A few of us (that regularly play baccarat together) met for dinner at a steak house tonight and we got talking about weird and strange autos that were produced a while back.
It was actually a nice change for us, as we didn't talk a word about baccarat or the casinos. We all had steaks with those huge old school shrimp cocktails. We all enjoyed a superb glass or two of some great cognac as well.
Here the are with some pictures attached for your reference.
Ford Pinto
Chevrolet Vega
VW Bus
AMC Pacer
AMC Gremlin
AMC Rambler
AMC Concord
1974 Ford Mustang II
Yugo
Chevy Citation
Chevy Chevette
Chevy Corvair
And the Baker's Dozen special stupidity award goes to Cadillac for their, "rebadging of a Chevrolet Cavalier" into a CADILLAC CIMARRON!
From Motor Trend: "The compact Caddy was touted as "a new kind of Cadillac for a new kind of Cadillac owner" in its day. Certainly. Cimarron by Cadillac was built on GM's J platform at plants in South Gate, California, Lordstown, Ohio, and Janesville, Wisconsin between 1981 and 1988. Depending on the model year, Cimarrons were powered by 1.8- or 2.0-liter four-cylinder engines good for 86-88 horsepower. But if you were really livin' large—as one did in the Eighties—there was a 125-hp 2.8-liter V-6 available. Transmission options included a sad three-speed automatic for the V-6 and a sweet four- or five-speed manual for fours. Not impressed yet? Have you seen the Cimarron's thirteen-inch wheels and seriously classy hubcaps?
The Cimarron, introduced for the 1982 model year, became an instant icon of badge-engineered mediocrity, a mean stew of cynicism and desperation tinged with the sour stench of wheezy four-bangers and cheap velour," is howAutomobilesang its praises, adding, "In the early '80s, Cadillac still stood for a certain large-scale American bombast, but the Cimarron drove an 88-hp, four-cylinder stake straight through the heart of Cadillac's brand identity.
Inside, the front-wheel-drive sedan came standard with a leather-wrapped steering wheel, a tachometer, perforated leather bucket seats, hand lever parking brake (sporty!), air conditioning, Trianon deep-pile carpeting, and an AM/FM radio—with four whole speakers! The cabin offered 89 cubic feet of passenger volume, per the EPA, which also pegged the Caddy's mileage at a decent 26 mpg city, 42 mpg highway."
Remaining pictures. The second to last picture is the Cadillac CIMARRON. The last picture is a 1st generation white in color, Chevrolet Cavalier. Come on dude, a CIMARRON is a Cavalier with a Cadillac logo badge! Lol.
When I was young, I drove a Ford Pinto up to Montreal, Canada from New York City and then back down to New York City and then drove it cross country from New York City to Los Angeles.....about 4000 miles and slept in the car........and this was the Ford Pinto that exploded when the gas tank blew up if you were hit from behind..................also me and a buddy of mine drove from Oxford England across on a ferry to Holland and then drove to Belgium Germany Luxemburg Denmark .....put the car on another ferry and drove up to Stockholm Sweden and then back all the way to Oxford England......about 2500 miles .......all this in an English 10 year old Anglia car where you could not get car parts or even a spare tire anywhere in Europe .........bought a tent and a small propane stove and about 30 cans of food to cook on the stove and slept in the tent.....and this was before cell phones, the internet, personal computers etc etc....absolutely no way to contact anyone if the car broke down or something bad happened...............this is what young men do when you are 21 years old and do not have any functioning brain cells.
Thx 8POR9
Awesome story/thx for posting.
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Great auto photos from the past. It is obvious why most are no longer around.
*I remember the first time I ever saw a Yugo. Probably late 1980s and they had one on display in a shopping mall. The hot model that was standing near the car was explaining to passerby's what a great car. It seems like this base car was approx. $4900 or so without a radio. That was extra.
The main things I recall about it(besides I had never seen a car without a radio) was the tires were tiny and looked like a spare (doughnut). The bumper was mostly plastic and only about 3" wide.
Thx for photos