So true. The roads outside of Tucson are a regular agenda item for a retro driving experience: two lanes, curves, wide open spaces. Taking a tour for an hour or so is beneficial every time. ... View more

What a great piece. Every trip in a car, no matter how pedestrian or modest the vehicle is still a treat after all these years. Even a trip to Safeway. Sometimes I have felt they've been my only friend. Next week I will take a short trip [about 7 miles] to Saguaro Canyon National Park to spread the ashes of my best friend Bill in the car I was driving when we met 40 years ago. I will be a full participant in this action as the 63 Valiant that will take us there has un-boosted steering and brakes and a three speed manual on the column. Bill rode in, worked on with my Dad, pushed and listened to me freak out when it screwed up along the way. He would have loved this. He put a working radio in it. A $10 special from Zody's. We went to see Leslie Gore and other performers in a nostalgia tour at a theater on Hollywood Blvd. Frankie Valle and the Four Seasons 25th Anniversary tour on Wilshire Blvd in it. Drove Edith Massey [The Egg Lady, a John Waters superstar] to the clubs in West Hollywood in it to promote her act on Sunset Blvd. and the Whiskey the next night where she performed with her punk rock band. There were funerals. Cruising on Hollywood Blvd. Stolen batteries, flat tires. A cassette player from his '73 Duster went in it and speakers. He installed my new Econo-Miser carb from JC Whitney on it, KRTH 101 locked in on the radio. Trips up into the Hollywood Hills and Griffith Park. The Observatory. After all that he remined me that he'd never driven it in all these years. I spent plenty to get it safer for him to drive on one of his visits in the last couple of years, and then he wasn't well enough to come visit any longer. This route was the one I planned for him to drive. AZ was one of his favorite places. He would have appreciated the ceremony and the Valiant's participation in his send off. Best friends indeed. I don't think that some autonomous device will ever become the kind of vessel that could generate that sort of counterpoint to someone's life in the future. How sterile and soul-less driving one of these must be. But then automotive scribes from the '50s, '60s and '70 sneered about the idea the cars of those eras would ever be collectible. I'm likely as wrong as they were. Wonderful piece. There's been nothing that has had such an impact on my life as these four wheeled things and interaction with them. Crossing to the other side to the Isle of Misfit Cars to spend eternity would truly be heaven. Thanks for taking pause and reminding us that these things are far more than just collections of sheet metal, rubber, screws, bolts and glass. ... View more

Chrysler's minivans weren't out until five years later. ... View more

The Colt always reminded me of a rationalized Pacer, Chryslerblood. From it's first appearance ... View more

Front end looks plucked off a Chevy Vega. There was too much hopium in this to make it anything but just for show. What would AMC have turboed? The AMC 4 [purchased from VW/Audi]? The Iron Duke from GM? Or the 258 six? 'alas, those orange decals write a check that this concept can’t cash.' An apt comment if ever there was one. The money blown on the Matador two door and Pacer could have made this a reality and a more viable long term offering at the right time. Although I love the Matador, Pacer and AMC, those two products were a criminal misuse of limited funds. This van is more a last gasp effort like Packard's big plans for '57-'58. Something to show AMC was still alive. ... View more

Solstice. I am a Saturn owner and fan but the Sky ..... GM trying too hard to "Re-Imagine Saturn". The styling on the Solstice is just perfect to me. As for the cheap plastic everywhere.... A long GM tradition.... don't we all respect and honor tradition in the old car hobby ? /sarc I can cope with that. Parts bin special, pieces used across GM corporate. That will work. ... View more

My question has always been: why is ethanol "development" stalled at corn sourced concoctions [I actually know, but I'd never suggest government pay-offs and boondoggles to favored states.... ever. Even though the Uni-Party loves itself some corn squeezins] . ... View more

VW has been lunching off the Beetle's reputation for decades now. ... View more

I do like it better than the Urban Soy Cowboy electric Ford Truck though. ... View more

Other 'real limitations' besides price, 3 row: range, battery life, cost of battery replacement and frequency, no place for an apartment or condo dweller to recharge. Same as they always were. ... View more

Now THAT I would go into debt for. ... View more

I keep my cars for a long time....40, 26 and 17 years. How much will it cost to replace the batteries after 8 years or so? ... View more

Ford paid off the lawsuits for that junk big time. Looks like they refuse to learn. ... View more

Tell it. If the manual in the ION I tested had been as seamless to use as the one in my 95 SL1, I'd have a manual right now. Used to be the manufacturers made their manuals so miserable to use that they sold more automatics at higher profit. My folk's own 63 Dart 270 manual wagon was towed off because the shift linkage jammed. Even the car rags of the period [pick one from the 50s on] pointed out the lack of refinement and ease of use with domestic manuals. And the absence of development in new manuals. Especially after tasting foreign cars and the Corvair what was offered was deemed clumsy and antiquated. ... View more

Oh FFS... is this April Fool's Day or something? After Ford's Eff U to it's customers with that automated manual POS PowerShift transmission they palmed off on the unsuspecting Focus and Diesta buyers for ten frigging years knowing it was defective and un-fixable ? That Ford ? https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/ford-workers-break-silence-faulty-145800004.html https://www.freep.com/in-depth/money/cars/ford/2019/07/11/ford-focus-fiesta-transmission-defect/1671198001/ https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2019/07/11/ford-focus-fiesta-response-investigation/1693451001/ http://fordpowershiftlawsuit.com/ https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/thousands-join-mass-action-lawsuit-against-ford-motor-company-over-powershift-transmission-300460875.html https://www.hotcars.com/dual-clutch-transmission/ Dual clutch, automated manual, call it what you will. Ford knowingly pumped this crap out to the most price sensitive of customers. But then Ford [or GM ] never GAF about small car buyers since their first ones came out, even though the "common man" made Ford what it is. Now there are law suits about Ford's 10 speed automatic. https://www.classaction.org/blog/defective-10-speed-ford-f-150-transmissions-shift-harshly-and-erratically-class-action-claims I just got back from running errands in my 63 Valiant. 3 speed manual on the column. Totally second nature, and unobtrusive. Hardly " the leg-cramping clutch-in, clutch-out from stop-and-go traffic" . Stop exaggerating. I drove this car for 30 years in LA traffic and never experienced this alleged "leg cramping". Another modern garbage trans set to cost thousands to replace out of warranty. I'll keep what I have. And if I do buy a new one... it won't be a Ford. I'm not interested in $80,000 5000 lb trucks with 10 year notes. It's all Ford wants to sell anyway. Go for it. But not with my money. Powershift and Ford's duplicity and gas lighting have precluded it's vehicles from ever being considered for purchase. ... View more

No. CUV based on a car chassis with an SUV like body. It may offer 4 wheel drive but doesn't necessarily have to. ... View more

Too bad it was considered an eyesore at the time ... View more

You missed Sajeev's search in junk yards for unobtanium Continental parts recently ? Sajeev. Egan. All of us can relate to the problems running old cars whatever the make. Perhaps you can write your own columns. Your experience basis is valuable and it's narrowed in scope just like anyone else's: by your experiences. He bases his content on the cars he owns FFS. He's not "trying" some cars, he's living with HIS cars. Something all of us do and a universal experience. ... View more

Sajeev, you gave completelt turned my head around on this. Should be: Sajeev, the perspective you gave completely turned my head around.... And I was riding a bike not my bile. I save my bile for the internet. ... View more

Sajeev, you gave completelt turned my head around on this. I was getting there after my Little Bro picked up a pristine Geo Tracker, his wife bought a lime green Renegade and the a Kicks like you mentioned above. You pushed me off the fence. Car it is and I love the mental connection to old Chrysler Airflows. When I was a kid I used to pretend my bile was a '57 DeSoto. Not a bad upgrade to my Not a Schwinn but Western Flyer banana seat treasure. Thanks for some true clarity on the matter. I do love the styling of the current Escape. ... View more

'arguably making them more of a two-box design with a small tumor'. LMAO. If the industry had not edited out the utility of sedans over the decades [poor visibility, stupid size consoles eating up space, 'coupe like' styling, fastback profiles but not even a bloody hatch for utility with that configuration, editing out seating spaces], perhaps there would be three box sedans still. Perhaps they would have retained their popularity. Sajeev I have been fighting this suggfestion because..."fad"... "the mob" and that 10 year old inner kid that counts cars as cars and trucks as trucks and he only likes "cars". Growing up in the '60s a vehicle of any utility was a truck. Even wagons didn't count for me. But you have made the connection, with pictures, words and dimensions that unhooked my grip on my entrenched ideas. Besides, I've had this idea that a Buick Encore would complement my 86 Olds Calais quite nicely, You've given me the perspective I need to let go and 'let car'. ... View more

The 65 is my favorite of the 61-65 series. The extra detailing in the tail lights, grille "power dome" and new turn signals in the fender corners.... just the right amount of "face lifting". ... View more

No one talks about the 200 people who died from the first air bags breaking their necks. Collateral damage, I guess. ... View more

I wish I could be like that, as I'd love to own a '60 Comet. Like my little brother asked: " If not now, when?". Well....It worked out very well for my two oldies but my wallet hates me now. But a '60 Comet.... I keep dreaming. It really is a sickness, Pyrobirk. ... View more

Creeping into the edges of my mind after 40 years with my '63 Valiant. I won't attempt to calculate the money spent on this "throw away car" from the '60s. But I choke at the thought of that and letting go. Even replacing my 05 with something else causes great anxiety. Maybe I'll wait and just get rid of some of my "collectible" junk instead. That's been bothering me more. Not forcing someone else have to get rid of it after I'm gone just seems like the right move. BTW: I'm just down the street from the Davis -Monthan Boneyard. One right turn and down Escalante and I'm there. ... View more

The Chrysler is a two door hardtop as well. ... View more

Remember that Cadillac Christmas commercial from a few years back? "My Baby Drove Up In A Brand New Cadillac".... that featured a bloody security guard outside the showroom patrolling? WTH was that all about ? And it played and played and played in a mindless rotation until it made your ears bleed. Some commercial for cars it's hard to tell what exactly are they advertising. No element, no inspiration, unanswered desire in any of this over teched, feature bloated, angry, ugly, monitored, gimmicky and electronically complex lot that sparks any sort of desire or even visual pleasure. ... View more

Hit me right in the heart Bryan. When I was a kid my walls were covered in car ads. I wanted my life to be like that when I was old enough. Adventure, romance, wide open spaces, arriving in style, dreams realized. Over the river and through the woods, to Grandmother's house we go in a brand new Body By Fisher GM car. Thanks for this piece. What a treat. ... View more

Fantastic vehicle "Pillarless" hardtop is redundant. Just hardtop. Or pillarless. A hardtop IS pillarless. Regardless of what Mini claims or Ford used to claim in the early '70s. ... View more

Don't forget regular high $ battery packs every 8-10 years. And there is no plan afoot currently that will supply all the power these electric dreams will need. Especially not if there's a ban on coal and oil. Wind and solar won't be cutting it, not now and they still won't in 2035 no matter how much banning of ICE our betters do and demand for renewable alternatives. You won't be going anywhere. Unless it's on the bus. ... View more

Except when the time comes to replace the battery packs....and the cost... Yard ornament. And that old Lincoln engine can still get you 900 miles in a day unlike an electric which takes hours to charge. ... View more

Someone did that with a 59 Edsel, Gary. I loved it. What a clever idea. Always prepared for the next gas crisis. ... View more

And cost of replacement. And how often. And rate of degradation from new. How many years can one eke out of a battery pack driving 500 miles a year when batteries die from lack of use? ... View more

I'll say this, it's pretty clever. But...if a guy does this conversion and keeps it for say 15-20 years like old car fans do.....how much to replace the battery packs every 8-10 years ? And at what cost? Dead battery pack, that truck has negative "value" financially or utility wise. I've only replaced the engine in my Valiant once in 40 years of ownership. How many battery packs at XXX # of dollars would that have totalled? How will this work? Not trying to be a 7wa7, these are legitimate questions. I mean, before everyone goes out and converts a beloved old car to electric propulsion, once you've done it, what then ?. Batteries degrade from lack of use when they sit, as old hobby cars do.....and then what ? Plan on the cost of expensive new battery packs every 8 years and.....2000 miles [or four or possibly 6000... you get what I'm asking, I hope]. Will five hundred miles a year be enough to keep the battery packs healthy ? Yes, it's neat. But I do have questions. A lot of them. ... View more

What a treat. Great article on a fascinating slice of the hobby. I have two models of the Gaz 21, the first in the same colors as the photograph and a blue '70. There is also a "Pobeda" model in the collection and of course a Trabant. Love these. They're fascinating. At car shows I will blast past all the exoticars, supercars, tri fives, supercharged and the customized to see cars like this. ... View more

It was an excellent decision. Fun to see the kit. And re-visit the the period. People who have only heard the "BBQ for Four" and exploding Pinto comments and jokes may actually learn something: about cars, journalism vs sensationalism , .Gov and the legal system. ... View more

Thank you, Reinhold. People want so badly for the other story to be true. I also recommend "Reckless Homicide?" written about the cases. ... View more

From Allpar: "Chrysler took the second generation J body coupe platform (Dodge Mirada/Chrysler Cordoba) and developed it into a full luxury coupe, to compete with the Cadillac Eldorado and Lincoln Continental coupes. It was a beautiful design, except perhaps for an awkward rear deck profile. Every effort was made to ensure assembly quality and to separate the car from its J - body origins." ... View more

"Suddenly It's 1960" was the ad copy for the 1957 Plymouth, not Chrysler. But yeah: That glorified PT Cruiser Imperial show car put the nail in the coffin. Looked like an International Harvester suburban type vehicle. And pursuing a nameplate that had just one outstanding sales year....? Still Chrysler created a mystique. And sullied it over the years. First it was offering them to drive to the captains of medicine and the legal industry. Extra testing. Photography of them in exclusive environs.... Then Sinatra "types". A cliche on a cliche. Shame. It's a fantastic name for a car. ... View more

No S.O. But I have three cars, one for 40 years now. Happy cars happy life.   ... View more

Purpose of the article stated right here: ' ...the classic-car market operates in the ventricles of the heart, where logic does not apply.' ... View more

What a scream. Thank you. I am a sucker for retrospectives about common vehicles and their advocates. I own two very ordinary oldies and my newest will get there in time. Compared to those PsOS Fiesta and last gen Focus with that Power Shift automated manual, the Tempo was boring but honest and a good reliable choice for the value hunter. Ford burned a lot of people pretending there was nothing wrong with that automated manual garbage transmission. For ten years. https://www.freep.com/in-depth/money/cars/ford/2019/07/11/ford-focus-fiesta-transmission-defect/1671198001/ But this: ' ...the classic-car market operates in the ventricles of the heart, where logic does not apply.' is the nugget. Somehow spending $$$ on an old Valiant or N Body is a lot more satisfying than buying a new car and that "new car smell". [Smells like money being burned to me....]. I will have to disagree about the updated roofline. That possibly held the record for the most awkward, cluttered and inelegant attempt at an update until Saturn gave the '74 Matador four door treatment to the L Series in 2003.Or the last Gen Toyota Celica. ... View more

A Gremlin with the "AMC 4" [ an engine and line purchased from VW/Audi ] would be a find, as would a 78 Concord so equipped. Much more interesting for the Isle of Misfit Cars than a V8 would be. From Granny's 60 Rambler Ambassador wagon [ 327 4BBL ] to the 62 Classic wagon my parents had and their later 71 Gremlin and 72 Ambassador, AMC had a significant influence on my own automotive tastes. Horrible quality control on the 71 and 72 though. There was a reason AMC instituted the "Buyer Protection Plan" in '72. I'd still love to have them both again. ... View more

That shade of green was on the 71 in the showroom of Schwind Boeker Buick AMC in Davenport IA when my parents bought their 71 Gremlin and I have never forgotten it. Not a blaring avocado shade, but subtle minty mist metallic. What a beautiful color. The next year they traded for a 72 Ambassador Brougham in Cordoba Brown with matching vinyl top and 304 V8. The downsized full size before downsizing became a thing with GM in 77. ... View more

What? What? Something is off with this ? /sarc. LOL. LADA just another word for LOVE. ... View more

“It’s some horrible car, isn’t it?” LMAO. Every trip in a car is still a treat, even at this late date. I have three examples of discontinued makes sitting in my driveway of shame and have been obsessing about Chevy Sparks for the past two weeks. It's a sickness. These articles are such a treat. All common sense blows right out the window when a car finds you. ... View more

Young people won't have a clue what it is, much less what a Fleetwood is. ... View more

That has got to be the very least of Pininfarina's styling efforts. From it's first appearance I thought it boring and anonymous and hardly worth what was being asked for it. My opinion of it has not changed with thirty years hindsight. This is the automotive styling equivalent of a nothing burger. Tail lights: nothing special, no distinctive shape, could have as easily been found on a Buick. The grille could have been cribbed from a Chevy Corsica. Profile is generic. Nothing to see here, folks. Almost as bad as those Sedan De Blobs of the early '00s. But.... if someone wants one and it blows yer skirt up, go for it. You have my 100% respect and I won't question anyone's reason for wanting one. [Not with my misfit wish list]. The back story alone is enough of a jumping off point. Happy motoring. The Allante never cut it. For me. ... View more

My "newest" car just turned 16 in Jan. Purchased new. The idea that i would be looking at replacing a battery pack would be a non starter. To the junk yard if that were the case. I will keep this car for another 10 years. Far more environmentally friendly and economically feasible for the ordinary slob. Maybe that's the point: the ordinary slob will get to take the bus in future-topia. ... View more

I think the die was set back when the definition of a "classic" car was created by the ACCA back in the early '50s. ... View more