Like most machines, cars do not have a very long life-expectancy. It used to be that after 75,000 miles, cars were considered fully used-up and ready for the scrapyard. Now its about 150,000-200,000 miles. Things like rust and failing the emissions tests render cars useless even before the engine goes.Most of the time, we don't really notice outdated cars becoming rare and most people don't really care.Being a highly sentimental person, I tend to go against the grain.Not only have I always liked the nerdy, boring cars, but I also get overcome with feelings of sadness when I see pictures of certain ordinary cars and realize that I will see very few of them ever again.Maybe it's just some form of difficulty in letting go of the past. My reasons for liking certain cars are often undetermined, as are the reasons for the varying degrees of emotion I feel about their increasing scarcity. I probably could make this into a multi-part series but I'd run out of things to say other than "I just like them and wish more were around."
The following are cars from my childhood that are in short supply, that I wish I still saw more often. Keep in mind that the real cool rides, with potential collector status in the future, have been preserved more often and still pop up from time to time on nice days.These are not those cars. Seen here are unloved, unexceptional cars that I readily admit to liking.
-Dodge Colt/Plymouth Champ: Captive imports made by Mitsubishi and sold here,misleadingly, as Dodge/Plymouth cars. They were crude, cheap cars and the most interesting thing about them was their wide array of names. Dodge Colt and Plymouth Champ in N.America, Mitsubishi Mirage or Colt Mirage in most markets, and in the UK, Colt was the actual brand (the model "name" was 1200). I used to see these quite often and something in my wild childhood mind told me that it was one of the cars I should consider buying when I became a teen. Of course, by the mid-90s, that wasn't an option.They had already vanished.Really, they weren't much to look at and not a fun car (excluding the unique "Turbo" Colts), but they had cool graphic patterns and paint jobs that made them seem more appealing than they were.I have a real soft spot in my heart for these since I loved them as a little kid. I was in the Philippines for a few days in 2010 and saw 2 of these in one town. One was a beautiful,restored, red 4-door version with tinted windows and mag wheels.So, I do know where I can still find one (there's a possibility that a few still remain in Australia as well). Unfortunately, that place is about as far from home as I can get. Here, every last one is gone and the days of seeing them on a regular basis have left us sometime when I was still in middle school.I descriptively call these "Gremlin Colts" because they kind of look like modernized AMCs.
-Dodge Challenger/Plymouth Sapporo: Another Mitsubishi-built captive import sold elsewhere under different names. Unlike the Colt, these were not common sights and were more naturally sporty design-wise.I tended to forget they even existed until once every 2 years one would pop out of the woodwork.They weren't even all that old when I noticed how uncommon they seemed to be.The main difference between the Dodge and Plymouth versions was the taillight design, and I saw too few to learn how to tell one from another.I think one reason I miss these so much is that I never saw enough when they were newer and I probably feel like I missed out on an unusual sight that I never got familiar enough with. In 2011 I happened upon one at the Woodward Dream Cruise, an unmodified Challenger in mint condition. The owner said he bought it new and kept it garaged all winter to prevent rust. I said " You have the only one left in Michigan", to which he responded "I have the only one left ANYWHERE". Soon afterwards, Hagerty insurance made a list of "Threatened, endangered and extinct" cars. The Challenger was deemed extinct. That owner may have been pretty close in his assessment of having the only one left. Our opportunities to see them more frequently never came, and we're all worse off for it. RIP Challenger/Sapporo. We hardly knew thee.
-Chevrolet Cavalier Hatchback: During the changing times of the early-80s, GM responded to increased demand for front-wheel-drive compacts. The Cavalier was part of the popular "J" car platform that met those needs.Available in coupe, sedan, wagon, convertible and hatchback form, there was a Cavalier for pretty much everyone.When Chevrolet introduced the Z24 sport package for the coupe, convertible and hatchback, it transformed the Cavalier from cheap grocery-getter to cool wheels, and the package was a great fit for the swoopy hatchback. Unfortunately, they were not of the highest quality and lacked longevity. The Cavalier was redesigned and greatly improved for 1988 and the Z24 became even cooler. Sadly, the hatchback was dropped at that point.Most of the first-gen Cavaliers have long been disposed of, but a few Z24s were probably saved.The unusual-styling and total 80s-ness (I know, thats not a word) of the hatchbacks would make them an interesting oddity today, if there are still any to see.
-Hyundai Pony: My family rarely took trips to Canada when I was a little kid, but when we did, I'd see these everywhere. It was one of the only cars I'd see in Mapleleaf-land that was not sold in the US.That made this undeniably ugly car very intriguing and, actually, one of the only things that revealed I was in a different country. Well, that and signs in 2 languages displaying km/h, and leaves on all the flags. The Pony was Canada's best-selling car at one time. Since the late-90s, I've probably been into Canada 5 times.I have not seen a single Pony. According to Craigslist searches, most remaining Pony's in Canada appear to be in British Columbia.It just doesn't seem like a trip to Canada without seeing a Pony. I'm going to have to change my mindset a bit,since I probably won't see one there again unless I vacation in Vancouver.
-Mazda GLC: We all love an underdog story. By the late-70s, everyone was competing against each other in the compact segment. Obscure Mazda brought in their 323 and renamed it GLC for the American market.Most brands were more established than Mazda so the VW Rabbit, Dodge Omni, Chevy Chevette, Honda Civic,etc all fared better. Eventually, they dropped the GLC name and used the more international "323" moniker.The GLC has escaped most peoples memories, leaving little indication that they ever existed. Eventually the 323 led to the Mazda 3, which is probably one of the hippest compacts with the younger crowd today....considered cooler than the competition that once outsold it. That's how a good underdog story ends.
No comments:
Post a Comment