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

kyfdx

We had a '97 Accord... the rear spoiler, CD changer and gold emblems all came as a package...

Uh, I don't really want gold emblems.. No sweat, we'll just throw them in the trunk... they were still in the trunk when we traded it in...

berri

I dunno, Camry might have also included them in some package on upper trim like Fintail was talking about, but you could get them by themselves if you shelled out the cash. What do you think it cost the dealer, maybe 10 bucks? Nice markup! Like those plastic wheel covers they want a C note each for - maybe $12 material and labor in it? I remember reading somewhere once that if you bought your car in OEM parts it would run you around 5 times what the car originally cost, and that doesn't include any labor.

fintail

Oh yeah forgot those...my dad had one of those gold trimmed T&Cs, pearl white with gold emblems and the wheels even had gold trim. Classy!

msd11

1968 Shelby Cobra GT500KR Convertible. Green with black interior, automatic, with a 428 Cobra Jet engine.

Well, to be honest, I spot it almost everyday. It's part of the family lol!

wevk

Several years ago, while traveling to Florida on business, aftermarket padded roofs were everywhere and not just on Lincolns and Caddys. Mercedes, Subaru's, Toyoda corollas you name it. Ugh

kyfdx

1st generation... '89?

In white, with period black bra on the front.... Really nice aftermarket mesh 17" alloys..

Well taken care of, evidently... 220 HP Yamaha six-cylinder with a 5-speed, IIRC..

texases

1st gen SHO gets my vote as one of the best looking engines of all time:

fintail

Those cars eventually make it to other places. In my area there's a Sable and a Kia Amanti both with the faux top - the latter being especially hideous.

Spotted this morning: very clean W126 380SE and a little old lady in a pristine 85-88 Cressida.

berri

But more importantly, were the drivers wearing plaid pants with white belts and bucks?

andys120

1st gen SHO gets my vote as one of the best looking engines of all time:

A great engine in search of a good car.

tjc78

For its time, it was a pretty decent machine (obviously not the most reliable thing ever created). Where else were you getting that kind of power, manual trans and competent handling out of a 4 door sedan at the price point?

Mr_Shiftright

My personal opinion is that whenever you put a manual transmission into a large 4-door sedan, you are by definition going to narrow your buyer base considerably, and doubly so on the "low" end, with a Ford.

It's just not a logical combination.

andre1969

My personal opinion is that whenever you put a manual transmission into a large 4-door sedan, you are by definition going to narrow your buyer base considerably, and doubly so on the "low" end, with a Ford.

I wonder what the end result would have been if they tried to put that drivetrain into a compact Tempo instead of the Taurus? The Taurus was vastly superior to the Tempo, but maybe more people would have bought it as a compact.

Funny thing, but by today's standards, a first-gen Taurus, with its 106" wb, is actually bordering on "compact"!

Mr_Shiftright

It's all aimed at the wrong buyer---Tempo or Taurus. These are taxi cabs, not sports cars.

Even the legendary Mighty Mopars of the 60s, which WERE taxicabs, are very very rare as 4-door big blocks with 4-speeds.

texases

True for the Tempo, but the the Taurus was a pretty big step towards a 'good car' for Ford at the time. Had they made the SHO with an AT from day one it would have been more successful.

tjc78

Had they made the SHO with an AT from day one it would have been more successful.

I agree with that.

Andre, a Tempo with that Yamaha V6 would have been quite the little rocket.

I wonder what that V6 would have been like in a RWD Fox car.

texases

"Andre, a Tempo with that Yamaha V6 would have been quite the little rocket."

I remember at one point GM tested out the 2.8l v6 from the Citation in a Chevette - that would have been a hoot!

andre1969

I remember at one point GM tested out the 2.8l v6 from the Citation in a Chevette - that would have been a hoot!

Now, that would have been evil!

I wonder how hard it would have been to get a smallblock V-8 under the hood of a Chevette? I've actually seen an old 70's, RWD Dodge Colt with a 440 big-block under the hood, a PT Cruiser with a 426 Hemi, and a Focus with a 351W. So I'd think a smallblock conversion on a Chevette would be comparatively simple.

robr2

I wonder how hard it would have been to get a smallblock V-8 under the hood of a Chevette?

It has been done but it takes a lot of fabrication.

fintail

There was a V6 Tempo in the last few years of that thing - I think it was the 3.0. Probably comparable to a V6 Sundance/Shadow.

tjc78

Yeah it was the "Vulcan" 3.0. Probably not the worst car in the world, but I think the Shadow/Sundance V6s were the better cars.

Mr_Shiftright

Believe me, you can get any engine into any car--all you need is money and skill. I think I have a photo somewhere of a hemi-powered Topolino. :surprise:

fintail

Being a better car than a Tempo doesn't take much :shades:

robr2

Hey hey hey!! When we first got married, I drove my wife's Tempo to work into one of the worst neighborhoods in Boston every day for a couple of years. That thing could take curbs and potholes like a champ.

When we traded it in, the dealer couldn't believe it had 110K on it. "Tempos don't go 110K."

fintail

We had a Tempo in the family too, and it was surprisingly durable, if anything. 85 GLX, fairly loaded, picked up on some special and miled up to about 190K by the time it left my mother's driveway in 1999. Used as a second car and kids car for years and still kept going, I think the transmission might have only been serviced once (I guess when the engine makes no torque, it isn't necessary). I beat the heck out of it and it kept going, although I do remember it eating a joint here and there, muffler just about falling off, a few engine computers crapping out, headliner sagging, power seat shorting out and smoking while I was driving...and I am pretty sure the fintail could beat it in a highway merge. It wasn't great to drive, no acceleration little handling etc. But for any 4cyl domestic of that era to make it so far was amazing. And the design aged better than much of the competition IMO

tjc78

Believe me, you can get any engine into any car

Well, then I'll put my order in for Chevy 454 in a Smart Car.... :P

omarman

Spotted this morning headed east toward Westerville was a nice, stock-looking 1964 Chevelle in Lagoon Aqua (?) green. I always thought that color was called Tahitian Turquoise but after checking the paint charts for reference, that name/color didn't appear until 1965. From the chart samples seen on my monitor though they look similar.

The Chevelle I saw this morning was the twin of my neighbor Dale's first car in 1974. He'd pick me up after school for cruising around and even though the car was "only" ten years old, that's about all it was really good for. Nobody was "collecting" them or still relying on them as daily drivers. Funny to see that old Chevelle today in the morning drive-time mix with enough frost cover left on the glass/body to show that it's not garage kept - at least not last night.

lemmer

Mr_Shiftright

You mean a Smart Car *ON* a 454 Chevy engine?

We are looking for the few...the brave....

boomchek

I think Ford tried to model the Tempo after the european Sierra at the time but the Sierra was much better looking car for the times.

I remember in the early 80s when we lived in Poland and I first saw a Sierra (when most cars on the road were eastern european recycled Fiat designs from the 60s and 70s) it blew me away.

fintail

Yep, they are definitely related. Sierra hit Europe in 82, we got the aero T-Bird in 83 and the Tempo in 84 - some shared talent there without a doubt. Huge similarities in those cars too, down to the door side trim.

lemko

I imagine a smallblock under the hood of a Chevette would've made that car extremely nose-heavy. I remember when the Aries-Reliant came out and I drew a picture of one with a 426 Hemi in it. Wonder if that could be done in the real world?

lemko

Of course you could drive that Tempo into the worst neighborhood in any city. Nobody would have the desire to steal it! Heck, they might even take pity on you and offer charity! :P

robr2

Oh I knew nobody would steal it. Even theives have some self-respect.

In terms of the worst neighborhood, I meant potholes, alley way parking over a curb and an occassional working girl using the hood as her "office".

Today that neighborhood has been gentrified and offers million dollar condos and great restaurants.

andre1969

I remember when the Aries-Reliant came out and I drew a picture of one with a 426 Hemi in it. Wonder if that could be done in the real world?

If it can be done to a PT Cruiser, it can be done to a K-car! FWIW, at the Mopar show in Carlisle, usually there's an '85 or so Dodge Daytona that shows up, that was converted to RWD, and has a smallblock under the hood. I can't remember if it was there this past year, but I took a pic of it in 2010:

ab348

I never liked that Fird design theme with the thick door windowframes, the side glass that looked like an airplane fuselage, the high cowl, and the pseudo-areo look.

However, I would go for the model in the Sierra shot in a heartbeat...

boomchek

Haha, agreed with you on the styling. It was even worse looking on the Topaz.

fintail

My dad almost bought a Topaz coupe for my mother, I think in 1986-87. He called it a "mini Thunderbird" or something...she didn't fall for that.

Although to be fair, in a world of K-cars, Citations, Fairmonts, etc, those cars looked modern.

uplanderguy

Say what you will, but I much-preferred the looks of the Corsica and Beretta (I know they came out a few years later). I had both an '89 Beretta GT V6 automatic and a '90 Corsica 4-cyl. 5-speed. Had the Beretta for 75K miles (outgrew it) and the Corsica for 108K miles. Minimal anything to either.

andre1969

Stylewise, I prefer the Corsica/Beretta to the Tempo/Topaz, but I always hated the interiors. Not that the interior of the Tempo/Topaz was anything to write home about. I thought the N-body Grand Am, Somerset Regal/Skylark, and Calais were good looking for the time as well, although the Grand Am had a pretty bad interior. The Buick and Olds seemed decent on the inside, though. Again, for the time.

On the Mopar front, I thought the LeBaron GTS and Dodge Lancer were really sharp looking. And Chrysler was actually putting some fairly nice interiors into most of their cars at the time.

michaellno

I thought the N-body Grand Am, Somerset Regal/Skylark, and Calais were good looking for the time as well, although the Grand Am had a pretty bad interior.

When I graduated college in 1985, I moved home to California and needed to buy a car. I looked at both an '86 Grand Am as well as an '86 Mustang (4-cyl). Neither really impressed me, so I ended up buying a year old, 17K mile '85 Accord LX hatch. Malaise is the right word.

On the Mopar front, I thought the LeBaron GTS and Dodge Lancer were really sharp looking. And Chrysler was actually putting some fairly nice interiors into most of their cars at the time.

Concur. Especially with the 140 HP (!) turbo 2.2L engines that were available. I liked the 5-door hatch configuration. Mazda offered a turbo 2.0L 5-door 626 at the time as well.

tjc78

IMHO Chrysler interiors were generally the best of the big 3 through the 80s into the early 90s. GMs were probably the worst. Like you said compare a Tempo to a Corsica and the a LeBaron the difference was pretty large.

fintail

I always thought the Corsica and Beretta were just a notch upmarket from the Tempo/Topaz. When I was young my family knew an old couple with the odd 5-door Corsica, don't think they ever had an issue with it. But someone my dad worked with had an early build (87) Beretta with lots of bugs, including door hinge issues (sagged and pretty much fell off).

uplanderguy

My best man worked for Chrysler in WV as a Zone Service Manager from about '83 to '87 or so. I remember him having a nice GTS I think it was--or was it a Lancer?--black with the 'swiss cheese' (as he called them) aluminum wheels. It had leather inside and was a sharp car. He didn't have company cars long though. I remember when he got a "Caravelle"--zzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

fintail

Those Lancer/GTS cars weren't bad looking, talk about milking a platform, Chrysler engineers were working hard. My uncle had a Chrysler "E-Class" (even in MB style lettering), same car as a Caravelle...another K-car spinoff. Amazing.

uplanderguy

To my eyes, the seats in that Corsica, and the cloth on the door trim, look better than the Ford and Chryslers pictured. I remember the Beretta actually had a different (although similar) instrument panel than the Corsica. I've never seen a 5-speed Corsica besides my '90, 'til the picture above. That must be an optional interior as mine did not have that seat trim.

uplanderguy

I'm a little surprised the Ford doesn't appear to have map pockets in the doors. The photo of the Corsica dash reminded me of the very large open storage compartment to the left of the steering wheel...I remember it would swallow up most of my lower arm! Note on the Corsica dash where you could store coins on top of the panel. Can't say I ever did this with mine though.

berri

Yeah, that GTS was a nice looker for its time

berri

Ford's always were cheapo on the interiors back then except for upper trim LTD's and the like.

But boy, I recall those Corsica rental cars - Chintz and lousy drivers. But then this was the era where Detroit handed the car biz to Japan on a silver platter. Iaccoca and the lot bitched, but frankly, back then I would pay more for many Japanese models because they were put together better and gave you a lot less grief. It's only taken Detroit what, 20+ years to wake up?

uplanderguy

Honestly, I used to rent cars a lot back in the late '80's. One thing I remember about Japanese cars in general was the smelly vinyl inside, and the engines revving like they were going to buzz apart at 65 mph. I'd always choose a domestic if offered to me. I always remember what seemed to me to be really thin doors too.