Under-appreciated perhaps?

"V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me!" (v8demon)
03/06/2016 at 07:58 • Filed to: None

I take no credit for any of the photos..... Just an assortment of rare, odd, an/or forgotten iron. Enjoy.

1977 Oldsmobile Toronado XS Edition

I can’t say that I’ve ever seen one of these in person. I can’t imagine owning one and having to source one of those rear windows today.

1980 Buick Century Turbo Coupe: Yes a Buick 3.8 turbo version of the Century

175 HP in a 3000 pound car in the Malaise era. A good start....

1980 Dodge Challenger: How the mighty fell.

1988 Lamborghini Jalpa: I don’t care that a brand new Honda Accord V-6 is a LOT faster than it, I’d take one in a heartbeat......

Demuro write-up on one here:

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P.S. There is currently one for sale on Hemmings right now with a beautiful tan interior.......for $115K USD.....

Next....

1980 Dodge Mirada: What? Yeah, I didn’t know what the heck this thing was either.

Apparently you could get one optioned with a 185 HP 360 cubic inch engine. Not bad in 1980. How scary is that? 5.9L — 185 HP. My Focus is 2.0L — 160 HP with three more forward gears. Bonus: These things were used in Nascar.

1981 Dodge Colt

My dad’s second wife had one of these when they first met and they kept it for a few years. Red with a tan interior, manual trans, and Spartan-ly optioned (read: didn’t have shit). They still had it by the time I had gotten my license. Did you know you can tow a loaded U-Haul trailer with one of these? Wanna know how I found out? The old man actually had a trailer hitch on the one he and Joan (his second wife — my step-mother at the time; they’ve since split up) had and he asked me to help him hook up the trailer, follow him to drop it off, and unhook it. On Ocean Parkway on Long Island, I watched from my car following as this little turd of a car hit 80+ MPH with this loaded trailer on the back end. At one point, a wind gust shook the trailer so hard that it took the back end of the Colt for what seemed to be about an 18 inch sway sideways.

Did I mention my father can sometimes be a bit of a maniac?

Okay, I’ve digressed enough. Next.

1979 Plymouth Volare

Add another one to the list of craptastic malaise that graced my family, as my grandfather (dad’s side) owned one of these in light blue with the slant 6. It was and still is the most bland car I have ever been in. This makes sense when I think about it. My grandfather was an engineer. Practical. Sensible. His passion was boats. He didn’t give a rubber sex-toy fist about cars in the least. Get him from point A to point B with minimal fuss on the cheap. By bland I don’t mean bad either. I’ve been in plenty of cars that INFURIATED me. I feel this car is the embodiment of Purgatory if you will.

Okay. Next.

1992 Mercury Topaz 4 door

Even more family closeness. I had one of these.

Factory 15 inch aluminum wheels? Check.

3.0 Vulcan V6? Check.

Annoying Automatic seat belts? Check.

3 speed automatic transmission replete with PLASTIC Speedometer gear that when it shreds causes the car to lose gears number 2 and 3, leaving you with a ONE SPEED TRANSMISSION?! Check.

To be fair, I was able to fix the transmission with a $15 dollar replacement speedo gear. Other than that, I changed the starter on it, which I knew was starting to go out when I bought the car. The 3.0 Vulcan was a good match for the car and gave it decent power. I only wish the car had an overdrive gear on the highway. To this day it was the BEST FWD car I’ve ever driven in the snow. It just went and did so without doing anything unpredictable, which is a good thing when plodding through 12 inches of unplowed mush on the parkway because you HAVE to get to drill weekend at your Air National Guard unit. FIFTY TWO MILES AWAY.......

I got 3 years and 40,000 miles out of that car before the engine locked up on me, a week after I purchased my Mustang, almost 11 years ago to the day today. I washed the outside of the car ONCE. I did change the oil religiously in it. Cheap on insurance, under $100 to fix in that time not including routine stuff (in that entire time I needed ZERO brake work to boot).

Best $600 car EVER.

DISCUSSION (6)

PS9 > V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me!
03/06/2016 at 08:18

Q: So how do you fit a big block V8, a differential, a transmission, and all the driveline stuff to make all that work together under one hood over the front wheels?

A: A loooooooooooooooong ass nose. That’s how.

V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me! > PS9
03/06/2016 at 08:27

Plus you bolt the engine to the side of the transmission and set up the oil pan so that it’s a dual sump so the diff and shafts can clear it.

The Turbo-Hydramatic 325, 425, and 325-4L are widely used for V8 swap Fieros.

KnowsAboutCars > V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me!
03/06/2016 at 08:33

I’d really like to own a Mirada CMX.

Also, Plymouth Volare had the questionable honor to be the last Road Runner.

Kinja'd!!!

whoarder is tellurium > V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me!
03/06/2016 at 09:34

My parents bought an 81 Dodge Mirada for their honeymoon. I believe it was a 318 though :(

Peptide > V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me!
03/06/2016 at 10:34

I owned a black 1978 Oldsmobile Toronado XS...hadn’t thought about it years!

shop-teacher > V8Demon - Prefers Autos for drag racing. Fite me!
03/06/2016 at 12:04

I cannot wrap my mind around towing a loaded trailer 80mph in a Colt. I tried to can, but I just can’t.