Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Saab, and Fiat

As some of the examples make clear, teaming up just two car companies to make a car can be a complex business. But in the case of the ‘Type Four’ project, there were four firms collaborating to make a new executive car platform. Despite this, the resulting models – Alfa Romeo 164 (pictured top), Lancia Thema, Saab 9000 (pictured bottom), and Fiat Croma – were all creditable and competitive in different ways, and sufficiently differentiated to not tread on each other’s toes – which is impressive as many of their parts were interchangeable.

The first cars from the programme were the Thema and 9000, in 1984; the final cars produced were 9000s, in 1998. Partly because of its long life, the 9000 was the most prolific, with just over 500,000 produced.