Making sense of automotive offerings used to make sense. You'd have a name, not a number. If there was a number on the car, it'd relate to engine size, configuration or even power.
In the good old days men liked to think they made the buying decision, but more often than not the purse strings were out of their direct control. That's how blokes ended up drowning in shame at the wheel of burnt orange Austin Princesses.
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Today's cover car is a great example of the confusion that surrounds nameplates nowadays. Recently both Audi and BMW have been doing their best to complete their ranges - in a numerical sense as well as releasing every possible configuration to fit their platforms.
BMW has filled in the even-numbered gaps by rebadging its coupes - the 3 Series two-door becomes a 4 Series and so on. But then the Gran Coupe version comes out in the 4 Series, and it's a four-door with a coupe-like profile. Things get a tad more difficult to get the grey matter around.
