I spotted an (insert obscure car name here) classic car today! (Archived)

jaserb

Since shifty doesn't seem to be around I'll take a stab at it. There were Giuiia and Giulietta Spiders in the 50's and 60's that looked quite different, but what most people would recognize as an Alfa Spider was built from '66 to '94 and are loosely divided into 4 "series":
Series 1 66-70(ish): Called the Roundtail, Duetto, Boattail or "Osso di sepia" Spiders. These are shaped like a cuttlebone (that's osso di sepia in Italian). Dustin Hoffman drove one in "The Graduate".
Series 2 70-81: Coda tronca or "Kamm-tail" - Has a squared off trunk and Spica mechanical FI. Earlier ones have nice looking chrome bumpers, later ones have black crash bumpers.
Series 3 82-89: Bosch Injected. Has Bosch EFI and a little rubber "ducktail" spoiler.
Series 4 90-94: Newer Bosch FI, very smooth looking body effects, Automatic available.

-Jason

checkme

I thought the Cricket was made by Mitsubishi. They reviewed it on "Car and Track" about three months ago on Speedvision. "Car and Track" is an early 70's TV show. Speedvision aires old episodes daily at 6:30 a.m. P.S.T..

jrosasmc

Excellent try, but here is the actual breakdown of Alfa Spider years:

Series 1: 1966-71
Series 2: 1971-82
Series 3: 1983-90
Series 4: 1991-93 (no '94s)

lemko

...in England by Chrysler's Rootes Group, (now defunct). It was known as a Hillman Avenger in the UK. The Dodge Colt, which debuted around 1970, was made by Mitsubishi. Indifferent build-quality of the Cricket kept sales low.

jrosasmc

That indifferent quality also contributed to the demise of British automobiles in the U.S.

yaman

About a year or so ago I saw a 1960ish Plymouth Barracuda in the parking lot of a home depot.Back in the late 60's my sister bought one (her first car).Hadn't seen one in I guess 25 years or so.Beautiful car

jaserb

'70 and '90 were transition years, meaning you could find both series I and II spiders in '70 and you could find series 3 and 4 spiders in '90. Even the some of the old style '90 spiders had the Motronic FI. And yes, there were Spiders sold in the US titled as '94 models. Don't know what book you're reading, but Alfas don't necessarily go by the book.

-Jason

magnetophone

I was going to say - i was pretty sure they had a 94 Spider.

jrosasmc

Yeah, but the book I read stated that Alfa stopped building the Spider in April 1993. Probably those last ones were sold as '94s.

magnetophone

They still build the Spider.. I saw several in Italy.

andys120

Plymouth Cricket nee Hillman Avenger. The Rootes Group included some old British names such as Sunbean and Humber. For a time Chryco made the Sunbeam Tiger which was powered by a Ford 260 V8
because they couldn't find a Mopar V8 that'd fit.

I must've confused the Cricket with the Omnirizon which was made in Europe as a Talbot when Chrysler owned Talbo-Simca.

magnetophone

I think Peugeot owned Chrysler of Europe around that time...

jrosasmc

I was talking about the old-style Spiders, the ones that dated back to "The Graduate" from 1967. The Spiders you saw in Italy were most definitely the new style with the Twin Spark engine, right?

magnetophone

Yes, the FWD Spider based off of the Alfa GTV.

Mr_Shiftright

The last RWD Spiders were the 115.A2s I believe (going from memory here). I've seen some registered as a '94, probably leftovers.

Hardly an "obscure" car however.....harumpf!

Now if you had said an Alfa Montreal, well, okay!

angelboing

i've seen a few of those here in LA.... somewhat boring styled SUVs...

andys120

I think they're gonna be pretty popular considering how tiny they are (tho a lot bigger than the original).

magnetophone

Does anyone know the details of what is in a Laforza? What kind of engine? are they related to Fiat?

machiavelli

I'm starting to see new Minis, too. I've seen 3 or 4 so far.

I think the Laforza was an Italian SUV - I think it had a 5.0L Ford V8. A nice looking SUV, anyway. I don't think it was related to FIAT.

checkme

This morning, I saw:

1. A Plymouth Barracuda

2. An '87 LeBaron coupe- one of the rare "Maserrati" editions.

3. This one isn't unusual- a Prius. What is unusual is how popular they are here in LA. I have seen hundreds- 2 in the last 24 hours alone!

4. A natural gas powered Ford Taurus.

5. An electric RAV4 used to park on the street accross from my office, but it doesn't park there any more.

machiavelli

My neighbor has a Prius, so I see one every day! But, that's the only one I've actually seen on the road.

alfox

Just saw a "new" VW Bora on a dealer lot in Wellesley MA.

?

magnetophone

That's crazy talk! I once saw a VW "Bora" and asked the driver if he was German, and he was not - he said he removed JETTA and bought a BORA decal from a German website for a few bucks and tacked it on there.

I think if I owned a Jetta i would do that.

alfox

It was a neraly new car, probably a program car. Who knows? (Actually, the dealership probably knows, but I didn't have time to ask.)

magnetophone

In any event if it were a real Bora, I'd want it because it would be from Germany and not Mexico!

alfox

I did look at the VIN, and it started WVW, so who knows?

magnetophone

Then it was a real German car! I think TDI's are still made in Europe though even if the are "Jettas".

alfox

I forgot to look to see if it was a TDI!

magnetophone

Well it would say on the other side of the trunk,
My favorite engine in the whole world is the 1.9 TDI!

alfox

if they took off the Jetta badge, they might also have taken off the TDI. I'm sure I would have noticed, come to think of it, since I was on the lot looking for TDI's.

andys120

the LaForza is an Italian made SUV about the size of an Explorer utilizing the Ford 302/5.0 V8. It's been around for a while but I don't believe it's imported any longer. There's no connection with Fiat that I know of.

Boras and Jettas are identical in appearance except possibly for minor trim items. I'm not sure if our TDIs are German-made, they probably are. "WVW" definitley means a German car

andys120

Except I think the compacts of 1960 had to be well in the pipeline by '58 since they were completely different from anything the big three made in the '50s.

Wasn't it around '58-'59 that Insolent Chariots came out?

Ironically the compacts got GM in even more hot water (Unsafe At Any Speed)

ghulet

...I'm pretty sure they were only imported here for a very few years (maybe like 1989-93, perhaps even fewer)? This, of course, was before 'everyone' was making SUVs, or luxury SUVs.

maltb

being that it's an SUV, it would never be worthy of speeds over 80.

ghulet

maltb

wishnhigh1

"Does anyone know the details of what is in a Laforza? What kind of engine? are they related to Fiat?"

I recall hearing that LaForza was built by a now defunct company that was owned by Lamborghini. Of course, that is just me hearing...so I cant claim truth.

verozahl

The Prius is popular in Ann Arbor.

ghulet

Strangely enough, I hardly ever see Priuses (is that Prii, like Pry-eye) here in Shuhkawgo, but I do see Insights, though not too frequently. I think most people are more concerned with saving $ 'on the front end' than in gas, because I do see lots and lots of Corollas, Civics, and quite a few Echos.

pat84

Good to see you back.

I saw an Avanti II yesterday. In good condition and actually being driven as an everyday car.

alfox

I called the dealership and was told that the Bora was indeed built for the Germany market. It's an 01 2.0L that was bought there by an American GI and driven in Europe for 2 years. When he transfered home he had it modified for US licensing. I was wrong on the mileage - it has 36k on it. Salesman didn't know the asking price, and I didn't ask him to go find it since I was not a buyer.

magnetophone

It's sort of rare to find a Bora in germany as it is... I think they old sell about 30,000 of them per year in Germany and 15,000 in UK. They sell about 10 times as many Golfs in the same year.

odman

I vaguely recall that the LaForza was powered by 5.8 litre Ford V8s.

maltb

The previous poster was correct:

http://www.laforza.com/specs.html
"Equipped with a 302/5.0 Liter 340 HP “Supercharged” Fuel Injected Ford engine coupled with a Ford electronic four-speed automatic transmission..."

Read down on the page: Skip Braden, General Manager of Laforza, tells us that "During the Laforza's 35-mph crash test the Laforza is the only vehicle to ever crash through the barrier."

andys120

It's a little light for a 5200 lb tank. What do you think of the brag about "crashing through the barrier?"

maltb

I think it's an awesome marketing tool for their idiot target market.

john_324

...Pontiac Fieros? I saw an early 4 cyl one in good condition on the road the other day, and it made me realize that you don't see them as often as you used to. I've always liked them, if only for the idea of a domestic car company building a mid-engined two-seater. Are they becoming rare, or is it just me?

andys120

but I can tell you that people who are knowledgeable about cars and people who don't give a fig about cars otherwise are hanging on to them like they were jewels or something.

lokki

They're famous for that; although that may not be their most famous problem, all of them seem to go into that mode sooner or later.

maltb

Toyota was able to make it more refined and more reliable.

I don't remember hearing anyone accuse the 2.5 wheezer of being able to get up and go. By the time it got a V-6 it only got heavier, more cladding (really? a Pontiac with cladding?nahhhhh) and pricey.