DIE. DIE. DIE.
Posted on 05/19/2012 11:32:20 AM PDT by TurboZamboni
Several years ago, there was a large reward posted for evidence that the Ivory Billed Woodpecker was not extinct as was previously thought. Strangely, the classic car world has yet to respond in like fashion for evidence that breeding pairs of Plymouth Crickets or Mercury Bobcats are still out there. To qualify for the list a car must have been produced in large numbers (10,000-plus) within the last 40 years with few (if any) roadworthy survivors. Here are some of our favorite threatened, endangered and extinct cars:
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
How about the Pacer, the Gremlin, or the Spirit? (all AMC)
RACISM!/s
I haven’t seen very many Gremlins about.
too ugly a body style. the Monza looked better.
The Pacer looked like a rolling fish bowl.
Aw gee, Now what am I supposed to do with my 409?
How about the Vega? It was the first car in which iron ore was just ground up and pressed into panels instead of wasting time refining the iron, making steel and having to wait for it rust.
1962 CORVAIR Monza
Back in the 80s, one of the off-road magazines featured a Pacer converted to 4x4 and riding on 33 in tires. It was the definition of awesome. Totally impractical, but pure automotive art...in an abstract sense ;) Seriously though, it was cool as hell.
My first car was a ‘75 VW Scirocco. It was a really fun car. It cracked in half a few months after I sold it.
I’m surprised the Dodge Omni/Plymouth Horizon was not on the list. I had two. One was a GLH Turbo. I saw a mint condition Horizon about two hours ago.
The Chevy Monza was one of the few good looking domestic smaller cars of the mid-late seventies, and the optional V8 was particularly intriguing but that chassis was just not up to it, being a Vega at heart as it actually was. We’re talking the original, sleek hatch and not the really Vega looking notchback, here.
A high school friend of mine had one, dark maroon with the oyster off white interior, pretty and very fast for the era. But, the engine bay was literally crammed full, it overheated and the tires wore prematurely due to constant alignment problems as well as scrubbing against the wheelwell. It rattled like a bucket of bolts, too, from new.
DIE. DIE. DIE.
This just said “threatened” not “good looking...”
I have seen any of those cars I listed in a long time.
Both the Gremlin and the Pacer have this geek-chic thing going for them, goofy but with a certain oddball charm, that make them desirable enough to stick around, those that survived thus far.
Subaru’s several efforts at a sport coupe are another, I especially admired that Citroenesque SVX, great ski cars, fast and stable. Didn’t care for the bifurcated side glass, but if it was going to roll down that’s how it was going to look, apparently. Very nice line and proportion otherwise.
The She-vette.
The Renault LeCar with the accordion sun roof.
The Ford MUSTANG II.
They rusted out almost as badly as the engines blew, right up there with the Fiat X1/9. The too cute name and marketing doomed it even if this weren’t the case. Being only available in beachball colors didn’t help, either.
The Chevy VOLT.
My friend had a Vega. Aluminum block, and a pooch. In the Winter before the engine had time to fully warm up, you could have the accelerator pedal mashed to the floor and not do over 35mph. It was awful.
I pulled a Bill Clinton in the hatchback of my ‘76 “Spirit of America” Vega on an isolated beach on the big lake outside my hometown.
My first and her first too.
But there wadn’t no astroturf back there, and that fold-down rear seat made for a big sharp bump.
Not too proud of that one, for her sake, definitely.
It was a good little car, to paraphrase the great man, but I guess I wasn’t so good when I was in it.
Another Extinct car... a 1968 Cuda Hemi...or a Plum Purple Road Runner...
According to the calculator at measuringworth.com, that's in the neighborhood of 16 to 22k in today's dollars, which, if you stop and think about is still a good deal.
... Most races were sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association and featured multiple classes. The IMSA RS series featured such makes and models as AMC Gremlins, Ford Pintos, BMW 2002s, Honda Civics, Mazda RX-2s and Datsun 510s. The IMSA GT series featured the larger and faster BMW CSLs, Chevrolet Corvettes and Camaros, Porsche Carerras and 911s and Datsun Z cars.
Those little buzz bombs could really haul ass and it was fun to watch but you needed industrial-strength ear protection.
Cool as it looks, you’d be forever repairing dings and stone chips in the paint, from rocks and debris picked up by the tires and slung loose at speed. I’d hesitate to put my elbow on the windowsill while driving.
Or maybe.....
Not only that. Because of the aluminum block, if it overheated the block seized up. One of my brothers had it happen to him.
I wrote service for a time at a Chevy store in the mid-70s. Now and again, someone would ask about a tune-up for their Monza V-8. When I quoted them five hours (the front motor mounts had to be unbolted and the engine raised up to get at the two front spark plugs)I never saw them again.
Sounds about right.
Didn’t one of the earlier small GM front wheel drive models have to drop the engine “tray” along with the transaxle for some form of scheduled maintenance? Maybe the high performance model of the Chevy Citation?
I’m remembering something along those lines too, for some reason. Why GM ever thought anybody would put up with such expense for maintaining an American car is anybody’s guess. Heck, I won’t put up with it for a German car, lol.
Buddy of mine bought a new Monza — sharp. He was somewhat disappointed when he found out you had to partially raise the engine off its mounts to change the spark plugs, though.
I loved some of the Renault line, that being a prime example. Not available in the US of course. We got the ridiculously foppish, tippy-toed Le Car painted up like an overblown Fisher-Price toy. There were awesome variants of the R5, which was the name by which the rest of the world knew that vehicle, very few of which looked so silly.
Renault deserved to be run out of the market for that and later abominations in concert with the failing AMC, but they did and do make desirable cars. We just didn’t get many of them.
And some of us just build our own. Just click on my nane ............................................................. FRegards
I loved some of the Renault line, that being a prime example. Not available in the US of course. We got the ridiculously foppish, tippy-toed Le Car painted up like an overblown Fisher-Price toy. There were awesome variants of the R5, which was the name by which the rest of the world knew that vehicle, very few of which looked so silly.
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I owned a Renault 16, oh perhaps a 68 or 70? Well designed little car with a heart. Blew its headgasket a couple of times. Got ridof it.
I loved some of the Renault line, that being a prime example. Not available in the US of course. We got the ridiculously foppish, tippy-toed Le Car painted up like an overblown Fisher-Price toy. There were awesome variants of the R5, which was the name by which the rest of the world knew that vehicle, very few of which looked so silly.
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I owned a Renault 16, oh perhaps a 68 or 70? Well designed little car with a heart. Way ahead of its design time. Blew its headgasket a couple of times. Got ridof it.
Where did Mercury Capris go?
They rusted away to small piles of brown dust.
I know.
I owned one.
I loved it, but it was tough to care for.
Haven’t seen a Maverick in awhile either.
These new Ford one tons you have to raise the whole
body from the frame to service.
Saw a Chevy Chevette in town running around..thought
thats one thats been years since I`ve seen
Those Gremlins and othe AMC cars looked like junk
sitting on the new car lot...weather striping wasn`t
fitted right..bet they leaked within 6 months
I’m fairly certain Alpine built them all, basically for homologation, so they weren’t imported through normal Renault channels. They were available though. That one in the pic was my second 85 evo model.
My high school boyfriend had a Chevy Vega
Yeah, they sucked in the 1970’s as did my high school boyfriend. Are there any still in existence??
You beat me to it.
My granddaughter has been driving a 1971 Omni to high school on occasion. The “occasion(s) coincide with the times everything operates. They bought the vehicle from a little old lady who hadn’t driven it much at all and very little in the last ten years. Unfortunately in addition to things going wrong when you drive a vehicle, there are a whole series of different problems you will see if you don’t drive the vehicle much. It seems they have it in pretty good running condition now, but it is not allowed outside the local area.
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