Nash's engineering solution on the modern heating/ventilation system introduced on their 38 models was so well done that many manufacturers bought the rights to it. Also the Willys Aero models of the early to mid 50s used the exact bodyside contour measurements of the 49 'shoebox' Ford.   ... View more

I had a 91 Mitsubishi Mirage identical to yours. The first new car I ever bought, purchased during the major new car sales slump of the Gulf War for $6499. The Colts and Mirage (eventually also an upmarket Eagle Summit) varied only in the snap-in grille, horn button and the identification labels which were simply vinyl stickers. The magazines all raved about the Tercel, but the Mirage/Colt was just as nice, identical engine specs, was in stock had a hatch rather than a puny trunk and was $1200 less (because the Mitsu dealers wanted to move the metal and the Toyota dealer wanted to capitalize on Tercel fame). Peppy, great in the snow, nearly 40mpg on the highway. I'd driven it 10 years and over 101k miles when I took my 2nd 9 hour cannonball trip to Hershey. On the way back the trans started to whine and I sold it with 104k. The only other problem I had was its unstopability in Michigan snowstorms had a tendency to tear CV joint boots leading to bad CV joints. ... View more

How 'bout the Jeep Surrey ... View more

Another huge issue that is seldom mentioned is reduced battery output in cold climates. There is about a 20% drop in output of lithium batteries at 14°F and that increases rapidly as temps get lower. Worse yet at cold temps charge rates have to be significantly reduced or damage to the battery can occur. This extends charging times. In the northern tier of states on December 21 when you've got headlights on for all but a few hours a day, the defroster/heater blasting, the wipers trying to brush the snow away and the tires slipping in ice/snow...you're gonna have very little range. And you won't want to walk ... View more

49-50 Ford and Willys Aero. When it came down to establishing the production door contours the Willys designers admitted they cribbed the contour from the Ford ... View more

A neighbor had a pool and his brother would bring his family over on summer days in the sharpest 71 Toronado you've ever seen. He ordered it in red without a vinyl top and a black leather interior. It looked downright sporty compared to most with vinyl tops in some earthtone combination that seemed ubiquitous at the time. ... View more

Nice and informative article, I see an EV-1 and charger on a regular basis at the R.E. Olds museum in Lansing, home of EV-1 production. I find it "interesting" that many detractors criticize GM and the information & claims in this article (written by the head of the development program) preferring to believe the myths rather than the facts laid out. We live in a world where many, including those same detractors spend hundreds of dollars ditching perfectly good, 1-2 year-old smartphones & laptops in order to acquire the latest tech. Remember, when the EV-1 came out most of us were on PC's running Win95 with a 256k modem for internet. The article states parts suppliers stopped making parts and many of these would have been nearly 4 year old electronics and control systems which would have been outmoded tech by that time. ... View more

The aluminum 215 V-8 and iron 198 V-6 shared the same bore spacing and general architecture/accesory mounts. The aluminum V-8 used iron cylinder sleeves and hardened valve seats ... View more

A company I worked for back in the day had an Aerostar as a delivery vehicle. It was generally pretty decent as it could carry quite a bit in back and was more fuel efficient than a full size van. It did have an unusual propensity to flop onto its side; once in a relatively minor low-speed collision and the other time in a slightly abrupt lane change in the rain. Though I never had a problem, I remember a buckling sound from the rear axle when cornering harder than normal...I always wondered if there was some less than ideal suspension design issues ... View more

And while it was just a one-off concept, there was also the Buick Blackhawk ... View more

The folks at 'The Old Motor' are rarely stumped as well ... View more

I believe the Plymouth Cricket was based on the British Hillman and the Dodge Colt was based on a Mitsubishi model. They were not the same car and I remember reviews that panned the Cricket and were generally favorable towards the Colt ... View more

Nash steering wheels of 1940 & 41 were unusual. The 40 had a large teardrop center section. The 41 switched to a large round center section but they changed the horn ring to a large disc of clear plastic ... View more

There was also the "back-up pickup" which they remounted the body backward on the chassis so it went down the strip bed end first. I believe it was a Ford econoline ... View more