Ford just never knows when to leave something alone. It’s like they’re annoyed by success. That Taurusification of the 'Stang is one butt-ugly car. At least it’s not a four-door, but that grill is a loser.
Not sure if anyone’s opinion will be swayed any, but kenobi 65’s link is a preproduction render and NOT the production 2015 Mustang. I like the new design, personally.
Good catch; I didn’t realize I didn’t have an official picture from the announcement. The actual styling looks a little more Mustang-y, at least.
Very cool! I’ve also had a 87 Si (the boxier first-generation CRX) and a black 90 or 91 DX (same as yours, but it had a VTEC engine swap). They were all perfect for a single young college (and just-out-of-college) guy. And yeah, they could definitely rack up the miles…my '89 had 130k on it when I swapped out the stock engine, and the chassis on the black one had something like 218k on it. I knew plenty of guys with 300k+ on them.
They are VERY hard to find now as unmolested examples. Most have been modified to hell and back or just driven into the ground. The remaining nice examples are already going for a big premium.
Still pretty damned ugly. I’ve got a friend who gets a new 'stang convertible every few years; I wonder if these’ll break him of the habit.
MUCH better.
Least favorite car I ever had; 1976 Pinto.
Small gas tank, terrible mileage. Big round speedometer on the left, big round gas gauge on the right. At the time I joked that as you sped up, you could see the needles converging.
I’ve had some neat rides- '67 Caprice, '63 Studebaker, '88 Festiva (:eek:). My favorite, due to its durability and value, was an '83 Datsun Nissan Sentra Diesel. 0-60 by sometime not too far into the day, 42 mpg in town, 47+ highway.
Least favorite? '78 4 door Chevette. Reliable car, but it had the worst driving position ever put in any car. Took days to get over a long trip in that piece of crap.
Ford ranger was awesome. I had about 9 trouble free years with that thing. But it developed transmission issues towards the end and I had to get rid of it.
Least favorite, a pontiac grand prix. Lasted about a year before the gasket blew.
Worst car:1967 Rover TC2000. It leaked oil, coolant, transmission oil, and had a lousy electrical system. It broke down several times…biggest advantage was that it had a manual tranny-I could push start it. Got rid of it after I graduated and could afford a new car.
Best car: 1993 Saturn SL1: excellent car-got 45 MPG on the highway; drove it 160,000 miles-only repair was a water pomp seal ($78.00)
I had two CRXs and I appreciate them so much more looking back years later than I did when I had them. I had an '85 CRX (no trim designation, most call it a DX) in high school for a year. It was red with silver lower body cladding, 5-speed and the standard 74hp 1.5L 12v used in most Civic models thru '87.
As much as I enjoyed it, I really needed more space than a CRX could provide. So my senior year I bought an almost new (8mos old) 1991 Civic Si 3-door. It was the ugliest color called Tahitian Green but it was a blast to drive!
Years later, when I was stuck with the '96 Accord that I despised, I picked up a 1990 CRX HF with 160k miles on it for $3500 from a friend. It was light blue with dark blue interior and other than A/C and stereo, it was as basic as a car could get. It had a 62hp version of the 1.5L with an 8-valve head, which I expected to be so slow that it couldn’t get out of its own way! But what I learned was that the HF had lots of low-end torque (90lb-ft of torque @ only 2000rpm). The DX’s 16v 1.5L with 92hp only made 89lb-ft (at 4500rpm). The HF also reached peak hp at 4500rpm vs 6000rpm on the DX and Si. So it was the first CRX, actually the first Honda, that didn’t need to be revved! I rarely went past 4000rpm and the little HF never really felt underpowered. 0-60 times were in the high 11-sec range, but I averaged over 45mpg all the time.
My best friend (met when we were 12, still best friends at 39) had a 1984 Chrysler Laser XT (Dodge Daytona twin) in metallic Shit Brown with the full digital package including the EVA (Electronic Voice Alert, technology courtesy of Speak & Spell c. 1978, seriously). I can still hear it to this day- “Engine overheating! Engine damage may occur!”
His sister had a dark blue '87 LeBaron Coupe also. It was a total piece of shit from day one and so damn slow with the non-turbo 2.5L and 3-speed auto.
Like every other Chrysler/Plymouth/Dodge from the 80s, both were built on a modified K-car platform. How such a mediocre platform could save Chrysler’s ass is still a mystery to me…it sucked!
First 3 years, loved loved loved my Diesel Jetta.
After that, I hated it with the kind of wretched anger that you can only pour out on a car where both front windows fell into the doors inside of two weeks (and were stuck there, IN THE WINTER!!), the brakes seized up randomly, the transmission had to be replaced, and the trunk wouldn’t open unless you did it ‘just right’. And funny things smelled in the engine.
1956 Pontiac 2 door w/ 3 on the tree. Best ( Owned in 1959, my first car. )
Even bester - 1949 145 HP Temco Swift 2 place aircraft. ( Owned in 1969, my 2nd airplane of my own. )
Best (probably because first) was a BMW 2002. Quirky in some ways, but a fine car. And I did all the work on it, teaching myself how along the way. Drove it 100k miles and sold it for a spot more than I’d paid.
Favorite: '81 Toyota 4x4 pickup
Least: '72 Chevy Vega
Chevy Vega, don’t remember the year. I believe it made Life Magazine’s list of the 10 worst cars ever.
I miss the Grand Marquis LS I totalled. Like riding a BarcaLounger down the freeway.
You had an early-'80s GM diesel and you LIKED it? Do you have any idea how unique that makes you? I don’t know that I’ve ever seen anybody like you before. Those engines were so toxic, so self-destructive and unreliable, they almost single-handedly destroyed the future of diesel in the US outside of trucks for two generations.
And the 84 3/4 ton Ford trucks with the big Cummings Diesel’s were wonderful. I do not like Ford, never have but that truck was a winner IMO. Only vehicle I ever bought new.
Most loved car Mk 1 Hillman Hunter. First car I had with a heater and two speed wipers. Excellent handling and after I put a Stromberg on the motor it even went fast.
Worst car Trekka. I doubt any of you even know what that was, but it was a piece of crap built over a Skoda drive train. I only bought it for my mother, but even she wouldn’t use it.
Car I’d like most to own, the Charger. Not the US made Charger ( think Vanishing Point ) which was an ugly piece of crap compared to the Australian one.
Present car Honda Civic. An old one with the nice body, not the “same as every other car on the road” piece of junk that they make now. It’s an old lady’s car, but it’s nice to drive (I bought that one for my mother too, but she had to give up driving, so I got it back by default ), and I like it.