Nashua's "nail in the coffin" thread got me thinking about the Vigor (short-lived 5 cyl. oddball - early 90's?) and the Sterling (80's Honda/Jaguar collaboration).

Both went to pretty quick and quiet deaths, as I recall. Anyone here ever own/drive/consider one of these little-lamented stepchildren?

 

more like the bastard children!!! LOL

 

the sterling was a collaboration between honda and rover (not jaguar) in the late '80s-early '90s. the mechanicals of the sterling were honda pieces, but the electronics were all rover (and piss-poor).

the "oddball" 5 cylinder vigor became the "oddball" 5 cylinder tl 2.5L in 1995. the "vigor" name was, in fact, the first victim of acura's alphanumeric-naming bent so recently displayed with the retirement of the integra nameplate in favor of "rsx."

 

I’ve never owned either, but someone I used to work with had a VIGOR and I rode in it a few times.
I was driving Chrysler products at the time (Dodge Daytona) and I was quite impressed at the quality of the first Acura I ever had a ride in.

I remember seeing a STERLING at an Auto show when they were new.
The hood was popped and I couldn’t get over the literal RATS NEST of hoses and wires.
It’s like everything just ran from point A to point B in the shortest possible route.
What a mess.
The Gen I Legend that was parked along side looked MUCH better to my eyes at the time.
I believe they shared the same INTERIOR with the Gen I Legend Coupe.

Shawn S

 

My mom's friend had a sterling a few years ago. He bought the car new in '92 i believe and loved it. I thought it was a really nice car. Drove well, it was quiet, and very comfy inside.

 

Another group of dead cars...remember the Merkur XR4ti and Scorpio? ewwww.......

 

Hey hey hey! I had a silver/black 92 Vigor as my first car. Automatic SUCKED ASS! 2.5L and the stick wasn't that much faster. At that time I thought the vigor was the $hit. The interior was nice and i got my fair share of women but, as the legend grew with popularity I felt out of class. I had no problems with my vigor. Loved the car especially with rims/tints. Quality again, was very nice! Alot better than my cls.

 

That's interesting. The First Gen Legend and Sterling engine bays look identical to me, for some reason. Or maybe I'm not looking where you are? Check my sig for an engine bay picture or two of the Legend. Oh yeah, the Sterling interior was very nice; not identical to any Legend.

EDIT: Here's the engine pic http://63.193.123.11/vincent/legend/...old/engine.jpg

 

Hey, we’re talking 10-12 years ago. I don’t remember everything.

Nothing personal, but that picture of the 1990 Legend looks pretty messy under the hood compared to what they did with the 1991 Coupe I had.
Maybe I was comparing the Sterling/Legend to something else at the show.

Shawn S