Car of the Day -LaForza 5 Litre (1988-1990, 1998-2003)

In 1987, the British luxury truck maker Land Rover introduced it's Range Rover to the American market, kicking off what would become the luxury SUV segment.  There really wasn't any other SUV like it, except maybe the Jeep Wagoneer.  It was very uncommon for an SUV to be off-road, capable AND have leather seats, power steering, air conditioning and a CD player.

Meanwhile, across the earth in Italy, Rayton-Fissure introduced the Magnum 4x4, an SUV marketed towards law enforcement and military departments for use as patrol vehicles.  However, someone within the company thought it would be a great idea to market it as a civilian vehicle.  So Rayton Fissure added luxury amenities such as leather seats, padded dashboards, a 6-CD player (uncommon for the time, and air conditioning. Engines came in 4, 6, and 8 cylinders.  To basically sum it up, the Magnum is a lot like the Hummer of it's day.

Eventually, a group of American investors saw the success of the Range Rover and thought it would be a good idea to market the Magnum in the United States.  So what ended up happening was the Magnum was imported in parts to America (San Diego, if I'm not mistaken) and re-assembled using US-spec parts.  The final product (now called the "LaForza") is similar to it's European cousin with the exception of the engine and drivetrain.  For this, the LaForza was powered by Ford's legendary Windsor V8 (aka the 5.0) mated to a Ford 4-speed automatic transmission.

The LaForza 5 Litre went on sale in 1989 and was sold primarily in European specialty shops.  Despite some decent reviews and aggressive ad campaigns in the DuPont registry, the automaker only moved like...12 of them before going under. The reason for this was primarily the price (which I couldn't find, but I want to say it was in the Mid-$40,000 range...and this was in 1990)

But the story didn't end there.  In the mid 90s, a group of car enthusiasts bought out the remaining LaForza parts inventory and marketed the truck on a smaller scale, which gave the LaForza a new lease of life.  With the re-birth, the truck was given an updated Ford V8 engine as well as updated sound systems and interior upgrades. This itineration lasted until 2003.

Overall, It's hard to tell if the LaForza 5 Litre was a decent truck as so few exist and there are almost no forum sites dedicated to the truck.  I was unaware of the car's existence until I came across a blog post from Old Parked Cars (another great site for seeing obscure cars...IN PORTLAND!)  The 5 Litre was probably a decent competitor to the Range Rover, but the marketing, pricing, and the overall unfamiliarity of the maker made potential customers skeptical.  It's rebirth in 1998 gave the truck a clean slate and the benefit of being marketed on a smaller, cost effective level.  Also, 1998 was when the SUV boom was in high effect, so that also could explain some increased interest.