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

andre1969

uplanderguy said:

Yes, a 350 was the California engine for a V8 Monza in '75, and it was pushed down to 125 hp--but that's when the 262 was only 110 hp.

Interesting, I didn't know that part about being California-only. I just looked up the info in my auto encyclopedia, but it doesn't break down by CA/non-CA.

At first, I was thinking it was interesting that they'd use the 350 in CA, and not the 262...surely the 350 couldn't have put out less emissions? But then it hit me...wonder if the real reason was the 262, set up for CA, would have been so choked down that it would have been totally gutless?

fintail

Nice looking interior in that K wagon, looks like durable upholstery, and I like the color. 80s domestics seemed to have decent upholstery, which I think was still a weakness in some Japanese products.

Thinking of V8 Vega conversions, I remember when I was a kid, our backyard neighbor was a gearhead, and so were his sons. One of them built a V8 Vega swap, I remember it vividly as he'd burn rubber for long distances with it - I suspect it was kind of squirrely to drive. I vividly recall what the parents drove - the dad had a late model (maybe even new) late run squarebody pickup in dark blue, and the mom had a late run "big" (76-77) Monte Carlo in a nearly identical blue, both cars were kept pristine. Fast forward 30+ years, and one of the sons owns the house, and is still a gearhead, with a menagerie of old VWs parked around.

Out for a walk, spotted a red Chrysler TC with the top down, and a facelift Contour SVT.

stickguy

back in my youth (I am thinking early college, maybe 19) I was looking at cars (big shock, I know) and I found a 76ish Monza. V8, hatch with a stick. Bright silver. at the time (1981 or so) it was like an exotic. Took it to the family mechanic who IIRC gave it a pretty clean bill of health (though I think it had some rust on the bottom edge of one of the doors). But he told me don't bring it back for new plugs. that was one of the ones that you had to undo the motor mount and jack up the engine to change the back plugs.

main reason I did not get it though was it was too pricey for me at the time. Maybe $1,900?

uplanderguy

That K wagon is very clean and I believe the odometer.

As if on cue, the K-car comments soon followed there, but think hard of what, say, a Toyota wagon looked like then. The K did beat GM and Ford in building a wagon in that size/price class then.

uplanderguy

I remember that there was one plug that required undoing the motor mount. I bet on a lot of cars, that one plug never got changed!

Chevy tried to downplay that by saying, "Hey, it's only every 22,500 miles!", LOL.

V8 Mustangs supposed required taking the battery out to replace plugs, but that's preferable of course.

I will say that at the time, especially, I thought the Monza 2+2, especially with those aluminum wheels that had the holes around the center, was a very expensive-looking small car. And they were indeed expensive when they came out--the four-cylinder base was $3,900-odd, $300 more than the cheapest Camaro IIRC.

ab348

GM Design did a fine job on the Monza 2+2. I never had a chance to drive one so I don't know how different it was from the Vega experience, if much at all. But it certainly was nicely trimmed. I have a memory that they weren't necessarily the best quality vehicles, though again I have no direct experience.

I looked at the '76 brochure and it had 4 engine options, none of them great. Two versions of the Vega 4, one with 70hp, one with 84. A 4.3L (262) V-8 with 110hp, and the 305 with 140. Oddly enough the weaksauce 262 could be had with a 3, 4, or 5-speed manual, or an automatic, but the 305 only had the automatic available. In '75 it was offered with the 350, but that only made 125hp, so no loss.

I imagine one of those would have been fun with a hi-po 4 under the hood if such a thing existed back then.

kyfdx

Even the choked down V-8s had pretty impressive torque off the line.

Very quick up to 50 mph... lol

stickguy

could spin the tires and it sounded fast. in those days, that was hot stuff!

and there was plenty more power in there. Just had to know where to look.

andre1969

I've heard that of the configurations offered in the Monza and its siblings, the Buick 231 gave the best blend of power and handling. It usually had around 105-110 hp in those days, and was fairly torquey, but didn't add that much weight. The V8s just added too much weight, made the car nose heavy, and also caused suspension and sub-frame problems, I believe.

If the body style had persisted far enough into the 80's, when GM started offering turbo 4-cyls, I wonder how it would have performed with one of those?

stickguy

or the V6 out of a grand national. that would have been a serious sleeper.

sda

I had a 71 Vega GT 4sp, while in hs, and a 76 Pontiac Sunbird coupe that I drove while in college. The 231 V6 with 5sp was a good combination. Though not quick by today’s standards it was fine in 55mph America. The Sunbird was a much better car than the Vega. They shared the basic platform. It rode better, was much quieter, probably one of the quietest of that size class at the time. I had the ‘luxury’ interior so that made a nice difference. It would routinely get 18-20 mpg around town and 28-30 mpg on the road depending on whether I was using the ac, and cruised no higher than 62 mph. Driving any faster than that pretty much guaranteed a speeding ticket in TN. When I drove to see friends in VA I knew not to drive faster than 58-60 max. I really wanted an Olds Starfire, Buick Skyhawk which were hatchbacks similar to the good looking Monza hatch. I thought the V6 was the better choice. When I found the Sunbird at the Pontiac dealer it only had 18k and had been traded by a couple who bought a new 79 Bonneville. It was very well equipped, clean, and I thought nicely styled. I especially liked the classic Pontiac front beak. For $2900 it was a good car and one I remember fondly.

sda

Some typical problem areas with the H-bodies included weak door hinges on the hatchbacks (because of the huge heavy doors) which allowed the door to sag and become difficult to close, interior door pulls that broke at the mounting (they were vinyl covered over hard plastic), warped rotors, weak clutches requiring replacement every 30k or so. Rust, though not nearly as bad as early Vegas, rattles and squeaks were common. The only issue I had with the Sunbird was replacing the clutch at 40k, and around 80k. The low 2.56 rear axle made slipping the clutch more than I like to get started necessary on Knoxville’s hilly roads. Really, the problem areas were very similar to other domestics at the time.

uplanderguy

The thing that struck me about my friends' Monza V8's (both '75's) was that V8 growl they had (even with the 262), something I'd never heard from a car that small.

Worst thing I remember--and I drove them both--was that although they called them "power brakes", they sure didn't feel like it. Much pedal pressure, and lots of dead pedal beforehand. Both also wore out their front Firestone 500's pretty quickly, but that was the first year GM put radials on everything.

'75 Monzas were only built at the small Ste. Therese, Quebec plant. I remember a Popular Mechanics Owners' Survey where those cars were rated by owners as unusually well-assembled, at least in those days.

In hindsight, I would prefer a Cosworth Vega now. Even though emissions requirements resulted in the car having significantly less power than originally planned, I think it's a nice-looking package, in and out. The engine is just beautiful to look at and had stickers with the assembler's name signed. Crazy-expensive at the time and I bet not a one was sold at sticker but significantly discounted, as the one at my hometown dealer was. Dual overhead cam and fuel injection was pretty exotic for a subcompact domestic.

I belong to a mostly-Vega but also H-body Facebook page, which reminds me and others what a darling the Vega was of virtually all of the car magazines for the first few years of production. I also enjoy seeing people who had them new, or more than one new, say they liked their cars then. The press would have you think there's not a single owner who felt that way.

One thing I see again and again is the neutral steering and cornering. One mag said the Cosworth cornered better than the same-year Corvette with radials.

I know I grew up GM, but I can't imagine a Cosworth Pinto or Gremlin.

My opinion only, but I think time and media makes the bad worse than it actually was and the good better than it actually was.

roadburner

I remember when Road & Track Tested a Buick Skyhawk back in 1977 or 1978; during the brake fade test the plastic wheel covers started to melt- and I think one completely fell off.
I was reminded of how I heard a European automotive engineer explain the difference between European drivers and American drivers:
"European drivers don't care if the brakes squeal- just as long as they stop the car."
"American drivers don't care if the brakes stop the car- just as long as they don't squeal.

imidazol97

uplanderguy said:

Both also wore out their front Firestone 500's pretty quickly, but that was the first year GM put radials on everything.
.

Was that the era of Firestone 500 tires chunking out pieces of the tread? I recall people had to replace 500's and Firestone stalled for so long on a recall or compensation that many people no longer had the old tires stored to claim compensation. Saved Firestone lots of money by stalling on cooperating with the government agency, IIRC.

uplanderguy

I think that's right, imidazol.

kyfdx

My stepfather was in the tire supply business. We were early adopters of radial tires. He put 500s on both of our cars. Fortunately, he taught me how to change a tire when I was 13. We had 10 failures in about 18 months. After all that, I could change a tire in about 5 minutes.

imidazol97

kyfdx said:

My stepfather was in the tire supply business. We were early adopters of radial tires. He put 500s on both of our cars. Fortunately, he taught me how to change a tire when I was 13. We had 10 failures in about 18 months. After all that, I could change a tire in about 5 minutes.

Practice makes perfect.

ab348

Our '74 Maverick LDO came standard with Firestone 500 radials. We never had any issues with them and they were still on the car when we sold it years later. One odd thing was that in the package of materials that accompanied the owners manual there was a certificate from Pirelli outlining their tire warranty, no idea how that got in there. I didn't think Ford used Pirellis on any of their cars in '74.

fintail

Saw the same obscure car from last week, my friend's 83 300CD. We drove together for a few miles again, he was getting a little stir crazy and wanted to get out while the weather was still dry, so we cleaned our cars a little (he has likely the entire Griot's catalog in his garage) and cruised around a little:



Also saw a 70s 911, a W124 500E, and a 70s Ford truck on the road.

uplanderguy

Since I mentioned Cosworth Vegas a bit earlier here, here is what was always my favorite color combination on one: dark blue with white interior. I'll admit it is a bit 'disco' by today's standards, and the black/gold is probably better about standing the test of time, LOL.

I know black with gold was the original ('75) scheme, and it beat "The Bandit" on that, but my friend wanted to buy a two-year-old one in '78 that looked just like this, for $3,500, but his Dad wouldn't co-sign for it:

https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2018/04/20/hemmings-find-of-the-day-1976-chevrolet-cosworth-vega/#&gid=1&pid=1

I remember riding in the one our hometown dealer got in, with a salesman I knew. I was 17. Our downtown area was in a valley and there was fairly-steep "West Main Hill" where everyone test-drove cars. I remember saying "Wow, I've never been in a Vega this fast" (duh), and Claude, the salesman saying, "85 and I'm still in third gear". It was a black '75. Sticker was $6,300 but it was advertised in the paper nearly a year later for $4,800-something. An old lady bought it (really), and traded in a '72 Nova six-cylinder for it. She had it until she died and it had several owners after, ending with the fellow who was my best man who has now had it about twenty years. It has 13K miles and is almost never driven.

I have since seen a photo of a dark green Cosworth, and that looks nice to me too. None of the regurgitated Vega stuff of the first iteration can be said about the Cosworth. It is a shame it didn't come to market earlier with the 150 net hp it was designed with.

I like the '75 taillights better (yellow taillight lenses always screamed "Foreign!" to me), but the availability of colors was only in '76.

kyfdx

Thinking back to '70s cars (when I started driving), it's weird how cars performed differently than you'd expect.

My '77 Cobra II, 302 V-8 4-speed manual topped out at 108 mph. While my friend's '77 Celica, 4 cylinder, 5-peed manual would do 125 mph.

stickguy

I always liked the cos Vega. Would be cool to have one. I assume if you aren’t a Uris the engine can be gently breathed on to free up a fair bit more power

uplanderguy

kyfdx, I've goofed on Mustang II's in my youth, but I bet your friend's Celica didn't SOUND like that 302!

kyfdx

uplanderguy said:

kyfdx, I've goofed on Mustang II's in my youth, but I bet your friend's Celica didn't SOUND like that 302!

I don't remember the Cobra sounding that great. (better than the Celica, of course) We were still surrounded by muscle cars with glass packs, at that time.

A year later, another friend bought a gently used '77 280Z. That car was impressive. I might as well have been driving a Pinto.

stickguy

Back in late HS or early college I looked at a mustang II. I think it was a black hatch, maybe a Mach I? Some “hot” package, but might have been the V6. Gets fuzzy. A 75or so, and this must have been around 1980. Never drove it, just saw for sale in town, and did not Pursue thanks to asking price I think.

ab348

When I was in university in the mid-70s, my best buddy and I took turns carpooling week to week. I used the '74 Maverick, and he had a Mercury Bobcat (Pinto clone). My Maverick seemed like a Lincoln in comparison.

One thing we discovered was an oddity with our car keys. His key would both unlock the doors and start my Maverick. My Maverick key would unlock his doors but would not turn in his ignition switch. I guess Ford production tolerances back then were fairly loose.

uplanderguy

No shock I'm sure, but I never got past the first-impression stuff of the 240/260/280Z's. Gray and black interiors, etc., and what was considered Japanese styling then.

Wow, now that I think about it, I guess they really were the harbingers of things to come!

uplanderguy

Off-the-subject, but what's everybody doing during 'social distancing'? I worked at home before so not a huge adjustment, other than my wife is working at home now. I'm probably on Edmunds, and definitely Facebook, more. I did buy Martha MacCallum's book, "Unknown Valor: A Story of Family, Courage, and Sacrifice from Pearl Harbor to Iwo Jima", about family members of hers. A good read so far but I'm only about 60 pages in.

ab348

uplanderguy said:

No shock I'm sure, but I never got past the first-impression stuff of the 240/260/280Z's. Gray and black interiors, etc., and what was considered Japanese styling then.

Wow, now that I think about it, I guess they really were the harbingers of things to come!

I liked the early 240Z cars. And they did come with different interior colors, something I did not know until now. Black, white, brown (more of a saddle shade), red and blue. This site has pictures of each:

https://zcarguide.com/datsun-240z-stock-paint-and-interior-colors-us-and-canada/

stickguy

Turns out we do so little out in the world, not much difference. Being home bodies lends itself to shelter in place. But it is odd having my wife and daughter always here. Just miss our Friday night go out to dinner event, and stopping at a brewery Saturday after running errands for a beer and dice games.

Daughter set up something cute. Virtual get together with friends that she can’t go out to see, and who are all also cooped in. Pick a time, fire up a phone app (zoom?), they all get white claws or wine, and sit around looking at each other gabbing. Basically the same activity, just via phone. And cheaper.

stickguy

We are also playing a lot of games, and yesterday fired up a jigsaw puzzle. Pretty much life as it existed for Gen X generation when young.

uplanderguy

I didn't know the Z's came in so many interior colors; thanks for the information ab348. Seems like black is all I remember, with silver or red outside.

Times were different of course, but I look at those door panels, no matter what color, and I want to say 'yeccch'. Of course I know people who drove them said they were great performers.

But then, back then, as a teen, I didn't even like Corvettes or Camaros, other than Corvettes were rare-to-see at my hometown dealer. I was into Monza 2+2's, Malibu Classics, Monte Carlos, Nova LN's, etc. Weird even then!

uplanderguy

My wife asked if I wanted to play "Scrabble" last night. I did not.

But it's still out, so I'll probably acquiesce tonight. We used to play years ago, but she always beat me.

andre1969

I got sent home with my work computer around 12 noon on Monday the 16th, and have been teleworking ever since. I did run out to the discount liquor store last Tuesday to stock up, just in case they decide to shut the liquor stores down! I had just gone the week before, and normally buy enough to last 3-4 weeks, but I figure if I'm going to be stuck around the house like this, I might drink more. So I stocked up a bit more, just in case.

Friday, I went out to the local Aldi grocery store. There was a long line waiting to get in, even before open, and when they did open the doors it was a mad rush. BUT, I got everything I needed. My house mate and I also went out to a local park a couple times, and walked about 3 miles each time. The park was about as busy as normal, I guess, but people were keeping a safe distance from each other, at least. Playgrounds and sports fields were closed down.

I've been watching a lot of tv and movies, and also going outside to do yardwork every once in awhile. Watching a movie called "Good Boys" right now. Just saw a Century, that looks similar to my Dad's Regal, get hit by a Taurus...

andre1969

uplanderguy said:

My wife asked if I wanted to play "Scrabble" last night. I did not.

But it's still out, so I'll probably acquiesce tonight. We used to play years ago, but she always beat me.

Umm, Uplander, this is Edmunds forums, not Penthouse forums!

Sorry, this quarantine is getting to me, to the point I just noticed that in the opening sequence to "That Girl", either they drive on the wrong side of the road up No'th, or that footage is reversed! Sometimes it's the simple things in life...

fintail

Ah Ford. Back when my mom had a 93 Taurus and my sister had a 96 Contour, the Contour key could unlock and start (IIRC) the Taurus, but the Taurus key didn't do anything to the Contour.

As an aside that Contour aged extraordinarily poorly - I am sure my young sister wasn't easy on it, but it maybe didn't make it to its 10th birthday - it was a mess when she traded it in 2004, electrical issues galore.

ab348 said:

When I was in university in the mid-70s, my best buddy and I took turns carpooling week to week. I used the '74 Maverick, and he had a Mercury Bobcat (Pinto clone). My Maverick seemed like a Lincoln in comparison.

One thing we discovered was an oddity with our car keys. His key would both unlock the doors and start my Maverick. My Maverick key would unlock his doors but would not turn in his ignition switch. I guess Ford production tolerances back then were fairly loose.

fintail

That reminds me, I saw a 240Z yesterday, darkish blue, maybe darker than a stock color. I know it was a 240Z as the uncreative owner got a plate for it stating "240Z".

Wish I had bought a bunch of early cars 20 years ago, as prices have gone Porsche-crazy.

ab348 said:

uplanderguy said:

No shock I'm sure, but I never got past the first-impression stuff of the 240/260/280Z's. Gray and black interiors, etc., and what was considered Japanese styling then.

Wow, now that I think about it, I guess they really were the harbingers of things to come!

I liked the early 240Z cars. And they did come with different interior colors, something I did not know until now. Black, white, brown (more of a saddle shade), red and blue. This site has pictures of each:

https://zcarguide.com/datsun-240z-stock-paint-and-interior-colors-us-and-canada/

andre1969

I don't know how true this is, but years ago I heard that throughout most of the 1960's, and perhaps part of the 70's as well, Ford only used something like 10 different key cutouts. So, if you had a Ford key, and went out into a parking lot and picked out a Ford product at random, you'd essentially have a 1 in 10 chance of being able to start it.

I kind of liked the Contour and Mystique, as they seemed like a definite step up from the Tempo and Topaz. But, I think one reason they really didn't catch on is that the market started to shift, with regards to sizes. The Contour/Mystique felt like a "true" compact car to me, whereas the Malibu, when it came out, seemed to make the jump from compact to the low end of the midsize range. Over at Mopar, a similar thing seemed to be going on, as the Breeze/Stratus/Cirrus seemed to push into midsized territory, whereas the Spirit/Acclaim/LeBaron were more compact. And, the Japanese cars were starting to push larger with each restyle, as well.

uplanderguy

There was something about the rear-door cutout of the Contour and Mystique that I didn't like. And I'm thinking when my wife's friend had one, it had--and needed--two catalytic converters....would that be right?

That said, I despised the '97 (and later) Malibu. I can't think of where I read it, but one reviewer gave it one star. And they said "We give you one star just for building a car".

LOL

fintail

I think part of the Contour's size issue is that it was based on a Euro market car (Mondeo - although it didn't share everything with it despite identical looks), so it didn't get into the size bloat seen on this side of the pond. I remember when they debuted as well, I wanted to like it due to the Euro influence, but it seems reception was lukewarm from the start - at least here. In Europe, the Mondeo was a smash hit.

I remember when I was in college around Y2K, I knew a guy with a V6 Mystique - 5 speed. That has to be a rare car now.

Oh yeah, my sister's Contour was purple. Definitely something of the era.

fintail

IIRC the Malibu benchmarked a prior gen Accord. Unfortunately for the car, when it debuted, a new Accord and Camry were available, which set it back a generation from the start.

uplanderguy said:

There was something about the rear-door cutout of the Contour and Mystique that I didn't like. And I'm thinking when my wife's friend had one, it had two catalytic converters....would that be right?

That said, I despised the '97 (and later) Malibu. I can't think of where I read it, but one reviewer gave it one star. And they said "We give you one star just for building a car".

LOL

andre1969

I wouldn't be surprised about the two catalytic converters. I think multiple catalytic converters were becoming more common by then. Even my old 1989 Gran Fury had two "mini-cats" early on in the exhaust system, before the two pipes from each side joined together, and then the bigger one further back.

I thought the '97 Malibu was a definite improvement over the Corsica, but in my opinion, it just seemed an insult to the name. And, it seemed like there was getting to be more and more overlap at GM. The Malibu had more legroom, both front and rear, than the larger Lumina. Perhaps, not in published specs, but I felt like I had more legroom in the front of the Malibu, and when I tried out the back seat, with the front seat set for my height, I could also fit more comfortably in the back of the Malibu than I could, the Lumina. The Lumina, however, had more shoulder room. I think trunk volumes were also similar, around 16 cubic feet. So in my opinion you basically had two midsized cars on the same showroom floor. One could hold four tall adults better than the other, but then the other could hold 5/6 shorter passengers a bit better.

I had an '01 Malibu for a rental on a business trip in Florida, years ago. It had the V6. I remember when I drove it and had to punch it out on the interstate, suddenly I understood the whole pushrod versus ohc debate at the time, and why people were preferring ohc. By that time I'd also had my 2000 Intrepid for about a year and a half, so I was getting accustomed to a small engine that liked to rev, whereas the 3.1 in the Malibu just seemed like it got winded. And, while the car wasn't horrible, overall just seemed like a bargain imitation of a Japanese car.

I also remember, when the 2000 Impala came out and Edmund's did a review of it, they made a clever little jab...they said that while the Malibu was "The Car You Knew America Could Build", the Impala was more like "The Car You Knew America WOULD Build!"

But, I guess the Malibu has stood the test of time. For the time being at least, the current-gen Malibu seems to be the "Last Man Standing" among domestic intermediates. I know the Chrysler 200 was mercifully put to rest, and the Ford Contour is destined to be terminated, if it hasn't been already. It's also kind of wild to think the Malibu has lasted longer, in its reincarnation, than it did the first time around. 1997-2020 and counting, versus 1964-83 for the original.

uplanderguy

I have never once ridden in or driven the current Malibu, but I do find myself admiring the styling and proportions when I'm close to one. And my bias is obvious, but it lacks ridiculous climbing taillights and center instrumentation and some of the other stuff the Asian makes have done.

I'm still sore about the Impala, but I guess I get it.

I think CR doesn't do the job it used to do on the reliability stats (listing only one 2016 Cruze when there were two completely different cars; not breaking out manual vs. automatic trans; not breaking out turbo vs. completely different non-turbo engine; these are things they used to break out), but I do recall their saying that the latest Impala scored higher in their testing than "cars costing tens of thousands of dollars more".

They say the current Equinox is quiet, while that's the biggest complaint I have about ours--road noise. If they think the Equinox is quiet, I wonder what the Escape and RAV4 are like, LOL!

andre1969

I do like the current Impala. Every once in awhile, I'll see a used one with low miles pop up locally, and get slightly tempted. Back when GM used to actually have some presence at the GM show in Carlisle PA, they used to have a few new cars there you could drive around on a pre-determined route. You could never get them up to a very high speed, but could at least get a feel for comfort and such. One year, 2014 or 15 maybe, they had an Impala. I remember the sucker was about $40K. My first thought, was who ever thought the day would come that an Impala would top $40K? BUT, it was a much nicer car than the old W-body Impala. The way it was equipped and trimmed, I'd say it would have made a good direct-level replacement to my 2000 Park Ave...a car that as-equipped, MSRP'ed for close to $40K way back in '00!

Ironically, I remember Edmund's saying once that GM should have taken the Park Ave, de-contented it a bit and sold it in Chevy showrooms as a Caprice.

As for the current Malibu, I sat in one at the DC auto show a few years back...wasn't that impressed, but I didn't find it horrible, either. Oddly enough, it looks like it actually beats out the Impala these days, for shoulder room. From specs I've found online, looks like the Malibu is 58.5" up front, 57.1" in back. The Impala is 57.9" up front, 56.9" in back. For comparison, my old 2000 Park Ave was 59.2" up front and 58.7" in back. My '03 Regal is 58.1" up front, 57.1" in back.

So, maybe the Malibu is still "big" enough to fill whatever little need the Impala was still filling? It's funny though, how sometimes one car can feel "bigger", despite having smaller measurements in some respects. I'm a bit shocked that my Regal is actually slightly wider inside than an Impala!

ab348

The '97 Malibu was an unhappy car. Built on the same platform as the Grand Am, Skylark and Alero, the styling not only was anonymous but made it look too narrow for its height and it suffered from GM cost-cutting inside. And as Andre said, the pushrod engines were not good. The last time I went out I saw a next-gen 2004 or so Malibu at a traffic light, quite a pristine example, which was a somewhat better-driving car, but the styling was bad and the interior was still pretty blah. The current Malibu drives well but still suffers from a subpar interior like many Chevys do - I have never seen a black interior lacking anything to address the totally monochrome dull black look inside like the rental Malibu I had a couple of years back. It was just dismal.

The last-gen Impala was nice (except for the steering wheel) but too big and overpriced. I like the styling better than its Lacrosse cousin. However I happened to be looking at used Impalas around here on Autotrader last week and what I presume to be ex-rentals are a steal right now. Nicely trimmed 2019 models with leather and 15K-20K miles are going for about $20,000 Cdn. The sticker price would have been well over twice that.

uplanderguy

Interior is one way I think the last Cruze excelled. People I take for rides, naysayers usually (LOL), are surprised at the interior space and trim. Much brightwork inside and cloth on the instrument panel and door panels. Sure beats acres of gray or black plastic. Bigger backup camera screen than the Focus (two years older) I rode in a couple years back. We had a rental Corolla (2016) a couple years ago and even my wife said "This feels like crap compared to our Cruze".

I think the pricing of the Impala stayed quite static between 2015 and 2020. I'd want the Premier without leather and without sunroof, and that could be had for $38K sticker or so.

Of course, no one ever paid sticker for a Chevy, ever, I don't believe...except a new Corvette, LOL.

fintail

My sister replaced the Contour with a Focus ZX5, and replaced that with a Sonic (maybe not a real Chevy according to the diehards) in 2012. A 12 model bought in September, for far under MSRP. Had zero issues with it other than the rear windshield shattering randomly while the car was parked a few months after she bought it. The motorcycle style gauges were a fun touch for a commuting box. Replaced that in 2018 (low price means hilarious trade in/resale) with a loaded few year old Suburban LTZ. Come to think of it, my sister has never owned a non-domestic car, although she seems to prefer to drive my brother in law's old Tribeca because the Suburban is of suburban proportions.

ab348

uplanderguy said:

Interior is one way I think the last Cruze excelled. People I take for rides, naysayers usually (LOL), are surprised at the interior space and trim. Much brightwork inside and cloth on the instrument panel. Sure beats acres of gray or black plastic. Bigger backup camera screen than the Focus (two years older) I rode in a couple years back. We had a rental Corolla (2016) a couple years ago and even my wife said "This feels like crap compared to our Cruze".

I think the pricing of the Impala stayed quite static between 2015 and 2020. I'd want the Premier without leather and without sunroof, and that could be had for $38K sticker or so.

Of course, no one ever paid sticker for a Chevy, ever, I don't believe...except a new Corvette, LOL.

I thought the last Cruze drove well and was OK inside except for one thing, the headliner. It was a formed piece of boxboard that instead of fabric, was given some sort of flocking, apparently sprayed on. On the car I test-drove you could see the unfinished edge of the backer above the windshield.

I dunno if the Cruze is like this, but that current-gen Malibu I drove had cloth on the dash too. But it was a black dash with black cloth, with no pattern or otherwise set off by any traces of other color. If it wasn't in full sun you really couldn't tell it was cloth. Why even bother?

tjc78

I used to get a lot of Alero’s as rentals. They felt so much more refined than the Malibu despite being basically the same car.