I drive a Geo Metro: Don't you realize that makes me a badass?

The BBQ Pit
21

Whaddaya mean? It’s very swift, given a good gust of wind from the right direction.

Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid Department: My MIL has an even smaller Subaru, with AWD. It’s called the Vivio and comfortably holds two midgets and a can of tunafish. I try very hard to avoid driving in it with her, because a) I cannot get my head and my knees into it at the same time without doing nasty things to my spine; 2) the body appears to be made of some tinfoil derivative but some eeeediot put an engine in it that lets the damn thing do 130 on the motorway; and III) MIL refuses to wear her glasses :smack:

22

Excuse me.

I drive a Suzuki Swift (GT model) and it’s fantastic. 106,000 miles, still running like a champ, and it’s got a lot more power than you’d expect.

Only problem is that it’s hot as hell in the summer with no a/c. That’s why my car is affectionately known as the EZ Bake oven. :slight_smile:

23

Actually, I do know… the exhaust from my car is pushing it backwards.

24

Early morning pre-coffee post. Sorry, my wit centre is not operating yet…

After three MGBs and a Porsche 924 I got a Chevy Metro. At first it was a bit of a let-down because of its lack of performance, but I loved getting 45-50 mpg. I think the Metro was designed aroung a teseract, because it had more room inside than seemed possible when you’re looking at it from the outside. Fold down the rear seat, and the cargo area was awesome! I was even able to get my A-7E ejection seat in the back and close the hatch.

On the flat, it was very spright. It handled well and accellerated like a jackrabbit. On hills it was a dog, but it did show an advantage when I was skiing once. While other cars were pulled over and their owners putting on snow chains, the Metro’s light weight and front wheel drive allowed me to make it to the ski area without chains. I took a neighbour and her son to hospital once when the boy had injured himself. She was amazed it was so quick. Ex-g/f liked its maneuverability.

After 140,000 miles it was getting rather tired, and decided to replace it with a Porsche 911SC. I sold it to a neighbour and years later I see that it is still on the road.

Over all, the Metro was a fine little car.

Oh, re: the a/c. Try no a/c in a Metro in the desert! I got used to it. Dad’s Metro had a/c, and it would take about half the power to run it.

25

**Johnny L.A.[/b[ said:

Since you know you’d never survive an accident in one, an ejection seat is the perfect solution. I’m surprised you couldn’t get one as standard equipment. And Lsura as to your Swift having more power than one would expect, well…it would have to, wouldn’t it? :slight_smile:

One of the guys I used to work with had a Geo Metro. One day taking pictures at the top of a mesa, the wind blew his door off. That’s just not right.

26

Funny you should mention that. My dad suffered severe head injuries, and a neighbour was killed when the Sprint Metro they were in crashed. :frowning:

27

Oosh. Sorry about that. :frowning:

28

This is not a crack on Metros or Swifts, as they are decent enough cars. I just need another Dallas-based Doper to back me up on this:

On three separate occasions, I’ve been coming into work and passed an early-nineties red Geo Metro on Interstate 75 southbound . As god as my witness, the owner took 3 inch tubular steel and built, what I can only describe as an exterior roll-cage. 2 or 3 tubes running around the sides, back, front and top. All painted bright yellow. Has highly reflective tape all over it. Two additional sets of brake lights on back. I’ve pulled up next to her twice, and each time she is about 6 inches from the windshield, chewing the nails off of one hand. Doing 45 mph when the flow is going 75mph.

Please, some verify they’ve seen this sight, too.

29

Wabbit, you’ve only got half the True Metro Experience. My first car was a Geo Metro convertible! Gas? What’s that? I also found out that, yes, the American dream is going down the highway with the top down and rock and roll on the stereo! She had over 100,000 miles on her when she died last October, and I miss her still, but like a great old love, it was wonderful while it lasted. Besides, with the top down, I could drive under 18 wheelers, and I did 70 mph in the mountains of West Virginia without batting an eye.

CJ

30

Macro man–that lady is a genius! Or insane… Either way I can vouch for the Geo going at least 65 with minimal vibration so I don’t know why she feels the need to putter along like that.

And cj, I’m sooo jealous about the convertible Geo. Talk about a babe magnet! :wink:

31

And how ironic is it that a car is named the Metro? That’s like naming something Hemp Fabric Brand tiger fur.

32

I wouldn’t make jokes about any more possible uses for hemp products (nor would I give them any ideas!)

Wabbit, my Tercel, Big Red (actually burgundy), wants to meet Little G in a one-on-one death match. :wink:

33

That’s a newer version of my car by three years. I can tell you now, I get all the women with it. :smack: :frowning:

34

While not a Metro, I have a Geo Tracker, and it’s been a great car. It’s very reliable, and does have some power, suprisingly enough. The four wheel-drive and lightness of the thing make it really good in the snow. One of my favorite memories is pulling a sled on a looooong rope being the Tracker.

Incidentally, my username comes from the car - it’s a combination of ‘car’ and ‘truck’ (cruk) plus ‘truck’ and ‘car’ (tar). Heh.

35

As a slight hijack, many of the local car enthusiests around here gather in one of the local shopping centers every Friday to meet, make contacts, show off - sort of an informal car show. I stopped there with my wife and a couple of friends when we were in the neighborhood to look at a couple of the old classics (my wife was drooling over one of the '66 convertable mustangs). Sitting in with the classics, obviously there to be shown, was a Metro! :eek:
Then I took a look inside the hood - they had replaced the engine with a 6 cylinder. I guess that this sort of thing is not uncommon for people that race - they find the lightest car that they can find and put a larger engine in it. Not only does that much power in a small car really allow them to take off, people are very surprised when they see a Metro dust them.

36

Wabbit

How do the Sea Monkeys feel about Little G?

37

My first new car?

A 1992 Geo Metro Hatchback.

I hated it, all the way from the first week I owned it. Sure, there were periods where it was worth it, but overall, I hated it, and drove it like I did.

I was just starting in the Air Force when I bought my Metro. I was previously the proud owner of a 1976 Oldsmobile Toronado Brougham, pristine white, and decked out to the gills.

Needless to say, the transition was difficult.

I bought my Metro because I knew I was going to be stationed at Edwards Air Force Base, in the high desert of California’s Mojave Desert. I had read a bit about it, and knew that I was looking at a decent commute, no matter WHERE I lived. I eventually settled on North Edwards, CA as my place of residence, a God-forsaken rathole shantytown of a city, population 1000 (Saaa-LUTE!) at night, when everyone was home. Daytime? Maybe 500. There were three businesses there, and the nearest gas station was about 20 miles away.

[sub]Aside: The dogs are eating the pickles off the burgers I am eating while typing this. They’re sick freaking dogs.[/sub]

All the same, it was the cheapest place there was to live. I was an E-2 with 6 month old twins and a wife who didn’t deign to work a day in her life (and hasn’t at last report). I saw the opportunity to have at least a two-bedroom adobe shack, and took it.

I must admit, the Geo served me somewhat well, from time to time. I have compiled a list of the times that stand out in my memory for your enjoyment.

  1. On the move from Lowry AFB in Denver to Edwards AFB, I got 60 MPG on one very, very long downhill stretch somewhere in New Mexico.

  2. If I breathed at the car with a hangover, it provided enough alcohol to get it at least ten miles.

  3. Late Night “Two Wheelin’” expeditions through the desert plains? More fun than you might expect.

  4. Buying new tires to replace the ones that burned off due to the constant bad alignments provided a sense of accomplishment.

  5. The mockery I received while driving it strengthened my character immeasureably.

  6. A tailwind eliminated the necessity to use the engine. (By the same token, you did have to downshift if you hit a piece of bubble gum in the road)

  7. Mojave Desert summers + No Air Conditioning = Throw away your hairdryer! Literally, sometimes I’d roll the windows up and just live with it, because the air inside wasn’t as bad as the hot wind. Especially when mixed with sand.

Ah, my Geo. It died a couple years back, with almost 250,000 miles on it. The doors were loose, the dashboard cracked and broken, and the windows perpetually off-track. Still, the $1.47 required to buy gasoline for it throughout the lifetime of the car might have almost made it not completely not worth it.

sigh

38

I think (almost positive, or one just like you described) I just saw it in a car magazine. That is where I got my idea for the compact car armor with titanium spikes I posted on Scylla’s thread. I like to tweak a good* idea into something a little twisted.
*or insane, your call

39

I’ve owned 2, count 'em TWO 3 cyl cars in my life. A 1985 Chevy Sprint, the father of the Metro and 1989 Subaru Justy. At one point in my life I owned 3 cars, with a total of 7 combustion chambers and 8 driven wheels (3 cyl Subaru and 2 Mazda RX-7s). I am desperately in the market for another Justy. 4wd for the Nebraska winters, good gas mileage and the ability to beat the shit out of it whenever the need arises. I once drove the Subaru from Johnstown PA to Papillion NE. Just over 16 hours. NO RADIO!! or tail lights. AND I got a speeding ticket. It could get over 75mph with the AC off and on level ground. Hit a hill with the AC on and you will lose about 10mph for every 100yards. I swear the pedal was on the floor the entire way across Indiana.

40

-I take it you missed the April 2001 issue of Hot Rod Magazine wherein they transplanted a Cadillac 500-inch V8 into a Chevette?

As I recall, they ditched nearly everything (most of the firewall, the seats, using a fiberglass race bucket, carpets, padding, etc) and got the power-to-weight ratio to nearly that of a hot motorcycle.

I also seem to recall a fellow with a 6-71 blown 468 Pontiac in an old Nash Metropolitan… When half your wheelbase is engine crankshaft, you can imagine it’d get a little squirrely.

And the third brand, I think, was the Daihatsu Charade. I’m not positive about that, but I worked in an oil-change place when the guy drove it in… had this tiny three-cylinder and an oil filter the size of an 8-oz juice can. We could have parked three of them over the workbay slot in the floor, and worked on all of them, both ends, at the same time.