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Cars that seem to have dissappeared from the road entirely...

Mercifully

Saw the sedan/car version of this in the color that I owned in Atlanta three weeks ago.

There are some K-Cars still kicking around out there but some of the variants have become very rare.

From what I've read, the 1982-1983 Dodge 400 4-door is thought to be almost extinct.

Ansel Rakestraw wrote:Mercifully

I can't remember who wrote it, but one of the reviews after its unveiling included the crack "the only way they could make this any more visually offensive would mean painting a swastika on the door panels."

Ohhh forgot about this one...a high schoold friend's Dad bought one of these in black, no woody with a grey leather interior. I vaguely recall a sports package of some sort.



Got busted in it one night doing something like 80 MPH over railroad tracks in a 25 mph zone and made us all swear we wouldn't tell his Dad after the cops let him go with a warning. His old man found about it within 12 hours and he somehow decided to blame me. I tried pointing out that his Dad was one of the most prominent criminal attorneys in Plymouth and that perhaps the cops had let Jr. off and instead had a conversation the next morning with daddy-on on the courthouse steps...a little bit of "Hey Mr. Attorneyman, just so ya know we popped yer son last night. for driving like a dinkus and well, next time there's a ticket coming so tell him to reel it in."

I see Azteks everywhere, up there & down here.

If I had a wand I would wave it and have given Aztek to Saturn. It was a quirky but versatile vehicle: right up the alley of people who take a pride in not taking pride in their autos, i.e. Saturn's de facto market. Badging as Pontiac was a set-up for failure, no matter what the product clinics seemed to say.

No examples available on my friend the interwebs, but Pontiac's pre-launch campaign for Aztek was one of the cleverest that I've seen. Handraisers were mailed sheets of magnets printed with pictures of scenic vistas, road signs, food, etc. The point of which was for the dreamers to construct a visual of imagined use and road trips. Stick this representation of the journey to a fridge or office cabinetry and thereby remind one of the promise of fun and get others talking about this great car. Actually, the agency needed its ass kicked for coming up with something so unlike Pontiac, but for Saturn this would have been dead-nuts.

The Suburban Avenger wrote:

Ansel Rakestraw wrote:Mercifully

I can't remember who wrote it, but one of the reviews after its unveiling included the crack "the only way they could make this any more visually offensive would mean painting a swastika on the door panels."

^ The first time I saw one I knew it was over for GM, I think my heart actually sank, but my mechanic has one and loves it. Note to self: may be cheap option for next used car.

I wanted one of these but I don't think they held up well against road salt.


This was a hot design but now it looks ugly as hell. Roommate had one with a floor mounted stick. What a fucking beast that was.

It eventually morphed into a land yacht. I think the Thunderbird met the same fate.

Cross-post to Cars You Couldn't Kill if You Tried:

Andy wrote:

One of these in that puke green was almost the instrument of my demise when weilded by a disgruntled former sudent/active stalker. Right in front of State Hall, too.

frank - up in grand blanc wrote:

Saw the sedan/car version of this in the color that I owned in Atlanta three weeks ago.

^^ I would love one of those.

More endangered species:

saw the GLH or shelby version of this in warren a couple weeks ago

Don't see many of these on the road ... and the ones I do see usually are pieces of crap.

The Suburban Avenger wrote:Don't see many of these on the road ... and the ones I do see usually are pieces of crap.

Hoog had one of those back in college. It started off looking pretty nice but boy did it take a wicked turn for the worst after a few months use.