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Car Spotter check: What 'econoboxes' have you been seeing on the road

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When gas prices made the climb to $3.00 a gallon and higher, I noticed quite a few of the 80's econoboxes back on the road...the glory days of the two box designs: Chevettes, Omnis, Horizons, Champs...wondering what else was lurking on the roads near you. This is the rust belt folks - most of the ones I saw were held together with spray foam and bailing wire!

Spotted a rather rare mid 80's Dodge Charger Trucklet AND a Rabbit Diesel Pick Up at a light this morning...total flash back man!

Edited by toesuf94

People riding bicycles, does that count?

I saw an older Diahatsu Charade and an mid '80s Chevy Spectrum the other day...haven't seen either of those in eons..

  • Author

I had totally forgotten the Chirade...when I see an Impulse or LeCar, I know the end is near!

Saw a Wild looking restored Volkswagen Kharman Ghia in Coral Pink.

Does that count?

Chris

An almost-perfect '84-85-vintage Corolla, many older Geo Metros ('89-94), my favorite generation of Colts ('89-92) and the occasional Excel.

Also, not quite an econobox per se, but I've been seeing a lot more older 626s ('83-87 and '88-92) popping up these days. Simply cheaper than an Accord, maybe?

An almost-perfect '84-85-vintage Corolla, many older Geo Metros ('89-94), my favorite generation of Colts ('89-92) and the occasional Excel.

Also, not quite an econobox per se, but I've been seeing a lot more older 626s ('83-87 and '88-92) popping up these days. Simply cheaper than an Accord, maybe?

Speaking of older Corollas, anyone remember the Corolla FX hatchback in the '80s? I worked with a guy about 10 years ago that had a white one...I saw one this morning that was almost identical to his..in nice shape..

  • Author

Ahhh...the Corolla FX...Saw another along those lines yesterday - Nissan Pulsar NX...remember those?

And Fly, the Renault Encore was my girlfriend in high schools first car. I had to keep a hammer with me to hit the starter whenever she would call me to get her running for her. The father was too cheap to put a reliable starter in the damned thing...I even offered to do it!

My #1 son in law bought a nice original 1969 VW Beetle before the gas prices went up. He is trying to average out the Hemi Durango he bought. What a mistake that was (somewhat troublesome and thirsty).

The usual current ones...

Around here:

late 80s/Early 90s Civics

Early 90s Cavaliers (lots of these)

80s Ford Escorts

Geos, and more Geos (metros!)

Last week I saw an early 80's Aries K car in decent shape, 86 Grand AM, and two cars you've probably never seen south of the border, one was an 85 Hyundai Pony and a 85-86 Hyundai Stellar this morning.

  • Author

When is the last time you saw a Renault Fuego???? Just a funny memory...I loved the accordian panels that made the car look like it would bounce back when it was rolled over! Anyone spotting one of these on the road should pull over to keep from having an accident from the laughter. What a design. Sold through the Eagle motors division of Jeep back in the '80s.

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When is the last time you saw a Renault Fuego???? Just a funny memory...I loved the accordian panels that made the car look like it would bounce back when it was rolled over! Anyone spotting one of these on the road should pull over to keep from having an accident from the laughter. What a design. Sold through the Eagle motors division of Jeep back in the '80s.

I can't recall the last time I saw ANY Renault..

Colt Vista, man...

I liked the very first Nissan Stanzas, the 5-door models. I think they even called them Datsuns when they first came out, circa 1982?

My #1 son in law bought a nice original 1969 VW Beetle before the gas prices went up. He is trying to average out the Hemi Durango he bought. What a mistake that was (somewhat troublesome and thirsty).

The Durango sounds like it might make a nice trade in on a Colorado Crew Cab.

The Colorado will get close to the original beatle in fuel economy and be infinitely better in terms of safety, reliability, comfort, hauling capacity, emissions/damage to the environment, ride quality, etc.

I'm all for small cars, but this is going a little too far.

Besides, the Bug could be a good donor for a Manx buggy for a summer car....

Chris

When is the last time you saw a Renault Fuego????

I remember that car. I must be getting old :lol:

Edited by ZL-1

Last week I saw an early 80's Aries K car in decent shape, 86 Grand AM, and two cars you've probably never seen south of the border, one was an 85 Hyundai Pony and a 85-86 Hyundai Stellar this morning.

I've never seen the last few..as a matter of fact-the oldest Hyundai I've seen was a 96...

Posted Image

Dork not included

Is that Adam Carolla?

Saw a few early 80's VW Rabbits this week.

PS Shouldn't this be in Off Topic? This is about as GM News'ish as talking about plastic engine covers.

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