Ford Taunus TC high profile General Motors executive and from early 1968 till Autumn/Fall 1969 Ford's Dearborn-based Chairman. The car is often nicknamed "Barock 2" (recalling the Taunus P2 series of the late 1950s, commonly known as the "Barock-Taunus") or "Knudsen-Taunus" in Germany, because of the prominent hood/bonnet scoop that, as the legend has it, was put there on direct order from Knudsen. Otherwise the major design work is rumoured to have been done by German car designer Luigi Colani, who later supplied design concepts for BMW's motorcycle division in the late 1970s. The lower end of the market segment previously occupied in
Ardex (car manufacturer) Ardex (car manufacturer) Ardex was a small French automobile manufacturer controlled by Marcel Tamine and based in Nanterre. In 1934, Ardex produced its first cyclecar, which followed the form of the Morgan three-wheeler and was powered by a V2 500 cc engine. A four-wheel car followed in 1937 which was at the time the cheapest car on the French market, priced at 5,500 francs: 10,900 francs were needed to buy a Simca 5. In September 1939 France declared war on Germany and in June 1940 the German Army rapidly invaded and occupied Northern France. The war years were characterised by