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1: the ford pinto. they were neat little cars that were fun to drive, i had a couple of them over the years. granted some were under powered, a 1.6L powered wagon should never have been on the market. and the negative hype surrounding them was a media generated load of crap.
2: the mustang ll. again a neat little car, i almost bought a 75 with the 2.8L V6, i just couldnt afford it at the time. it was quick enough, handled well enough, and sipped fuel. it wasnt the most stylish mustang built, but if the mustang ll had never bee built, there would be no mustang today.
3: the AMC pacer. again not the best looking car around, but they came with that neat AMC inline six or the AMC 304 V8. carl green enterprises built a one off custom AMC ute starting with a pacer wagon.
4: the pontiac aztec. it was an ugly car to be sure, its like pontiac let six year olds design the car, and then hit it with an ugly stick. but it was a neat little mini van that did yeomans work for those that bought the cars.
5: ford tempo/mercury topaz. nice little cars that never seemed to catch on with the public, mostly because the taurus/sable sold so well it cut into tempo/topaz sales to the point where ford eventually dropped the pair. too bad to because a V6 tempo/topaz was a fun car to drive.
I know a guy who has a Spyder. It was very expensive new.
He told me he hopes the top doesn't break because getting parts is a problem.
SVX.
They were $32,000 I believe. I wanted to get one but I ended up getting a Camaro Z28 instead. It was $18,000 because I got a GM discount through my father, plus they gave me $2500 for a junk car that barely ran. They really wanted the sale. (Junk car was my Subaru XT- turbo). Affording the Mitsubishi was questionable, but it simply did not make sense given the price I could get the Z28 for.
Those were WAY more than $32,000 -- that's what a second generation base-model 3000GT cost. The base Spyder started about $57K and a VR-4 Spyder started $65K and could be optioned up to 80K. Accounting for for inflation, in today's money a Spyder ranged from $90K for a base FWD to $130K for a fully optioned VR-4.
Those were WAY more than $32,000 -- that's what a second generation base-model 3000GT cost. The base Spyder started about $57K and a VR-4 Spyder started $65K and could be optioned up to 80K. Accounting for for inflation, in today's money a Spyder ranged from $90K for a base FWD to $130K for a fully optioned VR-4.
Yes, very expensive.
It was an ASC conversion, which is probably responsible for the parts issues, along with only 877 imported.
The top was an exotic thing in the mid-90's.
The United States had their own version of the VR4. The U.S and the Mitsubishi factories worked with another company, ASC, to convert 3000GTs into hard-top convertibles. Mitsubishi produced a number of limited edition 3000GT VR4 convertibles. This rare special edition was known as the Spyder VR4. Only 877 were imported to America. The Spyder was one of very few hard-tops to release in the United States. The Spyder was released in 1995 and ended production in 1996.
1: the ford pinto. they were neat little cars that were fun to drive, i had a couple of them over the years. granted some were under powered, a 1.6L powered wagon should never have been on the market. and the negative hype surrounding them was a media generated load of crap.
2: the mustang ll. again a neat little car, i almost bought a 75 with the 2.8L V6, i just couldnt afford it at the time. it was quick enough, handled well enough, and sipped fuel. it wasnt the most stylish mustang built, but if the mustang ll had never bee built, there would be no mustang today.
3: the AMC pacer. again not the best looking car around, but they came with that neat AMC inline six or the AMC 304 V8. carl green enterprises built a one off custom AMC ute starting with a pacer wagon.
4: the pontiac aztec. it was an ugly car to be sure, its like pontiac let six year olds design the car, and then hit it with an ugly stick. but it was a neat little mini van that did yeomans work for those that bought the cars.
5: ford tempo/mercury topaz. nice little cars that never seemed to catch on with the public, mostly because the taurus/sable sold so well it cut into tempo/topaz sales to the point where ford eventually dropped the pair. too bad to because a V6 tempo/topaz was a fun car to drive.
Number five on your list gave me a chuckle as I not only learned to drive in my Mom's 1992 powder blue Ford Tempo (and my Dad's 1993 Lincoln Town Car), but a white 1993 Mercury Topaz (bought for me by Dad in 1998) was my very first car. I liked those little cars--remember the distinctive sound of those motors! My sister drove a dark grey Tempo when she was in college in the early nineties, too.
My mother and I ended up driving the Ford/Mercury "jellybean twins" in the early 2000's. She bought her Ford Taurus new in '96(?); I had a used '97 Sable that Dad picked up sometime in 2001 or 2002--both silver. The Mercury was just a touch nicer than the Ford. I was sad when Mercury was discontinued several years ago as it was a nice "in-between" car for someone who couldn't financially swing a Lincoln, but wanted a slightly more polished ride than a Ford.
Those were WAY more than $32,000 -- that's what a second generation base-model 3000GT cost. The base Spyder started about $57K and a VR-4 Spyder started $65K and could be optioned up to 80K. Accounting for for inflation, in today's money a Spyder ranged from $90K for a base FWD to $130K for a fully optioned VR-4.
You are correct:
"[i]f you wanted a VR-4 Spyder, with that sweet 320-hp engine, the starting price was $69,500. Remember, this is in 1995 dollars. If you convert $69,500 into 2016 money, it's $109,400"
So by comparison the Z28 was 1/4 the price and only .2 seconds behind in the quarter and .4 behind in 0-60. (But did not have the handling of awd and AWS ) still close enough. At least for then.
$25 - $35K is what they cost today in excellent condition. I think I would buy one over anything made today in that price range.
Last edited by Coldjensens; 11-12-2018 at 02:58 PM..
3. Toyota Venza: It's a shame this vehicle got canned, it sold well in its early years. Toyota hurt it by not giving it a proper remodel. It got bashed by reviewers for some reason. I thought it fit a really good niche for people who want a comfortable vehicle with storage space, but don't want something big like the Highlander. It was also pretty close to being a traditional wagon. I liked the way this vehicle looked and wish Toyota would bring it back.
The problem was that it less than the Highlander, and was the same price.
It wasn't any smaller. It wasn't as tall, but it had the same width, same wheelbase, same curb weight. You got slightly better fuel economy, but only slightly, and to realize that you needed to go with the 4 cylinder, which was underpowered in that car, noisy and sluggish.
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