors that Buick, which is owned by GM, is going to revive it as a Buick version of the Camaro.
Why did chauffeurs love the Lincoln Town Car?
It looks sick, bro!
It is low-key.
It is very cheap.
It was incredibly reliable.
While an executive sedan with a V8 that only produces 239 bhp doesn't sound like a great idea, by only using a little of the total muscle available to that engine, Ford created an engine that lasts decades without any major problems, and a car that is smooth and comfortable.
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Why don't 'muricans seem to care about handling as much as foreigners?
Because nobody needs it, ever
Because we like to eat while we drive and it's hard to do that and turn a car at the same time.
Because we built our highways so airplanes could land on them.
Because the interstate highway system was built so we could use them as improvised landing strips (a trick we learned when we invaded Germany and its autobahn), the roads where you can really go fast tend to be very straight. As a result, the idea is to keep the car straight and just keep shifting gears, none of which requires decent handling.
Because turning a car is a form of surrender
What ridiculously overpriced foreign car has loads of terrible American car parts in it?
The Maserati Quattroporte
Indeed, as both a product of Fiat/Chrysler and the ugly stepsister of Ferarri, the "budget friendly" Maserati four-door features plastic dashboard controls from cheap Dodges and a price north of $80,000
The Bently Bentayga
The Lamborghini Sesto Elemento
The Mercedes SLS
What American car brands do Australians get into fights over?
DeSoto and DeLorean
Ford and GM
Mad Max's Ford Falcon made a lot of people fans of the oval, but in Australia, battle lines were already drawn with some Holden (GM) fans on one side and Ford ones on the other. Where did you think all the villains came from in that movie?
Cadillac and Checker
Lincoln and Ram
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What was the last car you could buy new with a tape player?
The Crown Victoria
That's right, the Crown Victoria could be had in 2011 with a tape player option. Then, no more. You can't get one as standard trim, but you could probably get a shop to put one in. Just have them stick it next to your abacus and your box brownie.
The Impala
The Sonic
The Continental
What happened when Ford was testing the roof strength of the Ford GT?
It flattened the car.
It broke the roof crushing machine.
That's right, the mid-2000s Ford GT, which was built from plastic and aluminum, broke the machine meant to crush it when it was tested by Ford. The details are sketchy, though, so it may be a bit of a Ford publicity stunt.
It killed the driver.
They put it in upside down.
What modern car also claims to have broken the roof crushing machine?
Tesla
That's right, Tesla also did it, and then claimed they had a 5.4 star crash test rating, but there is no such thing.
Farraday Future
Elio
Bass
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Why did the Town Car dominate the stretch business?
Its looks.
Its body on frame construction.
Body on frame construction makes lengthening the car easy: You just take the body off, and lengthen the frame.
Its label.
Its ubiquity.
What was the last American car to feature an LSA engine?
The Cadillac CTS-V
The Ford GT
The Chevy Corvette
While many remember the CTS-V as the last American car to sport this type of engine, it was the Corvette that carried it to 2015, long past the CST-V had abandoned it.
Equus Bass 770
What is the name for the major engineering flaw underpinning the Jeep Wrangler?
Death Wobble
When Jeep Wranglers hit a short bump of sufficient size (about the size of a 4x4 piece of wood laid across the road) at a sufficient speed, it induces an injury to the suspension, causing the wheels to wobble violently, sending the car out of control, and soon thereafter, to the shop for thousands of dollars in repairs.
Motion Drift
Axle Disruption
Fugliness
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You Got:
/30
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