"ethan drives dumb cars" (helloroad)
06/09/2020 at 14:35 • Filed to: 1980s, family car, 1984
2
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"ethan drives dumb cars" (helloroad)
06/09/2020 at 14:35 • Filed to: 1980s, family car, 1984 | 2
| 15 |
Let’s fire up the time machine and head back to 1984, so we can stage an epic family car battle!
Back in ’84, which front-wheel drive, under $10k family car would you have purchased? The ’84 Toyota Camry? What about the Ford Tempo? Or the Mazda 626? Or the Chevrolet Celebrity? Maybe the Honda Accord? What about the Nissan Stanza? Or something else?
I’ve long had an appreciation for “boring” utilitarian cars. Unlike cars that were designed specifically for driving enthusiasts, these plain people movers don’t usually get saved when they get too old or repair bills pile up. Decades later, it’s no surprise that most of the simple family cars from the ’80s are no longer around. And it’s why I gasped out loud the other day when I spotted a first generation Ford Tempo still on the road!
Let’s take a look back at a few family cars from 1984, and determine which one we would purchase. If you have a few minutes, check out the video below and let me know which one would’ve ended up in your driveway!
All of the cars in this battle start under $10k, are front wheel drive, and have a 4-cylinder as the base motor. So that meant no Maxima, no LTD . I was focusing on cars that were approaching mid-size or were marketed as the “middle child” of sorts. T here is some slight variation though—the Tempo is on the smaller side, the Celebrity is on the larger side. I considered including the Cavalier instead of the Celebrity, but the pricing and the marketing of the Celebrity seemed more in line with these other cars.
In the interest of brevity, I left out a few contenders such as the Dodge Aries, Plymouth Reliant, and the Volkswagen Jetta. I also considered including the Mitsibushi Tredia, but those were relatively unkn own even back in ’84! P erhaps I’ll do a follow up video.
And I did get one thing wrong in the vid—the Camry is fuel injected, not carbureted—which certainly might have influenced your purchase decision back in the day. I blame too much beer before filming!
So, which would you go for, if any of these?
Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
> ethan drives dumb cars
06/09/2020 at 14:39 |
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This the same model I learned to drive in, a Cutlass Ciera. V6, auto 80 mph digital dash.
dogisbadob
> ethan drives dumb cars
06/09/2020 at 14:43 |
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The first-gen Camry is awesome :o)
I’d rather have a Tredia than
a Tempo lol
Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
> ethan drives dumb cars
06/09/2020 at 14:53 |
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I would think that the Jetta would be in a smaller size class and that perhaps the Quantum would be a more appropriate comparison (or was it considered too ‘luxurious’?)
fintail
> ethan drives dumb cars
06/09/2020 at 14:55 |
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I’d love to find a Tempo with those TRX wheels - I’ve never seen one. We had an 85 Tempo in the family until 1999, and 190K miles, many of those being treated less than carefully by young drivers . We got one of the good ones, as it wasn’t terribly troublesome, and was still running strong when sold. Ours was a loaded GLX, and had FI along with power options and wheels etc . I saw it last around 2004, I think. It was even blue on blue, a color combo I miss.
Something about cars at this time is the basic cars were very basic compared to today . I remember in high school I knew a kid with an 85 Tempo L, base - manual, vinyl seats, roll up windows, etc. The base Japanese models might have been more plush, but AC and any power stuff was optional, along with automatic or nicer wheels. Still, a Camcord was likely the safest bet, along with 626 . I still see that era Camcord on the road here, the rest are pretty uncommon anymore .
In 1984 if you have kids though, a Caravan/Voyager or Toyota Wonderwagon might have been a choice - and they were trendy then, too.
Chariotoflove
> Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
06/09/2020 at 15:02 |
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This is what I thought my mom was going to come home with when she instead pulled up in a new red RX-7 in 1986.
ranwhenparked
> ethan drives dumb cars
06/09/2020 at 15:06 |
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A Camry would have been the smart choice, and should have provided reliable transportation into the early 21st century. However, this is was the height of the dealer adjusted markup on Japanese cars, as a result of the Voluntary Import Restraint agreement artificially limiting supply, so the MSRP, already higher than the domestics, was still noticeably lower than what they actually sold for. The Georgetown plant was still a few years away, and NUMMI-built cars didn’t hit dealer lots until early ‘85 (and were only Corollas, anyway).
So, what we actually wound up doing was replacing an '84 Horizon with an '86 Tempo. Both pretty terrible cars, my only vivid memories of the latter all consist of waiting around for a tow truck in various parking lots or roadside shoulders.
Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
> ethan drives dumb cars
06/09/2020 at 15:08 |
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Not 80s, but worth mentioning. 98 manual Ford Contour for sale near me.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/3475117769201871/
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Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
> Chariotoflove
06/09/2020 at 15:10 |
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That’s a win for mom.
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Chariotoflove
> Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
06/09/2020 at 15:13 |
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It was. she really loved that car, and it was the first time in years that she had the economic freedom to buy herself something she really liked since her dad got her the Cutlass convertible at med school graduation.
thatsmr
> ethan drives dumb cars
06/09/2020 at 15:49 |
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We had Chevy Citation in 84 which was my learn to drive car. Mom had a line of Accords from 87-05 until my folks went to one car Hyundai XG, then Azera, and now back to an Accord
This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja:
> ethan drives dumb cars
06/09/2020 at 16:06 |
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Datsun/Nissan 810/Maxima
Screw the rules.
Phyrxes once again has a wagon!
> ethan drives dumb cars
06/09/2020 at 18:57 |
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The terrible memories as my first car was an 82 Olds with the iron duke. I’ve not owned a domestic since.
MiniGTI - now with XJ6
> ethan drives dumb cars
06/09/2020 at 23:36 |
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My parents had a pretty stripped 86 Camry. Only things above poverty spec were cruise and AC. This one lives at an apartment complex near me:
oldmxer
> ethan drives dumb cars
06/10/2020 at 02:44 |
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LTD, lots of people hate on it but we needed a family car and we love Fords, it had minor issues but it was powerful and great ride and handled better than I expected, 175k miles. kinja won’t let me upload pic
RT
> ethan drives dumb cars
06/16/2020 at 12:29 |
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Ooh, this was a very well put together video! I liked it, and I think I’d have chosen the 626 too — with a close second to the Ac cord.
It reminds me of this Curbside Classic post, which also compared mid-size cars from 1984 . I'm interested to hear if you came across it while researching the video. https://www.curbsideclassic.com/automotive-histories/vintage-review-1984-compact-sedans-consumer-guide-auto-series-summarizes-the-competitive-set/