Orphan (car)
An orphan car is any marque of motor vehicle built by a manufacturer that has discontinued business entirely.
The term is sometimes confused with and inaccurately applied to a discontinued marque from a still-existing vehicle manufacturer (e.g. Oldsmobile, by General Motors) or a sub-marque (e.g. Thunderbird, by Ford Motors).
In the case of a revived marque, a discontinued one revived by a newer company (e.g. Maybach, by mercedes-Benz), only the original vehicles are accurately considered orphans.
Orphans
There are hundreds of orphan automobile brands, and hundreds of defunct manufacturers. Some of the better known orphans are listed below:
- Checker
- DeLorean
- Nash[1]
- Rambler
- American Motors (AMC)[2]
- Hudson[1]
- Studebaker[1]
- Pierce Arrow[1]
- Marmon[1]
- Cord
- Hispano Suiza
- Austin-Healey[3]
- Rover
- Triumph (out of production in 1994; manufacturer defunct; marque acquired by BMW in 1993;dormant)
- Kaiser[1]
- Willys[2]
- Crosley[1]
- Tucker[3]
- Packard[1]
- Saab[2]
- Bricklin
- Sterling
- Sunbeam[3]
- Fisker
- Muntz
Discontinued marques from existing manufacturers
The following are discontinued marques from existing manufacturers (and thus not orphan automobiles).
Chrysler Group
- Marquette
- Geo
- La Salle[1]
- Saturn
- Oakland[1]
- Oldsmobile[3]
- Hummer[3]
- Viking
- Pontiac[3]
- Asüna
- Beaumont
- Holden
Steam / Electric
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Perschbacher, Gerald (2009-08-10). "What is - and isn't - an 'orphan' car?". Old Cars Weekly. Retrieved 2025-06-03.
- ^ a b c "Up close with 12 of our favorite orphan cars and trucks". www.hemmings.com. July 3, 2024. Retrieved 2025-06-03.
- ^ a b c d e f g Berkowitz, Justin (October 22, 2010). "10 Orphaned Cars to Drive Before You Die". caranddriver.com. Retrieved June 3, 2025.