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...and look like a high back tennis shoe - no offense Converse! Come to think about it, maybe it started a styling trend. Later on the Ford Tempo and Mercury Topaz kind of looked like a tennis shoe that someone had stepped on.
not a very attractive car, but it was fun to see. I'd never seen one in the flesh before....
Sunk costs are, true enough, water over the dam, but with cars you can also have prospective costs.
Say you own a Ferrari F40. It's fun, it's great--you're out tracking it and you miss a shift----oops, you just spent $75,000 for an engine.
Unless you own a very VERY blue chip and rare car that everyone lusts after, your "investment" of $8500 can evaporate in the snap of the fingers.
That's the weird thing about classic cars---North Korea invades South Korea and your Camaro is suddenly worth half. Very bizarre.
I guess "toys" are very vulnerable to economic conditions.
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Other than a missing left front wheel cover and being covered with salt, looked to be in pretty good shape.
2015 Cruze 2LT, 2014 Malibu 2LT, 2008 Cobalt 2LT
Regards:
Oldbearcat
Regards:
Oldbearcat
That's probably the last Lincoln I've liked. I always thought those were pretty cool in their day. A bit of class and attitude.
I agree. They definitely felt roomier inside. I think the K-cars were a bit wider inside (but had paper-thin doors), but the X-bodies had better legroom, while still being wide enough.
Now, I always thought the Citation looked pretty cheap inside, at least in base form...much more plasticky than a Reliant or Aries. But, the Phoenix, Omega, and Skylark versions, when equipped the right way, could be downright luxurious inside.
I developed a new-found respect for the K-car though, when I drove my cousin's Dodge 600 one day. Okay, technically, it was an E-car, but it was still the K with a 3 inch stretch in wheelbase. It seemed roomy and comfy enough, and a good alternative to the Chevy Celebrity, Ford LTD, or even the Taurus. However, I didn't like the fact that they were depending on turbo 4's for added power, instead of a good old fashioned V-6. But, my cousin's 600 was a turbo, and decently quick for the time.
The Tempo and Topaz never seemed like much more than cheap, basic transportation to me.
The Buick GN wasn't afflicted with torque steer, of course, since it was RWD.
But I also liked the early LS, which even came with a manual.
I bought an Escort GT and my buddy had a Shadow ES (turbo) at the same time.
His car was slightly quicker, but by the time I got rid of the Escort he wanted to buy it and ditch his Dodge.
Yeah, it did, although sometimes I wonder how much of that could have been from abuse or neglect? My uncle bought a used '88 LeBaron turbo in 1990, and in 1995 sold it to me when I was married. I let the ex have it in the divorce in 1996, and by early 1998 it was total junk.
However, it was fairly reliable to about 90,000 miles. That was when we had the timing belt replaced (should have been done at 60K...oops!) and the crankshaft and camshaft seals done. It was soon after that repair that we separated. Anyway, the car got stolen and joy-ridden a few times, and impounded a couple times as well. And, the ex didn't have the money to really take care of it, so it started getting really troublesome after we split.
At the 118,000 mile mark, it was essentially "done". It had blown a head gasket, and had a warped head. My ex and her mother found somebody to put on a new gasket and a used head for $750, but it didn't run right after that. I talked her into letting me take it to my mechanic, and he got it running a lot better for $75...turns out there were a lot of loose/misdirected wires and vacuum hoses, as a result of the head swap. But, he also did a thorough checkover on the car and said don't put another dime into it. The turbo was shot, compression was really low in two cylinders, and a bit off in the other two. By that time the a/c compressor was also shot, the power antenna had broken off, and it had a slow leak in the transmission.
She drove it maybe another month or so, and then it started belching sweet, white, antifreeze-laced smoke out the exhaust again. I gave her 90 bucks for it, limped it to my grandmother's house, and ultimately sold it for parts. I pulled the radio out of it, thinking I could get it to work in the '79 Newport I had at the time. It would physically fit, but the wiring was all different, so I gave up. I still have that radio, packed away somewhere.
One last thing to add...I'm sure they made running improvements to the turbo 4 over the years. So the one in my '88 LeBaron was probably more durable than the earlier models.
My brother's first car was an 85 Aries sedan (this was maybe 1998), same colors as that E-class. I drove it once, and that was enough :shades: The old Tempo was still hanging around the family then, and to me, it seemed like a lot newer and more solid than that Aries.
We've probably talked about this before but my Step dad had one too. An 83, white/blue and the Mitsu 2.6. It was a plush little car and it talked to you! I've seen only a few other than his.
2017 Buick Enclave / 2017 Hyundai Elantra
Regards:
Oldbearcat