Lovers of 'classic' cars born to be mild

USA TODAY ^ | 29 March 2002 | Marco R. della Cava

[Deadeye Division]

PASADENA, Calif.

[Deadeye Division]

What's your favorite "nerd" car? Chevy Nova?
Ford Pinto?
Mercury Bobcat?
Plymouth Duster?
Pontiac Aztec?
Yugo?
All AMC cars (Gremlin, Pacer, etc)?

[Dakmar]

AMC Matador: What were they thinking?

[Yardstick]

What a fun article! Makes me want to buy an old Pinto. You know, really -- and call me a nut if you will -- Pintos have pretty nice lines. It's just that they've gotten so much bad press that it's hard to regard them objectively. AMC Gremlins? They are hideous, and that's simply objective truth; but they're so uncool they're cool -- a bit like Louis Rukeyser, really.

Viva los Nerdcars!

[riley1992]

Dodge Dart. That car took more abuse than any automobile should ever be able to withstand and kept right on going.

[RangeRatt]

I've had a bunch of the so-called "Nerd Cars" in my driving life. AMC's have been, by far, the most reliable cars I have ever owned, mainly due to their mechanical "over-engineering". The V-8's used in their full size cars were the same ones that they used in their police packages (Remember "ADAM-12"), and the parts AMC didn't produce themselves were sourced from GM, Ford, & Chrysler, and are still easy to obtain. Just don't tell the parts counter guy it's for an AMC, or he'll either charge double, or tell you there's NO WAY it'll fit!

[Dakmar]

Darts is cool, I guess, lol.

[Bella_Bru]

My mom's old dart ran like a top the day we had to haul it to the junkyard because the whole body had rusted out.....

I like Roadrunner Superbirds, personally.

[Dakmar]

I like Roadrunner Superbirds, personally.

Here's a nice one.

[Bella_Bru]

ohhhhhhhhhhhh.......must have that car!

[Dakmar]

I know exactly what you mean. Pretty, pretty, pretty, evil snorkely looking predator car, come join the hunt... :-)

[Dakmar]

But, great as the Superbird is, nothing can beat the 1970 Mercury Cyclone GT from a styling standpoint. It's certainly dated by todays standards, but if I was designing cars I would make the look cool, like this.

You can almost smell the cheap aftershave swinger smell from that car, eh?

[jennyp]

All AMC cars (Gremlin, Pacer, etc)?

Every single time I see an AMC car I think: "What happened? Have I been thrust into a parallel universe, where cars are ... not quite ... right???"

I don't know about them being reliable - just something about their styling was so ... strange.

[Riley]

My mother had a Pinto wagon with a V-6 in it. I inherited it in 1984. The first thing I did was take it out on Highway 4 and blew all of the carbon out of it- it ran like a sonofagun. The acceleration was excellent, especially given what it was.

I have to admit, I miss the "Mysterymobile".

[Dakmar]

The Pinto Cruising Wagons were neat looking.

[Riley]

I had the regular windows in the back on mine. I put a pair of Electrovox home stereo speakers in the back and used to drive around with classical music thundering out of it- Don Dorsey's "Bachbusters"!

[Deadeye Division]

Vote for the nerdiest car at article link. USA TODAY Quick Question Results

[Dakmar]

That must have been fun. I will always remember the look I got when I would pull up to an intersection with some Buddy Holly music cranked up on the speakers. Some people just don't know what to make of a long-haired right wing lunatic in a foriegn sports car belting out the verses of "Raining In My Heart" in the car right next to theirs.

[uglybiker]

Here's a nice one.

Yeah, it is. I'm just wonderin' what it's doin' with a hoodscoop off a Coronet R/T.

[Dakmar]

Good eye! I never would have noticed that if you had not pointed it out. It looks cool, but would seriously diminsh the value of the car unless it's a factory one-off or something.

[riley1992]

Hey, be nice. He asked for our favorite 'nerd' cars. Mine qualified all the way around. Duck brown and the driver's side door was actually bolted shut. I had to climb in Daisy Duke style. LOL