And as I remember, inside start was an option, not standard (it paid to carry a screwdriver with you to bridge the starter terminals).
From some time in the mid '60s up until the early '90s, there were just two cars on sale in India, the Fiat 1100 and the Hindustan Motors Ambassador. No upgrades, no facelifts, and barely there service, and there was a continuous waiting list for the damn things. They were all we’d see on the roads.
The Fiat 1100 has now all but disappeared from our roads, and the Ambassador chugs along courtesy the Indian government, which insists on buying just enough of them to keep the assembly line running. Barely.
I haven’t seen a Chevette in years. It used to be if you pulled up to a stoplight and had a choice of getting behind an 11 axle fully loaded semi in one lane and a Chevette in the other lane, the smart move would be to get behind the truck until both of you passed the Chevette.
Porsche 914
VW Thing
The old Ford Crown Victorias from the 80’s, with big squared off shoulders and corners, before they went all rounded in the 90’s. It seems like the only place I ever see them anymore is in movies, as the automotive equivalent of extras … they’ve been resigned to the role of “the anonymous square sedans in the background of a chase scene that get crashed into and/or shoved off the road in an uncontrollable tailspin”.
I still see those. Everytime I see one I think “Geez, you must have to open the door with your finger. Gotta suck in winter having to take off your gloves/mittens in the snow just to open the door.”
Today I saw a 70’s Ford station wagon, being driven by a Postal worker of all people.
90% of all Yugos sold in the US are STILL parked by the side of the road where their owners abandoned them.
Bob
I’ll definitely agree with the Fierro. There was a time when you saw them every single day. Now they seem to be extremely rare around here - I guess too many “Iron Dukes” crapped out on them or something.
Spider 2000. Family-owned since showroom new in 1980. (My dad’s car. Now mine. Will be my kid’s.)
Went and bought a fuel pump a couple of years ago, and the parts guy gave me the usual “Oh, a 'Fix-it-again-Tony” line when I told him the make an model. I said, “Yeah, what a piece of shit! It only lasted 25 years and 250K miles!”.
The people that hate Fiats never owned one, but probably got passed by one more than a few times…
Gatopescado,
Nice little car,and you’re an exception with such high mileage. Around here,salt on the roads can be doom for monococque construction.
I had two of the 850 Spyders. Wish I still did.
Volkswagen Karmann Ghia
http://www2.lut.fi/~hosia/ghia63.jpg
The car guaranteed to make you late for classes.
If I could see out my front window, I could see mine parked in the driveway. Not long ago, there was at least 10 Karman Ghia convertibles in town. There’s still probably at least 15 or 20 Karman Ghias of all flavors in town.
GROAN! :smack::rolleyes:
Actually, we bought one back in the late 80’s as a second car. $3200 for a foreign import (sounds more impressive saying that than a Yugo) with air conditioning and factory installed stereo. It went 86k and then died an almost explosive death when
the engine went completely to shit on the highway and all but blew up. It got so hot it was glowing orange!:eek: Only problem we ever had was it was hard to start on a rainy day. Strange.
I went into an auto parts store once and said “I’d like a rear view mirror for my Yugo”. After a brief pause the clerk said “Sounds like a fair trade to me”.
Q: Why do Yugos have rear window defrosters? A: So the owners hands don’t get cold while he’s pushing it.
Q: Why is Presidential candidate Ross Perot like a Yugo? A: Because he’s small, funny looking, and you never know when he’s going to quit.
In the mid-90’s President Clinto gave a speech in which he said problems in Serbia could lead to total war in the region. I thought, God, no!!..I need auto parts.
The car I’m thinking of, though, is the Ford Tempo. We owned 3 of them, an '86, a 91, and a '94. All ran like champs and went 201K, 149K, and 134k respectively before we got rid of them.
I used to see them on the highway all the time. Now, not so much.
What was the 60’s not really a ford van and not really a truck thing? I never saw them too often even by the 70’s but they were used by some businesses I think to haul stuff around. Sort of a prescient 'toon car styling that is so common over in Europe. Another disappearance (sorta, I saw one today) is the “dune buggy” that were also very popular in the 60s and 70s. I never understood their status, and if they were/are street legal.
Speaking of vans… The ‘boogie van’ has dropped out of existence. You know the ones - the converted commercial van with a teardrop or heart-shaped window on the side, fun fur on the dash, and a bed in the back. Usually with dope smoke pouring out of the windows. They were everywhere in the 1970’s/1980’s. I can’t remember the last time I saw one.
I think that’d be the Pontiac Transport. These spacy things were everywhere, then nowhere.
Also known as the ‘Dustbuster’.