True that. I haven’t noticed a Chevy Citation out on the road in several years. Yes they used to be everywhere. My ex-wife’s grandmother had one in light blue.
When I looked up the Citation, I realized how horrible it was (for the public, but also for GM).
And I realized that I have a new go-to phrase for a boxy, boring car:
“Y’know, my ex-wife’s grandmother had one of those, god rest her soul…”
I said “old-school Volvos” in the original thread. A few years later, I moved to an iconic hippie town in the Northeastern US, and suddenly, there’s bricks everywhere. There’s fewer 240s on the road today than in 2010, but the gray haired professor beard and garden lady crowd are still drawn to the brand.
I don’t think I’ve seen any late model Dodge Darts on the road, period. I’ve probably seen more 1970s Darts / Valiants in the wild than models from the 2010s.
Every Mitsubishi Galant on the road seemed to disappear into the ether in 2015. Same thing with the Toyota Echo.
There used to be a lot of Saabs 9-5s and 9-3s on the road around here, but their numbers dropped sharply about three years ago. I saw a lot in the wild in Portland, Maine and Brattleboro, Vermont just recently, though.
Cockroaches I still see everywhere — Pontiac Vibes and G6s, 1990s Buick Regals, and sagging Chevrolet pickups from the 1980s and 1990s.
Saturns are still out there in abundance in the Buffalo area, where they used to be extremely popular. Whenever I spot the occasional Saturn Aura, Vue, or Outlook here, about a good third to half will have a “Saturn of Clarence” or “Saturn or Orchard Park” license plate frame — all the way from Buffalo.
When I visit Buffalo, I’ll still see the occasional plastic body Saturn S-series in the wild.
My understanding is that a lot of American Hummers are now leading new lives in Russia. Dealers bought them at auctions, loaded them into containers, and shipped them off to Moscow.
My friend has a H2 hummer. And a corvette. He was in the Corvette when he was hit from behind and spent 3 months in the hospital with a broken back. If he had been in the hummer he probably would have just had minor injuries or none.
In the H2 he could have just backed up and crushed the offending vehicle and driven away unscratched.
IMO in the 1970s and 80s GM had a pattern of bringing a car to market when it was still half-baked, then a few years later making the car how it should have been in the first place, only to then cancel the model because people aren’t buying them anymore because they’ve developed a terrible reputation. The Vega and Citation are probably the best examples of that.
You’re probably thinking of the Cadillac Cimarron, which was based on the GM J platform, ie. the Cavalier. And it pretty much looked like a loaded Cavalier with a Cadillac grille slapped on it. I don’t recall there ever being a Cadillac based on the X platform, although the Buick Skylark shared the platform with the Citation, as well some Oldsmobile model (Omega, I think? Or was that the J platform?). There was probably a Pontiac version too, knowing GM’s affinity for badge engineering in those days.
Pontiac Phoenix. When I was a Boy Scout, we got a tour of their Tarrytown assembly plant.
ROFLMAO! Too funny!
I’d venture to say that if the Vega and Citation were good examples of that, then the Pontiac Fiero would be a stellar example of that dynamic.
Speaking of which, you don’t see many Fieros on the road anymore, either.
ETA: That reminded me, when I was in college there was some team of engineers on campus that converted a Fiero into an EV. This would have been in the late 1990s or early 2000s.
I see maybe one a week, but I notice them because I had one (a peppy manual, loved it).
Does anyone know why Toyota scrapped it for the Yaris? I never saw any advantages that the Yaris had…
I thought the Echo was the first-generation Yaris. From what I can glean from Wikipedia, the first generation was called the Toyota Platz in Japan, Echo in North America, and Yaris in other export markets. The second generation was the Toyota Belta in Asia and Yaris in the rest of the world.
n/m - posted the car earlier.
Honda Elements
I believe you posted about the Honda Element in another similar thread. Since then I’ve noticed them everywhere. I can’t go out for a run without seeing 2 or 3 of them, and I spot them while driving and in parking lots all the time. I’m sure part of it is the idea that I’m now tuned into them, but I literally cannot go out of my house without seeing one. They’re definitely still around.
I own one, and see more today than when I bought it 15 years ago. They’re bulletproof. I still have the frequent opportunity to fill up next to another one at the gas station and comment to the other owner when they step out of their car, “You look like you’re out of your Element.”
I see the Honda Element fairly often here in the SFBA CA.
Mitsubishi Eclipse, particularly the 2nd generation model. These used to be everywhere, but I haven’t seen one in the wild in years. They were sporty and relatively cheap, and mostly driven by young people, like an Asian Mustang. They’re still a good-looking little car, IMO. The 3rd generation model (the one with the ribbed doors) wasn’t nearly as popular, and the 4th generation I’m not even sure I could identify.